Attributes of Himalayan forest Ecosystems: they are not Temperate forests

This paper describes how Himalayan forests are different from temperate forests with which they are often clubbed.The principal forest types in Himalayas are dominated by evergreen trees with about one year leaf life span (e-leaf type), which include as dissimilar genera as Shorea, Pinus a n d Quercus.Though several taxa are common with temperate forests, fu n ct i o n al l y Hi mal ayan fo rest eco syst ems h ave val u es cl o ser t o t ro p i cal t h an t emp erat e fo rest eco syst ems.Th e Hi mal ayan trees have tendency to reach their peak physiological activities during autumn when soil moisture is high due to the m o n s o o n p r e c i p i t a t i o n , s u n n y a n d f a i r l y l o n g d a y s , a n d m i l d t e m p e r a t u r e s .I n c o n t r a s t , i n t e m p e r a t e b r o a d l e a v e d f o r e s t s , leaves begin to senesce with the beginning of autumn.Therefore, models that use data of temperate forests for predicting responses of Himalayan forests to global change would fail to make accurate predictions.Furthermore, models that focus on temperature and precipitation in Himalayas, would inaccurately predict about these forests because different forest types can occurs within same precipitation and temperature regimes in Himalayas.In many Himalayan tree species the regeneration strategy is geared to take advantage of monsoon, to the extent that their seeds show vivipary.Such species m i g h t b e d i s t u r b e d b y c l i m a t e c h a n g e .T h e n u t r i e n t r e s o r p t i o n e f f i c i e n c y d u r i n g l e a f s e n e s c e n c e i n H i m a l a y a n o a k s i s between 20-25% which are far lower than global averages for plants, 62.1% for N and 64.9% for P. Further, forest structure and distribution are variously modified by anthropogenic and natural disturbances, making predictions based on climate data of little value.