Modern pollen dispersal in relation to present vegetation distribution and land use in the Baspa valley, Kinnaur, western Himalayas

Tomar N, Roy I, Shri S, CHINTHALA BD, Shekhar M, Srivastava A, Ranhotra PS, Singh CP, Bhattacharyya A (2024)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2024

Journal

ENVIRON MONIT ASSESS Springer Verlag (Germany)

Book Volume: 196

Article Number: 194

Journal Issue: 2

DOI: 10.1007/s10661-024-12340-8

Abstract

Interpretation of a fossil pollen data for the vegetation and climate reconstruction of any region needs a modern pollen-vegetation analogue for its calibration. We analyzed the surface sediments and moss polsters for the pollen and microcharcoal records to understand the modern pollen-vegetation relationship and human activities in the Baspa Valley, Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh. Presently, valley is occupied by the arboreal and non-arboreal vegetation of temperate to subalpine habitats and land use activities. The recovered pollen assemblages showed variability in the dispersal behavior of pollen of taxa growing along the valley transect and also captured the signals of human activities over land use. The overall dominance of arboreal pollen in the recovered pollen assemblage corresponds with the dominant growth of conifers and broadleaf tree taxa and represents the valley vegetation at a regional scale. However, the profuse pollen production of a few arboreal taxa and long distance pollen transport from one vegetation zone to other by the strong upthermic valley winds could bias the pollen representation of in-situ vegetation. The high pollen frequency of non-arboreal taxa in the open meadows represents the near vicinity to their plant source. Human activities like fire burning and cultivation by the local population are evident by the recovery of microcharcoal particles and pollen of plants belonging to Cerealia Poaceae, Asteraceae, Amaranthaceae, Polygonaceae, Rosaceae, Juglandaceae, etc. The dataset taken as modern pollen-vegetation analogue is useful to assess past changes in the vegetation and land cover in relation to climate and human factors for future sustenance.

Authors with CRIS profile

BENCY DAVID CHINTHALA Lehrstuhl für Geographie (Physische Geographie)

Involved external institutions

University of Lucknow IN India (IN) Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences IN India (IN) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change IN India (IN) Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) IN India (IN) Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology IN India (IN)

How to cite

APA:

Tomar, N., Roy, I., Shri, S., CHINTHALA, B.D., Shekhar, M., Srivastava, A.,... Bhattacharyya, A. (2024). Modern pollen dispersal in relation to present vegetation distribution and land use in the Baspa valley, Kinnaur, western Himalayas. ENVIRON MONIT ASSESS , 196(2). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-024-12340-8

MLA:

Tomar, Nidhi, et al. "Modern pollen dispersal in relation to present vegetation distribution and land use in the Baspa valley, Kinnaur, western Himalayas." ENVIRON MONIT ASSESS 196.2 (2024).

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