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Journal of the International Association of Wildland Fire
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Anthropogenic fire, vegetation structure and ethnobotanical uses in an alpine shrubland of Nepal’s Himalaya

Asha Paudel A B F , Scott H. Markwith B , Katie Konchar C , Mani Shrestha https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6165-8418 D E and Suresh K. Ghimire A F
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Central Department of Botany, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, 44618, Nepal.

B Department of Geosciences, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL, 33431, USA.

C 1334 Jackson Street, Tallahassee, FL, 32301, USA.

D School of Media and Communication, RMIT University, Melbourne, Vic. 3001, Australia.

E Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University, Melbourne, Vic. 3800, Australia.

F Corresponding authors. Email: apaudel2017@fau.edu, sk.ghimire@cdbtu.edu.np

International Journal of Wildland Fire 29(3) 201-214 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF19098
Submitted: 1 July 2019  Accepted: 14 December 2019   Published: 23 January 2020

Journal Compilation © IAWF 2020 Open Access CC BY-NC-ND

Abstract

Alpine vegetation of the Himalaya is used as food, medicine or fodder, and is commonly managed with fire by agropastoralists. Prescribed fire can have positive effects on rangeland biodiversity, but studies evaluating its effects in alpine shrublands are scarce. Our objective was to examine the effects of anthropogenic fire on biophysical characteristics, species richness, abundance and composition in an alpine shrubland with socioeconomic value to local peoples in Langtang National Park in central Nepal. We surveyed biophysical variables, vascular plant species richness and composition along three transects at ascending elevations, and conducted interviews with local people and park officials on the use of fire in the region. We found 69 species of vascular plants in 89 plots; species richness was greater in burned plots and with increasing elevation, with 13 species unique to burned plots. We identified 14 indicator species in both burned and unburned plots; eight of them were Himalayan endemics. In burned plots, the indicator species were predominantly grasses and perennial forbs with ethnobotanical uses. This is the first detailed study on alpine shrubland anthropogenic fire in the Nepalese Himalaya. Burning may, at least temporarily, replace woody with more palatable herbaceous species, and weaken the elevational gradient of the shrubland.

Additional keywords: alpine pasture, endemic taxa, indicator species, species richness, transhumance.


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