TITLE:
Variation in Plant Functional Traits along Altitudinal Gradient and Land Use Types in Sagarmatha National Park and Buffer Zone, Nepal
AUTHORS:
Srijana Shah, Krishna Kumar Shrestha, Christoph Scheidegger
KEYWORDS:
Functional Traits, Altitudinal Gradient, Land-Use Types, Disturbances
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.10 No.4,
April
26,
2019
ABSTRACT: Functional traits are predictors of plants in
response to environmental stimuli. They represent specific functional
adaptations to various environmental stresses. This study deals with the
variation in plant functional traits along elevation gradient and land-use
types in Sagarmatha National Park and Buffer Zone, Nepal. Two field investigations
in April and September, 2011 were made to
collect samples. Sampling was done from 2200 - 3800 m asl varying approx. 400 m.
East and west facing aspects of each valley were chosen. In each aspect four
land-use type categories including disturbed (cultivated land, exploited forest and meadow) and less
disturbed natural forest were selected. A
transect of 25 m long and 2.5 m wide was laid. Different eight traits of plants
including lifeform, plant height, clonality, spinescence, leaf dry matter content,
stem specific density, twig dry matter content and twig drying time were examined for 60 plant species belonging to
31 families, collected from 40 sampled plots. Nine different types of growth
forms were recorded. Plant height of the investigated species ranged from 0.03 -
15 m. The stolon consisting species were
dominant in exploited forests. Diversity of clonal species was more in meadow and non-clonal species were dominant in
all the altitudes. Only eight species consisted of spines. In the disturbed
land-use categories, we found high variation in a particular trait. Correlation
analyses revealed the significant relationship (p