Do Himalayan treelines respond to recent climate change? An evaluation of sensitivity indicators

Schickhoff, U.; Bobrowski, M.; Böhner, J.; Bürzle, B.; Chaudhary, R. P.; Gerlitz, L.; Heyken, H.; Lange, J.; Müller, M.; Scholten, T.; Schwab, N.; Wedegärtner, R.

doi:10.5194/esd-6-245-2015

Articles | Volume 6, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-6-245-2015

© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Special issue:

Climate Change and Environmental Pressure: Adaptation and...

https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-6-245-2015

© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 6, issue 1

Research article

|

12 May 2015

Research article |

| 12 May 2015

Do Himalayan treelines respond to recent climate change? An evaluation of sensitivity indicators

U. Schickhoff, M. Bobrowski, J. Böhner, B. Bürzle, R. P. Chaudhary, L. Gerlitz, H. Heyken, J. Lange, M. Müller, T. Scholten, N. Schwab, and R. Wedegärtner

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Views and downloads (calculated since 23 Oct 2014)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Oct 2014	41	48	1	90
Nov 2014	53	54	1	108
Dec 2014	12	34	2	48
Jan 2015	7	20	1	28
Feb 2015	5	7	2	14
Mar 2015	10	9	0	19
Apr 2015	14	16	1	31
May 2015	54	30	3	87
Jun 2015	50	35	0	85
Jul 2015	29	68	0	97
Aug 2015	18	83	2	103
Sep 2015	21	76	3	100
Oct 2015	28	81	2	111
Nov 2015	28	40	1	69
Dec 2015	6	39	1	46
Jan 2016	28	45	3	76
Feb 2016	26	22	0	48
Mar 2016	21	27	2	50
Apr 2016	9	18	0	27
May 2016	13	15	1	29
Jun 2016	6	12	3	21
Jul 2016	12	10	2	24
Aug 2016	20	14	0	34
Sep 2016	7	12	0	19
Oct 2016	16	7	1	24
Nov 2016	10	7	0	17
Dec 2016	7	8	0	15
Jan 2017	28	8	3	39
Feb 2017	20	18	0	38
Mar 2017	32	28	1	61
Apr 2017	44	19	0	63
May 2017	31	22	1	54
Jun 2017	33	25	0	58
Jul 2017	21	16	3	40
Aug 2017	10	9	1	20
Sep 2017	18	27	0	45
Oct 2017	13	27	0	40
Nov 2017	23	29	2	54
Dec 2017	14	34	4	52
Jan 2018	17	27	0	44
Feb 2018	14	14	3	31
Mar 2018	20	26	1	47
Apr 2018	18	28	2	48
May 2018	17	29	0	46
Jun 2018	17	31	5	53
Jul 2018	14	34	1	49
Aug 2018	14	31	0	45
Sep 2018	18	27	1	46
Oct 2018	14	26	4	44
Nov 2018	22	28	2	52
Dec 2018	14	21	2	37
Jan 2019	15	12	2	29
Feb 2019	17	4	2	23
Mar 2019	18	7	2	27
Apr 2019	9	12	1	22
May 2019	5	9	1	15
Jun 2019	5	17	1	23
Jul 2019	15	23	1	39
Aug 2019	13	21	2	36
Sep 2019	8	16	0	24
Oct 2019	23	14	1	38
Nov 2019	13	19	2	34
Dec 2019	8	13	1	22
Jan 2020	19	6	1	26
Feb 2020	18	8	0	26
Mar 2020	11	6	1	18
Apr 2020	7	9	1	17
May 2020	10	2	2	14
Jun 2020	37	12	1	50
Jul 2020	31	43	31	105
Aug 2020	11	9	4	24
Sep 2020	17	7	0	24
Oct 2020	11	7	1	19
Nov 2020	18	10	0	28
Dec 2020	18	16	2	36
Jan 2021	27	13	1	41
Feb 2021	35	14	1	50
Mar 2021	26	11	2	39
Apr 2021	35	10	2	47
May 2021	30	9	2	41
Jun 2021	23	29	2	54
Jul 2021	32	27	0	59
Aug 2021	27	14	3	44
Sep 2021	32	24	2	58
Oct 2021	25	22	1	48
Nov 2021	31	25	6	62
Dec 2021	37	14	1	52
Jan 2022	34	20	1	55
Feb 2022	19	14	8	41
Mar 2022	38	10	0	48
Apr 2022	35	15	2	52
May 2022	35	15	1	51
Jun 2022	17	19	2	38
Jul 2022	26	15	1	42
Aug 2022	34	13	2	49
Sep 2022	26	13	1	40
Oct 2022	34	18	5	57
Nov 2022	57	18	1	76
Dec 2022	40	10	1	51
Jan 2023	55	23	3	81
Feb 2023	48	23	0	71
Mar 2023	74	30	2	106
Apr 2023	39	33	0	72
May 2023	40	25	1	66
Jun 2023	43	21	2	66
Jul 2023	32	13	1	46
Aug 2023	36	28	3	67
Sep 2023	48	14	1	63
Oct 2023	114	15	0	129
Nov 2023	111	10	3	124
Dec 2023	67	13	2	82
Jan 2024	49	30	1	80
Feb 2024	29	12	3	44
Mar 2024	40	32	4	76
Apr 2024	42	23	11	76
May 2024	42	24	4	70
Jun 2024	71	22	3	96
Jul 2024	59	23	6	88
Aug 2024	81	12	1	94
Sep 2024	37	18	2	57
Oct 2024	45	28	1	74
Nov 2024	35	14	1	50
Dec 2024	37	17	1	55
Jan 2025	44	29	3	76
Feb 2025	63	21	1	85
Mar 2025	49	18	1	68
Apr 2025	31	22	1	54
May 2025	59	13	1	73
Jun 2025	83	34	3	120
Jul 2025	78	28	2	108
Aug 2025	52	25	1	78
Sep 2025	58	38	3	99
Oct 2025	63	52	2	117
Nov 2025	68	61	4	133
Dec 2025	58	91	2	151
Jan 2026	99	94	6	199
Feb 2026	49	57	1	107
Mar 2026	65	70	4	139
Apr 2026	26	21	0	47

Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 23 Oct 2014)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Oct 2014	41	48	1	90
Nov 2014	53	54	1	108
Dec 2014	12	34	2	48
Jan 2015	7	20	1	28
Feb 2015	5	7	2	14
Mar 2015	10	9	0	19
Apr 2015	14	16	1	31
May 2015	54	30	3	87
Jun 2015	50	35	0	85
Jul 2015	29	68	0	97
Aug 2015	18	83	2	103
Sep 2015	21	76	3	100
Oct 2015	28	81	2	111
Nov 2015	28	40	1	69
Dec 2015	6	39	1	46
Jan 2016	28	45	3	76
Feb 2016	26	22	0	48
Mar 2016	21	27	2	50
Apr 2016	9	18	0	27
May 2016	13	15	1	29
Jun 2016	6	12	3	21
Jul 2016	12	10	2	24
Aug 2016	20	14	0	34
Sep 2016	7	12	0	19
Oct 2016	16	7	1	24
Nov 2016	10	7	0	17
Dec 2016	7	8	0	15
Jan 2017	28	8	3	39
Feb 2017	20	18	0	38
Mar 2017	32	28	1	61
Apr 2017	44	19	0	63
May 2017	31	22	1	54
Jun 2017	33	25	0	58
Jul 2017	21	16	3	40
Aug 2017	10	9	1	20
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Oct 2017	13	27	0	40
Nov 2017	23	29	2	54
Dec 2017	14	34	4	52
Jan 2018	17	27	0	44
Feb 2018	14	14	3	31
Mar 2018	20	26	1	47
Apr 2018	18	28	2	48
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Jul 2018	14	34	1	49
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Nov 2018	22	28	2	52
Dec 2018	14	21	2	37
Jan 2019	15	12	2	29
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Mar 2019	18	7	2	27
Apr 2019	9	12	1	22
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Oct 2020	11	7	1	19
Nov 2020	18	10	0	28
Dec 2020	18	16	2	36
Jan 2021	27	13	1	41
Feb 2021	35	14	1	50
Mar 2021	26	11	2	39
Apr 2021	35	10	2	47
May 2021	30	9	2	41
Jun 2021	23	29	2	54
Jul 2021	32	27	0	59
Aug 2021	27	14	3	44
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Oct 2021	25	22	1	48
Nov 2021	31	25	6	62
Dec 2021	37	14	1	52
Jan 2022	34	20	1	55
Feb 2022	19	14	8	41
Mar 2022	38	10	0	48
Apr 2022	35	15	2	52
May 2022	35	15	1	51
Jun 2022	17	19	2	38
Jul 2022	26	15	1	42
Aug 2022	34	13	2	49
Sep 2022	26	13	1	40
Oct 2022	34	18	5	57
Nov 2022	57	18	1	76
Dec 2022	40	10	1	51
Jan 2023	55	23	3	81
Feb 2023	48	23	0	71
Mar 2023	74	30	2	106
Apr 2023	39	33	0	72
May 2023	40	25	1	66
Jun 2023	43	21	2	66
Jul 2023	32	13	1	46
Aug 2023	36	28	3	67
Sep 2023	48	14	1	63
Oct 2023	114	15	0	129
Nov 2023	111	10	3	124
Dec 2023	67	13	2	82
Jan 2024	49	30	1	80
Feb 2024	29	12	3	44
Mar 2024	40	32	4	76
Apr 2024	42	23	11	76
May 2024	42	24	4	70
Jun 2024	71	22	3	96
Jul 2024	59	23	6	88
Aug 2024	81	12	1	94
Sep 2024	37	18	2	57
Oct 2024	45	28	1	74
Nov 2024	35	14	1	50
Dec 2024	37	17	1	55
Jan 2025	44	29	3	76
Feb 2025	63	21	1	85
Mar 2025	49	18	1	68
Apr 2025	31	22	1	54
May 2025	59	13	1	73
Jun 2025	83	34	3	120
Jul 2025	78	28	2	108
Aug 2025	52	25	1	78
Sep 2025	58	38	3	99
Oct 2025	63	52	2	117
Nov 2025	68	61	4	133
Dec 2025	58	91	2	151
Jan 2026	99	94	6	199
Feb 2026	49	57	1	107
Mar 2026	65	70	4	139
Apr 2026	26	21	0	47

Saved (final revised paper)

Latest update: 24 Apr 2026

Short summary

Near-natural Himalayan treelines are usually krummholz treelines, which are relatively unresponsive to climate change. Intense recruitment of treeline trees suggests a great potential for future treeline advance. Competitive abilities of tree seedlings within krummholz thickets and dwarf scrub heaths will be a major source of variation in treeline dynamics. Tree growth-climate relationships show mature treeline trees to be responsive in particular to high pre-monsoon temperature trends.