The Himalayan tree landscape is shifting—and so are its ecosystems

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By Saugat Bolakhe, Science. 

Excerpt: In the Himalayan mountains, it’s not just climbers who race their way to the top. Trees are locked in a contest, as well. In many places, birch, the dominant tree of these highlands, is losing ground to fir, a slow-growing evergreen conifer, according to a study published last month in Nature Plants. This shift could reshape habitats for other species and alter the dynamics of the Himalayan ecosystem. ...The Himalayas are experiencing warming and drought events at a faster pace than the global average. How its tree lines—which mark the highest altitude at which trees grow—are responding to these rapid changes is a question that has long fascinated botanist Shalik Ram Sigdel. In his work, he frequently found tree lines comprised of a mix of birches and firs. “I became really curious how one species was responding compared to the other,” he says. ...fir trees are shifting uphill at about 11 centimeters per year—roughly the length of a pen—compared with birch trees, which move at about 6 centimeters per year, about the width of a smartphone.... 

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