RESEARCH PROPOSAL

For masters program

Title: PLANT DIVERSITY OF HENGDUAN MOUNTAINS HIMALAYA

Background:

The Himalaya is one of the youngest and the loftiest mountain chains of the world it is also
referred to as the water tower of Asia. The Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains region (HMM) is
home to over 20,000 species of vascular plants and harbors the richest alpine flora on earth, with a
notable richness of endemic species. The region extends along the southern frontier to the
southeastern rim of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), which comprises an area of
approximately 2.56106 km2 with average altitudes of ca. 4,000 m. It is commonly accepted that
the QTP uplift had a major impact on the development of the Asian climate system and on East
Asian biodiversity. The vegetation in the QTP and HHM is regarded as highly sensitive and
vulnerable to climate change. This vulnerability may be reflected in the genetic pattern of extant
populations/species occurring in this region because climatic oscillation of the Pleistocene has
likely shaped the spatial distribution of genetic diversity. Phylogeographical analyses are now
widely used to reconstruct the history of species using genealogical data within and between
populations. However, our knowledge of phylogeographical histories of organisms occurring in
the QTP and HHM as well as causal correlations with climatic fluctuations has been limited so
far, due to finite phylogeographical studies in the QTP and its adjacent areas in particular for
plants. Interestingly, these studies suggest remarkable differences in the phylogeographical history
of the species involved, although two main patterns might be inferred. The first common pattern is
found in species that probably survived in refugia on the eastern edge of the central plateau during
the interglacial and postglacial periods, such as Pedicularis longiflora and Juniperus przewalskii.
The second common pattern is found in cold-tolerant species, such as Potentilla fruticosa and
Aconitum gymnandrum, which may have survived in high-altitude parts of the plateau during the
last Glacial Maximum (LGM). These taxa may have maintained their range perhaps also during
previous Pleistocene glaciations, in which no massive ice sheets were developed on the QTP.
Unfortunately, most previous studies have sampled only in the QTP and HHM, and the postglacial
recovery of northern China has been addressed by only a few studies. Furthermore, all
phylogeographical plant studies have focused on seed plants, and until now no research
concerning phylogeographical patterns and processes has been carried out for other land plants
occurring in this region, such as ferns. Ferns not only contribute a significant number of species to
the biodiversity hotspots in SE Asia but also they are likely well suited for reconstructing the
impact of climatic oscillations on the spatial distribution of biodiversity.
The Himalayas, especially their core regions, i.e., the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) and the
Hengduan Mountains (HDM), comprise one of the key high-altitude biodiversity hotspots in the
world (Myers et al., 2000). Geological and climatic differences have created profound ecological
heterogeneity in the QTP and HDM: eastern regions have deep valleys characterized mainly by a
warm and wet climate, whereas the high-elevation central and western Himalayas are
characterized by a cold and dry climate (Wu and Wu, 1996; Favre et al., 2015). In an influential
study, Wu and Wu (1996) divided these regions into two floristic subkingdoms, Sino-Himalayan,
and the Tibetan Plateau, based on the distribution of taxa endemic to these areas (Figure 1A). The
former subkingdom includes most parts of the Yunnan Plateau, HDM, and the East Himalayan
region, while the latter subkingdom is composed of most regions of the QTP including the Tangut
 the Tibet–Pamir–Kunlun, and the Western Himalayan region. Wu and Wu (1996) further divided
the center of the HDM region itself into three subregions: the northern, southern, and three river-
gorges regions (Wu and Wu, 1996; Figure 1A). In the past two decades phylogeographic studies
have been conducted in the QTP-HDM region (see an introduction of Ren et al., 2017). Almost
all of these studies have demonstrated that past climatic changes, including at least some related
to geological events, have affected the demographic history of the organisms and have further
suggested that multiple plant refugia probably existed in the Himalayas (Sun et al., 2017; Chen et
al., 2018). Nevertheless, the results of these studies have rarely been incorporated into analyses of
phylogeographic regionalization, in contrast to other areas such as South America (Amarilla et
al., 2015).
Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain spatial richness patterns in mountains based
on ecological or evolutionary processes. Under the ecological constraints hypothesis, the
availability of niches (habitats or ecological zones) regulates species richness in a given region
(Chesson, 2000; Rabosky, 2009). In a constrained ecological space, intense interactions and
competition for restricted niches limit lineages diversification and species coexistence, resulting in
slowdowns in species accumulation (Moen & Morlon, 2014; Rabosky, 2009).
The extent of the HDM hotspot as we define it is slightly larger than Li's definition (Li, 1989).
The approximate geographical extent is similar to that of the Sino-Himalayan Subkingdom (Wu
and Wu, 1996), an area of about 500 thousand square kilometers. Within the area, the most
significant feature is the extreme species diversity, with estimates of up to 16,550 species
accounting for about 62% of the total number of Chinese seed plants, belonging to 2264 genera
(about 74% of all Chinese genera), 227 families (about 70% of all Chinese families), of which
there are at least 3300 endemic species and 90 endemic genera. Of particular interest is the
occurrence of one near endemic family, Circaeasteraceae (two genera, Circaeaster and
Kingdonia) and the monotypic Acanthochlamys, which was at one time considered to be in its
own family Acanthochlamydaceae (Wu, 1988), but is now considered to be a basal member of the
predominantly Southern Hemisphere family Velloziaceae (Mello-Silva et al., 2011). Additionally,
there are at least 16 genera with over 100 species, most of them formed in this region of dramatic
differentiation. Xu et al. (2014a, b) calculated that the plant diversity in the subnival (alpine) zone
of the HDM numbers 942 species of seed plants in 168 genera and 48 families, which is two to
three times the number of seed plant species than in any other known alpine belt region. Another
notable feature is the complex diversity of the floristic elements. The west side of the region is
adjacent to central Asia and a Mediterranean flora characterized on the Hengduan Biodiversity
website at http://hengduan.huh. Harvard.edu/fieldnotes.
The history of the formation of plant diversity in the HDM has three main origins, Laurasia,
Tethys and Gondwana (Li and Li, 1993). The greatest composition is derived from Laurasia. The
vast subalpine coniferous forests and deciduous broadleaved forests in the HDM are descendants
of the Arctic-Tertiary Geoflora, which appeared in the HDM mostly after the Miocene (Tao et al.,
2000). Biogeographic studies of taxa such as Saxifraga, Salix, Rhododendron, Deutzia,
Maianthemum, Meehania, Astilbe, Diapensia and many others also found that they migrated
southward to the region during the global temperature declines in the Miocene (Chen et al., 2010;
Deng et al., 2015; Ebersbach et al., 2017; Hou et al., 2016; Kim et al., 2015; Meng et al., 2008;
Zhu et al., 2013).

Objectives of the study

 Developing an in-depth understanding of the formation and evolution of plant diversity in
the region then classify them.
  To use pheasants (Aves: Phasianidae) as a model group to test these hypotheses and to
understand the ecological and evolutionary processes that have generated the
extraordinary diversity in these mountains.
 To respect, preserve and maintain traditional knowledge relevant to the conservation and
sustainable use of biological diversity.
 To establish mechanisms to ensure the effective participation of indigenous and local
communities in decision-making and policy planning;
 To determine how this knowledge is distributed between locations at lower and higher
elevations and among generations in these two research areas.

Methodology
By using distribution maps predicted by species distribution models (SDMs) and a time-
calibrated phylogeny for pheasants, I will examine the relationships between species richness and
predictors including net primary productivity (NPP), niche diversity (NicheDiv), DivRate,
evolutionary time (EvolTime) and colonization frequency using Pearson’s correlations and
structural equation modelling (SEM). I would like to reconstruct ancestral ranges at nodes and
examined basal/derived species patterns to reveal the mechanisms underlying species richness
gradients in the Sino-Himalayas. I will also enrich my knowledge in Molecular studies and using
suitable techniques, DNA sampling, PCR, and sequencing which may provide evidence for
establishing floristic geographic boundaries within the HDM.
I would like to use four standard databases, namely Web of Science
(http://www.webofknowledge. com), Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.co.in/schhp?hl=en),
Science Direct (http://www.sciencedirect.com), and PubMed
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed) to systematically identify peer-reviewed journal and book
articles using a combination of controlled vocabulary and free text terms based on the following
keywords and terms: ‘‘Himalaya’’ AND ‘‘Arid’’, ‘‘Himalaya’’ AND ‘‘Biogeography’’,
‘‘Himalaya’’ AND ‘‘Ecology’’, ‘‘Himalaya’’ AND ‘‘Evolution’’, ‘‘Himalaya’’ AND
‘‘Formation’’, ‘‘Himalaya’’ AND ‘‘Fossil’’, ‘‘Himalaya’’ AND ‘‘Glacier’’, ‘‘Himalaya’’ AND
‘‘Gondwana’’, ‘‘Himalaya’’ AND ‘‘Ice Age’’, ‘‘Himalaya’’ AND ‘‘Monsoon’’, ‘‘Himalaya’’
AND ‘‘Paleo’’, ‘‘Himalaya’’ AND ‘‘Plants’’, ‘‘Himalaya’’ AND ‘‘Refugia’’, ‘‘Himalaya’’ AND
‘‘Tectonic’’ and ‘‘Himalaya’’ AND ‘‘Uplift''. All search fields were considered in the database
while searching. Articles were searched for all periods up to, and including, December 2017 in
the English language irrespective of the number of citations.
Plan of work
The present study will be carried as follow:
Step1
i) Selection of sample sites (Gaoligong Mountains and Tibetan Himalaya)
ii) Reported plant collection, preservation, and identification.
Step2
i) Recorded observation will be processed to identify plants with the help of flora Uplift-
driven diversification in the Hengduan Mountains, a temperate biodiversity hotspot
Step3
i) Purposive sampling method will use for the selection of informants, and information
regarding the plant's people interaction through semi-structured interviews. The
collected data will analyze through different quantitative indices.
Major studies will be the focus on
Alpine plant diversity studies, especially the flora composition features, system and evolution,
geographic distribution patterns and ecological adaptation mechanisms of diverse alpine plants in
Sino-Himalayan region.

Literature cited

Sun, H., et al., Origins and evolution of plant diversity in the Hengduan Mountains, China, Plant
Diversity (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pld.2017.09.004
Wang L, Wu Z-Q, Bystriakova N, Ansell SW, Xiang Q-P, et al. (2011) Phylogeography of the
Sino-Himalayan Fern Lepisorus clathratus on ‘‘The Roof of the World’’. PLoS ONE 6(9):
e25896. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0025896
Zhang JW, Boufford DE, Sun H*, 2011. Parasyncalathium J.W. Zhang, Boufford & H. Sun
(Asteraceae, Cichorieae), a new genus endemic to the Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains. Taxon. In
press.
Zhou Z, Wen J, Li GD, Sun H*, 2011. Phylogenetic assessment and biogeographic analyses of
tribe Peracarpeae (Campanulaceae). Plant Systematics and Evolution online.
Manish and Pandit (2018), PeerJ, DOI 10.7717/peerj.5919
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2018.00171/full#supplementary-material
Nan Lin1,2,3†, Tao Deng3†, Michael J. Moore4 , Yanxia Sun1 , Xianhan Huang3 , Wenguang
Sun3 , Dong Luo3 , Hengchang Wang1 *, Jianwen Zhang3 * and Hang Sun

www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1616063114/-/DCSupplemental.
PARAMJIT SINGH Botanical Survey of India
DF Block, 5th Floor, C.G.O.Complex, Salt Lake
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