~~ST~_CTS ____________________________________________________________________________1~_~

SVI/P-31
Soil Lichens as Indicator of Trampling in High
Altitude Grassland of Garhwal, Western Himalaya,
India
Roshni Khari *, Himanshu Rat, D.K. Upreti' a.n d Rajan K.
1
Gupta
ILichenology Laboratory, ationa] Botanical Re earch Institute,
Lucknow - 226001 , U.P. , INOlA, Email: Icharerohoi@gmail.com;
'Department of Botany, PI. L.M.S Govt. P.G College, Rishikesh-
:t~_~ ___________________________________________________________________________________ IC ~_E;f.:.~

24920 I, Debradun, Uttarakhand, INDIA

Lichen, a symbiotic amalgamation of a fungus
(mycobiont) and algae (pbycobiont) or cyanobacteria
(cyanobiont), are known to be more sensitive indicators of
ecosystem functioning and disturbances tban any other
cryptogamic and vascular plant community. Various lichen
groups e.g. babitat subsets (corticolous-on bark and
terricolous-on soil), lichen guilds or morphological groups
(fructose , foliose and dimorphic) and functional groups
(cyanolichens) are sensitive indicators of ecosystem bealth
and human-related impacts.
Temperate Himalayan habitats, despite their stressed
climatology, harbour some of the unique biodiversity of the
region, vital for overall ecosystem functioning and stabibty.
Lichens due to their desiccation- tolerance are able to survive
in high altitude Himalayan habitats and had utilised majority
of available microhabitats and substrate relives. Present
study examines the terricolous bchen community in Chopta-
Tungnath, temperate-alpine grassland of Garhwal Himalaya,
in order to identify potential elements (species! growth form)
as indicator of trampbng induced by live-stock grazing and
tourist movements.
Chopta-Tungnath lies between 30°28'39"- 30°29'51 "
N latitude and 79°12'9" - 79°13'21 " E longitude in
Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand. Typical mountainous
topography with elevation rising from 2700 m to 4001 m
above mean sea level, acidic soil pH (4 to 5.5), daily
orographic precipitation at higher altitudes and annual
monthly temperature ranging from J9°C t037°C (- 15°C at
higher altitudes) detennine the vegetation oftbe area which is
broadly classified as temperate mixed oak and coniferous
forest through sub-alpine forest to alpine scrub or grassland
along the altitude gradient. Lichen constitutes an important
component of the vegetation inhabiting nearly all the
terrestrial and boreal domains.
Terricolous lichens were sampled from twelve sites
distributed in three stratified macrobabitats, along increasing
altitudinal gradient. A total of twenty oil lichen species
belonging to ten genera, six families and four morpbological
groups (i.e. leprose, foliose, dimorphic and fruticose) were
identified. Soil lichen diversity was negatively correlated
(r=0.70; p <0.05) with altitude. Among the four growth
forms fruticose growth form was indicator of trampling
induced live-stock grazing, distinguishing low grazed high
altitude (3400-4001 m) areas with highly grazed low (2700-
3000 m) to mid altitude (3000-3400 m) areas (r=--O.81; p <
O.OJ). The effect of trampling was more intense at more
moist, mid to higber altitudes which receive daily rainfall
through orographic precipitation.
Terricolous lichen diversity in the study area was
found constrained by vascular plants at lower altitudes,
human-related impacts (tourism and livestock grazing
induced trampling) at mid-altitudes and habitat
characteristics (low soil cover) at higher altitudes.
Key words: Grazing, Himalaya, Lichens, Orographic, Terrico\ous,
Trampling
 Fourth International Conference on
Plants & Environmental Pollution
8-11 December, 2010

(8) Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, New Delhi

@ Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi

Deptt. of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science

& Technology, Govt. of India, New Delhi

Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India,

New Delhi

Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India, New Delhi

Australian Government
Aid Program

MONSANTO ~ Monsanto Holdings Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi

..- - Murdoch University, Perth, Australia

National Bank For Agriculture and Rural

Development (NABARD), Mumbai

State Bank of India

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