Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part I General perspectives
- Part II Regional floristic and animal diversity
- 9 Tropical montane cloud forests in Malaysia: current state of knowledge
- 10 Montane cloud forests on remote islands of Oceania: the example of French Polynesia (South Pacific Ocean)
- 11 Tropical lowland cloud forest: a neglected forest type
- 12 Altitudinal zonation and diversity patterns in the forests of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
- 13 The outstandingly speciose epiphytic flora of a single strangler fig (Ficus crassiuscula) in a Peruvian montane cloud forest
- 14 Comparative structure, pattern, and tree traits of laurel cloud forests in Anaga, northern Tenerife (Canary Islands) and in lauro-fagaceous forests of central Japan
- 15 Temperature and humidity as determinants of the transition from dry pine forest to humid cloud forests in the Bhutan Himalaya
- 16 The importance of cloud forest sites in the conservation of endemic and threatened species of the Albertine Rift
- 17 The mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) and Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus): two charismatic, large mammals in South American tropical montane cloud forests
- 18 Cloud forests in East Africa as evolutionary motors for speciation processes of flightless Saltatoria species
- 19 Diversity of geometrid moths in two Neotropical rain forests
- Part III Hydrometeorology of tropical montane cloud forest
- Part IV Nutrient dynamics in tropical montane cloud forests
- Part V Cloud forest water use, photosynthesis, and effects of forest conversion
- Part VI Effects of climate variability and climate change
- Part VII Cloud forest conservation, restoration, and management issues
- References
15 - Temperature and humidity as determinants of the transition from dry pine forest to humid cloud forests in the Bhutan Himalaya
from Part II - Regional floristic and animal diversity
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 May 2011
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part I General perspectives
- Part II Regional floristic and animal diversity
- 9 Tropical montane cloud forests in Malaysia: current state of knowledge
- 10 Montane cloud forests on remote islands of Oceania: the example of French Polynesia (South Pacific Ocean)
- 11 Tropical lowland cloud forest: a neglected forest type
- 12 Altitudinal zonation and diversity patterns in the forests of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
- 13 The outstandingly speciose epiphytic flora of a single strangler fig (Ficus crassiuscula) in a Peruvian montane cloud forest
- 14 Comparative structure, pattern, and tree traits of laurel cloud forests in Anaga, northern Tenerife (Canary Islands) and in lauro-fagaceous forests of central Japan
- 15 Temperature and humidity as determinants of the transition from dry pine forest to humid cloud forests in the Bhutan Himalaya
- 16 The importance of cloud forest sites in the conservation of endemic and threatened species of the Albertine Rift
- 17 The mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) and Andean bear (Tremarctos ornatus): two charismatic, large mammals in South American tropical montane cloud forests
- 18 Cloud forests in East Africa as evolutionary motors for speciation processes of flightless Saltatoria species
- 19 Diversity of geometrid moths in two Neotropical rain forests
- Part III Hydrometeorology of tropical montane cloud forest
- Part IV Nutrient dynamics in tropical montane cloud forests
- Part V Cloud forest water use, photosynthesis, and effects of forest conversion
- Part VI Effects of climate variability and climate change
- Part VII Cloud forest conservation, restoration, and management issues
- References
Summary
ABSTRACT
Air temperature and humidity, as well as soil moisture conditions were decisive in determining forest composition and structural changes along an altitudinal transect from a dry valley bottom at 1250 m.a.s.l. to a ridge top at 3550 m.a.s.l. in the Bhutan Himalaya. Mean annual temperature and soil moisture content were inversely related. Mean annual temperature decreased from 18.2 °C in the valley to 4.3 °C at the ridge top, with an average lapse rate of 0.62 °C 100 m−1. Conversely, relative humidity, soil moisture content, and mean annual precipitation all increased with elevation, from 71.0%, 14.7%, and 584 mm in the valley to 93.5%, 73%, and 1576 mm at 3550 m. Based on quantitative vegetation data, climatic conditions, and observations on the presence of mosses and epiphytic vascular plants, the cloud-affected zone was defined as lying above c. 2500 m.a.s.l. and coincided with the transition from moist broad-leaved forest to moist/wet broad-leaved forest. Two floristic/physiognomic transitions were identified along the altitudinal gradient between broad-leaved and coniferous forests; the lower one at 2000 m a.s.l. between dry Pinus roxburghii forest and moist evergreen broad-leaved Quercus lanata forest (intervening with deciduous broad-leaved Q. griffithii in between). A critical soil moisture content of c. 20% marked the limit of downward extension of broad-leaved trees into the shade-intolerant but drought-tolerant pine zone.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Tropical Montane Cloud ForestsScience for Conservation and Management, pp. 156 - 163Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
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