Western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests
Encyclopedia
The Western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests is a temperate coniferous forests
Temperate coniferous forests
Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial biome found in temperate regions of the world with warm summers and cool winters and adequate rainfall to sustain a forest. In most temperate coniferous forests, evergreen conifers predominate, while some are a mix of conifers and broadleaf evergreen...

 ecoregion of the middle and upper elevations of the western Middle Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...

 of Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

.

Setting

The ecoregion forms a belt of coniferous forest covering 39700 sqkm on elevations between 3000 and 3500 m (9,842.5 and 11,482.9 ft). It extends west from the Gandaki River in Nepal, through the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

 and Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...

, and into Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state of India. It is situated mostly in the Himalayan mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and internationally with the People's Republic of China to the north and east and the...

 eastern Pakistan. This belt of conifers is the highest woodland of the bands of habitat that cover the Himalayas at different altitudes from the grasslands of the foothills to the high peaks, and above here lies treeless alpine scrub. This is a valuable ecosystem as many Himalayan birds and animals migrate seasonally up and down the mountains spending part of the year in the conifer forests, so conservation is a high priority.

This ecoregion is drier than the Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests
Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests
The Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests is a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion which is found in the middle and upper elevations of the eastern Middle Himalayas, in western Nepal, Bhutan and northern Indian states including Arunachal Pradesh....

, which receive more moisture from the Bay of Bengal
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...

 monsoon.

Flora

Several distinct forest types are found in this ecoregion. Fir trees (Abies spectabilis
Abies spectabilis
Abies spectabilis is a conifer species in the family Pinaceae and the genus firs. It is sometimes held to include the Bhutan Fir as a variety....

)
in places grow in nearly pure stands. In other areas they mix with oaks (Quercus semecarpifolia). Rhododendron campanulatum, Abies spectabilis, and birch (Betula utilis
Betula utilis
Betula utilis is a Birch tree native to the Himalayas, growing at elevations up to . The specific epithet, utilis, refers to the many uses of the different parts of the tree. The white, paper-like bark of the tree was used in ancient times for writing Sanskrit scriptures and texts...

)
form another common assemblage. Elsewhere mixed-conifer forests are made up of Abies spectabilis, Blue Pine (Pinus wallichiana) and spruce (Picea smithiana). Cupressus torulosa
Cupressus torulosa
Cupressus torulosa, known as the Himalayan cypress, is a species of cypress in southern Asia.-Distribution:The Himalayan cypress is an evergreen conifer tree species is found in the Himalaya from . It is also found on limestone terrain in Sichuan China and in Vietnam.-See also:*Cupressus*Index:...

and Cedrus deodara are also found here.

Fauna

This ecoregion is home to some fifty-eight species of mammals. Important inhabitants include the brown bear and threatened or endangered species such as Himalayan Serow
Himalayan Serow
The Himalayan Serow is a vulnerable goat-antelope, native to eastern and southeastern Bangladesh, the Himalayas , northeastern India, and probably western Burma. It has been considered a subspecies of C. sumatraensis....

, Himalayan Tahr, and the markhor goat, the national symbol of Pakistan. the only endemic mammal is a rodent, the Murree Vole
Murree Vole
The Murree Vole is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is endemic to Pakistan.-Distribution:It is confined to the Himalayas including Murree Hills, Kaghan Valley and Swat Valley.-References:...

 (Hyperacrius wynnei).

About 285 species of birds have been recorded in this ecoregion, including 9 endemic species and a number of birds that are sensitive to habitat disturbance and therefore likely to be vulnerable to further forest clearance. These include the Koklass Pheasant (Pucrasia macrolopha), Western Tragopan
Western Tragopan
The Western Tragopan or Western Horned Tragopan is a medium-sized brightly plumaged pheasant found along the Himalayas from Hazara in northern Pakistan in the west to Uttarakhand within India to the east...

 (Tragopan melanocephalus), and the Himalayan Monal
Himalayan Monal
The Himalayan Monal, Lophophorus impejanus also known as the Impeyan Monal or Impeyan Pheasant or Danphe is a bird of genus Lophophorus of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. It is the national bird of Nepal, where it is known as the Danfe, and the state bird of Uttarakhand.Traditionally, the...

 (Lophophorus impejanus).

Threats and conservation

Despite being relatively thinly populated some seventy percent of the conifer forest has been cleared or degraded, partly to make way for terrace cultivation. However it still contains some of the least disturbed forests in the western Himalayas. Protected areas that contain areas of conifer forest include Great Himalayan National Park
Great Himalayan National Park
Great Himalayan National Park is the newest addition to India's national parks, located in Kullu region in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The park was...

 and Rupi Bhabha Sanctuary in Himachal Pradesh, Kishtwar National Park
Kishtwar National Park
Kishtwar National Park is a national park located in the Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. it is bounded to the north by Rinnay river, south by Kibar Nala catchment, east by main divide of Great Himalaya and west by Marwa river....

 in Jammu and Kashmir, Gangotri National Park
Gangotri National Park
Gangotri National Park is a national park located in Uttarkashi District Uttarakhand, India. The size of this national park is about 1,553 square km...

 and Govind Pashu Vihar Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...

, all in India, and Royal Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve in Nepal. A particular threat comes from disturbance of nesting birds during the collection of morel mushrooms in spring.
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