A unique patch of timberline ecotone with three species of Lady’s slipper orchids in Garhwal Himalaya, India

• Main Authors: I.D. Rai, B.S. Adhikari, G.S. Rawat
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wildlife Information Liaison Development Society 2010-03-01
• Series: Journal of Threatened Taxa
• Online Access: http://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/article/view/1178

The timberline ecotone experiences a large number of micro-habitats manifested by the action of snow, wind, topography, aspect and anthropogenic pressures and exhibits a sharp ecological gradient of biotic and abiotic components. These changes in micro-habitat, such as compaction of soil, replacement of herbs with grasses and consequent increase in root growth, impede the growth of tree species and affected the sensitive taxa at timberline. During baseline information collection on the structure and composition of timberline vegetation at a timberline ecotone in outer fringes of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, we came across all three species of Cypripedium at a single site, i.e. birch (Betula utilis) forest. This is the first report of these three species (C. cordigerum, C. elegans and C. himalaicum) occurring at a single locality.