Climate Change Impacts on Himalayan Biodiversity: Evidence-Based Perception and Current Approaches to Evaluate Threats Under Climate Change

• Published in: Journal of the Indian Institute of Science Vol. 101; no. 2; pp. 195 - 210
• Main Authors: Dahal, Nishma, Lamichhaney, Sangeet, Kumar, Sanjay
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Delhi Springer India 01-04-2021
• Subjects: Chemistry and Materials Science; Chemistry/Food Science; Engineering; Materials Science; Physics; Review Article
• ISSN: 0970-4140; 0019-4964
• DOI: 10.1007/s41745-021-00237-1

Predicting the response of biota to climate change is an active field of research. Advancements in the field of genomics has revolutionized climate change research. Genomic approaches used together with other ecological tools have the potential to identify the population and/or species at higher risk of extinction due to climate change. Himalayan biodiversity has faced drastic impacts of climate change in the past and is predicted to be vulnerable to future climate change. In this review, we provide a scientific evidence-based understanding about the impacts of climate change on Himalayan biodiversity. We summarize reported patterns of climate change in the Himalayas across time scales, their impacts on biodiversity and summarize hypotheses laid out by others to be tested in the future. We restrict our choice of study species to mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians and discuss the application of an integrated approach using genomics and ecological tools to better understand the consequences of climate change on Himalayan biodiversity.