Ecology of alpine plants in NW Himalaya.

Mgr. Miroslav DVORSKÝ

Doctoral thesis

Anotácia:

The westernmost spur of the Tibetan Plateau stretches to Eastern Ladakh in India. It is a region which remains poorly explored because of challenging conditions and long periods of political instability. At the same time, it is one of the highest places on earth supporting angiosperm life, which goes beyond 6000 m a.s.l. here. The whole region, due its remoteness, is practically unaffected by plant invasions and direct human activities. Thus, Ladakh represents a kind of "natural experiment", providing very long gradient of elevation suitable for comparative functional ecology as well as for testing various hypotheses concerning limitations of vascular plants. Arid climate and extreme elevations are the common factors. Our team pursued the goal of systematic botanical and ecological exploration of Ladakh, started by late Leoš Klimeš. This thesis provides insight into the main vegetation types, clonality in plants, plant-plant interactions and soil phototroph communities.

Abstract:

The westernmost spur of the Tibetan Plateau stretches to Eastern Ladakh in India. It is a region which remains poorly explored because of challenging conditions and long periods of political instability. At the same time, it is one of the highest places on earth supporting angiosperm life, which goes beyond 6000 m a.s.l. here. The whole region, due its remoteness, is practically unaffected by plant invasions and direct human activities. Thus, Ladakh represents a kind of "natural experiment", providing very long gradient of elevation suitable for comparative functional ecology as well as for testing various hypotheses concerning limitations of vascular plants. Arid climate and extreme elevations are the common factors. Our team pursued the goal of systematic botanical and ecological exploration of Ladakh, started by late Leoš Klimeš. This thesis provides insight into the main vegetation types, clonality in plants, plant-plant interactions and soil phototroph communities.

Kľúčové slová

alpine plants, extreme elevation, vegetation, high-altitude flora, cold and arid climate, plant-plant interactions, soil phototrophs, clonality, Tibetan Plateau, Ladakh, Karakorum, NW India, subnival zone

Jazyk práce: Czech

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 10. 3. 2014

Zverejniť od: 10. 3. 2014

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Obhajoba proběhla 14. 4. 2014
• Vedúci: doc. Mgr. Jiří Doležal, Ph.D.

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH BOHEMIA IN ČESKÉ BUDĚJOVICE

Faculty of Science

Doctoral programme / odbor:
Botany / Botany