Bhutan connects two major biogeographic zones, the Indo-Malayan and Palearctic and is part of the Eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspot. As a predominantly agriculture-based country, it also has a diversity of agricultural crops with 80 species and several landraces that have evolved as a result of various micro-climatic conditions. Protected Areas and connecting biological corridors cover The Protected Area PA system of Bhutan is regarded as one of the most comprehensive ones globally as it represents all the major ecosystems found in the country with biological corridors providing a continuum.
These Protected Areas are also considered as important carbon sinks. However, PAs in Bhutan too are confronted with several emerging threats. There is a rise in human-wildlife conflict and subsequent increase in poaching.
Funding is critical to address these threats. It is with this in mind that an innovative funding mechanism called Bhutan for Life has been established. Spearheaded by the World Wildlife Fund WWF , this is a multi-donor initiative where funds will not be distributed until the total committed amount has been collected. The Royal Government of Bhutan will simultaneously increase its own funding and at the end of the year period, will be financially supporting the Protected Area system entirely on its own.
Potential internal sources of funding include a green tax levied on import of vehicles, payment of ecosystem services primarily from hydropower and revenue generated from ecotourism in protected areas. Despite this, the tiny Himalayan country is still vulnerable to climate change. Glaciers are melting causing flash floods and landslides.
Bhutan has over 2, glacial lakes out of which 25 have been declared as potentially dangerous. But Bhutan is gearing up to this challenge.
There is also a focus on the transport sector with a move to create more user-friendly transport and discourage the use of private cars. However, the royal government was aware of the negative impacts of mass tourism and hence approached this with caution. The daily tariff includes the visa, accommodation, meals, transportation and guide services.
The rest of the tariff is for local tour operators to provide services to the tourists. The imposition of a daily tariff discouraged low-budget tourists and captured high-spending ones. This is a well thought-out system and Bhutan is indeed a pioneer in regulating tourism in the country, but still earning revenue from it.
However, Bhutan is now facing a serious dilemma in tourism. Planning a wildlife protected area network in India. Dehradun, India: Wildlife Institute of India. The authors divide the Deccan Peninsula into ten biogeographic zones and twenty-six biotic provinces based mainly on the distribution of large mammals with the objective of establishing protected areas for wildlife conservation.
Roy, P. Behera, M. Murthy, et al. New vegetation type map of India prepared using satellite remote sensing: Comparison with global vegetation maps and utilities. The authors produce a vegetation map using remote sensing and 15, field points providing spatial information on one hundred vegetation types.
The mapping was carried out on the distribution of major natural, semi-natural, and managed vegetation types in a hierarchical manner. Joshi, S. Singh, et al. Biome mapping in India using vegetation type map derived using temporal satellite data and environmental parameters. Ecological Modelling The study identifies nineteen Holdridge life zones, seven biomes, and nineteen sub-biomes in the Indian subcontinent.
The major biomes delineated are 1 tropical rain forests, 2 tropical wet evergreen forests, 3 tropical moist forests, 4 tropical dry forests, 5 tropical thorn forests, 6 tropical desert, and 7 Himalayan temperate tundra.
Available online by subscription or for purchase. Udvardy, M. A classification of the biogeographical provinces of the world. Widely used classification of biogeographical realms and terrestrial biomes. Identifies eight biogeographical realms. The Indo-Malayan realm has been categorized into twenty-eight ecosystems of which fourteen are in South Asia, including oceanic islands. Walter, H. Berichte der deutschen botanischen Gesellschaft — Whittaker, R.
Approaches to classifying vegetation. In Classification of plant communities. Edited by R. Whittaker, 1— The Hague: Junk. This volume is an important contribution to plant community ecology, particularly productivity, diversity, and succession. Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login. Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions.
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Your current browser may not support copying via this button. Identifying Biomes of South Asia A biome is a geographical area with a particular configuration of species and organisms maintained by environmental parameters such as temperature, soil, light, and water.
CO;2 The authors provide a new global map of terrestrial ecoregions as an innovative tool for conservation planning at the global scale.
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