Publication Date

Summer 2025

Abstract

Considering the challenges of climate change, it is imperative to understand hydroclimate variability in sensitive regions around the world, such as the Himalayas. Proxies such as lake cores, speleothems, dendrochronology, and others help provide high-resolution data on paleoclimatic conditions. Dendrochronology provides an ideal proxy for understanding recent hydroclimatic conditions. The data it provides is exceptional due to the cyclical and highly sensitive nature of tree rings. While the western and central Nepal Himalaya have been analyzed using these methods, sections of the eastern Nepal Himalaya have yet to be observed. In this study, we aim to close this knowledge gap by providing hydroclimatic data regarding a region in the eastern Nepal Himalaya, specifically in and around Kalinchok. Kalinchok provides an excellent locality for this study due to its high amounts of rainfall from the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) and its proximity to the Bay of Bengal, both of which allow for precipitation to be the limiting factor for tree growth in this area. Comparing dendrochronological data collected from this region to a precipitation database such as APHRODITE (Asian Precipitation Highly Resolved Observational Data Integration Towards Evaluation of Water Resources, Monsoon Asia, Version 10/monsoon Asia) and adjacent databases will help strengthen the current knowledge on how climate change is affecting precipitation seasonality in the Eastern Nepal Himalaya, as well as how trees are reacting to these dramatic global shifts. By correlating these different hydroclimatic databases to the data obtained from the tree cores, we can identify the limiting factors to the growth of these species, and understand the climatic cycles which most closely dictate tree growth.

Disciplines

Life Sciences | Social and Behavioral Sciences

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