The potential of Himalayan cedar tree rings to analyse crop productivity, river discharge and glacier mass balance from Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, western Himalaya, India

Le résumé fourni par la source

Precipitation in the Himalayas is vital in sustaining the region’s ecological and economic systems. Rainfall in river valleys supports agriculture, which is crucial for the livelihoods of both upstream and downstream populations. Snowfall at high altitudes contributes to glacier mass balance, ensuring the long-term availability of freshwater. It also affects water resources essential for drinking, irrigation, and hydroelectric projects in the mountainous and foothill regions. In the present study, using Himalayan cedar tree-ring samples 403 years long, extending back to ad 1615, a ring-width chronology was developed from the moisture-stressed site of Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, western Himalaya. Response function analysis showed a positive relationship with precipitation and a negative relationship with temperature. However, precipitation shows a significant relationship with tree growth in the previous year’s November, December and February to May months of the current year. Utilising this relationship between tree growth and precipitation, the tree-ring width data were compared with crop productivity and river discharge from the Chamba region and with the Chhota Shigri Glacier mass balance data to assess the potential of tree-ring chronology. The tree-ring chronology shows a significant positive correlation with Rabi crop production, particularly wheat ( r = 0.50) and barley ( r = 0.62) for the period 1970–2014 from the Chamba Himalayan region. Furthermore, it exhibits a relationship with Budhil River discharge ( r = 0.33) for the period 1973–2001 in Chamba and with the mass balance of the Chhota Shigri Glacier (0.57) for the period 1970–2013 from the Lahaul-Spiti region. This correlation highlights the potential of tree-ring chronology for analysing long-term agro-climatic conditions and river and glacial dynamics from the region.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.