This correspondence refers to a recent note about monitoring alpine treeline in the Western Himalaya and few other
recent studies on the same aspect. Alpine zones in the Himalayas are the highest vegetation zones where seedbearing plants are found, but tree growth is excluded. Upper and lower boundaries of alpine zones are traditionally set as

Pollen record of an AMS radiocarbon dated lacustrine sediment profile underlying the Chandra peat deposit in Himachal Pradesh, yielded signatures of the globally reported Younger Dryas (YD) cold event. This report of the YD event in NW Himalaya, substantiated by mineral magnetic variations, also records significant wet and warm conditions prior to 12,880 cal yrs BP, depicting the Ållerød interstadial preceding YD.

The IPCC in its Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) described the Himalayan Region as data-deficient in terms of climate monitoring. This is a serious impediment to global research initiatives and thus necessitates long-term ecological monitoring (LTEM) across the Himalaya. Being governed by low temperature conditions, the high-altitude regions in Himalaya are more responsive to changing environmental conditions and hence serve as better indicators.

During preliminary investigation of spiders in Milam Valley, Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, the authors documented a total of 86 species/morphospecies under 39 genus and 16 families. Spider fauna in the valley was rich and diverse.

The complex interaction of environmental stress, poor natural regeneration and insect pests have lead to forest decline in Himalayan sub-region. Amongst the insects, stem and wood boring beetles are capable of causing significant oak mortality. The paper reports the outcome of surveys on wood boring beetles carried out in moist temperate oak forests, mainly with Ban oak, Quercus leucotrichophora Camus, Moru oak, Q. dilatata Lindl and Q. semicarpifolia Smith in six sites in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, India.

Hunting is the prime suspect in the global extinction of many species and is posing a major threat to populations of hundreds of species worldwide even in the absence of other forms of habitat destruction.This study was designed to investigate impact of wild ungulate offtakes on their populations in the forests in and around Chamba district of the Western Indian Himalaya.

Eleven potential bacterial probiotic isolates of Enterococcus, Bacillus and Lactobacillus spp. were examined

Soil and water are the two important natural resources, which are the backbone of the Indian agriculture. The prime cause for the backwardness of the farmers is reduction in soil fertility and productivity, due to massive soil erosion. Most of the farmers are depending mainly on renewable natural resources for their livelihoods. The inhabitants of the foothill region of Northwest Himalayas have degraded lands, fragmented and small land holdings and are generally resource poor.