First-Ever Fern Diversity Map In Jammu Kashmir Signals Climate Shifts In Himalayas
The research, conducted by a team from the university's Centre for Biodiversity and Taxonomy, documented 225 species of pteridophytes.
By ETV Bharat Jammu & Kashmir Team
Published : July 5, 2025 at 4:54 PM IST
Srinagar: Scientists from the University of Kashmir have, for the first time, charted how ferns grow and evolve across the elevational spectrum of the Himalayan ranges in Jammu and Kashmir, revealing vital insights into biodiversity shifts in the face of climate change.
The research, conducted by a team from the university's Centre for Biodiversity and Taxonomy, documented 225 species of pteridophytes—including Dryopteris (wood ferns), Asplenium (spleenwort), and Polystichum (holly ferns)—and found that these ancient plants flourish most between 1901 and 2000 meters above sea level.
“In the case of SR (species richness), we found a unimodal hump-shaped curve along the elevational gradient, with the highest number of species at 1901–2000 m elevational band,” the study ‘Elevational patterns and drivers of taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of pteridophytes: A case study from the Himalaya’ said. “There was an increasing trend of SR from 3 species at 300–400 m to a maximum of 135 species at 1901–2000 m, and then a sharp decreasing trend till the last elevational band of 4601–4700 m with a single species.”
The researchers in the study also claimed that they have found 261 Aspleniaceae (78 species) as the largest family, followed by Polypodiaceae (70 species) and Pteridaceae (46 species). “In the case of genera, we found Dryopteris (28 species) as the largest, followed by Asplenium (21 species) and Polystichum (19 species).”
The study—authored by Sajad Ahmad Wani and colleagues Shabir Ahmad Zargar, Firdous Ahmad Dar, Aadil Abdullah Khoja, Akhtar Hussain Malik, Irfan Rashid, and Anzar Ahmad Khuroo—sought to understand how environmental drivers such as temperature and rainfall influence the distribution of fern species in the region. The findings offer critical evidence on how Himalayan ecosystems are responding to climate variability. The team had taken the northwestern part of the Indian Himalayan Region's Jammu and Kashmir as their study area.
“We compiled a comprehensive dataset on 225 pteridophyte species of the study region,” the researchers wrote, dividing the elevation gradient into 43 vertical bands, each 100 meters wide. The bands ranged from 300 meters to 4700 meters, capturing a wide ecological spectrum across the western Himalayas.
The researchers observed that precipitation—especially during the driest month—played a significant role in shaping species richness. “Precipitation-related climatic variables explained a greater proportion of the variation in SR compared to temperature-related variables,” the study found. However, evolutionary diversity metrics such as phylogenetic dispersion were more strongly influenced by temperature.
According to the study, “niche conservatism and environmental filtering shape the composition of pteridophytes along the elevation in this Himalayan region." This means that the evolutionary history of ferns and their climatic preferences are tightly linked—an insight that helps explain how plant communities might reorganise under future climate scenarios.
While mid-altitude zones emerged as biodiversity hotspots, the study also noted interesting trends at both lower and higher elevations. “We found phylogenetic clustering more or less at mid- and high-elevational bands and phylogenetic overdispersion at low-elevation bands,” the team wrote, highlighting how species at different elevations share or diverge in evolutionary lineage.
These findings are particularly relevant for conservation efforts in a region recognised globally as a biodiversity hotspot. “The composition of pteridophyte communities across the elevational gradient in Jammu and Kashmir exhibits clear indications of evolutionary mechanisms, which cannot be solely inferred from patterns of taxonomic species richness,” the authors said in, yet to be peer-reviewed comprehensive study.
The team emphasised that ferns—due to their reliance on moisture and limited stomatal control—are especially vulnerable to climate shifts and thus serve as sensitive bioindicators. “This reduced stomatal control can result in decreased water use efficiency... suggesting that pteridophytes have a higher dependency on water availability and are more sensitive to fluctuations in precipitation-related climatic variables,” the study noted.
Funded in part by the University Grants Commission and supported by the Department of Botany at the University of Kashmir, the study is the first comprehensive assessment of its kind for pteridophytes in the western Himalayas.
As climate change continues to reshape ecological boundaries in mountain regions, the authors argue that their work provides a crucial baseline for future research and policy. “Our findings can provide novel insights into different biogeographic processes, including dispersal, speciation, and extinction, thus can help in elucidating historical processes that have shaped current patterns of mountain biodiversity,” the study concludes.
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