Bandana Subedi

Masters Student
Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue

The role of bryophytes in mitigating the impact of climate change, particularly the loss of snow cover, on below ground carbon dynamics in boreal forest ecosystems

Directeur: Nicole Fenton
Codirecteur: Xavier Cavard

Researchgate  | AFD  | Linkedin  | ORCID 

CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECT

The boreal forest, the world’s second-largest forested biome, is a major global carbon reservoir. However, climate change-induced snow reductions expose soils to greater temperature fluctuations and more frequent freeze–thaw cycles, disrupting below-ground carbon processes such as microbial activity, biomass accumulation, and root dynamics. Mosses, particularly Sphagnum and Pleurozium, are dominant ground covers in boreal forests and play a crucial role in regulating temperature and moisture. Despite their ecological importance, their capacity to buffer soil carbon dynamics under declining snow cover remains poorly understood.This study addresses three main questions: (1) Do moss functional traits (colony density, water absorption capacity, nutrient content) vary under snow versus snow removal treatments? (2) How do moss types differ in their capacity to regulate fine root biomass and mortality? (3) Does moss cover mitigate snow loss effects on microbial biomass and community structure?

Field experiments were conducted in three mature black spruce stands near Villebois and Authier- Nord, where thirty-six 1.5 × 1.5 m plots were established with treatments varying in moss type, presence, and snow cover. Moss functional traits were measured in late spring, fine root biomass and composition were assessed through manual separation of live and dead roots, and microbial biomass was quantified using the chloroform fumigation method. Microbial community composition was characterized using Illumina sequencing of the bacterial 16S rRNA (V4–V5) and fungal ITS2 regions, with taxonomic assignment performed in QIIME2. Our findings will provide new insights into the functional role of mosses in regulating below-ground carbon processes under changing winter conditions. By clarifying whether moss traits buffer soils against the impacts of snow loss, this research contributes to predicting boreal forest resilience and carbon cycling in a warming climate.

RESEARCH INTEREST

• Forest ecology and management
• Climate change and carbon dynamics
• Wildlife and insect ecology
• GIS and Remote sensing

ACADEMIC FORMATION

• Master's degree in Ecology and Management of Forest Ecosystems. University of Quebec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT), Rouyn-Noranda, QC, Canada (2023 - to date).
• Bachelor's degree in Forestry. Institute of Forestry (IOF), Tribhuvan University (TU), Pokhara, Nepal (2019).

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

• Assistant Editor of BIONOTES. (2020-Present).
• Forest Ranger, Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment. Karnali Province, Nepal (2020-2022).
• Lecturer, Bhairav Ma Vi, Forestry Department. Karnali Province (2020-2022)
• Lab Assistant, Butterfly Research Centre. Bhimtal, India (2018-2020)

VOLUNTEER & EXTRACURRICULAR INVOLVEMENT

• Management Committee Member, 26th AFD Chair conference . Hotel Forestel, Val-d'Or, Quebec. (2024-11-20)

TRAININGS

• Graphic Design and Image Manipulation, Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science, 27th-28th November
• ArcGIS pro for dummies, Centre for Forest Research (CEF), Quebec, 23rd -24th January, 2024

MEMBERSHIP

• L’Institut de recherche sur les forêts (IRF) de l’UQAT
• Laboratoire international des forêts froides
• Chaire en amenagement forestier durable (ChaireAFD)
• Canadian Botanical Association (CBA)
• Société québécoise de bryologie (SQB)

POSTER PRESENTATION

• Bandana Subedi, Nicole J. Fenton, Xavier Cavard. Bryophytes as Climate Change Guardians: Unraveling Their Impact on Belowground Carbon Dynamics.25th AFD Chair conference. University of Quebec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec. (2023-11-28)
• Bandana Subedi, Nicole J. Fenton , Xavier Cavard . How do bryophytes buffer boreal forest carbon dynamics against the impact of reduced snow cover? 26th AFD Chair conference . Hotel Forestel, Val-d'Or, Quebec. (2024-11-20)

INTERNSHIP

• SEPAQ(Société des établissements de plein air du Québec): Make the list of bryophytes of Aiguebelle National Park.

PUBLICATIONS

• Smetacek, P and Subedi, B., 2022.New record of the genus Thymistida (Lepidoptera: Drepanidae) from Uttarakhand.  Bionotes, 317-320.
• Van der Poel, P., Smetacek, P., Smith, C., Gurung, T., K.C., S., Limbu, M., Panthee, S., Pariyar, S., Sapkota, A., Subedi, B., & Suwal, S. 2022.An annotated Catalogue of the Butterflies of Nepal .
• Smetacek, Peter, Subedi, Bandana, 2022. Putative fungal mimicry by a Himalayan Troidine pupa (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae). , Bionotes (2022), 203-207.
• Subedi, B., Stewart, A.B., Neupane, B., Ghimire, S. and Adhikari, H., 2021.Butterfly species diversity and their floral preferences in the Rupa Wetland of Nepal.  In Ecology and Evolution, 11(5), pp.2086-2099.
• Muhammad, Akram, Mahendra Limbu, Shristee Panthee, Amrit Poudel, Bandana Subedi, Sanjaya Tamang, and others, 2018.Extension of Known Distribution of Moore’s Five Ring Butterfly Ypthima Nikaea to Pakistan, Nepal and Meghalaya, India (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Satyrinae) , Bionotes, 20.2 (2018), 55–56.
• Panthee, Shristee, Mahendra Limbhu, Bandana Subedi, Sanjay Tamang, and Amrit Poudel, 2019.Record of Mycalesis Adamsoni (Watson,1897) (Lepidoptera:Nymphalidae) from Pokhara and Godavari, Nepal. , Bionotes, 21.4 (2019), 144–46.
• Sharma, Basanta, Anoj Subedi, Bandana Subedi, Shristee Panthee, and Puspa Raj Acharya, 2019. First Record of the Small Bamboo Bat Tylonycteris Fulvida (Peters, 1872) (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from Nepal , Journal of Threatened Taxa, 11.9.
• Panthee, Shristee, Bandana Subedi, Prashant Ghimire, and Anoj Subedi, 2018. Note on the Spotted Royal Butterfly Tajuria Maculata (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in Pokhara Nepal , Bionotes, 20.1, 30–31.
• Tamang, Sanjaya Raj, John Lhomi Nuppa, Pratik Pandeya, Shristee Panthee, and Bandana Subedi,2019. Confirmation of Pale Green Awlet Burara Gomata ( Lepidoptera : Hesperiidae ) From Eastern Nepal , Bionotes, 21.December, 109–11.
• Panthee, Shristee, Bandana Subedi, Basant Sharma, and Anoj Subedi, 2019.Gaeana Consors (Atkinson, 1884) (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) in Central Nepal. , Bionotes, 21.1, 6–7.
• Panthee, Shristee, Bandana Subedi, Sanjaya Tamang, and Peter Smetacek, 2018. Westward Range Extension of the Moth, Amata Sperbius, (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) to Nepal , Bionotes, 20.3 , 103–4.