Sudha Ghimire
Master Student
Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT), Rouyn-Noranda, QC, Canada
Understanding the Effects of Multiple Disturbances and their Interaction on Understorey Plant Communities in the Boreal Forest
Directeur: Nicole Fenton
Codirecteur: Osvaldo Valeria
CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECT
The boreal forest ecosystem, renowned for its economic and ecological significance, deals with the different natural and anthropogenic disturbances that have profound effects on various aspects of the environment. In this context, most forest management practices in this forest are concentrated on bigger trees, neglecting the lower-story composition including bryophytes which can result in long-term issues in the management and conservation of the understory plant communities. Even though bryophytes provide ecological significance that contributes to the health and ecosystem function of the boreal forest, their existence is threatened by compound disturbances and their cumulative effects. Several of the previous studies have quantified the consequences of single disturbances, such as the offsite effect of mining and forest management activities on bryophyte plant communities. Extensive research has been conducted on the successional change due to specific disturbances, but the consequences of multiple disturbances have barely come to the attention. It is evident that ecosystems can be affected by multiple disturbances which can result in cumulative impact on understory plant communities like bryophytes. The changes in the forest floor communities due to such disturbances could alter the bryophyte plants' richness, diversity, and growth. The understanding of the cumulative impact of compound disturbances on bryophytes is, thus, crucial for their habitat conservation and management. Hence, with the limited studies of bryophytes at the landscape level in the growing disturbances regime, it is thought obligatory to explore the cumulative effects of compound disturbances on bryophytes. Therefore, this project aims to answer this research problem by evaluating the impacts of multiple interacting disturbances on bryophyte plant communities in the boreal forest of Quebec.
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
- Ministry of Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment. Karnali Province, Nepal (2020-2022).
PUBLICATIONS
- 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.
LANGUAGES
- Nepali [Native or bilingual proficiency]
- English [Professional working proficiency]
- Hindi [Professional working proficiency]
