Secrets of Himalayan Oak Trees

Dec20,2023

Oaks are an anomaly in a largely tropical country like India, but they form the backbone of the temperate moist forest biome occurring between 1,500 m and 2,700 m in the Himalayas.

Oak Trees

Five oak species are found in the Western Himalaya of which the most widespread one is the banj oak or Quercus leucotrichophora

Banj Oak Trees

Banj oak grows mixed in with species such as rhododendron (Rhododendron arboreum), Indian horsechestnut (Aesculus indica), angyaar (Lyonia ovalifolia) and kaafal (Myrica esculenta)

Oak species

The banj oak forest can be talked of as a cloud forest of sorts. At the mid-elevational altitudes, precipitation is triggered easily by the warm moisture-laden winds hitting cool forest surfaces in the Himalayas.

Banj Oak forest

The leaves of the banj oak are also favoured by the locals for composting and fodder. Banj leaf litter makes a very good fertiliser because much less nitrogen and phosphorus is withdrawn by the tree at the time of leaf-fall

Good fertiliser

The oaks of the Western Himalaya are mostly evergreen, maintaining a dense canopy through the year as a strong flush of new leaves comes in before the old leaves are shed.

Canopy

Banj oak is often compared with its competitor, the chir pine, at the same altitude 

Chir Pine

The increased vulnerability of banj oak to all the changes around it lead to further questions about what happens to the animals that depend on it

Vulnerability