Recent advances in biodiversity and climate change studies in India

Abstract

Biodiversity is continually transformed by a changing climate. Conditions change across the face of the planet at variable pace leading to rearrangements of biological associations. The carbon cycle and the water cycle, arguably the two most important large-scale processes for life on Earth; depend on biodiversity at genetic, species, and ecosystem levels and can yield feedbacks to climate change. India is no less affected through this feedback mechanism of climate change and had shown its cause and effect association in several studies. In this special issue we present 25 papers contributed by ca 90 authors from India and elsewhere those discuss wide-ranging aspects of biodiversity and climate change. These contributions are based on presentations made at the 2nd International Workshop on Biodiversity and Climate Change (BDCC-2018) held on 24-27-February 2018 at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India. The papers are arranged in six sections: Plant (and lichen) Diversity and Climate; Plant Diversity Pattern and Environmental Heterogeneity; Forest Biomass and Carbon; Plant Diversity and Remote Sensing; Species Distribution Modelling; and Animal Diversity, Soil and Biotechnology. Included amongst the contributions are ones using a national database on plant diversity, describing vegetation carbon and biomass sequestration patterns, utilizing remote sensing to assess plant diversity proxies and conservation prioritization, employing species distribution models to analyze climate change scenarios, using acoustics indices for rapid assessment of biodiversity, addressing the soil micro-biome and environmental stress on medicinal plants.

Conservation Priority Index of species, communities, and habitats for biodiversity conservation and their management planning: A case study in Gulmarg Wildlife Sanctuary, Kashmir Himalaya

“…However, the Himalayan ecosystems are highly vulnerable and are degrading due to various biotic and abiotic stresses (Wani et al, 2022). Overall, climate change is a leading cause of ecological changes and biodiversity loss, although species invasions are also one of the important factors contributing to changes in forest productivity and biodiversity loss, especially native and endemic species (Behera et al, 2019;Negi et al, 2021;Wani et al, 2021). Besides these factors, the forests of the Himalayan region are now becoming vulnerable due to increasing anthropogenic disturbances like deforestation, unsustainable fuel wood, timber collection, and agricultural expansion (Negi and Maikhuri, 2017;Thakur et al, 2022).…”

Quantifying Tree Diversity, Carbon Stocks, and Sequestration Potential for Diverse Land Uses in Northeast India

“…Evidence from the existing literature advocates that climate change in the anthropogenic era has a direct effect on biodiversity, forcing tree species to adapt either through migrating, developing new physiological traits, or changing phenological cycles (Behera et al, 2019). Higher tree species richness indicates a more stable ecosystem and may demonstrate a better ecosystem/carbon service (Ives et al, 2001).…”

Chapter 4: Effects of a changing cryosphere on biodiversity and ecosystem services, and response options in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

“…The major effects that cryospheric changes have on plants at species and ecosystem levels are changes in phenology, upslope habitat shifts, changes in structure of populations and communities, densification, growth enhancement, physiological changes, and changes in biochemical processes. Besides these, changes in soil stoichiometry characteristics (Zhang et al, 2019), increase in incidences of invasive alien species, species redundancy, and shift in dominance between species (Behera et al, 2019) are among the other impacts observed. In some cases, regions that were inhospitable due to colder climatic conditions at higher elevations have now become suitable for various monoculture plantations, which pose a threat to the habitats of endemic species through encroachment .…”