Biodiversity and Conservation - Biodiversity and Climate Change in India - Sustainable Development Perspective
Guest Editors
Dr. Mukunda Dev Behera, Centre for Ocean, River, Atmosphere and Land Sciences (CORAL), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, India
Dr. Anzar A. Khuroo, Centre for Biodiversity & Taxonomy, Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, India
Prof. Sharat Kumar Palita, Department of Biodiversity and Conservation of Natural Resources (DBCNR), Central University of Odisha, Landiguda, Koraput, India
Prof. Saroj K. Barik, Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany, Department of Botany, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, India
Theme & Objectives
The ongoing climate change is unequivocally anthropogenic and—together with other drivers like deforestation, land degradation, biological invasion, etc.—has resulted in species losses and shifts in landscape dynamics. 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 feedback to climate change. Geomatics and data analytics have revolutionized our understanding of the impacts of climate change and ecosystem responses. The effects of climate change are particularly felt in fragile ecosystems like the Himalayas, which harbor rich biodiversity and support several dependent communities. Understanding the advances made in the interface of climate change with biodiversity and ecological sciences from a bioresources-rich country like India, would help building climate change-resilient ecosystems for realizing United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 13: Climate Action (this opens in a new tab) and 15: Life on Land (this opens in a new tab).
This special issue will include invited papers presented during the 3rd International Workshop on Biodiversity and Climate Change (BDCC-2023) organized by the Centre for Ocean, River, Atmosphere, and Land Sciences (CORAL) at Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IITKgp) during February 16-19, 2023 in Kharagpur, India. The objectives are to understand feedback between biodiversity and climate change; to highlight the role of bioresource management and sustainable development; and to explore the recent advances in spatial biodiversity. The contributions will cover various themes such as biodiversity and land cover dynamics, Geomatics and data analytics, forest and agricultural bio-resources, and the Himalayan climate.
EXPECTED PUBLICATION: Spring 2024
(Accepted articles will be made available Online First (this opens in a new tab) on an ongoing basis.)
About the Guest Editors
Dr. Mukunda Dev Behera has made outstanding contributions to the fields of forest remote sensing, land and water resources management, and ecological climatology through theorizing, modeling and conducting innovative experiments and field-based measurements. He has developed innovative protocols and new methods for estimating a range of vegetation photosynthetic/structural variables including leaf area index, canopy height, aboveground biomass and productivity using a suite of satellite data products and modeling. Dr. Behera decoded the intrinsic relationships between land use and land cover change and hydrological processes using geospatial technologies. He has been significantly contributing to the understanding of the Himalayan ecosystems and their sustainable development using nature-based solutions. Both Dr. Behera’s current projects and research statement can be viewed here (this opens in a new tab).
Dr. Anzar A. Khuroo (@Khuroo_Kashmir (this opens in a new tab)) is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Biodiversity and Taxonomy in the Department of Botany of the University of Kashmir. His research specialization is in plant taxonomy, ecology and biodiversity. The current focal areas of Dr. Khuroo’s BIOTA (BIOdiversity & TAxonomy) Lab include floristics, invasive alien plants, alpine ecology, plant phenology and climate change in the Indian Himalaya. With two decades of experience, he along with his research group has published over 180 research papers and co-authored two Springer books, “Biodiversity of the Himalaya: Jammu and Kashmir State (this opens in a new tab)” (2020) and “Field Manual on Alien Flora of Kashmir Himalaya (this opens in a new tab)” (August 2023). Dr. Khuroo is also Associate Editor for Biological Invasions (Springer) and Subject Editor for Check List (Pensoft). Some of the lab’s current research focus area can be read here (this opens in a new tab).
Prof. Sharat Kumar Palita (@PalitaKumar (this opens in a new tab)), Professor of Biodiversity and Conservation of Natural Resources, Central University of Odisha, has published 50 research papers, several book chapters, a book, and has handled numerous research projects. His area of research includes studies primarily on faunal diversity, distribution, and ecology in forest, grassland, mountain, and aquatic ecosystems including mangroves. Prof. Palita’s research group works on faunal groups like bats, birds, butterflies, fishes and earthworms in the biodiversity-rich northeastern Ghats region of Odisha which is undergoing fast changes due to rapid industrialization and urbanization. During the past 20 years, he and his group mainly work on the documentation of unexplored faunal elements, understanding their ecology, and significantly contributing towards sustainable conservation practices. With a teaching career spanning 40 years, he has guided PhD, MPhil and postgraduate students in undertaking research activities. Prof. Palita’s academic profile can be viewed here (this opens in a new tab).
Prof. Saroj K. Barik (@sarojkbarik (this opens in a new tab)), Professor of Ecology in the Department of Botany at North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, India, has published 160 research papers, 12 books and 40 technical and research reports. He explained the high species richness in subtropical forests on the basis of niche segregation and existence of distinct regeneration guilds during gap-phase regeneration. Prof. Barik quantified the hypervolume niche of several plant species and extensively used Ecological Niche Modeling (ENM) as a tool for new species discovery, corridor planning, and successful reintroduction of species. Using ENM, multivariate models and climate models, his group is active in predicting the distributional range and impact of climate change on several forest species. Prof. Barik’s pioneering works on plant meta-population dynamics, disturbance-diversity hypothesis, diversity-ecosystem function and service relationships are unique contributions to biodiversity science. He led a program integrating conservation genetics and habitat quality paradigms to successfully conserve several threatened plants of India. Prof. Barik’s academic profile can be viewed here (this opens in a new tab).
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