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Climate Change Impact on Forestry in India

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Alternative Farming Systems, Biotechnology, Drought Stress and Ecological Fertilisation

Part of the book series: Sustainable Agriculture Reviews ((SARV,volume 6))

Abstract

Climate change represents a significant threat to global biodiversity and ecosystem integrity. Climate change is expected to have also impacts on forest ecology. It is thus important to make assessments of possible impacts of climate change on forests in different regions to allow respective governments and communities to adapt. Climate change is projected to affect individual organisms, populations, species distributions and ecosystem composition and functions. This impact can be both direct by temperature increases, precipitation and sea level changes, and indirect, for instance by changing the intensity and frequency of wild fires. Processes such as habitat loss, modification and fragmentation and the spread of non-native species will result from the impacts of climate change. India has 14 major forest types classified based on climate and altitude. 72% of forests are tropical moist deciduous, dry deciduous and evergreen forests. The major scenario of climate change in India is deduced from greenhouse gas increase. This scenario forecasts a general increase in temperature and rainfall in all regions. This could result in increased productivity and shift forest type boundaries along altitudinal and rainfall gradients, with species migrating from lower to higher elevations and the drier forest types being transformed into moister types. Thus, climate change could cause irreversible damage to unique forest ecosystems and biodiversity, rendering several species extinct, locally and globally.

Studies of ecological changes and sea level rise should be done to provide continuous inputs for necessary management intervention. Sustainable development of local communities, effective management of natural resources with concerns for conserving biodiversity, and rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems in the context of climate change phenomenon are all closely associated with one another. Forest planning and development programmes have to be based on traditional knowledge and ensure people’s participation to appropriately adopt various policy and management practices to minimize the adverse impacts and vulnerability to climate change.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Rural Development and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, 110016, India

    Geetanjali Kaushik

  2. Earthwatch Institute, Mayfield House, 256 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 7DE, UK

    M. A. Khalid

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  1. Geetanjali Kaushik
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  2. M. A. Khalid
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Correspondence to Geetanjali Kaushik .

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    Eric Lichtfouse

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Kaushik, G., Khalid, M.A. (2011). Climate Change Impact on Forestry in India. In: Lichtfouse, E. (eds) Alternative Farming Systems, Biotechnology, Drought Stress and Ecological Fertilisation. Sustainable Agriculture Reviews, vol 6. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0186-1_11

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