Rakesh Tiwari

Climate change and forests in India

SUMMARY Forests play a critical role in addressing climate change concerns in the broader context of global change and sustainable development. Forests are linked to climate change in three ways. i) Forests are a source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; ii) Forests offer mitigation opportunities to stabilise GHG concentrations; iii) Forests are impacted by climate change. This paper reviews studies related to climate change and forests in India: first, the studies estimating carbon inventory for the Indian land use change and forestry sector (LUCF), then the different models and mitigation potential estimates for the LUCF sector in India. Finally it reviews the studies on the impact of climate change on forest ecosystems in India, identifying the implications for net primary productivity and bio-diversity. The paper highlights data, modelling and research gaps relevant to the GHG inventory, mitigation potential and vulnerability and impact assessments for the forest sector in India.

Land use dynamics in select village ecosystems of southern India: drivers and implications

Knowledge of recent changes in land use, driving forces and implications of changes in the context of sustainable development is limited. This study analyses the changes in spatial patterns of land use including crop diversity, the drivers and implications of changes in 11 village ecosystems of southern India. Data obtained from existing maps, land survey, participatory survey and field measurements were integrated to quantify changes. Land-use dynamics at the village ecosystems level are highly interlinked to the livelihoods and anthropogenic forces as well as natural causes leading to major changes. Among the trends observed, urban influence was a major driver causing large area changes, natural causes being less significant. Other drivers included rainfall deficit, human population increase and management decisions. The impacts of changes were both short- and long-term. Implications and trade-offs were linked to the extent of land, type of change and dependence of the communities for livelihood and provisional services.

Sampling guidelines and analytical optimization for direct greenhouse gas emissions from tropical rice and upland cropping systems

ABSTRACT We describe a modified manual closed-chamber approach with detachable lid and vertically stackable chambers for sampling followed by simultaneous analysis of nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) for measuring greenhouse gas flux from rice and upland cropping systems in peninsular India. A meta-analysis of leading internationally/regionally recommended approaches to monitor agricultural GHG emissions is presented to put our sampling choices (e.g., chamber design, sampling intensity, sample storage and analytical corrections) into perspective. Given our set-up, the sample retention capacity of polypropylene syringes and crimped glass vials with grey butyl-rubber septa was ∼6 hours and 10 days, respectively; and temperature correction of N2O and CH4 concentrations was essential but plant volume correction did not affect the flux rates substantially. Optimization of gas flow rates, pre-column sample retention period, oxygen venting and temperature/current were found to reduce run time from >14 to 7 min per sample and enhance sensitivity by 30–40% while improving analytical precision from 15–30% to < 2% relative standard deviation (RSD). We suggest an alternative to the linear interpolation approach of integrating the area under the N2O peak because linear interpolation can overestimate the cumulative seasonal N2O emissions by 50–100%, especially after fertilization and/or rain events.

Comparison of mitigation potential estimates of three models using the IPCC 3-tier approach

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to estimate carbon mitigation impacts of project activities in a community forestry project in Andhra Pradesh, India. Measurement and quantification of carbon stocks, monitoring of these stocks over time and projections using models is necessary for assessing the climate change mitigation potential or impacts of all forest development and conservation projects. Design/methodology/approach – In this study, multiple mitigation assessment methods and models were used to estimate the carbon mitigation impacts – PROCOMAP, TARAM and CATIE, by adopting a three-tier approach similar to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines. Findings – There are differences in mitigation potential estimates across models as well as across tiers. The study highlights the strength and weaknesses and/or limitations and advantages of adopting the different approaches and their applicability for estimating mitigation potential of a forestry project. The same could be adopted ...

Indicator based approach for monitoring natural resources of village ecosystems: findings from select ecosystems of southern India

Indian village ecosystems are diverse with respect to population pressures, agricultural activities and production, livestock composition, energy sources, economics and infrastructural capabilities. Natural resource degradation is a major global concern and the factors and processes leading to degradation are regional and scale up from the micro levels such as village ecosystems. There is need for integrated multidisciplinary approaches for monitoring the resource status and environmental issues at the decentralized level. This paper presents an approach to assess village ecosystems using a set of key indicators developed and tested across fourteen diverse village ecosystems of the Southern India. The concept of ecosystem services associated with village ecosystems of India has been described and adopted to identify indicators and assess issues and trends. Comparison across villages has been demonstrated and the indicators successfully reflected the key environmental issues at each village level as well as differences across villages. We also report unique cases of stabilized land use and ‘desakota-like’ trends from village ecosystem studied.