Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education

About: Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education is a government organization based out in Dehra Dūn, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Climate change. The organization has 135 authors who have published 151 publications receiving 1044 citations.

Climate vulnerability index - measure of climate change vulnerability to communities: a case of rural Lower Himalaya, India

Abstract: Climate Vulnerability Index (CVI) is being proposed to assess climate change vulnerability of communities with a case study. The index consists of household parameters of all the three dimensions of vulnerability such as Exposure, Sensitivity and Adaptive Capability. Exposure is defined by ‘Natural disaster and Climate variability’, however Sensitivity by ‘Health’, Food’, and ‘Water’ and Adaptive Capability by ‘Socio-demographic profile’, ‘Livelihood strategies’, and ‘Social networks’. Respective parameters were based on the peers and literature. The CVI vulnerable status ranges from high (0) to low (1). Household questionnaire survey was undertaken from two regions namely, near to district (NDH) and away to district (ADH), in Srinagar, Uttrakhand, India. Data for desired parameters for CVI was collected from 50 randomly selected households. Data were aggregated using a composite index and differential vulnerabilities were compared. High vulnerability was observed for livelihood strategies, food and natural disaster for ADH households, and health and water for NDH households. It was found that the adaptive capability and sensitivity of ADH households was higher than NDH, however, exposure realization was similar in both the regions. The CVI was 0.69 and 0.64 for NDH and ADH, respectively, suggests high vulnerability to NDH households. This pragmatic CVI approach may be used to assess and monitor vulnerability under various stress condition, and/or evaluate potential program/ policy effectiveness in various data-scarce regions by comparing various anticipated scenarios with baseline. Further, the result obtained by index may have implications for developing adaptation or coping strategies to the region.

Rapid characterisation of brown and white rot degraded chir pine and rubberwood by FTIR spectroscopy

Abstract: Pinus roxburghii (chir pine) and Hevea brasiliensis (rubberwood) were degraded by brown-rot (Polyporus meliae) and white-rot (Trametes versicolor and Trametes hirsuta) fungi. The modification in the chemical structure of degraded wood was monitored by FTIR spectroscopy. In wood decayed by brown rot, there was a progressive increase in the lignin content, which is evident from increase in the relative intensities of lignin associated bands and a corresponding decrease in the intensities of carbohydrate bands. In contrast, there was a decrease in the lignin content of white rot decayed wood. Both the white rots used in this study showed preferential degradation of lignin, which is indicated by a reduction in relative intensities of lignin associated bands.

Forest soil nutrient stocks along altitudinal range of Uttarakhand Himalayas: An aid to Nature Based Climate Solutions

Abstract: Understating of forest functioning is crucial for ensuring the sustainable flow of forest ecosystem services. Climate regulation service of a forest ecosystem can be ensured through emission reduction by increasing carbon sequestration in forests. However, understanding about the functioning of forests for carbon sequestration is constrained due to lack of information on nutrient stocks and stoichiometry of soils of forests of India. Present study focuses to examine the stoichiometry of major nutrients; nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), carbon (C) of forest soil to understand the dynamics of the forests of Uttarakhand, India. The study also attempted to supplement the information about the soil carbon sequestration potential of important tree species of the forest. Soil samples were collected randomly for the evaluation of physico-chemical characteristics and stoichiometry of forest soil at four altitudinal ranges i.e., 2000 m a.s.l in the Himalayan region of Uttarakhand, India. The analysis shows that total nitrogen, total phosphorous, and soil organic carbon contents in forest soil were 0.35 ± 0.11%, 0.10 ± 0.04% and 3.36 ± 0.84%, respectively, which increases with altitude. The stoichiometric ratios viz., C:N:P, N:P, C:N, and C:P, and N:P were reported of 51.6:5.4:1, 4.30 ± 2.39, 9.60 ± 1.48, and 41.94 ± 23.35, respectively which were invariant with altitude. The low C:N ratio may be attributed to either increase in the nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions with an increase in nitrogen, or low in carbon stock leading to decrease in carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions. Moreover, the soil C sequestration potential in the forest tree species follow the order of Abies pindrow > Cedrus deodara > Quercus leucotrichophora > Pinus roxburghii. The information of the study would facilitate for broadening the understanding about the soil properties and stoichiometry of forest ecosystem and would provide an aid to forest management besides contributing to the mitigations strategies of the forests.

Conflict Bear Translocation: Investigating Population Genetics and Fate of Bear Translocation in Dachigam National Park, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Abstract: The Asiatic black bear population in Dachigam landscape, Jammu and Kashmir is well recognized as one of the highest density bear populations in India. Increasing incidences of bear-human interactions and the resultant retaliatory killings by locals have become a serious threat to the survivorship of black bears in the Dachigam landscape. The Department of Wildlife Protection in Jammu and Kashmir has been translocating bears involved in conflicts, henceforth ‘conflict bears’ from different sites in Dachigam landscape to Dachigam National Park as a flagship activity to mitigate conflicts. We undertook this study to investigate the population genetics and the fate of bear translocation in Dachigam National Park. We identified 109 unique genotypes in an area of ca. 650 km2 and observed bear population under panmixia that showed sound genetic variability. Molecular tracking of translocated bears revealed that mostly bears (7 out of 11 bears) returned to their capture sites, possibly due to homing instincts or habituation to the high quality food available in agricultural croplands and orchards, while only four bears remained in Dachigam National Park after translocation. Results indicated that translocation success was most likely to be season dependent as bears translocated during spring and late autumn returned to their capture sites, perhaps due to the scarcity of food inside Dachigam National Park while bears translocated in summer remained in Dachigam National Park due to availability of surplus food resources. Thus, the current management practices of translocating conflict bears, without taking into account spatio-temporal variability of food resources in Dachigam landscape seemed to be ineffective in mitigating conflicts on a long-term basis. However, the study highlighted the importance of molecular tracking of bears to understand their movement patterns and socio-biology in tough terrains like Dachigam landscape.