• Energy Research

AbstractTree diversity in Asia's tropical and subtropical forests is central to nature‐based solutions. Species vulnerability to multiple threats, which affect provision of ecosystem services, is poorly understood. We conducted a region‐wide, spatially explicit assessment of the vulnerability of 63 socioeconomically important tree species to overexploitation, fire, overgrazing, habitat conversion, and climate change. Trees were selected for assessment from national priority lists, and selections were validated by an expert network representing 20 countries. We used Maxent suitability modeling to predict species distribution ranges, freely accessible spatial data sets to map threat exposures, and functional traits to estimate threat sensitivities. Species‐specific vulnerability maps were created as the product of exposure maps and sensitivity estimates. Based on vulnerability to current threats and climate change, we identified priority areas for conservation and restoration. Overall, 74% of the most important areas for conservation of these trees fell outside protected areas, and all species were severely threatened across an average of 47% of their native ranges. The most imminent threats were overexploitation and habitat conversion; populations were severely threatened by these factors in an average of 24% and 16% of their ranges, respectively. Our model predicted limited overall climate change impacts, although some study species were likely to lose over 15% of their habitat by 2050 due to climate change. We pinpointed specific natural areas in Borneo rain forests as hotspots for in situ conservation of forest genetic resources, more than 82% of which fell outside designated protected areas. We also identified degraded areas in Western Ghats, Indochina dry forests, and Sumatran rain forests as hotspots for restoration, where planting or assisted natural regeneration will help conserve these species, and croplands in southern India and Thailand as potentially important agroforestry options. Our results highlight the need for regionally coordinated action for effective conservation and restoration.

The concept of regenerative agriculture has received increasing attention worldwide as a method to restore and conserve natural resources while maintaining crop productivity. However, there remains a lack of consensus as to what conditions define regenerative agriculture, making it difficult for decision-makers, researchers, the agricultural sector, and the public to adopt regenerative agriculture practices. Here, we present the initial process to create a unified, cross-sectoral definition for regenerative agriculture in India that considers the viewpoints of multiple stakeholders and addresses the current challenges faced by the Indian agricultural sector. To this end, we compiled interactions with individuals from across India to identify the most pressing concerns for India’s human and environmental ecosystems. We conducted over 30 hours of workshops to discuss these concerns with 50 experts from five sectors and four countries. 

AbstractUnderstanding the influence of evolutionary history on species‐specific phenological events of high‐altitude plants and their sensitivity to the abiotic factors has gained importance mainly in the context of climate change. However, the majority of phenology studies across altitudinal gradient are carried out on flowering, whereas other reproductive phenology events are seldom considered. We tested the role of abiotic factors and evolutionary history on the reproductive phenology traits of high‐altitudeRhododendroncommunity which comprised of 10 locally aggregated species in Kyongnosla Alpine Sanctuary, Sikkim Himalaya. The study was carried out from 2013 to 2015 across an altitude gradient of 3400–4230 m a.s.l. We generated dated phylogenetic hypotheses to test for phylogenetic signal in reproductive phenology events, and its durations across 10Rhododendronspecies and also among groups of species distributed at every 100 m altitude. Comparative phylogenetic methods were used to explore the relationship between phenology traits and abiotic variables such as daylength and temperature. The early phenology events such as budding, flowering, and initial fruiting, which occurred during the favorable month of the year, exhibited strong phylogenetic signal and were mainly associated with daylength and temperature. In contrast, the later events such as immature fruiting, mature fruiting, and fruit dehiscence, which occurred during the later months of the year, showed a weak phylogenetic signal and were mostly associated with daylength. With the increase in altitude, we found a decreasing trend of phylogenetic signal for the early phenology events and later events did not show a significant trend. Our results suggest that only early events are constrained by evolutionary history; thus, the closely related species share the similar timing of the early phenology events. Also, the role of shared evolutionary history in phenological trait sensitivity to the abiotic factors reduces from early to the late phenology events. This approach can be extended to other representative plant families of the Himalayan region to better understand the response of reproductive traits to abiotic factors in deep evolutionary time.

The center of diversity of Piper nigrum L. (Black Pepper), one of the highly valued spice crops is reported to be from India. Black pepper is naturally distributed in India in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot and is the only known existing source of its wild germplasm in the world. We used ecological niche models to predict the potential distribution of wild P. nigrum in the present and two future climate change scenarios viz (A1B) and (A2A) for the year 2080. Three topographic and nine uncorrelated bioclim variables were used to develop the niche models. The environmental variables influencing the distribution of wild P. nigrum across different climate change scenarios were identified. We also assessed the direction and magnitude of the niche centroid shift and the change in niche breadth to estimate the impact of projected climate change on the distribution of P. nigrum. The study shows a niche centroid shift in the future climate scenarios. Both the projected future climate scenarios predicted a reduction in the habitat of P. nigrum in Southern Western Ghats, which harbors many wild accessions of P. nigrum. Our results highlight the impact of future climate change on P. nigrum and provide useful information for designing sound germplasm conservation strategies for P. nigrum.