ANNOUNCEMENTS
In spite of tremendous lack of data base to run assessment models, our modelers have made an appreciable start by running the best available static biogeography models (SBM’s) like those of BIOME series, to make projections of the impact of climate change on our forests ecosystems. The results yielded by these models present a considerable shift (around 70%), and increased vulnerability of species loss of our forest resources. However with the advent of more evolved modeling techniques, considerations regarding the individual specie response pattern (growth, regeneration, Phenology, behavior etc.) and other soil biochemical processes that get altered under the scenario of climate change are also accounted for. Unlike the SBM’s that primarily depict how, biome as a unit, shift from one place to another in the face of climate change, dynamic vegetation growth model (DVGM’s) can capture even the transient changes in vegetation pattern owing to differential specie response. To make the assessment procedure more realistic, the scientists at IISc-Bangalore propose to shift to these more evolved simulation/ dynamic vegetation growth models (DVGM). But there exists a dearth of required estimates to run these models. The objective of the present study is an attempt to highlight the issue further and to chalk out a broad strategy/ framework to accomplish the same. The specific objectives however include –collating information on all studies done in India to capture the impact of climate change on forests; to identify the information gap / lacunae that exists to make robust assessments using evolved models and suggest and recommend a broad framework to address the issue. The process involved a thorough literature review to build up a case for the need of generating the data. This was followed by a series of consultations and discussions with people from the concerned field to formulate a broad strategy/framework to address the issue. As a part of the strategy, a suggestion was made to revive back or lay down f PSP in the areas of high vulnerability and establish a parallel institution in the form of a network of scientists and foresters to coordinate the operations and set the TOR (terms of reference) for managing the same. Such an arrangement will facilitate the generation of not only the estimates to run the vegetation response models but also be useful field observatories for a number of other estimates required in the land use and land cover sector.
