The division came into existence in 1992 with three separate divisions namely, Forest Ecology and Rehabilitation division, Biodiversity and Sustainable Management division and Forest Botany division. Forest Botany division merged with Biodiversity and Sustainable Management division in 2001and Biodiversity and Sustainable division merged with Forest Ecology and Rehabilitation division in 2018. Finally, the name of the division was changed to Forest Ecology and Climate Change division.

Major research areas of the division are climate change, valuation of plantations and forests for tangible and intangible benefits and eco-restoration of degraded lands, Biodiversity assessment, wildlife conservation and management, Desertification and land degradation.

Thrust Area

1.         Biodiversity conservation and Ecological security

2.         Forests and climate change.

3.         Forest Botany.

4.         Forest soils and land reclamation.

5.         Ecology and Environment.

6.         Environment Management

Mandate      

 The mandate of the division is to:

• Conduct studies on climate change and carbon sequestration potential of tropical forest tree species in plantations, natural forests and agroforestry systems.
• Valuate natural forests and plantations for their tangible and intangible benefits.    
• Develop packages for eco-restoration of degraded forests and problem sites including mined out overburden dumps, salt affected lands, waterlogged sites along dams and canal command areas, marginal and wastelands.
• Species inventory, biodiversity assessment and population dynamics of natural forests and industrial plantations.
• Provide consultancy to PSUs such as CIL, SECL, NCL during forest land division for non-forestry purpose.

Activities 

Research Projects

CONSULTANCY PROJECTS

All India Coordinated Research Project

Trainings

Other achievements

Significant achievements

1. Assessed carbon stock and annual sequestration in 42.12 lakh trees of different species planted during 1958 to 2014 covering 1013 ha area at Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP), Odisha and found to increase carbon stock from 144.28 t/ha to 166.11 t/ha during four years period, with an annual increase of 5.46 t/ha.
2. Quantified tangible and intangible benefits of plantations and natural vegetation at Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP). Tangible benefits included timber, fuel wood and fodder; while intangible benefits included pollution control, soil conservation & remediation and improvement in underground water table. Intangible benefits were quantified by Contingent Valuation Method. The average WTP as proposed by the participants was calculated to be Rs. 840.70.
3. The sites having pruned bushes depicted higher regeneration and more number of regenerated individuals through root suckers as compared to unpruned tendu poles in Gondia and Gadchiroli forest divisions of Maharashtra.
4. Preparation of Wildlife Conservation Plans for open cast and underground coal mines of South Eastern Coalfields Limited in the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh under an MoU between ICFRE and Coal India Limited (CIL).
5. As Member of Task Force constituted by Government of Madhya Pradesh to monitor the environmental impacts of Majhgawan Diamond Mining Project, Panna during 2016-2018.
6. Completed a three years study on plant-water use in Tectona grandis (Teak) using Sap flow sensors.
7. Studied sap flow pattern using sa flow sensors in two girth classes (10-30 cm and 30-60 cm) of Tectona grandis (Teak) and found that stems with 10-30 cm girth had high sap flow compared to that of 30-60 cm. The average sap flow found in the stem with 10-30 cm girth was 0.791 kg h^-1 while only 0.054 kg h^-1 in the stem higher girth. The rate of flow (flux) was observed to be higher in the heartwood and lesser in the sap wood for lower girth class, while it was the reverse for stem with higher girth class.
8. Impact of canopy opening on population structure and community composition under selection cum improvement (SCI) felling system is being studied in Teak, Sal and Mixed forests of Madhya Pradesh. In mixed deciduous forests, a total of 895 stems ha^-1 was recorded and found that Diospyros melanoxylon has the highest tree density, followed by Tectona grandis in the community. Whereas highes basal cover was recorded for Tectona grandis (7.65 sqm ha^-1 ) followed by Diospyros melanoxylon (1.43 sqm ha^-1) and Lagerstroemia parviflora (1.10 sqm ha^-1 ). Further studies are ongoing.
9. Published a Technical Bulletin on Virtual herbarium with bi-lingual description of medicinal plants collected from Chhattisgarh, India.
10. Conducted field survey and litter accumulation study, higher litter accumulation rate (19.17 t/ha) in the deciduous lying in Vidarbha region found to be the additional factor for forest fire compared to that of the evergreen forest (15.26 t/ha) of western ghat in Maharashtra besides anthropogenic activities and low humidity.
11. Assessed the impact of Implementation of Bundelkhand Special Package during the years 2011-16 and found that 1301 ha (new permanent 5 ha and new seasonal 1296 ha) increase in water body area. Soil moisture also showed significant changes in the vicinity and downstream of the structures. Ground water level analysis using spatial mean of water level for post-monsoon period (November month) shows significant change (³ 1 m) in rise at 5% level in post-scenario.
12. Due to decrease in forest area (876 sq. km) from the years 1985 to 1995, surface runoff increased in monsoon and post-monsoon season (June- Dec) by 103.2 MCM (Million cubic meter) and baseflow (groundwater contribution to stream) decreased by 2.5 MCM. Similarly, During the years 1995 to 2005, decrease in forest area (296 Sq km) increased surface runoff during monsoon and post-monsoon season (June- Dec) by 34.7 MCM (Million cubic meter) and baseflow (groundwater contribution to stream) decreased by 0.846 MCM. Thus, forest cover acts a flow regulator which minimizes the peak flow in monsoon season and thereby increases the baseflow in lean season.

Personnel of the Division

Contact 

Dr. Avinash Jain

Head

Forest Ecology and Climate Change Division

Phone: +91-761-2840008 (O), +91-9826563036, 9424617880 (Mob)   

E-mail: hod_fecc_tfri@icfre.org