Rajiv Pandey

• Ph.D.
• Head Division of Forestry Statistics at Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE)

The current wood-based products trade deficit stands at approximately 24 million CUM of Round Wood Equivalent (RWE). The growing income elasticity of wood products signals a need for policymakers to devise effective strategies to meet market demand. The present evaluation attempts to evaluate and develop export and import models to identify the dri...

Pines (Pinus, with approximately 113 species) and oaks (Quercus, with around 435 species) are key genera that form forests across the entire Northern Hemisphere. These regions are often associated with seasonal drought and forest fires, worsening conditions due to climate change. In this study, we used bibliometric techniques to analyse research pa...

Quercus leucotrichophora, a keystone species in the Himalayan ecosystem, offers essential ecosystem services, such as water and soil conservation, fodder and fuel provision, and also in forest formation. Our study investigated resource utilization strategies of Quercus leucotrichophora along elevational gradients by analyzing leaf traits in the tem...

The Himalayan forests are critically threatened by climatic and non-climatic drivers, resulting in significant alterations in the ecological balance. This study attempted to analyze the key ecological features and threats to the west Himalayan Forest ecosystem by systematically analyzing 614 Scopus-indexed articles published over the last three dec...

Agroforestry offers a huge potential for carbon sequestration, contributing to climate change mitigation and carbon trading. This study focuses on Bauhinia variegata and Celtis australis, two important agroforestry tree species in the Western Himalayas aiming to develop allometric models and biomass prediction ratios using empirical data collected...

The result of a random experiment provides one outcome out of all possible outcomes. Statistical methods provide solution for such experiments for precise decision making under uncertainty. The decision making under uncertainty requires three principal stages where experimenter should take adequate precautions. First precaution requires appropriate...

Ecosystem services (ESs) are a pivotal interface between ecological and societal systems. Comprehending the balance between what nature offers and society demands is indispensable for fostering human prosperity. This study seeks to fill the gaps in existing knowledge, including inconsistencies in terminology, limited exploration of driving mechanis...

The North-Eastern Himalayan region (NEHR) of India is characterized by fragility, marginality, and remoteness with climatic and non-climatic challenges. These challenges led to significant changes in the intricate relationship between human and ecological systems. Henceforth, the present assessment aimed to evaluate ecological vulnerability at a sp...

Grassland degradation presents overwhelming challenges to biodiversity, ecosystem services, and the socio-economic sustainability of dependent communities. However, a comprehensive synthesis of global knowledge on the frontiers and key areas of grassland degradation research has <pg=>not been achieved due to the limitations of traditional scientome...

Purpose Accurately assessing soil organic carbon (SOC) content is vital for ecosystem services management and addressing global climate challenges. This study undertakes a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of global estimates for SOC using remote sensing (RS) and machine learning (ML) techniques. It showcases the historical growth and thematic ev...

The Himalayan forests are vulnerable to climate change leading to disturb the current flow of critical ecosystem services to the dependent population. Present study attempts to evaluate the current vulnerability status of major forest types in Nagaland, India due to climate change along with identifying the hot spots for mitigating the vulnerabilit...

The present study attempted to quantify and value of supporting services of India's forest ecosystem. The supporting services comprises by habitat and biodiversity services across India's sixteen forest types was estimated using data for various factors through Remote Sensing and secondary sources as per the proposed model. Indicators were combined...

The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) faces various challenges detrimental to critical balance for socio-ecological systems resulting in adversely affecting the flow of ecosystem service (ES). With the context, present evaluation attempted to account a comprehensive understanding about flow of forest ES in community forests and other forests across the HKH...

Nature is a vital engine of global economic growth，underpinning half of the world’s total GDP. However continuously degrading resulting in adversely affecting human well-being. Nature-based solutions (NbS) offer versatile strategies that produce co-benefits, aligning with social, ecological, and economic goals. These solutions address various plane...

Understanding and monitoring soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks is crucial for ecosystem carbon cycling, services, and addressing global environmental challenges. This study employs the BERTopic model and bibliometric trend analysis exploration to comprehensively analyze global SOC estimates. BERTopic, a topic modeling technique based on BERT (bidire...

Sustaining the development of rural and pastoral communities’ hinges on livelihood resilience. Pastoralist household resilience relies on resource availability and decision-making abilities. Despite extensive studies on pastoralist livelihoods, a significant knowledge gap remains in understanding the nuanced adaptive capacities of diverse household...

Cultural ecosystem services (CES) of community forests (CFs) contribute to human welfare. However, limited information is available about the relationship between traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and households' attributes with CES. The present study evaluates the relationship between TEK and socio-cultural values of households with CESs acro...

Background: Long COVID, characterized by a persistent symptom spectrum following SARS-CoV-2 infection, poses significant health, social, and economic challenges. This review aims to consolidate knowledge on its epidemiology, clinical features, and underlying mechanisms to guide global responses; Methods: We conducted a literature review, analyzing...

Pinus kesiya and Toona ciliata are widely distributed commercially important tree species in Northeast India. However, precise tree volume estimation is absent; therefore, the estimation of biomass and carbon stock of these tree species is difficult. The present study attempted to bridge this gap by developing non-destructive allometric models for...

Climate change is profoundly impacting Himalayan ecosystems, with substantial challenges to keystone species like Rhododendron arboreum. Present study attempted to investigate R. arboreum response to varying environmental conditions at altitudes between 1500 to 3000 m in three western Himalayan temperate forests, through evaluating plant functional...

The Yellow River Delta (YRD), known for its vast and diverse wetland ecosystem, is the largest estuarine delta in China. However, human activities and climate change have significantly degraded the wetland ecosystem in recent decades in the YRD. Therefore, an understanding of the land use modifications is essential for the efficient management and...

Spatial ecological vulnerability assessments are important for devising management plans for ecological systems to maintain the flow of ecosystem services, especially in the mountains. Himalayan mountains, being a fragile ecosystem, have considerable ecological value, however, information on ecological vulnerability is lacking. The present evaluati...

CONTEXT: The agrarian society of the Himalayan landscape is experiencing the continuous growing ill impact of climate change. The impacts are compounding due to shifting agriculture, which has jeopardized the ecological balance mainly by reducing the cultivation fallow cycles. Pnar, a hill tribe of the Assam state, Indian Sub-Himalayan region, has...

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) is a flexible, adaptable, and multi-functional strategies employed to address climate change. However, all the claimed NbS are actually do not adhere the criteria of being NbS. Therefore, present study analysed 87 articles to appraise adherence of potential NbS as per the IUCN Global Standard, along with evaluation of f...

Grasslands are ecosystems of significant ecological, economic, and cultural importance. However, they are increasingly vulnerable to degradation due to a range of factors, including climate change, overgrazing, and shifts in land use. Despite varying degrees of restoration and management measures around the globe, the understanding of the dynamics...

Land use change, anthropogenic exploitation and climate change have impacted the flow of services in the Himalayan region. The dominant land uses in the region include natural forest, degraded forest, rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) plantations, Areca catechu plantations, Areca agroforestry and Piper agroforestry were considered for the study. A progre...

This study delves into the socio-ecological system (SES) of tribal home-gardens within India's Similipal Biosphere Reserve (SBR), unveiling their vital role in fostering biodiversity, resilience, and sustainability. Grounded in an SES framework, our research elucidates the deep interconnectivity between tribal communities and their home-gardens, wo...

Smallholders and pastoralists are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change due to their high reliance on socio-ecological systems for their livelihood. Building their resilience to these adverse effects of climate change is crucial for mitigating their vulnerabilities, especially in remote and fragile ecosystems. This study aims to...

Shifting cultivation, or ‘slash-and-burn’ agriculture, is a age-old agricultural system practiced in South and South-east Asia, including North-east India, using elementary tools and techniques for subsistence crop production. Shifting cultivation was an environmentally sustainable hill agricultural production system, but is currently under threat...

This paper explores the application and advantages of remote sensing, machine learning, and mid-infrared spectroscopy (MIR) as a popular proximal sensing spectroscopy tool in the estimation of soil organic carbon (SOC). It underscores the practical implications and benefits of the integrated approach combining machine learning, remote sensing, and...

Climate change is impacting forest tree species adversely and making the ecological system vulnerable. The present study attempts to assess the internal vulnerability of Cedrus deodara occurring in nine sub-types of temperate forests in Western Himalaya, India via a plant functional trait-based approach. Internal vulnerability was assessed based on...

Communities in dryland ecosystems face multiple stressors that threaten their livelihood resilience. While community resilience in socio‐ecological systems is largely determined by access to and sustainable management of natural resources, the underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood. This study, which uses grounded theory integrated with...

Urbanization has resulted in increasing the pace of informality, specifically in developing countries like India. Informality is taking place at locations that are exposed to various hazards, and therefore, resilience building of both informal and formal settlements is needed to achieve sustainable development. Resilience assessment is key in defin...

Applying novel approaches to assess the sustainable livelihood potentially contribute to learning and managing social-ecological systems. This research demonstrates the trajectory of sustainable livelihoods in the Three Rivers Headwater Region (TRHR) of Western China for a period of 2003 to 2017, utilizing a bespoke Sustainable Livelihood Index (SL...

Diospyros melanoxylon Roxb. leaves used in manufacture of indigenous traditional cigarette, called as bidi, contributes to social economic livelihood of rural and tribal people in India generating a source of subsidiary occupation and supplementary income apart from providing significant revenue to state forest departments. However, a reliable, sci...

Particulate Matter (PM) is a critical air pollutant, responsible for an array of ailments leading to premature mortality worldwide. Nature-based solutions for mitigation of PM and especially role of forests in mitigating PM from an ecosystem perspective are less explored. Forests provide a natural pollution abatement strategy by providing a surface...

Himalayan countries face many ecological challenges, including biodiversity loss and the many threats of climate change. In response, these countries are implementing Nature-based Solution to minimize these challenges and promote sustainable development. In this article we analyze the NbS programs implemented across the Hima-layan region and assess...

Climate Change in the Himalayas: Vulnerability and Resilience of Biodiversity and Forest Ecosystems explores and assesses issues affecting species survival in the rich forests of the Himalayan region. This book characterizes current biodiversity statuses, related ecosystem services, and provides new evidence and solutions for climate change effects...

While the need for understanding the effects of topographical factors on forest structure and function is well recognized, comprehensive studies are scarce. This study evaluates the effect of slope aspect and slope position on water relations and forest attributes across six forest types occurring between 400 m and 2600 m altitude in the Central Hi...

With a fragile mountain ecosystem and being a least developed country, Bhutan is the most vulnerable to climate change with a serious impact on the environment and people, especially to poor informal settlers in urban areas. Therefore, the present study intends to evaluate the vulnerability and adaptation strategies of the urban poor of Thimphu, Bh...

Phenology, an important ecological attribute, deals with the development of vegetative and reproductive parts of trees called "phenophases", which are important determinants of primary productivity and sensitive to climate change. The present study recorded various phenophases of major tree species (i.e., Quercus leucotrichophora, Rhododendron arbo...

Climate change may potentially affect the biodiversity and functionality of forests globally. An understanding of the relationship between biodiversity and forest ecosystem functioning can be attained by evaluating variations in functional indices. The present study evaluated four taxonomic indicators: Species richness (SRic), Species evenness (SEv...

Natural ecosystems of the Himalayas such as forests, grassland, and agriculture provide innumerable services to humans. Due to the degradation of natural ecosystems and population pressure, the importance of age-old agroforestry practices has gained attention for their provision of diverse ecosystem services besides being a viable option for climat...

Tendu (Diospyros melanoxylon Roxb.) leaves constitute one of the most important non timber forests produce of the forests of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Throughout India Tendu leaves and bidis are estimated to provide 106-million-person days of employment in collecting activities and 675-million...

Leaf functional traits determine a plant's survival and growth. Variation in leaf traits control the functioning of forest ecosystem. The study examines the variation in 18 leaf traits (4 morphological, 6 physiological, 6 biochemical, and 2 stoichiometry) of 3 dominant evergreen broadleaved tree species (Quercus leucotrichophora, Rhododendron arbor...

Mountains are one of the most ecological functional areas and provide wide range of ecosystem services (ESs) to the adjoining people. However, the mountainous ESs are highly vulnerable due to land use and land cover (LULC) change and climate change. Therefore, evaluations of the nexus between ESs and mountainous communities are essentially required...

Understanding niche and its parameters including niche breadth and niche overlap hold promise in discerning the needs, tolerances of organisms and also the extent of niche overlap among the sympatric species. Such information is critical to the conservation and management of important forest tree species. In view of the lack of any detailed previou...

Soil respiration (Rs) is a natural phenomenon of CO2 emission and has a significant contribution in regulating the carbon cycle. Identifying the drivers that influence soil CO2 emissions are essential for assessing the potential impacts of change on the Carbon (C) cycle in the forest ecosystem. The present study estimated soil respiration and evalu...

Global warming, threats to humankind as driven by the emissions of different greenhouse gases (GHGs) including carbon dioxide (CO 2), is becoming a great concern to deal with the vagaries of climate. Plantation ecotypes with greater carbon(C) sink capability are leading among the potential abatement strategies for sequestration of terrestrial C. Th...

Microplastics (size <5 mm) debris are environmentally persistent pollutants that severely affect terrestrial ecosystems by promoting the loss of soil fertility, and microbiome. The adverse effect of microplastics on the terrestrial ecosystem led to changes in physic-chemical and biological characteristics of soil resulting changes in nutrient cycli...

Chir pine (Pinus roxburghii, Sarg.) forests are dominant in the Indian Himalayan region and act as a huge carbon (C) sink. However, measuring the C sink in soil is complex and time‐intensive, and therefore the present study attempts to estimate the soil organic carbon (SOC) through a remote sensing (RS) approach. We estimated SOC stock of chir pine...

Forests are under stress due to variety of climatic and non-climatic factors. Therefore for suitably managing the forests, vulnerability of the forests needs to be understood. The present paper attempts to estimate the vulnerability of various temperate forests of Western Himalaya due to climate change by analyzing the patterns of different taxonom...

Alpine and polar regions are predicted to be among the most vulnerable to changes in temperature, precipitation, and nutrient availability. We carried out a seven-year factorial experiment with warming and nutrient addition in two alpine vegetation communities. We analyzed the relationship between fruit production and monthly mean, maximum, and min...

In this study, the BFAST model was used to decompose MODIS NDVI time-series and detect negative abrupt changes within trend during the study period (2005 to 2018). These negative abrupt changes were filtered and assigned as disturbances in the selected forest classes. The results showed that on average 15.01% of the forests were disturbed annually...

The flows of ecosystem services (ESs) from ecological patches (EPs) are being severely challenged due to global change. However, the evaluation of nexus between tribal society and ecological units with focus of tribal livelihood was not a subject of enquiry until recent past. Present study hypothesized that the different EPs has differential nexus...

The socio-ecological nexus underlie the economic and cultural importance of ecosystems, especially for tribal communities in developing countries. The nexus are critical for the sustainable management of ecosystems that support existing social and cultural bonding within tribal communities. The present study evaluates ecosystem services (ES) using...

Trees are important as a source of fuelwood and fodder for rural populations in the Himalayas. This paper analysed the fuelwood and fodder consumption patterns of rural households in 16 villages in Alaknanda Valley, Uttarakhand, northern India. The results showed that consumption of biomass from agroforestry and other sources varied significantly i...

The study was conducted in three Forest Divisions i.e. Solan, Nahan and Rajgarh of Himachal Pradesh, India to determine the impact of controlled burning on the diversity of shrubs and herbs in chir pine forests. A total 2.00 ha was selected for study on each site. The controlled burning was conducted in 1.5 ha (B1) during January 2017 and 1.0 ha (B...

The new frontiers of sustainable cities should focus on urban planning tools and strategies that are able to integrate ecosystem services in urban development. An important step could include the design of nature-based solutions (NbSs) for introducing important ecological functions aiding human well-being and mitigating the loss of soil. In this st...

India observes the summer monsoon in June–July–August–September (JJAS) season, and the livelihood security of a huge population depends on it. The impact of the monsoon onset timing, length of monsoon season, rainfall amount, and related extreme events is huge on the Indian economy. Therefore, understanding the inherent intricacies needed a detaile...

Plant functional traits (PETs) are an important indicator of structure and function of forest ecosystem. However, the succinct accounting of the linkages across the various forest types are lacking across the literature. Therefore, the objective of the study was to synthesize current knowledge about and ecosystem function and services along with th...

Based on the information obtained from the correlation matrix, different machine learning models were developed with sand, silt, clay, BD, C/N, mean_annual_rainfall as the set of predictor variables and mean_soc as the response variable. A combination of linear and non-linear regression models was used to best understand and capture the underlying...

The Eastern Indian Himalayan region (EIHR) is biodiversity-rich and is ecologically sensitive. The region is under tremendous pressure due to a variety of challenges such as population, shifting cultivation, and climate change leading to impact the vegetation. Therefore, the present study focuses on the evaluation of spatio-temporal dynamics of veg...

Habitat suitability is a foremost task in conserving wildlife and ecosystem. Rapid decline in wildlife and threat to their habitat due to unprecedented anthropocentric development and fragmentation of animal’s habitat has increased likelihood of human-wildlife conflict. Rajaji Tiger Reserve (RTR), Uttarakhand, India, has the great potential to sust...

Leaf functional traits support plant survival and growth in different stress and disturbed conditions and respond according to leaf habit. The present study examined 13 leaf traits (3 morphological, 3 chemical, 5 physiological, and 2 stoichiometry) of nine dominant forest tree species (3 coniferous, 3 deciduous broad-leaved, 3 evergreen broad-leafe...

The present study intends to understand and disclose the role of information infrastructure in climate change adaptation and its underlying barriers in the communities of socio-ecological system (SES) in the Central Himalaya. The study makes use of primary data in its research methodology which comprises the use of questionnaires, oral interviews,...

Indigenous agroforestry systems are important reservoirs of biodiversity, ecosystem services with a potential contribution for the conservation of biodiversity while sustaining the livelihood of the rural populace. Pineapple (Ananas comosus) agroforestry systems (PAFS) form an essential constituent of the rural landscape in the Indian Eastern Himal...

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...

The well-being of the human society cannot be ensured and sustainable unless the flow of Ecosystem Services (ESs) would be matching with their consistent demand. The consistent flow of ESs required sustainable management of ecological resources of the ecosystem. The management of ecosystem can be ensured with variety of approaches. Integration of i...

Urban water management is a growing concern in India’s rapidly urbanizing cities. Population growth and climatic variability are exuberating the impact on surface and underground water supply. Understanding the causes and the extent of water vulnerability is required for developing effective strategies for water insecurities. This study attempts to...

Climate Resilient Trajectories are routes to development progress that take into account aspects of climate change adaptation and mitigation in a sustainability context, offering a way to explicitly consider impacts of development and climate change choices on different sectors, scales, and socio-economic effects. Due to their scope and relevance,...

Indiscriminate deforestation and shifting cultivation have accelerated soil erosion requiring the need for immediate conservation measures in the eastern Indian Himalayan region (EIHR). The present study attempts to address the problem by evaluating the land suitability of the EIHR for agroforestry through multi-criteria evaluation modelling throug...

It is established that pines persisted despite the Cretaceous rise of angiosperms by differentiating into two groups: Diploxylon pines (subgenus Pinus), adapted to various fire regimes, and Haploxylon pines (subgenus Strobus), adapted to abtiotic stress. However, the distribution and attributes of the pines have not been assessed at the group level...

Sacred groves have significance in socio-culture and biodiversity conservation. This study evaluated local people's perceptions regarding conservation of sacred groves for water services, through willingness-to-pay (WTP), willingness-to-accept (WTA) and willingness-to-labour-work (DLP). Data were collected through a pre-tested questionnaire from 10...

Urban water management is a growing concern in India’s rapidly urbanizing cities. Population growth and climatic variability are further exuberating the impact on surface and underground water supply. Understanding the causes and the extent of water vulnerability is required for developing effective strategies for water insecurities. This study att...

Environmental Science and Pollution Research

Urban poor with limited resources and residing in precarious informal settlements are often one of the most vulnerable populations to climate variability and change. The present study seeks to assess the vulnerability of informal settlers to climate variability and change. Drawing from natural hazards, politico-economic, and ecological resilience s...

Country-specific emission factors for the Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector are important for the national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory. Carbon stocks of trees outside forests (TOF) and agroforestry is lacking due to the unavailability of wood density and carbon fraction of various tree species. The present study is an atte...

Almost nothing is known about the vertical root distribution for Himalayan forest trees. By providing an analysis of vertical distribution of root density of ten important central Himalayan tree species (two evergreen conifers, five evergreen broadleaf species and three deciduous broadleaf species), this paper attempts to address this gap. We used...