In Asia, around 45% of biomass burning comes from forest fires, 34% from crop residue/agriculture residue fires (stubble fires), and 20% from grassland & savanna fires. The proportion of biomass burning is highest in China (25%) followed by India (18%). In India, the rice wheat cropping system is the most widely practiced cropping system in Northwest India particularly in Punjab, Continue Reading »

Remote sensing refers to the technique of capturing information at a distance (remotely) by specific instruments (sensors). Traditionally, remote sensing has been associated with satellites or manned aircraft with a set of airborne sensors. In the last decade, the increasing developments and improvements in unmanned platforms, together with the development of sensing technologies installed on drones, provide excellent opportunities for Continue Reading »

Algae are photosynthetic, tiny marine organisms whose cells are eukaryotic. Algae can inhabit the freshwater as well as the marine ecosystem. The different categories of phytoplankton for example, diatoms and dinoflagellates are examples of unicellular, floating algae. Although most types of phytoplankton do not possess any toxicity, a few species of dinoflagellates are able to produce toxins that could be Continue Reading »

Soil erosion is a major land degradation problem and poses serious environmental and socio-economic crisis worldwide. The Himalayan hills and mountains are very fragile and being threatened by land degradation caused by soil erosion by water that poses serious challenges to the soil ecosystem services and sustainability of natural resources. Reliable estimate of long-term soil erosion rate of various land Continue Reading »

The Forestry and Ecology Department of IIRS established 15 Open Top Chambers (OTC) in September 2022 at Gangotri, Uttarakhand, to delve into the intricate dynamics of Himalayan Alpine Biological Communities under the influence of Experimental Warming. The idea is to test the impact of warming on plant phenology, plant height, biomass and nutrient concentration between OTCs and control plots. Preliminary Continue Reading »