Abstract: Biodiversity enables and sustains Earth's habitability. A deeply connected nexus of myriad ecological processes regulate climatic, biotic, and geochemical cycles, shaping our shared world. However, ongoing global changes are propelling Earth's biodiverse systems towards uncertain and undesirable trajectories. The rates of such transformations are notably high in the Indian subcontinent. To navigate these challenges, towards a nature-positive future, harnessing insights from ecological sciences is imperative. Present talk features insights from my long-term (16 years) large-scale (320,000 km2) research on ecosystem monitoring across India to understand the ongoing ecological changes and its implications. First, we will discuss how vegetation systems across tropical India are shifting onto novel trajectories due to biological invasions, human modifications, and climatic changes. Second, we examine how megafaunal populations (tiger, snow leopard, and megaherbivores) and their movements are adapting to rapidly changing socio-ecological regimes and conservation investments. Lastly, we delve into in-situ restoration experiments ongoing across 16 protected areas, analyzing community dynamics, ecological feedback loops and nature-based solutions. Embarking on the inferences from these aspirational projects, the talk highlights contributions to fundamental ecological sciences and policy instruments in India. These novel perspectives hold significance in institutionalizing research and training in ecology, for harnessing science to achieve a nature-positive future.

Meeting ID: 972 5712 6092
Passcode: 094995