This book shares experiences and knowledge on climate change impacts and adaptation, risk reduction strategies, communities’ responses, and best practices from different landscapes of India. It provides insights into climate change risk reduction in trans-disciplinary frameworks. The findings and discussions put forward in the chapters, largely based on micro-level case studies, provide an in-depth understanding of interactions among ecology, society, and economy under different conditions of changing climate. It contains critical discussion on both existing and required actions as adjustments to climate change impacts by different actors at diverse scales and contexts. The recommendations will be beneficial in climate change adaptation planning for India and other developing countries, where a large portion of the population directly depends on climate-sensitive sectors. The content of the book is interdisciplinary and it will be beneficial for scholars and practitioners from natural science, social science, policy, and governance across the continents.

This study presents authentic data compiled from field experiments and investigations, and provides a point of reference for any future changes associated with anthropogenic activity in semiarid ecosystems. Three years of continuous and rigorous empirical research on biodiversity (from phytoplankton to higher plants and from zooplankton to higher animals - all flora and fauna) in India's semiarid region have culminated in this work. Though there are many studies available on issues related to biodiversity, the majority cover either specific groups of plants or groups of animals; with the exception of this book, studies that include all flora and fauna including the phyto- and zooplanktons in a given ecosystem are not readily available. Further, the book focuses on an extremely important topic, firstly because semiarid landscapes are highly vulnerable to climate change, and secondly because other developmental activities will be undertaken in the region in an effort to meet its energy requirements. As such, the results of the current study will provide a standard protocol for subsequent monitoring and mapping of biodiversity for conservation and management. The book explores, quantifies and surveys plant and animal species from aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, assessing and quantitatively analyzing the diversity indices of different vegetation strata. Further, it investigates the conservation status of each species (flora and fauna) in keeping with IUCN categories. The study also examines landscape dynamics using RS and GIS for vegetation analysis, and discusses traditional ecological knowledge related to the use, conservation and management of biodiversity. As such, it offers a unique and valuable resource not only for researchers from the environmental/ecological sciences but also for conservationists and policymakers.

This study presents authentic data compiled from field experiments and investigations, and provides a point of reference for any future changes associated with anthropogenic activity in semiarid ecosystems. Three years of continuous and rigorous empirical research on biodiversity (from phytoplankton to higher plants and from zooplankton to higher animals – all flora and fauna) in India’s semiarid region have culminated in this work. Though there are many studies available on issues related to biodiversity, the majority cover either specific groups of plants or groups of animals; with the exception of this book, studies that include all flora and fauna including the phyto- and zooplanktons in a given ecosystem are not readily available. Further, the book focuses on an extremely important topic, firstly because semiarid landscapes are highly vulnerable to climate change, and secondly because other developmental activities will be undertaken in the region in an effort to meet its energy requirements. As such, the results of the current study will provide a standard protocol for subsequent monitoring and mapping of biodiversity for conservation and management. The book explores, quantifies and surveys plant and animal species from aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, assessing and quantitatively analyzing the diversity indices of different vegetation strata. Further, it investigates the conservation status of each species (flora and fauna) in keeping with IUCN categories. The study also examines landscape dynamics using RS and GIS for vegetation analysis, and discusses traditional ecological knowledge related to the use, conservation and management of biodiversity. As such, it offers a unique and valuable resource not only for researchers from the environmental/ecological sciences but also for conservationists and policymakers.