In a warming world, species distribution models have become a useful tool for predicting plausible shifts of a species occurrence enforced by climate change. Using maximum entropy (Mexent) model, we analysed present and future distribution patterns of rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) in two distinct bio-greographical regions of India: the Western Ghats having a good distribution of rubber plantations at present and the Brahmaputra Valley, where rubber trees are recently being cultivated.

The National Wetland Atlas 2011 has used confusing and inappropriate classifications. Many man-made wetlands have been treated as naturally occurring, tanks have become lakes, and a large number of ponds have become nondescript entities. The number of inland wetlands estimated is far less when compared to other known sources of data, creating reasonable doubt on the reliability of the exercise. This article emphasises the need for releasing the complete geo-coordinates and areal data sets, and undertaking accurate assessments of the numbers and water spreads of tanks and ponds.

The large dams being built on the rivers of the eastern Himalayas have become highly controversial. The hydropower that north-east India is expected to produce is meant almost entirely for use elsewhere. That these dams will be exclusively hydropower and not multipurpose dams and that there will be a great unevenness in the distribution of potential gains and losses - and of vulnerability to risks - accounts for a serious legitimacy deficit in India's ambitious hydropower development plans in the region.