Increasing emission rate of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases is the major driver of global temperature increase. Soil microbial respiration is accelerating the release of CO2 in the environment, but the mechanistic understanding of this process is still at its nascent stage. In this note, we discuss the importance of understanding the microbial responses to climate change and associated respiration process in the Indian Himalayan region.

The Himalayan nettle (Note 1) is a fiber yielding non-timber forest product that has cultural, economic and medicinal values to many ethnic communities residing in the hill and mountain areas of Nepal and India. If the nettle value chain can be strengthened at each node of the chain, then it has high potentiality to uplifting the livelihoods of many poor households in those areas.

This study provides application of Resourcesat-2 AWiFS satellite imagery for forest burnt area assessment in India. AWiFS datasets covering peak forest fire months of 2014 have been analysed. The total burnt area under vegetation cover (forest, scrub and grasslands) of India was estimated as 57,127.75 sq. km. In 2014, 7% of forest cover of India was affected by fires. Of the major forest types, dry deciduous forests are affected by the highest burnt area, followed by moist deciduous forests.