Research Projects

Mangrove forests of Odisha are dense with diverse habitats that harbor many unique species. In the current climatic scenario, the loss of species biodiversity in stressed ecosystems is extremely rapid. Mangrove ecosystems are subjected to multiple abiotic stresses due to rapid climatic variability. In India, the loss of mangrove habitats is due to many natural and anthropogenic factors. Mangrove plants specifically invest more energy in their roots to adapt to their stressed environment. The study of mangrove species photosynthesis is important in understating the net primary productivity in the ecosystem. Chlorophyll a fluorescence (ChlF) is used to study the physiology of photosynthesis. It is now measurable from ground and remote sensing platforms, like satellite imagery. Remote sensing provides a new means to track photosynthesis of terrestrial ecosystems. Solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) is the direct measurement of plant photosynthesis and is better than the direct leaf reflectance measurements. Many environmental factors control leaf and canopy photosynthesis in forest ecosystems. In the current rapid climatic variability, biophysical studies of the mangrove ecosystem are important. Evaluation of forest ecosystem functional ecology is important both at the regional and global. Remote sensing and geographic information systems are important tools for the study of plant physiology in a large area. Remote sensing data will be integrated with field studies to evaluate mangrove ecosystem dynamics at the landscape level. Most of the studies on the mangroves’ physiology done in Odisha were leaf-based and on limited species or areas. Landscape-level studies of the mangrove ecosystem physiology in response to climatic and soil variability are important to study. The biophysical parameters of the mangrove ecosystem in Odisha will be studied at different scales and their temporal dynamics. Satellite-based monitoring of mangroves' biophysics will be attempted in response to climatic warming. The methodology will involve modeling, geographic information systems, biostatistics, and ecological informatics. Algorithms will be developed for accurate estimation of SIF from space for the landscape-level observations. Evaluating vegetation photosynthesis using SIF is better than the reflectance-based greenness parameters. Such studies will enable the understanding of plant ecophysiology at a landscape scale in a non-destructive way. The results of this study will help in the development of policies, and the selection of regions that need more priority in the conservation of the mangrove ecosystem in Odisha.