Research Projects

Climate change is causing significant forest decline and mortality in various forest types, with warming-induced growth decline in sub-tropical latitudes. Tree-rings are widely used to reconstruct past environments and monitor forests' response to environmental change. In India, tree-ring studies are primarily restricted to conifers, with tropical broadleaved taxa underrepresented. Meteorological observations show a trend of increasing temperature and more frequent and intense droughts across most parts of the country. Vegetation modelling in Indian forests suggests widespread shifts in forest types due to increased vulnerability under projected climate change. Tree growth in tropical forests of south Asia is projected to decline with increasing temperatures. In North-east India (NEI), droughts have been documented to reduce the annual growth of Teak by nearly half. Climate change-related tree growth decline has also been reported in Indian redwood and Toon from adjoining Bangladesh. The proposed study aims to collect tree core samples from the tropical moist deciduous forest belt of Assam and Meghalaya in NEI, focusing on two ecologically and economically important tree taxa - sal (shorea robusta) and Teak (Tectona grandis). Understanding the growth dynamics of sal and Teak holds significant implications for the management and monitoring of tropical forest ecosystems, especially in the context of global environmental change.