Ecosystem-Based Adaptation to Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction in Eastern Himalayan Forests of Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India

Abstract

The present chapter focuses on climate change impacts and ecosystem-based adaptation in Eastern Himalayan forests of Arunachal Pradesh. High variations in altitudinal gradient, precipitation, and land surface temperature have resulted in high vegetation diversity and density. The varying relief zones implies all major types of climatic zones in the region. The sub-tropical zone (800–1800 m) occupies major geographical area (28.8%) followed by alpine (\textgreater2800 m; 27.3%), temperate (1800–2800 m; 23%), and tropical zone (\textless800 m; 20.9%). The study shows significant variations in the precipitation pattern and reduction in cumulative precipitation with varied intensity during 1998–2013. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM)-based standard anomaly of precipitation with reference to mean precipitation exhibits higher negative anomaly in recent years as compared to previous years, whereas the CRU TS4.00-based standard anomaly of long-term observations of precipitation pattern (1901–2015) exhibits episodic variability with increasing unevenness in recent years. The spatiotemporal annual land surface temperature (LST) patterns (2001–2016) indicates that northern periphery in latitudinal direction have low (5–10 °C) to very low (\textless5 °C) LST, whereas central to south parts have moderate (15–20 °C) to very high (\textgreater25 °C) LST. The climate change impacts on the Himalayan forest biomes are being further accelerated by various anthropogenic disturbances including illegal timber felling, forest fire, jhum cultivation, and hydroelectric projects. The present study discussed the ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) and ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction (EcoDRR) approaches to determine important ecosystems services, reduce community vulnerability, and increase resilience of people as well as the environment to climate change.