Climate change impact on forest and agrobiodiversity: a special reference to Amarkantak area, Madhya Pradesh

Abstract

Impact of climate change causes many visible changes within an ecosystem and organism. In recent years, biodiversity loss is one of the challenging issues which are affected by climate change. India has a unique climate which supports rich biological diversity. Amarkantak is a holy town situated in district Anuppur of Madhya Pradesh. Some parts of Amarkantak come under Achanakmar-Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve (AABR). It lies between latitude 22�15 to 20� 58 N and longitude 81� 25 N to 20�5E. The biosphere reserve is an origin place of three major rivers of Central Indian region, i.e., Narmada, Son, and Johila and their tributaries. It is home to primitive tribal communities like Baiga, Gonds, Panikas, Kol, and Dhanaur. All these communities are mostly dependent on the forest and agriculture for their livelihood. Last few decades, climate change impacts on the non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and agricultural crops. A finding of the study shows that locals felt a lesser number of rainy days which directly affect crop production of the area. Apart from that, quantity of NTFPs has also declined. Fishery sector of the area is also affected. The climate of the region supports rich diversity of plants and animals� species. Few medicinal plants are now not available in natural forest due to extreme forest fires and overexploitation.