Research Cluster Overview

Research Cluster: Sustainable World
Topic: Plant Ecology, Biodiversity, Evolution and Climate Change
Theme: SDG 15

Overview: Plant Ecology, Biodiversity, Evolution and Climate Change Research cluster is interested in the study of the structure and dynamics of plant populations and communities, from genes to ecosystems level. The cluster shall focus on research fields such as forest ecology and dynamics, population and community ecology, plant evolutionary ecology, population genetics and conservation biology. The cluster shall primarily use field data and experiments to explore links between biodiversity and climate change to forecast changes in plant populations, which in turn help us develop strategies to conserve biodiversity. Increasingly, the cluster shall be integrating data using people participatory approaches that involve policy makers for practical solutions. Biodiversity is critical for maintaining functional and adaptive ecosystems, for enhanced resilience, stability, and efficiency. Social and economic development activities, including urbanization, industrialization, and agriculture expansion, significantly alter land use and cover, driving deforestation, habitat fragmentation, and soil degradation and thereby causes global food security problems. These transformations contribute to biodiversity loss, disrupt carbon and water cycles, and enhance the vulnerability of ecosystems to climate change, amplifying global eco-environmental risks such as increased greenhouse gas emissions and reduced resilience of natural systems. With field and experimental approaches, the cluster aims to try to illuminate how plants will cope with unprecedented global change, combined with experimental evolution, genomics or epigenetics. From exploring Rain Forest to grasslands to urban biodiversity, Centre tries to understand the impact of rapid environmental change on biodiversity, how plant species are adapting to anthropogenic change, and how the degradation of nature impacts people and society.

Expected Outcomes

• Plant responses to climate change and thus forecast
• Developing sustainable cropping practices
• Novel methods to fight plant diseases
• Ecological plant restoration
• Conservation science

Current Projects

• Ecological studies of fungal mycorrhiza in the Central Western Ghats
• Urban ecology of invasive plants in Bengaluru
• Taxonomy of selected flora in the Uttara Kannada district

Faculty Details & CVs

Lead Faculty: G Ramachandra Rao
Designation: Associate Professor
Department: Centre for Urban Ecology, Biodiversity, Evolution & Climate Change
Location: Bangalore
Contact: 9731904350
Email: ramachandra.rao@jainuniversity.ac.in

Faculty Members:
G Ramachandra Rao — CV
Chetan Nag K S

Collaborating Opportunities

Internal: SOS
External: Agharkar Research Institute, IISc, Transdisciplinary University
Other Collaborations: Nil