In a first, researchers on a mission to study microclimate across Western Ghats

“There is a difference between the climate observed at weather stations and the actual climate that the plant experiences on the ground. We have been working to understand climate change impacts on tropical forests. We have realised that microclimate is an important factor in the survival of tropical trees. Climate change is obvious but global efforts for reversing climate change are beyond the reach of farmers and people living in the tropical forests of the Western Ghats. For saving the crops and trees around us, it is important to understand the microclimate niche of plant species, so that we can create suitable modifications to cropping patterns,” says Hegde.

Hegde has worked with forest, wildlife and community conservation in Sirsi, Karnataka for over 35 years.

“He has also played a critical role in declaring many sections of the forests as protected areas near the Sirsi and Ankola regions. He noticed that associations of forest processes are not explained well with macroclimate models. This is when he reached out to me and Dr Carolina Greiser of Stockholm University, who have undertaken microclimate projects in Europe,” says Dr Rohan Shetti, who has founded the Pune-based The Green Concept, with Dr Aboli Kulkarni and Dr Girish Kulkarni.

The organisation, with experts in landscape ecology, ecosystem dynamics and environmental analytics, has facilitated the instrumentation and statistical analysis for the project. Among the other collaborators are Dr Mandar Datar and the Agharkar Research Institute team, who have helped select the sites and study of plant diversity from different sections of the Western Ghats.

The project has led Hegde to observe bioluminescent fungi on forest floors. “It is very sensitive to microclimate. Drosera plants, which are found during post-paddy harvesting season in paddy fields, are restricted to high soil surface temperature above 25 degree Celsius and up to 32 degrees and high soil moisture of about 90%. We have been observing many such instances of the impact of microclimate on ecosystems,” he says.

On its website, Microclimate India states, “Most of the diversity resides within the under-canopy and is influenced by microclimate factors, such as soil temperature, shade, air temperature close to the earth, soil moisture conditions and so on. Our research spans across the length of the Western Ghats recording the microclimate features at a fine resolution and quantifying various ecological aspects and their relation to microclimates in the forested region”.

The process involves installing microclimate loggers across the landscape, from hilltop to valleys to measure temperature, humidity, soil moisture etc. Across the Western Ghats of Karnataka and Maharashtra, there are also weather stations placed in open areas. The data loggers record data on below-soil temperatures, soil surface temperatures, above-soil temperatures and soil moisture content every 10 minutes. The probes will function for about seven years. This is a high-resolution data and will also run long-term. “The data will be open source for scientific communities who wish to study climate change impacts,” says Hegde, who is in the process of publishing more outcomes.

“Policymakers, foresters and government institutions should invest in microclimate research. Due to climate change in the future, the weather patterns will get more uncertain. Ecological and agricultural processes will be impacted by this, and our predictive ability needs to improve if we are to evolve with these changes. Microclimate research, which is very advanced in Europe, is critical to model future changes,” says Shetti.

“However, floral and faunal diversity is way higher in the tropics as compared to the temperate regions. Therefore, it becomes our greater responsibility to have a better understanding of our microclimates,” he adds.

Shetti says that many microclimate stations need to be set up to improve predictability for agricultural production, among others. “We now have the know-how and the analysing techniques. If we are backed by a public, research and political will, we can bring about a positive change to our diverse systems. Microclimate stations are cheaper and very easy to install, if there is enough funding and correct research from the government a very wide network can be installed uncovering many features of ecosystems still unanswered to mankind,” he says.