Society of Wetland Scientists
Professional Certification Program
WE ARE THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION THAT HAS BEEN
CERTIFYING PROFESSIONAL WETLAND SCIENTISTS SINCE 1994

Home

Professional Short Courses

COURSE INFO PROVIDER: SWSPCP Webinar
COURSE TITLE: Role of inland saline wetland ecosystems in the face of climate change

INSTRUCTORS Rajashree Naik

COURSE DESCRIPTION Rajashree Naik
Date: October 15, 2020
Title: Role of inland saline wetland ecosystems in the face of climate change

ABSTRACT:
The emergence of COVID-19 has emphasized that destruction of ecosystems leads to destruction of humans. Ecosystems that protect us have been continuously altered by anthropogenic activities leading to climate change. This has recently resulted zoonotic diseases like corona viruses, creating a pandemic and killing millions of people. Wetlands are diverse ecosystems in which slight alterations put enormous impacts on socio-ecological, physiochemical, and economical aspects. Inland saline wetlands are unique in nature yet least studied. The current study is being conducted to identify impacts on the largest saline wetland of India, Sambhar Salt Lake. Though it has been a Ramsar site since 23 March 1990 along with being an Important Bird Area, it does not come under any protected area network of India. It used to be the critical habitat of 289 migratory birds species from the West Pacific Flyway, East-Asian Australasian, and Central Asian flyways; but this has been reduced to only 31 species per our joint bird census with Asian Water Census volunteers. To address these issues, this study analyzed soil salinity indices using satellite data of 1989, 1998, 2008, 2014, 2019 and 2020, integrating climatic parameters and ground data to illustrate the impacts to the lake due to past climatic trends and the COVID-19 lockdown (24 March 2020 to 30 May 2020). Results indicate that salinity has decreased drastically over the years until 2019; however, the lake has revived during pandemic. The lake is full of water; and the soil salinity has increased, indicating revitalization of the Lake’s unique halophiles and halophytes. Once again, lake is ready to welcome its rich biodiversity if human interference remains minimal.

BIO:
Rajashree Naik is a second year PhD student of saline wetland ecology at Central University of Rajasthan. Her doctoral research investigates the spatiotemporal status of the largest inland saline wetland of India, Sambhar Salt Lake. She takes a multidisciplinary approach that encompasses multispectral and hyperspectral remote sensing, LiDAR technology, intense field surveys for migratory birds, halophytes, and xerophytes for ecology-economic interdependence analysis. She was research fellow at Uttarakhand Space Application Centre in Sericulture project. She is a member of the Society of wetland Scientists, Ecological Society of America, and the British Ecological Society Aquatic Group. She is an active participant of the Asian Waterbird Census for Sambhar Salt Lake. She has been selected for the International Travel Award for the SWS 2021 Annual Meeting. She has received Summer Research Fellowships from the Indian Academy of Science during her Master of Science in Environmental Science from Central University of Rajasthan. She holds a Post Graduate Diploma from Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in Forestry and Ecosystem study. She has co-authored in three research publications on wetland ecosystems.

Credit Points: 0.06

SYLLABUS/TOPICAL OUTLINE 1. Human-wetland codependences and interactions, and their consequences (10 minutes). 2. Sambhar Salt Lake, India, as a RAMSAR site and its importance to waterfowl (10 minutes). 3. Current study to determine effects of climate trends and anthropogenic influences upon the lake’s physical environment and biology (20 minutes). 4. Results and conclusions of current study (10 minutes). 5. Questions and answers (10 minutes).

COURSE CONTACT

Louis Mantini
9225 CR49, Live Oak, FL 32025
lfm@srwmd.org
P: 13866974891
F:

Certification Information

ProfessionalWetland Scientist

Resources

Professional Short Courses

Professional
Wetland Scientist