A new era of Indian ecology looks to its horizons, and to the ground

Wildlife ecology in India looks different today than it did a decade ago. Climate change, habitat fragmentation, invasive species, and rapid development are all reshaping ecosystems faster than scholars can document them. Thus, ecologists are interested in how biodiversity has changed as well as how it is likely to change next.

Just these questions shaped the second Indian Wildlife Ecology Conference (IWEC), at Ashoka University in Sonepat, Haryana, on July 10-12, where researchers from across India came together to discuss the future of wildlife ecology in the country. Conceived by the late wildlife biologist Ajith Kumar as a national platform for India’s wildlife ecologists to exchange ideas, IWEC has grown into a forum where researchers from universities, government agencies, NGOs, and field stations together figure out where the discipline is heading — using insights into evolutionary history, long-term monitoring, public policy, technology, and public health.