247 Advances in Remote Sensing Technology and the Three Poles, First Edition. Edited by Manish Pandey, Prem C. Pandey, Yogesh Ray, Aman Arora, Shridhar D. Jawak and Uma K. Shukla. © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Published 2023 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 16 Understanding the Present and Past Climate-Human-Vegetation Dynamics in the Indian Himalaya A Comprehensive Review Mehta Bulbul 1 *, Yadav Ankit 1 , Aljasil Chirakkal 1 , Ambili Anoop 1 *, and Praveen K. Mishra 2 1 Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali, Sector 81, Manauli, Punjab 140306, India 2 Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, 33 GMS Road, Dehradun 248001, Uttarakhand 248001, India * Corresponding author sheds light on the potential link between vegetation dynamics and climatic variability during the Holocene in Indian Himalaya. The Holocene epoch (~11,500 cal. BP to Present) is significant in many respects, as changes in cli- mate during this time have impacted vegetation globally (Quamar and Bera, 2014). This timeframe includes the long-lived (Holocene Climate Optimum: HCO) and short- lived climatic events involving 8.2 kyr BP and 4.2 kyr BP. Therefore, to have a detailed understanding about climate and vegetation relationships, Quaternary lacustrine depos- its serve as important archives as they record signatures of fluctuations in the lake basins as well as perturbations induced by climate system. Vegetation is a crucial part of the biosphere, that regu- lates the global carbon and biogeochemical cycles and fun- damentally reflects changes in the environment (Billings, 1952). Climate change (e.g., rainfall, temperature), human activities (e.g., land-use practices, cultural diversity, urban- ization), and disturbance regimes (e.g., fire) are governing factors for vegetation dynamics in the complex Indian Himalaya (Rosenzweig and Neofotis, 2013). Therefore, broad characteristics of past and present climate can largely be unfolded by various terrestrial archives and proxy behav- ior. The multiproxy approach using palynological records, stable carbon isotope signatures (δ 13 C), and phytolith assemblages was utilized to deduce past as well as modern climate variability controls on vegetation. As modern flora and vegetation are broadly related to modern climate; hence pollen data can be used to assess knowledge about palaeoenvironment and palaeovegetation on local, regional, and global scales (Misra and Bhattacharyya, 2014). The pol- len investigations serve as a useful tool for reconstruction of past climate over timespans (10 2 –10 5 years) and sample 16.1 Introduction Mountains cover ~24% of the world’s land area and impact livelihoods of approximately 40% people worldwide (Singh et al., 2010). However, this ecosystem is largely influenced by climate variability that in turn impacts food security and human settlements, as well as biodiversity (Sharma and Rai, 2012). Previous research concerning vegetation–cli- mate relationship has been conducted at spatio-temporal scales worldwide (D’Arrigo et al., 2004; Quamar and Bera, 2014). Despite many evidences on global environmental change impact, various ecologically sensitive and signifi- cant areas of the globe are under-studied (Korner and Paulsen, 2004). Sub-tropical mountain systems in Asia, such as the Himalaya, represent such inadequately studied region. The Himalaya is known to regulate monsoon cli- mate over the Indian subcontinent (Yang, 1996; Bhattacharyya et al., 2006). This region serves as a poten- tial site for understanding the spatio–temporal vegetation climatic interactions due to high biodiversity, higher eleva- tions, and steepness of mountains (Mittermeier et al., 1999). The sensitive landscape of this diverse ecosystem is susceptible to climate variability and impacts of hazards that include droughts and floods, thereby causing serious threats to food security (Cruz et al., 2007; Sharma and Rai, 2012). Besides climate drivers, intense human intervention is substantially impacting larger areas of forests in this eco- system (Pandit and Grumbine, 2012). Moreover, high anthropogenic influences in the recent past have acceler- ated the rate of climate change. Therefore, spatio-temporal studies from the Himalayan region are important for understanding vegetational dynamics under climate change as well as human influences. The present study c16.indd 247 c16.indd 247 21-10-2022 17:50:54 21-10-2022 17:50:54