Published Paper Details:

Rajasthan, India's largest state by geographical area, is characterized by extensive arid and semi-arid landscapes where xerophytic vegetation plays a critical ecological role in maintaining ecosystem stability, conserving biodiversity, regulating soil processes, and supporting rural livelihoods. Native xerophytic species such as Prosopis cineraria, Acacia senegal, Acacia nilotica, Salvadora persica, Ziziphus nummularia, Capparis decidua, and Tecomella undulata have evolved specialized physiological and morphological adaptations that enable survival under prolonged water scarcity, high solar radiation, nutrient-poor soils, and extreme temperatures. However, accelerating climate change, increasing atmospheric temperatures, erratic rainfall patterns, prolonged drought events, land degradation, and anthropogenic disturbances have significantly altered the ecological dynamics of Rajasthan's dryland ecosystems. These environmental pressures have resulted in habitat degradation, declining vegetation cover, reduced regeneration potential, shifts in species composition, and increasing vulnerability of native flora.