Projects

Ongoing projects

Database on Indian Alien Vascular Flora

It is widely acknowledged that biological invasions are now a major global challenge for the conservation of natural resources and biodiversity. However, response capacities in emerging economies are rarely adequate to deal with this pertinent threat. Although the existing country-level checklists are crucial tools for the effective management of alien plant invasions, a comprehensive national database integrating socio-economic, geographical, and ecological attributes of alien plant species may aid in advancing current research and policy directions by many folds.

This project was initiated in early 2020 to develop a curated database of the alien vascular flora of India. The database framework is now ready, and it presently contains 14 attributes for 1747 alien plant species in India. The database is known by the name of ILORA (Indian Alien Flora Information). The database has scopes for bidirectional information exchange with the user and has the potential to become a nationwide collaborative platform for the scientific community.

Project website

Published research

The database was published and made accessible for research without any restriction, given that the data paper is properly cited.
Based on the introduction pathways and current economic uses of the invasive alien plant species in India, we proposed a set of policy interventions, identified potential hurdles for the effective implementation of such policies in India, and outlined a dynamic decentralized system with a standard operating procedure.
By considering 13 variables related to biogeography, introduction pathways, uses, functional traits, and distribution for 715 species belonging to three invasion categories, we identified the relative influence of these biotic and abiotic factors on the successful naturalization and invasion of alien plant species.
Given that global databases like the GBIF are often not exhaustive and poorly represent the actual distribution of the invasive alien plant species in the country, we compiled occurrence data for these species from literature records and herbarium sheets. Our data set supplemented the GBIF data by 60.39% and added new occurrence information for 64 invasive and naturalized alien plant species in India.

Publications

Ongoing research

Large-scale predictive modelling to identify the invasion hotspots in India
Characterizing realized climatic niche shift of invasive alien plant species in India
Identifying the influence of biotic and abiotic variables on climatic niche shift of invasive alien plants in India
E-trading of alien plants in India

Completed
Projects

1. Molecular understanding of phenotypic variation in invasive plant

(Phenotypic variation, one of the strategies of successful invasion, can be influenced by genetic diversity and environmental influences or the interaction between the two. In the absence of standing genetic variation, the plasticity of ecologically relevant traits of a genotype may also influence invasion success. Epigenetic modifications have been recognized as the key mechanism behind plastic responses of plant traits to environmental cues and the microevolution of natural populations. This project aims to understand these molecular mechanisms behind phenotypic variation for invasive plant species.)

2. Past, present, and future distribution of mangroves in the Indo-West Pacific - a niche modelling approach

(The mangroves provide a range of essential ecosystem services. However, over-exploitation, climate change, natural geographic events, and cryptic ecological degradation have brought these valuable natural resources to the face of extinction in the foreseeable future. This project aims to understand their distribution across time and space to provide important clues for conservation measures of these valuable natural resources.)

Research
Grants

1. National Natural Science Foundation of China, Research Fund for
International Young Scientists 2021 (Implementation of a novel framework for understanding molecular basis of phenotypic variation and its role in successful invasion)

2. The Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities 2021 (Genetic and epigenetic regulation of phenotypic variation in invasive weed Mikania micrantha)

3. The Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation 2021

(Phylogenetically informed and trait-based distribution model as a tool to prioritize areas for invasive plant management in tropical Asia)