Plant Ecology of Indian Himalaya

This book discusses plant invasions and environmental impacts on the Himalayas through a novel procedure, and helps to understand the influences of climate, physiography, soil, and disturbance on plant richness in mountain systems. Assessing invasion risks to mountain space under future climate change scenarios is highly significant for appropriate preparedness, and this book details analytical and modeling techniques to assess the conditions of mountain ecosystem and ecology to better inform our preparation for future environmental challenges. The book presents the state-of-the-art understanding of the species-environment relationships in a global biodiversity hotspot, relatively unexplored areas for the Himalayan life-form richness. The book provides not only the academic but also the professional community and policymakers a review and update on modeling applications for determining interactions of the plant species with the environment of a subtropical mountain ecosystem across a climatic gradient. Currently, there is no book in the market addressing the implementation and applications of modeling in the Himalayan plant and environment continuum, and most of the existing books cover the species richness pattern along the elevation gradient and basic ethnobotanical features of a mountain system. Since the book covers the applications of novel methods and modeling for ecological analysis of mountain ecosystems, it will also be significant for the professional market. Therefore, the book aims to fill the gap between scientists and professionals in the use of modeling strategies to monitor biodiversity in mountain systems for the formulation of conservation, adaptation, and mitigation principles.

Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Methodology for ecological analysis.- Chapter 3. Ecology of Eastern Himalaya.- Chapter 4. Ecology of Western Himalaya.- Chapter 5. Climate change and plant invasions.- Chapter 6. Conclusion.

Dr. Rajendra Mohan Panda is an ecologist and modeling specialist with more than ten years of research experience in the fields of agriculture, biostatistics, ecology, forestry, and soil science. His broad research interests include biodiversity, climate change predictions, invasion risk assessments, spatial modeling, ecological monitoring, interactive mapping, and visualization. Rajendra has proficiencies in large spatial data analysis, species distribution modeling, machine learning, and R-software. He is a team leader with capabilities in managing Workshops and Conferences. Rajendra has more than twenty peer-reviewed publications in reputed journals and books, two of which have received media attention. Rajendra has also experience in teaching and mentoring M.Tech. and Ph.D. students.