Anzar Ahmad Khuroo

University of Kashmir · Centre for Biodiversity & Taxonomy

Detailed examination of the protologue, herbarium, and live specimens of Ephedra kardangensis P. Sharma & P. L. Uniyal (Systematic Botany, 35:730–735, 2010) revealed that this species actually corresponds to E. gerardiana. Therefore, we report here E. kardangensis as a new synonym of E. gerardiana. Discrepancies in the description, diagnosis, and t...

Historically, and even today, discovery of new species has remained one of the primary research activities driving the discipline of taxonomy. Discovering scientifically still unknown biodiversity is critical in addressing the taxonomic impediment which is hampering our progrees to meet the challenges of global biodiversity crisis. However, in the...

In an era of climate change, quantifying forest biomass and patterns of carbon stock along elevational gradients in mountainous areas are particularly important for carbon budgeting and forest management. Here, we carried out extensive field studies to quantify the tree biomass and carbon stock of 12 major forest types along a wide elevational grad...

Critical study of the protologue, herbarium and live specimens of Ephedra yangthangensis Prabha Sharma & Rita Singh revealed that this species actually corresponds to E. intermedia. The description of E. yangthangensis as a new species is based on phenotypically plastic characters such as nature of microsporagiophore, size of male strobili and colo...

In an era of climate change, quantifying forest biomass and patterns of carbon stock along elevational gradients in mountainous areas are particularly important for carbon budgeting and forest management. Here, we carried out extensive field studies to quantify the tree biomass and carbon stock of 12 major forest types along a wide elevational grad...

The Himalaya – a global biodiversity hotspot – harbours diverse flora and fauna, but increasingly beset with multiple threats, including biological invasion by invasive alien species. Here, we aimed to investigate the diversity, distribution, and drivers of alien flora in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR), a region spread across 12 states/union ter...

Experimental evidences in support of climate warming–driven phenological shifts are still scarce, particularly from the developing world. Here, we investigated the effect of experimental warming on flowering phenology of selected woody plants in Kashmir Himalaya. We selected the twigs of four congeneric pairs of temperate woody species (Prunus, Pop...

Lagotis kunawurensis Rupr. (Plantaginaceae), a rare plant species endemic to the Himalaya, is reported here after a gap of 50 years from Ladakh. This species has often been taxonomically misidentified and confused with Picrorhiza kurroa, an important medicinal plant of the Himalaya. The present study clarifies the taxonomy of L. kunawurensis by pro...

The university campuses in the Global South (low- and middle-income countries of the world) harbour a significant proportion of the trees outside forests which furnish precious ecosystem services. In this study, we conducted field surveys to document the tree flora in the campus of Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak (Haryana), India. We documente...

Globally, the treelines at higher elevations in mountains are reported to be advancing up-slope in response to recent climate warming. However, little is known about the treeline advancement in the Himalaya due to paucity of baseline vegetation data with which to compare, thus making their assessment and monitoring challenging. To fill this knowled...

Several anthropogenic activities can impact forest carbon (C) dynamics. In the Himalaya, insufficient studies are available on the intensity and impacts of multiple anthropogenic activities on forest C stocks. Here, we studied the changes in tree C stock in temperate forest stands of Kashmir Himalaya due to anthropogenic disturbances. We sampled fo...

The Himalaya, one of the global biodiversity hotspots, harbors a rich diversity of medicinal flora. The Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions, located in the northwestern side of the Himalaya, represent a wide elevational gradient with diverse habitats teeming with valuable biological resources, including wealth of medicinal plant species. It is in thi...

Swertia pahalgamensis (Gentianaceae), a new species from Kashmir Himalaya, India is described here with photographic illustrations. The new species resembles with Swertia thomsonii in some morphological characters, but differs clearly in having basal leaves elliptic-spathulate with acute-acuminate apices, petals yellowish green, ovate, sub-obtuse a...

Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we...

Asia, occupying nearly 30% of the earth’s terrestrial surface, is one of the most important continent known for its highly diverse culture, economy, geography, and ecology. Three of the world’s five largest economies, and nearly two-thirds of the world’s population, are in Asia. The continent has a diverse range of habitats including tropical moist...

Veronica polita subsp. lilacina (T.Yamaz.) T.Yamaz. is reported as a new distribution record for India from the Kashmir Himalaya. A detailed description, photographic illustrations and comparison of diagnostic characters with the type subspecies are provided to validate the new record and facilitate easy field identification.

We report Pedicularis gracilis var. brunoniana (Wall. ex Pennell) T. Husain & Arti Garg (Orobanchaceae) for the first time from Ladakh, a region of Trans-Himalaya in India. This variety is most similar to P. gracilis var. macrocarpa but differs in having out-curved galea, long calyx lobes with hairy margin. Detailed morphological notes along with p...

The present study reports the chromosome count and meiotic behavior including microsporogenesis of Actaea kashmiriana J. Compton and its relation with pollen fertility and seed set. The species showed the chromosome count of 2n = 4x = 32 and meiotic chromosomal irregularities (such as chromatin stickiness, cytomixis, laggard formation, chromosomal...

Geum elatum forma rubrum (Rosaceae) is elevated here to the rank of species, Geum rubrum comb. nov. from the Himalaya. The species differs from the commonly occurring G. elatum in several distinctive characters which include: smaller flower size (2.2–2.8 cm diameter), elliptic or lanceolate pseudo-sepal, glandular hairs on calyx, red petals, dorsif...

Naturalisation is the most crucial stage along the ecological process of introduction-naturalisation-invasion continuum. Therefore, reporting the transition of alien plant species at the naturalised stage along the continuum can be crucial for the early warning and rapid response in invasion management. Here we report Ranunculus repens as a new dis...

Swertia kashmirensis (Gentianaceae), a new species from Bangus Valley of Kashmir Himalaya, India is described here. The species resembles morphologically to Swertia thomsonii but differs markedly from it by cauline leaves free at base, petals having obtuse apices, nectaries oblong-oval, fimbriae 3–5, restricted on lower part of the nectary towards...

Ephedra pangiensis Rita Singh & P. Sharma is recognized here as a new synonym of E. intermedia Schrenk & C.A. Mey. as both found conspecific. A detailed description of E. intermedia with additional taxonomic characters, photographs, illustrations and distribution map are provided. Morpho-anatomical comparison of E. intermedia with its congeneric ta...

Impatiens edgeworthii is an important plant species endemic to Western Himalaya. In this species male reproductive organs conceal the stigma – seat of pollen reception during male phase therefore acts as barrier for self-pollination. In addition the stigma become receptive only after the androecium of the same flower is shed and then receptive stig...

In an era of climate change, identifying suitable habitats for ecosystem restoration is critical for conservation of globally threatened biodiversity. Here, we integrate the insights gained from ensemble modelling with the community field data on threatened Himalayan Trillium (Trillium govanianum) to identify the suitable sites for its habitat rest...

Invasive alien species are regarded as one of major drivers of global biodiversity loss, and correct taxonomic identification of these species at early stage of introduction is crucial in successful invasion management. Here we report Matricaria discoidea DC., an alien plant species, which has currently reached to the invasive stage in Kashmir Hima...

Elevation plays a pivotal role in determining the diversity and distribution of biodiversity in mountainous landscapes, and therefore macroecological assessment of forest tree vegetation is crucial for developing scientifically-informed forest policy and management. In this study, we investigated the diversity, distribution pattern and regeneration...

The sustainable management of green spaces in cities is crucial in achieving the challenging goal of urban sustainability. The common practice of cultivation of alien plants in urban green spaces is often associated with risk of naturalisation (i.e. escape into wild), which can have sometime adverse impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services. T...

The increasing spatial, spectral and temporal resolution of satellite images create a potential for producing accurate datasets on community level biodiversity and more widely, as an alternative to monitor individual species. This project is aimed to develop community level vegetation database for regional landscapes and describe vegetation charact...

Apricot is considered an ecologically and economically important tree species of the stone-fruit crops that is widely grown in temperate regions of the world. Very few studies on apricot genetic diversity assessment have been carried out from the regions of Kashmir and Ladakh. In this backdrop, the present study was carried out to analyse the genet...

Detailed knowledge about the meiotic behavior of threatened plant species is crucial to develop successful conservation strategies. Here we provide a detailed account of the male meiotic behavior of Trillium govanianum Wall ex. D. Don an endangered endemic medicinal plant species of the Himalaya. We collected the plant material from the Bangus vall...

A taxonomic account of the genus Alternanthera (Amaranthaceae) in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is presented here. The genus is represented by four species in the Union Territory i.e., Alternanthera philoxeroides Griseb., A. sessilis (L.) R.Br. ex DC., A. pungens Kunth and A. paronychioides A.St.-Hil. of which A. paronychioides and A. pu...

Globally, biodiversity-rich forest ecosystems are facing higher risk of climate and land-use changes. Therefore, understanding the role of anthropogenic factors in affecting forest community composition and vegetation patterns assume urgent research priority and are prerequisites for conservation and sustainable management of forest ecosystems. We...

Litter decomposition is a key process for carbon and nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems and is mainly controlled by environmental conditions, substrate quantity, and quality as well as microbial community abundance and composition. In particular, the effects of climate and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition on litter decomposition and its...

Arid environments face extreme risk from contemporary climate change, therefore predicting the shifts in species’ distribution range and niche breadth in these environments assumes urgent research priority. Here we report the potential distribution and predict future distribution range of two model plant species typically representing contrasting e...

In an age of anthropocene, shifting plant phenology is one of the most striking biological indicators of global environmental change. Majority of the studies reporting shifts in plant phenology are available from the North America and Europe and largely scarce from the developing world, including the Himalaya; and studies integrating multiple metho...

The significant portion of global terrestrial biodiversity harbored in the mountains is under increasing threat from various anthropogenic impacts. Protecting fragile mountain ecosystems requires understanding how these human disturbances affect biodiversity. As roads and railways are extended further into mountain ecosystems, understanding the lon...

Gentianopsis paludosa var. alpina T.N.Ho. is reported as a new record for India from the Trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh, Union Territory in India. The identification is confirmed based on diagnostic characters, such as branching from the base, oblong to elliptic lanceolate cauline leaves, 5–20 flowered inflorescences, up to 20 cm long pedicels an...

Biological invasions are a major global challenge for the conservation of biodiversity, maintenance of ecosystem health and sustainable livelihoods. As the number of novel introductions of invasive species is predicted to increase due to rising trade volumes in the emerging economies, regulatory policies to prevent the introduction and spread of in...

Understanding the structure and functioning of plant-insect interaction webs can guide to valuable insights in the management of biodiversity and provision of life-supporting ecosystem services. • Here we report the structure of flower visitation web from the Kashmir Himalaya-a scientifically little investigated region falling in the Himalayas biod...

Flower-insect interactions are of great scientific interest and economic value as these mutual interactions play a vital role in the sustenance of biodiversity. •The plants visited by insect visitors are known as foraging plants and the insects which visit the flowers for their food are known as insect visitors. • Despite the rich biodiversity in K...

Medicinal plant distribution

Litter decomposition, a key biogeochemical cycling process regulating carbon and other nutrient balances, is driven by several factors including vegetation composition, litter quality and local environmental conditions. However, the relative role of these drivers on decomposition process in the context of plant invasions has been little investigate...

Symphyotrichum subulatum (Michx.) G.L.Nesom (Asteraceae) is reported as a new alien plant record for Kashmir Himalaya. The taxonomic identification of species is confirmed on the basis of shape of involucre, floral and seed characters. Detailed description, distribution map, and comments on distribution and ecology are also provided along with phot...

Although vegetation has been the focus of recent studies on mountain summits , little is known about smaller-scale spatial patterns of soil physico-chemical properties. Here, we report patterns and drivers of soil physico-chemical properties and their role in shaping the plant diversity on mountain summits of the Himalaya. Using the globally standa...

In an era of Anthropocene, invasive alien species (IAS) are recognized as agents of global environmental change. Given the grave impacts of IAS on ecology, economy, health, and national security, scientific inventories of IAS have assumed urgent research priority. In this chapter, an annotated inventory of the invasive alien flora of India is prese...

High elevation ecosystems of the Himalaya have warmed more rapidly in recent decades than other areas of the globe. Alpine life zones are areas lying between the elevational climatic treeline and the snow line. The limit of alpine treeline elevational position in Himalaya is temperature dependent. Satellite remote sensing of delineating Himalayan a...

Recognizing the global urgency of restoring degraded ecosystems, the United Nations has proclaimed 2021–2030 as the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Among various global drivers of ecosystem degradation, the long-persisting impact of invasive species in the form of invasion shadow (or legacy effect) within be- lowground soil system, even after phys...

Recognizing the global urgency of restoring degraded ecosystems, the United Nations has proclaimed 2021-2030 as the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Among various global drivers of ecosystem degradation, the long-persisting impact of invasive species in the form of invasion shadow (or legacy effect) within belowground soil system, even after physic...

The correct scientific identification of the plant material is crucial to the safety and efficacy of herbal products. Trillium govanianum Wall. ex D. Don, a pharmaceutically prized medicinal plant species endemic to the Himalaya, has been recently subjected to large-scale extraction in the wild due to increasing market demand. Consequently, adulter...

Although vegetation has been the focus of recent studies on mountain summits, little is known about smaller‐scale spatial patterns of soil physico‐chemical properties. Here, we report patterns and drivers of soil physico‐chemical properties and their role in shaping the plant diversity on mountain summits of the Himalaya. Using the globally standar...

The genus Salix L. (commonly known as willow) has been one of the valuable groups of plants for humankind due to their multiple uses. In India, the Himalayan regions of Kashmir and Ladakh harbor maximum diversity of Salix. In this context, the present study documents multiple economic and ethno-medicinal uses of Salix in these Himalayan regions. Th...

Primula atrodentata W. W. Sm. (Primulaceae) is recorded for the first time from the Trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh in India. The present study provides a taxonomic description, photographs of diagnostic features and distribution map of the species. Comparison of delimiting characters between P. atrodentata and closely related P. denticulata are p...

Primula atrodentata W. W. Sm. (Primulaceae) is recorded for the first time from the Trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh in India. The present study provides a taxonomic description, photographs of diagnostic features and distribution map of the species. Comparison of delimiting characters between P. atrodentata and closely related P. denticulata are p...

One of the fundamental questions in invasion biology is why an alien species successfully invades one region but fails to do so in another region. In this regard, the recently emerging molecular ecology tools have made it possible to understand the genetic basis of invasion success and/or failure of alien species in different regions. Here we repor...

ABSTRACT The present paper deal with the collection of Rubia manjith Roxb.ex Fleming (Rubiaceae) from Hirpora Wildlife Sanctuary, Jammu & Kashmir. A detailed taxonomic description, microphotographs of diagnostic characters and map being provided to facilitate its easier identification.

In an era of climate change, the availability of empirical data on alpine summit vegetation in the Himalaya is still scarce. Here we report the assessment of alpine summit flora in Gulmarg Wildlife Sanctuary, Kashmir Himalaya. We employed a globally standardized Multi-Summit Approach and four spatially isolated summits spanning an elevation gradien...

Nymphaea alba var. rubra Lönnr. is reported for the first time from Dal Lake, Kashmir Himalaya, India. The taxonomic identification was confirmed based on rhizome, leaf and flower characters. A brief description and photographic illustrations of N. alba var. rubra are provided to validate the new distribution record for aquatic flora of this Himala...

Under the contemporary climate change, the Himalaya is reported to be warming at a much higher rate than the global average. However, little is known about the alpine vegetation responses to recent climate change in the rapidly warming Himalaya. Here we studied vegetation dynamics on alpine summits in Kashmir Himalaya in relation to in situ measure...

The changes in natural ecosystems provide opportunity to increase vegetation carbon sink capacity and thereby contribute to mitigation of climate change impacts. The Indian tropics and the large ecological variation within the country afford the advantage of diverse niches and offer opportunities to reveal the role of biotic factors at different le...

This chapter provides an updated checklist of aquatic macrophytes in the Indian Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir. In total, 191 species of aquatic macrophytes have been recorded from the state. These species include both aquatic and semiaquatic plants and belong to 80 genera in 37 families (22 belonging to dicotyledons, 12 monocotyledons, and 3...

Forests play critical ecological and socio-economic roles by providing life-supporting ecosystem goods and services to humankind, including provisioning (e.g. food, fuel and timber), regulating (e.g. climate, water and soil conservation), and cultural (e.g. recreation) services. In the recent past, increasing anthropogenic pressure on forest ecosys...

A significant proportion of the rich repository of biodiversity in Jammu and Kashmir state is currently experiencing anthropogenic threat at an alarming rate. It is in this backdrop that the present chapter reviews the current status and future prospects of conservation of biodiversity in this state. Historically, the conservation of wildlife and f...

The chapter provides a brief introduction about the emergence of biodiversity concept and highlights its vital value as the very basis of sustenance of life on Earth on one hand and its continuous alarming loss on the other, thereby underlining the need for its documentation, conservation, and sustainable use at the global, national, and local leve...

In the Kashmir Himalaya, 833 plant species, belonging to 378 genera in 112 families, are used as medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs). In all, 749 (89.91%) species belong to dicotyledons, 66 (7.92%) to monocotyledons, 10 (1.20%) to gymnosperms, while 8 (0.96%) species belong to pteridophytes. The family Asteraceae has the largest number of 126 MAP...

The chapter provides an updated account of angiosperm flora of the state of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). A total of 5056 taxa, comprising 4778 species plus 278 subspecies/varieties, belonging to 1306 genera in 180 families are recorded from the state. Asteraceae with 613 species and 50 subspecies/varieties in 130 genera is the largest family, followed by...

Arboreal or woody flora, as a surrogate of biota, is immensely useful for rapid assessment and monitoring of biodiversity in a region. The present chapter provides an annotated inventory of the arboreal flora of the state of Jammu and Kashmir in India, including both native and exotic species. At the present stage of investigation, the arboreal flo...

The chapter provides an updated synthesis of threatened flora of Jammu and Kashmir state. Till date, a total of 429 species of seed plants, belonging to 256 genera in 87 families, have been listed under different threat assessment studies in the State. Among the 429 species assessed, there are 24 species which have been recognized as critically end...

The present chapter provides an updated checklist of bryophytes in Jammu and Kashmir State, based on systematic review of scientific literature, herbarium studies in KASH and field observations. The checklist comprises of 420 species, out of which 328 species spread over 117 genera in 32 families belong to mosses, whereas 91 species spread over 40...

This chapter provides an updated checklist of aquatic macrophytes in the Indian Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir. In total, 191 species of aquatic macrophytes have been recorded from the state. These species include both aquatic and semiaquatic plants and belong to 80 genera in 37 families (22 belonging to dicotyledons, 12 monocotyledons, and 3...