Gajendra Singh

Uttarakhand Space Application Centre Govt. Of Uttarakhand

Combining agriculture, animal rearing, and forest product gathering is the traditional rural livelihood system of the Himalayan regions. This interlinked livelihood system is so intense and complex, that any minor disturbance in any one of these practices affects the whole system. A number of phenomena, i.e., erratic weather conditions, low crop pr...

Subalpine-alpine vegetation of Himalayan global biodiversity hotspot forms the highest and unique ecosystem of the world. These ecosystems inhabit diverse cold adapted plants, which are currently threatened by global warming. Deciphering vegetation forms and their ecological niches is pre-requisite for evolving conservation strategies. Emerging rem...

Landslide susceptibility mapping plays an imperative role in mitigating hazards and determining the future direction of developmental activities in mountainous regions. Here, we used 518 landslide occurrences and nine landslide-conditioning parameters to build landslide vulnerability models in the Kailash Sacred Landscape (KSL), India. Four multiva...

The 'Orchids of Uttarakhand' is a first-of-its kind, lavishly illustrated field guide that provides a comprehensive photographic account of the orchid diversity of the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. It has been especially designed for nature lovers, students, researchers, and field foresters who are keen to explore different areas of Uttarakhand....

Biological invasions have significant ecological and environmental impacts on different ecosystems across the world. Wetlands well known as diverse and productive ecosystems provide critical habitat for a wide range of plant and animal species. However, these ecosystems are also grappling with the disruptive impacts of invasive plant species. The c...

The Indian Himalayan region (IHR) is home to around 7,000 plant species, of which approximately 2,000 are used for medicinal purposes. The region harbors numerous high-value medicinal and aromatic plant species (MAPs) that have been traditionally used by local communities for centuries. Unfortunately, the region has been experiencing rapid urbaniza...

In the current communication, we assessed the current spread and invasion pattern of a new invasive alien plant Wigandia urens along National Highway 58 in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The population status of this species was assessed using systematic vegetation sampling. Ecological niche modelling was performed using maxent to predict the fut...

Climate change and anthropogenic pressure have significantly contributed to the decline of biodiversity worldwide, particularly in mountain ecosystems such as the Himalaya. In addition to being relatively sensitive to disturbances, orchids may also respond more quickly to climate change impacts than other plant species. Because of their complex bio...

A landscape-level assessment on status of livestock population and impact of pastoral practices on timberline vegetation of the western Himalaya was conducted. We used a combination of field survey and remote sensing data (Landsat, Sentinal and Cartosat & LISS-IV merged) to quantify the cumulative impacts of livestock grazing, fuelwood extraction a...

Biological invasions have significant ecological and environmental impacts on different ecosystems across the world. Wetlands well known as diverse and productive ecosystems provide critical habitat for a wide range of plant and animal species. However, these ecosystems are also grappling with the disruptive impacts of invasive plant species. The c...

We assessed the areas under suitable habitats and population of ten high value medicinal herbs in alpine region of Uttarakhand, Western Himalaya. Topographic, landcover, physiographic, edaphic and bioclimatic variables were used to predict the potential distribution of these plants in the alpine vegetation zone. Field surveys were conducted to coll...

Himalayan mountain forests have been a potential candidate for the investigation of perturbations due to the complex geography in which they sustain and the sensitivity of the species toward human disturbance and climate change. Among various tree species, brown oak (Quercus semecarpifolia), a very important component of the Himalayan mountains, ha...

The current study envisages the hydrometeorological disasters risk assessment using meteorological and remote sensing data combined with geomorphological and geological information. Landslide susceptibility was analyzed by maximum entropy model (MaxEnt) using 11 conditioning factors. Potentially dangerous lakes for glacial lake outburst flood were...

Executive summary: Data on the distribution and extent of vegetation and land cover types is important for the planning and management of natural ecosystems. In this study, we developed a harmonized vegetation classification scheme and applied it to the preparation of a vegetation map of Kailash Sacred Landscape using satellite data, field data, an...

Profound field inventory and monitoring of threatened species habitats are cost-prohibitive, if there is little known about the distribution of species. Malaxis muscifera is a habitat specific, threatened medicinal orchid constitute of Astavarga which grows between 2500-3700 m in the alpine region of Himalaya. Its population decline is closely link...

The ecological status of medicinal and aromatic plants species (MAPs) in the alpine region of the Western Himalaya was assessed to identify the current threats on these MAPs. Of the 400 MAPs reported from the alpine region of Uttarakhand, 50 highly used and commercially exploited MAPs were prioritized for assessment. A semistructured questionnaire...

The ecological status of medicinal and aromatic plants species (MAPs) in the alpine region of the Western Himalaya was assessed to identify the current threats on these MAPs. Of the 400 MAPs reported from the alpine region of Uttarakhand, 50 highly used and commercially exploited MAPs were prioritized for assessment. A semistructured questionnaire...

The study envisages assessing the availability and habitat preference of medicinal plants in the alpine region of Kumaun Himalaya. The availability of medical plants across six major habitats viz., mixed herbaceous meadow, tall forbs, Danthonia grassy slope, shrubbies, Kobresia sedge and cushinoid were assessed across meadows above 3000m asl. Rapid...

Kumaun Himalaya is a home to various threatened medicinal and aromatic plants. Picrorhiza kurroa is a threatened medicinal plant useful in curing many diseases in Indian Himalayan region. Due to overharvesting from the wild its population is decreasing at an alarming rate. The present study attempted to assess its availability and predict highly su...

The compilation of “Legume and Thistle Flora of Kumaun, Western Himalaya, India” describe 522 species of four families i.e. Fabaceae, Caesalpiniaceae, Mimosaceae and Asteraceae. A total of 60 genera belongs to Fabaceae, 8 genera Caesalpiniaceae, 6 genera Mimosaceae and 103 genera Asteraceae with having 206, 30, 21 and 265 species respectively. The...

Medicinal plants are known for their traditional and modern medicinal values to treat health disorders. Dactylorhiza hatagirea (known as Hattajari and Salampanja) is one of these medicinal plants, which is highly praised and valued medicinal plant in alpine regions. The plant has been widely used by the local inhabitants for treating various ailmen...

Medicinal plants are known for their traditional and modern medicinal values to treat health disorders. Dactylorhiza hatagirea (known as Hattajari and Salampanja) is one of these medicinal plants, which is highly praised and valued medicinal plant in alpine regions. The plant has been widely used by the local inhabitants for treating various ailmen...

Medicinal plants are known for their traditional and modern medicinal values to treat health disorders. Dactylorhiza hatagirea (known as Hattajari and Salampanja) is one of these medicinal plants, which is highly praised and valued medicinal plant in alpine regions. The plant has been widely used by the local inhabitants for treating various ailmen...

Medicinal plants are known for their traditional and modern medicinal values to treat health disorders. Dactylorhiza hatagirea (known as Hattajari and Salampanja) is one of these medicinal plants, which is highly praised and valued medicinal plant in alpine regions. The plant has been widely used by the local inhabitants for treating various ailmen...

Medicinal plants are known for their traditional and modern medicinal values to treat health disorders. Dactylorhiza hatagirea (known as Hattajari and Salampanja) is one of these medicinal plants, which is highly praised and valued medicinal plant in alpine regions. The plant has been widely used by the local inhabitants for treating various ailmen...

Medicinal plants are known for their traditional and modern medicinal values to treat health disorders. Dactylorhiza hatagirea (known as Hattajari and Salampanja) is one of these medicinal plants, which is highly praised and valued medicinal plant in alpine regions. The plant has been widely used by the local inhabitants for treating various ailmen...

Medicinal plants are known for their traditional and modern medicinal values to treat health disorders. Dactylorhiza hatagirea (known as Hattajari and Salampanja) is one of these medicinal plants, which is highly praised and valued medicinal plant in alpine regions. The plant has been widely used by the local inhabitants for treating various ailmen...

Grasslands are the world’s most extensive terrestrial ecosystem, which provides a variety of services for humans, such as carbon storage, food production, crop pollination, pest regulation, and are a major feed source for livestock. However, grasslands are today one of the most endangered ecosystems due to land-use change, agricultural intensificat...

The Indian Himalayan region arbours rich array of Medicinal and Aromatic plants (MAPs) owing to its diverse topography and climatic conditions. However, under the contemporary changes in the Himalaya, excessive resource use, changing climate, increasing viz., developmental and tourism activities, a little is known about the alpine vegetation respon...

Gastrochilus affinis (King & Pantl.) Schltr. is reported here for the first time from Western Himalaya. Gastrochilus nepalensis Raskoti, a species from Nepal described in 2015 is reduced to synonymy under G. affinis. A note on typification of G. affinis is also provided in the present communication.

Increase in endemism with elevation is a common feature in Himalayas because of increased isolation of higher areas like treelines. To protect species of treeline, we at least need to record their numbers and distribution. We estimated that the total number of tree species in Himalayan treeline is 58, and they belong to 14 genera and 8 families. It...

The Geospatial extent, availability and threats on Angelica glauca in the alpine region of Western Himalaya were assessed. Landsat-8 data was used to delineate the extent of species using ground control points (GCPs) collected based on the rapid mapping exercise (RME) (4 plots at every 50 m distance, total 40 plots in one transect) as well as herba...

The automation in man-made object extraction such as building habitation from urban area imagery has become a challenging task for photogrammetry, computer vision, and remote sensing. This study aims to automatically extract building of an urban area using high resolution intensity data and fuzzy membership logic to classify the image object by usi...

The study aimed to assess dry matter dynamics of forests along treeline ecotone concerning environmental variability, and four representative forests, birch, kharsu oak, Himalayan fr and mixed forest along treeline ecotone (3250–3400 m asl) were selected in Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Himalaya. Temperature, precipitation and humidity da...

A landscape level survey of vegetation structure and composition was conducted along the treeline ecotone in Western Himalaya in the states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. We used a combination of field surveys and remote sensing data (Landsat MSS and TM images) to quantify the extent and distribution of various classes of forests, forest cove...

Kailash Sacred Landscape (KSL), which covers the remote southwestern portion of the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) of China, and adjacent parts of northwestern Nepal, and India, contains a highly diverse array of bio-physical features and distinctly rich heritage of local cultures. The region being the source of four major rivers (i.e., the Indus,...

The geographical patterns of species richness and underlying mechanisms are among the central issues of ecology. The Himalaya, a global biodiversity hotspot, lacks spatially explicit representation of plant richness patterns and predictor environmental covariates. The rugged Himalayan terrain limits large-scale field surveys, we, therefore, disenta...

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The Indian part of Kailash Sacred Landscape (KSL) is prone to flash floods, landslides and forest fires leading to various environmental and socio-economic problems. This study aims to identify areas vulnerable to these disasters by preparing hazard maps to curtail their impact on the overall landscape. The Indian part of KSL covering seven forest...

In this study, we assess potential habitats and connectivity for the common leopard (Panthera pardus) in the Indian part of the Kailash Sacred Landscape to predict suitable areas for future dispersal within the landscape. We used a modeling-based approach, which incorporates sixteen landscape variables to identify priority areas for leopard conserv...

Effective quantification of land cover changes remains a challenge in Himalayan hills and mountains, and has a colossal value addition for natural resource management. Here we present a new robust method for classifying land cover vegetation at physiognomic scale along steep elevational gradients from ~ 200 to ~ 7000 masl in the Kailash Sacred Land...

The western Himalaya represent an important and distinct botanical sub-region and biogeographic zone in the Himalayan Biodiversity Hotspot. There is a long history of floral exploration in this region as compared to the eastern Himalaya; however, recent additions of several species to western Himalayan flora reveal remote areas yet to be explored i...

Pindari glacier is the source to Pindar River, one of the major tributary to the River Alaknanda. This study aims to assess the retreat of the Pindari glacier in four decades using visual interpretation of remote sensing data. The GPS technology (coordinates) was used to determine the latest snout position in 2014. The location of snout was marked...

Planning for Management of Ecosystems ISBN: 978 92 9115 520 0

This Field Guide has been brought out as a 'user friendly companion' for the naturalists, tourists, foresters and trekkers to the' Land of Five Kedars' and surrounds who wish to rejoice the astounding beauty of Himalayan flowers and keen to refresh their field botany. This guide is based on an extensive explorations made by the authors in various p...

During recent botanical explorations in the Western Himalaya, three interesting species were recorded from the subalpine- alpine areas, which were hitherto unknown from this region. Their occurrence in this region is phytogeographically significant and noteworthy. In this paper, a brief description of these species along with phenology, distributio...

During recent botanical explorations in the western Himalaya, three interesting species were recorded from the subalpine-alpine areas, which were hitherto unknown from this region. Their occurrence in this region is phytogeographically significant and noteworthy. In this paper a brief description of these species along with phenology, distribution,...

This Operations Manual supports planning to provide multiple ecosystem services as part of management of sites and landscapes. It presents six steps, key knowledge, guidance for forest, grassland and agricultural ecosystems, workbooks, a management plan template, an examples. Central to its approach is a practical method for understanding and wor...

During recent botanical explorations, we recorded three interesting plant species from the alpine regions (>3500m) of the Uttarakhand State in the western Himalaya. After a detailed scrutiny of the literature and herbarium specimens, we ascertain their identity and report them as additions to the flora of Uttarakhand. In this paper descriptions of...