Maan B. Rokaya

The Czech Academy of Sciences | AVCR · Institute of Botany

1. It is a challenge to scale-up from simplified proxies to ecosystem functioning since the inherent complexity of natural ecosystems hinders such an approach. One way to address this complexity is to track ecosystem processes through the lens of plant functional traits. Elevational gradients with diverse biotic and abiotic conditions offer ideal s...

In this introductory chapter, we present facts about snow leopard. We start with a general description of snow leopard, its ecology and typical habitats in Sect. 1.1. Details on snow leopard distribution in the world follow in Sect. 1.2. We then enumerate the main threats to this animal, which include conflicts with people, illegal trade and climat...

The most important habitats for snow leopard in the world are in Nepal and studies on this elusive predator began there much earlier than elsewhere, but the results are scattered in the literature. The review presented in this chapter therefore aims to compile the results of the Nepalese studies, which over the last four decades consist of several...

ADHIKARI, J.N., BHATTARAI, B.P., ROKAYA, M.B., THAPA, T.B., 2022. Distribution of invasive plants and their association with wild ungulates in Barandabhar Corridor Forest, Nepal. Folia Oecologica, 49 (2): 182-191. Invasive and alien plant species (IAPS) are considered as major threats to native biodiversity because IAPS alter ecosystem structure...

Background Land use/land cover assessment and monitoring of the land cover dynamics are essential to know the ecological, physical and anthropogenic processes in the landscape. Previous studies have indicated changes in the landscape of mid-hills of Nepal in the past few decades. But there is a lack of study in the Chitwan Annapurna Landscape; henc...

Hoya polyneura Hook. f. (Apocynaceae) is reported as a species new to the flora of Nepal. A diagnostic key to the Hoya species found in Nepal is also provided.

Studies on population dynamics are helpful for understanding the factors determining population development and predicting the effects of disturbances, such as harvesting of plant species. In an investigation of the demography of a terrestrial medicinal orchid known as Crepidium acuminatum, the effects of harvesting on its population dynamics were...

Rubus dorcheae M.B. Rokaya & S. Subedi, a new Rubus L. species recorded from the subtropical forest in central Nepal is described and illustrated. Notes to distinguish it from related taxa are provided. It is closely related to R. kumaonensis N.P. Balakr. and R. rugosus Sm. but differs by having more height, both leaf surfaces green, upper surface...

Epiphytic orchids are common in subtropical forests, but little is known about the factors that determine their diversity. We surveyed two sites (north-facing Phulchowki and south-facing Shivapuri hills), in the sub-tropical forest in the Kathmandu valley, central Nepal. Along five transects per site, spanning an altitudinal gradient of 1525–2606 m...

Crop yield is mainly affected by climatic factors such as temperature and precipitation. Besides these factors, improved seeds, irrigation access, and fertilizers also affect yield. In the present study, we collected crop yield data for major crops such as maize, rice, and wheat from the Koshi River Basin, Nepal. We investigated the yield trends ov...

Factors determining the spatial distribution of bird species along altitudinal gradients have been important in their ecological and biogeographical research. Here, have used the data on bird species recorded in Manang, central Nepal Himalayas and attempt to determine the drivers of bird species diversity. We also carried out indicator species anal...

Hoya polyneura Hook. f. (Apocynaceae) is reported as a species new to the flora of Nepal. A diagnostic key to the Hoya species found in Nepal is also provided.

Traditional knowledge on the use of animal products to maintain human health is important since time immemorial. Although a few studies reported food and medicinal values of different animals, a comprehensive ethno-medicinal study of vertebrates in Nepal is still lacking. Thus, present study is aimed at documenting the ethno-medicinal knowledge rel...

Anti‐inflammatory products may represent the future for depressive disorder therapies. Curcumin (CUR) is a polyphenol and an active component of the turmericplant Curcuma longa. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of CUR,as a natural anti‐inflammatory agent, on neuro‐inflammation related to depression and compare it with the effects...

Ongoing changes in temperature and precipitation regime may have a strong impact on vulnerable life-history stages such as germination, especially in alpine regions. Differences in germination patterns among species and populations may reflect their adaptation to conditions of their origin or may be determined by the phylogenetic constraints. These...

Elevational gradients are linked with different abiotic and biotic factors, which in turn influence the distribution of plant diversity. In the present study we explored the relative importance of different environmental factors in shaping species diversity and composition of vascular plant species along an elevational gradient in the Chamelia Vall...

Climate warming is expected to significantly affect plant–herbivore interactions. Even though direct effects of temperature on herbivores were extensively studied, indirect effects of temperature (acting via changes in host plant quality) on herbivore performance have rarely been addressed. We conducted multiple-choice feeding experiments with gene...

Parthenium hysterophorus L. is a noxious invasive weed and is ever expanding in its introduced range including Nepal. Understanding vegetation dynamics including soil seedbank in Parthenium invaded communities and the growth pattern of the weed itself is essential for effective management of Parthenium. We monitored growth of Parthenium (height, de...

Tree rings are widely used to reconstruct past climates in regions where observational records of climate are short. In this study, we developed a 294 years-long (1718–2011 CE) ring-width chronology of the Himalayan Silver fir (Abies spectabilis (D.Don, Spach)) from Humla district in western Nepal to reconstruct winter minimum temperature for the r...

Knowledge of the relationship between environmental conditions and species traits is an important prerequisite for understanding determinants of community composition and predicting species response to novel climatic conditions. Despite increasing number of studies on this topic, our knowledge on importance of genetic differentiation, plasticity an...

Butterflies are widely studied due to their key ecosystem functions. For this reason, they are used in ecosystem assessment, formulating conservation plans and in raising the environmental awareness. Quantification of different factors affecting diversity of butterflies is important for their effective conservation. In this study, we investigated a...

Background: Traditional knowledge on use of animal products to maintain human health is important since time immemorial. Although a few studies are reported as food and medicinal values of different animals, a comprehensive ethno-medicinal study of vertebrates in Nepal is still lacking. Thus, present study is aimed to document the ethno-medicinal k...

Ongoing changes in temperature and precipitation regime may have strong impact on vulnerable life-history stages such as germination. Differences in germination patterns among species and populations may reflect their adaptation to conditions of their origin or may be determined by the phylogenetic constrains. These two effects are, however, rarely...

Climate warming is expected to strengthen the plant-herbivore interactions and thus increase the plant consumption rate. However, indirect impacts of temperature (acting via changes in host plant quality) on herbivore performance have only rarely been studied, and therefore, the net effect of temperature change is difficult to predict. We thus test...

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Neopicrorhiza scrophulariiflora (Pennell) Hong is important medicinal plant that is native to the eastern Himalayas and Hengduan mountains in China. It is also distributed in Nepal, north east India, Bhutan and northern Myanmar. Plant parts are traditionally used against different kinds of diseases and various compo...

Parthenium hysterophorus is a noxious invasive weed and is ever expanding in its introduced range including Nepal. Understanding vegetation dynamics including soil seedbank in Parthenium invaded communities and the growth pattern of the weed itself is essential for effective management of Parthenium. We monitored growth of Parthenium (height, densi...

Insects represent one of the most abundant groups of herbivores, and many of them have significant impacts on the dynamics of plant populations. As insects are very sensitive to changes in climatic conditions, we hypothesize that their effects on plant population dynamics will depend on climatic conditions. Knowledge of the variation in herbivore e...

Seed production per flowering stem and seedling establishment of Salvia nubicola at different altitudes and habitat openness types. The means and their standard errors are shown. Different letters indicate significant differences among the four locality types (P<0.05). (PDF)

Effect of altitude and habitat openness on the plant size of Salvia nubicola. Plant size was expressed as the logarithm of the product of the length of the longest stem and number of stems per plant. Boxes show means, standard errors and 1.96*standard errors. (TIF)

Primary data on the demography and herbivore damage to Salvia nubicola. (TXT)

In this paper we present a comprehensive checklist of bird species recorded in the Manang region, central Nepal. The present checklist which is based on field survey (1654 m asl, Tal to 5401 m asl, Thorang Pass) and secondary sources which revealed that there were 172 bird species belonging 97 genera and 45 families in the Manang regions. The conse...

The medicinal plant Swertia multicaulis D. Don was collected in Rasuwa District (Nepal) and the xanthone content of its ethyl acetate extracts was studied. The total amount of xanthones in S. multicaulis determined by HPLC reaches almost 13 g of xanthones per 1 kg of dry matter. The identification of xanthones in S. multicaulis was achieved by a co...

The impacts of climate change in remote communities of the Himalaya have been relatively underexplored. This study combines traditional knowledge of people from three Village Development Committees (VDCs) of three districts of the high altitudinal regions in Nepal with scientific data to document the changes in climatic patterns, natural hazards, e...

Although many studies have demonstrated great variation in the life histories of various perennial plants between years and habitats, current studies on sustainable harvesting of medicinal plants have only lasted two to four years. We explored the effects of harvesting on the survival of populations of highly used perennial medicinal plants (Rheum...

As a valuable entomophagus fungus species, caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) is endemic to the alpine meadows of the Tibetan Plateau and adjoining Himalayas. However, little is known about its ecological niche and habitat. We investigated its associated plant species and habitat across different sites in Dolpa, west Nepal, and explored h...

Abstract Epiphytic plant species are an important part of biological diversity. Therefore, it is important to understand the distribution patterns of epiphytic plants and the factors influencing these patterns with regard to environmental conditions, natural biotic interactions and human influences (utilization) in detail to develop conservation st...

Associations between epiphytes and their hosts are among the main factors affecting the biodiversity and distribution of epiphytes. While several previous studies explored the association between epiphyte diversity and host characteristics, very little is known about the generality of such associations at larger spatial scales. We aim to explore th...

In response to climate change, various organisms tend to migrate to higher elevations and latitudes. Unequal migration rates of plants and animals are expected to result in changes in the type and intensity of their interactions such as plant-herbivore interactions. In the present study, we studied the extent of herbivore damage in Salvia nubicola...

The type and intensity of plant-herbivore interactions are likely to be altered under climate change as a consequence of differential dispersal rates of plants and their herbivores. Here, we studied variation in herbivore damage on Salvia nubicola in the field and compared its growth and defence strategies against herbivores in controlled condition...

Understanding factors determining the distribution of species is a key requirement for protecting diversity in a specific area. The aim of this study was to explore the factors affecting diversity and distribution of species of birds on different forested hills in central Nepal. The area is rich in species of birds. Because the area is characterize...

List of all the species of birds recorded in this study with common names, feeding habit, seasonal status and threatened status. Presence of the species at only one of the localities studied is shown by + in the respective column. (DOCX)

Details of Accession Numbers. (DOCX)

Relationship between bird species richness and altitude in central Nepal determined using exponential line fitting. (TIF)

Relationship between species richness and attitude at different localities in central Nepal determined using exponential line fitting. (TIF)

An acute sensitivity of ecotone vegetation to environmental changes makes ecotone vegetation dynamics as one of the prime aspects in vegetation ecology. Understory vegetation of ecotone can indicate the changing environmental conditions of the region by showing its own growth pattern, abundance, and assemblages. Our study aims at investigating the...

We can conserve cultural heritage and gain extensive knowledge of plant species with pharmacological potential to cure simple to life-threatening diseases by studying the use of plants in indigenous communities. Therefore, it is important to conduct ethnobotanical studies in indigenous communities and to validate the reported uses of plants by comp...

An annotated checklist comprised of 458 taxa of orchids known from Nepal is provided, including 104 genera, 437 species, 16 varieties, 3 subspecies and 2 forma and 18 endemic species. In Nepal, orchid species are distributed from 60–5200 m a.s.l. In the checklist, notes on altitudinal ranges, habit, habitat, global distribution, phenology, etc. are...

Scientific World, Vol. 11, No. 11, July 2013, page 105-112 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/sw.v11i11.8563

Seed germination of two species of the Himalayan rhubarb (Rheum acuminatum and Rheum australe) growing in high altitudes was simulated by different fluctuating temperatures. The germination experiments in different temperature regimes (15/5,20/5, and 25/10°C) of fluctuating light regime of 12 h day and 12 h night, and same temperature regimes ofco...

An annotated checklist comprised of 458 taxa of orchids known from Nepal is provided, including 104 genera, 437 species, 16 varieties, 3 subspecies and 2 forma and 18 endemic species. In Nepal, orchid species are distributed from 60–5200 m a.s.l. In the checklist, notes on altitudinal ranges, habit, habitat, global distribution, phenology, etc. are...

Rheum australe D. Don (Polygonaceae) has been commonly used in traditional medicine for a wide range of ailments related to the circulatory, digestive, endocrine, respiratory and skeletal systems as well as to infectious diseases. To provide the up-to-date information that is available on the botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology a...

This study aimed to compare the distribution patterns and trends of plant parts used among different groups of medicinal plants, geographical regions, and between medicinal plants and all vascular plants. We used the published sources for elevation recordsof 2,331 medicinal plant species to interpolate presence between minimum and maximum el...

This paper aims to highlight the uses of forest resources in Purandhara, Panchakule and Goltakuri Village Development Committees (VDCs) of Dang district, western Nepal. The ethnobotanical data was collected through Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) that involved discussion with local people and key informants, through semi-structured question...

Parthenium hysterophorus (Asteraceae) is a noxious plant that is considered one of the most invasive species in the world. We studied changes in the composition of plant species and soil properties related to the invasion of P. hysterophorus in three grassland communities of central Nepal. We collected vegetation and soil data along transects that...

The present paper documents the uses of plants in traditional herbal medicine for treatment of human and veterinary ailments in four village development committees in the Humla district of western Nepal. It also determines the homogeneity of informant's knowledge on medicinal plants suitable for different ailment categories and the most preferred p...

This paper aims to explore distribution pattern of orchids used for medicinal purpose and their conservation aspect. We compiled information on 82 species of orchids which are used as herbal medicine. Maximum richness of medicinal orchids was observed at an elevation of 1700 msl but, the maximum numbers of protected areas are located at an elevatio...

The present study was conducted during a period of two years from 2001 to 2003 in trans-Himalayan region from Mustang to Dolpa region of west Nepal. The indigenous people were found to be rich in ethnoecological knowledge regarding environment and plant resources. The locals catagorised six types of ecological land patterns such as Nakri (forest la...

Dolpo and Mustang lie in trans-Himalayan parts of Nepal. Present research revealed the phytogeographic uniqueness and floristic richness. Climatic barrier is the main cause of high endemicity, richness of flora, high aridity and rain shadow effect in the study area. A list of 1 forma, 14 varieties, 7 subspecies, and 312 species under 149 genera and...

T h e s t u d y a r e a c o v e r s t h e l a n d f r o m J o m s o m i n M u s t a n g t o K a g m a r a o f D o l p o d i s t r i c t i n w e s t N e p a l . I t i s typically high altitudinal trans-Himalayan marginal land of Tibetan plateau, representing trans-Himalayan ecology. The area is almost a dry place consisting of rolling hills and is d...