Nawchoo Dr.Irshad A.

Nawchoo Dr.Irshad A.
University of Kashmir · Department of Botany

M. SC; M. Phil and Ph. D

About

155
Publications
50,125
Reads
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1,696
Citations
Introduction
Nawchoo Dr.Irshad A. currently works at the Department of Botany, University of Kashmir. Their current project is 'Reproductivity biology, chemical profiling and Biodiversity of MAP of Kashmir Himalaya'.
Additional affiliations
March 1991 - present
University of Kashmir
Position
  • Professor (Full)
March 1991 - present
University of Kashmir
Position
  • Professor (Full)
March 1991 - July 2019
University of Kashmir
Position
  • Head of Faculty
Education
March 1982 - March 1988
University of Kashmir
Field of study
  • Botany-M.Sc; M.Phil; Ph.D

Publications

Publications (155)
Article
A critical evaluation of the diagnostic characters used in delimitation of Swertia patnitopiansis Singh from S. cordata Wall. ex C.B.Clarke revealed that the former is conspecific to the latter. Therefore, S. patnitopiansis is recognized as a new synonym of S. cordata. Comparison of taxonomic characters, photographic illustrations and distribution...
Preprint
Full-text available
In the era of the Anthropocene, changes in the timing of plant life cycle events serve as prominent biological markers of global environmental shifts. Major of the studies dedicated to documenting and analyzing plant phenological changes are from North America and Europe. Although few studies are available from Himalayan regions, but there is a not...
Article
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Introduction Phytolacca acinosa Roxb. is a highly valuable multipurpose herb native to the Himalayan region. Unsustainable harvesting of this species due to its diverse uses has resulted in a rapid decline in its population across natural habitats, thereby necessitating its propagation and conservation. To overcome this challenge, the potential of...
Article
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Endemic medicinal plants deserve immediate research priorities as they typically show a limited distribution range, represent few and fragmented populations in the wild and are currently facing anthropogenic threats like overharvesting and habitat degradation. One of the important aspects of ensuring their successful conservation and sustainable ut...
Article
In this study, the phytochemical profile, pharmacological and antibacterial activity of essential oil (EO) obtained from whole plant of Nepeta nervosa were investigated. The phytochemical analysis was carried out by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and about thirty-two chemical constituents were detected, accounting about 94.13% of tota...
Article
Swertia kashmirensis subsp. darii (Gentianaceae), a new taxon from Kashmir Himalaya, India is described here with de- scription and photographic illustrations. The new taxon resembles in few morphological characters with congeneric S. kash- mirensis, but differs clearly in having basal leaves with apices acute, petals elliptic-oblong, apices obtuse...
Article
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Phytochemicals are broadly acknowledged for their health-promoting effects owing to the fact of their capacity to counteract free radicals (e.g., superoxide anion radical, hydroxyl radical, hydroperoxyl radical, singlet oxygen, hypochlorite, and nitric oxide) and shield against oxidative stress induced by environmental factors. This study aimed to...
Article
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Studying functional trait diversity can provide crucial clues about the adaptive survival strategies of regional plant species pool. Despite large-scale trait datasets available worldwide, the plant trait data from many biodiversity hotpot regions, like the Himalaya is still scarce. In this study, we aimed to investigate the plant functional traits...
Article
In temperate mountains, the belowground organ preformation prior to winter is a well-known adaptation strategy in perennial plants, however its detailed phenology is still poorly understood, particularly with reference to belowground floral morphogenesis. Here we investigate, in detail, the developmental stages occuring belowground and its relation...
Article
Compression of life zones along elevational gradients in mountains supports diverse vegetation types, and therefore offers ideal setting to study plant functional traits. Functional traits, the features that enable plants to live in varied environmental conditions, help in understanding ecological interactions, evolutionary adaptations, and predict...
Article
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In the Himalaya, collection of fodder from protected areas by local communities for sustenance of their livestock is an integral part of mountain farming systems. Here, we assess the diversity and utilization patterns of fodder resources collected by local communities from Overa-Aru wildlife sanctuary in Kashmir Himalaya. A multi-stage random sampl...
Chapter
Trillium govanianum is a multipurpose medicinally valuable herb known to treat various human and livestock diseases in the traditional medicinal systems of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet (China). Traditionally, it has been used to treat different types of diseases such as boils, dysentery, inflammation, menstrual disorders, sex-related di...
Article
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It is vital to integrate local communities’ perception of ecosystem services (ES) into the management planning of protected areas. We investigated community perceptions of a broad range of ES in the Overa-Aru Wildlife Sanctuary, a designated protected area in Kashmir Himalaya. We conducted focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews with...
Article
Introduction: The genus Actaea L., comprising of 32 species, has recently emerged as a source of potential phytochemicals with promising pharmacological properties. However, there is no review available integrating the scattered scientific studies on this genus. To fill this knowledge gap, an extensive review of the genus Actaea is presented with f...
Article
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To understand plant evolution and diversification, information regarding chromosome number and meiotic behavior is imperative. The present study was carried out to determine the chromosome count, meiotic behavior, pollen fertility, and seed set of a medicinally important plant Peganum harmala. Two cytotypes, diploid and tetraploid are growing in we...
Article
The Overa-Aru wildlife sanctuary is one of the largest protected areas in terms of area (425 km2) in Kashmir Himalaya. Here, we present an annotated checklist of flora of the sanctuary, which includes 397 taxa (392 species, 1 subspecies, 3 varieties and 1 forma) belonging to 254 genera in 76 families. Asteraceae was the dominant family with 57 spec...
Article
Swertia thomsonii an important medicinal plant of Himalaya is more susceptible to extinction in the scenario of anthropogenic threats and global climate change. Therefore a detailed study on reproductive biology was undertaken for its conservation and sustainable use. The present study was conducted with the aim to understand reproductive strateg...
Article
The ethnic communities living near Protected Areas (PAs) are critically dependent on medicinal plants for their healthcare. Although several ethnomedicinal studies are available from the Himalaya, yet the quantitative studies focusing on PAs in this region are largely overlooked. In this study, we aimed to document ethnomedicinal plants of Overa-Ar...
Article
Understanding the vegetation and soil ecology of natural habitats harbouring threatened species is critical in conservation planning and restoration. The present study investigated the vegetation composition and soil physico-chemical attributes of natural habitats of Trillium govanianum – a threatened Himalayan endemic species. We laid 120 quadrats...
Article
Phytosociological analysis and soil physicochemical properties provide the baseline data to understand the overall vegetation composition and structure. In this study, we investigated the species composition and diversity of vegetation assemblages of an endemic plant species Actaea kashmiriana along with the edaphic parameters. We laid randomly sel...
Article
Bistorta amplexicaulis is an essential medicinal plant found in the Kashmir Himalaya. Ethnobotanical studies have revealed that this particular species is used to treat fractures, muscle injuries, heart problems, abnormal leucorrhoea, menorrhagia and inflammation of the mouth and tongue. The current study aimed to determine the variation in growth...
Article
Aconitumviolaceum Jacq. ex Stapf, a well-known traditional medicinal herb of the Ladakh Himalaya, extensively used in Tibetan and Amchi’s systems of medicine, has recently been depleting due to habitat devastation and indiscriminate harvesting of its rhizome. The present study was carried out to provide a comprehensive method for in vitro propagati...
Article
In this study, we investigated the reproductive biology of Trillium govanianum — a medicinally important endangered plant species endemic to the Himalaya. We specifically aimed to unravel the key floral traits that aid and/or limit the species’ reproduction, including the breeding strategies and modes of pollination. We studied qualitative and quan...
Article
Phytochemicals have become significantly important for scientific research since these possess incredibly remarkable health benefits, especially antioxidant potential to scavenge free radicals and combat the harmful effects of oxidative stress caused by adverse environmental factors. The efficacy and quantity of these phytochemicals relies upon num...
Chapter
Mustard is considered as a central crop all over the globe since it is a inexpensively important product. Plant toxicity caused by heavy metals (HMs) in agricultural fields results in a drop in yield. Using multiple ways targeting either ethylene production or the ethylene signaling system to manipulate ethylene in plants to cope with HM stress has...
Article
In prioritising conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants, endemic species merit immediate research priority. Towards this endeavour, understanding the basic reproductive biology of endemic medicinal plant species is crucial to their successful conservation and sustainable utilisation. In this study, the reproductive biology of Actaea ka...
Article
Lack of sufficient studies on seed ecology of endemic species poses practical hurdles in their habitat restoration programs. Here, we studied the seed ecology traits and regeneration potential of Actaea kashmiriana – an endemic plant species to Kashmir Himalaya. We conducted population sampling of the species at four different sites in Kashmir Hima...
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Full-text available
In the current era of the anthropocene, climate change is one of the main determinants of species redistribution and biodiversity loss. Worryingly, the situation is alarming for endemic and medicinally important plant species with a narrow distributional range. Therefore, it is pivotal to inspect the influence of accelerated climate change on medic...
Article
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The present study reports the chromosome number and meiotic behavior including microsporogen- esis of Actaea kashmiriana J. Compton and its relation with pollen fertility and seed set. The species showed a chromosome count of 2n=4x=32 and meiotic chromosomal irregularities such as chromatin stickiness, cytomix- is, laggard formation, chromosomal br...
Article
Full-text available
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...
Article
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Phlomis cashmeriana Royle ex Benth. commonly known as Kashmir sage is a rare and important medicinal plant growing in Kashmir Himalaya. The current study is the first of its kind, carried out to find the impingement on growth dynamics of the plant under study along various altitudinal inclines and habitats. Extensive field surveys were conducted du...
Article
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Background: Knowledge about propagation of rare and endangered plant species is very important for their conservation and sustainable utilization. Therefore, it is imperative to understand different reproductive aspects of such species for their conservation and management. It is in this backdrop different propagation method of Aconitum chasmanthum...
Article
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Phyto-ecological studies are essential in understanding community structure, organization and their response to changes in other environmental factors. In this study we analyzed the phytosociological and soil characteristics of Phytolacca acinosa communities and their correlation. 110 quadrats were laid across ten randomly selected sites in Kashmir...
Article
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Aconitum violaceum Jacq. ex Stapf is a threatened medicinal plant with restricted global distribution. The highest frequency of seed germination was recorded on Murashige and Skoog’s (MS) basal medium, supplemented with 0.5 mg L−1 kinetin with a germination rate of 77.32% and mean germination time of 27 days. Among the various plant growth regulato...
Article
Since saffron is a triploid crop, it does not generate seed when selfed or crossed and is passed down through the generations by daughter corms produced from the mother corms. As a result, agro-technology development is the only viable alternative for bringing this crop to its full potential. Saffron does not have any specific habitat preferences,...
Article
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Comprehensive studies on meiotic behavior and pollen biology of a species are crucial for its conservation strategies. The presence of meiotic bottlenecks directly or indirectly influences the reproductive success of a plant species. The present study records chromosome number, male meiotic behavior, seed set, pollen viability, and pollen germinati...
Article
Full-text available
Atropaacuminata Royle is a critically endangered annual herb growing in Kashmir Himalaya and is used as a source of medicine for many ailments like arthritis, muscle pain, and joint pain. Due to its immense medicinal importance, the plant needs a tissue culture protocol for mass propagation. The present study is an attempt to develop a highly relia...
Chapter
Soil, as an important constituent, is not only useful for producing food but also for maintaining environmental sustainability. It contains microorganisms with useful traits, which are necessary for enhancement of agricultural productivity. Rhizosphere, one of the complex ecosystems on Earth, is a hot spot for these microorganisms, which are benefi...
Chapter
Plants are home to various groups of microorganisms known as the “microbiome,” which play a critical role in the niches they occupy. The microbiome's promise, coupled with the need to grow food sustainably, makes its research quite promising. Despite the increasing knowledge of the native microbiota's vast functional capacity as an essential compon...
Chapter
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...
Article
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...
Article
Full-text available
Hadi, A., Singh, S., Nawchoo, I. A., Rafiq, S., & Ali, S. (2022). Impacts of habitat variability on the phenotypic traits of Aconitum violaceum Jacq. ex Stapf. at different altitudes and environmental conditions in the Ladakh Himalaya, India. Plant Science Today. https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.1734
Article
Invasive plants are an issue of great concern globally. The concerned plant species threaten native biodiversity and cause ecological and economic damage. They develop different reproductive strategies to perpetuate in different environments. Hence insights into reproductive biology are necessary for developing different conservation protocols. The...
Article
Euphorbia helioscopia L. (Euphorbiaceae), is an important medicinal plant species of the Himalayan region. The species showed wide variability in its phenotypic traits under different environmental conditions. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of elevational gradient on the morphological traits and reproductive features of the s...
Article
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...
Chapter
Fish represent a valuable resource, providing food and jobs for millions of people worldwide. The fishing industry provides profitable jobs for fishers, traders, and dealers. Fish have proven to be healthy sources of protein, vitamins, and minerals necessary for human growth and development. Additionally, aquatic ecosystems provide recreational act...
Article
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...
Article
A number of environmental factors such as mean temperature, precipitation, soil characteristics etc. changes with elevational gradient and thereby, affect the morphological pattern of a plant species. Phenotypic attributes of a particular species varies along different altitudes in order to adapt and also to overcome these changeable and stressful...
Article
Full-text available
Background Aralia cachemirica Decne. is an endemic and an important medicinal plant species of Kashmir Himalaya. Despite having immense medicinal importance, little information is available on the standardization parameters of the species. For this reason, present work was carried out for providing comprehensive report on the quality control and st...
Chapter
Nanoparticles are contrived materials. The field of nanoscience functions at a range of 100 nanometers (nm) or less, but has an enormous impact. The nanoscale science and nanotechnology have the capability to provide innovative and enhanced elucidations to some chief tasks in agriculture. Herbicides are used to kill weeds, but the problem associate...
Article
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Bergenia ciliata (Haw.) Sternb. is an important medicinal plant of the Himalayan region. Phenotypic attributes of a particular plant species varies along different altitudes in order to adapt and to overcome the changeable and stressful conditions. A number of environmental factors such as mean temperature, precipitation, soil characteristics, radi...
Article
Full-text available
Atropa acuminata, an important medicinal plant belonging to family Solanaceae is under tremendous threat of extinction in its natural habitat due to the overexploitation by pharmaceutical industries. Present study is an attempt of establishing callus cultures of this important medicinal plant as callus has considerable potential as an alternative f...
Article
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...
Article
Skimmia anquetilia (Family: Rutaceae) is an aromatic and medicinal plant distributed in west Himalaya. It is widely used in conventional system of medicine. S. anquetilia is used to treat swellings, rheumatism, heal wounds, as an antidote to snake bite and scorpion bite and also in the treatment of fever, cold and headache. Inspite of its tremendou...
Article
Dictamnus albus L. (Rutaceae), commonly known as gas plant, has tremendous medicinal importance. Although the plant has been scientifically evaluated for its various biological activities but no work has not been carried out till date on pharmacognostic characterization of the plant. This study aims to investigate the comparative pharmacognostic an...
Preprint
Full-text available
Background Aquilegia nivalis Flax Jackson, also called Aquilegia vulgaris sub sp. nivalis (Bak.) Brühl or columbine, locally known as “Zoe-neel”, is a wild edible plant traditionally used as an anti-inflammatory medicine by the local nomadic tribes inhabiting the Himalayas of Jammu and Kashmir. The plant has been used as herbal medicine since middl...
Article
Rice is the staple diet for the greater part of the world’s population and there is a regular expanding need of rice production. The plant development and productivity are decreased by numerous factors. Utilizing biotechnological instruments is the most useful alternative to create rice varieties with incredible grain quality, improved productivity...
Preprint
Full-text available
Background: Aralia cachemirica Decne. is an important medicinal plant species of Kashmir Himalaya. Regardless of having enormous medicinal importance little information exists on the biological activities of the species. For this reason, present work was carried out for providing comprehensive details on the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activi...
Preprint
Full-text available
Lavatera cashmeriana Camb. is an endemic and important medicinal plant species of Kashmir Himalaya. It is widely used locally and is sold as crude drug in Kashmir markets due to its various medicinal properties. However, despite its traditional usage there is limited information pertaining to pharmacognostic characterization of L. cashmeriana. So,...
Article
Present study has been carried out to understand the mating strategies of Eremurus himalaicus Baker., important medicinal endemic plant, for its sustainable utilization. The inflorescence architecture, large numbers of attractive flowers, presence of sterile flowers which give specific arrangement to inflorescence, the coloured, attractive androeci...
Chapter
Mineral nutrients are indispensable for the proper growth and development of plants. The ability of plants to appropriately respond to the soil nutrient availability is of primary importance for their development and to complete their life cycle. The requirement of a particular mineral nutrient is assessed generally by the chemical analysis of the...
Article
Full-text available
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...
Chapter
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...
Chapter
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...
Article
Euphorbia wallichii locally known as Kaali Heerbi is used as a folk medicine for the treatment of various dreadful diseases. A study was carried out to examine the seed germination pattern and propagation strategies of Euphorbia wallichii. The seeds show cryptocotylar development, i.e. two cotyledons remain halted in the endosperm except for their...
Chapter
Lakes are of great cultural, aesthetic, socioeconomic, and ecological value. They provided incalculable benefits to the people throughout the world. They are essential for the sustainable economy of the state. Lakes provide economic benefits as a result of tourism and recreation. The aesthetic and economic value of the lake ecosystems is declined b...
Article
Management strategies designed and implemented by practitioners to conserve threatened species must be based on an empirical impact assessment of operative threats. The present study was carried out to assess the Overall Threat Impact (OTI) on 94 high-valued medicinal plant species of Kashmir Himalaya, India. The results show that 13 major anthropo...
Article
The Indian Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) harbours rich biodiversity, including diverse medicinal flora. The scientific documentation of diversity, distribution and traditional uses of medicinal flora can prove pivotal in the conservation and sustainable use of these precious plant resources in this Himalayan state. The present study, b...