Owais Ahmad’s scientific contributions

The present study was carried out in three experimental sites of Kashmir valley during 2013 to 2014. The nesting behaviors and habitat of all insect species pollinating fruit crops were investigated. Highest of 46 species were observed, belonging to 5 orders, 20 families and 31 genera of class Insecta. Total of 17 species were categorized in different landscapes of Himalayan areas as endogeic, 6 hypergeic and 23 were found to wander over grasses, herbs and dead material. Habitat components determining the structure of bee communities in surroundings of the foraging resources. For the organization of the bee communities study clearly demonstrate that a variety of nesting substrates and nest building materials played a key role. Generally, the potential bare grounds and nesting cavities are two factors influencing the entire bee community. The compositions of nest guilds at any potential areas also have a relative abundance of a dominant species. The important areas representing the huge density of nesting sites are necessarily the steep and sloping grounds, pithy stems, cracks and crevices, snail shells, beetle holes and pre-existing burrows. Nesting site varies across habitat and is clear determinant of bee community and forage resource availability and diversity. Principle component analysis (PCA) was done to determine the habitat requirements and Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test determined the nest density between the pollinators of different nesting habitat behaviours in three experimental locations and the difference were found statistically significant.

The present study was carried out in three experimental sites of Kashmir valley during 2013 to 2014. The nesting behaviors and habitat of all insect species pollinating fruit crops were investigated. Highest of 46 species were observed, belonging to 5 orders, 20 families and 31 genera of class Insecta. Total of 17 species were categorized in different landscapes of Himalayan areas as endogeic, 6 hypergeic and 23 were found to wander over grasses, herbs and dead material. Habitat components determining the structure of bee communities in surroundings of the foraging resources. For the organization of the bee communities study clearly demonstrate that a variety of nesting substrates and nest building materials played a key role. Generally, the potential bare grounds and nesting cavities are two factors influencing the entire bee community. The compositions of nest guilds at any potential areas also have a relative abundance of a dominant species. The important areas representing the huge density of nesting sites are necessarily the steep and sloping grounds, pithy stems, cracks and crevices, snail shells, beetle holes and pre-existing burrows. Nesting site varies across habitat and is clear determinant of bee community and forage resource availability and diversity. Principle component analysis (PCA) was done to determine the habitat requirements and Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test determined the nest density between the pollinators of different nesting habitat behaviours in three experimental locations and the difference were found statistically significant.