A Review of Ecological Studies by WII in the Himalayan Region
- G.S. Rawat, Professor
The International Year of the Mountains (2002) also marks 16th year of active ecological research by WII in the Himalayan region. The Himalayan ecosystems and associated threatened species have always been accorded high priority for research at WII. So far, 18 doctoral and 13 Masters dissertations have been completed. Besides, several (> 20) short term status surveys on the endangered species of flora and fauna have been conducted especially in the Eastern Himalaya and Ladakh region. Three ecological expeditions to The major areas of research in the region include: Prey-predator relationships (1 doctoral), Habitat ecology, ranging and food habits of mountain ungulates (4 doctoral and 4 Masters), Feeding and ranging of black bear (2 Masters), Avian ecology (2 doctoral and 3 Masters), Flora and vegetation (5 doctoral and 1 Masters), Socio-economics, resource dependency and pastoralism (4 doctoral and 1 Masters), Vegetation mapping and analysis of spatial data using remote sensing and GIS (2 doctoral).
This presentation deals with a brief review of the ecological information generated through major projects of WII in the Himalayan region. Most of these studies have resulted in several publications pertaining to the ecology and conservation of the fragile ecosystem and threatened species. Several studies have tested and evolved innovative survey, density estimation techniques, which have now been well established for ecological studies in the region. Other studies have identified specific ecological problems and hypotheses to be tested in future. Need for long term ecological monitoring of various components have been stressed in many studies. It is noted that most of the studies were of short duration (< 5 years) and didn't have any component of extension or follow up action. As a result, quite a few conservation recommendations have not yet been implemented. Major themes of research in the field of wildlife ecology and conservation that need to be taken up in coming years have been suggested.