Ecology of Himalayan
Open Ecosystems
Ecology of Himalayan
Open Ecosystems
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Open Ecosystems
The Himalayas, spanning across northern India and several neighboring countries, represent one of Earth's most diverse and ecologically significant mountain ranges. With altitudes ranging from 500 meters in the foothills to over 8,800 meters at the highest peaks, this region encompasses many habitats, including subtropical forests, temperate woodlands, alpine meadows, and icy high-altitude landscapes.
Members of Beer Lab have been involved in research across the Himalayan meadows, investigating responses of rangelands under local and global changes.
Ongoing Projects
Rangeland ecology under local and global changes
Rangeland ecology under local and global changes
We are studying plant community composition, above and below-ground biomass and nutrient storage potential of Himalayan rangelands as a response to grazing, warming and snow removal across ecological gradients to gain insights about the future of these ecosystems in changing environments
Present and future of soil carbon in Ladakh
Present and future of soil carbon in Ladakh
We quantify soil carbon for different land cover classes and investigate how climate change would impact soil carbon, microbial decomposition and community shifts in wetland and bog ecosystems in Changthang
Nutrient limitation in changing human-scapes
Nutrient limitation in changing human-scapes
As a part of the global nutrient network group, we are quantifying the responses of montane grasslands to altered global nutrient budgets. By actively adding nutrients to the soil, we are exploring the fate of above and below-ground patterns and processes under one of the greatest stressors in the Anthropocene
People Associated
Mahesh Sankaran
Jayashree Ratnam
Mayank Kohli
Sonam Palmo
Anish Paul
Fayiz M
Lakshmi Niranjana
Previous work
Kohli, M., Mijiddorj, T. N., Suryawanshi, K. R., Mishra, C., Boldgiv, B., & Sankaran, M. (2021). Grazing and climate change have site-dependent interactive effects on vegetation in Asian montane rangelands. Journal of Applied Ecology. 58, 539-549.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13781Tiruvaimozhi, Y. V., Bagchi, S., & Sankaran, M. (2020). Response of mycorrhizae to herbivory and soil moisture in a semiarid grazing ecosystem. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.13.248237
Iyengar, S. B., Bagchi, S., Barua, D., Mishra, C., & Sankaran, M. (2017). A dominant dwarf shrub increases diversity of herbaceous plant communities in a Trans-Himalayan rangeland. Plant Ecology. 218, 843-854. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-017-0734-x
Kohli, M., Sankaran, M., Suryawanshi, K. R., & Mishra, C. (2014). A penny saved is a penny earned: lean season foraging strategy of an alpine ungulate. Animal Behaviour. 92, 93-100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.03.031
Website developed on Google Sites by Dev Bagdi and Anish Paul. Photographs by Anish Paul, Mayank Kohli and Sonam Palmo. No reuse of any photos on this website is allowed.
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