Research Projects

Indopiptadenia oudhensis (Brandis) Brenan,is a tree of Leguminosae family which has been categorized under rare, endangered and threatened category in India due to its sparse and endemic distribution over limited. Geographically, it is restricted to the Indo-Nepal border where it occurs sporadically along the Himalayan foothills between 156–908 m elevation. It is a multipurpose tree species whose leaves are used as fodder and the stem as fuel and timber by local inhabitants of the border area of both the countries. The wood is very hard, strong and durable. Earlier, the species was considered common especially in the Nepal region. It had a fairly wide distribution from Kanchanpur to Kapilbastu districts along the forest margins. Since last 100 years, significant deterioration was observed in the population size throughout the distribution range. Consequently, it has been treated as endangered to critically endangered, at least in the Indian region. Recently, the Government of India in consultation with the Government of Uttar Pradesh (vide notification no. S. O. 998 (E) dated 15 April 2009) has declared the species as ‘on the verge of extinction’ (endangered) and prohibited its collection. Presently, this species is not dominantly occuring in any locality in India. Despite, only two remnant populations are known, one is in Uttar Pradesh (Balrampur district) and another in Uttarakhand (Champawat district). Likewise, scattered populations could also be spotted in some adjoining areas of Nepal. Despite the limited and endemic distribution, it has not been adequately investigated for its conservation status, and no significant conservation efforts being laid out. Due to lack of adequate information of its natural populations, it has not been listed in the IUCN Red List database. Earlier studies in India highlighted that the stand structure of I. oudhensis has substantially deteriorated due to exploitation by local people, habitat destruction and low regeneration ability of the species in natural habitats, and as a result, it has become rare and threatened. Some studies have also pointed out the importance, research gaps and urgency of data generation for the given species. The species which are rare, endangered and threatened need an urgent conservation effort, and conservation programs require an evaluation of the reproductive biology, mating system, genetic diversity and population genetic structure. Thus, developing genomic and marker information in this endangered tree species is of paramount importance for its conservation. In view of this, present proposal is formulated aiming generation of genomic and marker resources, deciphering population structure at morphological and molecular level, identifying conservation status, mating system analysis, and establishing germplasm bank for its long-term conservation.