Research Projects

Rodgers et al. (2002) classified the North-East Biogeographic Zone as one of the ten of India includes six states: Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura. Ecologically, it is together with the Andaman Islands, lies within the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot (Myers et al., 2000). Globally, this region experiences highest rainfall making it some humid zone rich in biodiversity and endemism. The North-East features a diverse range of ecosystems supporting a variety of species and habitats (Alfred et al., 2001). Due to this region's geographical nature and diverse habitats, it harbours many fauna and flora endemic this Zone. Among the many taxa found in the region, mayflies are the oldest extant order of the first winged insects (Kukalova–Peck, 1978) and have fascinated humans from the days of Aristotle (384–322 B.C). The order's name refers to the brevity of the adult life span, which are a few hours to a few days. Their ecological services include provisioning services, regulatory services, supporting services & Indicator services (Jacobus et al., 2019). Globally, the order Ephemeroptera includes over 3,700 described species across 465 genera and 42 families. In India, 247 species across 63 genera are known, with 180 endemic species (Subramanian et al., 2024). Twenty mayfly species under 14 genera and six families are reported from the North-East region (Selvakumar, 2021). The numbers of threatened species in class Insecta from India is four, identified under the IUCN red list category, viz., three of Odonates and one of Phthiraptera (IUCN, 2020). Since there are no reports, the IUCN red list was available for the Indian Ephemeroptera. This suggests significant knowledge gaps in the northeast biogeographic region, particularly in Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura, where mayfly diversity remains largely unexplored. Major threats fall under five interacting categories (Dudgeon et al., 2006): Over-exploitation, Water pollution, Flow modification, Habitat degradation, and Invasive species. Global environmental changes overlay these threats, pushing freshwater biodiversity into crisis, with species here becoming more imperiled than in marine or terrestrial systems (Strayer & Dudgeon, 2010). In the Eastern Himalayas, climate change is projected to be the most significant future threat (Pathak et al., 2010). Biodiversity trends must be monitored using standardised tools to align with the Convention on Biological Diversity. One of the most widely accepted is the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria (IUCN, 2001), which assesses the risk of extinction across species. This system classifies species as Extinct, Threatened, Near Threatened, Least Concern, & Data Deficient. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species provides a global database containing essential information on Species taxonomy and distribution, Habitat and ecology, Threats and population trends, Ecosystem services, and Conservation needs & priorities (Allen et al., 2010).