Research Projects

Globalization has brought social and economic benefits, but it has also introduced new concerns, such as invasive alien species (IAs). Mountains, particularly in developing economies and global biodiversity hotspots, are highly vulnerable to invasion by these species. Invasive plants can displace native species, ruin ecosystems, and harm human health by altering the structure and functioning of plant communities. In the trans-Himalayan region, there is a lack of systematic documentation of the entire invasive flora, assessment of their ecological impacts on native flora, and evaluation of the socio-economic in Ladakh. This study proposes to document the IAs and investigate their ecological and socio-economic impact on native vegetation and residents of Leh (Ladakh) trans-Himalaya. Two research hypotheses are formulated: first, that high levels of human interference in Leh facilitate the introduction of IAs due to drastically changing land-use patterns, and second, that invasive species have a significant negative impact on endemic flora, economy, and human health. The study will use grid-based approaches, systematic sampling, and a grid-based approach to quantify spatial patterns of species, calculate α-diversity-species richness, shannon, simpson, and evenness indices, analyze density, abundance, frequency, and IVI of plant species, and determine species nestedness and turnover. The study will provide systematic documentation of non-native flora of Ladakh, and the ecological and economic impacts of invasive plant species on native species, human community, and livestock.