Phylogeography and post-glacial migration of Piper nigrum in the Western Ghats
This is an ongoing project where we analyzed the spatial genetic patterns of Piper nigrum fitted on dynamic species migration models to locate areas of refugia in the Western Ghats. A manuscript from this work is now complete and will be submitted shortly.
Evolution of high biological diversity in the mountains
The origin and evolution of higher biological diversity in the mountains are fascinating and one of the hottest research topics with immense implications for biodiversity conservation. The environmental heterogeneity across elevations in mountains systems supports exceptioanlly high biological diversity and also acted as safe havens (refugia) for many species during periods of extreme climatic fluctuations in the past.
I am lucky to have established collaborations with leading geologists, ecologists, climate scientists, and phylogenetic biologists from Asia, Europe, and the United States to work on this research theme in the Indian Himalaya. We now have a comparative biogeography paper [Kumar et al. 2022], and preparing an invited reviews and beyond.
Integrative taxonomy
I was involved in a collaborative project where we used integrative taxonomy to identify several lineages, and three confirmed new species within the genus Coridius Illiger, (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Dinidoridae) unknown to science. A manuscript from this work is now under review.
Phylogeny and Historical Biogeography of the genus Piper in India
I used a large dated phylogenetic hypothesis of the highly diverse genus Piper (Piperaceae) to unravel the historical biogeography of the genus in Peninsular India. Our results suggest that Piper has colonised and diversified within the climatically stable habitats of Peninsular India starting from the Miocene. A manuscript from this work is published in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution in collaboration with my doctoral supervisor and other researchers.
Species distribution models
SDMs are now an unavoidable tool in a biogeographer's quiver! I have previously used SDMs for hypothesis testing and sometimes even to generate one! Some of my previous work in this line include
1) deciphering conservation areas for the wild Piper nigrum [Sen et al. 2016a Journal of Plant Research]
2) Infer the impacts of climate on the habitats of the emblematic Nigiri Tahr in the Western Ghats. [Sony et al. 2018 Ecological Engineering]
3) Identify reintroduction sites of an endangered population of Vultures in the Western Ghats [Anoop et al. 2019. Ecological Engineering]
4) Incorporate information on dispersal rates on SDMs to further improve the projected distribution of Himalayan Amphibians [Subba et al. 2018 Biological Conservation], and model the spread of a pestiferous snail in the Cardamomum plantations in the Western Ghats India [Sen et al. 2016b Ecology & Evolution].
I am also curious to improve predictions and usefulness of SDMs by incorporating ecological datasets for conservation and management. We have a new paper under preparation in these lines, where we fit our natural history observations [Anoop et al. 2022 Biotropica] to SDMs. Stay tuned for our new article!
Applied phylogenetics
I was actively involved in a research project that tested the viral load pattern across mammalian phylogeny to understand whether zoonotic disease risk is concentrated within closely related host taxa in the wildlife trade. Surprisingly, we found that a quarter of mammals in the wildlife trade host 75% of known zoonotic viruses!! [see Shivaprakash et al. 2021]
Our finds from this project are published in the prestigious journal Current Biology. The results were well received by the media and policymakers.
This is an ongoing project where we analyzed the spatial genetic patterns of Piper nigrum fitted on dynamic species migration models to locate areas of refugia in the Western Ghats. A manuscript from this work is now complete and will be submitted shortly.
Evolution of high biological diversity in the mountains
The origin and evolution of higher biological diversity in the mountains are fascinating and one of the hottest research topics with immense implications for biodiversity conservation. The environmental heterogeneity across elevations in mountains systems supports exceptioanlly high biological diversity and also acted as safe havens (refugia) for many species during periods of extreme climatic fluctuations in the past.
I am lucky to have established collaborations with leading geologists, ecologists, climate scientists, and phylogenetic biologists from Asia, Europe, and the United States to work on this research theme in the Indian Himalaya. We now have a comparative biogeography paper [Kumar et al. 2022], and preparing an invited reviews and beyond.
Integrative taxonomy
I was involved in a collaborative project where we used integrative taxonomy to identify several lineages, and three confirmed new species within the genus Coridius Illiger, (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Dinidoridae) unknown to science. A manuscript from this work is now under review.
Phylogeny and Historical Biogeography of the genus Piper in India
I used a large dated phylogenetic hypothesis of the highly diverse genus Piper (Piperaceae) to unravel the historical biogeography of the genus in Peninsular India. Our results suggest that Piper has colonised and diversified within the climatically stable habitats of Peninsular India starting from the Miocene. A manuscript from this work is published in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution in collaboration with my doctoral supervisor and other researchers.
Species distribution models
SDMs are now an unavoidable tool in a biogeographer's quiver! I have previously used SDMs for hypothesis testing and sometimes even to generate one! Some of my previous work in this line include
1) deciphering conservation areas for the wild Piper nigrum [Sen et al. 2016a Journal of Plant Research]
2) Infer the impacts of climate on the habitats of the emblematic Nigiri Tahr in the Western Ghats. [Sony et al. 2018 Ecological Engineering]
3) Identify reintroduction sites of an endangered population of Vultures in the Western Ghats [Anoop et al. 2019. Ecological Engineering]
4) Incorporate information on dispersal rates on SDMs to further improve the projected distribution of Himalayan Amphibians [Subba et al. 2018 Biological Conservation], and model the spread of a pestiferous snail in the Cardamomum plantations in the Western Ghats India [Sen et al. 2016b Ecology & Evolution].
I am also curious to improve predictions and usefulness of SDMs by incorporating ecological datasets for conservation and management. We have a new paper under preparation in these lines, where we fit our natural history observations [Anoop et al. 2022 Biotropica] to SDMs. Stay tuned for our new article!
Applied phylogenetics
I was actively involved in a research project that tested the viral load pattern across mammalian phylogeny to understand whether zoonotic disease risk is concentrated within closely related host taxa in the wildlife trade. Surprisingly, we found that a quarter of mammals in the wildlife trade host 75% of known zoonotic viruses!! [see Shivaprakash et al. 2021]
Our finds from this project are published in the prestigious journal Current Biology. The results were well received by the media and policymakers.