ASHUTOSH UPADHYAY
Overview of Projects
Conservation of migratory birds by preventing large-scale hunting in Murshidabad and adjacent districts of West Bengal- Ongoing project.
In this project, I coordinated and conducted short surveys and covert operations at Khargram, Beldanga (I & II), Kandi and Bharatpur - I blocks of Murshidabad district in the month of November and December 2022 and January 2023 to understand the scale of hunting and trade of resident and migratory birds. The initial survey and groundwork formed the basis of a collaborative project with Wildlife Trust of India targeted to combat the widespread and indiscriminate killing of protected wild birds in Murshidabad and adjacent districts.
Removal of bird trapping nets from wetlands
An Owl trapped in the net put up by poachers
Removal of nets to prevent bird poaching
Socio-Economic survey on the drivers and motivations of communities engaged in ritualistic hunting in West Bengal. 2022.
Here, I coordinated with the field operatives and transcribed interviews conducted in the districts of Jhargram and West Medinipur to understand and document the drivers and motivations of communities involved in the ritualistic hunting of animals.
Taxonomic and Ethnobotanical studies on the plant genus Elatostema (Urticaceae) in North East India. 2019—2021.
P.I.- Dr. Rajib Gogoi (Scientist-E & Head), Botanical Survey of India
In this project, I gathered information from herbaria all over the world (CAL, ARUN, ASSAM, DD, BSHC, K, BM, NY, and P) in order to identify and catalogue Elatostema species. I went on field trips to collect plant specimens in India's North East region, which shares borders with China to the north and Bhutan to the west. These specimens were brought back, dissected, described, photographed, and mounted on a herbarium sheet for future use. For species differentiation, morphological characteristics were noted. During this time, I lived with various tribes and collected data on the species they used for food, fodder, or medicine. I also recommended a few wild edible plant species that they could use to boost the iron content of their food. These data sets were later used for publication, presentation and reports.
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Elatostema papillosum Wedd. in the forest
Elatostema papillosum Wedd. inflorescence
Recorded usage of Elatostema species in the world.
Taxonomic studies, preservation and maintenance of herbarium specimens, and species identification. 2017—2019.
P.I.- Dr. P.V. Prasanna (Former Scientist-F & Head, Central National Herbarium), Botanical Survey of India
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I updated the web information while digitising herbarium specimens from numerous plant families for this project. I created a database of Indian Himalayan flora and included information on about 5472 herbarium specimens. In order to create a user-friendly plant identification smartphone app to be used inside the Botanic Garden, I also geotagged trees in the AJC Bose Indian Botanic Garden in Calcutta.
I prepared a summary of ongoing research on Ramsar sites in India as well as co-edited checklists for the plant families Balsaminaceae, Liliaceae, Pandanaceae, and Zingiberaceae. I created morphological character lists (identifiers) for species belonging to genus Elatostema, Pilea, and Pellionia.
Dissection of Setaria barbata at Central
National Herbarium
Working with Dr. Sandra Knapp (BM) for
database preparation of Indian Solanum L.
at CAL
Identifying Indian Solanum L. at CAL with
Dr. Ranee Om Prakash (NHM)
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) & National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) collaborated project- National Carbon Assessment of Vegetation Carbon Pools (Phase II). 2016.
P.I.- Dr. R. Umashankar (Professor, Department of Crop Physiology), UASC-GKVK, Bangalore, India and Dr. C.S. Jha (Group Director, Forestry & Ecology Group) NRSC/FEC/VGP
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Here I undertook field tours to forested areas in various districts of Karnataka and used 0.1-hectare plots to collect ecological data in which a 5x5m quadrate was used for herbaceous species. These plots were established in all four directions of the data points provided by NRSC. Plots were also set up near roads to collect random data on species richness and loss. Unidentified specimens were collected and brought back to the laboratory and were identified using local Flora.
Interphase herbaceous flora in a confluent landscape of fields, lake and hillock. 2015—2016.
P.I.- Dr. D. Narasimhan (Former Professor and Head, Department of Botany), Centre for Floristic Research, Madras Christian College, Tamil Nadu, India
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This was the project that I undertook for my M. Sc. dissertation. In this project, I worked on the herbaceous flora in merging landscapes of hillocks, agricultural fields and lakes of Neerkundram village. This essentially was a florula (flora of a small region). Of all the herbs collected, I found out that Fabaceae (Leguminosae) and Poaceae (Gramineae) were the most dominant plant families in the area. During the study, I also collected a rare orchid, Eulophia epidendraea whose pseudo-bulbous stems are used in the ayurvedic treatment of various diseases. I also added Ethnobotanical usage of different plant species that were not available in the literature earlier.
Cyanotis fasciculata- Collected from Agricultural fields
Euphorbia cyathophora- Collected near
hillocks
Commelina benghalensis- Collected from inundataed plains
Fodder species grazed by Blackbuck Antilope cervicapra L. and Plant diversity of Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary. 2015.
P.I.- Dr. D. Narasimhan (Former Professor and Head, Department of Botany), Centre for Floristic Research, Madras Christian College, and Mr. S. Soundarajan (Former Divisional Forest Officer, Nagapattinam), Tamil Nadu, India
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Here, a series of surveys were conducted within the Wildlife sanctuary for almost a month and a total of about 120 hours were spent exclusively for observing foraging and resting habits of Blackbucks. During the study period, field binoculars were used to observe the grazing activities. The segments were explored to interpret the foraging pattern of Blackbucks and to make a list of plants available in the sanctuary, which was further used to understand the components of the vegetation. Most of the plant species were identified on the site and undesignated plant specimens especially the grasses were taken to the laboratory for identification. We found that Blackbucks preferred to graze on selected grasses such as Aeluropus lagopoides , Cynodon barberi, Cynodon dactylon, Chloris virgata, a sedge Fimbristylis acuminata during the day time and they were seen browsing on the leaves and pods of Prosopis juliflora in the evenings.
Based on the study, we suggested various grass and leguminous species to be planted within the Wildlife Sanctuary to increase plant diversity.
Blackbucks in Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary
Prosopis julifora- An alien invasive shrub
Salicornia brachiata- A halophyte