Special Interest Group Meetings
The Indian Wildlife Ecology Conference 2024 is organising Special Interest Group (SIG) Meetings for researchers to engage deeper on specific topics in ecological research. SIGs provide a platform for researchers studying similar topics to come together, share research, discuss emerging trends, brainstorm future ideas, and collaborate with peers. From niche research areas to specialized technologies, methodologies, or applications, SIGs focus on exploring and discussing specific aspects within the broader field of wildlife ecology.
Each SIG session typically accommodates 10-20 registered participants who possess domain expertise in the topic under discussion. Led by the proposer of the SIG meeting, with the support of a moderator, these sessions offer a structured yet interactive environment for in-depth exploration and fruitful discussions.
Please see below for the SIG meetings we are organising at IWEC`24. If you are interested in actively participating in any of them, please reach out directly to the SIG organiser indicating your interest. Do note that acceptance into an SIG is at the discretion of the SIG organiser and all attendees to SIGs must register as conference participants when the registration opens. IWEC `24 cannot fund the participants’ travel and local hospitality (except food and stationery). However, the SIG proposer can support them directly.
Sultans of Wings:Understanding Raptors of India
SIG Organisers: Dr Prachi Mehta (WRCS) and Dr T Ganesh (ATREE)
For the Raptor SIG, we invite raptor researchers to present “5-minute Speed Talks” followed by an open-house interaction. The Speed Talk presenters will be briefed about the format of presentation. Broadly, the following themes are suggested but any other raptor work other than this can also be considered.
- Birds across borders: Papers on occupancy, distribution patterns of raptors.
- Movement: Home ranges, dispersal and foraging movements, migration in raptors.
- Raptors in my backyard: Studies of raptors in human-dominated landscapes.
- Genetics and Phylogeny: Studies on genetics and phylogeny of raptors.
- Pathology and Toxicology: Studies on raptor disease, impact of toxins on raptors.
- Techniques and tools in Raptor Research and Conservation: Methods, Equipment, Ethics.
- Ecology of Raptors: Studies on diet, nesting, breeding, vocalization in raptors.
- Contemporary issues in Raptor Management: Impact of food limitation, linear infrastructure on raptor populations.
Please contact Dr Prachi Mehta at prachimehta@wrcsindia.org if you are interested in participating in this SIG.
Wildlife disease ecology in India
SIG Organisers: Dr Bindu Raghavan (CWS) and Dr Farah Ishtiaq (TIGS).
The concept of disease ecology and host-parasite interactions from a wildlife ecology perspective has remained neglected in India. Most studies have been general enlisting of parasites and pathogens found in various wildlife species. The few epidemiological studies have had a human health focus and have yet to really examine the effect of the disease on the wild species themselves.
Diseases in wildlife have the potential to impact populations at the local and landscape level. Zoonotic diseases of wildlife origin and infectious diseases with potential spillover risks to humans and livestock are also an increasing threat. There is an urgent need to study the role of disease and health as a process, not just a pattern in wildlife population ecology.
Challenges to obtaining permission to collect samples (invasive or non-invasive), lack of wildlife-specific diagnostic protocols and labs, and lack of an understanding of disease ecology and its application, are some of the hurdles in the study of wildlife disease ecology in India.
Our SIG will be a discussion between current practitioners, experts and interested persons to:
- Evaluate existing knowledge regarding wildlife diseases in India.
- Outline what is required, including gaps in current knowledge in India.
- Assess challenges to carrying out wildlife disease ecology work in India.
- Discuss the way forward and explore pathways for collaborative research.
Format- Discussion
Please contact Dr Bindu Raghavan at bindugnape@gmail.com or Dr Farah Istiaq at farah.ishtiaq@tigs.res.in to indicate your interest in participating in this SIG.
A New Era of Indian Bat Research & Conservation
SIG Organisers: Dr Rohit Chakravarty (NCF-India) and Dr Harish Prakash (GITAM University).
Bats are excellent model organisms for a variety of studies ranging from unique sensory abilities like echolocation, to understanding human perceptions towards non-charismatic animals. In recent times, there is also growing interest in investigating bat-borne zoonotic diseases which holds relevance in human health and human-wildlife coexistence.
With 135 species, bats form the largest mammalian order in India, yet the proportion of chiropterologists in India has always been less than one researcher per species. For several decades, research on bats in India was limited to taxonomy.
This scenario is beginning to change. The last few years have seen fascinating research in the fields of community ecology, prey-predator interactions, the impacts of light pollution and agroforestry, and ecosystem services. Much of these contributions also came from women who were historically grossly underrepresented in bat research.
We, therefore, propose to host this SIG on the recent advances in bat research and conservation. We envision receiving presentations on diverse topics of broad ecological interest and across career stages (students, postdocs, practitioners, and professors).
The last officially documented meeting of Indian chiropterologists was 20 years ago. This SIG will once again bring India’s steadily growing bat community together as one, help break the ice, and chart a path for future collaborations.
Please contact Dr. Rohit Chakravarty at rohitchakravarty@ncf-india.org or Dr. Harish Prakash at harishprakashhp@gmail.com to indicate your interest in participating in this SIG.
Small cats:Ecology, Study Methods & Collaborations
SIG Organisers: Dr Shomita Mukherjee (SACON) and Tiasa Adhya (Fishing Cat Conservation Alliance)
The SIG is aimed at facilitating the exchange of knowledge between small cat researchers, discussing robust analytical methods to study small cats, encouraging fruitful collaborations and ideating future direction for small cat research.
Research topics such as behaviour and natural history, habitat preferences, dietary choices, analytical methods to study small cat ecology, genetic connectivity as well as the integration of in-situ and ex-situ conservation approaches will be the focal subjects of invited presentations.
The format of the meeting will be structured into three 90 minutes sessions:
- Presentation of published work on the above topics.
- Presentation of ongoing and potential work on the above topics.
- a) A workshop to discuss methodological constraints in studying small wild cats and discussing potential ways to circumnavigate (1 hour) and b) discussion on future collaborative work within members of the group (30 minutes).
- Given the well known dearth of research on small cats, the proposers of the meeting would also publish, on priority, the proceedings of the meeting, a brief report on which will be submitted to IWEC for uploading onto the IWEC website.
Please contact Dr. Shomita Mukherjee at shomitam@gmail.com or Tiasa Adhya at adhyatiasa@yahoo.com to indicate your interest in participating in this SIG.
Mixing Formal & Experiential ecological Knowledge
SIG Organisers: Sayan Banerjee (NIAS), Dr Anindya Sinha (NIAS), Dr Samir Kumar Sinha (WTI), Dr Tanushree Srivastava (WTI)
- Integration of formal knowledge of institutional scientists and experiential knowledge of place-based local communities is typically fragmentary or disorganised. We urgently require codified, yet flexible, pathways to integrate local ecological knowledge through the formal institutionalisation of collaborative research.
Our symposium, designed for wildlife scholars and relevant community members, thus aims to:
- Understand pathway to integrate scientific and experiential knowledge of wildlife ecology for multidisciplinary knowledge generation.
- Understand modes of justice, equity and fairness during terms of collaboration.
- Understand applicability of knowledge integration to enhance local biodiversity conservation needs.
The SIG meeting will have 20 participants, with 6-9 participants both from formal and experiential knowledge communities. The participants will be selected based upon pre-identified thematic areas, as well as regional and gender diversity. The 90-minute session will be divided into three thirty-minute phases, (i) setting the context, (ii) thematic group-based discussion and (iii) sharing of knowledge.
Please contact any one of the SIG proposers to indicate your interest in participating in this SIG:
1)Sayan Banerjee: sayan.workspace@gmail.com
2) Dr Anindya Sinha: asinha@nias.res.in
3) Dr Samir Kumar Sinha: samir@wti.org.in
4) Dr Tanushree Srivastava: head.markhor@wti.org.in
Impact of Climate Change on Ectotherms
SIG Organiser: Dr Renee M Borges (IISc)
Climate change is believed to have a disproportionate impact on ectotherms (e.g. insects, reptiles) compared to large-bodied endotherms (e.g. birds, mammals). Temperature tolerance and the impact of short or long heat waves is barely understood for a few model species of insects and scarcely for other ectotherms. Many ectotherms, e.g. insects, are also important in trophic networks, and rely on plants for nutrition in larval or adult life stages.
Climate change can induce changes in plant phenology and plant quality, and these could set off trophic cascades with serious consequences for plant and animal reproduction owing to failures in pollination, reduced nest provisioning, and mismatches in phenology between plant and ectotherm immature stages. Climate change can also cause unseasonal precipitation and flooding. Besides affecting phenology, the impacts of unseasonal precipitation on important ecosystem service providers such as soil-nesting bees or decomposers is unknown.
There is an urgent need to collect data on temperature and relative humidity in relation to diel activity of invertebrates and the phenology of plants, on thermal tolerances and physiological plasticity of ectotherms, microhabitat temperatures and relative humidity, and also soil humidity and temperatures at various soil depths.
Since India spreads across different climatic regimes, data must be obtained across these biomes. Climate refugia need to be identified. This SIG makes a call for calibrated data.
Please contact Dr Renee M Borges at renee@iisc.ac.in to indicate your interest in participating in this SIG.
Urban Ecology – an emerging field in India
SIG organiser: Dr. Jagdish Krishnaswamy (IIHS) and Dr. Kadambari Deshpande (IIHS)
The field of ecology has been expanding in its scope, in response to emerging challenges in environmental conservation from human impacts. Despite these widening dimensions, traditionally there has been a somewhat reticent approach towards studies on urban ecosystems. Urban ecological studies have not received the same level of attention as other wildernesses, even though urban ecosystems are unique and novel in terms of habitats, vegetation, hydrology, micro-climates, and human-wildlife interactions. This lack of attention is greater in tropical regions in the so-called global south where significant wilderness still persists in urban or urbanizing environments. The Baltimore School of Urban Ecology introduced the paradigm of three phases or components – ecology in the city, ecology of the city, and ecology for the city. This is applicable for the Indian context as well, where urban ecology is still in nascent stages. There is an urgent need to formally recognize and nurture the discipline of urban wildlife ecology to study and conceptualize ideas to assess the effects of urbanization on biodiversity, species’ adaptation, behavioural responses, and conservation. In this SIG, we hope to offer a platform to bring urban wildlife ecologists together to discuss research and ideas in the emerging field of Urban Ecology. We also hope to initiate a discussion on the path ahead in terms of research priorities, capacity building, and future of urban ecology in the Indian context.
Please contact Dr. Kadambari Deshpande (kadambari.deshpande@iihs.ac.in) to indicate your interest in participating in this SIG.
Lantana - Building Collaboration and Consensus
SIG organiser: Dr. Tarsh Thekaekara (The Shola Trust), Dr. Aritra Kshettry (WWF-India), Dr. Geetha Ramaswami (NCF)
Lantana is now the second most widely distributed invasive species in the world, with a cascading impact on natural ecosystems around the world. Despite a very significant body of work on various aspects of the plant, there is little consensus on appropriate and scalable approaches to restore Lantana invaded landscapes. The scale and intensity of the problem varies across the country linked to a range of environmental factors, and the solutions are also highly varied.
In this SIG, we hope to bring together a range of people working on issues around Lantana, to attempt to build consensus around a variety of issues relating to Lantana – the scale of the problem, appropriate approaches to removal, links to local-community livelihoods etc. Perhaps most importantly, the use of controlled burning as an appropriate and cost-efficient restoration strategy.
We hope to collate a range of case studies and best practices from around the country and synthesize this into coherent strategy, coming together around www.thelantanacollective.org.
Please contact Dr. Tarsh Thekaekara (tarsh@thesholatrust.org), Dr. Aritra Kshettry (akshettry@wwfindia.net), or Dr. Geetha Ramaswami (geetha@ncf-india.org) to indicate your interest in participating in this SIG.
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