CONSERVATION MONITORING MODELS FOR THREATENED VERTEBRATES OF THE INDIAN HIMALAYA

Loss of biodiversity is a political and social issue, and conservation prevailing to cultural heritage, biodiversity hotspots, and protected areas are crucial to maintaining ecological resilience. In the Himalayan landscape, the conservation of vertebrate fauna mainly requires integrating the different conservation strategies that address the ecosystem or species vulnerability, exposures of species to climate change, the species’ sensitivity through long-term data, understanding of the adaptive capabilities of the species to changing climate and landscape. The primary threat to biodiversity is climate change which needs immediate attention and action to conserve the species. It adversely affects the species’ future evolutionary potential, substantial biodiversity loss, and disturbed ecosystem services. Whereas habitat fragmentation, degradation, over-harvesting of biological resources, and pollution are severe threats in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR). Multi-dimensional aspects focusing on the issues of species vulnerability, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity of species must be addressed. Therefore, other methods are required to integrate to obtain data on biodiversity conservation. The present book attempts to build an integrative system of conservation pillars and its enablers specifically designed to address the most distinguish conservation and management challenges in the IHR. We hope the integrative approaches presented in the book will contribute toward building more effective and sustainable conservation policies on both regional and national platforms.