Taxonomy and Ecology of Climbers: Climbing Plants of India (eBook)

This book brings out the most comprehensive and up-to-date information on the taxonomy, biodiversity, and ecology of climbers in India. Climbing is one of the principal plant growth habits that have long attracted the interests of ecologists and evolutionary biologists. Climbing plants can add significantly to the species richness of many tropical forests ecosystems, yet they receive relatively lesser attention than trees in ecological studies. The difficulties in taxonomic assertions and lack of standard methodologies overlook climbers in plant inventories, resulting in the underrepresentation of climbers in regional floras. There is a growing consensus about the increasing abundance of climbers and their multifaceted role in tropical forests worldwide. Therefore, it is essential to understand the taxonomic diversity and ecology of climbers at the regional scale to substantiate our efforts towards constructing a global climber database, which serves as a reference for fundamental research in climber ecology and evolution. This book is of interest to biodiversity researchers, taxonomists, ecologists, and evolutionary biologists. Field biologists, forest managers, and naturalists will also find this a useful read.

Dr. Vivek Pandi is a plant ecologist who has spent close to a decade studying the ecology and biodiversity of climbers and has contributed significantly to research on Indian climbers. He holds a Ph.D. in Ecology of woody climbers and has a longstanding research interest in understanding the evolution of climbing behaviour in plants. He is currently studying the taxonomy, systematics, and phylogenetics of Indian climbing flora. He has published over 15 research materials on various themes of climber ecology. In addition, he has established a one-hectare permanent monitoring plot in India's Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot to understand better the dynamics of liana communities and their impact on forest structure. He is currently employed as a Professor (Assistant) of Evolutionary Biology at the Manipal Centre for Natural Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (Institute of Eminence) in India.

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This book brings out the most comprehensive and up-to-date information on the taxonomy, biodiversity, and ecology of climbers in India. Climbing is one of the principal plant growth habits that have long attracted the interests of ecologists and evolutionary biologists. Climbing plants can add significantly to the species richness of many tropical forests ecosystems, yet they receive relatively lesser attention than trees in ecological studies. The difficulties in taxonomic assertions and lack of standard methodologies overlook climbers in plant inventories, resulting in the underrepresentation of climbers in regional floras. There is a growing consensus about the increasing abundance of climbers and their multifaceted role in tropical forests worldwide. Therefore, it is essential to understand the taxonomic diversity and ecology of climbers at the regional scale to substantiate our efforts towards constructing a global climber database, which serves as a reference for fundamental research in climber ecology and evolution. This book is of interest to biodiversity researchers, taxonomists, ecologists, and evolutionary biologists. Field biologists, forest managers, and naturalists will also find this a useful read.