Bharath Sundaram
Research Associate
Education
- M. S. Ecology. 2000. Salim Ali School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Pondicherry.
- B. Sc. Botany. 1998. R. K. M. Vivekananda College, Madras University, Chennai.
Research Interests
Dry forests in India, and all over the world, are threatened by anthropogenic
disturbances such as fire, non-timber forest product extraction, and cattle
grazing. One of the main threats to ecosystem functioning in dry forests is
fire. I am interested in elucidating the effects of forest fires on plant
regeneration in tropical dry forests. I am also interested in examining the
relationship between forest fires and ecosystem invasibility in forest
ecosystems.
Experience
- Sr. Research Associate, Assisted in a project that examines the mechanistic basis of species
distribution with relation to soil resources in a 50 ha permanent plot in the dry forests of
Mudumalai, southern India, in association with A. J. Hiremath. August-October 2004.
- Sr. Research Associate, Conducting a research project that aims to look at plant responses
to fire and grazing in the dry deciduous forests of Andhra Pradesh, India, in association with
A. J. Hiremath. January 2004 onwards.
- Research Associate, ATREE co-ordinating the activities of the Western Ghats
Forum (a common platform for scientists, stakeholders, and policy makers in the Western
Ghats region- www.westernghatsforum.org),
and editorial assistant working on a book examining issues related to the biology and
policy of Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) at ATREE. June 2003 onwards.
- Research Associate. Wildlife Conservation Society-
India program’s- ‘All India Tiger Surveys’. These surveys employ the use of camera traps
and line transects to quantify densities of tigers and their prey in various protected
areas of India. I was based in Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve, Pench Tiger Reserve, Melghat
Tiger Reserve, and Panna Tiger Reserve, which are important reserves in the Central Indian
Highlands. November 2001- May 2003.
- Research Associate. Conducted a survey to assess Elephant habitat
and extent of Human-elephant conflict in Arunachal Pradesh, Asian
Elephant Research and Conservation Centre, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute
of Science, Bangalore. Lesser-known areas of Arunachal Pradesh were surveyed and baseline
information on the habitat and status of elephants were assessed. January-August 2001.
- Technical assistant. Studied the breeding biology and feeding ecology of Hornbills
(Aves, Bucerotidae) in Arunachal Pradesh, northeast India, Wildlife Institute of India.
Breeding biology, and feeding behaviour patterns were examined for three species of
sympatric hornbills. May-December 2000.
Affiliations / Positions / Memberships
Grants / Awards / Honors
- 2005- International Foundation for Science, for conducting a study titled "The invasive species-
fire cycle and its implications for the conservation of tropical dry forests"
- 2004-The Foundation for Ecological Security, Anand, Gujarat, India, for conducting a study titled “Effect of fire and grazing on forest regeneration in Sadhukonda”, as co-investigator with A. J. Hiremath.
Select Publications
Complete Publications
- A. J.
Hiremath and B. Sundaram. 2005. The fire-lantana cycle hypothesis in Indian forests. Conservation and Society 3(1): 26-42. Available online at
http://www.conservationandsociety.org/cs-3-1_3_chiremath_sundaram.pdf
- A. Datta, B. Sundaram, and G. S. Rawat. Breeding biology of sympatric hornbills in the wet evergreen forests of Arunachal Pradesh. Manuscript in review.
- B. Sundaram, S. Verma, A. Venkataraman, and R. Sukumar. 2003. The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus): its habitat, status, and distribution in Arunachal Pradesh, India. Gajah 22: 43-49.
- B. Sundaram & N. Parthasarathy. 2002. Tree mortality, growth, and recruitment in four wet evergreen forest sites in the Kolli Hills, Indian Eastern Ghats. Tropical Ecology 43(2): 275-286.
Meetings / Conferences / Symposiums / Workshops
Others
Contact
bharath@atree.org
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