Experts --> Dr. Arun P. Singh

Name: Dr. Arun Pratap Singh

Location: Head, Ecology & Biodiversity Division, Rain Forest Research Institute, Jorhat ,Assam (office) & Dehradun ( home)

Education: Ph.D. in Forestry (FRI University, Dehradun) Title:Butterfly diversity in tropical moist deciduous sal forests of Dehradun valley: Evaluating taxa of conservation priority.

Employment: Indian Council of Forestry Research & Education, Dehradun, India since Sept 1992.

Interests: Nature Photography, photographic art, ornithology, natural history, forest entomology, ecology , Biodiversity Conservation and climate change

E-mail ID: singhap at icfre.org ; ranoteaps at gmail.com;

Flutters

Achievements:

Three month fellowship on Biological Control of Forest Insects in USA & Canada undertaken at State University of New York, Syracuse, USA -sponsored by FAO under World Bank FREE Project of ICFRE.

Evaluated a project proposals for seeking grant for research on butterflies for the Committee for Research and Exploration, National Geographic Society, USA and Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.

Reviewer of research papers for -International SCI Journals-Journal of Pest Science; Journal of Applied Entomology ; Regional journals- Journal of Threatened Taxa; Indian Forester.

As a resource person on Insects and invertebrate taxon group in the Consultative Workshop for Revision of Schedules under Wildlife Protection Act,1972 (August2007), Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.

Awarded Dr. Salim Ali National Wildlife Fellowship Award 2001 in June 2004 given by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India. A two year study Ecology of Woodpeckers in Borer (Hoplocerambyx spinicornis: Coleoptera: Cermbycidae) infested sal (Shorea robusta) forests of Dehradun valley, the lower western Himalayas was carried out under this fellowship.

Undertaken study tour to Malaysia and Bali on butterflies parks , designing of butterfly gardens in New Delhi & Dehradun, India.

Research Projects on butterflies

Completed

Environmental conservation strategies for land use in the lower western Himalayas: using butterflies as indicators along an urban gradient ( PI- FRI -2000-2005 [PI-FRI-145/FED-9 (N)].

Butterfly diversity in moist temperate forests of Garhwal: Evaluating species of conservation priority and indicator taxa of habitat disturbance (PI-FRI -348/FED-23;-2006-2010).

EIA studies in Bhutan in the Sankosh and Wanthu river catchments; Saranda forests of Jharkhand, India

Ongoing

Ecological studies on the distribution patterns and food plant resources of butterflies along altitudinal gradients in different forest ecosystems of the eastern Himalaya (Arunachal Pradesh) (Project Code: RFRI-36/2010-11EB; working as PI 2011-2014)

Publications on Butterflies

Journals

1. Singh,AP. And R.Singh(1999). Butterflies of Quercus leucotrichophora- Cedrus deodara forest.Indian Forester 124, 646-657.

2. Singh,A.P.(1999). New Forest, Dehradun, India: A unique man made habitat for butterflies in the lower western Himalayas. Indian Forester 125,913-922

3. Singh, AP.(2000). Nectar feeding butterflies of Debregeasia hypoleuca Wedd. Indian Forester 122,191.

4. Singh,A.P.(2003) New records on the distribution and ecology of Common Gem Butterfly, Portia hewitsoni hewitsoni Moore from the lower western Himalayas: lesser known taxa. Journal of the Lepidopterists Society,America. 37 ,4, 295-298.

5. Singh,A.P.(2003). Distribution range extension of bush hopper butterfly, Ampittia dioscorides Fabricius (Lepidoptera: Hesperidae) into the lower western Himalayas. Indian Forester. 129,8, 1046-1048.

6. Singh,A.P. and R.S.Bhandari (2003).Butterfly diversity in tropical moist deciduous sal (Shorea robusta) forests of Dehradun valley: the lower western Himalayas. Indian Forester 129 ,10,1257- 1269.

7. Singh, AP. & R. Pandey (2004).A model for estimating butterfly species richness of areas across the Indian sub-continent: species proportion of family papilionidae as an indicator. JBNHS. 101,1,79-89.

8. Singh,AP. (2005). Initial colonization of Red Pierrot butterfly, Talicada nyseus nyseus Guerin (Lycaenidae) in the lower western Himalayas: An indicator of the changing environment. Current Science 89, 41-42.

9. Singh,AP.(2005). Recent records on the distribution, seasonality and occurrence of Redspot butterfly, Zeius chrysomaluus Hubner from the lower western Himalayas. JBNHS 102,2: 238-239

10. Singh,A.P. and R.S.Bhandari (2006). New Additions to the Butterflies of Dehradun valley, the lower Western Himalayas. Indian Forester. 132,6,767-769.

11. Singh A.P. (2006). Range extension of Brown Gorgon butterfly, Meandrusa gyas gyas into Kedarnath Musk Deer Reserve, Western Himalayas : A lesser known species from north-east India. Indian Forester 132,12a, 187-189.

12. Singh, A.P.(2007). A new butterfly species of the genus Ypthima Hubner (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae) from Garhwal Himalaya, India. Journal Bombay Natural History Society. 104,2, 191-194[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_butterflies_of_India_(Satyrinae)]

13. Singh,A.P.(2008).Butterflies of Renuka Wildlife Sanctuary, Sirmaur district, Himachal Pradesh, India. Indian Forester. 134,10, 1126-1138

14. Singh,A.P.(2009). Butterflies of Kedarnath Musk Deer Reserve, Garhwal Himalayas, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa. 1 ,1, 37-48

15. .Singh,A.P.(2010). Butterfly diversity in tropical moist deciduous sal forests of Ankua Reserve Forest, Koina Range, Saranda Division, West Singhbhum District, Jharkhand, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa. 2,9, 1130-1139

16. Bhardwaj, M., V.P.Uniyal, A. K. Sanyal, A.P.Singh (2012). Butterfly communities along an elevation gradient in the Tons valley, Western Himalayas: Implications of rapid assessment of insect conservation. Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology 15(1):207-217.

17. Singh,A.P.(2012). Lowland forest butterflies of the Sankosh river catchment, Bhutan. Journal of Threatened Taxa , 4(12): 3085 - 3102

Books:

1. Singh, A.P.(2011). Butterflies of India. OM Books International.pp183 (Book)

Seminars and Conferences:

1. Singh,A.P.and R.Singh (2005). Butterflies community in Ban oak forests (western Himalayas). In: Proceedings of the National Workshop on Conservation of Biodiversity in India- Status, Challenges and Efforts, FRI 1998/ 115 ICFRE BL-19-2005. pp 94-104.

2. A paper entitled Delineating habitats of conservation priority in a threatened tropical moist deciduous forest landscape in the lower western Himalayas using butterflies was invited for presentation in World Biodiveristy Congress at Chang Mai, Thailand (March 2009) in theme Ecosystem Management later also published in ICFRE Technologies Forestry in Service of the nation- ICFRE-Technologies book of 800 pages released during IFC-2011 at New Delhi.

3. Bhardwaj, Manish, V.P. Uniyal, Arun P.Singh and Abesh K..Sanyal (2010). Patterns in diversity and distribution of butterfly assemblages in Tons Valley, Uttarakhand, Western Himalaya. In: Abstract of 3rd Asian Lepidoptera Conservation Symposium and Training Programme. 25-29 October 2010, Coimbatore, India. pp 18.