Biology subjects

Krishnaswamy, J.

Publications and source records attributed to Krishnaswamy, J..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Diversified Portfolios of Bacterial Communities in Peri-urban Miyawaki Forests and Grassland Shaping Ecosystem Functions and Services

Soil microflora is fundamental to ecosystem functioning, yet their contribution in Miyawaki afforestation, a globally implemented ecological engineering approach, remains poorly characterized. In the present study, we examined the bacterial taxonomic diversity and their functional potential in a peri-urban Miyawaki mini-forest and compared with a nearby grassland the pre-existing ecosystem across dry and wet seasons. The Miyawaki plantation comprised of highly diverse native trees, sub-trees and shrubs spanning evergreen and deciduous varieties, potentiating nitrogen-fixation, diverse litter generation and rooting strategies resulting in pronounced functional heterogeneity. Notably relative to grassland, the Miyawaki forest was intensively managed and supplemented with organic amendments, and supportive irrigation, buffering the seasonal moisture stress. Using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of soil eDNA, we characterized seasonal variation in soil bacterial communities in both the systems. The observed soil bacterial community organization in forest as compared to the unmanaged grassland indicates combined influence of vegetation structure, dense canopy cover, continuous litter generation and root exudates. Microbial assemblages in the forest specialised in heterotrophic complex carbon degradation, biofilm formation, exopolysaccharide production and sporulation pathways which suggests adaptive abilities to anoxic microsites and other stressful conditions. In contrast, grassland soils harboured less diversified bacterial communities dominated by phototrophic and oxidative stress adaptation pathways consistent with sun lit, non-irrigated and moisture-variable conditions. Nonetheless, functional divergence in dry season reflects temporal reorganization of microbial communities marking a gradual trend towards soil ecosystem development. Together, these findings establish microbial baseline for Miyawaki forests revealing how tree-dense mini-forests restructure soil bacterial communities relative to grasslands highlighting the value of identifying soil microbial indicators for critically evaluating urban afforestation outcomes over extended time scales to inform sustainable design and policy. Graphical abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=113 SRC="FIGDIR/small/704982v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (56K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@15e1bb1org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@16c1dddorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@11c99ecorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@bd6d1d_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG Schematic representation of the study depicting the Miyawaki forest and nearby grassland.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2024

Unbounding fish: Assessing vulnerability to overexploitation for transboundary fish populations

SummeryGlobally coastal fisheries are managed according to political jurisdictions of nations and their provinces. This practice often results in multiple states/provinces managing a single genetically distinct fish population autonomously and without coordination. In multi-species, decentralized and data poor fisheries such management lead to poor assessment and eventually overharvest of fish. To assess overexploitation risk for such interjurisdictional populations, we propose a risk indicator IRIIS which incorporates 1) species-specific vulnerability 2) distribution of genetically-distinct populations with respect to jurisdictional boundaries and 3) differences in management practices across jurisdictions. As a case study we evaluated overexploitation risk for individual populations of nine commonly caught fish species spanning across multiple jurisdictions along Indias west coast. Our results indicate that interjurisdictional differences in management alters innate biological susceptibility. IRIIS is also sensitive to population-level differences and policy changes. Our analyses emphasize the need for population-level assessments and interjurisdictional cooperation to achieve sustainable fisheries. Science and society statementCoastal fisheries worldwide are managed through politically defined maritime jurisdictions, while fish populations are structured by biological processes such as dispersal, ocean currents, and natural barriers. This fundamental mismatch between biological population boundaries and jurisdictional management boundaries often results in the same population being exploited under multiple, uncoordinated governance regimes. In the context of the global overfishing crisis, such governance fragmentation can lead to inaccurate stock assessments and heightened risk of local population collapse. This challenge is particularly acute in developing and tropical countries, where fisheries are multispecies, data-limited, and increasingly decentralized to support community-based governance. While decentralization promotes social justice, it can inadvertently intensify the misalignment between biological and administrative boundaries, complicating sustainable management. In this manuscript, we introduce a robust framework -- the Integrative Risk Indicator for Interjurisdictional Stocks (IRIIS) -- which has a high applicability for multispecies, data-poor, and decentralized fisheries. Building on, and extending beyond, species-level Productivity Susceptibility Analysis (PSA), IRIIS integrates population genomics to delineate biologically meaningful population boundaries and combines these with fisheries policies and regulations across jurisdictions to quantify management-associated risks of overexploitation at the population level. We apply IRIIS to case studies of nine commercially important fish species harvested along the west coast of India. Our results demonstrate that the framework can (i) distinguish differential vulnerability among populations of the same species, (ii) explicitly capture management disparities across jurisdictions exploiting shared populations, and (iii) detect sensitivity to temporal changes in fisheries policies. By linking genomics, governance, and risk assessment, IRIIS provides a practical framework for identifying interjurisdictional management gaps and actionable entry points for policy coordination. This approach is particularly relevant for the Global South, where reconciling social equity objectives with ecological sustainability is both essential and challenging.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

Prioritizing landscapes to reconcile biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, and human well-being in India

Biodiversity conservation and human well-being are tightly interlinked; yet mismatches in the scale at which both priorities are planned and implemented have exacerbated biodiversity loss, erosion of ecosystem services, and declining human quality of life. India houses the second largest human population on the planet, while <5% of the countrys land area is effectively protected for conservation. This warrants landscape-level conservation planning through a judicious mix of land-sharing and land-sparing approaches, and co-production of ecosystem services. Through a multi-faceted assessment, we prioritize spatial extents of land parcels that, in the face of anthropogenic threats, can safeguard conservation landscapes across Indias biogeographic zones. We find that only a fraction (~15%) of such priority areas identified here are encompassed under Indias extant PA network, and several landscapes of high importance were omitted in all previous global-scale assessments. We then examined the spatial congruence of priority areas with administrative units earmarked for economic development by the Indian government, and propose management-zoning through state-driven and participatory approaches. Our spatially explicit insights can help meet the twin goals of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in India and other countries across the Global South.

ecology↗