Monica Kaushik
Areas of Interest & Expertise
- Bird-Habitat Associations
- Avian Community Ecology
- Biological Invasions
- Urban Ecology
- Ecology of Diurnal Raptors
- Seed Dispersal Mutualism
- Disturbance Ecology
Biography
Monica is an ecologist and conservation biologist studying birds, their habitats and how they fare in a world dominated by humans. Scientifically speaking, she researches the impact of anthropogenic disturbances on the forest ecosystem and bird communities.
She is interested in understanding the effects of invasive species on native communities and mutualistic interactions. She studied the effect of invasive plant species Lantana camara on the native seed-dispersal mutualism in Western Ghats.
As part of her Fulbright fellowship, she compared the effectiveness of exotic and native avian frugivore on the native seed dispersal mutualism in Alakai Forest of Kauai, Hawaii. Currently, with the help of a few students, she is also investigating the patterns of urban biodiversity and their socio-ecological correlates in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, a city in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas.
Monica has received a doctoral degree in Wildlife Science from the Wildlife Institute of India (Saurashtra University, Gujarat). Her doctoral research focused on quantifying the small-scale extractive disturbances (forest biomass extraction) and their role in shaping the plant and bird communities in the forest in the Himalayan foothills.
She has completed her master’s degree in Environmental Biology and bachelor’s degree in Botany (honours) from the University of Delhi.
Before joining Azim Premji University, she taught for three years (2019 – 2022) at the School of Human Ecology, Dr B R Ambedkar University, Delhi. She taught Conservation Biology, Applied Population Ecology, and Ecological Statistics to the MA students.
At work and at leisure, she likes to watch and listen to birds and talk about them.
Courses
Introduction to Biology II
Observe, explore and characterise biodiversity
Introduction to Ecology
Explores interactions between organisms and their environments and how these interactions shape the distribution and abundance of species.
Certificate Courses
Ecological monitoring for climate change interventions
This four-day residential workshop will introduce participants to simple, low-cost techniques that can be used for local ecological monitoring and discuss how they can be used to inform climate change interventions at the local level.
Journal Articles
- Kaushik, M., Tiwari, S., Kumari, M. (2021). Habitat patch size and tree species richness shape the bird community in urban green spaces of the rapidly urbanizing Himalayan foothill region of India. Urban Ecosystems. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11252-021 – 01165‑9
- Kaushik, M., Dutta,S., Rawat, G.,S., Singh, P., Mohan, D. (2021). Disentangling the effects of past logging and ongoing cryptic anthropogenic disturbance on vegetation structure and composition in Himalayan Foothills, India. Biorxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.21.440725
- Mungi, N. A., Kaushik, M., Mohanty, N. P., Rastogi, R., Johnson, A. J., & Qureshi, Q. (2019). Identifying knowledge gaps in the research and management of invasive species in India. Biologia, 74(6), 623 – 629. https://link.springer.com/article/10.2478/s11756-018 – 00186‑8
- Sharma, R., Singh, H., Kaushik, M., Nautiyal, R., & Singh, O. (2018). Adaptive physiological response, carbon partitioning, and biomass production of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal grown under elevated CO2 regimes. 3 Biotech, 8 (6), 1 – 10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5970103/
- Kaushik, M., Pejchar, L., & Crampton, L. H. (2018). Potential disruption of seed dispersal in the absence of a native Kauai thrush. Plos One, 13(1), e0191992. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0191992
- Bombaci, S.P., Farr, C.M., Gallo, H.T., Mangan, A.M., Stinson, L.T., Kaushik, M., & Pejchar, L. (2016). Using Twitter to communicate conservation science from a professional conference. Conservation Biology, 30(1), 216 – 225. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12570
- Ramaswami, G., Kaushik, M., Prasad, S., Sukumar, R., & Westcott, D. (2016). Dispersal by generalist frugivores affects management of an invasive plant. Biotropica, 48(5), 638 – 644. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12343
- Kaushik, M., Mohan, D., & Singh, P. (2012). Response of migrant and resident bird communities to anthropogenic disturbances in Shiwalik landscape, Uttarakhand, India. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc, 109, 111 – 122. https://www.bnhsjournal.in/index.php/bnhs/article/view/156195
- Kaushik, M. (2011). Range extension for the Orange-breasted green pigeon Treron bicinctus to Western Uttarakhand, India. Indian BIRDS, 8(1), 17. https://indianbirds.in/pdfs/IB8.1_Kaushik_OrangebreastedGreenpigeon.pdf
Reports
- Role of urban green spaces for conservation of bird diversity in the rapidly urbanizing capital of Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, India. (2022). The Rufford Foundation. https://ruffordorg.s3.amazonaws.com/media/project_reports/26698 – 1_Final_Evaluation_Report.pdf
- Management of human-wildlife interaction and invasive species in India. (2015). Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. 10.13140/RG.2.2.35522.58565
- Influence of habitat structure and anthropogenic disturbances on diurnal raptor community in Rajaji National Park, India. (2014). Raptor Research & Conservation Foundation. https://www.raptors.org.in/pdf/report3/RRCF_Final%20Report_Monica_2014.pdf
Other writings
Research Database
- Kaushik, M. (2022). Himalayan Bulbul (Pycnonotus leucogenys), version 2.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.whcbul2.02
Preprint
- Jayadevan, M., Viswanathan, A., Reddy, A., Suryawanshi, K., Madhusudan, M.D., Kaushik, M., Quader, S., & Deomurari, A.N. (2020). State of India’s Birds 2020: Background and Methodology. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339472006_State_of_India%27s_Birds_2020_Background_and_Methodology