Invasive alien species in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: Setting management targets for the next decade

Agustina Barros

Agustina Barros is a researcher at the National Institute for Nivology, Glaciology, and Environmental Sciences (IANIGLA) within the National Research Council of Argentina (CONICET). With a degree in Environmental Sciences and an MSc in Wildlife Management (Argentina), she obtained her Ph.D. in Ecology from Griffith University, Australia. Her research interests include protected area management, plant ecology, and biological invasions. She is particularly interested in understanding the effects of climate change and human disturbances on mountain vegetation, with most of her studies conducted in the Central Arid Andes. Barros is part of the global Mountain Invasion Research Network (MIREN), which aims to understand the effects of global change on species’ distributions and biodiversity in mountainous regions. As part of the network in Argentina, she leads observational and experimental work in the Central Andes, assessing the effects of disturbances and elevation on mountain plant invasions. Prior to being a Protected Area Officer at the Natural Resource Department in Argentina, she was the Communication Officer for the Mountain Forum at ICIMOD, Nepal.

Anzar A. Khuroo

Anzar A. Khuroo is the Senior Assistant Professor at the Centre for Biodiversity and Taxonomy Department of Botany, University of Kashmir, India. He is also an expert member at the National Committee on Invasive Alien Species constituted by India’s National Biodiversity Authority. He is the editor of the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS) by the Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) of the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), India. Khuroo uses traditional and modern tools of taxonomy and ecology to contribute towards documentation, conservation, and sustainable use of biodiversity. His current areas of research include floristics, invasion ecology, alpine ecology, and urban ecology. He has contributed to over 130 research papers. Khuroo is also the section editor of Checklist: The Journal of Biodiversity Data and Associate Editor of Conservation Science.

Asad Shabbir

Asad Shabbir is a weed ecologist at the University of Sydney, Australia. He has been working on the biology, ecology, and management of weeds and invasive plants for more than 20 years in Pakistan and Australia. He was also the Assistant Professor in Plant Ecology at the University of the Punjab, Pakistan. Shabbir has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed research papers on parthenium weed, and co-edited a book on parthenium published by the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI) – UK. Shabbir has also reviewed the datasheets, databases, and risk assessment of invasive plants for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI), and European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO). He has a Ph.D. from the University of Queensland, Australia.

Bharat Babu Shrestha

Bharat Babu Shrestha is a plant ecologist working at the Central Department of Botany, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal. His research interests include biological invasions, forest ecosystems, and mountain environments. Currently, he is working on plant invasions in Nepal, with a focus on the distribution patterns of invasive alien plant species, their impacts, and management options. Shrestha is also one of the lead authors in the Assessment of Invasive Alien Species and Their Control (2019–2023) report, undertaken by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

David Clements

David R. Clements is a Professor of Biology and Assistant Dean of Science at Trinity Western University (TWU), Canada. He researches invasive weed biology in British Columbia and other parts of the world including China and Australia and has published more than 90 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters. Clements has served as an Associate Editor for the Canadian Journal of Plant Science, Weed Research, Agronomy, Pacific Science, and Invasive Plant Science and Management, and for the two series on the biology of invasive species which he helped to create – one in Pacific Science and the other in Invasive Plant Science and Management. Clements received the Excellence and Weed Science Award from the Canadian Weed Science Society for his work on invasive weed biology. He manages TWU’s field research sites and teaches courses in botany and ecology, including field courses on Salt Spring Island and Hawaii. He is actively involved in local environmental advocacy and writes for The Green Beat, a monthly column in a local newspaper.

Dorjee

Dorjee specializes in weed and invasive species management and heads the Weed Management Programme at the National Plant Protection Centre, Department of Agriculture, Bhutan. He joined the civil service as the District Agriculture Officer of the Thimphu District Administration in 1998 and led the National Citrus Program from 2005-2013 in the then Horticulture Division, Department of Agriculture.Besides the regular planned citrus research and development activities, Dorjee was the Project Leader of the Bhutan-Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) citrus project and the Component Manager for citrus in the European Union-funded Agriculture Sector Support Project in Bhutan.

Dorjee holds a B.Sc. (Agriculture) from Marathwada Agricultural University, Maharashtra, India, an M.Sc. (Agricultural Systems) from Chiang Mai University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Canberra, Australia.

Srijana Joshi

Srijana Joshi is an Ecosystem Specialist at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Nepal. She is a plant ecologist and holds a Ph.D. in the evolutionary ecology of invasive plants from Tuebingen, Germany.
Her work focuses on developing a better understanding and practical application of research in invasive plant species and promoting biodiversity conservation. She has co-edited several books and published peer-reviewed journal articles on invasive species. She contributed a section on invasive species in “The Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment: Mountains, Climate Change, Sustainability and People.” Joshi is actively involved in providing invasive species management training for field professionals, researchers, and local groups.

Yulong Zheng

Yulong Zheng is a professor at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China. His research interests include biological invasions and plant physiology. He has worked as a Visiting Scholar at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), Ohio, USA, and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). He has published more than 30 SCI papers, some of which are published in renowned journals such as Ecology Letters, PNAS, and New Phytologist. He completed his Ph.D. in Ecology from CAS in 2013.