Kadambari Deshpande
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Dr. Jagdish Krishnaswamy
- Senior Fellow Suri Sehgal Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation
- Ecosystem Services & Human Wellbeing
I am interested in understanding the relationships between non-charismatic species like bats and people in agroforestry systems. Support for conservation of bats is generally limited in India – mainly due to misconceptions, cultural beliefs and limited scientific knowledge, despite their important ecological functions. Bats are good examples of the complexities inherent to biodiversity conservation in human-dominated landscapes, as they can be both beneficial and harmful to people in different contexts. Hence, assessing the implications of ecosystem functions of bats and local ecological knowledge are crucial for bat conservation.
For my PhD research at ATREE, I aim to study ecosystem services generated by frugivorous and insectivorous bats in agroforestry systems of the Western Ghats, India.
In addition, I am keenly interested in the sensory ecology of animals. My work on insectivorous bat ecology primarily includes non-invasive acoustic methods to record bat ultrasound in the field, to understand their foraging habitat use. I am also involved in studies on echolocation of river dolphins and underwater acoustics. Other academic interests include community ecology, animal movement and landscape ecology, evolutionary biology, biogeography, chronobiology, and conservation education.
Education
M.Sc. in Genomics (2009), Centre for Excellence in Genomic Sciences, Madurai Kamraj University, Madurai
B.Sc. in Biochemistry, Zoology, Microbiology (2007), Bangalore University, Bangalore
Scientific publications
Dey, S., Choudhary, S. K., Dey, S., Deshpande, K. & Kelkar, N. (2019) Identifying potential causes of fish declines through local ecological knowledge of fishers in the Ganga River, eastern Bihar, India. Fisheries Management and Ecology. doi: 10.1111/fme.12390
Deshpande, K.* & Kelkar N. (2019) Environmental influences on acoustic divergence in Rhinolophus bats of the Western Ghats-Sri Lanka region. BioRxiv.
Kelkar, N., Dey, S., Deshpande, K., Choudhary, S. K., Dey, S. & Morisaka, T. (2018) Foraging and feeding ecology of Platanista: an integrative review. Mammal Review. 48(3): 194 –208.
Deshpande, K.*, Gangal, M. & Kelkar, N. (2016) First record of a bat from the Lakshadweep archipelago, southwestern India. Mammalia. 80(2): 223–225
Deshpande, K.* & Kelkar, N. (2015) Acoustic identification of Otomops wroughtoni and other free-tailed bat species (Chiroptera: Molossidae) from India. Acta Chiropterologica. 17(2): 419–428
Deshpande, K.* & Kelkar, N. (2015) How do fruit bat seed shadows benefit agroforestry? Insights from local perceptions in Kerala, India. Biotropica. 47(6): 654–659
Soisook, P., Struebig, M., Noerfahmy, S., Bernard, H. Maryanto, I., Chen, S-F., Kuo, H-C., Deshpande, K., Bates, P. J. J., Sykes, D. & Miguez, R. P. (2015) Description of a new species of the Rhinolophus trifoliatus-group (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae) from Southeast Asia. Acta Chiropterologica. 17(1): 21–36
Popular articles
Deshpande, K.* (2019). Landscapes of fear, landscapes of hope - Part 1 (https://ayrnstories.wordpress.
Deshpande, K.* (2017). A rare bat speaks out (Link: https://www.atree.org/node/149)
Deshpande, K.* & Kelkar N (2016). Seeds from the sky: bats gift seeds and reduce labour costs for plantation farmers in Kerala, India. (Link: https://fsd2020.wordpress.com/2016/11/09/seeds-from-the-sky-bats-gift-se...)
Grants received
Student Research Scholarship for Global Bat Conservation Priorities, Bat Conservation International (2019), USA, and
Special recognition: Verne & Marion Read Bat Conservation Honor (2019), USA.
(http://www.batcon.org/resources/media-education/news-room/gen-news/80-la...)
Ravi Sankaran Inlaks Small Grants (2017-18), India.
Project title: Evaluating bat-generated ecosystem services to agroforestry systems of India's Western Ghats
SNAK PhD summer course in Acoustic Communication (2017), University of Southern Denmark, Denmark.
WWF-India Small Grants (2014-15).
Project title: Assessing ecological impacts of commercial agro-forestry plantations on forest-dependent insectivorous bat species in the southern Western Ghats, India.
Idea Wild Equipment Grants (2013-14), USA.
Project title: Assessing ecological impacts of commercial agro-forestry plantations on forest-dependent insectivorous bat species in the southern Western Ghats, India.
Rufford Small Grants for Nature Conservation (2011-12), UK.
Project title: Assessing diversity and distribution of bats in relation to land-use and anthropogenic threats in the southern Western Ghats, India.
Summer Research Fellowship (SRFP - 2008), IAS, Bangalore; INSA, New Delhi; NASI, Allahabad, India.
Project titles: Foraging behaviour in tadpoles of the Indian burrowing frog Sphaerotheca breviceps, preliminary studies as an evidence for ideal free distribution (IFD) and Study of developmental stages in Anurans.