A study was undertaken in the Kothi watershed of Himachal Pradesh with a view to understand the patterns in vegetation distribution and impact of livestock grazing in the mountain ecosystems of the higher Himalaya. The study results in the documentation of 243 species of vascular plants distributed over 57 families and 160 genera.

In the tortured history of climate-change negotiations, enlightened thinking has translated into positive action all too rarely. But governments have recently seen the light on a
crucial issue: they have recognized the vital role that intact natural ecosystems have in limiting the build-up of atmospheric greenhouse gases.

The value of biodiversity must be accounted for, says Pavan Sukhdev. It is time for governments to invest to secure the flow of nature's 'public goods'.

Gretchen Daily knows the value of ecosystems

Palaeontologists must model the causes of biodiversity rather than simply cataloguing fossils, says Douglas Erwin, as they curate the only record of ecosystems undamaged by humans.

Free-ranging horses (Equus caballus) in North America are considered to be feral animals since they are descendents of non-native domestic horses introduced to the continent. We conducted a study in a southern California desert to understand how feral horse movements and horse feces impacted this arid ecosystem.

Human activities have more than doubled the amount of nitrogen(N) circulating in the biosphere. One major pathway of thisanthropogenic N input into ecosystems has been increased regionaldeposition from the atmosphere.