Professor
(Professor)


Research Area \ Research Statement \ Research Group Info

I am a botanist with broad interest in addressing research questions: what grows where, when, why and how?

I lead BIOTA (BIOdiversity & TAxonomy) Lab, at University of Kashmir (India) with focus on the Himalayan Plant Biodiversity.

(My research interests are supplemented by personal hobbies of travelling and hiking to high Himalayan mountains to photograph the fascinating flowers & lush-green landscapes. Luckily my hobbies are inseparably linked to my profession as a botanist and passion for plants as well. Of late, I have developed a deep flair for 'Botanical Psychology', which I define as portraying human behaviour through botanical lens).

 

Books Published:

 

Over the last more than one decade, major areas of research focus in our Lab include:

  • Taxonomic Studies on the Flora of Jammu (Western), Kashmir (North-Western) and Ladakh (Trans-)Himalayas
  • Inventory, Impacts, and Management of Invasive Alien Plants 
  • Global Change Ecology with focus on Plant Phenology and Alpine Ecosystems
    • Some recently published papers (2025-26):
  • Ahmad, R., Lone, S. A., Phartyal, S. S., Mungi, N. A., Singh, K., & Khuroo, A. A. (2026). Turning the tide on invasives: A global meta-analysis of native revegetation strategies for effective restoration. Journal of Applied Ecology, 63(5), e70396. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.70396
  • Saha, K., Chandran, M., Negi, R., Khuroo, A. A. (2026) First record of African Bermuda-grass (Cynodon nlemfuensis) naturalisation in Indian biodiversity hotspots and implications for invasion management. Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japb.2026.04.003.
  • Saha, S., Bhattacharyya, S., Khuroo, A. A., Pradhan, D., Maity, D. (2026). Taxonomic revision of genus Duthiea Hack. (Poaceae) in India. Discover Plants, 3:13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44372-026-00595-z
  • Sofi, A. A., Hurrah, I. A., Maity, D., Khuroo, A. A. (2026) Lectotypification of Spiraea gracilis Maxim. and S. parvifolia Bertol. (Rosaceae). Annales Botanici Fennici, 63(1): 111-114. https://doi.org/10.5735/085.063.0117
  • Maity, D., Khuroo, A. A., Halder, A. K., Saha, S., Jha, B. K., & Pradhan, D. K. (2026). Melanoseris pendryi (Asteraceae), a new species from Sikkim Himalaya, India. Annales Botanici Fennici, 63(1):73-78. https://doi.org/10.5735/085.063.0112
  • Mugal, M. A., Wani, S. A., Reddy, C. S., Naskar, S., Maity, D., & Khuroo, A. A. (2026). Endemic tree flora of India: diversity, distribution and drivers. Ecological Research, 41(2), e70056. https://doi.org/10.1111/1440-1703.70056
  • Rasray, B. A., Lone, S. A., Ahmad, R., Islam, T., Padalia, H., & Khuroo, A. A. (2026). Alpine flora of Kashmir Himalaya: floristic assessment, life history traits and threat status. Nordic Journal of Botany, e04930. https://doi.org/10.1002/njb.04930
  • Pärtel, M., Khuroo, A.A.,…..Wani, S.A., et al. (2025). Global impoverishment of natural vegetation revealed by dark diversity. Nature, 641: 917–924  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08814-5
  • Islam, T., Nawchoo, I.A., Khuroo, A. A. (2025). Economic valuation of ecosystem services in a Himalayan protected area. Discover Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-025-02262-x
  • Banoo, S., Ganie, A. H., & Khuroo, A. A. (2025). Documenting traditional knowledge of the Trans-Himalaya: ethnic uses of plants in Drass valley, Ladakh. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 21(1), 89. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-025-00785-1
  • Ganie, A. H., Reshi, Z. A., Wafai, B. A., Khuroo, A. A. (2025) Taxonomic revision of genus Potamogeton (Potamogetonaceae) in Kashmir Himalaya, India. Rheedea. 35(4): 258-285. https://doi.org/10.22244/rheedea.2025.35.04.07
  • Zargar, S. A., Khuroo, A.A. Reshi, Z. A., Ganie, A. H. (2025) Moving up the mountains: Two new records of invasive alien plant species from Jammu, Western Himalaya. Russian Journal of Biological Invasions, 16(4), 726-737. https://doi.org/10.1134/S2075111725600399
  • Dar, F. A., Hamid, M., Wani, S. A., Shafee, F., Rasray, B. A., Shah, M. A., & Khuroo, A. A. (2025). Looking through the microclimate lens: disentangling drivers of litter decomposition in a Himalayan treeline ecotone. Plant and Soil, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-025-07977-4
  • Jain, S., Chinthala, B. D., Ranhotra, P. S., ..., Hamid, M., Dar, F.A., Shafee, F., Khuroo, A. A., & Brauning, A. (2025). Forest-stand structure and treeline dynamics of Himalayan Fir over the last four centuries in Kashmir, Western Himalaya. Dendrochronologia, 126442. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dendro.2025.126442
  • Ganie, A. H., Tali, B. A., Khuroo, A. A., Lone, I. A., & Nawchoo, A. (2025). Ethnomedicinal practices for respiratory ailments in the Indian Himalayas: A cross-regional study from Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh. Journal of Herbal Medicine, 101067. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hermed.2025.101067
  • Shafee, F., Malik, R. A., Hamid, M., Khuroo, A. A., Hensen, I., Rauschkolb, R., ... & Shah, M. A. (2025). Functional traits and phylogeny explain plant phenological variations among native and non-native species in botanical gardens. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 34(7), e70091. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.70091
  • Bajpai, R., Mohapatra, J., Shukla, V., Hamid, M., Samal, A., Joshi, Y., ... Khuroo, A. A., & Upreti, D. K. (2025). Functional traits in lichens along different altitudinal gradients in Indian Himalayan Regions as potential indicator of climate change. International Journal of Environmental Research, 19(5), 172. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41742-025-00831-6
  • Lateef, S., Wani, A. A., & Khuroo, A. A. (2025). Rubus armeniacus Focke (Rosaceae): a new distributional record for India from Kashmir Himalaya. Vegetos, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42535-025-01344-5
  • Khuroo, A. A., Zargar, S. A., & Sofi, S. A. (2025). Chasmophyte Cymbalaria muralis (Plantaginaceae), a new distribution record for Kashmir Himalaya. Discover Plants, 2(1), 290. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44372-025-00372-4
  • Tariq, L., Mangral, Z. A., Islam, S. U., Bhat, B. A., Khuroo, A. A., Dar, T. U. H. (2025) Chemodiversity and biological properties of endangered medicinal herb Trillium govanianum along Himalayan elevation gradient. Chemistry & Biodiversity, e00471. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbdv.202500471
  • Islam, T., Khuroo, A.A., Sofi, S.A., Zargar, S. A., Ganie, A.H., Nawchoo, I. A. (2025) Corydalis cashmeriana var. longicalcarata(Papaveraceae), an addition to the flora of Western Himalaya, India. Discover Plants 2:174. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44372-025-00260-x
  • Paul, R. R., Behera, S. K., Rawat, K. K., Anto, S., Sahu, V., Singh, C. P., Khuroo, A. A. (2025). Microclimate determines the diversity patterns, biomass, and water storage capacity of bryophytes in the alpine ecosystem: a case study in Kashmir Himalaya. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 197(4): 433. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-025-13844-7
  • Li, D., Potgieter, L.J.,...Khuroo, A.A…,....Cadotte, M.W. (2025). GUBIC: The global urban biological invasions compendium for plants. Ecological Solutions and Evidence. 6(1): e70020. https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.70020
  • Zargar, S. A., Gulzar, R., Khuroo, A. A., Reshi, Z. A., Ganie, A. H. (2025). Naturalization of three alien plant species in Kashmir Himalaya: taxonomic and ecological aspects. Plant Biosystems. 159(2):347-355. https://doi.org/10.1080/11263504.2025.2468717
  • Zargar, S. A., Malik, R. A., Khuroo, A.A., Ganie, A. H., & Reshi, Z. A. (2025). Alien flora of the Himalayan highlands: naturalised and invasive plants in the Trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh, India. Biological Invasions. 27: 113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-025-03562-z
  • Ahmad, R., Lone, S.A., Rashid, I., Khuroo, A.A. (2025) A global synthesis of the ecological effects of co-invasions. Journal of Ecology. 113(3):570-581. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.14475
  • Wani, S.A., Zargar, S.A., Dar, F.A., Khoja, A.A., Malik, A.H., Rashid, I., Khuroo, A. A. (2025). Elevational patterns and drivers of taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity of pteridophytes: A case study from the Himalaya. Flora. 323: 152654. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.flora.2024.152654
  • Wani, S. A., Mugal, M.A., Dar, F.A., Reddy, C.S., Rashid, I., Khuroo, A. A. (2025) Meeting Linnean, Wallacean, and Darwinian shortfalls in global biodiversity hotspots: A model study from the Indian Himalayan Region. Ecological Research. 40(1):20-36. https://doi.org/10.1111/1440-1703.12518
  • Banoo, S., Ganie, A.H., Khuroo, A.A. (2025). An annotated checklist of flora of Drass valley (Ladakh), India. 681 (2): 109-145. Phytotaxa. https://doi.org/10.11646/PHYTOTAXA.681.2.1
  • More recently, our Lab has been focussing on Biodiversity Data Synthesis. 

 Some recent databases published include:

  

Number of publications : 257  (For full list, See the Publications section; or View my Resume available at the right side of this webpage)