Current thinking

I am interested in the ecological research, especially those explicitly incorporating conservation and evolutionary insights. Evolution, biogeography, and systematics of tropical amphibians and reptiles is my current interest. I also try to find answers through ecological niche modeling and systematic conservation prioritization for sustainable management of habitats that has extreme population pressure. Other than these application-based ecological management issues, I am particularly interested in the spatial and temporal variation of species distribution patterns which are heavily tied to evolutionary questions.

Questions like, ‘why do some taxa have a widespread distribution whereas others have a more restricted distribution?’ or ‘why is a taxon richer in species in some regions than the others?’ fascinate me and while answering such unavoidable questions, I always try to look with an evolutionary insight. In my recent research, I have used amphibians and reptiles as model animals. They are the pioneers and are the first backboned animals to leave the primeval waters and venture on to the land; the first to develop ways of mating without using water to transport their sex cells; the first to colonize the parched deserts. Amphibians and reptiles were also the first to burrow into the ground and spend nearly all their lives in darkness below the surface. They were the first backboned animals to take to the air.

The world today is still home to representatives of every major animal group that, judging from fossils, has ever existed. But that may not be true for much longer. Amphibians have a particular vulnerability. Their moist skins that help them to breathe on land give them little defense against chemical poisons, both natural and man-made. Within the last few years, frogs and toads all over the world have started to die. Reptiles, however, may well be facing a very different future. If the world is warming as many predict, changing patterns of rainfall will cause deserts to spread. So, these two pioneering groups, the amphibians and reptiles, face very different futures. But that surely makes them both of great fascination, whether we are interested in the past, the present or, indeed, the future of life on earth.

Apart from the classical questions with solid biological standpoint, I am also interested in conservation management of the species that facing extinction threats due to various natural and anthropogenic causes. There are two approaches of conservation: landscape preservation, and species centric conservation, in both case amphibians and reptiles are often overlooked. Some notable exceptions could be the Galapagos Giant Tortoises (Geochelona nigra) of the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador, or American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) in the southeastern United States. These large charismatic animals are on due conservation measures, but I would rather like to promote conservation of less charismatic but equally or sometime more important ones for ecosystem but less apparent taxa for human attention.

I am interested in pursuing venues of research that will help policy makers understand the importance of wildlife, especially less attractive animals, e.g. amphibians and reptiles. They are extremely important components of biodiversity which are often under-represented in conservation planning. Hence, I am interested in studying long and short term impacts of habitat changes, especially in the tropics, promulgated by human activities, global climate change, other perturbances, and work to find out ways to restore the natural environment. Understanding which species of amphibians and reptiles can occur in alternate stable state climax communities, and which cannot, is of interest to me. These issues relate to why some taxa are more vulnerable to disturbance than others, and exactly what those disturbances are. I will try to find out the most appropriate answer of this type of question during my future research. It is notable to mention here that project funding is an important aspect of planning and implementing any research project anywhere in the world. I have proven track records of achieving research funding for my own research.

Few specific topics of biology that I am interested in at this moment: Evolution and biogeography of tropical amphibians and reptiles; Speciation and evolutionary population ecology; Molecular phylogeny of cryptic population; GIS Techniques in species and habitat management; Community-based conservation management. But however, I can not stop myself thinking of working on the biology and conservation of the Sundarbans tiger.
 

Some more ideas

I started my research career in Bangladesh, a small developing country in Asia where wildlife research or conservation is not considered as an important issue since living life is a big challenge for the ordinary people there. As a young wildlife biologist, I initiated conservation research by putting the charismatic and mighty Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris) on the spot light. The tiger is also the country’s national animal. It was exciting to deal with the largest cat and the renowned man-killer in the largest tract of productive mangrove forest of the world, the Sundarbans. This research project was the first of its kind in Bangladesh on the tiger for an academic degree and was implemented through the IUCN-Bangladesh and Jahangirnagar University, and funded by the WWF-International.

I am interested in ecology and the techniques associated with the population estimation of the carnivores. Most large predators are sparsely distributed, cryptic, nocturnal, and often solitary. This makes them difficult to count individual animal in a population simultaneously. In such cases, population estimate techniques should be indirect but needs to be precise and accurate, since a small decline could be disastrous. The techniques should also be practical and cost effective with regard to the prevailing socio-economic conditions of the study area or the region. In collaboration with other colleagues, I plan to develop and continue this research project in my future research career in the coming years. I am also interested to find out acceptable and practical ways for the management and conservation of carnivore species in the world’s most densely-populated habitats.

I am enthusiastically interested in mangrove ecosystems and the adaptation mechanism of life in such an adverse habitat. Mangrove forests are edaphic evergreen communities, occurring chiefly on muddy sheltered shores of coastal areas subject to periodic submergence by tidal waters. Perhaps, no other plant community in the world has, attracted more scientific attention than the mangrove ecosystem, primarily on account of it’s growing in highly stressed habitat due to high amount of dissolved salts in the substratum and the water. Around the world, they are much alike in their physiognomy – evergreen, closed canopy, floristically pauperate vegetation, although they differ in their structure and floristic composition. I am primarily interested in producing scientific research that can serve useful purposes in the applied conservation management of the ecosystem and species.
 

Just thinking.....! ! !