
Dr. J. A. Johnson
I received my Doctoral degree from Manonmanam Sundaranar University, Tamil Nadu in 2000 for the work on “Diversity and ecological structure of fishes in Western Ghats streams, India”. My research included species distribution patterns, community structure, resource (food and space) partition among co-existing species, conservation of rare and threatened species and effects of human disturbance on aquatic resources. I described three new species and found out several new records of fishes from Western Ghats. After joined as faculty in WII, I have started working on aquatic resource management of both Freshwater and Coastal and Marine ecosystem. In this process I have documented diversity and distribution patterns of fishes in Himalaya and Central Indian rivers, involved in River Monitoring programmes, developed few Wetland Management, Plans, Demonstrated Environmental Flow (eFlow) for selected rivers, involved in Seagrass Habitat Assessment and Dugong Recovery Programme. My primary interests are understanding species-habitat relationship and resource partitioning.
- Member in Environmental Appraisal Committee (River Valley & Projects), MoEFCC, New Delhi
- Member in Scientific Research Committee, Dolphin Project Govt. of India
- Expert member, River Monitoring Committee, Govt of Uttar Pradesh
- Member in IUCN-Freshwater fish specialist group, UK
Specialization
- Stream community ecology
- River ecology
- Fish community ecology
- Habitat ecology
- Seagrass and associated species ecology and conservation
Current Projects
- Monitoring freshwater fish population under the Long-term Ecological Observation of MoEFCC
- Assessment of the Ecological Status of selected Indian Rivers for Conservation Planning - Funded by National River Conservation Directorate, Ministry of Jal Shakti, New Delhi
- Recovery of Dugongs and their habitats in India: An Integrated Participatory Approach
- Status of Arabian Sea Humpback Whale population India funded by MoEFCC under the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitat programme
Key Publications
- Johnson, J.A. and M. Arunachalam (2012). Feeding habit and food partition in a stream fish community of Western Ghats, India. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 93: 51-60.
- Johnson, J.A., K. Sivakumar and R. Jordan. 2017. Ecological flow requirement for fishes of Godavari river: flow estimation using the PHABSIM method. Current Sciences, 113(11): 2187-2193.
- Johnson, J.A., Watham, T., Gopi, G.V. and K. Sivakumar (2020). Development of habitat suitability criteria for conservation of the black‐necked crane in Nyamjang Chu River in eastern Himalaya, India in connection with a proposed hydropower dam. River Research and Applications, 37(3): 321-329
- Johnson, J.A., Sharma, A. Rajput, V. A., Dubey, V.K., and K. Sivakumar (2020). Taxonomic and guild structure of fish assemblages in the streams of Western Himalaya, India. Community Ecology, DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s42974-020-00026-3
- Jithin, V., Abhijit Das and J.A. Johnson (2022). Understanding the influence of check dam and season on habitat use to develop habitat suitability criteria for overwintering tadpoles of Nanorana spp. DOI https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4033
- Sumit, P., Chinmaya, G., Sameeha, P., Rukmini, S., Madhu, M.K., Swapnali, G., Srabani, B., Sweta, I., Anant, P., K. Sivakumar and J.A. Johnson (2022). Understanding dietary differences in Indian dugongs through opportunistic gut sampling of stranded individuals. Current Science, 123(10): 1259-1264.
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Neeraj Gupta
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