Research Summary

My research in Pteridophytes has made significant strides in taxonomy, reproductive biology, and conservation. Taxonomic studies have led to better understanding of the species resulting in the documentation and discovery of the new ones. I collected more than 2000 Pteridophyte specimens from Kumaon Himalayas, Govind Wild Life Sanctuary of Uttarakhand, Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve of Madhya Pradesh, Niyamgiri hill ranges of Odisha and other phytogeographical regions of India to enrich our Herbarium (LWG). Presently, I am working on the Pteridophytes of Odisha.

Our investigations in reproductive biology have shed light on the unique life cycles and mating systems of Pteridophytes, including the germination pattern of spores, development of gametophytes and sporophytes, to know the causes of threatens in nature and the probable mode of their conservation. We have studied the reproductive biology of some of the RET species like Cythea spinulosa Wall ex Hook., Dipteris wallichii (R. Br. ex Hook. et Grev.) T. Moore and Christella kendujharensis Behera & Barik and also in some ornamental ferns like Microsorium punctatum (L.) Copel and and Macrothelypteris torresiana (Gaudich.) Ching etc.

Meanwhile, understanding the impacts of habitat destruction, climate change, and other human activities, effective conservation strategies have been employed for the protection and preservation of some Pteridophytes. For example, we collected many live plants of ferns and its allies from the nature and established in the fernery of CSIR-NBRI for the ex-situ conservation and enriching it. We have standardized the protocols of tissue culture for the micropropagation of some ferns and journey is going on. We studied and compared chromium accumulation in ferns and the role of antioxidants were also investigated towards metal tolerance in order to assess the use of ferns in phytomediation/ phytostabilization.

• S.K. Behera, L. Nayak and B. Biswal (2003). Senescing leaves possess potential for stress adaptation: the developing leaves acclimated to high light exhibit increased tolerance to osmotic stress during senescence. J. Plant. Physiol. 160: 125-131.
  


• P. B. Khare, S. K. Behera, Ruchi Srivastava and S. P. Shukla (2005). Studies on reproductive biology of a threatened tree fern, Cyathea spinulosa Wall. Ex Hook. Current Science. 89 (1): 173-177.
  


• P. B. Khare, S. K. Behera (2005). Studies on reproductive biology of some ferns of Kumaon Himalayas. Geophytology 35(1&2): 33-38.
  


• S.K. Behera, Archana Srivastava and S. Chandra (2006). The vasculature of the rhizome of Dryopteris marginata (Walls. Ex Clarke) Christ. Indian Fern J. 23: 28-34
  


• P. B. Khare, S.K. Behera (2007). Pteridophytic diversity of Achanakmar- Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve- Retrospection and Future prospects. In proceedings of Workshop entitled “Research needs for Achanakmar- Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve” held at Tropical Forest Research Institute, Jabalpur during 30th April 2007.
  


• Ruchi Srivastava, Jyoti Srivastava, Sandip K. Behera and P.B.Khare (2008). In-vitro studies on development of gametophyte, sex- ontogeny and Reproductive Biology of a threatened fern, Microsorium punctatum (L.) Copel. Indian Journal of Biotechnology. 7: 266 - 269.
  


• Ajit Pratap singh, S. Mishra, S. Gupta, S. K. Behera, P. B. Khare (2009). Studies on the genus Ophioglossum L. In Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve, Madhya Pradesh- India. Taiwania. 54(4): 353-364.
  


• Ajit Pratap singh, Vineet Kumar Rawat, Sandip Kumar Behera, Prem Behari Khare (2010). Perspectives of Pteridophytes Biodiversity: A source of economy elevation. In the souvenir of National Conference on “Biodiversity, Development and Poverty alleviation” on the occasion of International Day for Biological Diversity organized by Uttar Pradesh State Biodiversity Board, Lucknow on 22nd May, 2010. Pp.46-49.
  


• Sandip Kuamr Behera, Vineet kumar Rawat, Ajit Pratap Singh and P. B. Khare (2011). Studies on the spore germination, developmental pattern and sexuality of gametophytes in Dipteris wallichii (R. Br. ex Hook. et Grev.) T. Moore. Indian Fern J. 28 : 172-178.
  


• Geetgovind Sinam, Sandip kumar Behera, Rohit Kumar Mishra, Sarita Sinha, Shekhar Mallick, P.B. Khare. (2012). Comparison of two ferns (Adiantum capillus-veneris Linn. and Microsorium punctatum (Linn.) Copel) for their Cr accumulation potential and antioxidant responses. International J. Phytoremediation. 14: 629-642.
  


• Ajit Pratap Singh, Deepali Johari, Akanksha Singh, Sandip K. Behera and Prem B. Khare (2012). Studies on regeneration of gametophytes and mass multiplication of Anemia rotundifolia schrad. (PTERIDOPHYTE). International J. Current Research. 4 (12): 235-240.
  


• Shweta Singh, Sayyada Khatoon, Harsh Singh, S. K. Behera, P. B. Khare, A. K. S. Rawat (2013). A report on pharmacognostical evaluation of four Adiantum species, Pteridophyta, for their authentication and quality control. Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia Brazilian J. Pharmacognosy. 23(2): 207-216.
  


• Jagadish Hansa, Biswajit Chakraborty, Boni Amin Laskar, Sandip Kumar Behera and Amiya Kumar Patel (2013). Pteris vittata Propagation through Different Exposure of Chromium Concentration: an Experiment to Comprehend Phytoremediation Properties. Advances in Bioresearch. 4(1): 43- 49.
  


• Sandip K. Behera and Prem B. Khare (2014). First report of Pteridophytes from Govind Wildlife Sanctury, Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, India. Tropical Plant Research. 1(2): 37–47.
  


• Sandip K. Behera, Sanjay Mishra and Lal Ji singh (2015). Adiantum latifolium Lam. (Adiantaceae) – An addition to the Pteridophytic flora of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. Geophytology. 45(2): 261-264.
  


• Sandip Kumar Behera, Geetgovind Sinam, Lalitendu. Nayak, Padmanav Joshi & Basanti Biswal (2018). High Light Acclimated Developing Primary Leaves of Wheat Seedlings Generate Signal for Stress Adaptation through Super Oxide Dismutase. International Journal of Plant and Environment. 4 (2): 68–73.
  


• Niranjan Mishra and Sandip Kumar Behera (2018). Tree Ferns and Giant Ferns in India: Their Significance and Conservation. In V. Shukla, N. Kumar (eds.), Environmental Concerns and Sustainable Development. Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. Pp.45-62.
  
• Sandip kumar behera, Arun kumar Kushwaha, Prem Behari Khare & Saroj kanta Barik (2019). A new fern species of Christella (Thelypteridaceae) from India. Phytotaxa. 397 (3): 246–252.
  


• निरंजन मिश्र एबं संदिप कुमार बेहेरा (२०१८). फ़र्न के लिए उपयुक्त्त मिट्टी. बिज्ञानबाणी, बै. औ. अ. प.- राष्ट्रीय वनस्पति अनुसंधान संस्थान, लखनऊ. अंक २४: ५३-५६.
  


• NiranjanMishra, TribhubanPanda, Neelu Lodhiyal, Sandip Kumar Behera (2019). Studies on the gametophytic development, mating behaviour and reproductive biology of Macrothelypteris torresiana (Gaudich.) Ching (Thelypteridaceae). Micron. Vol.124. In press, accepted manuscript. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micron.2019.102700.
  


• Rushna Jamal, Shiv Narayan, Raghvendra Dubey, Rekha Kannaujia, Richa Rai, Sandip K. Behera, Soumit K. Behera, Pramod A. Shirke, Vivek Pandey, Saroj K. Barik (2023). Response of tropical trees to elevated Ozone: a Free Air Ozone Enrichment study. Environ Monit Assess. 195(1):174 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-022-10713-5.
  


• Niranjan Mishra, Sandip Kumar Behera and Saroj Kanta Barik (2023). In vitro development of gametophytes and sporophytes of critically endangered fern Christella kendujharensis S.K. Behera & S.K. Barik (Thelypteridaceae). Feddes Repertorium. 134(3): 210-227. DOI: 10.1002/fedr.202200015.
  


• Gayatri Singh, Babita Kumari, Jogendra Singh, Pankaj Kumar, Kriti Kriti, Geetgovind Sinam, Sunidhi Pal, Sandip Kumar Behera, Niranjan Mishra, Shekhar Mallick (2023). A comparative assessment of fluoride uptake and toxicity in four major crop seedlings: reduction of α‑amylase activity and gibberellic acid. Acta Physiologiae Plantarum. 45: Article:87 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-023-03543-6.
  


• Niranjan Mishra, Suman Patra, Babita Kumari, Neelu Lodhiyal and Sandip K. Behera (2023). New Distributional Records of Three Rare Ferns from Odisha, India. International journal of Plant and Environment. 9(2): 157-162. DOI: 10.18811/ijpen.v9i02.08.
  

• Research Scholar: Suman Patra


• Project Staff: Jyoti Jangid & Rachna
  

• 0522-2297830 (O)
  
• 6394050585, 9451740781 (Mobile)
  
• E-mail: sandip.behera@nbri.res.in