Name: M. Rajkumar

Designation:  Scientist-E

Date of Joining: 24.12.2013

Date of Joining present post: 01.07.2025

Discipline: Forest Ecology

ResearchInterest:Forest Ecology, Biodiversity Conservation, Land Degradation and Forest Land Restoration

Brief Bio: I am a plant ecologist and forestry scientist with extensive experience across diverse ecosystems, including the Islands of Andamans, the Nilgiri Mountains, the coalfields of Central India, the Narmada River basin, and the ravines of the Chambal. My academic foundation lies in forest biometry and sampling, phytosociology, biodiversity patterns, and ecological restoration. My research focuses on understanding how plant communities respond to climatic and physical disturbances, with the aim of applying this knowledge to strengthen conservation and restoration practices.

Address: Room No. 5, Forest Ecology and Climate Change Division

ICFRE-Tropical Forest Research Institute, PO. RFRC, Mandla Road

Jabalpur 482021, Madhya Pradesh

Telephone (Off.): Intercom 105

Email address: rajkumarm@icfre.org, rajinecol@gmail.com

Research Experience:

1. Scientist-D, Forest Ecology and Climate Change, ICFRE-Tropical Forest Research Institute, Jabalpur; July 2021 June 2025.
2. Scientist-C, Forest Ecology and Climate Change, Tropical Forest Research Institute, Jabalpur; July 2017 June 2021.
3. Scientist-B, Forest Ecology and Rehabilitation Division,Tropical Forest Research Institute, Jabalpur; December 2013 June 2017.
4. Visiting Researcher in Unité de Génétique et Amélioration des Fruits et Légumes, INRA, Avignon, France; August 2012 October 2012.
5. Junior Research Fellow in Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Pondicherry; 2011 Jan 2013.
6. Project Assistant in Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Pondicherry University.  September 2007 April 2008.

Membership/Fellowship of Professional Societies/Associations:

1. Young Professional, Sectional Committee on Biodiversity, The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)
2. Member, Indian Ecological Society
3. Member, Society for Conservation Biology (SCB)
4. Member, Indian Bird Conservation Network (IBCN) 

Research funding: ICFRE, MoEFCC, Madhya Pradesh State Forest Department, DBT-BIRAC

Consultancy funding: South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL),Chhattisgarh East Railway Limited (CERL), Chhattisgarh East West Railway Limited (CEWRL)

Research Papers:

1. Prajapati, N., Dhaka, S.S., Rohilla, S., Singh, N., Rajasekaran, A., Rajkumar, M. and Maurya, A.K., (2025). Unveiling tree species resilience to Lantana camara allelopathy for forest landscape restoration in Central India. Plant Ecology, pp.1-14.(Springer Nature; IF: 1.7; Q1)

2. Rajkumar, M., Bhat, P., Mohammad, N., Ravikanth, G., Khan, M. L. (2023) Climate refugia for Buchananiacochinchinensis (Lour.) M.R.Almeida, an important non-timber forest tree species, declining from its natural range in India. Forests, Trees and Livelihoods Forests, 32 (2): 107-114.(Taylor & Francis; IF: 1.1; Q2)

3. R. Gupta, L. K. Sharma, M. Rajkumar, N. Mohammad, M. L. Khan (2023). Predicting habitat suitability of Litseaglutinosa: a declining tree species, under the current and future climate change scenarios in India. Landscape and Ecological Engineering, 19: 211-225. (Springer Nature; IF: 1.9; Q2)

4. Mohammad, N., Rahaman, Sk. M., Khatun, M., Rajkumar, M., Garai, S., Ranjan, A. and Tiwari, S. (2023) Teak (Tectona grandisL.f.) demonstrates robust adaptability to climate change scenarios in central India. Vegetos, 36: 795-804. (Springer Nature; IF:_; Q3)

5. Mohammad, N., Rajkumar, M., Rathore, R., Shirin, F. and Rao, G. R. (2023) Factors limiting regeneration of a Near Threatened deciduous tree Pterocarpus marsupiumRoxb. in Central India. Acta EcologicaSinica, 43: 480-486. (ScienceDirect; IF:_)

6. Rajkumar, M, Khobragade, N. D. Chakrabarti, S. (2022). Notes on risks of ecological and social disturbances in Patalkot, a subterranean inhabitation of Satpura hills, Madhya Pradesh. The Indian Forester, 148 (9): 961-963.

7. Mohammad, N., Dahayat, A., Pardhi, Y., Rajkumar, M. (2022). Morpho-molecular diversity assessment of Indian kino (Pterocarpus marsupiumRoxb.). Journal of Applied Research on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants 29: 100373(ScienceDirect; IF: 3.6; Q2)

8. Avinash Jain, Nidhi Mehta, M. Rajkumar, Sanjay Singh, Sanjay Komra and G. Rajeshwar Rao (2022) Ecorestoration of Tiger Reserves of Central India and its impact on Vegetation Diversity and Community Composition. The Indian Forester 148(3):285-295.

9. Mohammad, N., Dahayat, A., Pardhi, Y., Rajkumar, M., Ansari, S. A., & Shirin, F. (2022). Inferring genetic diversity and population structure of India’s National Teak (Tectona grandisLf) Germplasm Bank. Genetic Resources and in Crop Evolution 69: 1695–1705 (Springer Nature; IF:_; Q2)

10. Mohammad, N., Rajkumar, M., Singh, K., Nain, N. P. S., Singh, S., Rao, G. R., Prakasham, U. (2021) Spacing, pit size and irrigation influence early growth performances of forest tree species. Journal of Tropical Forest Science 33(1): 69-76(JSTOR; IF: 0.8; Q2)

11. Rao, G.R., Reddy, P.S. and Rajkumar, M., (2021). Quantification of greenhouse gas emissions from managed biofuel plantations in a semi-arid landscape of Southern India.Tropical Ecology 62, 453–462. (Springer Nature; IF: 1.7; Q2)

12. Ibanez, T, Keppel, G, Baider, C, Birkinshaw, C, Vincent FlorensFB,…Rajkumar, M…. & Birnbaum, P. (2020).Tropical cyclones and island area shape species abundance distributions of local tree communities. Oikos 129 (12): 1856-1866. (Wiley Online; IF: 03; Q1)

13. Ibanez, T., Keppel, G., Baider, C., Birkinshaw, C., Culmsee, H., Cordell, S., ... Rajkumar, M…& Laidlaw, M. (2018). Regional forcing explains local species diversity and turnover on tropical islands. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 27(4), 474-486.(Wiley Online; IF: 06; Q1)

14. Mutegi, E., Snow, A. A., Rajkumar, M., Pasquet, R., Ponniah, H., Daunay, M. C. and Davidar, P. (2015) Genetic diversity and population structure of wild/weedy eggplant (Solanum insanum, Solanaceae) in Southern India: Implication for conservation. American Journal of Botany 102: 139-147.(Wiley Online; IF: 2.7; Q1)

15. Davidar, P., Snow, A. A., Rajkumar, M.,Pasquet, R., Daunay, M. C. and Mutegi, E. (2015) The potential for crop to wild hybridization in eggplant (Solanum melongena; Solanaceae) in Southern India. American Journal of Botany 102: 128-138. (Wiley Online; IF: 2.7; Q1)

16. Rajkumar, M. and Parthasarathy, N. (2008) Tree diversity and structure of Andaman giant evergreen forests, India. Taiwania 53: 356-368.(IF:_; Q3)

BOOK CHAPTERS

1. Muthu Rajkumar, Parnika Gupta, Ronald Debbarma, Bhawana Soragi, Naseer Mohammed and Mohamed Latif Khan (In press) Forest management - A brief review of the traditional methods and current trends in the book titled ‘Advanced Geospatial and Ground Based Techniques in Forest Monitoring’ Publisher: Elseviereds. Kumar, P., Srivastava, P. K., Khan, M. L., Arunachalam, A., Roy, P. S. and Kumar K. 1st Edition, (2025), Paperback ISBN: 978-0-44318-949-4.

2. G. R. Rao, A. Sekhar, M. Rajkumar (2022). Evaluation trials and Carbon sequestration potential of Jatropha curcas and Pongamia pinnata: Technologies and Way Forward. In "Advanced Biodiesel - Technological Advances, Challenges, and Sustainability Considerations", Publisher: IntechOpen Limited ISBN 978-1-83768-138-9.

3. M. Rajkumar, Monika Singh and A. Rajasekaran (2020) Ecological impacts of invasive alien species. In A Handbook on Invasive Species. Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehradun, India. pp. 36-49.

4. M. Rajkumar, R. R. Singh, Sanjay Singh, D. K. Gupta, V. Ramu Naik, A. Anilkumar, Manoj Poosam (2018) Using resilience concepts to investigate and mitigate the impacts of linear infrastructures on forests. In Towards Resilient Ecosystems: The role of Forestry Research –synthesis and a way forward. Eds. Mohit Gera, C. Buvaneswaran, S. Murugesan, K. R. Sasidharan, IFGTB, Coimbatore p. 174-182.

5. Rajkumar, M. and Parthasarathy, N. (2008). Diversity and Distribution of Dipterocarps in Andaman Islands. In. Wildlife Biodiversity conservation. Vikram Reddy (ed.). Pp.317-321. Daya Publishing House, Delhi.

Technical Bulletin

Virtual herbarium with bi-lingual description of medicinal plants found in Chhattisgarh, India.

Authors: Singh, S., Rajkumar, M., Rao, G.R., Pache, I. L., Rajput, P. S., Naik, V. R., Kori, P. K.TFRI Technical Bulletin No. 08/2019

Popular articles:

1. Banerjee, S., Jain, A., Rajkumar, M., &Sengar, K. S. (2024). Ecosystem and ecosystem services. Van Sangyan, 11(12), 59–67.

2. Banerjee, S., Rajkumar, M., &Sengar, K. S. (2023). Vulnerability of forest ecosystem to climate change. Van Sangyan, 10(6), 41–48.

3. Rajkumar, M., & Jain, A. (2023). The Loss and Damage Fund: Implications for India. Van Sangyan, 10(12), 51–52.

4. Sekhar, A., Rajkumar, M., & Deepika, J. (2023). Why is conservation of grasslands in protected landscapes imperative? SNHC Journal, March–May Issue.

5. Rajkumar, M., Sekhar, A., & Jain, A. (2022). United Nation’s Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework: Opportunities for local action. Van Sangyan, 9(3), 37–40.

6. Rajkumar, M., Gupta, P., Banerjee, S., & Jain, A. (2022). वर्ष 2021 में उष्णकटिबंधीय वनों की हानि.Van Sangyan, 9(5), 14–18.

7. Rajkumar, M. (2022). शहरी जैवविविधता और मानव स्वास्थ्य. Van Sangyan, 7(4), 12–15.

8. Sekhar, A., &Rajkumar, M. (2022). Wetlands: Not wastelands. Van Sangyan, 9(5), 25–29.

9. Sekhar, A., &Rajkumar, M. (2022). Degradation of primary natural habitats and avian biodiversity loss. Van Sangyan, 9(6), 32–36.

10. Kori, P., &Rajkumar, M. (2021). मध्यप्रदेश में वनवर्धन पद्धति के कार्य अभ्यास. Van Sangyan, 8(2), 36–41.

11. Asati, A., Kori, P., &Rajkumar, M. (2020). प्रदूषण सहिष्णु पौधेां क साथ बढ़ाएं हरियाली. Van Sangyan, 7(5), 12–15.

12. Singh, S., Rajkumar, M., Rajput, P. S., Naik, V. R., Pache, I. L., & Kumar, A. (2020). छत्तीसगढ़ के कोरबा जिले के हाड़जिमली (एम.पी.सी.ए.) एवं दूंधीटागर (एम.पी.सी.ए.) में औषधीय पौधों की ब्यापक विविधताएं और उनका उपयोग.Taruchintan, 65–72.