Dr. Seshadri K S

Dr. Seshadri is a DST-INSPIRE Faculty. His research is focused on understanding and conserving biodiversity. He grew up in Bangalore and has spent over a decade in the field and observing nature. He has studied several ecosystems and taxa ranging from dragonflies to epiphytes in the tall forest canopies in the Western Ghats. During his PhD at the National University of Singapore, he discovered new species and new reproductive behavior of frogs and examined the evolutionary ecology of such behavior. He is committed to the cause of conservation and strongly believes that there is an urgent need to rekindle a sense of wonder towards nature among people so that they care about our planet. In his spare time, one could find him tending a garden, reading a book, or exploring the wilderness.

Thematic areas of ongoing research

Movement Ecology and Conservation Genomics of Anurans

Identifying and conserving critical corridors

Resilient Urbanscapes

Forest canopy ecology

Community Ecology of Amphibians

Acoustic Monitoring

Academic Qualifications

1. Doctor of Philosophy in Biological Sciences. National University of Singapore. February 2018.
2. M.Sc in Ecology and Environmental Sciences. Pondicherry University, India. 2011.
3. B.Sc in Chemistry, Botany and Environmental Sciences. St Joseph’s College of Arts and Science, Bengaluru, India. 2008.

Publications

1. Maria Thaker, Abhijit Nageshkumar, Madhura S. Amdekar, Seshadri. K.S, Nitya P. Mohanty, Harish Prakash. An expanding cityscape and its multi-scale effects on lizard distribution. Frontiers in Conservation Science. 1-13. doi:10.3389/fcosc.2022.839836
2. Seshadri, K.S., Thaker, M. 2022. Correlated evolution of parental care with dichromatism, color, and patterns in anurans. Evolution. 1-12. doi:10.1111/evo.14461
3. Bhat, A. S., Sane, V. A., Seshadri, K. S., Krishnan, A. 2022. Behavioral context shapes vocal sequences in two anuran species with different repertoire sizes. Animal Behaviour. Volume 184, February 2022, Pages 111-129.
4. Seshadri, K. S., Ganesan, R., Devy, M. S. 2021. Persistent effects of historical selective logging on a forest canopy vascular epiphyte community of the Western Ghats, India. Frontiers in Forests and Global Change. 4:727422.
5. Seshadri, K. S., Allwin, J., Seena, N. K., Ganesh, T. 2020.  Anuran assemblage and its trophic relations in rice-paddy fields of South India. Journal of Natural History 54 (41-42), 2745-2762
6. Kamath, V, and Seshadri, K. S (2019). Observations of Brown mongoose Herpestes fuscus (Mammalia: Carnivora: Herpestidae) in the wet evergreen forests of the Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa. 11(12):14587-14592. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5143.11.12.14587-14592
7. Seshadri, K. S and David Bickford (2018). Faithful fathers and crooked cannibals: the adaptive significance of parental care in the bush frog Raorchestes chalazodes, Western Ghats, India. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology 72 (1), 4 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00265-017-2420-3>
8. Priti H, Naik C. R., Seshadri, K. S., Singal R, Vidisha M. K., Ravikanth G, Gururaja K. V. (2016) A new species of Euphlyctis (Amphibia, Anura, Dicroglossidae) from the West Coastal Plain of India. Asian Herpetological Research 7(4): 229–241.
9. Seshadri, K. S., Priti H, Ravikanth G, Vidisha M. K., Vineeth K. K, Singal R, Sarma R. R., Aravind N. A., Gururaja K. V. (2016). Redescription and range extension of Microhyla sholigari Dutta and Ray (Amphibia: Anura: Microhylidae) from southwest India. Zootaxa. 4208 (6): 547–560.
10. Seshadri, K. S., Singal R, Priti H, Ravikanth G, Vidisha M. K, Saurabh S, Pratik M, Gururaja K. V. (2016). Microhyla laterite sp. nov., A New Species of Microhyla Tschudi, 1838 (Amphibia: Anura: Microhylidae) from a Laterite Rock Formation in southwest India. PloS one 11 (3), e0149727.
11. Seshadri, K. S., Gururaja, K. V., & Bickford, D (2014). Breeding in bamboo: A novel reproductive strategy by anurans observed in Rhacophorid frogs of Western Ghats, India. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 114:1-11.
12. Seshadri, K. S. (2014). Effects of Historical Selective Logging on Anuran Communities in a Wet Evergreen Forest, South India. Biotropica 56(5): 1-9.
13. Seshadri, K. S. (2014). Display behavior in response to a perceived threat by Indian short-headed kukri snake Oligodon brevicaudus (Gunther, 1862) (Squamata: Colubridae). Herpetology Notes 7:447-450.
14. Verissimo D., Kanagavel A., Seshadri, K.S. & Raghavan R. (2013). The tragedy of the nature photography commons. Asian Journal of Conservation Biology 2:1-2.
15. Abhisheka K., Patrick David J., Prashanth M.B., Seshadri, K.S., Ganesh T. 2013. A first comprehensive survey of waterfowls in the wetlands of Southern Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 5:4641-4652.
16. Seshadri, K. S., Aravind., N.A & Gururaja. K.V. (2012). A new species of Raorchestes (Amphibia: Anura: Rhacophoridae) from mid-elevation evergreen forests of the South Western Ghats, India. Zootaxa 3410: 19–34.
17. Seshadri, K. S. (2012). The occurrence of large-scaled pit viper Trimeresurus macrolepis Beddome, 1862 in the forest canopy of Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, southern India. Herpetology Notes 5: 201-202.
18. Seshadri, K. S., Vivek, C. & Gururaja. K.V. (2012). Anurans from wetlands of Pondicherry, along the East Coast of India. CheckList 8(1): 023-026.
19. Seshadri, K. S., and Ganesh, T. (2011) Faunal mortality on roads due to religious tourism across time and space in protected areas: a case study from south India. Forest Ecology and Management 262 (2011) 1713–1721.
20. Seshadri, K. S., A. Yadav & K.V. Gururaja. (2009) Road kills of amphibians in different land-use areas from the central Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 1(11): 549-552

Book Chapters

1. Seshadri, K. S., and Ganesh T., (2015). Faunal Road Mortality in India: Science and Solutions. In: Handbook of Road Ecology, First Edition. Edited by Rodney van der Ree, Daniel J. Smith, and Clara Grilo. John Wiley and Sons. Ltd.
2. Seshadri, K. S., and Ganesh T., (2013). Can canopy-dwelling frogs be monitored from the ground? A case from Western Ghats of India. In: Treetops at Risk. Eds. Meg Lowman, Ganesh T, and Soubadra Devy. Springer Publications.
3. Seshadri, K. S., Ganesan R., Soubadra Devy M., (2011). Little plants and their niches in the canopy. Forest Canopies of South Asia– A glimpse, Eds. Soubadra Devy.M, Ganesh.T, and Amrita Tripathy. ATREE.
4. Seshadri, K. S., and Ganesh T., (2011). Here a croak, There a croak, Frog vocalizations in the canopy. Forest Canopies of South Asia– A glimpse, Eds. Soubadra Devy.M, Ganesh.T, and Amrita Tripathy. ATREE.

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