
Ankita Sharma is PhD Scholar at NIAS. She is working with Prof. Anindya Sinha. Her research interests lie in Urban Ecology, Functional Diversity, and Arthropod studies. Her current proposed thesis title is "The Arthropod City: Taxonomic and Functional Diversity of Ants and Spider Assemblages across an Urban Gradient in Guwahati, Assam, Northeastern India.
Before inducting as PhD student at NIAS, she has completed her Masters in Science in Environmental Biology and Wildlife Sciences from Cotton University, Assam and 2020. She qualified for the INSPIRE Fellowship 2020. She has also qualified the GATE in Ecology and Evolution with an AIR 123. She completed her Bachelors in Zoology from Cotton University, Assam in 2018
Title of the Thesis:
The Arthropod City: Taxonomic and Functional Diversity of Ant and Spider Species Assemblages across an Urban Gradient in Guwahati, Assam, Northeastern India.
The ever-growing urbanization is responsible for restructuring biotic communities. The structure and functioning of a community can be understood with the help of its species diversity, abundance and, functional diversity. Functional diversity is a parameter measuring the variation in the functional traits of different organisms. The shifts in functional traits can be used to estimate and understand the sensitivity of various species towards changing ecosystems such as urbanized areas. Arthropods are a sensitive group of organisms and exhibit a range of traits. I propose to understand the relationship between changing patterns of functional and taxonomic diversity and the increasing rate of urbanization, by comparing the functional diversities of ants and spiders across Guwahati. The study will help in evaluating beta diversity, conservation research, habitat construction, and restoration projects within urban cities globally.