Guwahati A new study has identified at least two indigenous plants that have joined invasive species to change the Riverine ecosystem of Eastern Assam’s Dibru-Saikhowa National Park (DSNP), the only habitat of wild horses in India.
These species have added the changes in the DSNP landscape dominated with grassland, largely attributed to the recurring Brahmaputra river floods and increasing anthropogenic pressure of forest villages that are within its limits, the study said.
The native “grassland invaders” are Bombax Ceiba And Laugenstroemia beautifulFlowering trees known as Simalu and Ajar in Assamese. Their impact on local vegetation has been just as disturbing as those of the invasive species, including shrubs Chromolaena Odorata And AGERATUM CONYZOIDESherb Parthenium Hysterophoreous and climber Mikania Micrantha.
The study entitled Grasslands in Flux“ Analysis of land use and land coverage (Lulc) Changes in Dibru-Saikhowa from his designation as a National Park in 1999 to 2024, was published in the last issue of EarthAn international, peer-reviewed magazine about Earth Science.
The authors are Imon Abedin, Sanjib Baruah, Pralip Kumar Narzary and Hilloljyoti Singha from Bodoland University, Tanoy Mukherjee of Zoological Survey of India, Shantanu Kundu of South Korea’s Pukyong National University Tinsuk.
Indigenous and invasive plant species are changing the Riverine ecosystem of Eastern Assam’s Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, the only habitat of wild horses in India. | Photocredit: special arrangement
The researchers used TeleDetection and geographical information systems to analyze the Lulc changes in DSNP, an island-like formation between the Brahmaputra in the north and the Dibren river in the south.
According to their studies, grasslands covered 28.78% of the 425 square km DSNP in 2000, followed by semi-erreen forests (25.58%). By 2013, Shrubland became the most prominent class (81.31 square kilometers) and the broken forest was expanded to 75.56 square km.
“During this period, substantial areas of grassland (29.94 square kilometers), degraded forest (10.87 km²), Semi-Evergreen forest (12.33 square km²), and bare land (10.50 square km) were converted to bushes in 2024, degraded forest,” the studied 80.5.
This change was the outcome of the conversion of 11.46 square kilometers of the scrub and 27.48 square km² Semi-ergreen forest in broken forest, which indicates a substantial and consistent decline of the grassland, the study noted.
Forest breakdown, even without a decrease in the forest area, can lead to loss of biodiversity, threatening the survival of local fauna and reducing carbon storage, possibly intensifying climate change.
Sought grassland recovery
Dibrug-Saikhowa, who extends over the Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts, was named after the Dibren Reserve Forest and Saikhowa Reserve Forest that were merged to create a nature reserve in 1995. UNESCO declared the area a biosphere reserve in 1997, two years before it became a national park.
The study stated that the changes in the “natural structure and function” of the DSNP landscape pose a serious threat to the survival of grassland-obligate faunal species, many of which are already threatened globally as a result of continuous habitat loss.
Indigenous and invasive plant species are changing the Riverine ecosystem of Eastern Assam’s Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, the only habitat of wild horses in India. | Photocredit: special arrangement
“The concern is increased by the fact that countless species are endemic for the grasslands that are found in the floodplains of this region. Remarkable species that quickly decrease are the Bengal florican (Houbaropsis Bengalensis), pig deer (Axis porcinus) and Swamp Grass Babbler (Prinia Cernerascens), “Said the study.
The National Park is also the home of around 200 wild horses, who are descendants of military horses who were abandoned during the Second World War.
The study ordered a targeted grass land recovery project that would include the control of invasive species, improved surveillance, increased staff and the relocation of forest villages to reduce human impact and to support community -based conservation efforts.
“Protecting the landscape by informed Lulc-based management can help maintain critical habitor plasters, reduce anthropogenic breakdown and improve the survival perspectives of indigenous flower and faunal assemblies in DSNP,” concluded it.
Published – August 17, 2025 11:15 am
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