Insect Diversity and Ecosystem Services: 2-volume set

This new book, Insect Diversity and Ecosystem Services, published in two comprehensive volumes, is an innovative work on insects and their impact on the ecosystem, describing their enormous free ecosystem services. The volumes cover a range of topics related to insects including their role in environmental pollution, their use in sustainable agricultural services, and the industrial, forensic, and medical applications of insects and their pure products. The book also covers the entomological and molecular aspects of insects, identifies the gaps in the research, and looks at integrated management strategies for pests.

The first volume, Volume 1: Importance, Threats, Conservation, and Economic Perspectives, presents a comprehensive review of different insect orders regarding their diversity and importance in providing free ecological services. This book discusses the different diversity patterns of biogeographic zones of the world and how insects contribute to maintaining ecological diversity in different biogeographic regions of the world.

Volume 2: Environmental Indicators, Molecular Approaches, and Management Strategies discusses the various aspects of insects, such as their role as environmental indicators, the effect of pesticides on insect diversity, strategies to control the diversity of insects, medical and forensic importance of insects, exploring new insect species through DNA barcoding, integrated pest management, the role of insect population in agriculture, and eco-friendly pest management approaches.

Some topics covered in the book include:

• Role of insects for sustainable agricultural development
• Commercial importance of insects and their products
• Food additive roles of insects and formulation of remedies for the reduction of disease pathogenesis
• Management strategies for pest control

Some specific topics include colony collapse disorder of managed honey bee (Apis mellifera l.) populations, insects as strong crime indicator tools in forensic sciences, insect-based value-added products, and more.

Together, these two volumes offer important information for researchers, academicians, scientists, industrialists, teachers, entomologists, and students for understanding the contribution of insects towards the sustainability of the ecosystem.

Younis Ahmad Hajam, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Life Sciences and Allied Health Sciences at Sant Baba Bhag Singh University, Padhiana, Jalandhar, Punjab, India. Dr. Hajam has been teaching graduate and postgraduate students of zoology for the past three years and has been guiding postgraduate and PhD students for their dissertations and theses. He is currently handling a major research project as Principal Investigator and three projects under the HP CM Startup Scheme. Dr. Hajam previously served as a Junior Research Fellow in the Department of Zoology at Guru Ghasidas Central University, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India. Dr. Hajam has received national awards for his contributions in biological science. His current research focus is on therapeutic management for diabetes, polycystic ovarian cancer, melatonin physiology, and antioxidants and natural therapies for other metabolic and endocrine disorders. His specialization is in animal physiology, neuroendocrinology, toxicology, and pharmacology. He is an author of more than 25 research articles (h-index 6; i-index 2; total citation 61) and 20 book chapters, and he has published several books with international publishers. Dr. Hajam has organized, presented, and participated in numerous state, national, and international conferences, seminars, workshops, and symposiums. He has also delivered invited lectures at international conferences. He has served as an editorial board member and reviewer for reputed international journals. He is also a member of the Asian Council of Science Editors. Dr. Hajam is still writing and experimenting with diverse capacities of animals for use in the treatment of various endocrine and metabolic disorders. Dr. Hajam holds a doctorate in Zoology from Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidayalaya (A Central University), Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India.

Sajad Hussain Parey, PhD, is currently working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Zoology, School of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir, India. He worked as a young scientist at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Shalimar-Srinagar, under the fast-track scheme of the Science and Engineering Research Board. Dr. Parey has published more than 50 research articles in national and international journals. He has described more than a hundred new species of caddisflies from the Indian Himalayas, adding to those earlier reported in Nepal, Bhutan, China, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. He has also visited and studied caddisflies at Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, and Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA. He has participated in and presented his research work at more than 30 national and international conferences, seminars, and workshops in the US, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand. He has assisted MSc, MPhil, and PhD students in their dissertation and theses. Dr. Parey has received mural grants from several funding agencies, such as the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB-DST), the National Mission on Himalayan Studies (NMHS), the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, New Delhi, and University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi. He completed his PhD program at the Department of Zoology, Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab, India.

Rouf Ahmad Bhat, PhD, is presently working in the Department of School Education, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, India. He has been teaching graduate and postgraduate students of environmental sciences for the past three years. He is an author of more than 50 research articles (h-index 18; i-index 26; total citation >820) and 40 book chapters and has published more than 28 books with international publishers. His specialization is in limnology, toxicology, phytochemistry, and phytoremediation. Dr. Bhat has presented and participated in numerous state, national and international conferences, seminars, workshops, and symposiums. In addition, he has worked as an Associate Environmental Expert in the World Bank-funded Flood Recovery Project and is also on the Environmental Support Staff of Asian Development Bank-funded development projects. He has received many awards, appreciations, and recognition for his services to the science of water testing and air and noise analysis. He has served as an editorial board member and reviewer for reputed international journals. Dr. Bhat is still writing and experimenting with diverse capacities of plants for use in aquatic pollution remediation. Dr. Bhat pursued his doctorate at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Kashmir (Division of Environmental Science).