The Second Garhwal Expedition of the St. Petersburg Association of Scientists & Scholars (the Western Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India, May 2023)

Abstract

This paper briefl y describes the interdisciplinary biogeographical expedition to the Garhwal Himalaya, Uttarakhand state (India) in May 2023. It was organized by the Center for Himalayan Research of the St. Petersburg Association of Scientists & Scholars (SPASS) and took place under the fl ag of the Russian Association of Researchers of the Himalaya and Tibet. This was the 7th expedition of SPASS to the Western Himalaya and the 2nd expedition of SPASS to Garhwal. Participants explored the eastern part of this region west of the Nanda Devi mountain from the Indo- Gangetic Plain to the southern foot of the Transhimalaya (Zanskar Range, 4330 m). Observations were made and materials were collected in the fi elds of botany, zoology (entomology, herpetology), hydrobiology and microbiology.