Agroforestry in the Western Ghats of peninsular India and the satoyama landscapes of Japan: a comparison of two sustainable land use systems

Documenting the biodiversity of protected areas and reserve forests is important to researchers, academicians and forest departments in their efforts to establish policies to protect regional biodiversity. Shettihalli Wildlife Sanctuary (SWS) is an important protected area located in the central Western Ghats of Karnataka state known for its diverse flora and fauna with distinct ecological features. For the last four decades the sanctuary has witnessed the loss of forest cover, yet the vegetation in few locations is relatively undisturbed. The current inventory was undertaken during 2019–2020 to provide a checklist of woody species from SWS under-researched earlier. The list comprises 269 species of trees, lianas and shrubs distributed in 207 genera and 68 families. The most diverse families are Fabaceae, Moraceae, Rubiaceae, Rutaceae, Lauraceae, Apocynaceae, Meliaceae, Malvaceae, Phyllanthaceae, and Anacardiaceae, representing 48% of total woody flora. The sanctuary shelters 263 native and six exotic plant species. Thirty-nine species were endemic to the Western Ghats, five species to peninsular India and one species to the Western Ghats and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Four forest types, i.e., dry deciduous, moist deciduous, semi-evergreen, and evergreen forests, are represented in the sanctuary. Of the total species, only seven occurred in all forest types, while 111 species are exclusive to a single forest type. One-hundred-and-four taxa were assessed for the International Union for Conservation of Nature & Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List. Ten species that fall under Near Threatened, Vulnerable, and Endangered categories were encountered occasionally. The baseline data generated on plant diversity will be useful in highlighting the importance of these forests for species conservation and forest management. Such data form a cornerstone for further research. For instance, to understand the effect of invasive species and human impacts on the diversity of the region.

Download Full-text

A new species of rock-dwelling Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Tamil Nadu, southern India

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4571.3.6 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4571 (3) ◽

pp. 383

Author(s):

AKSHAY KHANDEKAR

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Endemic Species ◽

Western Ghats ◽

Tamil Nadu ◽

Southern India ◽

Peninsular India ◽

Tamil Nadu State ◽

The Rich ◽

The Western Ghats ◽

A New Species

A new species of the gekkonid genus Cnemaspis is described based on a series of nine specimens from near Sankari in Salem district, Tamil Nadu state, southern India. The new species is diagnosable by the following suite of characters: a small-sized Cnemaspis (adult snout to vent length less than 33 mm); heterogeneous dorsal pholidosis consisting of weakly keeled granular scales intermixed with large strongly keeled, conical tubercles, 9–11 rows of dorsal tubercles, 12–17 tubercles in paravertebral rows; spine-like scales absent on flank, 17–20 lamellae under digit IV of pes. Males with 4–6 femoral pores on each thigh, separated on either side by eight poreless scales from four precloacal pores; precloacal pores separated medially by a single poreless scale; two single dorsal ocelli on occiput and between forelimb insertions, two pairs of ocelli on either side just anterior and posterior to forelimb insertions. Cnemaspis agarwali sp. nov. is the fifth endemic species of Cnemaspis from peninsular India outside the Western Ghats and highlights the rich and unique diversity of this understudied region.

Download Full-text

Sustainable land use systems research. Proceedings of an International Workshop. (New Delhi: Oxford & IBH Publishing, 1992), xvi + 226 pp.Soft cover. ISBN 81-204-0669-9

Bulletin of Entomological Research ◽

10.1017/s0007485300041924 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 83 (1) ◽

pp. 143-144

Author(s):

F. Meerman

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

International Workshop ◽

Sustainable Land Use ◽

New Delhi ◽

Land Use Systems ◽

Systems Research

Download Full-text

Two new Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Shevaroy massif, Tamil Nadu, India, with a preliminary ND2 phylogeny of Indian Cnemaspis

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4609.1.3 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4609 (1) ◽

pp. 68

Author(s):

AKSHAY KHANDEKAR ◽

NIKHIL GAITONDE ◽

ISHAN AGARWAL

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Body Size ◽

South Asian ◽

Western Ghats ◽

Tamil Nadu ◽

Elevation Gradient ◽

Sequence Divergence ◽

Colour Pattern ◽

Peninsular India ◽

The Western Ghats

We present a preliminary ND2 phylogeny of South Asian Cnemaspis, recovering a number of deeply divergent clades within Indian Cnemaspis, endemic to the southern and northern Western Ghats besides the Mysore Plateau and hills of Tamil Nadu. There are a number of unnamed lineages that are >5% divergent on ND2 across the phylogeny, including three from the gracilis clade on an elevation gradient (800–1400 m asl.) around Yercaud in the Shevaroy massif, Salem district, Tamil Nadu. We describe two of these as new species— Cnemaspis shevaroyensis sp. nov. and Cnemaspis thackerayi sp. nov. are both allied to Cnemaspis gracilis and can be diagnosed from all other Indian Cnemaspis by the absence of spine-like scales on flank, heterogeneous dorsal pholidosis, presence of femoral and precloacal pores, tail with enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tubercles forming whorls, a median row of enlarged and smooth sub-caudals. They differ from C. gracilis and each other in body size, the number of tubercles around midbody, the number of tubercles in paravertebral rows, the number of femoral and precloacal pores, the number of poreless scales in-between precloacal pores and between femoral and precloacal pores, and subtle colour pattern differences; besides uncorrected mitochondrial sequence divergence (7.9–16.6 %). We also provide a description of Cnemaspis yercaudensis from its type locality and an additional locality. The discovery of two endemic species and a third unnamed divergent lineage from an isolated massif in peninsular India outside the Western Ghats indicate that many other such understudied hill ranges may harbour high endemic biodiversity.

Download Full-text

Assessing the Extent of Historical, Current, and Future Land Use Systems in Uganda

Land ◽

10.3390/land7040132 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. 132 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Majaliwa Mwanjalolo ◽

Barasa Bernard ◽

Mukwaya Paul ◽

Wanyama Joshua ◽

Kutegeka Sophie ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Markov Chain Model ◽

Open Water ◽

Sustainable Land Use ◽

Chain Model ◽

Land Use Systems ◽

Systems Planning ◽

Future Prediction ◽

Ecosystem Interactions

Sustainable land use systems planning and management requires a wider understanding of the spatial extent and detailed human-ecosystem interactions astride any landscape. This study assessed the extent of historical, current, and future land use systems in Uganda. The specific objectives were to (i) characterize and assess the extent of historical and current land use systems, and (ii) project future lan use systems. The land use systems were defined and classified using spatially explicit land use/cover layers for the years 1990 and 2015, while the future prediction (for the year 2040) was determined using land use systems datasets for both years through a Markov chain model. This study reveals a total of 29 classes of land use systems that can be broadly categorized as follows: three of the land use systems are agricultural, five are under bushland, four under forest, five under grasslands, two under impediments, three under wetlands, five under woodland, one under open water and urban settlement respectively. The highest gains in the land amongst the land use systems were experienced in subsistence agricultural land and grasslands protected, while the highest losses were seen in grasslands unprotected and woodland/forest with low livestock densities. By 2040, subsistence agricultural land is likely to increase by about 1% while tropical high forest with livestock activities is expected to decrease by 0.2%, and woodland/forest unprotected by 0.07%. High demand for agricultural and settlement land are mainly responsible for land use systems patchiness. This study envisages more land degradation and disasters such as landslides, floods, droughts, and so forth to occur in the country, causing more deaths and loss of property, if the rate at which land use systems are expanding is not closely monitored and regulated in the near future.

Download Full-text

Endophytic fungal association in roots of exotic medicinal plants cultivated in the Nilgiris, Western Ghats, Peninsular India

Anales de Biología ◽

10.6018/analesbio.43.16 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 161-174

Author(s):

Nagarajan Bharathy ◽

Srinivasan Sowmiya ◽

Shanmugam Karthik ◽

Ravichandran Koshila Ravi ◽

Mayakrishnan Balachandar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medicinal Plants ◽

Plant Species ◽

Western Ghats ◽

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal ◽

Am Fungi ◽

Fungal Spore ◽

Fungal Endophyte ◽

Peninsular India ◽

The Nilgiris ◽

The Western Ghats

Algunos microbios beneficiosos para el suelo ayudan en el establecimiento y crecimiento de plantas medicinales exóticas. Por lo tanto, evaluamos la presencia y el estado de la asociación de endófitos de raíces [hongos micorrízicos arbusculares (AM) y hongos endofíticos septados oscuros (DSE)] en diez especies de plantas medicinales exóticas cultivadas en Nilgiris de los Ghats occidentales. El alcance de las variables endófitas de hongos y las características del pelo de la raíz difirieron significativamente entre las plantas medicinales. Se identificaron seis morfotipos de esporas de hongos AM en las muestras de suelo. Por lo tanto, este estudio indicó la asociación de plantas medicinales exóticas con hongos nativos AM y DSE que podrían explotarse para promover el crecimiento y aumentar la producción de metabolitos secundarios en estas especies de plantas. Some soil beneficial microbes help in the establishment and growth of exotic medicinal plants. Therefore, we evaluated the presence and status of root endophyte [arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and dark septate endophytic (DSE) fungi] association in ten exotic medicinal plant species cultivated in the Nilgiris of the Western Ghats. The AM fungi colonized all the examined plant species and eight plants had the co-occurrence of DSE fungi. The extent of fungal endophyte variables and root hair characteristics significantly differed among the medicinal plants. Six AM fungal spore morphotypes were identified in the soil samples. Thus, this study indicated the association of exotic medicinal plants with native AM and DSE fungi which could be exploited to promote growth and increase secondary metabolite production in these plant species.

Download Full-text

A note on the current distribution of reedtail damselfly Protosticta rufostigma Kimmins, 1958 (Odonata: Zygoptera: Platystictidae) from Western Ghats, and its addition to the odonate checklist of Kerala

Journal of Threatened Taxa ◽

10.11609/jott.6307.13.1.17548-17553 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 17548-17553

Author(s):

Kalesh Sadasivan ◽

Muhamed Jafer Palot

Keyword(s):

Current Distribution ◽

Western Ghats ◽

Tamil Nadu ◽

Literature Search ◽

Original Description ◽

The State ◽

Peninsular India ◽

Kerala State ◽

The Western Ghats

The genus Protosticta (Odonata, Zygoptera, Platystictidae) is represented by nine species in the Western Ghats of peninsular India, of which seven are reported for the state of Kerala. Our recent records of Protosticta rufostigma Kimmins, 1958 from the Western Ghats of Kerala State is discussed, and despite a thorough literature search no collection records or photographs of the species has been found after the original description from Tamil Nadu. The species is, thus, added to the checklist of odonates of Kerala State. The description of the live insect, its ecology, status and distribution is discussed.

Download Full-text

Soil Properties Affected by Land Use Systems in Western Chitwan, Nepal

International Journal of Applied Sciences and Biotechnology ◽

10.3126/ijasbt.v2i3.10660 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

pp. 265-269 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

R.P. Chauhan ◽

K.R. Pande ◽

S. Thakur

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Soil Properties ◽

Management Practices ◽

Field Experiments ◽

Sustainable Land Use ◽

Block Designs ◽

Forest Land ◽

Pasture Land ◽

Land Use Systems ◽

Vegetable Farm

Field experiments were conducted in acidic soils of Mangalpur and Fulbari VDCs in western Chitwan, Nepal to study the effects of different land use systems on soil properties. Seven land use systems (cereal based lowland, cereal based upland, vegetable farm land, fruit orchard land, pasture land, forest land and farmer’s field) were used and they were replicated four times in randomized complete block designs. Composite soil samples were collected from each study sites and were analyzed in laboratory for soil physicochemical properties. The data obtained were analyzed using MSTAT-C. Soil properties were significantly affected by land use systems in western Chitwan condition. Soil organic matter and total soil nitrogen were significantly higher from pasture land (4.69 % and 0.23 %) and the lowest were from farmer’s field (2.40 % and 0.08 %). However, available soil phosphorous content was significantly higher from cereal based upland (448.3 kg ha-1) and it was the lowest from forest land (13.0 kg ha-1). Soil bulk density and pH were not significantly affected by land use systems. Since land use systems and management practices significantly affect soil physical and chemical properties, an appropriate and sustainable land use management option is necessary for fertile and healthy soil. Conservation tillage with the addition of sufficient organic inputs can be suggested based on this study to maintain soil health for sustained production and optimum activity of soil organisms under the western Chitwan land use systems. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijasbt.v2i3.10660 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijasbt.v2i3.10660 Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol, Vol. 2(3): 265-269

Download Full-text

Bryocrumia Malabarica Spec. Nova (Bryophyta, Hypnaceae), A Second Species of the Genus from the Western Ghats of India

Acta Botanica Hungarica ◽

10.1556/034.63.2021.1-2.9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 63 (1-2) ◽

pp. 165-170

Author(s):

C. N. Manju ◽

B. Prajitha ◽

R. Prakashkumar ◽

W. Z. Ma

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Western Ghats ◽

Evergreen Forest ◽

Stream Channel ◽

Peninsular India ◽

External Appearance ◽

Western Ghats Of India ◽

Central Strand ◽

The Western Ghats ◽

A New Species

A new species similar to Bryocrumia vivicolor, the only known species in the genus Bryocrumia, is described as Bryocrumia malabarica spec. nova from the Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary in the Western Ghats of Kerala in Peninsular India. It resembles Homalia in external appearance and was collected in a rheophytic habitat along a stream channel in the evergreen forest. The new species is characterised by closely arranged leaves with distinct tricostate, ovate-rounded to truncate leaves, upper margin of leaf rounded with fine serrations and an inconspicuous central strand in stem cross section.

Download Full-text