Diversity of mosses in some underexplored regions of Manipur, Northeast India

The present paper deals with the investigation of moss taxa of some underexplored regions of Manipur, Northeast India. During the assessment of moss diversity in various localities of Manipur a total 126 species of mosses belonging to 84 genera in 34 families have been investigated and enumerated. Ten species, namely Amblystegium serpens,Entodontopsis leucostega, Entodontopsis tavoyensis, Homalia trichomanoides, Lindbergia duthiei, Philonotis mollis, Philonotis thwaitesii, Taxiphyllum giraldii,Tortella humilis and Thuidium sparsifolium are new additions to Eastern Himalaya, while 92 species of mosses have been reported for the first time from Manipur. Ten Indian endemic taxa have also been identified from the explored sites. The majority of the taxa were recorded from epiphytic habitats.

Metal Contaminants Occurrence and Microbial Diversity From the Perspectives of Dual Tolerance by the Bacterial Isolates Along Altitudinal Zonation of River Teesta – a Pristine River System in Eastern Himalayas

The present study was conducted along River Teesta in Eastern Himalaya. Water and sediment samples were collected from six sampling points during the monsoon and winter seasons along the course of the river. The background information was collected by analysing physico-chemical parameters and the heavy metal concentrations. Culturable bacterial diversity using culture-based and molecular based 16S rRNA approaches characterized bacterial isolates to 5 major phyla, majority belonging Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Firmicutes followed by Bacteroidetes, Alpha-Proteobacteria, Beta-Proteobacteria, Gamma-Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacilli, Flavobacteriia, Deinococci, Sphingobacteriia and Cytophagia. The total of 245 characterized isolates belonged to 69 genera. Diversity indices were calculated for each site. There were variations in the community structure of culturable bacteria along the river stretch with some common and unique groups. Heavy metal tolerance and antibiotic resistance profiles showed some isolates to be tolerant to high levels of heavy metals and multiple antibiotic indicating a major concern. The antibiotic resistance diversified along the human impacted downstream sites. The present report on bacterial diversity and the associated metal and antibiotics tolerance is the first of its kind on Teesta river, the only major river system flowing through the state of Sikkim and parts of North Bengal.

A new species of Zographetus Watson, 1893 (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) from Sikkim, eastern Himalaya, India

A new species, Zographetus dzonguensis sp. nov., is described based on three male specimens from Upper Dzongu, North Sikkim District, Sikkim, India. The new species is closely similar to Z. pangi from Guangdong and Z. hainanensis from Hainan, China, from which it is distinguished based on the following combination of external characters: (a) forewing with the white spot at the base of space M3 being sharply pointed at the inner edge and conspicuously more elongated, and (b) on underside of hindwing, all chocolate-brown spots being smaller, in Z. dzonguensis sp. nov. compared with both Z. pangi and Z. hainanensis. In Z. dzonguensis sp. nov., the male genitalia may be distinguished as follows: (c) tegumen and uncus are almost equal in length, (d) the dorsal outline of tegumen is relatively flat, and (e) saccus is distinctly bent upward as angle between vinculum and saccus is more acute than in Z. pangi and Z. hainanensis.

Movement and dispersal of a habitat specialist in human-dominated landscapes: a case study of the red panda

Background Habitat specialists living in human-dominated landscapes are likely to be affected by habitat fragmentation and human disturbances more than generalists. But there is a paucity of information on their response to such factors. We examined the effect of these factors on movement patterns of red pandas Ailurus fulgens, a habitat and diet specialist that inhabits the eastern Himalaya. Methods We equipped 10 red pandas (six females, four males) with GPS collars and monitored them from September 2019 to March 2020 in Ilam, eastern Nepal. We collected habitat and disturbance data over four seasons. We considered geophysical covariates, anthropogenic factors and habitat fragmentation metrics, and employed linear -mixed models and logistic regression to evaluate the effect of those variables on movement patterns. Results The median daily distance travelled by red pandas was 756 m. Males travelled nearly 1.5 times further than females (605 m). Males and sub-adults travelled more in the mating season while females showed no seasonal variation for their daily distance coverage. Red pandas were relatively more active during dawn and morning than the rest of the day, and they exhibited seasonal variation in distance coverage on the diel cycle. Both males and females appeared to be more active in the cub-rearing season, yet males were more active in the dawn in the birthing season. Two sub-adult females dispersed an average of 21 km starting their dispersal with the onset of the new moon following the winter solstice. The single subadult male did not disperse. Red pandas avoided roads, small-habitat patches and large unsuitable areas between habitat patches. Where connected habitat with high forest cover was scarce the animals moved more directly than when habitat was abundant. Conclusions Our study indicates that this habitat specialist is vulnerable to human disturbances and habitat fragmentation. Habitat restoration through improving functional connectivity may be necessary to secure the long-term conservation of specialist species in a human-dominated landscape. Regulation of human activities should go in parallel to minimize disturbances during biologically crucial life phases. We recommend habitat zonation to limit human activities and avoid disturbances, especially livestock herding and road construction in core areas.

Mesoptychia morrisoncola (Jungermanniaceae, Marchantiophyta) – An Addition to the Bryoflora of Indian Eastern Himalaya

Mesoptychia morrisoncola (Horik.) L. Söderstr. & Vá?a – earlier known in Indian bryoflora from Gulmarg in Jammu & Kashmir, is described for the first time form Sikkim in Eastern Himalaya. Identification key to the Indian species of the genus has been provided.