Western Ghats

Carbon stock distribution in different tropical forest types in India is rarely studied although India is a country with mega-diversity. The present study estimates the biomass and carbon stock of major tropical forest types in India, and attempts to identify suitable interpolation techniques for mapping carbon stock. Empirically derived allometric equations and carbon conversion coefficients were used to estimate the aboveground biomass and carbon stock, respectively. The point estimates were interpolated to spatial surface using different interpolation techniques. Two main modelling approaches were implemented: deterministic modelling and stochastic modelling. Deterministic modelling was to interpolate point information using similarities between measured points (inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation), and fitting a smoothing curve along the measured points (polynomial interpolation). In stochastic modelling, ordinary kriging (OK) was employed using parameters derived from semivariograms. The results showed that the average carbon stock in the study area was 84 t/ha. The highest carbon stock was in evergreen forest and the lowest in thorny scrub forest. Validation of the model using the mean and RMS errors indicated that ordinary kriging performs better than IDW and polynomial interpolations.

Unplanned large scale developmental projects in recent times have been causing alterations in land use land cover [LULC] at spatial and temporal scales with the substantial changes in the landscape. Uttara Kannada district has the distinction of having highest forest cover in India. Forest ecosystems in the district have witnessed major transformations due to industrialization during the post-independence. Impact of developmental activities during the post-independence era, is evident from barren hill tops due to deforestation. The analysis of temporal spatial data acquired through space borne sensors highlights the decline of evergreen-semi evergreen forest cover from 67.73% (1973) to 32.08% (2013). The ad-hoc approaches adopted in the implementation of developmental projects in the ecologically sensitive regions has impaired the ecosystem services affecting the people's livelihood. The changes in the landscape structure with LULC changes have altered the functional abilities of an ecosystem evident from lowered hydrological yield, disappearing perennial streams, higher instances of human–animal conflicts, declined ecosystem goods, etc. About 64355 Ha of forest land is diverted for various non-forestry activities during the last four decades by the government apart from encroachment of 7072 Ha of forest area for agriculture, horticulture activities, etc. Encroachment of forest land has resulted in the land degradation leading to reduced productivity. Alterations in bio-geo chemical and hydrological cycles have necessitated the restoration of native forests in the region to ensure water and food security, and livelihood of the local people. Monitoring and visualization of landscape dynamics helps in evolving appropriate management strategies. LULC dynamics analyses considering agents (developmental projects) through fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) integrated with Markov cellular automata (CA) indicate

The Western Ghats are a world renowned Biodiversity Hotspot with high endemic value and an abundance of natural resources. However, the forest habitats have been severely depleted and fragmented resulting in a degraded system of discrete, disconnected primary forest fragments, set in an agricultural landscape with areas of scrubland and secondary forest growth. The modern era of exploitation can be traced back to the colonial years and has been continued in in recent times as urban development and population growth squeeze natural ecosystems into smaller spaces. It has been noted that throughout this era of exploitation there has been a tendency towards management concentrated on discrete forest patches, which lack data and knowledge regarding their ecological communities. As habitats continue to be degraded there is a need to fill these knowledge gaps and improve habitat management towards catchment and landscape-scale thinking. The research presented here focuses on Avian-floristic relationship, nature education and community exploitation of forest resources. It combines mega flora diversity, tree species assemblage and abundance, density, species richness canopy cover and bird diversity along with surveys of village inhabitants. The aim is to understand the quality of different forest types, specifically primary and secondary forests, work with village communities to understand their need to exploit forest resources, and how this exploitation impacts the ecologies of the forests. Finally, suggestions for improved management of forests are offered placing the forest fragments into the context of landscape-scale conservation management. A bark identification key was developed to assist with identifying tree species divided into 9 bark types. It was shown that
Legumenosae followed by Moraceae are dominant tree species in the forests. While the inventory revealed 61 species of trees and 85 bird species within the forests. The results showed the canopy cover structure and Gap Light Analysis (%Canopy openness and %transmitted gap light) interlinked and how these change season by season. The village surveys highlighted a need to develop awareness raising within local communities. However, it was found that poverty and poor resources forced people to exploit the forests. Thus, poverty was a clear driver for accessing the forests for products such as food, firewood and medicinal plants. This direct forest exploitation was further exacerbated by agricultural encroachment, particularly of livestock grazing.
Bird species displayed a clear preference towards primary forests suggesting a richer habitat in both plant and invertebrate species. This highlighted the need to protect primary forests. At the same time it was felt important to recommend extending forest cover through regeneration of trees in plots adjacent to primary forests. Other conservation measures recommended included better management of riparian zones, increased wildlife corridor cover as well as improved resources for the rural poor who are forced to exploit primary forests despite the negative impacts of such exploitation.

The Western Ghats of India and Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot is often regarded as one unit because of shared biogeographical history. However, recent studies suggest that certain faunal components, particularly in the wet zones are distinct. This article looks at the existing information on species richness and endemicity of taxa in both regions. Data are available on some taxa but not on others, and many taxa have not received equal attention in both regions. The natural ecosystems of this hotspot are under threat and urgent conservation action is needed, especially in augmenting the protected area network. There is also the need for increasing the level of scientific collaboration in biodiversity studies between the two countries.

Unique environmental conditions in the Indian subcon- tinent create a diverse biogeographic region harboring with exceptional endemic biodiversity. Diatom studies in this region started in the early nineteenth century, with descriptions of many new species. H. P. Gandhi described nearly 300 new taxa beginning in 1952. The focus of this paper is to reconsider, typify and provide biogeographic notes on the Gomphonema species described by Gandhi from Kolhapur region of Northern Western Ghats. While Gandhi identified 11 taxa includ- ing two endemic taxa, we observed eight Gomphonema species from the same material, comprising six endemic and two cosmopolitan species. The morphol- ogy of these taxa is examined using both light and scanning electron microscopy and all taxa are com- pared with similar species. One of the eight species we observed is a new species, Gomphonema tamilensis sp. nov., and a new combination is established, Gompho- nema lacusrankaloides comb. nov. Gomphonema tamilensis is similar to G. gandhii described from South India and Gomphocymbella species described from East Africa. Ultrastructural details of Gomphonema species from peninsular India shows morphologically similarities to members of this genus from Himalayan, Madagascar and African species, which could be reflec- tive of sister taxon relationships, and merit further investigation.

Large terrestrial wild herbivores are threatened globally, but scarce information exists on their populations outside of protected areas in South and Southeast Asia. India supports 39 species of wild herbivores,
nearly two-thirds of which are threatened. While the protected area network still forms the backbone of large mammal conservation, it occupies less than 5% of India. Yet, remnant habitats outside of parks have received sparse attention to conserve threatened wild herbivores. Our study examined the effects of livestock occurrence, human proximity (distance to nearest village), and habitat factors (percentage habitat available and mean slope) on populations of large wild ungulates in a tropical forest outside of protected areas in the Western Ghats of India. We used a sign-based abundance-occupancy modelling approach to assess the effects of these variables on animal group density (ˆ) and animal group-specific detection probability (r) of three large wild ungulates (gaur Bos gaurus, sambar Rusa unicolor, and wild pig Sus scrofa). Our results reveal that in human-dominated tropical forests, gaur group density increases with larger available habitat and lower occurrence of livestock, while sambar group density increases with higher mean slope and lower occurrence of livestock. Contrary to expectation, sambar group density was higher in smaller available habitat. No variable could reliably explain wild pig group density, but the species is a known generalist. Our results have important implications for conservation of threatened large herbivores and management of remnant tropical forest habitats outside protected areas, especially Reserved Forests in the Indian context. Remnant habitats can support significant populations of large herbivores and need to be protected in developing South and Southeast Asian countries. Gradual improvement in livestock management practices will benefit large herbivore populations in priority regions outside of protected parks in India.

The present study was conducted at Vagamon hill station to evaluate the biodiversity of moths. During the present study, a total of 675 moth specimens were collected from the study area which represented 112 species from 16 families and eight super families. Though much of the species has been reported earlier from other parts of India, 15 species were first records for the state of Kerala. The highest species richness was shown by the family Erebidae and the least by the families Lasiocampidae, Uraniidae, Notodontidae, Pyralidae, Yponomeutidae, Zygaenidae and Hepialidae with one species each. The results of this preliminary study are promising; it sheds light on the unknown biodiversity of Vagamon hills which needs to be strengthened through comprehensive future surveys.

The present account from Kallar elephant corridor is a case-history which elucidates that delay in implementing management recommendations leads to unmanageable trends in land-use pattern, traffic intensity, human-elephant interface, and escalation of costs for management options like land acquisition and engineering structures as flyovers or 'elephant underpass'. Ultimately, a situation may develop where elephants may take their own course of population reduction, fragmentation and shifting of interface problem to new areas.

In recent years, much importance is given for the conservation of tropical forests and its biodiversity all over the world (Prins and Wind, 1993; Mittermeier et al., 1997; Myers et al., 2000) because, the rate of tropical forest degradation is comparatively higher in the tropics (Bawa and Dayanandan, 1997) and the loss is often irreplaceable (Nair, 1999).

The present report puts forth a systematic checklist of bird species observed at Amboli Ghat in Maharashtra from 2009 to 2012, along with information on their status. A total of 208 species were recorded, which is around 15% of bird species of the Indian subcontinent. A family-wise analysis showed that the families Accipitridae and Muscicapidae (14 species each) followed by Ardeidae dominated the avifauna of the region. The study also revealed that the area consisted of 11 species of birds that are classified under Near Threatened category and two under Vulnerable category of IUCN. This study highlights the urgent need to conserve the biodiversity-rich area of Amboli Ghat with long-term plans.

Birds present everywhere and are important ecological indicators. The study area Tenkasi (8.97°N 77.3°E) and Ambasumudram (8.7°N 77.47°E) region of Tirunelveli district, Tamilnadu state is at the foothills of Southern Western Ghats. Studies on distribution of birds in this part have been recorded from the yester years but due to various reasons it had been confine towards aquatic ecosystem. To fulfill this lacuna, present study was carried out. A total of 100 species of land birds were documented that belongs to 36 orders and 48 families. Study on nesting pattern, breeding pattern was also carried out. 30% of the birds had their breeding periods during rainy season and 50% of the birds had their breeding periods during harvesting time. Insectivores breeds during rainy season and granivores breeds during harvest season which supports ‘food availability-breeding time’ hypothesis.

As pressure from a growing human population increases around the world, greater levels of conflict between people and wildlife over shrinking available land may be inevitable. The conversion of Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary to Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in India is a conservation initiative under "Project Tiger" scheme to facilitate greater habitat connectivity across the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. We interviewed local people in the MTR landscape to determine their interest and attitude towards resettlement and tiger conservation following MTR's new status designation. We found that non-tribal Mountain Chetties generally had negative attitude towards tiger conservation, Kurumbas were positive toward the idea, and Kattunaickers, and Irula people and other minor ethnic groups were found neutral. We found that literate respondents were less likely to collect firewood and more likely to exhibit positive attitude towards tiger conservation and the establishment of MTR. Households with higher milk production, and people with generally negative attitude towards wildlife conservation , were against the declaration of MTR. People employed in private sectors and those having negative perception towards wildlife conservation were more likely to show negative attitude towards declaration of MTR. Locals desiring resettlement post MTR declaration were literate, and interested in availing better livelihood resources. However, they usually suffered relatively high livestock loss to large carnivores, and high crop damage caused by elephant (Elephas maximus). Most respondents (74.3%) were interested in resettlement provided that basic amenities were available to them. We recommend that conservation authorities facilitate "choice-based resettlement" options, which account for local people's consent before making decisions on "re-settlement". This approach will avoid possible conflicts between forest managers and local people.

Groundwater is located in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of lithologic formations under subsurface. Pollutants leached to the ground make their way down into groundwater and contaminate an aquifer. The study focuses on the physicochemical and biological quality of groundwater spatially in Kerala to assess its suitability for drinking and understand the type of hydrochemicals and spatial distribution of major ions. Groundwater samples from 98 locations covering all districts in Kerala state, India were collected and analyzed, as per standard protocol. The results revealed that fecal coliform bacteria and pH were exceeding in many places. Nitrates exceeded permissible limits in two samples which contained 45.3 mg/L and 50 mg/L at Kayamkulam (Alappuzha) and Old Munnar (Idukki). Fluorides exceeded the desirable limit (1 mg/L) at Mullackal (1.4 mg/L) and Kalikulam Junction (1.2 mg/L) in Alappuzha district and Kollengode (1.6 mg/L) in Palakkad district. Hydrochemical types, relationship among the physicochemical parameters, characterization of sampling sites according to the physicochemical and biological characters and the spatial distribution of major ions are also discussed.

Soil erosion is a serious environmental problem in Kothagiri Taluk. Many studies have been carried out to map shifting
cultivation and areas susceptible to soil erosion. Mostly, estimated soil loss is taken as the basis to classify the level of soil loss susceptibility of area.