Butterflies of India - Himalayan Red Admiral

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Himalayan Red Admiral (Vanessa indica indica) is a sub species of the Indian Red Admiral butterfly found mainly in the Himalayan region of India. In southern parts of India,  its close cousin Sahyadri Red Admiral (Vanessa indica pholoe) reigns the peaks of Western Ghats.

Butterflies of India – Yellow Coster (Acraea issoria)

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Yellow Coster (Acraea issoria) is a beautiful leathery winged butterfly with a weak but persistent flight, found in countries in the oriental region, like India, Thailand, China, Vietnam, Myanmar and Sumatra. In India, it is seen in the Himalayan foot hills of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland, West Bengal and Sikkim, usually in valleys which are situated at an altitude between 500 to 1500 meters from sea level.

Endangered medicinal herb Nardostachys Jatamansi is gradually vanishing from Uttarakhand

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Despite a ban on its mass collection, the fate of Jatamansi (Nardostachys Jatamansi), an endangered medicinal herb, is still doomed in the Indian parts of Himalaya due to illegal collection and marketing. According to the scientists at the High Altitude Plant Physiology Research Centre (HAPPRC), the population of Jatamansi is shrinking in the in the Indian state of Uttarakhand due to illegal collection and severe human interference.

Jatamansi Flower

According to a research correspondence published by a HAPPRC research team in the Current Science Journal, the plant is widely used in at least 26 Ayurvedic preparations. Moreover, its rhizome has aromatic qualities which have made it a favorite target of perfume industry.Though government has implemented a ban on mass collection and marketing of this plant, it has turned ineffective, says the experts.

“In Uttarakhand, roots or rhizomes of the plants are illegally collected by people residing in the nearby areas for its aromatic and medicinal property. They then sell it to the agents of perfumery industries”, says Vijay K. Purohit S.S.O. at HAPPRC  and was part of the research team. “At present, the ban is not so much effective”, says he.

The plant has got religious importance too due to its aromatic quality. “The dry rhizomes of the plants are offered to the lord in religious shrines as "dhoop” (aromatic smoke offered to a god as part of worship), says Purohit. However, the religious importance also has not helped the conservation of the plant, say the experts.

Apart from the illegal collection, over grazing in the nature habitat, excessive forest clearance, wild fires has also contributed to the fall in the population of Jatamansi. “Only a few pockets of the plant are remaining in the state”, says the correspondence.

Falling regeneration rates of Jatamansi

According to the research correspondence, the absence of viable seeds, erratic seed production, unfavorable micro-sites, over grazing and increased incidence of forest fires have brought down the regeneration rate of the plant in Uttarakhand.

Jatamansi tissue culture at HAPPRC

Though HAPPRC has tried biotechnology methods to generate large number of Jatamansi seeds, they turned out to be unsuccessful. So they are now focusing on generation of large number of Jatamansi seeds through traditional methods and tissue culture.

“HAPPRC is doing sustainable collection of seeds and rhizomes of plants for development of large scale propagation methods through conventional as well as tissue culture”, says Purohit. According to him, HAPPRC is also organizing awareness programmes on the conservation status of Jatamansi to help promote the plantation and cultivation of the plant. National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) and Government of India are financially supporting the project.  

Invasive plant Acacia dealbata reported from the high altitude Himalayan forest of Kedarnath wildlife Sanctuary

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Indicating an early sign of proliferation of invasive species in the Himalayan forests, as expected to happen during the phenomenon of global warming, a group of researchers has reported the presence of Acacia dealbata - an invasive alien plant - from the interior of the high altitude protected area of Kedarnath wildlife sanctuary situated in the Indian state of Uttarakhand.

Acacia dealbata in bloom
Photo courtesy :Wikimedia Commons

The team has spotted the plant at an altitude of 2200 from the mean sea level, which makes it the first report of the species from such a high altitude of Garhwal Himalayas, says a research correspondence published in the Current Science Journal. It also turns out o be the first record of the species from the large protected area of Kedarnath Wildlife sanctuary.

The presence of the invasive plant can have serious impact to the Himalayan forests considering the invasive nature of the plant, says the research correspondence.

"Temperature tolerance level of some alien species is very wide, with global warming the temperature fluctuation has become wide giving these species ample scope to survive", says Jahangeer A. Bhat, Researcher in Forest Ecology at  H.N.B Garhwal University.

According to him, there is no clue on how this plant reached to this elevation. "We guess it might be  through some food source or something else", he said.

"There was no human settlement near this plant patch and neither we found this species below this elevation nor above this elevation. these plants were only present in a patch at the reported altitude", said the research team which found the plant.

Jahangeer A. Bhat, Munesh Kumar, Ajeet K. Negi and N. P. Todaria at the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar-Garhwal have reported the species, as per the correspondence published.

The plant is already declared as an invasive species in the Indian Himalayan region, while it is reported as a problem species in Portugal, northwest Spain, New Zealand, France and Italy where it is found to be replacing native plant species and taking a high toll on the biodiversity of indigenous plants.

Plants of Acacia genus have been notorious for their ability to invade native forests and replace grass lands. They are also found to increase water loss in riparian zones and thus gradually change the ecological nature of the area.

However, it is ironic that social forestry wings of many state forest departments were once encouraging planting Acacia plants in public places as part of aforestation attempts. The adverse consequences of the plant like its potential to drain up groundwater tables and to produce allergic pollens during flowering season were understood later only.

However, India is still to have a unified central policy on how to manage invasive species in its native forests.

Is there any invasive species raising threat to native plants or animals in your area? Please share us the information here.

Meanwhile, read more on IBT's coverage on invasive species in India.