PAs in Western Ghats slow down deforestation except near highly populated areas, finds study

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A patch of  agricultural field bordering forest land in Southern Western Ghats in Kerala.
(Image Credit: Indian Biodiversity Talks)

A new study about forest cover loss shows that protected areas (PAs) in Western Ghats were able to slow down the rate of deforestation. However, in areas with high population density, deforestation rates are higher even in the PAs. 

Published in the Biological Conservation journal, the study shows that the forest loss inside protect areas was 32 percent less than that in other areas. However, the scenario is different in case of PAs near dense human populations where there is a higher possibility of losing the forest cover. “Where local human populations were higher in the Western Ghats, protected areas were 70% more likely to lose forest cover than non-protected areas”, says the study.

Vernal Hanging Parrot - Birds of India - HD Video

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Vernal Hanging Parrot (Loriculus vernalis), also known as Indian Hanging Parrot  or the Green Hanging Parrot is the smallest of the resident parrots in India. Distributed across North East India, East India, Western Ghats and Bangladesh in the Indian sub continent, Vernal Hanging Parrot is usually found in broad leaved evergreen and moist deciduous forests fringes. Sri Lanka has a close cousin, but a separate resident species known as the Sri Lankan Hanging Parrot (Loriculus beryllinus).

Netravali Leaping Frog, a new frog species endemic to Western Ghats discovered from Goa

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Netravali Leaping Frog (Indirana salelkari) [Image Courtesy: Vivek Kale]

Goa may be known for its beautiful beaches, but now it is home to a rare frog species yet unknown to the scientific world. A group of researchers have described a new species of leaping frog - now called Netravali Leaping Frog (Indirana salelkari) from Netravali (Neturlim) in Sanguem Taluk of South Goa district. The new discovery adds one more member to the Ranixalidae family of frogs which are endemic to Western Ghats.

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.

Happy Environment Day 2015 !

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We would like to share a hope with our readers on this Environment Day,
that this mystic tree of life - our planet - sustain for long.

Lets pray that humans may someday turn more sensible about the ways they kill this tree of life, if not, let them perish, before they wipe out the last throbs of life on our mother earth.

May this mystic tree of life sustain long. . .

Happy Environment Day 2015 !

(Image: A moss covered tree from the shola forests of Southern Western Ghats of Kerala in India.)

Citron barb, a new barb species, spotted from Western Ghats Rivers of Maharashtra

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Citron Barb (Pethia lutea), a new barb species discovered from Western Ghat Rivers of Maharashtra
(Image Courtesy: Ralf Britz/JOTT)

Researchers studying the fish diversity in Western Ghats Rivers have discovered a yet unknown species of fresh water barb from the Western Ghats River systems in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The new species belongs to the Pethia genus of fishes which constitutes barbs found only in South Asia and Myanmar region.

Hunting threatens endemic turtles in Kerala

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Travancore tortoise (Indotestudo travancorica)
(Photo Credit: Arun Kanagavel)

 Cochin forest cane turtle (Vijayachelys silvatica) and Travancore tortoise (Indotestudo travancorica)- two endemic reptiles found only in Southern Western Ghats- are hunted by locals and indigenous people including contract workers of Kerala Forest Department in Vazhachal and Chalakkudy forest divisions in Kerala , claims a new study published in the Asian Journal of Conservation Biology.

The researchers have met with tribal and non-tribal communities in the locality who claimed to have collected sack full of Travancore tortoises while clearing fire lines as contract labourers for the Forest Department  in these forest areas.

“These Chelonians (a taxonomic order which includes reptiles like turtles and tortoises) were usually collected while “cutting” fire-lines during the annual fire-management initiatives undertaken by the Forest Department and during the collection of non-timber forest produce (NTFPs). Respondents stated that they filled ‘sack loads’ of chelonians especially while clearing bamboo stretches”, says the study.

New bush frog species discovered from Western Ghats of Maharashtra

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Raorchestes ghatei
(Photo Courtesy: JOTT, Image Credit: Anand D Padhye)

Amidst the ruckus raised by mining lobbies and real estate mafias against the implementation of the expert panel report on conserving the Western Ghats mountain ranges, researchers continue to discover species unknown to science from different parts of this biodiversity hot-spot. The latest in the line is Raorchestes ghatei, a new species of Bush Frog discovered from the Western Ghats in the state of Maharashtra.

According to a study published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa, the new frog species is very different from its closest relatives. Apart from the observable morphological differences, the sequencing study of the mRNA of the newly described frog confirms its identity as a distinct species of bush frogs. According to the research note, ‘molecular phylogeny based on 16S rRNA gene sequence suggests that the new species is genetically distinct and forms a monophyletic clade within Raorchestes, the genus of bush frogs’ to which it belongs.

Researchers came across this enigmatic species from different places in Satara and Pune districts of Maharashtra. They have christened it after Dr. H.V. Ghate known for his contributions to the herpetology of Western Ghats of Maharashtra. According to the researchers, the frog will be known as Ghate’s Shrub Frog.

Based on historical records, the researchers claim that the Ghate’s Shrub Frog is widely distributed in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra. It typically inhabits scrub patches and semi-evergreen forests. The species shows sexual dimorphism due to which males and females of the species look different. In fact, they are different in their behavior too, say the researchers. While the females prefer to hide under loose stones, males usually perch on shrubs and tree trunks up to 5 meters above the ground.

Unlike many other frogs, the new species does not have a free-swimming tadpole stage in its development.  Instead, it shows direct development – emerging as a morphological miniature of the adult from the egg. As per the study, Raorchestes ghatei usually lays egg in loose soil under stones.

Amphibian diversity in Western Ghats

Western Ghats is known for its rich amphibian diversity, the new discovery adds to human efforts to understand it. According to a theme paper on Amphibian diversity prepared by Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, India is home to 311 species of amphibians among which 161 are found in Western Ghats. According to the paper, at least 138 species of amphibian species are endemic to Western Ghats. However, much of this diversity was unknown to science until recently and is still getting unearthed. During the last ten years from 2003, at least 37 new species of frogs have been discovered from different parts of the Western Ghats.

According to the new study which described Raorchestes ghatei , though specific threat to the new frog species were difficult to identify, the habitat destruction due to human interference is a major threat to the endemic amphibian diversity in Western Ghats. “Even though no specific threats could be identified for the species, continuous deforestation in these areas leading to habitat fragmentation could be a threat to the species”, says the study. According to the researchers, tourism activities as well as setting up of wind farms are also leading to destruction of amphibian habitat in this area.

Anand D. Padhye and Anushree Jadhav of Department of Zoology, MES’s Abasaheb Garware College, Pune, Amit Sayyed of Wildlife Protection and Research Society, Satara and Neelesh Dahanukar from Indian institute of Science Education and Research, Pune have co-authored the study.

Wayanad Keelback: An Endemic Snake from Southern Western Ghats Video

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Wayanad Keelback (Amphiesma monticola) is a non-venomous snake endemic to western Ghats. We found it on the way to Agasthyarkoodam, in Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala, India. It was resting on the side of the road, after the area was swept out by a large forest fire. The tribal tracker (who was a member of the kani tribe) with us, said that they call this snake - Padakootti(someone who can gather forces) - and believes that if somebody mess up with one snake, he/she will come back with a lot of snakes. 

However, herpetologists from Kerala suggest that the local name could be a mistake by the tracker. 

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Rare plant rediscovered after 75 years from Kallar Valley in Western Ghats of Kerala

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Researchers at the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute has discovered an elusive plant - Ophiorrhiza barnesii, which was thought to be ‘possibly extinct’ since its first discovery, from Kallar Valley in Idukki district of the Southernmost Indian state of Kerala. According to a journal article about the discovery published in the latest issue of the Journal of Threatened Taxa, the plant was last reported 75 years ago, in 1937 by British botanists.

Ophiorrhiza barnesii, a rare plant
 rediscovered from Southern Western Ghats

According to sources, the researchers accidentally zeroed in on the plant while making a collection of threatened plants of Southern Western Ghats for ex situ conservation. The discovery now throws light into the still to be explored floral richness of Western Ghats, which is one of the eight hottest hot-spots in the world. The plant is one among the 20 members of the Ophiorrhiza genus found in the state of Kerala.

‘Possibly Extinct’

It was in 1939, that the plant was first described by a British botanist C E C Fischer based on two collections made by another British Botanist Prof. Edward Barnes. Both of the two specimens were collected from Kallar Valley during 1937. However, the plant has remained elusive since then with no further collectors or researchers reporting the plant from any other part of the state. According to researchers, subsequent botanical explorations even considered the chances that the plant may be possibly extinct by this time.

However, the rediscovery now puts it in the class of the rarest plants found in the Southern Western Ghats. To confirm the authenticity of the claim, the researchers reportedly compared the present specimen collected form Kallar Valley with the specimens in the earlier collections preserved at Royal botanic Gardens, Kew in London.

The Elusive plant of Western Ghats

The elusive plant is just like any other casual plant you may find in the Western Ghats with its perennial erect herb nature. Usually found as part of the under growth in the evergreen forests of the Western Ghats at an altitude of 1200 to 1600 meters from the mean sea level, the plant bears small white flowers. The flowering and fruiting season of the plant falls in the September to December period.

According to researchers, the plant is also found along the banks of the streams in the forests. It is found “usually associated with Sonerila wallichii, Ophiorrhiza roxburghiana, O. barberi, Elatostemma sp., etc”, says the research article.

However, with the rediscovery, researchers are raising doubts about the identity of another rare plant of the same genus found in Western Ghats - Ophiorrhiza falcate. Described by British naturalist Beddome in 1861 from the Anamalais, the plant resembles O. barnesii, in its description.

Flowers of Ophiorrhiza barnesii

However, rigorous searchers in the specimen collections in the foreign herbariums where the collections from pre-independent India are kept failed to trace back the original specimen based on which Beddome described the species. 

“Unfortunately, searching the specimens at The British Museum, Natural History (BM); Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K) and The National Herbarium, The Netherlands (L) also became futile.”, says the researchers.

Researchers seriously doubt that both the species should be one and the same; however, without detailed surveys at the Anamalais, it will be too early to speculate in that direction, say the researchers.

After the discovery, now a specimen of the plant is preserved at the herbarium at the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute in Palode in Thiruvananthapuram. The researchers have also added some individuals of the plant to the gene pool that is developed in the institute as part of ex situ conservation of wild plant varieties.

E.S. Santhosh Kumar, P.E. Roy, and S.M. Shareef from Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Palode, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala have co-authored the study.

New herb growing on moist rocks identified from Southern Western Ghats of Kerala

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Adding one more species to the rich flora of Western Ghats- a world heritage site and one of the eight hottest biodiversity hot-spots in the world- researchers have identified and described a new herb from its southern parts.

According to a recent research paper published in the International journal Rheedea from Indian Association for Angiosperm Taxonomy, the plant was named Henckelia pradeepiana, to honour Dr. A K Pradeep, curator at the Calicut University Herbarium who first collected the specimen in 1997.

Henckelia pradeepiana, a new plant species identified from southern Western Ghats
Image Courtesy: Rheedea

Spotted from parts of Vellari Mala, a hill tract in Southern Western Ghats, situated in the Calicut district of Kerala, the single leaved plant belongs to Gesneriaceae family of perennial flowering plants.

13 year long mystery solved

The new plant was actually located on damp rocks near the Olichuchattam waterfall in Vellari mala in Southern Western Ghats in 1997 by Dr A K Pradeep Kuamr during a botanical survey. However, he was not able to describe the plant since it remained elusive for a long time since then. According to the researchers, recurring landslides and resulting change in the water course could have kept this plant elusive, despite repeated attempts to locate it again.

Flowers and fruits of  Henckelia pradeepiana
Image Courtesy: Rheedea

However, K M Manudev, at the Plant systematics and Floristics Lab, Department of Botany, St Joseph’s college, Devagiri in Calicut, who is the part of the present study team, has located the plant again in 2010, after 13 years from the first report. While the first spot from which Dr. Pradeep reported the was at an altitude of 1160 meters from the sea level , the new record came from a few kilometers down at an altitude of 460 meters, from Muthappanpuzha.

The plant is found firmly attached to moist rocks along stream sides, or on tree barks in shady, humid areas, usually growing associated with mosses and ferns at elevations between 460 meters to 1160 meters from the sea level in Western Ghats.  According to reports, the plant usually has a single broadly ovate or oblong leave and in rare cases, up to 4 leaves.

The flowers on the plant are arranged in cyme or in flat topped cluster in which the central or terminal one opens first. The flower clusters are found to have to 1 to 20 flowers on the plant.  The bright yellow stigma of the flowers with strongly expanded lower lip is a remarkable characteristic of the plant. The usual flowering and fruiting season of the plants occur during July to October.  

Differences and similarities with other Henckelia members in peninsular India

According to the research paper, close relatives of the plant found in South India and Sri Lanka have unique tuber like features. However, Henckelia pradeepiana differs from them with its uniquely shaped, flat discoidal tuber and ovoid, globose thick fruit. Similarly, the faint blue flowers of the plant are also typical to its relatives in the peninsular India.

H. pradeepiana Flower with bright yellow stigma
Image Courtesy: Rheedea

Side view of  H. pradeepiana flower
Image Courtesy: Rheedea

             

Though the plant which was hitherto unknown to science has been described and christened as per taxonomic norms, not much is known about the details of the ecology of the plant and the ecological services rendered by it. The present reports restricts its distribution to southern Western Ghats of Kerala, however, it is highly likely that the plant can be found in other parts of Western Ghats at similar elevations. The closest relative of the plant, H. missionis, however is reported from Western Ghats from Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu which is 400 odd kilometers away from the present record of the new species.  

A. Weber of Department of Structural and Functional Botany, Faculty of Biodiversity, University of Vienna and Santhosh Nampy with the Plant systematics and Floristics Lab, Department of Botany, St Joseph’s college, Devagiri in Calicut has also co-authored the paper.  The new addition also points out that floral richness of this biodiversity hotspot still needs more exploration. 

Western Ghats shelter highest number of endemic orchids in Peninsular India

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According to a recent research review published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa, Western Ghats, one of the eight hottest biodiversity hotspots in the world, harbours highest number of endemic orchid species found in Peninsular India. 123 species among the 130 endemic orchid species of peninsular India are found in different parts of Western Ghats, says the study. Among them, 95 species are strictly restricted to Western Ghats.

A terrestrial orchid species found in Western Ghats

Flowers of a terrestrial orchid in Western Ghats

Peninsular India is the region is bordered by Vindhyan mountain range in the north, Arabian Sea in the west, Indian Ocean in the south and Bay of Bengal in the east and comprises of seven Indian states – Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha and Tamil Nadu and union territory - Pondicherry. Geographically, peninsular India is divided into Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats and Deccan Plateau. 

 Kerala shelters maximum number of endemic orchids in Western Ghats

According to the study, Kerala part of Western Ghats has maximum number of endemic orchid species. Agasthyamalai-hills, Anamalai-High Ranges, Nilgiri-Silent Valley-Kodagu region are some of the important regions here which support high endemism, says the paper. 

State-wise distribution of endemic orchids in Western Ghats

The present study also points out the high endemism among orchids found in Western Ghats. Of the 123 endemic orchids found in Western Ghats, 95 are strictly restricted to these mountain ranges. At the same time, among the 22 species of endemic orchids found in Eastern Ghats, only 5 species are strictly endemic. None among the 29 endemic orchids reported from Deccan Plateau are restricted to the plateau. 

Endemic orchid fauna of Peninsular India

According to a study, the family of orchid like plants have 22500 different species across the world. Among them, 1331 species are reported from India. 404 species among them are endemic to India. 

The present study claims that the actual number of endemic orchid species at peninsular region is 130 which are distributed into 38 genera. Among them, 43 are ground orchids, 85 are epiphytic or grow on trees and two are holomycotrophic (grows on dead or decaying matter). 

In the past, different studies have come out with different figures about the endemism among orchids in the region. However, the authors of the present study claims that they have updated the list by including latest changes in the taxonomy and updated distribution data for many orchid species. 

According to the paper, many species which were earlier considered as endemic were later reported from other regions also. “A total of 27 orchid species earlier considered as endemic to the peninsular region are excluded from the list owing to their extended distribution in the neighbouring countries”, says the paper.

Threats to endemic orchid fauna in peninsular India

According to the study, different forms of human intervention like cattle grazing, mining, construction activities and forest fires are the major threats to these endemic orchids in the peninsular region.

Quick Facts about Western Ghats Biodiversity

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Known as ‘Sahyadri’ in local language, Western Ghats is a 1600 km long, 45-65 million years old mountain range which extends from south of the Tapti River in the border of Gujarat and Maharshtra to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, covering six states ( Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala) in India.

The rich biodiversity of the region has made it an important region which should be conserved.

•   It is part of the Sri Lanka Hotspot which is among the 34 Global biodiversity hotspots in the world.
•   It is one among world’s 8 hottest biodiversity hotspots.
•   South Western Ghats Moist Forests and Western Ghats Rivers are categorized as Critically Endangered by WWF under the 200 priority Eco regions in the world.
•   World conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC) considers it as one of the important area of freshwater biodiversity. 
•   UNESCO has listed it as a World Heritage Site for its rich biodiversity.

Tamil Lacewing (Cethosia nietneri )(Agasthyarkoodam, Kerala),
one of the beautiful butterflies in WG.

Western Ghats biodiversity in numbers*
 

137 species of Mammals, 16 are endemic, including Lion-Tailed Macaque and Nilgir Tahr. 14 are globally threatened.

•   More than 66 percent of Mammals in Western Ghats belong to Chiroptera ( bats), Insectivora(insect eating organisms) and Rodentia ( order of gnawing organisms like rats and squirrels)
•   Among the endemic mammals, 62 percent are either bats or insect eating organisms or gnawing animals.
•  Malabar Civet, Wroughton's free-tailed bat (Otomops wroughtoni) and Salim Ali’s Fruit bat are critically endangered.

508 Bird species, 16 of them are endemic to Western Ghats.

332 species Butterflies, 36 are endemic species.

290 species of fishes, 189 species and 12 genera are endemic. 12 endemic fish species are Critically Endangered

•  Most diverse are Cyprinidae which includes carps and true minnows.
•   East Flowing Rivers of Western Ghats show more diversity than the north flowing ones.

 203 species of reptiles among which snakes are a majority, 124 (62 percent) are endemic.

Malabar Green Pit Viper(Trimeresurus malabaricus) is a venomous reptile, endemic to Western Ghats.

181 Amphibians species with 159 are endemic, 16 are Critically Endangered.

 77 species of fresh water Molluscs , 27(36 percent) are endemic.

270 species of land snails, 207 (77 percent) are endemic 

200 globally threatened species, but only 10 percent of Western Ghats area comes under protected category.

	Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable	Endemic	Total
Mammals	3	7	21	16	137
Birds	2	1	12	16	508
Reptiles	0	1	3	124	203
amphibians	16	28	15	159	181
Fishes	12	54	31	189	290

Source: Fauna of Ecosystems of India - Western Ghats, ZSI

*As of September 2012

Citation

Radhakrishnan, c. and Rajmohana, K. 2012, Fauna of Ecosystems of India - Western Ghats: 1-14. ( Published by the Director, ZSI, Kolkata)

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