Ethnic Knowledge in Classification and Conservation: A Case Study of Wild Yam in Western Ghats

This study presents the contrasting trends of rainfall in the northern and southern Western Ghats (WG) and examines possible reasons for the phenomenon. The WG is one of the important mountain ranges that run parallel to the west coast of India. The mountain chain lies almost perpendicular to the low level jet stream (LLJ) and hence, receives about three times the average rainfall in India. The onset of southwest monsoon also occurs at this region, and thus WG plays a key role in regulating Indian climate through regional climate modulations. Therefore, detecting changes in the rainfall in WG is necessary to identify changes in regional climate. Here, we examine the features of rainfall received and reasons for the observed rainfall patterns in the northern and southern WG. In general, the rainfall peaks are observed in low elevated areas with high inter-annual variability. We find an increase (decrease) southwest monsoon rainfall of about 1.6 mm day−1 decade−1 in certain pockets of the northern (southern) WG. However, an average trend of + 0.3 (− 0.39) mm day−1 decade−1 is estimated in the northern (southern) WG for the 1931–2015 period. Our analyses reveal that this contrasting trend in rainfall (i.e. positive in the north and negative in the south WG) is due to the northward movement of LLJ; from 10°N to 15°N. This shift in LLJ is triggered by an abnormal increase in the surface temperature of the northern Arabian Sea and tropospheric temperature of the north India in the recent decades. The warming helped the LLJ core to move northwards and that weakened (strengthened) the westerly winds over the southern (northern) WG to significantly change the pattern of southwest monsoon rainfall. Henceforth, this study cautions the changes in the rainfall pattern over WG, which can have significant long-term implications for regional climate change.

Wayanad district is with a hilly terrain on the southern Western Ghats and located in the northeast part of Kerala state. The ethnic diversity of the district is very impressive as evidenced by ten different tribal groups. Ethnobotanical studies in the district resulted in the documentation of information on 165 edible plants used by Kattunaikka, Paniya and Kuruma tribes. The Paniya community possesses knowledge regarding 136 taxa of wild edibleplants, with Kattunaikkas coming next with knowledge of 97 taxa. Amongst these tribal communities, the Kurumas are at the bottom of the knowledge-ladder with knowledge of 42 taxa of wild edible plants. Key words: Ethnobotany, India, Kattunaikka, Kerala, Kuruma, Paniya, Wayanad, wild edible plants.

Food-storing bird species reside in environments with seasonal pulses of durable particulate food items, followed by periods of relative food scarcity. They have generalized diets and foraging repertoires, and show behavior (including territoriality) that helps storing individuals retain possession of stored items. Storing species occur in few families: woodpeckers, corvids, parids, and nuthatches. Less well developed storing occurs in shrikes and some predators because its evolution is constrained by rapid food item deterioration. Species in other families lack an ability to defend or retain cached food, do not feed on storable items, or lack sufficiently dense supplies of potential stored food. Storing increases food availability during periods of food scarcity, evolutionary leading to increased survival, longer life, and possibly to augmentation of a trend toward kin-selected social organizations. Storing species developed the trait in accord with the principle of economic defendability. A strategic analysis of the socioecological behavior of melanerpine woodpeckers and jays of the United States and Canada confirms expectations from an evolutionary model by showing that species utilize a single optimal strategy involving assessment of storable food availability. Individuals remain on a site and store food in favorable circumstances; in unfavorable conditions the selected behavior includes abandoning otherwise favorable habitat and opportunistically wintering where storable food is more abundant. Resident storers only opt for abandonment in very poor years, apparently because of benefits attending long-term residence. Fugitive storers only choose to remain when conditions in breeding areas are exceptionally favorable, i.e., when there is abundant storable food.

Syrphids feed on multiple patches in heterogeneous agricultural landscapes during the autumn season, a period of food scarcity

The Scytonemataceae is the only traditional cyanobacterial family that exhibits the false branching phenotype and includes ecologically significant species, making it particularly interesting from an ecologic as well as economic perspective. This family is characterized by its taxonomic diversity and widespread distribution. The current study focuses on the diversity of the Scytonemataceae family in the Wayanad district, located in the Western Ghats of Kerala. The Western Ghats is notable for its exceptionally high level of biological diversity and endemism. Additionally, this area is ecologically sensitive and serves as a site for the systematic elucidation of many species. The research found that Scytonemataceae are commonly found on rock surfaces in the Wayanad district. These species display a color range that varies from pale or olive green to light brownish-black. The species were characterized and identified based on various morphological features, including cell dimensions, color, shape, type of branching, sheath characteristics, and cell contents. A total of 19 species were recorded, with the dominant genus being Scytonema with 15 species. Brasilonema follows with 3 species, and Petalonema contributes to one species, all belonging to the order Nostocales. Notably, among the 19 species identified, 11 are new records for the cyanobacterial flora of the Western Ghats in India.

The Western Ghats (WG) mountain chain in peninsular India is a global biodiversity hotspot, one in which patterns of phylogenetic diversity and endemism remain to be documented across taxa. We used a well‐characterized community of ancient soil predatory arthropods from the WG to understand diversity gradients, identify hotspots of endemism and conservation importance, and highlight poorly studied areas with unique biodiversity. We compiled an occurrence dataset for 19 species of scolopendrid centipedes, which was used to predict areas of habitat suitability using bioclimatic and geomorphological variables in Maxent. We used predicted distributions and a time‐calibrated species phylogeny to calculate taxonomic and phylogenetic indices of diversity, endemism, and turnover. We observed a decreasing latitudinal gradient in taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity in the WG, which supports expectations from the latitudinal diversity gradient. The southern WG had the highest phylogenetic diversity and endemism, and was represented by lineages with long branch lengths as observed from relative phylogenetic diversity/endemism. These results indicate the persistence of lineages over evolutionary time in the southern WG and are consistent with predictions from the southern WG refuge hypothesis. The northern WG, despite having low phylogenetic diversity, had high values of phylogenetic endemism represented by distinct lineages as inferred from relative phylogenetic endemism. The distinct endemic lineages in this subregion might be adapted to life in lateritic plateaus characterized by poor soil conditions and high seasonality. Sites across an important biogeographic break, the Palghat Gap, broadly grouped separately in comparisons of species turnover along the WG. The southern WG and Nilgiris, adjoining the Palghat Gap, harbor unique centipede communities, where the causal role of climate or dispersal barriers in shaping diversity remains to be investigated. Our results highlight the need to use phylogeny and distribution data while assessing diversity and endemism patterns in the WG.

The Western Ghats (WG) of south India, a global biodiversity hotspot, has experienced complex geological history being part of Gondwana landmass and encountered extensive volcanic activity at the end of Cretaceous epoch. It also has a climatically and topographically heterogeneous landscape. Thus, the WG offer a unique setting to explore the influence of ecological and geological processes on the current diversity and distribution of its biota. To this end, three explicit biogeographical scenarios were hypothesized to evaluate the distribution and diversification of wet evergreen species of the WG – (1) southern WG was a refuge for the wet evergreen species during the Cretaceous volcanism, (2) phylogenetic breaks in the species phylogeny would correspond to geographic breaks (i.e., the Palghat gap) in the WG, and (3) species from each of the biogeographic subdivisions within the WG would form distinct clades. These hypotheses were tested on the centipede genus Digitipes from the WG which is known to be an ancient, endemic, and monophyletic group. The Digitipes molecular phylogeny was subjected to divergence date estimation using Bayesian approach, and ancestral areas were reconstructed using parsimony approach for each node in the phylogeny. Ancestral-area reconstruction suggested 13 independent dispersal events to explain the current distribution of the Digitipes species in the WG. Among these 13 dispersals, two dispersal events were at higher level in the Digitipes phylogeny and were from the southern WG to the central and northern WG independently in the Early Paleocene, after the Cretaceous Volcanism. The remaining 11 dispersal events explained the species’ range expansions of which nine dispersals were from the southern WG to other biogeographic subdivisions in the Eocene-Miocene in the post-volcanic periods where species-level diversifications occurred. Taken together, these results suggest that southern WG might have served as a refuge for Digitipes species during Cretaceous volcanism.

Exudates represent an important component of the natural diets of ­small-bodied primates. For mouse lemurs, the impact of forest type and seasonal predictability on gum consumption has recently been intensively investigated. The goal of our study was to extend our knowledge regarding the seasonality of feeding ecology of Microcebus murinus, first, to investigate the relative consumption of gum and hemipteran honeydew, a sap-derived product, and, second to assess respective foraging strategies in a highly seasonal and quite predictable environment. We hypothesized that (1) food resources vary according to the season, (2) gum and honeydew represent keystone food resources during periods of food scarcity, and (3) lemurs revisit productive stationary feeding sites during the period of food scarcity. We studied gray mouse lemurs in the dry deciduous ­forest of the Ankarafantsika National Park in northwestern Madagascar. We radio-collared seven M. murinus females and performed focal observations on their feeding behavior during the end of the dry and the beginning of the rainy season. During the dry season, the period of food scarcity, mouse lemurs mainly consumed gum and honeydew. Subjects revisited the same feeding sites within the same and over several nights. During the rainy season, the period of food abundance, lemurs consumed mainly nectar from shrub flowers and did not show gum or honeydew feeding. To our knowledge, the consumption of honeydew by lemurs is a unique case of sap feeding by proxy in a mammal. Further investigations will focus on the characterization of the ecological consequences of such an interaction between mouse lemurs, hemipteran larvae, and host plants.

Wayanad district, located in the northeastern part of Kerala state, features hilly terrain within the southern Western Ghats. The district boasts impressive ethnic diversity, with ten different tribal groups. Among these, the Kattunaikka tribe is particularly significant for their conservation and consumption of wild edible fruits. Fruit crops have been a part of our culture for centuries. Ethnic people all over the world have relied on a variety of wild food plants to meet their nutritional and dietary needs. Fruits have a significant role in human diets. They meaningfully contribute to human well-being in terms of nutrition because of their great nutritional value. Seasonal surpluses of perishable fruits are readily available. Among the wild foodstuff, wild edible fruits form a major part of diet supplements, especially for rural people. Large quantities of agricultural produce go to waste in specific locations during particular seasons due to a combination of factors, including ignorance and a lack of management skills in distribution, marketing, and storage. To spread the word about nutritional and therapeutic benefits of these fruits, present investigation has been carried out. The selected wild edible fruits, such as Tamilnadia uliginosa, Diplocyclos palmatus, Momordica dioica, Physalis minima and Syzygium caryophyllatum were collected from different hamlets of Kattunaikk tribes of Wayanad District, northern Kerala at the time of ripening. Several factors were similar, including how moisture, dry matter, carotenoids and carbohydrates were assessed. Additionally, antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase were thoroughly analyzed. Important metabolites like reducing sugar, starch, and soluble sugar are estimated with standard procedure. Selected five wild fruits are considered edible and commonly used by rural people in Northern Kerala.

Complete documentation of the early stages of Eurema nilgiriensis (Yata) on the larval host plant Ventilago bombaiensis (Rhamnaceae) is presented in this paper. In addition to this, notes on the range extensions of this species in southern Western Ghats in Kannur, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Malappuram, and Palakkad districts in Kerala is also provided. Field records from the northern Kerala part of the Western Ghats and the complete biology are reported for the first time since its description in 1990. Photographic records from seven locations since 2011 were confirmed by comparing with the original descriptions and in consultation with the author of the species. Eggs collected from field were reared at home, and every stage observed is also reported, as well as the discovery of the host plant Ventilago bombaiensis. It is concluded that the species is widespread in forested areas at elevations from 70m to 1,000m.

Answering the fundamental ecological question of what determines animal abundance has become critical with the accelerating need for informed management plans for endangered species. A major difficulty in testing general hypotheses to account for variation in abundance is that periods of food scarcity, which may be responsible for limiting population size, occur on a superannual basis. Research on folivorous primates suggests that periods of food scarcity are critical in determining regional biomass; however, studies of frugivores have found no single fallback food generally used by all species. In this study we quantify fruit availability during a 12-year period in Kibale National Park, Uganda to determine patterns of fruit scarcity. Over these 12 years, temporal variability in fruit availability was high; the proportion of trees per month with ripe fruit varied from 0.14 to 15.93%. In addition, there was dramatic interannual variation in fruit availability: in 1990, on average only 1.09% of trees bore ripe fruit each month, while in 1999 an average of 6.67% of trees bore fruit each month. Over the past 12 years, fruit has become more available, fruit-scarce months have declined in frequency, and the duration of periods of fruit scarcity has decreased. If figs (Ficus spp.) served as a fallback food resource over these 12 years, they would have had to be available during months when few trees were fruiting. Over this 149-month period, there were 34 months when less than 1% of monitored trees fruited. Figs were not fruiting in 17 of these months, and, in only 11 of the 34 months were more than 1% of the fig trees fruiting. Rainfall data collected since 1903 indicates that the region is becoming moister, and droughts are less frequent. There has also been a significant increase in the maximum mean monthly temperature and a decrease in the minimum mean monthly temperature since we started recording these data in 1990.

Optimal Foraging Theory (OFT) predicts that a population's trophic niche expansion should occur in periods of food scarcity as individuals begin to opportunistically exploit sub-optimal food items. However, the Niche Variation Hypothesis (NVH) posits that niche widening may result from increased among-individual differentiation due to food partitioning to avoid competition. We tested these hypotheses through a DNA metabarcoding study of the Sardinian Warbler (Curruca melanocephala) diet over a year. We used null models and the decomposition of beta diversity on among-individual dietary differentiation to infer the mechanisms driving the population's niche variation. Warblers fed frequently on berries, with a peak in late summer and, to a lesser extent, in autumn. Their diet also included a wide range of arthropods, with their prevalence varying among seasons. Consistent with OFT, the population's niche width was narrower in spring/summer when the population was strongly specialized in berries. In winter, the population's niche expanded, possibly reflecting seasonal declines in food abundance. As predicted by NVH, among-individual differentiation tended to be higher in winter, but this was mainly due to increased differences in dietary richness rather than to the partitioning of resources. Overall, our results suggest that within-individual niche does not increase in lean periods, and instead, individuals adopt either a more opportunistic or more specialized foraging strategy. Increased competition in periods of scarcity may help explain such patterns, but instead of showing increased food partitioning as expected from NVH, it may reflect OFT mechanisms on individuals with differential competitive ability to access better food resources.

The Western Ghats, vernacularly known as the ‘Sahyadri’ mountain ranges, constitutes a 1600 km chain of hills spread across 189,611 km2 and reaching an average elevation of 900–1500 m above mean sea level along the south-western coast of India. Falling well within Meyer’s classification as one of the hottest hotspots, the Western Ghats is home to thousands of endemic flora and associated fauna. Here we validate the biodiversity hotspot status of the Ghats with examples of chalcidid wasps (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae), describing with illustrations a new species of Phasgonophora Westwood (P. rubra Binoy, sp. nov.) from southern Western Ghats. The regional species of Phasgonophora are reviewed along with a phylogenetic analysis based on morphology, exploring the possible congruence of morphological data for the newly collected species. Additionally, diagnoses and illustrations are presented for an unnamed species of Megachalcis Cameron based on a male specimen from the southern Western Ghats. Megachalcis kannapuramensis Sureshan and Girish Kumar is redescribed with illustrations based on a female collected from Aaralam Wildlife Sanctuary, also within the Western Ghats. Distribution maps of Indian species of Phasgonophora Westwood and world species of Megachalcis Cameron are also provided. http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:1612501C-8FCA-4A57-A01C-BCC6325121A8

Chapter 2 - Evaluation of phylloplane fungal flora and host plants in the Southern Western Ghats

Western Ghats, known for its biodiversity, once well covered with dense forest, has been severely felled for cultivation of coffee, covering an area of 3.81 lakh ha and production of 3.27 lakh tonnes. To evaluate the effects of conversion from natural forests to coffee plantation on land quality, the changes in soil physical and chemical properties and soil organic carbon stock were assessed in selected hot per-humid, hot moist sub-humid and hot humid forest and coffee ecosystems of Chikmagalur district of Karnataka, Wayanad and Idukki districts of Kerala in the Western Ghats. Sixty sites were studied to understand the soil quality of which 46 sites were located in coffee plantations and 14 in forests adjacent to coffee plantations. In this study, six typifying pedons representing Chikmagalur district of Karnataka, Wayanad and Idukki districts of Kerala in the Western Ghats are explained by comparing the existing natural forest with that of coffee plantation ecosystem. The increase in soil organic carbon stocks (16.32-16.38 kg m-2 in forests to 14.32-19.28 kg m-2 in coffee system), the most reliable indicator of land quality and other soil properties like clay content, pH, exchangeable bases, CEC, available nutrients like N, P, Ca, Mg, S, Zn and Cu in the study area revealed that there was an improvement in land quality, owing to lesser disturbance and better management in coffee plantation compared to forests on its conversion which indicates the restoration of land.