Evergreen Forests Of Western Ghats Research Articles

A Review on Taxonomy, Anatomy, Ethnobotany and Pharmacology of Baccaurea courtallensis (Phyllanthaceae) from Westernghats

Ethnic communities are traditionally using wild plants in their day to day life for nutrition and medicinal requirements. Baccaurea courtallensis (Moottipazham Mal., family Phyllanthaceae) is one such wild plants used by tribals from different parts of westenghat region. It is a medium-sized endemic tree found in semi- evergreen and evergreen forests of Western Ghats, India. All parts of the B. courtallensis are documented to possess varied medicinal properties and used to treat stomach and mouth ulcer, diarrhoea, piles and dysentery by traditional healers. In the recent years, this tree has been analysed scientifically for supporting its traditional claims. The present review is an effort to revisit to scientific information on botanical characteristics, anatomy, ethnobotany, phytochemistry and pharmacological activities of B. courtallensis based on research papers from portals including Web of Science, Google scholar and Scopus. People belonging to Paniya, Kani and Kurichya tribal groups of different forest regions are the important payees of the plant. Both primary and secondary metabolites are present in leaves and roots of the plant. Various bioassays conducted in the leaves of B. courtallensis show that the plant has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-hyperlipidemic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activity. The fruit of the plant shows significant antioxidant properties. This data compilation supports the basic perceptive of B. courtallensis and opens up new horizon for future research.

A note on the biology, host plants and distriutional record of Goa’s state butterfly- Idea malabarica

The Malabar tree nymph butterfly, Idea malabarica (Moore, 1877) (Nymphalidae: Lepidoptera) was declared as state butterfly of Goa at the fifth Goa bird festival – December 2021 by Government of Goa. This butterfly is familiar for its captivating black and white wing pattern and unique gliding flight hence it is also known “Paperkite”. Idea malabarica is endemic to the moist evergreen forests of Western Ghats and is categorized as “near threatened” species by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It undergoes complete metamorphosis with six week of life period. Five instar larval phase feeds mainly on Aganosma cymosa, a species of Apocynaceae family. Losses of habitat and climate change are the major concerns to be dealt for the conservation of butterflies, which are indicators of healthy ecosystem and healthy environment.

Estimation of Above Ground Biomass Using Texture Metrics Derived from IRS Cartosat-1 Panchromatic Data in Evergreen Forests of Western Ghats, India

Assessment of above ground forest biomass (AGB) is essential in carbon modelling studies to provide mitigation strategies as demonstrated by reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. Several researchers have demonstrated the use of remote sensing data in spatial AGB estimation, in terms of spectral and radar backscatter based approaches at a landscape scale with several known limitations. However, these methods lacked the predictive ability at high biomass ranges due to saturation. The current study addresses the problem of saturation at high biomass ranges using canopy textural metric from high resolution optical data. Fourier transform based textural ordination (FOTO) technique, which involves deriving radial spectrum information via 2D fast Fourier transform and ordination through principal component analysis was used for characterizing the textural properties of forest canopies. In the current study, plot level estimated AGB from 15 (1 ha) plots was used to relate with texture derived information from very high resolution datasets (viz., IKONOS and Cartosat-1). In addition to the estimation of high biomass ranges, one of the prime objective of the current study is to understand the effects of spatial resolution on deriving textural-AGB relationship from 2.5 m IRS Cartosat data (Cartosat-A, viewing angle = −5°) to that of IKONOS imagery with near nadir view. Further, since texture is impacted by several illumination geometry issues, the effect of viewing geometry on the relationship was evaluated using Cartosat-F (Viewing angle = 26°) imagery. The results show that the FOTO method using stereo Cartosat (A and F) images at 2.5 m resolution are able to perform well in characterizing high AGB values since the texture-biomass relationship is only subjected to 18 % relative error to that of 15 % in case of IKONOS and could aid in reduction of uncertainty in AGB estimation at a large landscape levels.

Holigarna (Anacardiaceae) from the early Eocene of Western India and its palaeogeographical and palaeoclimatological significance

Thick lignite deposits on the western margin of India were preserved on account of thick vegetation which got buried underneath due to tectonic activities that occurred in northwestern part of India during the early Palaeogene. Study of the fossil flora preserved in these beds is important to deduce the palaeoclimate of the region. Therefore, a field work was undertaken to collect plant fossils from the Tarkeshwar lignite mine, Surat district, Gujarat (western India) which is still unexplored as far as the plant mega-remains are concerned. A fossil wood is systematically described from the Cambay Shale Formation of the mine considered to be of early Eocene in age. It shows close affinities with Holigarna (Anacardiaceae), particularly with H. beddomei and H. grahamii. This genus is evergreen in nature and grows in the Indo-Malayan region, while both the modern analogues of the fossil are endemic to semi-evergreen to evergreen forests ofWestern Ghats, south India, located at the equator. This not only confirms the palaeolatitudinal position of the Indian subcontinent at the equator during the early Palaeogene, but also indicates the presence of equatorial rain forest in the Indian subcontinent during the period. Based on the timetree, Sapindales started to diverge in the early Palaeocene (62–57 Ma) as its oldest fossil is from the K-Pg boundary. Discovery of the present anacardiaceous fossil (belonging to Sapindales) from the early Eocene strengthens the above phylogenetic view.

Species diversity, regeneration and dominance as influenced by canopy gaps and their characteristics in tropical evergreen forests of Western Ghats, India

Canopy gaps play a significant role in maintaining structure and composition of tropical forests. This study was carried out in tropical evergreen forests of central Western Ghats in India to understand the influence of canopy gap size and the relationship of gap regime attributes to diversity measures and regeneration. The average gap size in the study area was found to be 396 m2 and around half of gaps were 4–8 years old. Gaps created by natural single tree fall were smaller in size but significantly higher in number. Diversity and regeneration of woody species were compared with canopy gaps and intact vegetation. Species richness and diversity was higher in gaps than in intact vegetation. Macaranga peltata, a shade intolerant species dominated gaps while intact vegetation was dominated by shade tolerant Kingiodendron pinnatum. Gap size significantly influenced species diversity and regeneration. Gap area and age were significantly and negatively correlated with diversity measures but positively correlated with regeneration. Among all the attributes of gaps, regeneration was significantly positively correlated with light intensity. Gaps maintained species diversity and favored regeneration of woody species. In addition to gap size and age, other gap ecological attributes also affected species diversity and regeneration.

A fossil wood of Gluta L. (Anacardiaceae) from the Early Eocene sediments of Gujarat, western India

A fossil wood showing resemblance with the modern genus Gluta L. is described from the Rajpardi Lignite Mine of Bharuch District, Gujarat. The age of this mine has been considered as Early Eocene. The modern comparable species of the fossil, Gluta travancorica Bedd., is an evergreen element and presently growing in wet evergreen forests of Western Ghats, India. An account of the present distribution of its modern analogue, along with previously described fossils from the same locality indicates the existence of humid conditions and evergreen forest in and around the fossil locality during the Eocene as compared to arid to semi–arid climate in the area today.

Hygrocybe rubida, a new species from Kerala State, India

Hygrocybe rubida, a new species in subsection Squamulosae of section Coccinea, collected from tropical evergreen forests of Western Ghats of Kerala is formally described. The species is characterized by a bright red, dry pileus and stipe; ovoid to subamygdaliform spores; a distinctly sterile lamella-edge with crowded cheilocystidia and a trichodermial pileipellis.

Development of eleven microsatellite markers in the red-listed tree species Myristica malabarica

The Myristicaceae family is a primitive angiosperm family and is characterized by species that are highly endemic to the Western Ghats area of India. Myristica malabarica is confined to the evergreen forests of Western Ghats and Sri Lanka. In this paper we describe for the first time the development of eleven polymorhpic microsatellite markers for Myristica malabarica, which had 2-14 alleles per locus. These microsatellite markers could be used to study the population genetic structure of the species.

Improvement of black pepper.

Abstract Black pepper ( Piper nigrum L., Piperaceae) - 'King of spices' - is one of the oldest spices known. It originated in the humid, tropical evergreen forests of Western Ghats of India and is now grown in more than 25 countries, particularly in tropics. Important growing locations are India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and China. There are several production constraints faced by farmers seeking to achieve sustainable yield. Global climate change, inadequate water availability, labour scarcity, coupled with biotic stresses such as epidemic diseases and pests, are the important challenges to be addressed by scientists. In addition to these, consumers expect clean and high-quality spices. In this context, the goal of improvement of black pepper should be for bold berries with high quality and research should also be oriented to producing crop with lower levels of pesticide residues, contamination with adulterants and mycotoxins. The genetic resources of this crop in India are a great strength. This germplasm, containing local cultivars, wild forms collected from the area of origin and related species are a wealth to be utilized for crop improvement. Cultivar diversity is one of the principal components of diversity in black pepper and over 100 black pepper cultivars are established in India. The main breeding objectives are high yield, with resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, coupled with good quality parameters. The paper deals with breeding characteristics of black pepper and effective breeding strategy. Black pepper is a vine, predominantly self-pollinated and commercially cultivated through orthotropic stem cuttings. Conventionally, clonal selection is the main breeding method and historically it was adopted by the British for introducing the crop into their colonial countries, and this practice continued for a long time. Each producing country has its own selections. Research efforts have been focused on hybridization and polyploid breeding and micropropagation. Panniyur 1 is a famous hybrid and it is cultivated in many production centres. Now molecular approaches are used to develop input-responsive varieties with biotic and abiotic resistance for higher yield and quality.

Endemism in the evergreen forests of Western Ghats of Karnataka, India

In the present study analysed the pattern of tree endemism in the evergreen biotype of Western Ghats part of Karnataka, a biodiversity hotspot. Sampling has been done in various forest types of evergreen biotype and the recorded species were evaluated to analyse endemic status. A total of 267 plots sampled randomly across various forest types in evergreen biotype revealed 340 tree species (girth at breast height 30 cm) of which 112 endemics to them. Overall tree endemism observed in the Western Ghats part of Karnataka is 33%. The forest types studied are Myristica swamps, Riparian fringing forests, Southern hill top evergreen forests, West coast semi-evergreen forests and West coast tropical evergreen forests. Myristica swamps had the highest number of endemic trees (45.10%) followed by Southern hill top evergreen forests (39.78%). More than 50% tree endemism was observed in 14 families of the recorded 33 families. Cluster analysis of endemic species revealed distinct species composition in Southern hill top evergreen forests.

Pollen identification multimedia software: a microtaxonomic palaeobotanical research tool

The utility of the graphically pollen identifiable software as a capacity building, microtaxonomic palaeobotanical research tool is briefly described. The software accompanying a user manual (a booklet) enables many levels of users to learn palynology “at the click of a mouse”. The rationale and operation of the pollen identification system like the parent software IDAO is based on the principle of co-efficient of similarity and character weighting (vide Gower, 1971; Grard, 2000). A total of 145 selected genera belonging to 60 dicot and 2 monocot families have been listed. Out of selected genera, 14 are mangroves and most of the remaining genera come from the evergreen forests of Western Ghats. The vector drawings of weighted 136 pollen character states (in 30 character-interfaces) are also provided. The two major parts of this application, the Graphical Pollen Identification System and the Results are explained. A plate with the pollen digital images of 24 pollen types exemplifies palyno-diversity providing clues for parent-plant determination.

Evaluation of vegetation greenness metrics for characterizing tropical forest cover types–a case study using NOAA AVHRR datasets

We used vegetation greenness metrics in conjunction with Fourier analysis, a signal detection algorithm to characterize different forest types from NOAA AVHRR datasets. We selected three widely different tropical forest patches in the Indian region, i.e. tropical evergreen forests of the Western Ghats, tropical moist mixed deciduous forests of the Eastern Ghats and tropical wet evergreen forests located in North East India, representing different climatic, physiographic and topographic gradients. In addition to Fourier analysis, we used different vegetation greenness metrics derived from NDVI. These included annual sum of NDVI, maximum, minimum, amplitude, mean, coefficient of variation in NDVI and time integrated NDVI to discriminate the forest types from space. Results suggested relatively high amplitude in vegetation greenness for mixed deciduous forests compared to other forest types. The phase i.e. timing of the peak of vegetation greenness has been found to be quite distinct for different forest types. For mixed deciduous forests (Eastern Ghats), the phase was high during the fourth week of December (phase angle of 322°), compared to the third week of December (phase angle of 312°) for wet evergreen forests of northeast India and early January (phase angle of 6°) for Evergreen forests of Western Ghats. Although, the phase angle for mixed deciduous forests and wet evergreen forests of northeast India were close, differences in amplitude were quite distinct. Evaluation of NDVI metrics for different forest types suggested that wet evergreen forests (northeast India) showed distinct higher values for sum of NDVI, max-NDVI, min-NDVI, integrated NDVI and mean NDVI. Results clearly suggested the potentiality of Fourier analysis and NDVI metrics for characterizing tropical forest types in the Indian region.

Note: Novel acylkaempferol glycoside from the endemic species, Vernonia travancorica Hook. f.

Vernonia travancorica Hook. f. is a taxon, endemic to the evergreen forests of Western Ghats (above 1000 m), India. From the aqueous EtOH extract of the air-dried corymbose inflorescence a novel secondary metabolite, 3-O-β-[β-(6‴-acetyl)-d-glucopyranosyl(1→2)]-d-glucopyranosyl kaempferol (1), has been isolated, together with three other compounds, viz., 4′-methoxykaempferol (2), its 3-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (3) and kaempferol (4). The structure of the new natural product has been established based on chemical analysis, including characteristic colour reactions, rigorous hydrolytic procedures involving acid, alkali and enzyme, as well as spectral (UV, 1H and 13C NMR and FABMS) evidences.