Southern Western Ghats Of India Research Articles

Physiological and molecular characterization of novel gut strains isolated from the fecal pellets of Nilgiritragus hylocrius

The Nilgiri Tahr are the high-altitude dwelling mountain ungulates, endemic to the Southern Western Ghats of India. These endangered, hoofed mammals inhabit the unique shola grassland biome. These herbivores feed on a diversity of plants including grasses, herbs, shrubs etc. They play an important ecological role in the maintenance of montane grassland ecosystems. Grazing by Nilgiri Tahrs in the montane grasslands supports the hydrology of these areas. In the present study, four novel gut bacterial species were isolated from the fecal pellets of Nilgiri Tahr. The four isolated strains from the gut of Nilgiri Tahr were characterized through an integrated approach involving morphology, physiology, and phylogeny. Molecular characterization was conducted using universal bacterial primers, followed by sequencing. Homology analysis of the sequences confirmed that the isolates were Bacillus safensis, B. aerius, B. subtilis and B. australimaris. These four Bacillus isolates are of viable importance in maintaining the gut health of Nilgiri Tahr and improves digestion in ruminants. The present study prompts that more intense research could be done on B. safensis to augment its use as biofertilizer , whereas B. aerius, B. subtilis and B. australimaris could have a great potential for enzyme production and bioprospecting studies. However, in depth research is needed and this current research is only a basic study for characterization of gut microbial isolates of Nilgiri Tahr.

Landslides: A Review from the Southern Western Ghats of India

ABSTRACT Landslides are the most unpredictable catastrophic events in mountainous and hilly regions. South Western Ghats one among of the regions in India that have experienced recurring landslides due to increase in pre-and post-monsoon rains. Landslides often cause damage to buildings, roads, natural vegetation, even result in the loss of human lives in South Western Ghats with indirect impact on the socioeconomic status of the country. It is crucial to depict the current trend technologies and their performance in landslide studies, offering valuable insights into mitigation strategies. This article highlights on prevalent techniques for mapping landslide zones, along with major conditional factors and assess the performance of these techniques in landslide susceptibility mapping of the South Western Ghats. Landslide studies of the South Western Ghats reveal 20% of the research work with the Landsat 8 OLI for mapping landslides, 13.3% of the studies using the higher spatial resolutions 2.5m and 10m of Cartosat DEM, the rest of the studies were based on the spatial resolution of 12.5m and 30m from ALOS PALSAR, ASTER and SRTM DEM. About 26% landslide studies have employed quantitative approaches primarily the frequency ratio of bivariate. Subsequently machine learning techniques such as random forest and support vector machine have gained prominence, accounting for 33% landslide studies. The literature depicts precipitation as a significant triggering factor and slope as the major conditional factor in the occurrence of landslides within the South Western Ghats. Prioritized densely populated areas in landslide studies have increased attention to smaller geographical areas and forest regions in the South Western Ghats to protect both inhabitants and ecosystems.

Anatomical traits explain drought response of seedlings from wet tropical forests.

Water availability regulates plant community dynamics but the drought response of seedlings remains poorly known, despite their vulnerability, especially for the Asian tropics. In particular, discerning how functional traits of seedlings mediate drought response can aid generalizable predictions of tree responses to global environmental change. We assessed interspecific variation in drought response explained by above- and below-ground seedling traits. We conducted a dry-down experiment in the greenhouse using 16 tree species from the humid forests of Western Ghats in southern India, chosen to represent differences in affinity to conditions of high and low seasonal drought (seasonality affiliation). We compared survival, growth, and photosynthetic performance under drought and well-watered conditions and assessed the extent to which species' responses were explained by seasonality affiliation and 12 traits of root, stem and leaf. We found that the species from seasonally dry forest reduced photosynthetic rate in drought compared with well-watered conditions, but seasonality affiliation did not explain differences in growth and survival. Performance in drought vs well-watered conditions were best explained by anatomical traits of xylem, veins and stomata. Species with larger xylem reduced their growth and photosynthesis to tolerate desiccation. In drought, species with smaller stomata correlated with lower survival even though photosynthetic activity decreased by a larger extent with larger stomata. Overall, anatomical traits of xylem and stomata, directly related to water transport and gas-exchange, played a more prominent role than commonly used traits (e.g., specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content) in explaining species response to drought, and may offer a good proxy for physiological traits related to drought tolerance of seedlings.

Pathological investigation and morpho-molecular characterisation of Lasiodiplodia theobromae causing fruit rot diseases on Hydnocarpus longipedunculatus – A novel host record from India

Hydnocarpus longipedunculatus, a medically significant tree species, is threatened and has a narrow distribution, being endemic to the Southern Western Ghats of India. A case of fruit rot disease was observed in a solitary tree of H. longipedunculatus in the Kulamavu forest areas of Kerala, India. The causative fungus, Lasiodiplodia theobromae, was isolated and identified through a combination of morpho-cultural characteristics and molecular sequence analysis involving the internal transcribed spacer (ITS), partial translation elongation factor-1-α (TEF1-α), partial β-tubulin (TUB2), and large subunit ribosomal ribonucleic acid (LSU) regions. Additionally, concatenated multigene (ITS-TEF1-α-TUB2) phylogenetic analysis was done. Pathogenicity tests were conducted in vitro using mycelial disc methods and confirmed the pathogenic nature of the fungus through re-isolation and morphocultural analysis, satisfying Koch's postulates. Previous studies neither have reported H. longipedunculatus as a host for L. theobromae, nor has any genus within Hydnocarpus. Therefore, this represents the first documented instance of H. longipedunculatus as a novel host record for L. theobromae from India.

Plantiness, Multispecies Conviviality and Changing Human-Plant Geographies

The essay examines changing human-plant geographies in Kodagu, situated in the Western Ghats in southern India. Paying attention to Kodagu helps investigate how plantiness impacts resource politics in indigenous landscapes across pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial timeframes. This essay will study Sarita Mandanna’s Tiger Hills (2010) and Kavery Nambisan’s The Scent of Pepper (2010) from a bioregional perspective to understand the importance of native plants, forests, vegetal and feral spaces across Kodagu’s shifting societies and timeframes and examine how human-plant encounters redefine the role of plants in Kodagu’s more-than-human geographies. With a particular focus on the Kodava ritual of Kailpodh, this essay will investigate how humans often classify plants as native, invasive, weeds, sacred and unwanted, depending on their impact on human social life, and how ritualising plants such as rajakirita (Gloriosa superba) helps to reinhabit Kodagu and deepens the Kodava human-plant interaction across space and time.

Discovery of a new species of kangaroo lizard (Squamata: Agamidae: Agasthyagama) from the southern Western Ghats of India

Abstract We describe a new species of Agasthyagama from Idukki district, Kerala, India. The new species is distinguished from its sister species Agasthyagama beddomii by a combination of scale characters and are also genetically different from each other with 11% uncorrected pairwise difference in ND2 gene and 3% in 16S gene. The two species are also geographically separated, the closest distributional records are approximately 80 km apart.

Climber Species Composition and Distribution Pattern along the Elevation Gradient of Courtallam Hills, Southern Western Ghats of India

Climber Species Composition and Distribution Pattern along the Elevation Gradient of Courtallam Hills, Southern Western Ghats of India

Endo-fenchyl acetate rich essential oil of Strobilanthes sessilis Nees inflorescence and its characterisation using GC, GC-MS, and NMR techniques

Strobilanthes Blume is a genus in the family Acanthaceae, with many species endemic to the Indian subcontinent. Strobilanthes sessilis Nees is endemic to the southern Western Ghats of India. The essential oil of dried inflorescence of S. sessilis was extracted using hydrodistillation method and the chemical composition was determined using GC and GC-MS techniques, which revealed the major compound to be endo-fenchyl acetate (89.33%). Other minor compounds like endo-fenchol (3.74%), (E)-caryophyllene (1.07%), and limonene and β-phellandrene (0.55%) were also observed. The major diastereomer of fenchyl acetate was determined using 2D-NMR techniques like HSQC, HMBC, and ROESY to confirm the endo configuration. The optical rotation of the oil in different solvents deduced that the laevorotatory enantiomer of endo-fenchyl acetate as the major or single compound. S. sessilis could be further explored as a major source of endo-fenchyl acetate, which has high importance in flavouring and other biological applications.

Feeding ecology of a lesser-known arboreal giant: Grizzled Giant Squirrel (Ratufa macroura), Southern Western Ghats, India.

Animal dietary choices help us understand a species' feeding behaviour and are particularly relevant in conservation management. The aim of this study was to gather knowledge on dietary choices and the foraging behaviour of the Grizzled Giant Squirrel (Ratufa macroura) in Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary, Southern Western Ghats, Kerala, India. The objectives were in particular to determine the food composition, seasonal fluctuations in food selection and feeding technique. Through an observational sampling method, focal animal sampling, the Grizzled Giant Squirrel in Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary was found to feed on 30 plant species belonging to 18 families. The most used plant family was Fabaceae, with eight species, followed by Moraceae (four species) and Anacardiaceae (two species). The food species consumed included 22 trees, four climbers, one liana, one paraphyte, one shrub and one succulent species. The squirrel spent the most time feeding on Bauhinia racemosa (19.79%), followed by Tamarindus indica (14.08%) and Nothopegia beddomei (9.89%). The squirrel's diet choice was primarily influenced by the availability of food tree species and food resources rather than the season and nontree species were also found in the diet of Grizzled Giant Squirrel. Although the Grizzled Giant Squirrel exhibits some plasticity in its dietary choices, the available diversity of mature trees and plants as food sources appears to be important for its conservation in the fragmented riparian forest of the Western Ghats in Southern India.

First report of fruit rot caused by Phytophthora parsiana Mostowf., D.E.L. Cooke and Banihash, on arecanut in Western-Ghats of Southern India

First report of fruit rot caused by Phytophthora parsiana Mostowf., D.E.L. Cooke and Banihash, on arecanut in Western-Ghats of Southern India

Description of Protosticta armageddonia sp. nov. (Odonata: Zygoptera: Platystictidae) from the Western Ghats of India

A new species of Protosticta Selys, 1885 is described based on specimens collected from Kerala, northeast of Thiruvananthapuram, in the southern parts of the southern Western Ghats of India. Protosticta armageddonia sp. nov. is compared with all other known Protosticta species of the Western Ghats to provide comprehensive differential diagnosis. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of characters, including a marking on the ventral side of thorax, structure and colour of the prothorax, markings on the 8th abdominal segment, and the structure of caudal appendages and genital ligula. Furthermore, we provide preliminary information on the ecology and natural history of the new species.

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Blyth’s Swift, endemic to the Indian subcontinent, is one of the four taxa of the Pacific Swift Apus pacificus complex. It is known to breed in high altitudes (>2,000 m) and disperse widely in winters, as far as the southern extremity of Nilgiri Region of the Western Ghats of India. However, the true extent of its non-breeding range remains uncertain. The present study reports the extended breeding range of the species and also an attempt to confirm its breeding range using the Species Distribution Modeling (SDM). In April 2020 in Anaikatty Hills of Southern Western Ghats, Coimbatore, we recorded an assemblage of four aerial foraging Aves; Indian Swiftlet Aerodramus unicolor (Jerdon, 1840), Asian Palm Swift Cypsiurus balasiensis (J.E. Gray, 1829), Red-rumped Swallow Cecropis daurica (Laxmann, 1769), and a large-sized swift. After referring to the experts’ field guides and discussions, we confirmed the species’ identification as the Blyth’s Swift Apus pacificus leuconyx (Blyth, 1845). The observed individuals of the Blyth’s Swift were carrying food bolus, confirming active breeding of the species in the Nilgiri region of the Southern Western Ghats of India. Also, the available breeding records were projected using Species Distribution Model SDM, the breeding range included the extent of Southern Western Ghats. We claim the first confirmed breeding record of the Blyth’s Swift in the region and an extension of the species breeding range.

Phytochemical Composition, Bioactive Compounds, and Antioxidant Properties of Different Parts of Andrographis macrobotrys Nees.

Andrographis macrobotrys Nees is an ethnomedicinal plant belonging to the family Acanthaceae, distributed in the moist deciduous and semi-evergreen forests of the southern Western Ghats of India. The objective of this research was to determine the phytochemical composition and bioactive chemical components using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and to check the antioxidant potential of the plant part extracts. A. macrobotrys roots, stems, and leaves were obtained from the species' natural habitat in the Western Ghats, India. The bioactive compounds were extracted using a Soxhlet extractor at 55-60 °C for 8 h in methanol. Identification analysis of A. macrobotrys bioactive compound was performed using GC-MS. Quantitative estimation of phytochemicals was carried out, and the antioxidant capacity of the plant extracts was determined by 2,2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging (DPPH) and ferric reducing assays (FRAP). A. macrobotrys has a higher concentration of phenolics in its stem extract than in its root or leaf extracts (124.28 mg and 73.01 mg, respectively), according to spectrophotometric measurements. GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of phytochemicals such as azulene, 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol, benzoic acid, 4-ethoxy-ethyl ester, eicosane, 3-heptadecanol, isopropyl myristate, hexadecanoic acid methyl ester, hexadecanoic acid, 1-butyl-cyclohexanol, 9,12-octadecadienoic acid, alpha-monostearin, and 5-hydroxy-7,8-dimethoxyflavone belonging to various classes of flavonoids, terpenoids, phenolics, fatty acids, and aromatic compounds. Significant bioactive phytochemicals include 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol, 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, 5-hydroxy-7,8-dimethoxyflavone, azulene, salvigenin, squalene, and tetrapentacontane. In addition, the antioxidant capability of each of the three extracts was assessed. The stem extract demonstrated impressive DPPH scavenging and ferric reduction activities, with EC50 values of 79 mg/mL and 0.537 ± 0.02 OD at 0.2 mg/mL, respectively. The results demonstrated the importance of A. macrobotrys as a source of medicine and antioxidants.

Elettaria cardamomum leaves, an underutilized resource: chemical profile of its essential oil and insecticidal activity

ABSTRACT Elettaria cardamomum is known as the ‘Queen of spices’; its leaf essential oil (EO) is least investigated and barely utilized. Here we report the chemical composition of E. cardamomum leaf EOs collected from five locations in the southern Western Ghats in India. EOs of fresh and dry capsules were also analyzed for comparison of their chemical profiles. The major constituents in cardamom leaf EOs were β-pinene (35.6–51.9%) and coronarin E (17.7–34.2%). In fumigant toxicity assays against two stored product pests, lowest LC50 against Tribolium castaneum was recorded in EO of fresh capsules (124.05 µL/L), followed by dry capsules (LC50 128.21 µL/L) and leaves (LC50 148.00 µL/L); LC50s of fresh, dry capsule and leaf EOs against Sitophilus oryzae were 30.24, 35.33 and 89.42 µL/L, respectively. This study demonstrates cardamom leaves as a source of untapped bioactive principles which can be viably utilized for the production of botanical pesticides.

Using passive acoustic monitoring to examine the impacts of ecological restoration on faunal biodiversity in the Western Ghats

Monitoring programs aimed at assessing ecological restoration have often relied on the response of a single taxon owing to the difficulty of sampling multiple taxonomic groups simultaneously. Using passive acoustic monitoring, we examined the impacts of ecological restoration on all vocalizing fauna simultaneously as well as a single indicator taxon, birds. In our study, acoustic recorders were programmed to collect data along a gradient of forest regeneration consisting of actively restored (AR), naturally regenerating (NR), and mature benchmark (BM) sites in a tropical biodiversity hotspot, the Western Ghats of southern India. For all vocalizing fauna, we calculated acoustic space use, a measure that reflects the amount and pattern of sounds within each frequency bin for a given time period. AR and NR sites were not significantly different from each other, and visual examination of the acoustic space showed a lack of sounds between 12 kHz to 24 kHz for AR and NR sites, suggesting limited insect activity. When we considered the response of birds alone (from manually annotated acoustic data), we found significant differences in the proportion of detections of rainforest bird species compared to open-country bird species across all treatment types, with the highest proportion reported in BM sites (mean ± SD: 0.97 ± 0.04), followed by AR sites (0.81 ± 0.12) and NR sites (0.71 ± 0.17). Considering the varied response of different taxa to habitat recovery over two decades, we highlight the need to take a multi-taxon approach while assessing restoration programs. We show that it is now possible to do so in tropical forests using passive acoustic monitoring.

A new species of Thiania C. L. Koch, 1846 from the Western Ghats, India (Araneae: Salticidae: Euophryini)

A new euophryine species, Thiania indica sp. n. (♂♀), is diagnosed and described from the Western Ghats of southern India. Detailed descriptions, diagnostic features, and illustrations for the new species are provided.

Hedyotis recurvata (Rubiaceae): a new species from southern Western Ghats of India

A new species, Hedyotis recurvata is described from Avalanche, in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu, India. The details on phenology, distribution and photographs along with a comparison chart of allied species are provided here.

A Pilot Study on The Population Genetic Structure of the Selected Fish Species from Meenachil River, India

Meenachil River is the only river originating from Southern Western Ghats of India having human settlement right from the headwaters to the mouth. The river is subjected to human-induced stressors to varying extents, resulting in a drastic decline in riverine health and fish diversity. The population genetic structure of two species commonly distributed in different geographical zones of Meenachil River, Dawkinsia filamentosa and Pseudetroplus maculatus were studied using the 16S mitochondrial ribosomal RNA gene sequences. Haplotype clustering and the presence of unique haplotypes were identified by phylogenetic and network analysis. Six haplotypes were identified for D. filamentosa and ten for P. maculatus. The neutrality estimations of the upstream and midstream populations of the species revealed the presence of an excess of common alleles with neutral mutations indicating a population expansion after bottleneck and stabilizing selection. The downstream population revealed the presence of an excess of rare alleles with non-neutral mutations indicating a positive directional selection and population sub-division. Population expansion demonstrated star-like phylogenies with rare haplotypes separated by mutational steps from the ancestral haplotypes. The private haplotypes indicated the existence of selection pressure in the downstream zone of the river.

Two new Stenaelurillus species (Araneae, Salticidae, Aelurillina) from Western Ghats, India

Two new species – Stenaelurillus megamalaisp. nov. (♂♀) from the colorful group and Stenaelurillus neyyarsp. nov. (♂♀) from the black and white group – are described from the southern Western Ghats of India. Detailed morphological descriptions, illustrations, as well as the distribution maps are provided. New distributional data for three other species, Stenaelurillus albus Sebastian, Sankaran, Malamel & Joseph, 2015, S. arambagensis (Biswas & Biswas, 1992) and S. wandae Logunov, 2020 are also provided.

Taxonomic notes on the genus Heliogomphus Laidlaw, 1922 (Odonata: Gomphidae), with a redescription of H. kalarensis Fraser, 1934 from southern India

The taxonomy and distribution of dragonflies of the genus Heliogomphus from the Western Ghats of southern India are discussed. A morphological study of fresh male specimens from the field, as well as holotypes and lectotypes from repositories was undertaken. Contradictiing statements in scientific literature, we found that the markings on the occiput and thorax are not dependable features in distinguishing sympatric Heliogomphus promelas (Selys, 1873) and H. kalarensis Fraser, 1934. The structure of the epiprocts and the male genitalia were key features for differentiating them. Heliogomphus pruinans, Fraser, 1922 is removed from the synonymy of H. promelas and is synonymized with H. kalarensis instead based on the analysis of the structure of its epiproct. In accordance with the provisions of ICZN Article 23.9.1.2, in suppression of the unused senior synonym, the taxon name H. kalarensis is retained as a nomen protectum. Heliogomphus unifasciatus is treated as nomen nudum. Taxonomic notes and updated distribution summaries of the two species from the Western Ghats with an identification key to the males are provided. Heliogomphus kalarensis is redescribed from fresh field-collected specimens, including details of the male genitalia and anal appendages. Fieldwork in the Western Ghats revealed that H. kalarensis is the most common of the two Heliogomphus species in Kerala state. The published records of H. promelas and H. kalarensis from this region need to be revisited in light of the facts presented here.