Western Ghats Of Peninsular India Research Articles

A Numerical Study on Extent of Crushed Zone Around Blasthole in Basalt Rock

Proper understanding of the rock breakage mechanism is important in tunnelling and mining activities. The excavation design uses complex energy distribution pattern when explosion and rock-blast occurs. This paper investigates the effect of a controlled-blast in rock mass using a numerical technique. The rock material properties were determined and fitted in an advance material damage model using the finite element code LS-DYNA. This material model had three governing surfaces, each of which was dependent upon the plastic strain accumulation. The damage zones around the blast hole were categorised into crushed, seismic and elastic zones. In all the cases, the material within the close vicinity of the explosion, failed in compression, whilst the material at distance away from the explosion, failed in tension. The influence of loading rate and its impact on the fracture pattern was also studied. It was shown that the higher loading rate led to the formation of short cracks and areas with large crack densities whereas longer and definite cracks occurred when the loading rate was slow. In both the cases, the rise time was found to be more significant than the decay time. This lead to the development of a relation between the critical rise time corresponding to the maximum damage. Crack velocities were higher for quick loading rates and achieved one-half the magnitude of P-wave velocity observed on basalt rock. The results of this model were validated using the case study of a tunnel excavation in Western Ghats of Peninsular India The numerically obtained ground vibrations in the old tunnel were observed to be under the permissible limits. Likewise, the vibrations deduced in the new tunnels indicated the initiation of cracks. Notwithstanding the above, a reasonably good comparison was obtained between the measured and predicted peak particle velocities.

The moss Actinodontium adscendens – new to India from the Western Ghats

The moss Actinodontium adscendens is added here to the flora of India from the Western Ghats of Peninsular India. It is described and illustrated with notes on its habitat.

Description of four new species of Burrowing Frogs in the Fejervarya rufescens complex (Dicroglossidae) with notes on morphological affinities of Fejervarya species in the Western Ghats.

The Rufescent Burrowing Frog, Fejervarya rufescens, is thought to have a wide distribution across the Western Ghats in Peninsular India. This locally abundant but secretive species has a short breeding period, making it a challenging subject for field studies. We sampled 16 populations of frogs morphologically similar to F. rufescens in order to understand the variation among populations found across the Western Ghats. Our study shows significant morphological and genetic differences among the sampled populations, suggesting that F. 'rufescens' is a complex of several undescribed species. Using evidence from morphology and genetics, we confirm the presence of five distinct species in this group and formally describe four as new. The new species were delineated using a phylogeny based on three mitochondrial genes (16S, COI and Cytb) and a haplotype network of a nuclear gene (Rag1). Hereafter, the distribution of F. rufescens is restricted to the state of Karnataka and adjoining regions of northern Kerala. Three new species (Fejervarya kadar sp. nov., Fejervarya manoharani sp. nov. and Fejervarya neilcoxi sp. nov.) are from regions south of Palghat gap in the state of Kerala, and one (Fejervarya cepfi sp. nov.) from the northern Western Ghats state of Maharashtra. These findings indicate that Fejervarya frogs of the Western Ghats are more diverse than currently known. Our results will also have implications on the conservation status of F. rufescens, which was previously categorized as Least Concern based on its presumed wide geographical distribution. Furthermore, in order to facilitate a better taxonomic understanding of this region's fejervaryan frogs, we divide all the known Fejarvarya species of the Western Ghats into four major groups-Fejervarya nilagirica group, Fejervarya rufescens group, Fejervarya sahyadris group and Fejervarya syhadrensis group, based on their morphological affinities.

A new species of Prosopistoma Latreille, 1833 and redescription of P. indicum Peters, 1967 (Ephemeroptera: Prosopistomatidae) from the Western Ghats, India.

Prosopistoma someshwarensis n. sp. is described based on larvae collected from the streams of central Western Ghats, and P. indicum Peters, 1967 is redescribed based on fresh material from additional localities of the southern and central Western Ghats of peninsular India. A brief discussion on their ecology and biogeography, and a key to the Indian species of Prosopistoma, are also provided. The Indian species may be distinguished from one another based on the segmentation of the antennae, carapace colourations, the setation of the tibiae and mandibular canines, and the morphology of gills 2.

Diatom community structure along physicochemical gradients in upland river segments of Tamiraparani river system, South India

This study examines the diversity and distributional patterns of benthic diatom assemblages in the upland streams of Tamiraparani River system, southern part of Western Ghats of Peninsular India. A total of 168 benthic diatoms representing 16 orders, 32 families, and 47 genera were enumerated. Structuring of diatom community was dependent on the environmental conditions of the respective habitats. Canonical correspondence analysis described both physical habitat quality and water parameter gradient and factors that correlated significantly were substrate type, water temperature, dissolved oxygen and nitrate content. Gomphonema gandhii , Cocconeis placentula and Navicula cuspidate were strongly associated with sites with embedded substrates and clear water. Diatoms could be effective in assessing physical habitat alterations in streams.

Glaciations, gradients, and geography: multiple drivers of diversification of bush frogs in the Western Ghats Escarpment.

The historical processes underlying high diversity in tropical biodiversity hotspots like the Western Ghats of Peninsular India remain poorly understood. We sampled bush frogs on 13 massifs across the Western Ghats Escarpment and examined the relative influence of Quaternary glaciations, ecological gradients and geological processes on the spatial patterns of lineage and clade diversification. The results reveal a large in situ radiation (more than 60 lineages), exhibiting geographical structure and clade-level endemism, with two deeply divergent sister clades, North and South, highlighting the biogeographic significance of an ancient valley, the Palghat Gap. A majority of the bush frog sister lineages were isolated on adjacent massifs, and signatures of range stasis provide support for the dominance of geological processes in allopatric speciation. In situ diversification events within the montane zones (more than 1800 m) of the two highest massifs suggest a role for climate-mediated forest-grassland persistence. Independent transitions along elevational gradients among sub-clades during the Miocene point to diversification along the elevational gradient. The study highlights the evolutionary significance of massifs in the Western Ghats with the high elevations acting as centres of lineage diversification and the low- and mid-elevations of the southern regions, with deeply divergent lineages, serving as museums.

A new subspecies of <i>Dimeria hohenackeri</i> Hochst. ex Miq. (Poaceae) from India

A new subspecies, viz. Dimeria hohenackeri Hochst. ex Miq. subsp. kodaguensis Kiran Raj, Sivad. & Dileep from South Karnataka of the Southern Western Ghats in Peninsular India is described and illustrated. It mainly differs from D. hohenackeri Hochst. ex Miq. subsp. hohenackeri in having mat-forming habit with leaves crowded at culm-base, spikelets 3–4 mm long and glumes not widely divergent during anthesis.Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 23(1): 27-31, 2016 (June)

Taxonomic Reassessment of the Arboreal Toad GenusPedostibesGünther 1876 (Anura: Bufonidae) and Some Allied Oriental Bufonid Genera

Abstract: We reassessed the taxonomic status of an Asian genus of arboreal bufonids, Pedostibes, based on examination of preserved material of the two species currently attributed to this genus. Analysis of their morphological, morphometric, and geographic distribution data revealed that Pedostibes tuberculosus, the type species of this genus from the Western Ghats, southwestern India, is morphologically distinct from the geographically separated member, P. kempi, which is distributed in northeastern India. Hence, the generic nomen Pedostibes is restricted to the type species, rendering it a monotypic genus from the Western Ghats of peninsular India. A re-examination and detailed comparisons of the types of P. kempi with other bufonid genera revealed morphological similarities with another geographically proximate toad, Bufoides meghalayanus, from northeastern India. Hence, this taxon is formally transferred herein to Bufoides with a redescription. The composition of the recently described Southeast Asia...

A reassessment of Melanophidium Günther, 1864 (Squamata: Serpentes: Uropeltidae) from the Western Ghats of peninsular India, with the description of a new species.

A new species of the uropeltid snake genus, Melanophidium Günther, 1864 is described based on a series of eight specimens. Melanophidium khairei sp. nov. is the fourth species described in the genus, and the first for 144 years. Superficially M. khairei sp. nov. resembles M. punctatum Beddome, 1871 in being piebald and punctate (and it was previously misidentified as M. punctatum), but in many scalation characters it more closely resembles M. wynaudense (Beddome, 1863). The new species occurs in southern Maharashtra, Goa, and northern Karnataka, in the Western Ghats region of peninsula India. It is the most northerly member of its genus. Lectotypes and paralectotypes are designated for M. wynaudense, M. bilineatum Beddome, 1870, and M. punctatum. A new key to the species of Melanophidium is presented. Aspects of the morphology, taxonomy and distribution of the three previously described species of Melanophidium are reviewed and revised.

Rediscovery of a long-lost moss Fissidens serratus var. Serratus in the Western Ghats of India

Fissidens serratus, a long-lost liverwort, is rediscovered in the Indira Gandhi National Park in Anamalais in the Western Ghats in Peninsular India after nearly two centuries. Till now, the collection made by Perrottet between 1834 and 1839 in the Nilgiri Hills has been the only Indian representative of this species.

On the occurrence ofCalycularia crispulaMitt. (Calyculariaceae) in the Western Ghats, India

The liverwort Calycularia crispula is added here to the liverwort flora of the Western Ghats in Peninsular India. A brief description with illustration is provided.

Spatiotemporal analysis of the effects of forest covers on stream water quality in Western Ghats of peninsular India

Summary The hydrological research has largely concentrated on two extremes – undisturbed forest cover versus cleared forest land, whereas most tropical forest areas are now a mix of secondary vegetation, and old forest interspersed with patches cleared for agriculture or other non-forest use (Bruijnzeel, 2004; Giambelluca, 2002). For this reason, research on spatiotemporal variations in the effects of a mix of primary forest, mature secondary forests and disturbed forests on stream water quality was conducted in four watersheds in the Western Ghats of peninsular India. The study indicated that every one percent decrease in the forest cover (all lands with tree cover of canopy density of 10% and above when projected vertically on the horizontal ground with minimum areal extent of one ha) increases turbidity, total suspended solids (TSS) and Escherichia coli by 8.41%, 4.17% and 3.91%, respectively as also decreases calcium hardness by 0.49%. However, when the forest cover was segregated into old forests (primary forest, mature secondary forest and undisturbed mature plantations) and, open and disturbed forests the old forests were observed to significantly improve (p

Deforestation-induced costs on the drinking water supplies of the Mumbai metropolitan, India

The success of incorporating natural capital into resource- and land-use decisions hinges on the ability to quantify the ecosystem services, forecast the returns to the investments, convert these values into effective policy and finance mechanisms, and the presence of well-functioning institutions and infrastructure. However, ecosystem production functions i.e., the relationship between regulatory functions of the ecosystem and the economic activity it protects or supports are often poorly understood. Even with respect to Forest Watershed Services – a service that is widely recognized and even institutionalized through market based mechanisms in some parts of the world – the biophysical relationships between forests and services such as stream flow stabilization, water quality and water quantity are undefined, particularly for the tropics. For this reason, this study through time series data and multivariate analysis characterizes the relationships between Forest Cover (all lands with tree cover of a canopy density of 10% and above when projected vertically on the horizontal ground with minimum areal extent of 1ha), water quality and cost of water treatment in the Western Ghats of peninsular India. In particular, the recursive relationship between the economic and environmental components is estimated by tracing the effects through the two-stage model. Annual value of impacts (increased ‘treatment cost’, increased ‘water losses due to backwash and desludging’, and changes in ‘water yield’) induced by loss of Forest Cover is estimated as 64.96 Indian rupee/m3 treated water/ha/year ($1.32/m3 treated water/ha/year). At an annual rate of change in the forest cover by −0.0088% (average annual rate of change in the forest cover between the years 1994–2007) the deforestation induced costs translate to 3.73 million Indian rupee/year ($0.075million/year) according to the 2010–2011 prices for the Panjrapur treatment plant of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. Thus, if deforestation is avoided the Municipal Corporation can save significant amount towards recurring costs of water treatment and to some extent mitigate the costs for the development of a new source.

DNA barcoding reveals unprecedented diversity in Dancing Frogs of India (Micrixalidae, Micrixalus): a taxonomic revision with description of 14 new species

In this study, we investigate species level diversity in the monotypic frog family Micrixalidae, which is endemic to the Western Ghats of Peninsular India. Attempting the first nearcomplete taxon sampling of Indian dancing frogs from the entire Western Ghats, we use 138 tissue samples collected from 70 localities over the last 12 years for DNA barcoding. Our results of multiple mitochondrial gene (16S and COI) barcoding reveal unexpectedly high species level diversity in the genus Micrixalus. Based on molecular and morphological evidence, we herein describe 14 new species, leading to a more than two-fold increase in the number of known species in this ancient lineage. Additionally, certain taxonomic uncertainties about the status of previously known taxa in this genus are resolved. Micrixalus narainensis and M. swamianus are considered as junior subjective synonyms of M. kottigeharensis, whereas M. herrei is resurrected from synonymy of M. fuscus and confirmed as a valid species. Taxonomic accounts of three species—M. elegans, M. silvaticus and M. thampi—are provided for the first time after their original descriptions. For nomenclatural stability, M. fuscus, M. saxicola and M. silvaticus are lectotypified, and M. elegans and M. kottigeharensis are neotypified. Detailed descriptions, morphological and genetic comparisons, illustrations, data on distribution, and natural history are provided for all species. We also provide the first osteological description of M. fuscus, the type species of the genus Micrixalus, and we report foot-flagging behavior in a total eight species, including two for which it has been studied previously. Overall, our results highlight the underestimation of true diversity in several amphibian groups of the Western Ghats, suggesting that spatial patterns of amphibian richness and endemism in this region need to be further re-examined. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/cjsbs.v43i1.6850 Ceylon Journal of Science (Bio. Sci.) 43(1): 2014Please note that the Full Text PDF is a very large file (11MB) and may take a few minutes to download.

Biochemical changes in the Lawsonia inermis L. infected with Asterina lawsoniae Henn. & Nyn.

Lawsonia inermis was infected with Asterina lawsoniae. This disease is common throughout the Southern Western Ghats of peninsular India. Taxonomic details of the fungus is provided. Infected plants revealed reduction in the total chlorophyll, chlorophyll 'a', chlorophyll 'b', soluble sugar, starch, protein and total amino acids. There is an increase in the proline and total phenol contents. Amylase and protease enzyme activities increased in the infected leaves while peroxidase was reduced.

Did southern Western Ghats of peninsular India serve as refugia for its endemic biota during the Cretaceous volcanism?

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.

Natural History of Zebrafish (Danio rerio) in India

The Zebrafish, Danio rerio, is a well-known vertebrate model species widely used in research associated with biomedical areas and comparative and evolutionary biology. Interestingly, despite the importance of this species, little is known about the natural history, habitats, and native distribution. In our study of the species, we collected individuals from twenty-one wild populations from within the species' natural distribution, ranging from streams/rivers of the Western Ghats of Peninsular India to those of the Western and North-Eastern Himalayas. Habitat types are identified from various geographic locations. Danio rerio is largely confined to and most frequently associated with habitats of low flow and with a sandy substrate in secondary and tertiary channels connected with the main channel of a stream/river, or habitats adjacent to wetlands and paddy fields. These connections can be natural channels or man-made irrigation canals, beels, or culture ponds. Among the 21 populations, individuals from two populations (one from Orissa and another from Arunachal Pradesh) were much larger in size (total length) when compared to other populations. The general habitats of Danio rerio vary from small to large mountainous and lowland streams/rivers, wetlands, and paddy fields.

Black mildews (Ascomycetes) from southern Western Ghats of Peninsular India with description of 14 new species

This paper gives an account of fifteen black mildew fungi collected from Kodagu in Karnataka and Kollam in Kerala state. Of these, Asterina cassiigena, A. chrysophylligena, A. hemidesmi, A. ushae, A. thevalakkaraensis, A. vitacearum, Asterostomella derridicola, A. vernoniae, Prillieuxina humboltiae, Echinodella mimusopsidis, Mahanteshamyces litseae, Sarcinella bischofiae, S. pogostemonis and S. securinegae are the new species, while Asterina antidesmatis forms a new record to India.

New and noteworthy black mildews from the Western Ghats of Peninsular India

New and noteworthy black mildews from the Western Ghats of Peninsular India

Notes on a Little Known Moss from the Western Ghats

Lepidopilidium furcatum, so far known only from the Western Ghats in Peninsular India for the country, finds a place only in checklists or enumerations without descriptions in Indian literature. Hence, fertile material recently collected from Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve in the Southernmost Western Ghats is described in detail and illustrated.