Browsing by Author "Krishnamurthy, Jagdish"

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Fruit Removal, Seed Dispersal and Demography of Emblica officinalis at Rajaji National Park, Uttaranchal
(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2001) Prasad, Soumya; Chellam, Ravi; Krishnamurthy, Jagdish
Plant-frugivore interactions determine the structure and composition of plant and frugivore communities and consequently the understanding of these interactions may help in defining the management protocol for the conservation of these systems (Howe 1993). E.officinalis fruit are an important non-timber forest produce from Indian deciduous forests. In this study I have looked at fruit removal and seed dispersal patterns of E. officinalis in the context of its use by humans. Fruit removal patterns were followed for 19 E. officinalis trees with a range of fruit crops (from 73 ± 59 X 103 fruit to less than 100 fruit) at Dhaulkand, Rajaji NP. 11 of these trees were monitored to ensure that there was no human removal of the fruit. For each tree, all fruit on the ground in the fruit fall area and all fruit on 5 -7 marked branches were counted thrice every ten days in 12-hour intervals, till less than 5% of the initial number of fruits remained on the .marked branches, to arrive at nocturnal and diurnal removal patterns for fruit. Factors affecting fruit persistence (number of days fruit persisted. on the marked branches) were extraction of fruit by people and fruit crop size. In the fruit-fall area, factors affecting nocturnal and diurnal fruit removal rates were clustering of fruiting trees and human induced factors. A range of direct and indirect methods - tree watches, track plots and camera trapping were used to determine the identity of the fruit removers and to observe the mode of fruit handling by these removers. Langur (Semnopithecus entellus), ungulates such as chital (Axis axis) and barking deer (Muntiacus muntjac) were observed feeding on E. officinalis fruit. There was also evidence that the gerbil, Tatera indica, scatter hoards the fruit. Retention In ungulate rumens reduced germination success of E. officinalis seeds. Demography of E. officinalis and regeneration status of woody plant species at Rajaji was assessed along 6 one Ian transects' across a gradient of human use intensity, 3 each in hill and plain mixed forests. The E. officinalis population at Rajaji was found to have very few trees below 30 cm GBH. E. officinalis seedlings were found only in areas almost completely free from human use. Regeneration for tree species at Rajaji was dominated by species that are not lopped for fodder.
Patterns in Species Composition and Distribution Among Vascular Epiphytes in Low-Lying Semi-Evergreen Forests of Arunachal Pradesh, India
(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2001) Padmawathe, R.; Rawat, G.S.; Krishnamurthy, Jagdish
The patterns in epiphyte species composition and distribution in the low-lying semi evergreen forests was studied in Pakhui Wildlife Sanctuary and the adjacent Doimara Reserved Forests in western Arunachal Pradesh. Epiphyte community changes due to microclimate and host characteristics were studied by comparing sites of different microclimates namely riverbanks, tree fall gaps, closed forests and logged forests. Systematic sampling showed that epiphyte species diversity, increased marginally from low levels in the tree fall gaps to maximum levels in the riverbanks with intermediate levels in the logged forest and closed forest. There were dominance of certain families and life forms in different sites. Trends in epiphytic communities were closely related to changes in microclimate and host characters. The environmental variables were summarized by Principal Component Analysis, which yielded three components explaining 75.5% of the variance. Component one was positively correlated with temperature and canopy cover and light intensity in the horizontal zone, whereas relative humidity was negatively correlated. Component two was strongly correlated with vertical light intensities. Component three was purely a temperature factor . Araceae, Gesneriaceae and Asclepiadaceae correlated with vertical temperature humidity component while Orchidaceae and Moraceae were correlated with horizontal temperature. Families Aspleniaceae and Gesneriaceae were positively correlated with component one (qualitative parameters) of the vegetation characteristics, Therefore, epiphyte species richness were significantly different between across bark texture and architectural model of the host. Warty and wrinkled bark supported maximum species and Champagnats model of tree architecture supported higher number of epiphyte species. Six species were found only in the trunks and ten species confined themselves to branches. A total of twelve rare species of different families were found in the study area. The major implications of the study are the intimate relationship of epiphytes with diverse factors of climate and host characters, the change in one will trigger corresponding changes in other. Logging as a practice removes lot of trees, which reduces the diversity of substrate and microhabitat conditions available for epiphytes. It is important to maintain atleast a few big trees to serve as mother trees for recovery of the lost species.
The Impact of Land Use Change on Litter Beetle and Ant Communities a Coffee-Dominated Landscape in Chickmagalur District, Karnataka
(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2001) Badrinarayan, Smitha; Krishnamurthy, Jagdish; Uniyal, V.P.
Human-modified habitats dominate the landscape on earth. There is an urgent need for investigations into the diversity of biota supported by different land use systems that replace forests. The plantation of coffee is one such land use that occurs in large tracts of the Western Ghats in Karnataka. An observational study on changes in litter faunal communities caused by conversion 'of forests to coffee was attempted at the Koppa and Narasimharajapura taluks of Chickmagalur district. Four replicate blocks containing three treatments: forest, polyculture shade coffee plantations and mono culture shade coffee plantations, were selected using detailed spatial information that existed for this area. These included a land cover map, aerial photographs and topographic sheets. The information from these sources was used to obtain a list of possible study sites, the suitability of which were assessed on the basis of field visits and interviews of the locals. Litter beetle and ant communities were sampled using pitfall traps along two transects within each of the treatments. Measurements of microclimate, vegetation structure and litter parameters were made along with sampling for litter fauna. The organisms obtained in the pitfall :traps were sorted out and the ants and beetles occurring in it were identified to the level of morphospecies. Comparisons of the diversity of beetle and ant morpho species in the forest and two coffee shade treatments were made on the basis of the occurrence and abundance of different morphospecies. Cluster analyses of the twelve sites were done based on the distances between the communities found in them. Patterns revealed using exploratory data analyses were tested using quantitative statistical sampling. There were significant differences in microhabitat structure between the three treatments. Forests were found to be more humid and had more equitable conditions than either of the coffee systems. The beetle and ant communities in the three treatments were also found to be distinctly different. Beetle morphospecies richness and abundance was highest in forests and lowest in the coffee monoculture shade systems. Ants, while having an equal number of morphospecies across the three treatments, were seen to be dominated in abundance by a few species in the coffee mono culture shade systems. Generally, forest sites were seen to cluster together in one group while coffee mono culture shade sites clustered in another. The polyculture shade coffee treatments were seen to be intermediate in their community composition between forests and mono culture shade coffee plantations. The high community turnover rates across the landscape suggest that even remnant forest patches in this coffee dominated landscape need to be protected from further degradation. For further conservation of the litter faunal community, traditional coffee polyculture shade systems need to be promoted to halt conversion to silver oak dominated agricultural systems.