Amphibian Ecology and Conservation
Ecosystem services of Anurans in wet paddy agriculture
Agriculture is one of India's primary contributor to the national GDP. While every effort is made to intensify it, little is known about the ecological aspects of such means of agriculture. In Tamil Nadu, there exists extensive paddy agriculture and many amphibians are found in the fields. I could not find a mere checklist of what anurans are found in the fields. This triggered a thought process to create a bench mark and also understand the dynamics of agriculture from an economic and ecosystem perspective. I collaborated with Allwin, an ecological economist and with Dr. Ganesh, a senior ecologist and developed a study which attempted to answer a few questions like What species of anurans are there? How many are there? What do they eat? and are they of any use to the farmer at all? From June 2012, I have been involved in documenting the diversity and distribution of anurans in wet paddy agricultural fields. It involved sampling for frogs in slushy fields at night, diligently flushing frog stomachs and preserving the contents. The project is nearing its completion and several interesting findings are emerging. The results will soon be made available as a report submitted to the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, Herpetological Conservation and Research Fund which supported our project. I am keen to continue this work and also replicate it in other parts of India in an attempt to understand the driving forces behind the patterns that are emerging from this unique study.
Agriculture is one of India's primary contributor to the national GDP. While every effort is made to intensify it, little is known about the ecological aspects of such means of agriculture. In Tamil Nadu, there exists extensive paddy agriculture and many amphibians are found in the fields. I could not find a mere checklist of what anurans are found in the fields. This triggered a thought process to create a bench mark and also understand the dynamics of agriculture from an economic and ecosystem perspective. I collaborated with Allwin, an ecological economist and with Dr. Ganesh, a senior ecologist and developed a study which attempted to answer a few questions like What species of anurans are there? How many are there? What do they eat? and are they of any use to the farmer at all? From June 2012, I have been involved in documenting the diversity and distribution of anurans in wet paddy agricultural fields. It involved sampling for frogs in slushy fields at night, diligently flushing frog stomachs and preserving the contents. The project is nearing its completion and several interesting findings are emerging. The results will soon be made available as a report submitted to the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, Herpetological Conservation and Research Fund which supported our project. I am keen to continue this work and also replicate it in other parts of India in an attempt to understand the driving forces behind the patterns that are emerging from this unique study.
Effects of forest logging on anurans and Long term monitoring of canopy dwelling anurans
Forests of the Western Ghats have been ravaged by several developmental activities like Dam, Roads, Timber logging etc. With the existing legal measures like the Wildlife Protection Act, the forests under Protected Areas appear safe. While there has been much attention given to the prevention of logging activities, little is known about the impacts of historical logging that persist on sensitive taxa like anurans. This problem is confounded with the absence of any particular baselines of population or species richness in the past to compare with. The forests of Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu, offered a suitable site to document the impacts of selective logging where select trees of economic value were felled right through the 70's. It also provided a unique opportunity to establish a long term monitoring protocol for documenting trends in species richness and relative abundance of anurans. From 2010, I have been able to establish a long term monitoring program where acoustic autonomous data loggers were deployed in the forests coupled with environmental data loggers. This study carried out with Dr. Ganesh required spending considerable periods in the field and up in the canopy of 100ft tall trees swaying in the wind. During the course of this work, I also chanced upon a hitherto un-described frog which was later described as Kakachi Bush Frog with Dr. Gururaja and Dr. Aravind.
Parallel to this, I investigated the impacts of logging on anurans by comparing their abundances in set quadrats between logged and unlogged areas of the forest. This component comprised of my Masters' dissertation work under the supervision of Dr. Priya Davidar of Pondicherry University.
Both these components were supported by the Conservation Leadership Program and Save Our Species Grant. Broadly, I am hoping to continue the long term monitoring aspect of this study. A few publications are in review and they highlight the importance and feasibility of replicating such studies elsewhere in the Western Ghats of India.
Forests of the Western Ghats have been ravaged by several developmental activities like Dam, Roads, Timber logging etc. With the existing legal measures like the Wildlife Protection Act, the forests under Protected Areas appear safe. While there has been much attention given to the prevention of logging activities, little is known about the impacts of historical logging that persist on sensitive taxa like anurans. This problem is confounded with the absence of any particular baselines of population or species richness in the past to compare with. The forests of Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu, offered a suitable site to document the impacts of selective logging where select trees of economic value were felled right through the 70's. It also provided a unique opportunity to establish a long term monitoring protocol for documenting trends in species richness and relative abundance of anurans. From 2010, I have been able to establish a long term monitoring program where acoustic autonomous data loggers were deployed in the forests coupled with environmental data loggers. This study carried out with Dr. Ganesh required spending considerable periods in the field and up in the canopy of 100ft tall trees swaying in the wind. During the course of this work, I also chanced upon a hitherto un-described frog which was later described as Kakachi Bush Frog with Dr. Gururaja and Dr. Aravind.
Parallel to this, I investigated the impacts of logging on anurans by comparing their abundances in set quadrats between logged and unlogged areas of the forest. This component comprised of my Masters' dissertation work under the supervision of Dr. Priya Davidar of Pondicherry University.
Both these components were supported by the Conservation Leadership Program and Save Our Species Grant. Broadly, I am hoping to continue the long term monitoring aspect of this study. A few publications are in review and they highlight the importance and feasibility of replicating such studies elsewhere in the Western Ghats of India.
Epiphytes and Canopy ecology
Working in the forest canopy came quite unexpectedly at me.
I joined a team of researchers headed by Dr. Soubadra Devy in unraveling the mysteries of life in the forest canopies. The work involved accessing the canopy of tall evergreen forest trees and document the diversity and distribution of epiphytic orchids. The aim of the project was to test the Hubble's Niche Vs. Neutral Theory. During the many years I spent in the forest, my interests got nurtured and grew. The project is now completed and the manuscript is in being prepared. The thought process this project initiated, however, is ongoing and has helped me in having a different perspective of how life evolves and manages to flourish in the forest canopy. I felt humbled after having worked in the forest canopies. The trees were several hundred years old and had stood the test of time. It was also a proud feeling to have been part of the very few who dare to go up into the very heights of the tall trees in the middle of dense jungle.
I joined a team of researchers headed by Dr. Soubadra Devy in unraveling the mysteries of life in the forest canopies. The work involved accessing the canopy of tall evergreen forest trees and document the diversity and distribution of epiphytic orchids. The aim of the project was to test the Hubble's Niche Vs. Neutral Theory. During the many years I spent in the forest, my interests got nurtured and grew. The project is now completed and the manuscript is in being prepared. The thought process this project initiated, however, is ongoing and has helped me in having a different perspective of how life evolves and manages to flourish in the forest canopy. I felt humbled after having worked in the forest canopies. The trees were several hundred years old and had stood the test of time. It was also a proud feeling to have been part of the very few who dare to go up into the very heights of the tall trees in the middle of dense jungle.
Road Ecology and Mitigation
The decision to work on road ecology was in some sense serendipitous. Way back when I had completed my bachelors, I was looking for something to do and met Dr.Gururaja who works on amphibians in the Western Ghats. I happened to work with him in central Western Ghats and did a short study documenting road kills. After moving to ATREE, I was exposed to larger problems of inadvertent things that happen in the name of God. In Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, over half a million people gathered every year to celebrate the Sorimuthian festival and they drove into the forest. With vehicle numbers going over 300 per hour, the forests were emptied of bigger animals and the smaller ones got crushed under the wheels. It was a poignant feeling for me. On one hand, Indians have shows phenomenal tolerance to wildlife and yet, here, in the frenzy to seek solace in god, innocent creatures were being killed. I wont even talk of the ecological impacts they had. Some of this work got published and I was also able to organize symposia and workshop on road ecology with Dr. Rodney in the Society for Conservation Biology conference in Bangalore.
Wetland Birds and Conservation
Wetlands are an integral socio-ecological component in the vast landscapes of India. They are rich in life and sustain everything from microbes to human beings. The importance of such wetlands is often unappreciated and the usefulness hardly understood. When the rains were pouring down the mountains of the Ghats, I got sucked into the wetland project. The arid parts of Tirunelveli and Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu are littered with irrigation tanks built centuries ago. Every day would begin with a hot cup of tea and a few vadai and rest of the day would be spent in surveying birds in wetlands. The team covered over 300 tanks. While some of the birds were new reports for the region, many were seemingly doing well. We also discovered a heronary during the course of this work. Several publications have come out of this work including a documentary and a field guide which is in press. Every year, waterfowl census are conducted with volunteers from the region and I am quite happy to be party to this.
Extension work
Academia is definitely interesting and so are publishing the findings in journals. Most often than not, people are hardly aware of what researchers/scientists have found and published in these fora. Added to this is the increased alienation of nature among humans. Nature conservation, at the end of the day is a human problem and for success of any management intervention, people need to support it. To garner this support, people need to be sensitized about how crucial the environment is, not just for us but for everything. More than anything else, it becomes the responsibility of the researcher/scientist to reach out to people as much of their work is supported by the taxpayers. With this intention, I have been regularly part of several outreach and education programs for ATREE and Centre for Environment Education among many others. Some of it involves giving guest lectures or being the resource person to interact with people and particularly children. I am always amazed at how, children come up with the right logical answer when posed with a question as to why such and such is like this. I often get quoted on several nature related issues in media as well.
We may have severed our roots with nature in a seemingly modern world but we cannot simply fathom the inter relatedness of every living thing and many a dead. As a trained ecologist and a nature lover, I make a honest attempt to get the above message across to the people I meet in various walks of life.
We may have severed our roots with nature in a seemingly modern world but we cannot simply fathom the inter relatedness of every living thing and many a dead. As a trained ecologist and a nature lover, I make a honest attempt to get the above message across to the people I meet in various walks of life.