mitigating green house gases: options in agriculture

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

MITIGATING GREEN HOUSE GASES: OPTIONS IN AGRICULTURE M. M. ROY Central Arid Zone Research Institute (ICAR), Jodhpur- 342 003, Rajasthan, India. e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: It is now well realized that significant changes in climate are taking place worldwide as a result of enhanced human activities. The contribution of agriculture sector in total green house gas (GHG) in the country is estimated at 29 percent. These are primarily due to methane emissions from rice paddies, enteric fermentation in ruminant animals and nitrous oxide from application of manures and fertilizers to agricultural soils. The potential impact of climate change on agricultural productivity has become a matter of concern, especially on dry lands. These lands are used for growing majority of course cereals, cotton, pulse and oilseed crops. Also, majority of the resource poor people inhabit this ecosystem. Since agriculture is not only sensitive to climate change but also as one of the major drivers for climate change; there is a need to minimize such emissions through a variety of strategies viz., adopting resource conservation technologies, altered agronomy of crop, optimizing improved management of rice paddies– both of water and fertilizer use efficiency, improving efficiency of energy use in agriculture through better designs of machinery, improved management of livestock population and its diet. Specific policy interventions like improved land use/natural resource management and improved risk management through early warning systems and crop insurance will be required to tackle this important issue through appropriate institutional arrangements. KEY WORDS: Climate Changes, Green House Gases, Agriculture.

INTRODUCTION The enhanced agriculture related activities are one of the major causes of increased levels of green house gases (GHGs). At global level, agriculture accounts for about one-fifth of the projected anthropogenic greenhouse effect, producing about 50 and 70 per cent respectively, of overall anthropogenic CH4 and N2O emissions; agricultural activities (not including forest conversion) account for approximately 5 percent of anthropogenic emissions of CO2 (Lal, 2003). The atmospheric concentrations of major GHGs like CO2, CH4 and N2O has risen alarmingly since the pre industrial period (Table 1). This has already resulted in an increase in mean air temperature by 0.76oC during 1850-1899 to 2001-2005. The model output estimates by Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicate that average global temperature could rise by 0.6-2.5oC in the next five years and by 1.4-5.8oC in the next century (IPCC, 2001; IPCC, 2007). Table 1. Trends of increase in main GHGs and its associated effects

GHG Co2 Methane N2O

Trends It has risen one third since industrial revolution. Current rate of increase is alarming ppm/year). Set to double in next 100 years It has risen to 1775 ppb from 800 ppb in the pre-industrial era. (25 times more Global Warming Potential when compared to CO2. It has risen from pre-industrial value to 270 ppb to present 319 ppb.

Source: adapted from Vanja et al., 2008

1

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert In India, agriculture accounts for 20-29 percent of India’s total GHG emissions, which is rising rapidly as a result of accelerated economic growth. A study by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) suggests that there are three major agricultural sources of emissions, (i) methane from irrigated rice production; (ii) nitrous oxide from the application of nitrogenous fertilizers and (iii) carbon dioxide from the use of coal-based electricity as well as diesel fuel to pump groundwater for irrigation. Apart from these there are several other miscellaneous sources viz., methane emissions from livestock etc (Nelson et al., 2009). There are wide fluctuations in climate conditions in India on account of cold winters in north, tropical climate in south, arid region in west, wet climate in east, marine climate in coastlines and dry continental climate in the interior. Agriculture is not only sensitive to climate change but also one of the major drivers for climate change. The likely impact of climate change on agricultural productivity may upset household food security and so strategies to mitigate effect of GHGs on agriculture are very important. These aspects are being discussed in this paper.

Likely Impacts Atmospheric Temperature In India, analysis of mean annual surface air temperature for 100 years (1901-2000) has shown increasing trend. The study revealed higher rates of temperature increase during winters and post monsoon seasons, compared to that of annual (Table 2). Table 2. Trends in mean surface air temperature over India (1901-2000) Season Trends (o C/decade) Annual 0.03* Winter 0.04* Pre-Monsoon 0.02* Monsoon 0.01 Post Monsoon 0.05 Source: Rupa Kumar et al., 2002 (*Significant at 95 % and more)

The future estimations reveal that annual mean area surface warming will range in between 3.5-5.5oC by 2080. More warming is expected during winters than summers.

Rainfall Apart from atmospheric temperature, the rainfall changes are also becoming evident. Significant decreasing trends in summer monsoon rainfall in several sub divisions of north east viz., Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura (-12.5 mm/decade); Orissa (-11.0 mm/decade) and east Madhya Pradesh (-14.0 mm/decade) are observed during 1901-2000. During this period, significant increasing trends are seen in Konkan and Goa (27.9 mm/decade); coastal Karnataka (28.4 mm/decade); Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi (13.6 mm/decade) and Punjab (18.6 mm/decade). Similarly, winter monsoon rainfall has significantly increased in Marathwada (5.4 mm/decade); Telangana (4.4 mm/decade); north interior Karnataka (4.5 mm/decade), Gujarat (1.2 mm/decade) and Saurashtra and Kutch (0.64 mm/decade) (Rupa Kumar et al., 2002). It is estimated that by the year 2080, there may be a marginal increase in annual rainfall (7-10 %). A fall in rainfall by 5-25 percent in winters and increase of 10-15 percent in summers is also projected. The date of onset of summer monsoon over the country may become most variable (Lal et al., 2001).

Droughts and Floods The historical analysis of droughts (over past 200 years) has shown the occurrence of five major droughts (about 50 percent of country affected), of which two occurred in the last quarter of 20th century. The probability of drought in eastern India is 35 percent. Drought frequency is higher in Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Bihar when compared to Orissa and West Bengal. Drought is more prominent during reproductive phase of rainfed rice crop, adversely affecting rice 2

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert productivity in these regions (Kulshrestha 1997). Almost every state in the country is affected by floods or cyclones during 1980-2005. The states along the east coast are affected by cyclones whereas almost all other states experience floods and other disasters (Vanja et al., 2008). The estimations suggest that severity of droughts and intensity of floods in various parts of the country may rise further in coming years. The per capita availability of water (renewable fresh water) will decline by 40 percent based on projections of population growth, water demand and run-off within the major river basins. Climate change may further worse this situation (Lal et al., 2001).

Agriculture Production The projected changes in climate are expected to have mixed effects – some good and some adverse. However, the overall effects are likely to be adverse. Higher rainfall during Kharif but more variations in its onset and intensity; Higher increase in atmospheric temperature in Rabi with larger uncertainty in rainfall will affect agricultural productivity through direct impacts on crops, livestock, pests and diseases and soil. The potential impact of climate change on agricultural productivity has become a matter of concern, especially on dry lands. These lands are used for growing majority of course cereals, cotton, pulse and oilseed crops. Also, majority of the resource poor people inhabit this ecosystem. Agriculture will be worst affected in the coastal regions of Gujarat and Maharashtra, where agriculturally fertile areas are vulnerable to inundation and salinisation. Standing crop in these regions is also more likely to be damaged due to cyclonic activity. In Rajasthan, a 2°C rise in temperature was estimated to reduce production of pearl millet by 10-15 per cent (ADB 1994). The state of Madhya Pradesh, where soybean is grown on 77 percent of all agricultural land, could dubiously benefit from an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. According to some studies, soybean yields could go up by as much as 50 per cent if the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere doubles. However, if this increase in carbon dioxide is accompanied by an increase in temperature, as expected, then soybean yields could actually decrease. If the maximum and minimum temperatures go up by 1°C and 1.5°C respectively, the gain in yield comes down to 35 per cent. If maximum and minimum temperatures rise by 3°C and 3.5°C respectively, then soybean yields will decrease by five per cent compared to 1998 (Lal et al., 1998). Changes in the soil, pests and weeds brought by climate change will also affect agriculture in India. For instance, the amount of moisture in the soil will be affected by changes in factors such as precipitation, runoff, and evaporation. The World Bank has suggested that India will see a fall in major dry land crop yields from Andhra Pradesh and that rice production in Orissa's flood-prone coastal regions could drop by 12 per cent due to climate change. These changes will affect everyone but particularly the poorest of the poor (World Bank 2009).

The Options Conservation Tillage Conservation tillage is any tillage method that leaves sufficient crop residues in place to cover at least 30 percent of the soil surface (Lal 2003). Recent researches have shown that surface seeding or zero tillage of upland crops after rice gives similar yields to when planted under normal conventional tillage over a diverse set of climatic conditions. This reduces cost of production, results in less weed growth, reduced uses of fuel and steel (for tractor parts) and improves water and fertilizer use efficiency. Such practices lead to soil carbon gains in the surface soils as well (West and Post 2002). Smith et al. (2007) estimated potential of this mitigation practice to sequester carbon and reduce N2O emissions under different climatic zones is presented in Table 3.

3

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Table 3. Mitigation potential through improved tillage and residue management

(t CO2e/ha/yr)

Climate Zone CO2 N2O Cool dry 0.15 (-0.48-0.77) 0.02 (-0.04-0.09) Cool moist 0.51 (0.00-2.03) 0.02 (-0.04-0.09) Warm dry 0.33 (-0.73-1.39) 0.02 (-0.04-0.09) Warm moist 0.70 (-0.40-1.80) 0.02 (-0.04-0.09) Note: Values in parentheses correspond to low and high mitigation potential. Positive values represent CO2 uptake which increases the soil carbon stock or a reduction in emissions of N2O. Source: Smith et al., 2008

However, there are reports from temperate areas that if the sampling from the entire root zone is considered (not the 20 or 30 cm), there may be a net loss of soil organic carbon in the profile and increased soil carbon in surface layers may be due to redistribution phenomenon (Baker et al., 2007). This, however, needs through investigation in respect of tropical soils. Also, crop residues are often needed for livestock feed, fuel, or other household uses in India, reducing carbon inputs to soil. To the extent that improved management is based on significantly increased fossil fuel consumption, benefits of CO2 mitigation are decreased (Sinha and Swaminathan 1991).

Altered Agronomy The smaller changes in climatic parameters may be managed through altered agronomy– altering the dates of planting, spacing and input management. Alternate crops (cultivars) or crop sequences more adapted to changed environment can further ease the pressures.

Early Warning Systems The modern tools of information technology may facilitate in developing early warning systems of environmental changes and their spatial and temporal magnitude. Such a system are expected to be useful in determining the food insecure areas and communities and take up contingent planning (Peter 2007).

Alternate land Management The two alternate land management viz., grassland management, agroforestry offer significant opportunities for carbon sequestration. For improved grasslands high rates of sequestration can be achieved through introduction of more productive grass species and legumes. Improved nutrient management and irrigation can also increase productivity and sequester more carbon. Agroforestry (including conversion from forests to slash and burn to agroforests after deforestation; conversion from low productivity crop lands to sequential agroforestry; integration of trees into farming systems and agricultural landscapes) has also high carbon sequestration potential on account of the tree component. These systems reduce the vulnerability of small scale farmers to inter-annual climate variability and help them adapt to changing conditions (Lal 2003; Verchot and Singh 2008).

Restoration of Severely Degraded lands Restoration of severely degraded lands including salt affected soils, badly eroded and desert soils, mine soils and industrially polluted sites may have low carbon sequestration potential, but their role may be significant locally.

Mitigation of Methane Emissions The largest agricultural sources of CH4 are managed ruminant animals and rice production. Rice cultivation will continue to increase at its current rate to meet food requirements. Flooded rice fields produce CH4 emissions, which can be reduced by improved management 4

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert measures. Successful implementation of available mitigation technologies will depend on demonstration that (i) grain yield will not decrease or may increase; (ii) there will be savings in labor, water, and other production costs; and (iii) rice cultivars that produce lower CH4 emissions are acceptable to local consumers. Emissions of CH4 from domestic ruminant animals can be reduced as producers use improved grazing systems with higher quality forage; since animals grazing on poor quality rangelands produce more CH4 per unit of feed consumed. Confined feeding operations utilizing balanced rations that properly manage digestion of high energy feeds can also reduce direct emissions, but can increase indirect emissions from feed production and transportation. CH4 produced in animal waste disposal systems can provide an on-farm energy supply, and the CH4 utilized in this manner is not emitted to the atmosphere (Clemens and Ahlgrimn 2001).

Mitigation of Nitrous Oxide Emissions Nitrogen is an essential plant nutrient; however, it is also a component of some of the most mobile compounds in the soil-plant-atmosphere system. Since nitrogen is the major component of mineral fertilizer, there is mounting concern over the extent to which high-input agriculture loads nitrogen compounds into the environment. Nitrogen budgeting, or an input/output balance approach, provides a basis for policies to improve nitrogen management in farming and livestock systems, and for mitigating its environmental impact. Management systems can decrease the amount of nitrogen lost to the environment through gaseous losses of ammonia or N2O, or through leaching of nitrate into the subsoil. In some cases, improved efficiency is achieved by using less fertilizer; in other cases, it can be achieved by increasing yields at the same nitrogen levels. The primary sources of N2O from agriculture are mineral fertilizers, legume cropping, and animal waste. These losses often are accelerated by poor soil physical conditions. Some N2O also is emitted from biomass burning. Improvements in farm technology, such as use of controlledrelease fertilizers, nitrification inhibitors, the timing of nitrogen application, and water management should lead to improvements in nitrogen use efficiency and further limit N2O formation. The underlying concept in reducing N2O emissions is that if fertilizer nitrogen (including manure nitrogen) is better used by the crop, less N2O will be produced and less nitrogen will leak from the system (Rathore and Stigter, 2007).

SUGGESTIONS The climate change is likely to aggravate the problem of water scarcity; so much more efficiency is required in management of water resources. There is a need for effective policies and programmes that support dryland agriculture with the following thrusts: •

Develop reliable early warning systems and forecasting the monsoons in the context of climate change

•

Clearly define and enforce water rights in watershed communities

•

Support water saving options like drip irrigation

•

Include dryland crops and fodder crops in the minimum support price scheme.

•

Price water and power to more accurately reflect their opportunity costs

•

Recharge the depleted ground water aquifers and enforce strong regulations on ground water extraction

•

Rehabilitate degraded lands and diversify livelihood systems for landless and vulnerable

•

Improve the efficiency of energy use in agriculture by using better designs of machinery

•

Gene pyramiding to enhance the adaptation capacity of plants to climate change inputs.

•

Improve management of livestock production and its diet

5

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert •

Promoting alternate land uses like agroforestry and grassland management

•

Encourage farmers to increase soil carbon through organic manures, minimal tillage and residue management

•

Enable collective action and rural institutions for agriculture and natural resource management

•

Significant increase in public investment in dryland agriculture and rural infrastructure The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) researchers estimated that temporary draining of rice fields at least once around the middle of the growing season can reduce annual methane emissions by about 18 percent, with only a 1.5 percent yield decline. Under a business-as-usual scenario, in contrast, emissions would increase by nearly 25 percent, as rice production expands between now and 2050. Adoption of midseason drying in all of the country’s irrigated rice areas would essentially stabilize methane emissions at their 2000 levels, despite continued growth in production. Reducing subsidies on electricity used to pump groundwater for irrigation would lower carbon dioxide emissions by 14 percent while reducing water use by 8 percent, with virtually no effect on crop production.While sounding a note of caution about the variable quality of the data used in the above studies, the findings provides grounds for optimism about Indian agriculture’s large potential for contributing to climate change mitigation (Nelson et al., 2009).

CONCLUSION The effects of climate change are now a reality in agricultural production systems. The increase in weather extremes like torrential rains, heat waves, cold waves, droughts, floods etc. are affecting the production across various agro-climatic zones. There is an urgent need of address the challenge of climate change through diversification of cropping systems and improvement of the natural resource base in a holistic matter. Adoption of farming system approach, strengthening of extension services, use of latest biotechnological techniques and information technology and proper institutional support are vital in this context.

REFERENCES ADB. 1994. Climate Change in Asia: India Country Report. Asian Development Bank, Manila, 77pp. Baker, J.M., Ochsner, R.T., Venterea, R.T. and Griffis, T.J. 2007. Tillage and soil carbon sequestration- what do we really know? Agriculture, Ecosystem & Environment, 118: 1-5. Clemens, J. and Ahlgrimn, H.J. 2001. Green house gases from animal husbandry– mitigation options. Nutrient Cycling in Agro-Ecosystems, 60: 287-300. IPCC. 2001. Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptations and Vulnerability (Third Assessment Report). Inter-Government Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (UK). 1032pp. IPCC. 2007. Climate Change– The Physical Science Basis (Working Group I). Inter-Government Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (UK). 996pp. Kulshrestha, S.M. 1997. Drought Management in India and Potential Contribution of Climate Prediction. Technical Report (COLA/CARE) No. 1. Institute of Global Environment and Society. Calverton (USA). 105pp. Lal, M., Singh, K.K., Srinivasan, G., Rathore, R.S., Naidu, D., Tripathi, C.N. 1999. Growth and yield responses of soybean in Madhya Pradesh. Agricultural & Forest Meteorology, 93(1): 55-66. Lal, M.., Nozawa, T., Emori, S., Harasawa, H., Takahashi, K., Kimoto, M., Abe-Quchi, A., Nakajma, T., Takemura, T. and Numagut, N. 2001. Future climate change: implications for Indian summer monsoon and its variability. Current Science, 81(9): 1196-1207 Lal, R. 2003. Global potential of soil carbon sequestration to mitigate green house effect. Crit. Rev. Plant Sci., 22: 151-184.

6

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Nelson, G.C., Richard, R., Siwa, M., Tingju, Z., Xiaoli, L., Puja, J. 2009. Green house gas mitigation– issues for Indian agriculture. IFPRI, Washington DC. 60pp. Peter, H. 2007. Scientific and environmental rational for weather risk insurance for agriculture. In: Managing Weather and Climate Risks in Agriculture (eds. Shivkumar MVK and Motha RP). Springer Berlin Heidelberg, New York. pp.367-375. Rathore, R.S. and Stigter, C.J. 2007. Challenges to coping strategies with agro-meteorological risks and uncertainties in Asia regions. In: Managing Weather and Climate Risks in Agriculture (eds Shivkumar MVK and Motha RP). Springer Berlin Heidelberg, New York. pp.53-70. Rupa Kumar, K., Krishna Kumar, K., Pant, G.B. and Srinivasan, G. 2002. Climate Change– The Indian Scenario. Bakcground Paper FICCI, New Delhi. pp.5-17. Sinha, S.K. and Swaminathan, M.S. 1991. Deforestation, climate change and sustainable nutritional security – a case study of India. Climate Change, 19: 201-209. Smith, P., Martino, D., Cai, Z., Gwary, D., Janzen, H., kumar, P., McCarl, B., Ogle, S., O’mara, F., Rice, C., Scholes, B., Sirotenko, O., Howden, M., Mcallister, T., Genxing, P., Romanenkav, V., Schneider, U., Towprayoon, S., Wattenbach, M. and Smith, J. 2008. Green house mitigation in agriculture. Phil. Trans. Royal Society B. 363: 789-813. Vanja, M., Ramakrishna, Y.S., Rao, G.G.S.N., Rao, K.V. and Subba Rao, A.V.M. 2008. Climate change and dryland agriculture. In: Dryland Ecosystem– Indian Perspective (eds. Vittal, K.P.R., Kar, A., Srivastava, R.L., Tewari, V.P., Joshi, N.L. and Kathju, S.). CAZRI & AFRI, Jodhpur. pp.23-34. Verchot, L.V. and Singh, V.P. 2008. Carbon sequestration opportunities with small holder communities– forestry, agriculture and agroforestry. In: Lead Papers 4th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture. 4th WCCA, New Delhi. pp.351-361. West, T.O. and Post, W.M. 2002. Soil carbon sequestration rates by tillage and crop rotation – a global data analysis. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 66: 1930-1946. World Bank. 2009. Big impact of climate change on India's farm yields. www.worldbank.org.in/.../INDIAEXTN/0,content MDK:22204311~ page PK:141137~ piPK:141127 ~ theSitePK:295584,00.html

7

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE NORTH WEST HIMALAYAS ON ENTOMOFAUNA AND ON AGROECOSYSTEM- A VIEW V.V. RAMAMURTHY1,3 AND GAURAV SHARMA2,4 1

Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110 012. 2

Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Jodhpur-342 005, Rajasthan. 3 4 e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

ABSTRACT: The influence of climate change on natural disturbance regimes poses new questions as to how sustainable forest management and that of agroecosystems in the North West Himalayas can be achieved. As far as forest ecosystems are concerned the precise impacts of climate change on insects and pathogens are somewhat uncertain because some climate changes may favor many pathogens and insects while others may inhibit a few insects and pathogens. The preponderance of evidence indicates that there will be an overall increase in the number of outbreaks of a wider variety of insects and pathogens. The possible increased use of fungicides and insecticides resulting from an increase in pest outbreaks will likely have adverse environmental and economic impacts for forestry in the North West Himalayas. The best economic strategy for the foresters to follow is to use integrated forestry management practices through critical monitoring of the flora and fauna and adopt suitable time oriented management practices towards conservation. An understanding of the impacts of climate change on natural disturbances is important, especially in light of their relationship to the global carbon cycle. Our understanding of the relationship between climate, climate change and entomofauna in the North West Himalayas is far from satisfactory. Much more research needs to be done to fill in the gaps in the knowledge base. In the agroecosystems farmers should keep in mind that climate change is likely to be a gradual process that will give them some opportunity to adapt. Although changes in the North West Himalayas’ climate are almost certainly happening, it is not precisely understood how these changes will affect crops, insects, diseases, and the relationships among them. Farmers who closely monitor the occurrence of pests in their fields and keep records of the severity, frequency, and cost of managing pests over time will be in a better position to make decisions about whether it remains economical to continue to grow a particular crop or use a certain pest management technique. Those farmers who make the best use of the basics of integrated pest management (IPM) such as field monitoring, pest forecasting, recordkeeping, and choosing economically and environmentally sound control measures will be most likely to be successful in dealing with the effects of climate change. KEY WORDS: Climate Change, North West Himalayas, Entomofauna, Agroecosystem.

INTRODUCTION India is one of the largest countries of the world with unique landscapes making it a distinct geographical entity and one of the megadiversity centres of the world. Its ecological diversity and geodiversity when coupled with huge human populations, it leads to a situation that humans are entirely dependant upon its natural resources. Himalayas is one such region with diverse characteristics with effects of climate change has been quite revealing. Especially in the North West Himalayas, where the glaciers are recognized as being among sensitive indicators of these changes, the effects are quite distinct. It has been observed that the glaciers have been unable to regenerate enough ice during the winters to make up for the ice lost during summer. The atmospheric concentration of CO2 has increased to predominant levels and the land use, 8

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert ozone depletion, agriculture, and deforestation have added to the problems. The North West Himalayas and its environments are subjected to these interferences in a large scale currently. Himalayan glaciers can shrink to a fifth of its present size and the distribution of these glaciers will be affected additionally due to crisscross mountains, altitude variations and different climatic environment. It is quite certain that these mountain systems and its flora and fauna will be affected by climate change; particularly the villages which are classified as forest villages in the North West Himalayan region will be affected. The large communities which depend on forest resources will complicate the problems by themselves and due to the extraordinary development activities like hydro projects and road networks going on in the region. This will increase the stress leading to depletion of forest lands and it is estimated that only less than one third of the dense forests will survive. The Insects which are known for successful and complex radiative adaptations having the diverse biodiversity in the North West Himalayas will be affected. The present review attempts to describe these effects and the consequences.

NORTH WEST HIMALAYAS India well marked off through mountains and oceans is the seventh largest country in the world making it a distinct geographical entity. It is one of the megadiversity centres of the world with two biodiversity hot spots, having its unique biogeography, diverse climate, ecological diversity and geodiversity. All these when coupled with huge human populations inhabiting the area, lead to a situation that humans are entirely dependant upon its natural resources for their climate sensitive sectors of agriculture, forestry, fisheries and other natural resources based industries and livelihood. Himalayas is one such region of India extending between 24o and 36o N latitude and 70o and 60o E longitude; it is approximately 2200km long and 140-400 km wide with major cis-Himalayan and trans-Himalayan ranges. These encompass the Great Himalaya-Shivalik and the less Himalayan ranges in addition to Zanskar, Ladakh and the Karakorum ranges. The North West Himalayas lies in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, with the Shivalik range separating the Himalayas proper from the Indo Gangetic plains. Physically the North West Himalayas is of intricate nature with diverse characteristics, in places it is highly deformed or in the form of flat alluvial valleys as in Kashmir. Generally it is rugged and deeply dissected by rivers, and eroded by glaciers exposing all kinds of rocks. Climate wise, due to the Himalayas obstructing the moisture laden winds from South, copious rainfall occurs along with snowfall in the mountains; these mountains also prevent direct invasion of extremely cold winds from Central Asia. Independent of these, the altitudes cause great variation in climate with mean winter and summer temperature being 7oC and 18oC, respectively, with valleys rising to 32-37oC in May-June. Rainfall is always due to the South West monsoon with an average of 2000 mm/ annum, of which 85 percent falls between June and September.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS EFFECTS Increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere are expected to have significant impacts on the world's climate decades or centuries from now. Evidence from longterm monitoring studies suggests that the climate of the past few decades is anomalous compared with past climate variation. Global mean surface temperatures have increased for more than 0.6°C since the late 19th century. Climate models predict that the mean annual global surface temperature will increase by 0.8-2.6°C by 2050, mainly due to human activity, which is perturbing the Earth's energy balance by altering the properties of the atmosphere and the surface. Warming will be more pronounced during winter and at higher latitudes. All climate models predict an increase in global mean precipitation, but some regions might get drier. Forecasts of climate change are uncertain, especially multi-decadal forecasts and regional climate change predictions. Climate change has been perennial throughout the entire history of Earth, and North West Himalayas are no exception to this. The dynamic intrinsic processes on Earth and the extrinsic factors dominated by human activities exacerbate these changes, mainly due to global warming in the Earth’s atmosphere, especially in Earth’s oceans and ice caps. Glaciers are recognized as being among sensitive indicators of these changes. For the last century glaciers have been unable 9

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert to regenerate enough ice during the winters to make up for the ice lost during summer. According to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the atmospheric concentration of CO2 in 2005 was 379 ppm3 compared to the preindustrial levels of 280 ppm3. Land use, ozone depletion, agriculture, and deforestation add to these problems, and the North West Himalayas and its environments are subjected to these interferences in a large scale currently. The CO2 levels have increased to 380 ppm3 now and it is projected to reach 560 ppm3 by the end of the century. Rising methane levels are anticipated to cause an increase of temperature by 1.4o-5.6oC and it is bound to affect the North West Himalayas. The Himalayas encompassing the worlds’ third largest glacier systems after Antarctica and Greenland occupying about 15 percent of the mountain terrain is crucial in this regard. The distribution of these glaciers is higher in the North West Himalayas due to crisscross mountains, altitude variations and different climatic environment. The decline in mountain glaciers is one of the first observable signs of human induced global warming and this is explicit in case of North West Himalayas. There will be declining production of grass in the Himalayan grasslands due to moisture deficiencies, in addition to deleterious effects on the pine and conifers, affecting the flora and thereby the fauna. Most highland communities depend on cattle and sheep farming and, therefore, have serious concerns over the declining production of grass in the Himalayan grasslands. This is mainly due to moisture deficiencies resulting from reduced snow deposits. Climate change has made the weather conditions extremely unpredictable across the mountains. Climate change has affected the Himalayan ecology, especially its snowfall patterns. Glaciers in the northern Himalayas retreat at a rate never seen before, posing the threat of 'glacial lake outburst floods' (GIOFs). There is growing concern that an earthquake or excessive precipitation could prompt GIOFs, washing away villages, biodiversity and destroying infrastructure such as hydroelectric plants and bridges along river basins. The impact of climatic changes observed are melting of glaciers leading to floods, drought, fluctuation in patterns of monsoon, increase in sea water level, degradation, earthquake, cyclones, etc., which ultimately affect biodiversity and livelihood. Ecological changes noticed in the high Himalayas indicate that global warming will have a serious impact on the lives and livelihoods of local communities. These lead to a number of indirect effects as the forests growing on the roof of the world are disappearing, and the rate of deforestation is so rapid that a quarter of animal and plant species native to this biodiversity hotspot could be gone by the end of the century. Himalaya's importance as a biodiversity-rich area and its need for conservation cannot be overemphasized. By 2000, the region had lost 15 per cent of its forest cover compared with the early 1970s’ and by 2100, it will have lost almost half its forests. Nearly 2,00,000 villages are classified as forest villages in India and of these many are in the North West Himalayan region, where large communities depend on forest resources. The continuous increase in hydro projects and road networks in the region adds to this complexity, leading to depletion of forest lands. The North West Himalayas may never be the same again, only less than one third of the dense forest on which many native species depend will survive, and ecological changes will be tremendous. This problem is compounded by the fact that there is lot of human interference in the name of development. The North West Himalaya covered with pine and coniferous trees, medicinal plants, grasses, etc. are affected by these development efforts in addition to climate change.

INSECTS IN GENERAL AND EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE Among the biotic consequences of global warming, insect pests and diseases problem will certainly increase with climate change. Plant pests are particularly sensitive to warmer and wetter weather conditions. As the climate changes, we can expect insect pests to expand their range. Climate change may also trigger organisms to find new and more vulnerable hosts. Since temperature directly affects many attributes of insect biology, population responses may vary dramatically in response to anticipated warmer climates. There will be more rapid developmental and growth rates, increased survival, or higher fecundity leading to enhanced reproductive potential. The change in temperature will have direct effects on insects by affecting their development, and also indirect effects via their host plants and natural enemies. Many species will 10

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert extend their boundary, and rising temperatures will encourage spread of insects uphill. Climate change could lead to an increasing need to use pesticides, with accompanying health risks and economic costs. The temperate regions expending less pesticide will step up their usage of pesticides and there will be cascading effects. The effects of climate change on insects will be indirect too due to changes in vegetation affected by climate change. Climate change assessments and models have traditionally focused on how large scale alterations in climate may alter vegetation. However, one of the major challenges in dealing with climate change effects is trying to anticipate and predict the secondary and cascading effects in ecosystems. Vegetation not only responds to climate change but also creates distinct microclimate patterns; and ecosystem processes are affected by both the general climate and by these microclimate patterns. Insect infestations are predicted to increase with climate change and can cause rapid changes in vegetation with concomitant changes in microclimate. Due to the potential importance of the insect infestation, vegetation canopy change, microclimate change, ecosystem processes response chains, which are interrelated, the studies on the effects of climate change will become more complex. Such studies may be particularly important in heterogeneous dry land ecosystems, where near-ground energy budget is strongly affected by canopy coverage. That is why plant functional groups have been widely used to assess potential responses to climate change. Few studies have resorted to using insects as functional groups to predict the impacts of climate change on outbreaks of agricultural and forest pests. This approach has also been adopted in determining commonness and rarity in UK butterflies. Hodgson (1993) found that common species are large, have a strong migratory tendency, rapidly maturing larvae, hibernate as pupae or adults and exploit larval food-plants of productive habitats. Sensitivity to climate can be strongly influenced by an organism's trophic rank. Insects comprise about 80 per cent of known animal species and occupy every terrestrial and freshwater habitat. They have profound effects on quality of life and social structure. Many are devastatingly detrimental (e.g. pests of agriculture, horticulture, forestry, wood and stored products; vectors of human and animal disease), many are benign and many are beneficial (e.g. natural enemies of pests; pollinators; decomposers; food for higher trophic levels such as birds; those of intrinsic beauty). All are influenced strongly by their environment and with such a variety of species and habitats, gaps in knowledge will always greatly exceed the knowledge base. Much work has been and is being done to assess the impacts of environmental changes on insects, but this almost always involves one, or, a small number of closely related species. Unless generalizations can be made, the value of findings will remain parochial, and expensive investigations will be required for every situation in which the impacts of environmental change require assessment. Some hope that the search for such generalizations has potential and these can be gleaned by considering a possible explanation for an apparent paradox in the claims relating to environmental change impacts that come from entomologists working on pest insects and those working on insects of conservation interest. Researchers working on pest species often predict that insects will fare better under climate change scenarios, whilst those working on species of conservation interest often predict that they will fare worse. Many pests tend to be highly mobile with a high reproductive potential and the ability to utilize many different habitats. These traits may also aid adaptability to change. Threatened species tend to be less mobile and fecund and are often tied to a specific habitat structure. These traits may inhibit adaptability to change. Thus it might be possible to predict responses to environmental change on the basis of combinations of specific life-history traits such as mobility, intrinsic rate of increase, voltinism, feeding guild and tolerance of a range of stresses.

COLEOPTERANS AND EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE Until now less than 1 million species of insects are only known out of an estimated 30 million species of the world. Of these arthropods are the most dominant and constitute more than 90 percent. As regards India, only 60,383 species are known of the 9,83,744 known from the world that works out to only 6.13 percent. Although, India has only 2 percent of the land area of 11

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert the world, India’s contribution to the global biodiversity is around 8 percent and it is projected that about 11 times more is yet to be known. India as a whole harbours around 89,500 animal species comprising of 7 percent of world’s known animals. Reasonable and varying estimates predict that there are about 3 to 30 million species of living organisms and India must hold around 10-15 percent of these, leading to a projection that the number of species must be between 4,50,000 and 45,00,000, majority of which are animals. Among the 8,00,000 species of insects described worldwide, Coleoptera alone constitute >40 per cent of the known insects and about 25-30 percent of all animals. Thus, it is projected that on an all India basis the coleopterans alone must be around 1,10,000-1,35,000 which is a magnificent number. Owing to the variation in altitude and latitude and the differences in climate, the North West Himalayas offer varied floral niches for the fauna in general and insects in particular, and coleopterans to be specific. Due to the complex nature of coleopterans extending over 177 families, under four suborders, there are difficulties leading to the situation that coleopterans are the poorly studied. Of the 0.110 to 0.135 million species of coleopterans predicted to occur in India, many are already inhabitants of the North West Himalayas. It is projected that there may be at least 10,000 species of coleopterans inhabiting the varied floral niches and habitats of the North West Himalayas and many of these will remain to be explored. Taking into account the peculiar pattern of climate coupled with altitudinal variations, crisscross mountains, and glacier components, it is estimated that the coleopterans in the North West Himalayas will be enormously endemic. It is quite possible that with increase in temperature and changes in other abiotic factors in relation to climate change it is imminent that many coleopterans will make their endemic fauna supplemented with more diverse mainland fauna. With the variations in the flora and other fauna, it is expected that the coleopterans which are known for successful and complex radiative adaptations will have diverse biodiversity in the North West Himalayas. A rapid review of the literature reveal that coleopterans known from India fall under 104 families and 3 suborders (Adephaga-3000 species; Polyphaga-12500 species; and Myxophaga-1 species) (Sengupta and Pal, 1998). Specific distribution records when scanned from the available records reveal that 1,687 species of coleopterans are known from the North West Himalayas under 2 suborders and 10 families- Staphylinidae (1003), Carabidae (249), Chrysomelidae (160), Scarabaeidae (153), Cerambycidae (44), Curculionidae (33), Erotylidae (23), Endomychidae (13) Languriidae (7) and Rhysodidae (2). These faunal records indicate that the North West Himalayas are rich in the coleopteran groups that are well known as predators (Staphylinidae and Carabidae) and their conservation will be of significance to biological control, and thereby sustainable pest management, agriculture, forestry and environment. It is also evident that many pest species due to their movement uphill in search of favourable weather and host plants will become rampant in this region thereby upsetting the delicate balance between predators and pests. A significant feature of the present Indian beetle fauna is the occurrence of Chinese, Burmese and Malayan elements, which are rich in terms of number of species, plus the element of original Gondwanaland that shows affinities with the existing African element to a certain extent. Beetles are to be found everywhere and in almost all ecosystems where animals can thrive, with the exceptions of arctic snow and the sea-waters. There are many types of habitats in which more or less characteristically specialized beetle representatives are to be seen. Water or atmospheric humidity, favourable temperature gradient and the food (plant life is basic source) are the three basic requirements for the beetles to flourish. The annual rainfall in North West Himalayas exhibits a wide range of variation. This region also possesses very rich evergreen, temperate, tropical, subtropical vegetation in the entire area from cold deserts of Jammu and Kashmir to the fertile valleys supported by rivers and streams. Consequently these areas have become the major zones of concentration of rich beetle fauna of the country. The biodiversity of Coleoptera in general is enormous as they exploit varied types of foods, reside in widest range of habitats and use diverse methods of locomotion. The exceptional diversity of food and extensive adaptive biology has made the beetles capable of exploiting 12

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert diversity of ecological habitats, which is true in case of North West Himalayas too. The chief habitats and their prevalent representative families are as follows: (i) Under stone, logs and fallen trees: Carabidae, Tenebrionidae, Staphylinidae and Histeridae; (ii) Under bark (dying or dead trees): Silvanidae, Cucujidae, Elateridae, Inopedlidae, Nitidulidae, Colydiidae, Corylophidae, Cryptophagidae, Erotylidae, Endomychidae, Rhizophagidae, Cerylonidae, Mordellidae, Carabidae, Staphylinidae and Histeridae; (iii) Tunnels and holes of trees, stumps: Scolytidae, Bostrychidae, Lyctidae, Platypodidae, Anobiidae, Colydiidae, Carabidae and Elateridae; (iv) Rotten and decayed wood: Passalidae, Lucanidae, Anthribidae, Cerambycidae, Rhipiphoridae, Rhipiceridae, Tenebrionidae, Scapidiidae, Rhysodidae and Paussidae; (v) Shrubs, foliage and small trees: Chrysomelidae, Cantharidae, Coccinellidae, Curculionidae, Buprestidae, Burchidae, Elateridae, Scarabaeidae, Cleridae, Languriidae, Lathridiidae and Mycetophagidae; (vi) Flowers: Anthicidae, Pedilidae, Nitidulidae, Cryptophagidae, Phalacridae, Coccinellidae, Buprestidae, Scarabaeidae, Cerambycidae and Chrysomelidae; (vii) Vegetation debris: Staphylinidae, Scarabaeidae, Mycetophagidae, Anthicidae, Scydmaenidae, Ptilidae, Pselaphidae and Tenebrionidae; (viii) Dung and carrion: Scarabaeidae, Staphylinidae, Hydrophilidae, Histeridae, Silphidae and Dermestidae; (ix.) Fungi: Erotylidae, Nitidulidae, Sphinididae, Tenebrionidae and Scaphidiidae; (x) Nests of mammals, birds, ants, termites: Dermestidae, Staphylinidae, Histeridae, Merophysiidae and Cerylonidae and (xi) Water bodies: Dytiscidae, Gyrinidae, Hydrophilidae, Haliplidae, Dryopidae and Amphizoidae (Stebbing, 1914; Beeson, 1941). Protecting the faunal wealth of the North West Himalayas, especially those of coleopterans becomes much more significant in view of this enormous ecological diversity. With the imminent catastrophes due to glacier reduction, increase in CO2 levels, increased methane levels leading to drastic climate change, their significant aspects will no doubt assume serious and enormous proportions. This will result in imbalance in species diversity that is dynamic and coexistent with ecological and genetic diversity of the region. Some studies have been done at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute focused towards the gall inducing coleopterans, the ones associated with these gall inducers (Ramamurthy, 2007). Few predatory species feeding upon the powdery mildews and other fungi in the North West Himalayas have also been studied. These studies confirm that the coleopterans are naturally affected by the climate change, but however these do adopt themselves too quickly and sustain their diversity with minimal adjustments. Apart from increase in violent storms and intense heat waves the climate change will affect the ability of forests to handle pest outbreaks. Many coleopteran pests have been known to survive more when the winters get mild, making them overwhelm their natural enemies. New expansions of important pests may happen and many coleopterans could move uphill to tide over adverse conditions leading to shift in their habitats. Thus it is possible new pests may emerge in the new surroundings and in the absence of natural enemies these may become invasive and gain strongholds in new areas. This may lead to a situation that many familiar insects which get affected due to climate change will get restricted to smaller habitats while new pests may spread over wider areas and occupy extensive habitats. Coleopterans being the most abundant of all insects will thus have multivarious options and it is likely that climate change will trigger expansion of their population and species diversity. The extremely diversified ecosystems which maintained considerable degree of stability have supported immense diversity of beetle fauna. These are now being depleted by human acts and large number of species faces extinction. Particularly threatened are those species which are dependent upon old dying and dead trees in natural forests, and those which live in heap of humus on forest floor accumulated over the years since these habitats are not safe from human interference. Apart from the destruction of climax forests in which numerous specialized beetles live, serious threat to the beetle fauna comes from the chemical insecticides so widely used at present in agriculture and public health programmes in the human populated areas of the North West Himalayas.

13

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

HERBIVORY, PLANT RESISTANCE AND CLIMATE CHANGE It has been observed through suitable studies that herbivory by insects affects the soil microclimate especially soil temperature and moisture. These studies though done through scale insects and lepidopteran borers as examples, the result will hold good to the coleopterans as well. It has been shown that the evaluation of leaf area index as affected by herbivory indirectly throws conclusions as to how leaf feeding by insects and their consequent harmful effects on plant growth lead to changes in microclimate especially in soil temperature and moisture (Aerts, 1997; Classen et al., 2005). This information is of significance as macroclimate affects the soil microclimate, and climate change is bound to have thus profound effects on microclimate, not only directly but also through the influence of herbivory on the microclimate especially that of soil. Coleopterans are the most abundant and successful of all the herbivores (Farrell, 1998). This herbivory is not only influenced by the macroclimate changes but also due to the microclimatic variation in soil temperature and moisture, especially in the North West Himalayas where forest ecosystems are the most abundant. Through studies on scale herbivory of pines it has been proved that herbovory alters soil temperature and moisture beneath trees due to their effects on leaf are, and their insulating soils at the soil surface, thereby warming soils. The reduction in leaf areas also lead to greater precipitation and highly decreased transpirational water uptake from the primary rooting zone (Hedlund, 2002). These studies have speculated that both these mechanisms are responsible for higher soil moisture concentrations which can be observed beneath the herbivore infested trees. These speculations can be applied to any herbivory on conifers in a qualitatively similar manner in the North West Himalayas where coleopterans have been reported as dominant herbivores. Thus impacts of herbivory on soil microclimate may be common and long lasting in coniferous and other forests of North West Himalayas and these changes may lead to repercussions in the soil inhabiting coleopterans like white grubs and root grubs, and can lead to outbreaks of a different kind of insect pest. Such a kind of alteration in biodiversity will also trigger imbalances in the predator fauna, and here again coleopterans dominate these aspects. Such examples of insect outbreaks had been available in literature (Landsberg and Stafford, 1992). Of these a case study pertains to that of spruce beetle outbreak in 1940’s (Veblen et al., 1991). There are also indications that herbivory will affect the soil water availability too besides temperature; in those forest trees in which herbivore infestation is more, there will be higher leaf level rates of photosynthesis and transpiration. This has been conclusively proved with scale insects in pines (Giovaninni, 1997); it is possible that similar situation may develop especially in coleopterans. This also indirectly suggests that such a kind of interrelationship may also lead to drought tolerance in some trees. (Trotter et al., 2002). There are evidences recorded that herbivory increases soil temperature as much as 5°C and this is comparatively larger effect (Chapin et al., 2002). There are also indications that it is of a similar magnitude to temperature increases expected at mid latitudes for the next hundred years due to global warming (Houghton et al., 2002). It is possible that North West Himalayas may experience such multiple effects on the soil temperature leading to considerable increase, and thereby influencing the soil inhabiting coleopterans. Thus soil temperature which is influenced by climatic change will also be influenced by herbivore driven changes resulting in a complexity; many times it is a buffering effect and it is likely that some herbivores especially coleopterans may have a decreasing influence on ecosystem processes and thus on climatic change. There are also possible indications of herbivore caused changes in microclimate and towards soil processes especially litter decomposition in forest ecosystems like the ones which are rampant in the North West Himalayas. Coleopterans being important fauna playing a major role in this process will be profoundly affected by these changes. There are significant studies throwing conclusions on the magnitude and direction of herbivory impacts and their implications (Holand and Detling, 1990; van Wijnen et al., 1999; Hunter, 2001; Lovett et al., 2002). These impacts are mostly due to the effects on physical factors, mainly temperature and moisture, and biotic factors 14

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert namely litter compositions and decomposing organisms. It has been revealed that any herbivore attack especially of coleopterans will lead to increase in nutrient concentration triggered by rapid senescence of the host trees after the attack (Chapman et al., 2003). It is evident that in the relatively cool semiarid ecosystems of North West Himalayas, the moisture and temperature will be the driving forces of decomposition of litter and that of nutrient cycling. It is imminent that these processes will be accelerated in the climate change situations of the North West Himalayas leading to cascading effects on the biodiversity of herbivores especially that of coleopterans. Any change in the genetic composition of plants and their functional groups in their ecosystem could influence the litter decomposition and nutrient cycling; there are many studies to support this fact (Condit et al., 1996; Diaz and Cabido, 1997; Treseder and Vitousek, 2002). In many situations, the aboveground litter inputs are affected in their quantity and quality not only by the soil microclimate, herbivory and their interdependent effects on themselves and the soil processes but also by the genetic composition of the plants in an ecosystem. If insect herbivores like coleopterans are influenced by climate change leading to outbreaks, especially in the forest ecosystems of North West Himalayas, we may see a shift in the genetic population of trees within these ecosystems, with concomitant changes in all aspects of biodiversity in the region. During such insect outbreaks, the change patterns caused by insects will depend upon climate, especially towards their temporal and special distributions.

EFFECTS OF RISING TEMPERATURES Climate change resulting in increased temperature could impact insect populations, in particular the herbivores belonging to the order Coleoptera in several complexes. Although some climate change (temperature) effects might tend to depress their populations, most researchers seem to agree that warmer temperatures in temperate climates as existing in the North West Himalayas will result in more types and higher populations of coleopterans. Researchers have shown that increased temperatures can potentially affect insect survival, development, geographic range, and population size. Depending on the development strategy of an insect species, whether it is a R strategist as in pest species, or K strategist as in many predators, temperature can exert different effects (Bale et al., 2002). Some coleopterans which take many months or a year to complete one life cycle will tend to moderate temperature variability over the course of their life history, and still come out successful as R strategists. As insects are cold-blooded organisms, the temperature of their bodies is approximately the same as that of the environment. Therefore, temperature is probably the single, most important environmental factor influencing insect behavior, distribution, development, survival, and reproduction. Hence, insect life stage predictions are most often calculated using accumulated degree days from a base temperature and biofix point. Some researchers believe that the effect of temperature on insects largely overwhelms the effects of other environmental factors (Bale et al., 2002). It has been estimated that with a 2o C temperature increase insects might experience one to five additional life cycles per season (Yamamura and Kiritani, 1998). Other researchers have found that moisture and CO2 effects on insects can be potentially important considerations in a global climate change setting (Hamilton et al., 2005; Coviella and Trumble, 1999; Hunter, 2001). These predictions apply well to the coleopterans in the North West Himalayas, whether it is a pest, predator or an innocuous biodiversity component. Some coleopterans which are important pests of trees in the forest ecosystems of North west Himalayas like those of stem borers, bark borers or leaf eaters with their life stages getting completed in the wooden logs or the trunk or branches of trees or in soil may stop for sometime their development when there are adverse conditions of temperature but these will regain the same after a brief lull and thereby counteract the adversities; that is they may develop more rapidly during periods with suitable temperatures and thereby balance the adverse effects of temperature as a component of climate change. Those coleopterans which are capable of flight like the meloids or chrysomelids can migrate up hills to tide over the unsuitable temperature and then increase their spread spatially after the catastrophic conditions ease, thereby balancing the effects of climate change. The degree days or phenology based models to predict the emergence of such 15

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert insects like Colorado beetle, already available may be applicable under such situations. These models have shown that there will be accelerated development of these types of insects possibly resulting in more generations. Thus there are evidences that changed temperature due to climatic change will exacerbate the problems due to coleopterans in the North West Himalayas. Temperature may change gender ratios of some pest species such as thrips potentially affecting reproduction rates. Insects that spend important parts of their life histories in the soil may be more gradually affected by temperature changes than those that are above ground simply because soil provides an insulating medium that will tend to buffer temperature changes more than the air (Bale et al., 2002). Lower winter mortality of insects due to warmer winter temperatures could be important in increasing insect populations (Harrington et al., 2001). Higher average temperature might result in some crops being able to be grown in regions further up hills and it is likely that at least some of the insect pests of those crops will follow the expanded crop areas. Insect species diversity per area tends to decrease with higher latitude and altitude (Gaston and Williams, 1996), meaning that rising temperatures could result in more insect species attacking more hosts in temperate climates. Based on evidence developed by studying the fossil record some researchers conclude that the diversity of insect species and the intensity of their feeding have increased historically with increasing temperature (Bale et al., 2002). All these evidences available on other insects are equally applicable in case of coleopterans in the agroecosystems and the undisturbed forest ecosystems of North West Himalayas. As such gender ratios, soil inhabiting life cycle stages, winter mortality, and expansion of the spatial distribution due to expanded host distributions are quite common among the diverse coleopterans occurring in the region. There are evidences that increased pest complexes will also lead to natural enemy complexes leading to unpredictable changes in the species, ecological and genetic diversity components of biodiversity in the region. Natural enemy and host insect populations may respond differently to changes in temperature. Parasitism could be reduced if host populations emerge and pass through vulnerable life stages before parasitoids emerge. Hosts may pass though vulnerable life stages more quickly at higher temperatures, reducing the window of opportunity for parasitism.

EFFECTS OF PRECIPITATION There are fewer scientific studies on the effect of precipitation on insects than temperature. Some insects are sensitive to precipitation and are killed or removed from crops by heavy rains. This consideration is important when choosing management options for such pests. For some insects that over winter in soil, flooding the soil has been used as a control measure. One would expect the predicted more frequent and intense precipitation events forecasted with climate change to adversely impact these insects. As with temperature, precipitation changes can impact insect pest predators, parasites, and diseases resulting in a complex. Fungal pathogens of insects are favored by high humidity and their incidence would be increased by climate changes that lengthen periods of high humidity and reduced by those that result in drier conditions. All these demonstrate the fact that coleopterans in the North West Himalayas will be equally affected by such situations. The rain fall or precipitation, as affected by climate change will have parallel effects on the soil dwelling coleopterans and the predatory species like coccinellids and thus it is anticipated that climate change will have profound positive or negative influences on the coleopteran fauna of North West Himalayas.

EFFECTS OF RISING CO2 LEVELS Generally CO2 impacts on insects are thought to be indirect - impact on insect damage results from changes in the host crop. Some researchers have found that rising CO2 can potentially have important effects on the natural ecosystems of which insects are one of the major components (Bazzaz, 1990; Lindroth, 1996). Recently, free air gas concentration enrichment (FACE) technology was used to create an atmosphere with CO2 and O2 concentrations similar to what climate change models predict for the middle of the 21st century. FACE allows for field testing of crop situations with fewer limitations than those conducted in enclosed spaces. During 16

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert the early season, soybeans grown in elevated CO2 atmosphere had 57 per cent more damage from insects (primarily Japanese beetle, potato leafhopper, western corn rootworm and Mexican bean beetle) than those grown in today’s atmosphere, and required an insecticide treatment in order to continue the experiment. It is thought that measured increases in the levels of simple sugars in the soybean leaves may have stimulated the additional insect feeding (Hamilton et al., 2005). Although not observed in the FACE study, other researchers have observed that insects sometimes feed more on leaves that have lowered nitrogen content in order to obtain sufficient nitrogen for their metabolism (Coviella and Trumble, 1999; Hunter, 2001). Increased carbon to nitrogen ratios in plant tissue resulting from increased CO2 levels may slow insect development and increase the length of life stages vulnerable to attack by parasitoids (Coviella and Trumble, 1999). The human interfered agroecosystems of the North West Himalayas will no doubt be influenced indirectly by the raising CO2 levels and their after effects on nutrient cycling by the flora (Hart and Perry, 1999). Such effects will also be imminent in the forest ecosystems afflicted with other abiotic factors driven effects of climate change. Though there are no direct studies on the coleopterans and in the ecosystems of North West Himalayas it is pertinent to note here that the studies done elsewhere and on other insects will no doubt provide clues about the future scenario in these ecosystems.

CONCLUSION The influence of climate change on natural disturbance regimes poses new questions as to how sustainable forest management and that of agroecosystems in the North West Himalayas can be achieved. An understanding of the impacts of climate change on natural disturbances is important, especially in light of their relationship to the global carbon cycle. Our understanding of the relationship between climate, climate change and coleopterans in the North West Himalayas is far from satisfactory. Much more research needs to be done to fill in the gaps in the knowledge base. As far as forest ecosystems are concerned the precise impacts of climate change on insects and pathogens are somewhat uncertain because some climate changes may favor many pathogens and insects while others may inhibit a few insects and pathogens. The preponderance of evidence indicates that there will be an overall increase in the number of outbreaks of a wider variety of insects and pathogens (Dale et al., 2001; Logan et al., 2003). The possible increased use of fungicides and insecticides resulting from an increase in pest outbreaks will likely have negative environmental and economic impacts for forestry in the North West Himalayas. The best economic strategy for the foresters to follow is to use integrated forestry management practices through critical monitoring of the flora and fauna and adopt suitable time oriented management practices towards conservation. Keeping management records over time will allow foresters to evaluate the economics and environmental impact of their management measures and determine the feasibility of using certain strategies for conservation. It is likely that foresters will experience extensive impacts on their management strategies with changes in climate. Entomologists expect that insects will expand their geographic ranges, and increase reproduction rates and overwintering success. This means that it is likely that foresters in the North Western Himalayas will have more types and higher numbers of problems to manage. It is difficult to predict the impacts of climate change on forest insect pests because of the complexity of the interactions between insects and trees. This overall response is dependent on the impacts of climate change on the insect- tree host-natural enemy relationship. However, some generalized predictions can be made, based on current pest distributions and the severity of insect outbreaks in individual regions. In the agroecosystems farmers should keep in mind that climate change is likely to be a gradual process that will give them some opportunity to adapt. Although changes in the North West Himalayas’ climate are almost certainly happening, it is not precisely understood how these changes will affect crops, insects, diseases, and the relationships among them. If climate is warmer will increases in yield offset losses to pests, or will losses to pests outweigh yield advantages from warmer temperatures? It is likely that new pests will become established in more 17

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert northerly areas and be able attack plants in new regions. It is likely that plants in some regions will be attacked more frequently by certain pests. A few pests may be less likely to attack crops as change occurs. It will so happen that we will not know the actual impacts of climate change on pests until they occur. Clearly, it will be important for farmers to be aware of crop pest trends in their region and flexible in choosing both their management methods and in the crops they grow. Farmers who closely monitor the occurrence of pests in their fields and keep records of the severity, frequency, and cost of managing pests over time will be in a better position to make decisions about whether it remains economical to continue to grow a particular crop or use a certain pest management technique. If more fungicide or insecticide applications are required in order to successfully grow a particular crop, farmers will need to carefully evaluate whether growing that crop remains economical. Those farmers who make the best use of the basics of integrated pest management (IPM) such as field monitoring, pest forecasting, recordkeeping, and choosing economically and environmentally sound control measures will be most likely to be successful in dealing with the effects of climate change.

REFERENCES Aerts, R. 1997. Climate, leaf litter chemistry and leaf litter decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems: A triangular relationship. Oikos, 79: 439-449. Bale, J.S., G.J. Masters, I.D. Hodkinson, C. Awmack, T.M. Bezemer, V.K. Brown, J. Butterfield, A. Buse, J.C. Coulson, J. Farrar, J.E.G. Good, R. Harrington, S. Hartley, T.H. Jones, R.L. Lindroth, M.C. Press, I. Symrnioudis, A.D. Watt and J.B. Whittaker. 2002. Herbivory in global climate change research: direct effects of rising temperatures on insect herbivores. Global Change Bio., 8: 1-16. Bazzaz, F. 1990. The response of natural ecosystems to the rising CO2 levels. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 21: 167-196. Beeson, C.F.C. 1941. The ecology and control of the forest insects of India and the neighbouring countries. Dehra Dun: Beeson, Vasant Press. ii+1007pp. Classen, T., S. C. Hart, T. G. Whitman, N. S. Cobb and G. W. Koch. 2005. Insect infestations linked to shifts in microclimate: Important climate change implications. Soil. Sci. Soc. Am. J., 69: 2049-2057. Diaz, S. and Cabido, M. 1997. Plant functional types and ecosystem function in relation to global change. Journ. Veg. Sci., 8: 463-474. Chapin, F.S., III, P.A. Matson and H.A. Mooney. 2002. Principles of terrestrial ecosystem ecology Springer-Verlag, New York. Chapman, S.K., S.C. Hart, N.S. Cobb, T.G. Whitham and G.W. Koch. 2003. Insect herbivory increases litter quality and decomposition: An extension of the acceleration hypothesis. Ecol., 84: 2867-2876. Condit, R., S.P. Hubbell and Foster, R. 1996. Assessing the response of plant functional types to climate change in tropical forests. Journal of Vegetation Science, 7: 405-416. Coviella, C. and J. Trumble. 1999. Effects of elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide on insect plant interactions. Conserv. Biol. 13: 700-712. Dale, V.H., L.A. Joyce, S. McNulty, R.P. Neilson, M.P. Ayers, M.D. Flannigan, P.J. Hanson, L.C. Irland, A.E. Lugo, C.J. Peterson, D. Simberloff, F.J. Swanson, B.J. Stocks and B.M. Wooton. 2001. Climate change and forest disturbances. Bioscience, 51: 723-734. Farrell, B.D. 1998. Inordinate fondness for beetles explained: why there are so many beetles? Science, 281: 555-559. Giovaninni, M.S. 1997. Photosynthetic compensation by Pinus edulis infested with the pinyon needle scale, Matsucoccus acalyptus. M.S., Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff. Gaston, K.J. and P.H. Williams. 1996. Spatial patterns in taxonomic diversity. In: Biodiversity pp. 202-229. Blackwell Science, Oxford.

18

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Hamilton, J.G., O. Dermody, M. Aldea, A.R. Zangerl, A. Rogers, M.R. Berenbaum, E. Harrington, R., R. Fleming, and I. P. Woiwood. 2001. Climate change impacts on insect management and conservation in temperate regions: can they be predicted? Agric. For. Entomol., 3: 233240. Hart, S.C. and D.A. Perry. 1999. Transferring soils from high- to low-elevation forests increases nitrogen cycling rates: Climate change implications. Global Change Bio., 5: 23-32. Hedlund, M. 2002. Whole-tree water use and plant water relations in response to chronic insect herbivory in pinyon pines. M.S., Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff. Hodgson, J.G. 1993. Commonness and rarity in British butterflies. J. Appl. Ecol., 30: 407-427. Holland, E.A. and J.K. Detling. 1990. Plant response to herbivory and belowground nitrogen cycling. Ecol., 71: 1040–1049. Hollinger, D.Y. 1986. Herbivory and the cycling of nitrogen and phosphorus in isolated California oak trees. Oecologia, 70: 291–297. Houghton, J.J., Y. Ding, D.J. Griggs, M. Noguer, P.J. van der Linden and D. Xiaosu (eds.). 2002. Climate change 2001: The scientific basis, contribution of working group I to the third assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, U.K. Hunter, M.D. 2001. Effects of elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide on insect-plant interactions. Agric. For. Entomol., 3: 153-159. Landsberg, J. and Stafford, S. M. 1992. A functional scheme for predicting the outbreak potential of herbivorous insects under global atmospheric change. Aust. J. Bot., 40: 565-577. Lindroth, R.L. 1996. Consequences of elevated atmospheric CO2 for forest insects. pp. 347-361. In C. Körner and F.A. Bazzaz (ed.) Carbon dioxide, populations, and communities. Academic Press, New York. Logan, J.A., J. Régnière and J.A. Powell. 2003. Assessing the impacts of global warming on forest pest dynamics. Frontiers Ecol. Environ., 1: 130-137. Lovett, G.M., L.M. Christenson, P.M. Groffman, C.G. Jones, J.E. Hart and M.J. Mitchell. 2002. Insect defoliation and nitrogen cycling in forests. Bioscience, 52: 335-341. Ramamurthy, V.V. 2007. Faunistic, ecological, biogeographical and phylogenetic aspects of Coleoptera as gall inducers and associates in plant galls in the Orient and eastern Palearctic. Oriental Insects, USA, 41: 93-119. Sengupta, T. and T.K. Pal. 1998. Faunal diversity in India: Coleoptera. pp. 259-268. in Faunal diversity in India (Ed., Alfred, J.R.B., A.K. Das and A.K. Sanyal). ENVIS center. Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta. Stebbing, E.P. 1914. Indian forest insects of economic importance. Coleoptera. Eyre and Spottiswoode Ltd., London. 648pp. Treseder, K.K. and P.M. Vitousek. 2001. Potential ecosystem-level effects of genetic variation among populations of Metrosideros polymorpha from a soil fertility gradient in Hawaii. Oecologia, 126: 266-275. Trotter, T.R., III, N.S. Cobb and T.G. Whitham. 2002. Herbivory, plant resistance and climate in the tree ring record: Interactions distort climatic reconstructions. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 99: 10197-10202. van Wijnen, H.J., R. van der Wal and J.P. Bakker. 1999. The impact of herbivores on nitrogen mineralization rate: Consequences for salt-marsh succession. Oecologia, 118: 225-231. Veblen, T.T., K.S. Hadley, M.S. Reid and A.J. Rebertus. 1991. The response of subalpine forests to spruce beetle outbreaks in Colorado. Ecol., 72: 213-231. Yamamura, K. and K. Kiritani. 1998. A simple method to estimate the potential increase in the number of generations under global warming in temperate zones. Appl. Ent. and Zool., 33: 289-298.

19

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

CHANGING GLOBAL CLIMATE AND POTENTIAL IMPACTS ON ECOSYSTEMS AND BIODIVERSITY T. K. PAL Zoological Survey of India, M-Block, New Alipore, Kolkata- 700 053, India e-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT: Climate change that refers to long term fluctuations in temperature, precipitation and other elements of climate system has been an important challenge before the mankind. The greenhouse gases of atmosphere that selectively traps thermal radiation from earth surface to make a hospitable surface temperature have been gradually increasing. This caused fluctuation in global temperature and related aspects of climate. The global average temperature has increased by about 0.60C in one hundred years and is projected to rise further. The current projections, based on the state-of the-art climate models, point out that even if heat trapping emissions of earth proceed at a moderate rate that would have widespread influence on substantial loss of snow covers and glaciers, rise of mean sea level (msl), drying of soils, erratic hydrologic cycles in many river basins. Changes in atmospheric temperature and rain fall pattern would hamper productivity of world’s agro ecosystems and pose threat to food security of human. Changing climate would bring about profound effect on the future productivity and distribution of vegetation and forests in Asia and other parts of the world. Frequency and transmission of many infectious and vector-borne diseases would be on rise. The zone of influence of malaria in India would increase in future. People living in coastal zones would be displaced due to inundation of low-lying areas. Human and animal communities of the Arctic have been vulnerable to destabilization of habitats and food chains. Annual cycles of migratory birds around the globe would be greatly influenced. Many biotas of deserts are facing threats, as well as fresh water species in inland water bodies are negatively affected with rising temperature. Plants and animals of high mountains are either shifting or disappearing from their earlier home zones. Responses of increased temperature are evident on many other plants and animals. The growing risk as the temperature rises underscores the importance of reducing green house gas emissions to control further warming. It is also necessary to identify those impacts that may be unavoidable, for which humans need to develop coping up strategies. KEY WORDS: Global Climate, Ecosystem, Biodiversity.

INTRODUCTION Climate change is one of the most important global environment challenges before the humanity. Climate change refers to long term fluctuations in temperature, precipitation, wind, and other elements of the earth’s climate system. Potential impacts of climate change include shrinkage of glaciers, sea-level rise, change in monsoon, increased severe cyclones and flooding, more droughts, etc. which would in turn affect the natural ecosystems, human settlements, food production, supply of freshwater, public health, etc. All these impacts may set back general socioeconomic development, and continuing dependence upon agriculture for food and livelihood makes the Indian people particularly vulnerable to climate variability (Brenkert & Malone, 2005). According to the recent scientific assessments, human activities over the past one hundred and fifty years have been changing the intricate balance of the earth’s atmosphere. Greenhouse gases accumulating in earth’s atmosphere are causing surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures to rise (National Academy of Science, 2001; McCarthy et al., 2001). Over the last Century, atmospheric concentrations of CO2 increased from 278 ppm of preindustrial time to 379 ppm in 2005, and the average global temperature rose by 0.740C. An increasing rate of warming has taken place over the last 25 years, and 11 of the 12 warmest years were recorded in 20

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert past twelve years (IPCC, 2007). The local climate variability that people have experienced in past and adapted to it has been changing at a relatively greater speed.

BASICS OF GLOBAL CLIMATE SYSTEM The earth’s climate system, an elaborate balancing act of energy, matter and chemistry, involves physical, chemical and biological interactions: among air, water, ice, land surface, plant, animals and microorganisms. The interactions are quite elaborate. The key elements of the climate system are touched upon here to make an understanding of the background of climate change. The solar radiation directed towards earth carries energy of about 342 watts per square meter of earth surface. The amount represents nearly 10,000 times of the energy consumed by the humankind. However, all the energy emitted by sun do not reach the earth’s surface. About 30% of the solar radiation is reflected back into the space by the bright surfaces of earth (viz., snow cover, sand) and bright surfaces in atmosphere (clouds). The remaining 70% of solar radiation that reaches the earth surface heats the land and oceans. While the sun emits energy at short wavelengths, the cooler earth emits radiation at longer wavelengths. According to simple energybalance calculation, the average temperature of earth would be about -180C. The earth however, has an atmosphere that acts like a blanket and traps much of the outgoing thermal radiation but allows most of the solar radiation to pass out. Certain trace gases, termed the Greenhouse gases (GHG), selectively trap the longer wavelengths of energy and remit them back to the earth’s surface (see Fig. 1). Overall, the greenhouse effect allows the average surface temperature of earth to a more comfortable 150C. The chemical make up of atmosphere is therefore, very crucial in establishing a climate hospitable for life. Due to curvature of the earth’s surface and tilt of the earth’s axis there is difference in reception of solar radiation from equator to poles. The sunrays are directly overhead on the tropical zones. For maintaining a steady climate the oceans and atmosphere transport excess heat from the tropics to the cooler Polar Regions. The heat is shifted by the action of winds and ocean currents and thereby set better energy balance over the globe. Oceans are a key component in the climate system. As the surface water in the tropics is heated, large scale ocean currents due to atmospheric circulation patterns transport heat towards poles. The oceans also play an important role in determining the chemical compositions of the atmosphere as they absorb and release large quantities of gases. The cryosphere or large icesheets reflect 80-90% of solar radiation and allowing a little portion to warm the surface. Vegetation has a key role in the Carbon cycle, meaning the exchange of carbon among atmosphere, ocean, land and biosphere. Plants are the net absorbers of CO2 through photosynthesis.

ROLE OF GREENHOUSE GASES TO ATMOSPHERE Although the atmosphere is composed primarily of Nitrogen and Oxygen these do not interfere long wave thermal radiation from earth surface. The GHGs comprising less than 3% of the atmosphere are efficient in absorbing thermal radiation from the earth’s surface. Major GHG includes Carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous oxide (N2O), Halocarbons, Ozone (O3), water vapour, etc. The efficiency of the GHG to warm the surface of earth depends on three major factors viz., (i) efficiency in absorbing heat, (ii) total atmospheric quantities and (iii) atmospheric lifetime or viability. The heat trapping efficiency of different GHGs are denoted by an index called Global warming potential (GWP). It is defined as the cumulative radiative forcing, integrated over a period of time from the emission of a unit mass of gas relative to some reference gas (IPCC, 1996). The CO2 is the reference gas, whose GWP is considered to be 1. By comparison Methane has a GWP of 21, Nitrous Oxide has 300+ etc. (See Table 1). Though CO2 has been better known for its role in global warming, but some less known greenhouse gases have more potentialities in the warming process. Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring GHG that cycles through atmosphere, ocean, land and biosphere. Atmospheric concentration of CO2 was maintained between 180 and 220 ppm in Holocene period, but anthropogenic CO2 began to be added with the burning of wood, fossil fuel

21

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert etc. by human. Methane is a naturally producing gas but its atmospheric concentration has been escalated by agriculture, soil management and biomass burning. Halocarbons are not naturally occurring in the atmosphere, but these are produced for use in refrigeration and foaming units. Halocarbons viz., Chloroflurocarbons (CFCs), Perflurocarbons (PFCs) are potent destroyers of atmospheric ozone layer and thereby reduce its filtering capacity of solar ultraviolet (UV) rays. Majority of the GHGs have lifetime of several decades to centuries (Table 1). Water vapours are short-lived for days to weeks and do not mix well with the atmosphere. Their influence due to humidity, cloud cover and rainfall are also territorial. Until a few centuries ago, the earth’s climate equilibrium was maintained by the natural greenhouse effect. The industrial revolution in 1800s marked a turning point in the balance of energy in the earth’s climate system. In recent times, anthropogenic activity has been releasing about 7 billion metric tons of carbon per year into the atmosphere, and the oceans, land and biosphere absorb approximately 3 billion metric tons of carbon per year into the atmosphere, and the oceans, land and biosphere absorb approximately 3 billion metric tons of that carbon (Shein, 2005). Since CO2 has a lifetime of more than hundred years, these emissions have been accumulating in the atmosphere through years. There has been a rising level of CO2 of about 1.6 ppm per year since 1980 and the atmospheric concentration has increased about 36% from the level of preindustrial time (NOAA, 2006). In addition to CO2 release, methane emissions are also linked to human activities like, biomass burning, rice cultivation, livestock management, etc. About two-thirds of the current methane emissions are due to human activities. Further, methane release is accelerated by increase in global mean temperature and moisture. Recent studies have pointed out that melting of high latitude ice sheets due to global warming would release more methane from pit bogs (Zimov et al., 2006). The shift from use of CFCs to other halocarbons has controlled the erosion of stratospheric ozone layer but they would remain active in enhancing greenhouse effect for long time. Apart from gases, atmosphere contains suspended particles of different solids and liquids, called aerosols. Combustion of fossils fuels become the major source of aerosols. Light colored aerosols, like clouds, reflect incoming solar radiation and thereby reduce amount of incoming solar rays to the earth’s surface.

CHANGE- A SOCIETAL ISSUE In 1824, Joseph Fourier first hypothesized that the average temperature of the earth is warmer due to the presence of earth’s atmosphere. In late 1800s and 1900s, Swedish Nobel Laureate Svante Arrhenius (1896, 1908) showed that an atmospheric warming enhanced by emission of CO2 through burning of fossil fuels over a long period was progressively heating the planet. Climate change was regarded as a global environments problem for the first time in late 1970s. At the first World Conference on Climate, in Geneva in 1979, many scientists cautioned that human activity could bring about changes in climate that would harm the environment and people. Beginning in the early 1980s, the International Community, especially the United Nations and governments of many industrialized countries have spent enough money in scientific researches on the aspects of climate change.

IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE- AN ASSESMENT Climate modeling studies have led to a considerable understanding about the impacts of climate change at the global, regional and local levels. Climate change will have wide ranging effects on the environment, socio-economic and related sectors, including water resources, agriculture and food security, forestry, human health, terrestrial ecosystems, coastal zones, and biodiversity.

1. IMPACT ON WATER RESOURCES The IPCC has cautioned that the global average sea level will rise 0.28 to 0.43 meter by 2010 (Alley et al., 2007). An average increase of 0.1 to 0.2 meter was observed in the twentieth Century (Houghton et al., 2001). Much of these rise have been due to warmer temperature. 22

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Because of thermal expansion, increase in oceanic temperature results in an increased volume of water without addition of any mass. Computer models have predicted that the thickness of arctic ice would decline. Moreover, many of the high altitude glaciers of the world have been eroding (Hall & Fagre, 2003). An increase in recycling rate of water in the hydrologic cycle is anticipated in response to higher global temperature. Higher evaporation rates will accelerate the drying of soils following rain events, resulting in drier average conditions in several areas. In Asia, melting of the glaciers in the Himalaya is caused due to global warming. This would create increased risk of flooding, erosion, mudslides and GLOF in Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and North India during wet season. As melting of snow coincides with the summer monsoon season, any intensification of monsoon or increase in melting is likely to contribute to flood disaster in Himalayan catchments. In the long run, rise of snowline and disappearance of many glaciers due to global warming would cause serious impacts on the population depending upon seven major rivers in the continent which are fed by melt waters of Himalaya. Throughout Asia, about 1 billion people would face water shortage leading to drought and land degradation by 2050 (Christensen et al., 2007; Cruz et al., 2007). A study in India (Gosain et al., 2006) has revealed that under GHG scenario severity of droughts and intensity of floods may get deteriorated. Further, there would be a general reduction in the quantity of available runoff. Two rivers basins are predicted to be worse affected viz., (i) the Krishna river basin would undergo severe drought conditions, while (ii) the Mahanadi river basin would have high impact of the flood conditions.

2. IMPACT ON AGRICULTURE According to FAO (2007) climate change could become a major threat to the food security as it has a strong impact on food production, access and distribution. Changes in air temperature and rainfall as well as increasing frequency and intensity of drought and floods have long term implications for the viability and productivity of world agro-ecosystems. In short term, as the global temperature rises many industrialized countries at higher latitudes may well gain in food production potential. However, in lower latitudes, where rain-fed agriculture is the norm, crop potential will decline even with a minimal rise in temperature. Many crop distributions will change and that would require significant regional adaptations. Currently, only about 15 plant species and 8 animal species supply about 90% of human food. Wild relatives of food crops are considered as the insurance as they can provide genetic material for breeding new varieties that can cope up with the changing climatic conditions. But many wild relatives of staple food crops are now endangered. For example, about 25% of the wild potato species would be eliminated within fifty years (Secretariat CBD, 2007). Sathaye et al. (2006) indicated a decrease in yield of crops as temperature increases in different parts of India. This would however be offset by an increase in CO2 at moderate rise in temperature.

3. IMPACT ON FORESTRY Global assessments have shown that future climate change would significantly alter the configuration of forest ecosystems, and most ecosystems and landscapes would be influenced through changes in species composition, productivity and biodiversity (IPCC, 1996; Solomon, 1986; Leemans & Eickhout, 2004). UNFCC (2007) has forecasted that climate change will have a profound effect on the future distribution, productivity and health of forests throughout Asia. For example, north-east China may become deprived of conifer forest. Grassland productivity would decline by as much as 40-90% for an increase in temperature 20C-30C, combined with reduced precipitation in semiarid and arid regions of Asia. Preliminary qualitative assessments in India have indicated moderate to large scale shifts in vegetation types with implications for forest dieback and biodiversity (Ravindranath et al., 1997; Ravindranath & Sukumar, 1998; Lal et al., 1995; Hulme & Viner, 1995; Deshingkar, 1997). Ravindranath et al. (2006) have pointed out that under the climate projection for the year 2085, about 77% and 68% of the forested grids in India would face a shift in forest types under A2 (740 ppm CO2) and B2 (575 ppm CO2) situations, respectively. There would be a shift towards drier forest types in the north-western region, in the absence of human interference. Increasing atmospheric concentration of CO2 and warming climate 23

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert could result in a doubling of net productivity under A2 situation and about 70% increase under B2 situation.

4. IMPACT ON HUMAN HEALTH Climate change would influence the frequency and transmission of infectious diseases, heat- and cold-related morbidity and mortality, as well as air and water quality. Agents that carry infectious diseases (e.g. insects, ticks, rodents, etc.) are likely to be prevalent with the change is precipitation and temperature. Cold-related stress is likely to decline, while heat stress in major urban areas would increase, if no adaptation occurs. In Asia, the principal impacts will be on epidemics of malaria, dengue and other vector-borne diseases (Martens et al., 1999). Illness and death are expected to rise from diarrhoeal diseases due to drought and flooding, and increased amount of cholera bacteria in coastal waters. An increase in the frequency and duration of severe heat waves and humid conditions during the summer is likely to increase the risk of mortality and morbidity, principally in the old and urban poor populations of temperate and tropical Asia (Epstein et al., 1995). Bhattacharya et al. (2006) have pointed out that in India malaria is likely to persist in Orissa, West Bengal, southern parts of Assam. However, it may shift from the central Indian Region to the south western coastal states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala. Further, the northern states including Himachal Pradesh, and Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram in the north-east may become malaria-prone. The duration of the transmission windows would widen in northern and western states and shorten in southern states.

5. IMPACT ON COASTAL ZONES Sea level rise due to climate change is expected to cause increased level of flooding, accelerated erosion, loss of wetlands and mangroves, and sea water intrusion into freshwater sources. Many people who live near present day sea level would likely to be displaced as waters inundate the land (Houghton et al., 2001)). Projected sea level rise could flood residence of millions of people living in the low lying areas of South, South-east and East Asia, viz, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India and China (Wassmann et al., 2004; Stern, 2006; Cruz et al., 2007).

6. IMPACT ON NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS Climate change may cause a decline in the viability of important ecosystems (McCarthy et al., 2001). The growing season in temperate region will lengthen, and plant and animal ranges will shift pole ward and move to higher elevations. Different vegetation types on earth are primarily determined by climate, especially temperature and precipitation. The close correlation between the climate and vegetation types has led to the creation of climate maps. The Holdridge Life zone classification (Holdridge, 1967) is often used in studies of the impact of climate change. The life zones are delimited by hexagons derived from three variables viz., bio-temperature, total annual precipitation and evaporation (Fig. 1). Maps of life zones are created for current climatic conditions (Fig. 2) and for potential conditions determined by climate change (Fig. 3). A comparison of these maps clearly displays the potential change in global vegetation patterns (Fig. 4). Shift of biomes are more apparent in the mid- and high- latitude regions, with much less changes in the tropics. The boreal and polar biomes show the largest pole ward shift, with a decrease in the extent of tundra and forested tundra. These bands currently form a circumpolar band but under a warmer climate, only scattered patches will remain.

7. IMPACT ON BIODIVERSITY Climate change is one of the principal threats of biodiversity and is projected to become an increasingly important driver of change in the coming decades (Secretariat CBD, 2007). The link between biodiversity and climate change is direct and the effect of the later on the former is far reaching. Climate is an integral part of the ecosystem and various organisms have adapted to their surrounding climate over time. Climate change has the potentiality of altering ecosystems, many resources and utility they provide to the mankind. Climate change on one hand could benefit certain plant and insect species by increasing their ranges; on the other hand it could 24

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert increase risk of extinction for many species, especially those which are already endangered or at risk due to isolation by geography or anthropogenic activity, low population numbers or possessing a narrow temperature tolerance. The impact of climate change on the species assemblage include: (i) changes in distribution (ii) changes in reproduction strategy, (iii) changes in length of growing seasons for plants, and (iv) increased extinction rates.

7.1. In Polar biomes Polar biomes are home to an array of plants and animals that have coped with some of the most extreme conditions of the world. The marine habitat surrounding the Antarctic are rich in plankton which support a delicate food chain; while the arctic zone supports many mammals and has a primary role in the annual cycle of migratory birds. The biological resources of the Arctic is fundamental to the livelihoods of the Arctic people as the polar species and human communities have developed very specialized adaptations to the harsh conditions of the pole. Walrus polar bears, seals and other animals that depend on the sea ice for resting, feeding and breeding are particularly threatened by changing climate. Biologists have reported that in 1980, the average weight of female polar bears of Western Hudson Bay, Canada was 650 Ibs. whereas in 2004 their average weight declined to only 507 Ibs. Reduced sea ice extent has caused about 50% decline in Emperor penguin populations in Terre Adelie, Antarctica (Secretariat CBD, 2007). Reduction of phytoplankton growth in the Ross Sea in believed to have caused disruption of Antarctic food chain. Populations of krill and other small organisms may also decline as ice cover reduces. Due to the important position of krills in the food chain, the entire marine food web could be adversely affected (Secretariat CBD, 2007). Losses of biodiversity have already affected the traditional practices of indigenous people in Arctic, especially fishing and hunting. For example, the Saami people have observed changes in reindeer grazing pastures, and the Inuit people of Canada have observed reductions in the ringed seal population, their single most important source of food (Secretariat CBD, 2007).

7.2. In Desert biomes Deserts are areas experiencing extreme drought, and the desert plants and animals have adapted to drought by devising water storage in the body and by loosing minimum water. Deserts are projected to be hotter and drier and that would threaten many organisms those have reached closed to the heat tolerance limits. For example, climate change would pose serious impacts on the Succulent Karoo, the world’s richest arid hotspot located in South Africa and Namibia (Secretariat CBD, 2007).

7.3. In Inland Water ecosystems Inland Water ecosystems are likely to be negatively affected by climate change. More than 20% of the world’s freshwater fish species have become extinct or endangered in recent decades. Freshwater species have been facing declines in biodiversity far greater than those in most terrestrial ecosystems (Secretariat CBD, 2007).

7. 4. In Insular ecosystem and marine habitats Island ecosystems are especially vulnerable to climate change because island species population tends to be small, localized, highly specialized and thus can be driven to extinction. An estimated 75% of animal species and 90% of bird species those have become extinct since the seventeenth century is insular. Furthermore, 23% of island species are considered to be endangered corresponding to the rest of the world figure is 11% (INSULA, 2004; Secretariat CBD, 2007). An increased sea temperature has led to coral bleaching (loss of coral-algal symbiont). E1 Nino (shifts in normal relationship between ocean and atmosphere) events have been increasing in frequency and degree since records are made in early 1900, and climatologists expect this trend to continue over coming decades (Easterling et al., 2000; IPCC, 2001; Meehl et al., 2000). A particularly strong E1 Nino in 1997-98 caused bleaching of coral in every ocean (up to 95% of corals bleached in Indian Ocean), ultimately resulting in 16% corals rendered extinct globally (Hoegh-Guldberg, 1999, 2005b; Wilkinson, 2000). 25

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

7.5. In Mountain ecosystems Mountain environments cover about 27% of earth surface and many species specialized in these ecosystems provides goods to the mountain people. Climate change has severe impacts on mountain ecosystems as it causes retreat and even disappearance of many alpine species. For example, in Alps some plant species have been migrating upward by 1-4 metre per decade, and some plants earlier found on mountain tops have disappeared (Secretariat CBD, 2007).

Fig. 1. Primary Dynamics of the Earth’s Greenhouse Effect.

Fig. 2. Holdridge Life Zone Classification Scheme; after Holdridge, 1967.

26

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

Fig. 3. Holdridge Life Zone Classification for current climate.

Fig. 4. Holdridge Life Zone Classification predicting vegetation patterns with a doubling of carbon dioxide (nasa-giss global climate model).

7.6. On other wild animals Climate fluctuations in North America reduced the plankton population that constitutes the main food of the North Atlantic right whale. Only about 300 individuals survive at present and reduced availability of food has become an increasing threat to their survival (Secretariat CBD, 2007).

27

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Some of the largest remaining areas of the tiger habitats are in the mangrove forests of Asia. The projected rise of sea level due to increased temperature could disrupt the mangrove ecosystems and cause increasing threat to the survival of the species. Scorching heat waves, linked to climate change, have caused thousands of Australian bats to drop dead after flapping their wings in a desperate bid to cool off . Sanyal (2006) noted comparable situations in Indian fruit brats). Warmer temperature in the Pacific regions could reduce the number of male sea turtle offsprings and imbalance the turtle populations. The sex of sea turtle hatchling is dependent on temperature with warmer temperatures increase the number of female offspring (Secretariat CBD, 2007). Rise of temperature by 10C may drive the Tuatara, New Zealand’s living fossil, to extinction. The sex of Tuatara is determined by incubation temperature of its eggs and with rising temperature proportion of male hatchling increases. An experiment showed that 21.70C could be the pivotal temperature and at 220C 100% hatchlings were male. On average female tuatara mate every four years, eggs take between 11 and 16 months to hatch (Hansford, 2006). The recent study has suggested that global warming has set off chain reactions harming entire frog populations and could possibly drive many species to extinction. The extinction of golden toad coincided with the reduced level of moisture in Costa Rica’s cloud forest. Over the past 30 years, the dry season in the area has become warmer and drier, a change that has affected many species. Approximately 70 species of harlequin frogs in Central and South America have been driven to extinction by a disease that is linked with global warming. Warmer night temperatures cause increased day time cloud cover that creates the ideal conditions for a fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) that kills the frogs (Pounds et al., 1999, 2005, 2006). It has been reported that 20 out of 50 species of frogs and toads have disappeared from a 30 sq. km. of study area. In 2004, the Global Amphibian Assessment reported that nearly one-third of the world’s 6000 species of frogs, toads and salamanders have been facing extinctions. Climate change has reduced the number of birds flying to the United Kingdom (UK) to spend their winter there. As winter becomes milder at higher latitudes with global warming, some birds need not to fly as far as the UK to find suitable conditions. Many animals are moving towards the pole or towards the higher elevations for suitable living conditions. For example, many British breeding birds were, in average moved more than 11 miles further north in the period from 1988-91, than they were seen during the period from 1968-72, according to comparisons derived from breeding bird atlases (Huntley et al., 2006). Egg laying and spawning are occurring earlier for many species and in some cases disrupting delicate cycles which ensure that insects and other foods are available for young animals. For example, tree swallows across North America have advanced egg laying by as many as 9 days from 1959 to 1991 (Dunn & Winkler). Spring migration is occurring earlier and fall migration later in many species. For example, 25 migratory bird species are arriving in Manitoba, Canada earlier than they did about 63 years ago; 2 are however arriving later (Murphy-Klassen et al., 2005). In two situations of climate change there will be major shifts in the abundance and ranges of many of the 150 common birds in the Eastern United States over the next 100 years or so; about 50-52% of species will reduce their abundance by about 25%, while about 40% of species will reduce their range by more than 25% (Mathews et al., 2004). It is predicted that the range of many European and African birds are likely to shift by at least 600 miles, with a decline in species richness and reduction in average range sizes (Huntley et al., 2006). It is considered that, long distance migrants would be more vulnerable to changing climate than other species. As temperatures increased between 1980 and 1992 at Lake Constance in

28

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Central Europe, the presence of long distance migrant bird species decreased, while the number and proportion of resident bird species increased (Lemoine & Bohning-Gaese, 2003). The impact of climate change on non migratory European butterfly species revealed that 32 out of 52 species (64%) have expanded their range northwards during the twentieth Century, while southern limits of 10 of 40 species (25%) have retracted northwards. The species with low dispersal capacity and high habitat demands will face severe problems while their old ones becomes unsuitable due to change (Ryrholm, 2003). More than 400 species of butterflies are present in Australia with about 50% are endemic to the continent. It is believed that many of them may not be able to survive in their current range by 2050 and about 54% may eventually go extinct as a result of increase warming by 2050. Changing climate would increase insect pest infestation in some areas as the rising temperature would increase aridity. Spruce budworm outbreaks often follow droughts, perhaps due to increased stress on host trees by weather allow more spruce bud worm eggs to be laid. Increased infestation can eventually be lethal to spruce trees, and spruce- fir forests in the Northern hemisphere. Noxious weed infestation can also rise in many areas due to continued climate change. For example, invasive weeds currently infest more than 20 million hectares of Californian farmland. Range expansion and shifting are expected in many invasive species and shifting are expected in many invasive species and thereby altering competition with native plants (Luers et al., 2006). These are only some cautionary examples of how global warming disrupts the stability of ecosystems and threatening the existence of various organisms in them. It is depicted that over a quarter of all terrestrial species (1 million plants and animals) will be on an irreversible path to extinction by 2050, unless greenhouse gas emissions are drastically reduced (Thomas et al., 2004). These predictions are based on modeling effects of minimum to maximum climate warming impacts on a broad range of species in regions around the world. The largest collaboration of scientists ever to apply themselves for this sort of problem studied six biodiversity rich regions of the world representing about 20% of the world’s land area. The study found that 15-37% of all species, in the regions considered, could be driven to extinction from climate change that is likely occur between now and 2050 (i.e., for mid-range climate warming scenarios). The world’s 25 biodiversity ‘hotspots’ are especially vulnerable to climate impacts. These special areas provide shelters for about 44% of the world’s plant species and 35% of its vertebrate animal species in less than 1.4% of its land area. A doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide which may occur in about 100 years, could lead to extinction of as many as 43% of these area’s endemic species. Table 1. Global Warming Potentials (GWP) and Atmospheric Lifetimes of Greenhouse Gases Gas Carbon dioxide (CO2) Methane (CH4) Nitrous oxide (N2O) HFC-23 HFC-125 HFC-134a HFC-143a HFC-152a HFC-227ea HFC-236fa HFC-4310mee CF4 C2F6 C4F10 C6F14 SF6 Source: IPCC (1996)

Atmospheric Lifetime (Yrs.)

100-Year GWP

500-Year GWP

50-200 12±3 120 264 32.6 14.6 48.3 1.5 36.5 209 17.1 50,000 10,000 2,600 3,200 3,200

1 21 310 11,700 2,800 1,300 3,800 140 2,900 6,300 1,300 6,500 9,200 7,000 7,400 23,900

1 6.5 170 9,800 920 420 1,400 42 950 4,700 400 10,000 14,000 10,100 10,700 34,900

29

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

REMARKS Climate change is an unavoidable challenge, perhaps one of the biggest the world has ever faced. Because global warming is already upon us, and some amount of additional warming is inevitable we must prepare for the changes that are already underway. Preparing for the unavoidable changes will require minimizing further stresses on sensitive ecosystems and implementing management practices that integrate climate risks into long-term planning strategies. Adaptations to climate change would require adjustments and changes at all levels from community to national and international. Communities should build their resilience, including appropriate technologies while making the most traditional knowledge, and diversifying their livelihoods to cope up with current and future climate scenarios. Lastly, we cannot afford to let global warming change the fabric of our natural world, and we cannot ignore our own responsibility to address the problem head on. While we develop strategies that decrease our emission or greenhouse gases and cut our dependence on fossil fuels for much of this menace, let us be careful also of the land and waters and find ways to help wildlife and biodiversity survive an era we have made ever more formidable. What on earth is our alternative?

ACKNOWLEDGEMNT I am indebted to the Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata for facilities.

REFERENCES Alley, R. et al. 2007. Climate change 2007: The physical science basis: Summary for policy makers. IPCC Secretariat, Geneva. Arrhenius, S. 1896. On the influence of carbonic acid in the air upon the temperature of the ground. London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, (5th Ser.), 41: 237-275. Arrhenius, S. 1908. Worlds in the Making : Evoluation of the Universe. [English Translation: H. Borns], Harper: New York. Bhattacharya , S., Sharma, C., Dhiman, R.C. and Mitra, A.P. 2006. Climate change and malaria in India. Curr. Sci., 90 (30): 369-375. Brenkert, A and Malone, E. 2005. Modeling vulnerability and resilience to climate change: A study of India and Indian states. Climatic Change, 72: 57-102. Christensen, J.H., Hewitson, B., Busuioc, A., Chen, A., Gao, X., Held, I., Jones, R., Kolli, R.K., Kwon, W-T., Laprise, R., Magana Rueda, V., Mearns, L., Menendez, C.G., Raisanen. J., Rinke, A., Sarr, A., and Whelton, P. 2007. Regional Climate Projections. In: Climate change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of working group 1 to the 4th Assessment report of the IPCC [Solomon, S., Qin, D., Manning, M., Chen, Z., Marquis, M., Averyt, K.B., Tignor, M. and Miller H. I. (eds.)]. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge. Cruz R.V., Harasawa, H., Lal, M., Wu, S., Anokhin, Y., Punsalmaa, B., Honda, Y., Jafari, M., Li, C., and Huu Ninh , N., 2007. Asia. Climate change 2007: impacts Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group I to the 4th Assessment Report of the IPCC [Parry, M.L., Cannziani, O.F., Palutikof, J.P., Van der Linden, P.J., and Hanson, C.E., (eds.)]. pp. 469-506; Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge. Deshingkar, P. 1997. Adapting to Climate change in a forest based land use system – A case study of Himachal Pradesh, India. Atmospheric Environmental issues in Developing Countries, Stockholm Environment Institute, Stockholm. Dunn, P.O. and Winkler, D. 1999. Climate change has affected the breeding date of tree swallows throughout North America. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B, 266: 2487-2490. Easterling, D.R., Meehl, J., Parmesan, C., Chagnon, S. , Karl, T.R., and Mearns, L.O. 2000. Climate extremes: Observations, modeling and impacts. Science, 289: 2068-2074. Epstein, Y., Sohar, E. and Shapiro, Y. 1995. Exceptional heatstroke: a preventive condition. Israel J. med. Sci., 31: 454-462. 30

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert FAO. 2007. Climate Change and Food Security: A Framework Document. FAO, Rome. Gosain, A.K., Rao, S. and Basuray, D. 2006. Climate Change impact assessment on hydrology of Indian river basins. Curr. Sci., 90(3): 346-353. Hall, M.H.P. and Fagre, D.B. 2003. Modeled climate-induced glacier change in Glacier National Park, 1850-2100. Bioscience, 53: 131-140. Hansford, D. 2006. Warming may drive gender- bending reptiles extinct, Scientists say. National Geographic News, (10 November, 2006). Hoegh- Guldberg, O. 1999. Climate Change, coral bleaching and the future of the World’s coral reef. Mar. Freshw. Res., 50: 839-866. Hoegh- Guldberg, O. 2005. Marine ecosystems and climate change. In: Lovejoy, T. and Hannah, L. (eds.) Climate change and Biodiversity. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven; pp. 256-271. Holdridge, L.R. 1967. Life Zone Ecology. Tropical Science Centre, San José. Houghton, J.T., Ding, Y., Griggs, D.J., Noguer, M., Vander Linden, P.J., Dai, X., Maskell, K., and Johnson, C.A (eds.). 2001. Climate change 2001: The Scientific basis. IPCC, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge. Hulme, M. and Viner, D. 1995. A climate change scenario for assessing the impact of climate change on tropical rain forests, A report by the climatic Research Unit, World Wildlife Fund-US, Washington, D.C. Huntley, B., Collingham, Y.C., Green, R.E., Hilton, G.M., Rahbek, C. and Willis, S.G. 2006. Potential impacts of climate change upon geographical distributions of birds. Ibis, 148: 828. INSULA. 2004. Island Biodiversity: Sustaining life in vulnerable ecosystems. IPCC. 1996. Climate Change 1995: Impacts adaptation and Mitigation of Climate change. Scientific Technical Analysis, IPCC, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge. IPCC, 2001. Climate Change 2001: The Science of Climate Change, contribution of working group I to Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change Third Assessment Report. (eds. Houghton, J.T., Ding, Y., Griggs, D.J., Nouger, M., Van der Linden, P.J., Dai, X., Maskell, K. and Johnson, C.A.) Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge. IPCC. 2007. Fourth Assessment Report. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Secretariat; Geneva, Switzerland. Lal, M. Cubasch, U., Voss, R. and Waszkewrtz, J. 1995. Effect of transient increase in greenhouse gases and sulphate aerosols on monsoon climate. Curr. Sci., 69: 752-763. Leemans, R. and Eickhout, B. 2004. Another reason for concern: regional and global impacts on ecosystems for different levels of climate change. Global Environ. Change, 14: 214-228. Lemoine, N. and Bohning-Gaese, K. 2003. Potential impact of global climate change on species richness of long distance migrants. Conserv. Biol., 17(2): 577-586. Leuliette, E.W., Nerem, R.S. and Mitchum, G.T. 2004. Calibration of TOPEX/ Poseidon and Jason altimeter data to construct a continuous record of mean sea level change. Marine Geology, 27: 79-94. Luers, A.L., Cayan, D.R., Franco, G., Hanemann, M. and Croes, B. 2006. Our Changing Climate: Assessing the Risks to California. Summart Report, California Climate Change Center, 16 pp. Malcom, J.R., Liu, C., Neilson, R.P., Hansen, L. and Hannah, L. 2006. Global warming and extinctions of endemic species from biodiversity hotspots. Conserv. Biol., 20(2): 538-548. Martens, P., Kovats, R.S., Nijhof, S., de Vries, P., Livermore, M.T. J., Bradley, D.J., Cox, J. and McMichael, A.J. 1999. Climate change and future populations at risk of malaria. Global Environmental change, 9: S89-S107. Mathews, S.N., O’Connor, R.J., Iverson, L.R. and Prasad, A.M. 2004. Atlas of climate change effects in 150 bird species of the eastern United States. General Technical Report NE- 318. Newton Square, PA: USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station, 340 pp.

31

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert McCarthy, J.J., Canziani, O.F. Leary, N.A., Dokken, D.J. and White, K.S. (eds.) 2001. Climate change 2001: Impacts Adaptation and Vulnerability. IPCC, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge. Meehl, G.A., Zwiers, F., Evans, J., Knutson, T. Mearns, L.O. and Whetton, P. 2000. Trends in extreme weather and climate events: issues related to modeling extremes in projections of future climate change. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 81: 427-436. Murphy- Klassen, H.M., Underwood, T.J., Sealy, S.G. and Czyrnyz, A.A. 2005. Long term trends in spring arrival dates of migrant birds at Delta Marsh, Manitoba, in relation to climate change. The Auk, 122(4): 1130-1148. National Academy of Sciences. 2001. Climate Change Science: An analysis of some key questions. Committee on the Science of Climate Change, Washington, DC; National Academies Press. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 2006. Trends in atmospheric Carbon dioxide, Boulder, Co, Pounds, J.A., Bustamente, M.R., Coloma, L.A., Consuegra, J.A. and Fodgen, M.P.L. 2006. Widespread amphibian extinctions from epidemic disease driven by global warming. Nature, 439: 161-167. Pounds, J.A., Fogden, M.P.L. and Campbell, J.H. 1999. Biological responses to climate change on a tropical mountain. Nature, 398: 611-615. Pounds, J.A., Fogden, M.P.L. and Masters, K.L. 2005. Responses of natural communities to climate change in a highland tropical forest. Case study. In: Lovejoy, T. and Hannah, L. (eds.) Climate Change and Biodiversity. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven; pp. 70-74. Ravindranath, N.H., Joshi, N.V., Sukumar, R. and Saxena, A. 2006. Impact of Climate change of forests in India. Curr. Sci., 90(3): 354-361. Ravindranath, N.H. and Sukumar, R. 1998. Climate change and tropical forests in India. Climate Change, 39: 563-581. Ravindranath, N.H., Sukumar, R. and Deshingkar, P. 1997. Climate change and forests: Impacts and adaptation. Regional assessment for the Western Ghats, India. Atmospheric Environmental Issues in Developing countries, Stockholm Environment Institute, Stockholm. Sanyal, P. 2006. Forest Conservation- Climate change- Threat to wildlife. In: Basu, R.C., Khan R.A. and Alfred, J.R.B. (eds.) Environmental Awareness and Wildlife Conservation; Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata; pp. 191-195. Sathaye, J., Shukla, P.R. and Ravindranath, N.H. 2006. Climate change, sustainable development and India: Global and national concerns. Curr. Sci., 90 (3): 314-325. Secretariat CBD. 2007. Biodiversity and Climate change. UNEP, 44 pp. Shein, K.A. 2005. State of the climate in 2005. Bull. Amer. Met. Soc., 87(6): s1-s102. Solomon, A.M. 1986. Transient responses of forests to CO2-induced climate change: simulating modeling experiments in eastern North America. Oecologia, 68: 567-579. Stern, N. 2006. Stern Review on the Economics of climate change. HM Treasury, UK, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge. Thomas, C.D., Alison, C., Green, R.E., Bakkenes, M., Beaunont, L., Collingham, Y.C., Erasmus, B.F.N., de Siquira, M.F., Grainger, A., Hannah, L. Hughes, L. Huntley, B., van Jaarsveld, A.S., Midgley, G.F., Miles, L., Ortega-Huerta, M.A., Peterson, A.T., Phillips, O.L. and Williams, S.E. 2004. Extinction risk from climate change. Nature, 427: 145-148. UNFCC. 2007. Climate Change : Impacts, vulnerabilities and adaptation in developing countries. U.N. Office. Geneva, 60 pp. Wassmann, R. Nguyen, X.H., Chu, T.H. and To, P.T. 2004. Sea level rise affecting the Vietnamese Mekong Delta: Water Elevation in the flood season and implications for rice production. Climatic change, 66(1-2): 89-107. Wilkinson, C.R. (ed.) 2000. Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network: Status of Coral Reefs of the World in 2000. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, QLD. Zimov, S.A., Schuur, E. A.G. and Chapin III, F.S. 2006. Permafrost and the global carbon budget. Science, 312(5780): 1612-1613.

32

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIOS INFLUENCING THE THAR DESERT ECOSYSTEM A.S. RAO* AND SURENDRA POONIA Division of Natural Resources and Environment, Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur-342 003. e-mail: *[email protected] ABSTRACT: Thar desert region of India, which extends in more than 2.0 lakh sq. km area, experiences variable rainfall from 100 mm to 450 mm in a year. Frequent drought, which occurs once in 2 or 3 years in the region, causes extreme stress to fauna due to limited seasonal grazing resources. Besides xerophytic type of ecosystem, the fauna in Thar desert is subjected to extreme diurnal and seasonal variation in temperatures ranging as low as -5OC in winter to a high of +49OC in summer, causing thermal stress to the fauna. The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) projected for more hotter days and warm nights and a reduction in rainfall in Thar region by 21st century. Such projected climate change results in shifting rainfall pattern, higher temperatures, more demand for water and will be significant driver of biodiversity with changing life cycles, loss, migration and invasion of new habitat in Thar region. PRECIS (Providing Regional Climates for Impact Studies - developed by the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research) model using IPCC scenarios predicted for the Thar region for an increase in annual rainfall by 10-15% in the eastern fringe and by 20-40% in the south, but the northwest will experience up to 30% reduction in rainfall. The PRECIS model also showed an increase in an annual mean surface temperature by 3 to 50C under A2 scenario and 2.5 to 4OC under B2 scenario by the end of century. Warming is more in winter (December-February) and post-monsoon (October-November) seasons compared to southwest monsoon (June-September) season. The present study on annual rainfall and temperature for Thar region showed by the end of 21st century, an increase in temperature by +3.8 OC at Bikaner, +3.6OC at Jaisalmer, +2.8OC at Jodhpur and +2.3OC at Pali, if the present rate of warming continues. Similarly, though there was no significant rise (@ 0.56 mm/year) in the annual rainfall of 12 arid districts of western Rajasthan, the annual rainfall is likely to be increased by +40 mm at Bikaner, +119 mm at Jaisalmer, -13 mm at Jodhpur and +43 mm at Pali. The spatial and temporal variation in potential evapotranspiration requirement of Thar region ranged from 2.1 mm/day to 12.2 mm/day and on an annual basis between 1500 mm to 2220 mm. During monsoon season, the impact of elevated temperatures on water demand is expected to increase by 0.1 to 0.5 mm/day for 1OC rise, 0.3 to 1.1 mm/day for 2OC, 0.4 to 1.6 mm/day for 3OC rise and 0.6 to 2.1 mm/day for a 4OC rise in temperature. Such increased demand of water due to global warming will reduce the scarce water and feed resources of Thar region. KEY WORDS: Climate change, impacts on Fauna, Thar desert region.

INTRODUCTION Thar desert is very rich in biodiversity with arid climatic conditions of the region suitable for adaptation of different species in the region. But, extreme weather conditions like low and erratic rainfall, high temperatures, strong winds and low humidity makes it inhospitable to different habitats leaving to migration and loss of habitats in the region (Rao, 1992, 2005 and 2009). The arid phase of northwest India has a history of about 3000 years (Pant and Maliekel, 1987). The studies conducted on secular changes in rainfall and air temperatures of northwest India showed that there was a marginal increase in the rainfall by 141 mm in the past 100 years 33

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert (Pant and Hingane 1988) and more so in irrigated belts of Sri Ganganagar region particularly during the past three decades (Rao, 1996). The studies on climatic changes over Jodhpur region showed that the rainfall and air temperatures were favourable, but the increase in human population (by 400%) and livestock (by 127%) during the twentieth century, resulting a major shift in land use pattern and tremendous pressure on surface and groundwater resources (Rao and Miyazaki, 1997). The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2001) in its first report in 1990, projected for an increase in global averaged temperature between 0.15 and 0.3°C per decade for 1990 to 2005. This can now be compared with observed values of about 0.2°C per decade, strengthening confidence in near-term projections (Iglesias, 2005). Continued greenhouse gas emissions at or above current rate would cause further warming by 21st century. The IPCC (2007) report projected globally averaged surface warming, the best estimate for the low scenario (B1) is 1.8°C (likely range is 1.1°C to 2.9°C), and the best estimate for the high scenario (A1FI) is 4.0°C (likely range is 2.4°C to 6.4°C). Such global climate change will influence the Thar desert ecosystem. The bio-physical resources of Indian arid region are already in a delicate balance with prevalent climate, pressure due to accelerated growth of human and livestock population and poor socio-economic conditions. In this paper, we are presenting an analysis of climate change scenarios influencing the Thar desert region focusing on adaptive and mitigation planning of the region.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The available climate change scenarios for arid Rajasthan due to global warming were taken from the PRECIS model generated at Hadley Centre, IPCC (2007) and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune (Rupa Kumar et al., 2006). The annual rainfall and temperatures data for the period 1971 to 2009 were collected for stations of Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Pali and analyzed for long-term changes and to obtain projection in rainfall and temperature by 21st century by using simple regression analysis. The impact of elevated temperatures by 1, 2, 3, and 4OC on evapotranspiration requirement in 12 arid districts of Rajasthan were calculated from daily climatic data (IMD, 2008) of 12 stations of Thar region using the Penman-Monteith method (Allen et al., 1998) as follows;

where ETo is the reference evapotranspiration (mm/day), Rn: net radiation at the crop surface (MJ/ m2/day), G: soil heat flux density (MJ/m2 /day), T: mean daily air temperature at 2 m height (°C), u2: wind speed at 2 m height (m/s), es: saturation vapour pressure (kPa), ea: actual vapour pressure (kPa), es - ea: saturation vapour pressure deficit (kPa), pressure curve (kPa

°C-1),

γ: psychrometric constant (kPa

∆:

slope of the vapour

°C-1).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 1. Climate change scenarios due to global warming According to PRECIS (Providing Regional Climates for Impact Studies) model for the Thar region an increase in annual rainfall by 10-15% in the eastern fringe and by 20-40% in the south is expected, but the northwest will experience up to 30% reduction in rainfall (Fig.1). The PRECIS model using IPCC scenarios also showed an increase in an annual mean surface temperature by 3 to 50C under A2 scenario and 2.5 to 4OC under B2 scenario (Fig.2). Warming is more in winter

34

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert (December-February) and post-monsoon (October-November) seasons compared to southwest monsoon (June-September) season (Rupa Kumar et al., 2006).

Fig. 1. PRECIS Surface Temperature, 2071-2100 with reference to the baseline of 1961-1990 (Source: Rupa Kumar et al., 2006).

Fig. 2. PRECIS Precipitation, 2071-2100 with reference to the baseline of 1961-1990 (Source: Rupa Kumar et al., 2006).

2. Changes in Air temperatures and Rainfall The present study on annual rainfall and temperature for Thar region showed by the end of 21st century, an increase in temperature by +3.8OC at Bikaner, +3.6OC at Jaisalmer, +2.8OC at 35

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Jodhpur and +2.3OC at Pali, if the present rate of warming continues (Fig. 3). Jodhpur experienced warmest winter in 2008-2009 surpassing all past 50 years of warm winters in the region. Desert fauna suffers causality during severe drought years, reducing population but multiplies during consecutive good rainfall years when adequate feed is available. Thar region experienced severe drought during 2009, with a rainfall deficiency of 40% from its normal rainfall of 225 mm. The 2009 drought has affected (desert fauna) by causing scarcity for feed and dehydration due to lack of drinking water. Drought followed by high temperatures touching 4549OC during late summer period of June 2010 has resulted causality in chinkaras and black bucks in Barmer, Churu and Jodhpur districts of Thar region. It was reported in local newspapers more than 177 chinkaras and black bucks died in villages of Bhacharna, Guda-vishnoi, Janguwas in Jodhpur district, in Chawa in Barmer district and Talchhapar in Churu. Soil fauna is not going to be affected directly by high temperatures due to their habit of living in burrows where the subsurface temperatures are not greatly influenced by high air temperatures. Similarly, though there was no significant rise (@ 0.56 mm/year) in the annual rainfall of 12 arid districts of western Rajasthan, the annual rainfall is likely to be increased by +40 mm at Bikaner, +119 mm at Jaisalmer, -13 mm at Jodhpur and +43 mm at Pali (Fig. 4). Monsoon rainfall of Thar region was also at a decreasing rate, with indications of increase in rainfall during June and decrease in rainfall during subsequent months.

3. Sensitivity of elevated temperatures on water demand The sensitivity of daily potential evapotranspiration (mm) at normal and elevated air temperatures at Jaisalmer and Jodhpur are shown in Fig. 5 & Fig. 6. The normal daily potential evapotranspiration at these locations varied from 1.9 to 11.4 mm/day at Jaisalmer and from 3.0 to 10.8 mm/day at Jodhpur. Low evapotranspiration is in winter season and higher rates are in May and June. The spatial variability of annual potential evapotranspiration in Thar region (Fig. 7) shows that the highest water need prevails at Bikaner (2066 mm) and Jaisalmer (2221 mm) and the lowest at Ganganagar (1712 mm), Hanumangarh (1736 mm). Besides high water need, failure of rains in districts of Jaisalmer and Bikaner causes drought on an average every alternate year and once in every three years in other parts of the region. During major cropping season of monsoon period, the impact of elevated temperatures on water need shows that there was an increase in water demand by 0.1 to 0.5 mm/day for 10C rise, 0.3 to 1.1 mm/day for 20C rise, 0.4 to 1.6 mm/day for 30C rise and 0.6 to 2.1 mm/day for a 40C rise in temperature. Thus, by the end of 21st century, the water demand during monsoon period increases by 9 to 23% from the current levels (Table 1).

Table 1. Daily potential evapotranspiration (mm) of arid Rajasthan during monsoon (JJAS) S.No. District Normal At elevated air temperatures by Increase in PET at 40C 10C 20C 30C 40C (%) 1 Barmer 5.3-8.9 5.5-9.2 5.6-9.5 5.8-9.8 5.9-10.2 11-15 2 Bikaner 6.1-10.3 6.4-10.7 6.6-11.1 6.8-11.3 7.0-11.5 12-15 3 Churu 5.3-8.1 5.5-8.3 5.6-8.6 5.8-8.9 6.0-9.2 13-14 4 Ganganagar 5.3-7.5 5.5-7.7 5.7-8.0 5.9-8.2 6.1-8.4 12-15 5 Hanumangarh 5.4-7.6 5.6-7.8 5.7-8.1 5.9-8.3 6.1-8.5 12-13 6 Jaisalmer 4.7-11.4 5.0-11.9 5.3-12.5 5.5-13.0 5.8-13.5 18-23 7 Jalore 4.8-8.5 5.0-8.8 5.1-9.1 5.2-9.4 5.4-9.7 13-14 8 Jhunjhunu 4.9-8.0 5.1-8.3 5.2-8.5 5.3-8.8 5.4-9.0 10-13 9 Jodhpur 5.0-10.8 5.3-11.0 5.5-11.2 5.7-11.6 5.8-12.1 12-16 10 Nagaur 3.8-7.8 3.9-8.0 4.1-8.2 4.2-8.5 4.4-8.7 12-16 11 Pali 4.6-10.1 4.7-10.5 4.8-10.9 5.1-11.3 5.2-11.7 13-16 12 Sikar 4.6-6.1 4.7-6.2 4.8-6.4 4.9-6.6 5.0-6.7 9-10

36

37

Year

Fig. 3. Long-term trends in annual air temperatures in Thar region.

2009

2007

2005

2003

2001

1999

1997

1995

1993

1991

1989

1987

1985

1983

1981

1979

1977

28.0

1975

2008

2006

2004

2002

2000

1998

1996

1994

1992

1990

1988

1986

28.0

1984

2009

2007

2005

2003

2001

1999

1997

1995

1993

1991

1989

1987

1985

1983

1981

1979

1977

1975

1973

1971

Mean air temperature (0C)

2009

2007

2005

2003

2001

1999

1997

1995

1993

1991

1989

1987

1985

1983

1981

1979

1977

Mean air temperature ( 0C) 27.5

1973

1982

Mean air temperature (0C) 28.5

1971

Mean air temperature (0C)

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

28

y = 0.0387x + 25.732

27

26.5

25.5 26

25

24.5

Year

28.0

y = 0.0289x + 26.491

27.5

27.0

26.5

26.0

25.5

y = 0.0364x + 25.831 Year

27.5

27.0

26.5

26.0

25.5

Year

29.0

y = 0.0238x + 26.078

27.0

26.0

25.0

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

Annual rainfall (mm)

500

y = 0.4011x + 239.31

400 300 200 100

1000 )

2008

2006

2004

2002

2000

1998

1996

1994

1992

1990

Year

1988

1986

1984

1982

1980

1978

1976

1974

1972

1970

1968

1966

1964

1962

1960

0

y = -0.1295x + 378.11

m m (800 ll a f600 in a r l400 a u n n200 A 0

Annual rainfall (mm)

0 6 9 1

1000

3 6 9 1

6 6 9 1

9 6 9 1

2 7 9 1

5 7 9 1

8 7 9 1

1 8 9 1

4 8 9 1

Year

7 8 9 1

0 9 9 1

3 9 9 1

6 9 9 1

9 9 9 1

2 0 0 2

5 0 0 2

8 0 0 2

y = 0.4365x + 404.46

800 600 400 200

Fig. 4. Long-term trends in annual rainfall in Thar region.

38

2008

2006

2004

2002

2000

1998

1996

1994

1992

1990

Year

1988

1986

1984

1982

1980

1978

1976

1974

1972

1970

1968

1966

1964

1962

1960

0

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 14

Potential Evapotranspiration

12

Normal PET 2 Degree C rise in temp. 4 Degree C rise in temp

10

8

6

4

2 1

16

31

46

61

76

91 106 121 136 151 166 181 196 211 226 241 256 271 286 301 316 331 346 361 Days

Fig. 5. Daily potential evapotranspiration at Jodhpur. 14

Potentail Evapotranspiration

12

Normal PET 2 Degree C rise in temp 4 Degree C rise in temp

10

8

6

4

2 1

16

31

46

61

76

91

106 121 136 151 166 181 196 211 226 241 256 271 286 301 316 331 346 361

Days

Fig. 6. Daily potential evapotranspiration at Jaisalmer.

Fig. 7. Annual potential evapotranspiration (mm) of arid Rajasthan. 39

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert During winter, the water demand increases by 0.3 to 0.5 mm/day for 10C rise, 0.3 to 1.1 mm/day for 20C rise, 0.4 to 1.6 mm/day for 30C rise and 0.6 to 2.1 mm/day for a 40C rise in temperature. Thus, by end of 21st century, the rates of increase were much higher and are up to 12 to 50% higher from the current levels of water demand (Table 2). This shows rabi crops grown in winter are not sustainable due to not only because of rising temperatures but also due to depleting ground water resources in the Thar region. Thus, western districts of Thar needs alternate land use restricting agricultural activities and by increasing more area under pasture lands. Table 2. Daily potential evapotranspiration (mm) of arid Rajasthan (Winter Season, DJF) S.No. District Normal At elevated air temperatures by Increase in PET at 40C (%) 10C 20C 30C 40C 1 Barmer 13-20 3.0-5.1 3.1-5.3 3.2-5.6 3.3-5.8 3.4-6.1 2 Bikaner 2.0-4.1 2.1-4.3 2.2-4.5 2.3-4.7 2.4-4.9 19-20 3 Churu 1.8-3.8 1.9-3.9 2.0-4.1 2.1-4.2 2.2-4.3 13-22 4 Ganganagar 1.5-3.2 1.6-3.3 1.7-3.4 1.8-3.5 1.9-3.6 13-27 5 Hanumangarh 1.6-3.2 1.7-3.3 1.8-3.4 1.9-3.6 2.0-3.7 16-25 6 Jaisalmer 1.9-5.1 2.2-5.5 2.4-5.8 2.6-6.0 2.8-6.3 24-47 7 Jalore 2.5-4.8 2.6-5.0 2.8-5.2 2.9-5.4 3.0-5.6 17-20 8 Jhunjhunu 2.1-3.7 2.2-3.8 2.3-4.0 2.4-4.2 2.5-4.4 18-19 9 Jodhpur 3.0-5.4 3.1-5.7 3.3-6.0 3.4-6.3 3.5-6.6 17-22 10 Nagaur 1.0-3.6 1.1-3.8 1.3-4.0 1.4-4.3 1.5-4.5 25-50 11 Pali 3.0-5.5 3.1-5.8 3.2-6.1 3.3-6.4 3.4-6.7 13-22 12 Sikar 1.9-3.2 2.0-3.3 2.1-3.4 2.2-3.5 2.3-3.6 12-21

CONCLUSIONS Several studies on faunal behaviour and their adaptation strategies in Thar region shows that many of these species are well adapted for the harsh climatic conditions of Indian desert ecosystem. Thar desert experiences extremes climatic conditions like drought, flood, heat and cold waves, affecting not only the human population but also the fauna. The PRECIS-Hadley and IPCC projections on climate change for Thar desert region shows an increase in annual temperature by 2-5°C by the end of 21st century. Annual rainfall also decreases in a larger area, except in the fringes of eastern and southern parts of Thar region and northern parts of Gujarat. The present study showed that the hot arid environment in Thar demands high water need varying from 2 to 12 mm/day, with an annual requirement varying from 1502 mm at Nagaur to 2221 mm at Jaisalmer. If the warming continues at the present rate, the temperatures in the Thar region will increase by another 2.3 to 3.6OC from the current normal temperatures. Such a rise in temperatures are likely to increase the water need of the place by 9-23% during JJAS and by 1250% during DJF. Similarly, though there was no significant rise in the annual rainfall of 12 arid districts of western Rajasthan during the past century, the annual rainfall is likely to be increased in locations like Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Pali, whereas a reduction in rainfall at locations like Jodhpur. Such an increase in water demand due to global warming combined with unfavourable rainfall will influence the future adaptation and survival of different habitats in Thar region. Further, Thar region, which is a favourable hub for industrialization, urbanization, mining of minerals and oil, is undergoing fast changes in its environmental conditions influencing fauna of the region. Thus, Thar desert region is more sensitive to changing global climate than other climate regions. Development of strategies, adaptation of traditional knowledge and practices related to biodiversity conservation and sustainable use along with modern scientific interventions will lead to mitigation of adverse affects of anticipated climate change on biodiversity in Thar desert region.

40

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

REFERENCES Allen, R.G., Pereira, L.S., Dirk Raes, Martin Smith, 1998. Crop evapotranspiration guidelines for computing crop water requirements. FAO Irrigation and Drainage paper 56, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, p. 300. Iglesias, A. 2005. Tools and models for vulnerability and adaptation assessment for the agriculture sector. UNFCCC, Mozambique. IMD, 2008. Daily district-wise normals of meteorological parameters data. India Meteorological Department, Pune. IPCC. 2001. Climate Change: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Third Assessment Report of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 881 pp. IPCC. 2007. Climate Change: The Physical Science Basis Summary for Policy makers. Contribution of working group Ist to IVth Assessment Report of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change. Released February, 2007, 21 pp. Pant, G.B. and Hingane, L.S. 1988. Climatic changes in and around the Rajasthan desert during the 20th century. Journal of Climatology, 8: 391-401. Pant, G.B. and Maliekal, J.A. 1987. Holocene climatic changes over north-west India. An appraisal. Climate Change, 10: 183-194. Rao, A.S. 1992. Climate, Climatic changes and Paleo-climatic aspects of Rajasthan. In: Geographical facets of Rajasthan. (Eds: H.S. Sharma and M.L. Sharma), Kuldeep Publications, Ajmer, pp. 38-44. Rao, A.S. 1996. Climatic changes in the irrigated tracts of Indira Gandhi Canal Region of arid western Rajasthan, India. Annals of Arid Zone, 38(2): 111-116. Rao, A.S. and Miyazaki, T. 1997. Climatic changes and other causative factors influencing desertification in Osian (Jodhpur) region of the Indian arid zone. Journal of Arid Land Studies, 7(1):1-11. Rao, A.S. 2005 Impact of introduction of IGNP canal irrigation on Micro- and Secular changes in Climate of Thar desert region. In: Changing Faunal Ecology in the Thar Desert.(Eds: B.K. Tyagi and Q.H. Baqri), Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur, 3: 37-44. Rao, A.S. 2009. Climate and Microclimate Changes Influencing the Fauna of the Hot Indian Arid Zone. In: C. Sivaperuman, Q.H. Baqri, G. Ramaswamy, M. Naseema (Eds.), Faunal Ecology and Conservation of the Great Indian Desert, Springer-Verlag: Heidelberg, pp. 13–24. Rupa Kumar, K., Sahai, A.K, Krishna Kumar, K, Patwardhan, S.K. Mishra, P.K., Revadekar, J.V, Kamala, K, and Pant, G.P. 2006. High-resolution climate change scenarios for India for the 21st century. Current Science, 90: 334-345.

41

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

IMPACT OF ABIOTIC FACTORS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BABUL WHITEFLY, Acaudaleyrodes rachipora (SINGH) (ALEYRODIDAE: HEMIPTERA) S.I.AHMED1,4, V.P.PANDY2, MEETA SHARMA1 AND R. SUNDARARAJ3 1

Division of Forest Protection, Arid Forest Research Institute, Pali Road, Jodhpur- 342 005. 2 Centre for Social Forestry & Ecorehabilitation, Ashok Nagar, Allahabad- 211 001. 3 Wood Biodegradation Division, Institute of Wood Science and Technology, 18th Cross Malleswaram, Bangalore- 560 003. e-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT: The babul whitefly Acaudaleyrodes rachipora (Singh) is one of the major insect pests of arid and semi-arid region of Rajasthan. In the present study, impact of abiotic factors on the development of A. rachipora was assessed by studying its biology for 12 consecutive generations. Abiotic factors viz., maximum temperature, minimum temperature, morning relative humidity, evening relative humidity and total rainfall were recorded during the experimental period. Mean duration of each developmental stage and the abiotic factors recorded during the experimental period were statistically analyzed involving the duration of each developmental stage as the dependent variable and the mean values of abiotic factors as the independent variables. The study revealed that A. rachipora completes its life cycle within 24 days during July to October, however it is extended upto 42 days during January–February. Further the data were analysed for simple correlation and linear regression and the results are discussed in this communication. KEY WORDS: Abiotic factors, babul Whitefly, Rajasthan.

INTRODUCTION The babul whitefly Acaudaleyrodes rachipora (Singh) has been described by Singh in 1931 and listed Cassia fistula, Bauhinia sp., Dalbergia sissoo and Euphorbia hirta as hosts from Bihar and Baroda. In 1958, Rao added Prosopis sp. and Tamarindus indica as host of this whitefly from Andhra Pradesh. David and Subramaniam (1976) included Cassia auriculata, Abrus precatorius, Delonix elata, Pithecellobium dulce and Prosopis juliflora as hosts from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Pillai (1981) reported Hardwickia binata as a host from Tamil Nadu. Jesudasan and David (1991) recorded it on Securinega virosa, Peltophorum pterocarpum, Erythroxylum monogynum, Dodonaea angustifolia and Tephrosia purpurea from Tamil Nadu. It is an important pest on different tree species of Indian arid zone (Sundararaj and Murugesan, 1996) and is distributed throughout the arid and semi-arid tract of India, breeding on 48 host plants (Gaur et al., 1999). In the present study, impact of abiotic factors on the development of A. rachipora was assessed by studying its biology for 12 consecutive generations and the findings are presented in this communication.

MATERIALS AND METHODS Stock culture of babul whitefly was maintained on 6-8 months old seedlings of A. nilotica under field and laboratory conditions in Arid Forest Research Institute, Jodhpur. They were used for biological studies and duration of each developmental stage (incubation period, nymphal, pupal and total developmental period) were studied with 3 replicates on 6-8 months old A. nilotica seedlings during July, 1998-June, 1999 for twelve consecutive generations. Abiotic factors viz., maximum temperature, minimum temperature, morning relative humidity, evening relative humidity and total rainfall were recorded during the experimental period. Mean duration of each

42

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert developmental stage and the abiotic factors recorded during the experimental period were statistically analysed involving the duration of each developmental stage as the dependent variable and the mean values of abiotic factors as the independent variables. Methods described by Fisher (1938) were followed for the simple correlation, simple linear regression, partial correlation and multiple regression analysis of the above data.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Babul whitefly completes its life cycle within 24 days, however it is extended upto 42 days during January-February, 1999. Thus, there was a rapid development and multiplication of the whitefly during July to October, 1998 and April to June, 1999 and it was possible to obtain as many as 12 broods or generations during July, 1998-June, 1999. Influence of weather factors or season on the life history was statistically analysed and the results of simple correlation and simple linear regression are presented in Table 1. The results of simple correlation and linear regression analysis indicate that the incubation period of babul whitefly, exhibited a significant positive correlation with maximum and minimum temperature, (maximum temperature r = 0.603 and minimum temperature r = 0.517). The maximum temperature (1ºC) positively influenced the incubation period at the rate of 0.207 days. It was also observed that incubation period exhibited a nonsignificant positive correlation with humidity (morning and evening) and rainfall. Nymphal period of babul whitefly had a significant positive correlation with maximum and minimum temperature, rainfall and evening relative humidity (r = 0.624, r = 0.683, r = 0.572 and r = 0,413 respectively) while with morning humidity exhibited a non-significant positive correlation (r = 0.288). Nymphal period increased at the rate of 0.430 days with a decrease in minimum temperature at 1ºC. Pupal period exhibited a non-significant positive correlation with maximum temperature and morning humidity (r = 0.138 and 0.246) while with evening humidity, total rainfall and minimum temperature it exhibited a significant positive correlation (r = 0.516, 0.527 and 0.415). Pupal period increased at the rate of 0.116 days with a decrease of 1ºC minimum temperature. Except morning humidity, all observed parameters i.e., maximum and minimum temperature, evening humidity and rainfall exhibited a significant positive correlation with the total developmental period. Total developmental period increased at rate of 0.710 days with a decrease of 1ºC minimum temperature. Partial correlation between abiotic components and the duration of different developmental stages were worked out and results are presented in the Table 2. The results revealed that the duration of different developmental stages viz., incubation, total nymphal, pupal and total developmental periods exhibited a significant negative correlation with minimum temperature. It is evident from the results that the minimum temperature exhibited significant negative correlation on incubation, total nymphal, pupal and total developmental periods, while maximum temperature exhibited significant negative correlation on all developmental stages except pupal period with that it exhibited non-significant negative correlation. Morning relative humidity exhibited non significant negative correlation on different developmental stages viz., incubation, total nymphal, pupal period and total developmental period while evening relative humidity exhibited significant negative correlation on total nymphal, pupal period, total developmental and total nymphal period. It is also evident from the results that total rainfall exhibited significant negative correlation on total nymphal period, pupal period and total developmental period, having non-significant negative correlation on incubation. Multiple regression analysis were performed to find out the cumulative influence of the abiotic factors viz., temperature (maximum and minimum), relative humidity (morning and evening) and total rainfall on the duration of different developmental stages and multiple regression equations were constructed with R² values and presented in Table 3. From the R² values, it was attributed that all the abiotic factors had cumulative influence of 65, 63, 53 and 64% on the incubation period, total nymphal period, pupal and total developmental period 43

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert respectively. Due to low temperature prevailing during winter (December-March), the life cycle was extended up to 42 days. Table 1. Developmental periods of babul whitefly and abiotic factors. Incubation period Temperature

Relative humidity

Total rainfall

Maximum

Minimum

Morning

Evening

18.436 – 0.311x** r = 0.603

12.007 - 0.207x** r = 0.517

8.937 - 0.0217x r = 0.136

8.502 - 0.0307x r = 0.171

8.268 - 0.0222x r = 0.296

20.996 - 0.116x* r = 0.413

19.619 - 0.067 x** r = 0.572

8.436 -0.0647x** r = 0.516

7.382 - 0.0277x ** r = 0.527

Total Nymphal period 35.223 – 0.505x** r = 0.624

26.765 - 0.430x** r = 0.683

22.032 - 0.0721x r = 0.288 Pupal period

8.297 - 0.0495x r = 0.138

9.032 - 0.116x* r = 0.415

8.238 - 0.0273x r = 0.246

Total developmental period 59.154 – 0.792x** r = 0.611

46.632 - 0.710x** r = 0.722

38.636 - 0.115x r= 0.297

37.492 - 0.211x** r = 0.483

34.764 - 0.113x** r = 0.614

Table 2. Correlation between the duration of developmental stages of the babul whitefly and abiotic factors. STAGES

Maximum Temperature

- 0.603** Incubation period - 0.624** Total nymphal period - 0.138 Pupal period - 0.611** Total developmental period **Significant at 0.01 levels; *Significant at 0.05 levels

Relative humidity Morning Evening

MINIMUM TEMPERATURE - 0.517** - 0.683** - 0.415* - 0.722**

-0.136 -0.288 -0.246 -0.297

- 0.171 - 0.413* - 0.516** - 0.48**.

TOTAL RAINFALL - 0.296 - 0.572** - 0.527** - 0.614**

Table 3. Multiple regression equation. S. NO.

DEVELOPMENTAL

VALUES

STAGES 1

INCUBATION PERIOD

Y = 51.169 - 1.676 (x1) + 1.162 (x2) - 0.0305 (x3) - 0.316 (x4) - 0.3509(x5) R² = 0.648, F = 9.933, P = 0.00 **

2 3 4

NYMPHAL PERIOD PUPAL PERIOD TOTAL

Y = 53.383 - 0.01108 (x1) + 0.530 (x2) - 0.0898 (x3) - 0.0745 (x4) - 0.0290 (x5) R² = 0.629, F = 9.145, P = 0. 000** Y = -5.130 + 0.426 (x1) - 0.329 (x2) + 0.101 (x3) - 0.061 (x4) - 0.1069 (x5) R² = 0.526, F = 5.995, P = 0. 001* Y = 88.472 - 1.91 (x1) + 1.02 (x2) - 0.0140 (x3) - 0.366 (x4) - 0.0199 (x5) R²= 0. 637, F= 9.119, P = 0. 000**

DEVELOPMENTAL PERIOD

Influence of temperature on the life history of whiteflies has been reported on Trialeurodes vaporariorum by Vet et al. (1980); on Bemisia tabaci by Butler et al. (1983) and Gerling et al. (1986); on Aleurodicus floccosus by Paulson and Beardsley 1986); on Aleurocanthus woglumi by Dowell and Fitzpatrick (1978); on Parabemisia myricae and Dialeurodes citri by Uygun et al.

44

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert (1990); on Neomaskellia bergii by Prasad (1954) and on Aleurotulus anthuricola by Hata and Hara (1992). Hussain and Trehan (1933), Pruthi and Samuel (1942) and Butler et al. (1983) also revealed that there is a definite influence of temperature on the development, oviposition and longevity of whitefly. Narayanaswamy & Ramegowda (1999) reported that population of Aleurodicus dispersus was positively correlated with temperature and negatively correlated with humidity. The present findings contradicted to the report of Selvakumaran (1995) on S. cardamomi in which all the developmental periods were negatively correlated with maximum temperature.

REFERENCES Butler, G.D., Henneberry, T.J. and Clayton, T.E. 1983. Bemisia tabaci (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae): development, oviposition and longevity in relation to temperature. Annals Entomol. Soc. America., 76: 310-313. David, B.V. and Subramaniam, T.R. 1976. Studies on some Indian Aleyrodidae. Records of the Zoological Survey of India., 70: 133 - 233. Dowell, R.V. and Fitzpatrick, G.E. 1978. Effect of temperature on the growth, survival of the citrus blackfly. Can. Entomol., 110: 1347-1350. Gaur, M., Sundararaj, R. and Murugesan, S. 1999. Host range and distribution of the Babul whitefly Acaudaleyrodes rachipora (Singh) (Aleyrodidae: Homoptera) in Indian arid zone. In: Management of Arid Ecosystems (Eds. A.S. Faroda, R.J.K. Myers, N.L. Joshi, S. Kathju, Amal Kar and Niek van Duevenbooden), Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur, 397-400. Gerling, D., Horowitz, A.R and. Baumgartner, J. 1986. Autecology of Bemisia tabaci. Agric. Ecosystems Environ., 17: 5-19. Hata, T.Y. and Hara, A.H. 1992. Anthurium whitefly, Aleurotulus anthuricola Nakahara: biology and control in Hawaii. Trop. Pest Mant., 38(2): 152-154. Husain, M.A. and Trehan, K.N. 1933. Observations on the life-history, bionomics and control of the whitefly on cotton (Bemisia gossypiperda M. & L.). Indian. J. Agril. Sci., 3: 701-753. Prasad, V.G. 1954. Neomaskellia bergii Singh, another whitefly on sugarcane in Bihar. Indian J. Entomol., 16: 256-260. Pruthi, H.S. and Samuel, C.K. 1942. Entomoligical investigations on leaf curl disease of tobacco in northern India.V. Biology and population of whitefly vector Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) in relation to the incidence of the disease. Indian J. Agril. Sci., 12: 35-57. Jesudasan, R.W.A. and David, B.V. 1991. Taxonomic studies on Indian Aleyrodidae (Insecta: Homoptera). Oriental Insects, 25: 231 - 434. Narayanaswamy, K.C. and T. Ramegowda. 1999. Incidence of spiralling whitefly on mulberry. Insect Environment, 5: 128-129. Pillai, S.R.M. 1981. A new record of aleyrodid (whitefly) infesting ‘Hardwickia binata Roxb.” Indian Forester, 107(10): 652 - 653. Rao, A.S. 1958. Notes on Indian Aleyrodidae (whiteflies) with special reference to Hyderabad. Proc. 10th International Congress. Entomon, 1: 331 - 336. Singh, K. 1931. A contribution towards our knowledge of the Aleyrodidae (whiteflies) of India. Member Department of Agriculture, India Entomological Service., 12: 1 - 98. Selvakumaran, S. 1995, Studies on the Aleyrodid fauna of cardamom ecosystem in south India with special emphasis on bioecology of the whitefly, Kanakarajiella cardamomi David & Subramaniam (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae). Ph.D. thesis, University of Madras, Chennai. 167 pp. Sundararaj, R. and Murugesan, S. 1996. Occurrence of Acaudaleyrodes rachipora (Singh) (Aleyrodidae: Homoptera) as a pest of some important forest trees in Jodhpur (India). Indian Journal of Forestry, 19 (3): 247 - 248. Uygun, N., Ohnesorge B. and Ulusoy, R. 1990. Two species of whiteflies on citrus in eastern Mediterranean: Parabemisia myricae and Dialeurodes citri (Ashmead). Morphology, biology, host plants and control in southern Turkey. J. Appl. Entomol., 110: 471-482. Vet, L.E.M., Lenteren, J.C. van. and Woets, J.C. 1980. The parasite –host relationship between Encarsia formosa (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae) and Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae). IX A review of the biological control of the greenhouse whitefly with suggestion for future research. Zeitscrift fiir Angewandte Entomologie, 90: 26-51.

45

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

FACILITATIVE AND COMPETITIVE EFFECTS OF DESERT PLANTS AND THEIR UTILIZATION IN IMPROVING ECOSYSTEM PRODUCTIVITY IN INDIAN DESERT G. SINGH* AND SMITA SHUKLA Division of Forest Ecology, Arid Forest Research Institute, Jodhpur-342 005, Rajasthan. e-mail: *[email protected] ABSTRACT: As a consequent of climatic changes, the increase in air temperature and decrease soil water might be the major limiting factors for herbaceous growth. The positive effect of adult neighbours on the regeneration and growth of under canopy vegetation has long been recognized as an important driving force in ecosystem functioning particularly in dry areas. Facilitation or positive influences is more important under harsh conditions like in the desert ecosystems. Though positive and negative interactions occur simultaneously but plants in the desert ecosystem are generally exposed to severe stress of soil water, heat and desiccating winds, which are likely to increase in present climatic change scenario. Canopy of large perennial plants modify environmental conditions and tend to have negative effects on other factors by enhancing air humidity, prevent extreme temperature fluctuations, improve soil properties (nutrients and organic matter), and reduce the probabilities of mechanical or herbivory damage. There are often strong correlations between soil conditions and local distribution of species influencing community structure and productivity. The study carried out on the effects of Azadirachta indica and Prosopis juliflora on desert vegetation showed that canopy retention of these trees enhanced diversity and productivity of herbaceous vegetation. Highest increase was for Aristida funiculata and Peristrophe paniculata in association of A. indica and P. juliflora, respectively. Excavating trenching around Prosopis juliflora/ Azadirachta indica minimized tree root competition and enhanced productivity of under canopy vegetation. Thus, adoption of suitable management practices herbaceous diversity and productivity can be improved even with invasive species in addition to improved soil conditions. KEY WORDS: Desert plant, Ecosystem productivity, Indian Desert.

INTRODUCTION 'Thar Desert' is one of the densely populated deserts in the world. Population of this region depends on rainfed agriculture and animal husbandry. However, these resources are always vulnerable to climate shock and drought stress. Sustainable management of agriculture/ pasture lands, degraded forest lands and the existing community lands in a manner to address the resource requirement of the local people may result in reduction in land degradation and increase in biomass for fodder and fuel-wood. Environmental modifications caused by trees and shrubs may be positive or negative on the companion vegetations. Whenever the net outcome is positive, the overall interaction is said to be facilitation; where it is negative, the interaction is competitive. Since the strength of modifications decreases with distance from the plant, a mixed treevegetation community consists of a spatial patchwork of different degrees of competition and facilitation (Vetaas, 1992; Dye et al., 1995). Increased adaptability towards changing environment and sustained use of natural resources i.e., soil water, forest and diversity will be beneficial. Utilization of such beneficial effects incorporating traditional knowledge in selecting suitable plant species for growing in associations, management of available natural resources and adoption of modern technology will not only help in rehabilitating degraded lads/ hills and control land degradation but also conserve gene pool and produce substantial biomass to sustain the livelihood of the dry lands people.

46

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Here we tried to synthesize literatures on resource availability in dry areas particularly arid regions and the types of interactions between tree/ shrubs and companion vegetation for their utilization in rehabilitations of degraded drylands.

ABOVE GROUND RESOURCES Positive interactions between plant species have been acknowledged, but negative interactions have been considered the major force driving interspecific interactions in plant communities (Keddy, 1989). The mechanisms of facilitation are diverse, and include improved soil fertility (Moro et al., 1997), microclimatic amelioration (Franco and Nobel, 1989), and increased water availability (Raffaele and Veblen, 1998). Competition occurs when more than one species has to share the resources from a limited pool of the growth resources. The intensity of competition depends on the spatial relation between a plant and its neighbour as well as on resource availability and the ability of the plant to compensate for these effects viz., plasticity, architecture and physiology. Competition for limited resources may determine the presence, absence or abundance of species in a community and determine their spatial arrangement and structure depending upon climatic conditions and resource availability. The resources are either aboveground like rainfall, air temperature, humidity, light, or belowground like soil water and soil nutrients.

2.1. Rainfall Rainfall is the main source of water for plant growth and productivity in dry areas. However, vegetation often modifies the intensity and distribution of precipitation falling on and through its leaves and woody structure. The most obvious effect a plant has on falling precipitation is interception i.e., capture of precipitation by the plant canopy and its subsequent return to the atmosphere through evaporation or sublimation. Interception losses of rainfall are about 14-33% from 13-year-old Acacia tortilis and 3-8% from 7-year-old Holoptelia integrifolia (Ramakrishna, 1994). The input of rainfall to the subcanopy habitat is via stemflow or throughfall, which depend on the size and intensity of rainfall events and the size, bark characteristics, canopy architecture, and leaf area of the tree, wind speed, available radiation, temperature and the humidity of the atmosphere (Haworth and McPherson, 1995). Rainfall captured through stem flow, especially by a woody canopy is stored deep in the soil close to the roots and returns to the top soil beneath the canopy by hydraulic lift for later use (Dawson, 1993). The amount of precipitation passing through the plant canopy varies greatly with vegetation type, whereas distribution and productivity of vegetation depends on the rainfall received during the growing season. For example, Cenchrus ciliaris occurs in relatively less rainfall areas than C. setigerus and during low rainfall years, C. ciliaris produced higher dry matter yield than C. setigerus whereas under high rainfall reverse is true (Rao et al. 1993). Intensity of competition increased with soil water availability through rainfall, but during drought stress plants facilitate the companion crop or grass through shading or improved surface soil moisture through hydraulic lift from deeper soil layers.

2.2 Air temperature A reduction in the light level under trees or shrubs canopies lowers air, leaf, canopy, and soil surface temperature (Table 1). It is the extreme temperatures, which are modified i.e., decrease and increase in mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures, respectively. But removal of upper storey of shrub increases in the maximum soil temperature by 8oC in the summer (Ovalle and Avendano, 1988). Belsky et al. (1989, 1993) reported a reduction in maximum soil temperature by 5 to 12oC under isolated trees of Adansonia digitata and Acacia tortilis in African Savanna. A reduction up to 10oC has been recorded by Wilson and Wild (1995) on litter and in surface soil (top 2 cm). The temperature reduction play an important role in conserving surface moisture and might influenced soil fauna/earthworms, which are effective in litter breakdown and nutrient cycling. Reductions in the temperature of the foliage or the grassland canopy are smaller, and some 1 to 2 0C less in the shade (Wong and Stur, 1996).

47

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Table 1. Increase/decrease in air/soil temperature under tree/shrub. Tree/Shrub Shrub Acacia tortilis & Adansonia digitata Artificial shade

Increase/Decrease Increase by 8 0C Decrease by 5 to 12 0C Decrease by 2 to 6oC

Tree Faidherbia albida

Decrease up to 10 0C Decrease up to 10 0C

Source Ovalle and Avendano (1988) Belsky et al. (1989, 1993) Wilson et al. (1986) and Wong and Stur (1996) Wilson and Wild (1995) Van den Beldt and Williams (1992)

2.3 Solar radiations Though light is not a limiting factor particularly in desert environment but it limits forage yield, which is directly proportional to the photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) falling through tree canopy in silvipastoral system (Acciaresi et al., 1994; Shukla and Hazara, 1994). Tree/shrub modify the micro-climate through various processes i.e., radiation interception by tree stands, effect of canopy structure, effect of tree orientation and spacing, effect of latitude and time of year on solar paths, shade from a single crown and spectral quality of sunlight under partial shade (Reifsnyder and Darnhofer, 1989). The reduction in PAR ranges from 20-88% at different places depending upon the species and canopy density (Table 2). The evaluation of morphological, physiological, and yield responses of Tricachna californica, Setaria macrostachya, Bouteloua eriopoda and a bush Muhlenbergia porteri under Prosopis juliflora showed that all plants made their best growth in full sunlight; but T. californica, M. porteri, and S. macrostachya displayed greater ability than B. eriopoda to adapt to shade (Tiedmann et al., 1971). In arid region of India the radiation penetration under Acacia tortolis was 14% to 30% of that in the open during the daytime (Ramakrishna and Shastri, 1977). Below crown species are more responsive to reduction in light intensity than open-grassland species. Below crown species reduced their water loss whereas shaded species conserved soil water for later growth. Open grassland species appeared to be more efficient than below- crown species in extracting water from dry soil under full sun condition (Amundson et al., 1995). However, the positive effect of shade are visible when resources like nitrogen and water are limiting in open areas as in case of D. aristatum growth, whereas Quercus fusiformis reduced leaf area for increased understorey production and facilitated growth of Prosopis glandulosa seedlings by enhancing soil water (Anderson et al., 2001). Increased biomass of Enchylaena tomentosa was facilitated under shade of Atriplex bunburyana. Maireana brevifolia increased above-ground biomass allocation, whereas M. georgei reduced root biomass in response to shade (Jefferson and Pennacchio, 2005). Table 2. Reduction in Photosyntheically active radiations (PAR) (µ mol m-2 s-1) under isolated tree species as compared to control. Species Prosopis cineraria Prosopis juliflora Azadirachta indica Acacia nilotica Acacia tortilis Adansonia digitata Vitellaria trees Balanites aegyptiaca

PAR (µ mol m-2 s-1) (%) 84 88 88 85 45 65 45 20

Climatic Zone Indian Desert

Source Singh et al. (2008)

African savanna

Belsky et. al. (1993)

Sahelian savanna Sahelian savanna

Kessler (1992) Akpo and Grouzis (1996)

3. BELOW-GROUND RESOURCES 3.1 Soil water Water availability, either through low soil water levels or through high evaporative demands, is the single most important environmental parameter limiting plant distribution and productivity (Schulze, 1986). It is the primary factor controlling biological process and regulating the timing of biological activity and the climate. Facilitation and competition intensity is also influenced by extent of availability of this important soil resource. Calligonum polygonoides an indigenous species showed facilitative effects on growth and production of Cassia angustifolia by 48

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert utilizing lesser amount of soil water than Acacia tortilis and P. juliflora (Table 3) facilitating regeneration and production of Cassia angustifolia (Singh et al., 2003). English et al. (2005) also observed lower soil moisture under Eragrostis lehmanniana than under the native grass Heteropogon contortus, though soil texture and depth modified this pattern. Table 3. Changes in soil water content (% w/w; total in mm in 0-75 cm soil layer) in a planted dune influence by different adult neighbours. (Source: Singh et al., 2003). Species

Soil layers

October 1998

June 1999

October 1999

June 2000

October 2000

A. tortilis

0-25

1.10

1.49

0.34

0.053

0.50

25-50 50-75 0-75 0-25 25-50 50-75 0-75 0-25 25-50 50-75 0-75

1.29 1.34 14.62 1.13 1.17 1.24 13.90 1.17 1.32 1.36 15.11

1.99 1.97 21.39 1.34 1.82 1.76 19.31 2.43 2.99 3.22 33.91

0.55 0.68 6.16 0.35 0.55 0.76 6.51 0.43 0.65 0.88 7.69

0.068 0.136 1.01 0.051 0.106 0.137 1.04 0.060 0.099 0.194 1.39

0.71 1.23 9.58 0.41 0.62 1.12 8.43 0.52 0.94 1.53 11.74

Total (mm) P. juliflora

Total (mm) C. polygonoides

Total (mm)

In a study the competitive effect of Prosopis juliflora var. velutina (Velvet mesquite) on perennial grasses was most severe in the upper 37.5 cm of soil under and near the mesquite crowns, and gradually decreases with distance into adjacent openings (Cable, 1977). The competitive effect in the openings was much more severe in dry years than in wet years. The competition may be very intense when the soil moisture level rises (Tournebize et al., 1996). Modest reductions in radiant energy associated with tree shading can lower soil temperatures, reduce evaporative demands and water stress on understorey plants, and enhance subcanopy soil moisture storage, its availability, and plant water-use efficiency (Ko and Reich, 1993). However, in a very dry environment, competition for moisture is absent below a threshold level. Utilization of soil water relatively greater from deeper soil layers than upper soil layers has been observed in a study in Indian desert in which P. juliflora utilized soil water from upper soil layers during monsoon and from deeper soil layers during winter or summer (Table 4). Table 4. Percent soil water reduction (%) in the month of December as compared to September in arid environment. (Source: Upadhyay, 2008). Treatment TC+TRTC+TR+ TC-TRTC-TR+ Control

December 2001 0-25 25-50 33.57 27.18 32.93 26.48 31.23 27.38 30.29 26.61 27.89 25.53

50-75 23.58 22.13 22.20 19.17 24.66

December 2002 0-25 25-50 15.16 10.85 16.33 9.59 6.09 9.75 8.33 7.47 8.06 8.46

50-75 14.22 13.53 13.56 17.92 23.56

December 2003 0-25 25-50 33.67 27.49 30.17 26.36 25.15 23.66 26.65 22.73 25.49 23.80

50-75 23.50 19.05 24.39 24.40 23.75

TC+TR-: With active roots and canopy; TC+TR+: Without active roots and with canopy, TCTR-: With active roots and without canopy, TC-TR+: Without active roots and without canopy, Control: control without tree. Reduced growth of Calligonum polygonoides (Singh, 2004a) and Acacia tortilis (2004b) due to competitive effects of associated vegetation i.e., Dactyloctenium sindicum grass have also been observed in Indian desert, which was due to utilization of soil water by grass more efficiently. The magnitude of growth reduction depended on D. sindicum density. Comparatively high availability of water and nutrients increased competition and reduced the productivity of C. polygonoides and A. tortilis (Table 5).

49

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Table 5. Clump density of D. sindicum and growth of C. polygonoides and A. tortilis in different habitats. Values are mean of three replications with SE±. (Sources: Singh, 2004a & b). Habitat Years BDP

Number of clumps 1998 1999 -

2000 -

C. polygonoides Height CD 297 7.6

DM 29.3

Acacia tortilis Height CD 366 8.0

DM 17.34

SDP FGP

62 63

50 63

278 186

16.2 10.6

333 274

15.9 9.8

60 65

6.9 4.1

7.5 5.3

3.2 Soil nutrients In contrast to above ground competition, plants compete for broad range of soil resources, including at least 20 essential mineral nutrients (i.e., C, H, O, N, P, S, K, Ca, Mg, Si, Fe, Mn, Cu, Mo, Zn, B, Cl, Co, V and Ni), which differ in molecular size, valance, oxidation state and mobility within the soil. Nutrient uptake by a plant is proportional to soil nutrient concentration at the root surface and is determined by the soil nutrient supply, which in turns is determined for each nutrient by interaction between the nutrients and the other soil properties. Root interception, mass flow of water and nutrients, and diffusion are three general processes by which soil water and nutrients reaches to the root surface (Marschner, 1995). Trees are recognized to improve soil conditions and herbaceous productivity of pastoral ecosystem by improving concentration of organic matter and nutrient (Tiedmann and Klemmedson, 1973; Garcia-Miragaya et al., 1994). Nutrient enrichment occurs across a broad array of tree and shrub growth-forms and species inhabiting diverse climatic zone (Virginia, 1986). Trees may act as nutrients pumps, drawing nutrients from deep horizon and laterally from areas beyond the canopy, depositing them mainly beneath tree canopy via litter fall and canopy leaching (Scholes, 1990). Savanna tree roots extend outwards many times the canopy radius and penetrate more deeply into the soil then do grass roots. The second mechanism is that the tall, aerodynamically rough tree canopy acts as an effective trap for atmospheric dust (Szott et al., 1991). The dust contains nutrients, which wash of the leaves during rainstorms and drip into the subcanopy area. Though not well quantified, a third mechanism may be of importance where trees are sparse and may serve as focal points attracting roosting birds and mammals seeking shade or cover. Herbivores, microbial and faunal biomass that take refuse in the shade of trees also enhance the local nutrient cycle (Tripathi et al., 2005). Perching birds may also enrich soil nutrients and deposit seeds of other trees and shrubs whose germination and establishment may be favoured in subcanopy environment (Archer, 1995). Soil organic carbon and nutrients are greater under clumps of trees and grasses (Mordelet et al., 1993; Menezes et al., 2002) then to bare land. However, nutrient level under tree cover decreased with increase in soil depth while under grass cover nutrient decreased marginally up to 30 cm depth without further change with depth (Sharma et al., 1990). Gender differences also results in variation in soil nutrients i.e., an increased P cycling in fruit or litter or difference in P transformation beneath female Simarouba amara trees (Rhoades et al., 1994).

3.3 Root architecture Roots of both trees and herbaceous vegetation are important for the uptake of water and nutrients, storage of carbohydrates, synthesis of growth regulators, disease and stress control, nitrogen fixation, modification of the adjacent soil rhizosphere, the formation and function of soil structural units and anchorage (Aiken and Smuker, 1996). Woody plants tended to root more deeply than grasses, and the resulting separation of water use could be sufficient to permit coexistence of these two components (Soriano and Sala, 1983). Superficial roots systems are associated with soils with high soil moisture, while deep root systems are likely to occur in areas subjected to drought (Schroth, 1999). Although tree roots are capable of accessing deeply located reserves, the integration of trees with crops in drylands requires recognition of the fact that the surface roots of trees will exploit at least some of the water and nutrients that would otherwise are accessible to the roots of crop plants, and, unlike the case with short lived crops. Proliferation of the fine feeder roots may enable woody plants to monopolize near-surface soil moisture concentrated via stemflow (Young et al., 1984). Tree roots consists supporting roots, 2 mm diameter, as well as finer roots, 2 mm in radial diameter, which explore large volumes of soil and

50

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert branch into even smaller roots to absorb nutrients and water (Vogt and Persson, 1991). The abundance of deep roots at soil depths below the feeding zone of most annual vegetation transfer more deep resources to the surface enable them to survive the drought stress during long periods without rainfall i.e., Prosopis cineraria and Eucalyptus tereticormis (Toky and Bisht, 1992). Where dry land soils are deeply rootable, tree root systems tend to be two tiered: they comprise a shallow network of widely spreading more or less horizontal lateral roots which exploit surface horizons and a few tap roots and sinkers which are capable of accessing resources located at greater depth, e.g., Acacia raddiana. In sandy soils in Senegal, the taproots are capable of achieving substantial depth. Roots of Azardirachita indica, Acacia senegal, Acacia tortilis and Faidherbia albida have all been observed at the water table, which varied between 16 and 35 meters belowground. Similarly, in an incomplete profile, roots of Eucalyptus camaldulensis were observed about 20 m beneath the soil surface where the water table was about 30 m below ground (Leaky et al., 1999). The presence of tree roots, especially large storage roots in a specific region of the soil profile, does not convey a competition factor. However, fine and rapidly absorbing roots which turn over at intervals of 14 days or more frequently are the most competitive roots (Smucker et al., 1995). In the dry regions, as warming advanced downwards during the growing season deeper soil layers progressively became more suitable for root growth. This reason rather than simply plagiotropic or geotropic root growth, might explain deeper roots of trees in moisture-stressed areas. However, rate and capacity of downward root penetration differed among tree species in different soil types. For plants to absorb water and nutrients from the soil, the plant roots must be able to reach them. Competition in the population was for space is only occurred when a plant root system was crowded on all side. In a study in Indian desert, surface spreading roots of A. tortilis was in bare dune plantation, but root started deep penetration when competition prevailed with companion vegetation i.e., D. sindicum in semistabilised dune and flatland/ interdunal planes, where population was more and the intensity of competition was highest (Singh, 2004b).

4. DIVERSITY AND PRODUCTIVITY Many perennials favours regeneration of companion vegetation in forest plantations (Bone et al., 1997), sub-alpine and alpine plant communities (Callway et al., 2002), desert communities (Vetaas, 1992) and in the Middle East (Tielbörger and Kadmon, 1997). In all these amelioration in the microclimate enhanced the chances of survival and productivity of the understorey vegetation, but, there are also reports of neighbour interference through allelopathic suppression (Friedman et al., 1977) and competition for resources (Singh et al., 2001). Historically trees have been viewed as competitors with crop and grasses and are widely regarded as having negative impact on herbaceous production, but experimental evidences also supports positive interactions among plants (Callaway, 1995; Singh et al., 2003; Upadhyay, 2008). The productivity under tree canopies enhanced by improved water and nutrient status (Tiedmann and Klemmedson, 1977) but suppressed by low irradiance and competition between trees and grasses for belowground resources. Species composition of the herbaceous layer may change along gradients extending from the bole to the canopy drip-line and into the adjoining inter-tree zone. C3 grasses and herbaceous dicots occur primarily beneath tree canopies whereas C4 grasses dominate the patches beyond the canopy (Pieper, 1990). Differences in species composition under and away from savanna trees are more distinct in low than in high rainfall zones (Belsky et al., 1993), suggesting that environmental gradients are stronger in habitats, where effects of the radiant energy regime or root competition have a greater influence on species interactions. The aboveground net primary production is maximum during the rainy season, and the below ground maximum occurred during the winter season. The system transfer functions reveals that productivity is more aboveground, directed during the wet period and more belowground, directed during the dry period. Acacia albida is valued for promoting grass/crop growth and herbaceous production beneath canopies and that is associated with lower soil temperature, lower plant water stress, and greater soil organic matter concentrations, mineralizable nitrogen, and microbial biomass compared to those of adjacent grassland away from tree canopies (Mordelet and Menaut, 1995; Ludwig, 2001). Facilitative effects of Azadirachta indica and Prosopis juliflora resulted in greater growth and biomass of Aristida funiculata and Peristrophe paniculata, 51

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert respectively (Upadhyay, (2008). A study in Indian deserts showed that positive effects of Calligonum polygonoides enhanced the production of Cassia angustifolia and was beneficial in effective stabilization of sand dunes (Singh et al., 2003). Grazing and browsing pressures also alter patterning of herbaceous vegetation. Browsing of trees with low, dense, evergreen canopies can enhance morning and afternoon light levels, facilitating establishment of unique grasses, and increases total herbaceous biomass beneath the tree canopy (Fuhlendorf et al., 1997).

5. MANAGING HERBACEOUS PRODUCTION 5.1 Canopy restructuring Above ground resource manipulation like canopy restructuring either enhances or reduces groundstorey biomass (Martin and Morton, 1993). Canopy cover and structure affect the amount of water and nutrients applied and are of particular importance in determining the intensity and spectral composition of radiation reaching to the vegetation floor. Canopy modifies the light intensities and field layer vegetation and hence affects directly the productivity. Mann and Saxena (1980) obtained a six fold increases in mung bean when it was grown under 12-year-old pruned Acacia tortilis tree. Thus, lopping (Singh et al., 1986) expand the regrowth and productivity of a species suitable for parkland system. In a semi- arid region of northeast Nigeria, A. nilotica showed a more negative effect on sorghum yield than P. juliflora (Jones et al., 1998) and was correlated with greater rates of water extraction from soil layers shared with crop roots, where crown pruning substantially reduced the competitive effect of P. juliflora but did not affect the impact of A. nilotica on inter cropped sorghum. A study carried out in Indian desert indicated an increased diversity and productivity of herbaceous vegetation, while canopy of Azadirachta indica and Prosopis juliflora was retained (Upadhyay, 2008).

5.2 Root trenching The above ground phytomass production in arid climate is predominantly governed by availability of soil moisture and nutrients. Productivity on a specific location could therefore, be enhanced by manipulating soil moisture either through adoption of proper soil conservation measures or selection of suitable plant cover that can conserve adequate moisture at different soil depths. Tree roots may extend well beyond their canopies, the extent depending upon tree species, tree age/size, soil type, and annual rainfall. However, species differed in root system morphology (Fitter, 1985), and in the scale in precision of their response to patches of different size and quality (Einsmann et al., 1999; Farley and Fitter, 1999). The ability of species to proliferate roots within nitrogen rich organic patch can increase nitrogen capture, and enhance competition ability (Hodge et al., 1999). Exclusion of roots may reduce competitive effects between trees and adjoining vegetation and increase grass production i.e., Burkea africana (Ludwig et al., 2002) and maize yield (Verinumbe and Okali, 1985). Excavating trench around Prosopis juliflora/ Azadirachta indica in Indian Desert to minimize tree root competition enhanced productivity of under canopy vegetation. A trench of 1.5 m deep, 0.5 m wide and 30 m long along block planted Acacia tortilis trees at a distance of 2 m from the tree line increased soil moisture content and grain yield of pearl millet.

5.3 Addition of fertilizer Nitrogen is described as eco-limitation to growth in arid ecosystem only due to infrequent inputs through rainfall and biological activity and losses through gaseous emission and wind erosion. Supply of inorganic nitrogen to grasses is a key management tool to increase soil fertility and the productivity (Yadav, 1995). Application of nitrogen enhances the vigour of grasses drastically increasing root growth and storage of nitrogen in roots, thereby increasing potentially mineralizable nitrogen in the soil and increase grass production. However, the magnitude of response and potential economic return from fertilization are species dependent (FernandezGliménze and Smith, 2004). The intensity of above and below ground competition vary along a gradient of fertilizer availability also, however, competition shifts from being mainly belowground in the least productivity vegetation to both above and below ground in fertilized plots (Cahill, 1997). But reports are also there that the strength of belowground competition decrease with 52

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert fertilization, while neither aboveground nor total competition varied among fertilization treatment (Cahill, 1999). Upadhyay (2008) observed that N fertilization increased forage production and application of 20 mg N kg-1 soil was better than 10 mg N kg-1 soil. So nitrogen application may be a viable option for increasing forage production in the forage-deficient region.

6. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS There is always a complex gradient of various resources and disturbances while moving from the open to the canopy of a tree or shrub. Over this gradient, some factors (e.g., nutrients, water) changes for the better, whereas others (e.g., light, allelopathic exudates) changes for the worse. The net effect of these correlated changes depends on the combined response of plants to all factors involved. The general pattern is probably that the negative effects of one limiting factor often can be compensated for, to a certain extent, by improvement in other environmental conditions stressing the importance of trees in desert ecosystem. By increasing forage patchiness and nutrient availability, trees also contribute to the diversity and stability of herbivore populations. By adopting suitable management strategies facilitative effects of trees and shrubs may also be utilized in the rehabilitation of degraded lands and increasing diversity and productivity. Further, the loss of trees from pastureland/rangelands, as is currently occurring worldwide, could significantly reduce the nutritional quality and diversity and should be halted.

7. REFERENCES Acciaresi, H., Ansiu, O.E. and Marlats, R.M. (1994). Silvipastoral systems: effect of tree density on light penetration and forage production in Poplar (Populus deltoids Marsh) stands. Agroforestria-en-las Americas, 1: 6-9. Aiken, R.M. and Smuker. A.J.M. (1996). Root system regulation of whole plant growth. Annual Review of Phytopathology, 34: 325-346. Amundson, R.G., Ali A.R. and Belsky, A.J. (1995). Stomatal responsiveness to changing light intensity increases rain-use efficiency of below-crown vegetation in tropical savannas. Journal of Arid Environment, 29:139-153. Anderson, L.J., Brumbaugh, M.S., Jackson, R.B. (2001). Water and tree-understorey interactions: a natural experiment in a Savanna with oak wilt. Ecology, 82: 33-49. Archer, S. (1995). Tree-grass dynamics in a Prosopis-thornscrub Savanna parkland: reconstructing the past and predicting the future. Ecoscience, 2: 83-99. Belsky, A.J., Mwonga, S.M., Amundon, R.G., Duxbury, J.M. and Ali, A.R. (1993). Comparative effects of isolated trees on their under canopy environment in high and low rainfall Savanna. Journal of Applied Ecology, 30:143-155. Belsky, A.J., Amundson, R.G., Duxburg, J.M., Riha, S.J., Ali, A.R. and Mwonga, S.M. (1989). The effects of trees on their physical, chemical and biological environments in a semi-arid Savanna in Kenya. Journal of Applied Ecology, 26: 1005-1024. Bone, L., Lawrence, M. and Magombo, Z. (1997). The effect of a Eucalyptus camaldulensis (Dehn) plantation on native woodland recovery on Ulumba Mountains, Southern Malawi. Forest Ecology and Management, 99: 83-89. Cable, D. R. (1977). Seasonal use of soil water by mature velvet mesquite. Journal of Range Management, 30: 411. Cahill, J. F. (1999). Fertilization effects on interaction between above and below ground competition in an old field. Ecology, 80: 446-480. Cahill, J.F. (1997). Symmetry, intensity and addivity, belowground interactions in an early successional field. Ph.D diss. Univ. Penn. PA. Callaway, R. M. (1995). Positive interactions among plants (Interpreting botanical progress). The Botanical Review, 61: 306-349. Callaway, R.M., Brooker, R.W., Choler, P., Kikvidze, Z., Lortie, C.J., Michalet, R., Paolini, L., Pugnaire, F.I., Newingham, B., Aschehoug, E.T., Armas, C., Kikodze, D. and Cook, B.J.

53

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert (2002). Positive interactions among alpine plants increase with stress. Nature, 417: 844848. Dawson, T.E., (1993). Hydraulic lift and water use by plants-implications for water balance, performance and plant-plant interactions. Oecologia, 95: 565-574. Dye, K.L., Ueckert, D.N. and Whisenant, S.G. (1995). Red berry Juniper- herbaceous understory interactions. Journal of Range Management, 48: 100-107. Einsmann, J. C., Jones, R. H., Mou, P. and Mitchell, R. J. (1999). Nutrient foraging traits in 10 co-occurring plant species of contrasting life forms. Journal of Ecology, 87: 609-619. English, N.B., Weltzin, J.E., Fravolini, A., Thomas, L. and William, D.G. (2005). The influence of soil texture and vegetation on soil moisture under rainout shelters in a semi-desert grassland. Journal of Arid Environment, 63: 324-343. Farley, R. A and Fitter, A. H. (1999). The response of seven co-occurring woodland herbaceous perennials to localized nutrient-rich patches. Journal of ecology, 87: 849-859. Fernandez-Gliménze, M.E. and Smith, S.E. (2004). Research observation: nitrogen effects on Arizona cottontop and Lahmann lovegrass seedlings. Journal of Range management, 57: 76-81. Fitter, A. H. (1985). Functional significance of root morphology and root system architecture. Ecological interaction in soil plants. Microbes and Animals: 87-106, Fitter, A. H., Atkinson, D., Read D. J. and Usher, M. B. (ed.). Blackwell Scientific, Oxford, UK. Franco, A.C. and Nobel, P.S. (1989). Effect of nurse plants on the microhabitat and growth of cacti.. Journal of Ecology, 77: 870-886. Friedman, J., Orsan, G., and Ziger-Cfir, Y. (1977). Suppressions of annuls by Arstemisia herbaalba in the Negev Desert of Israel. Journal of Ecology, 65: 416-426. Fuhlendorf, S.D., Smeins, F.F. and Taylor, C.A. (1997). Browsing and tree size influences on Ashe Juniper understory. Journal of Range Management, 50: 507-512. Garcia-Miragaya, J., Flores, S. and Chacon, N. (1994). Soil chemical properties under individual evergreen and deciduous trees in a protected Venezuelan savanna. Acta Oecologica, 15: 477-484. Haworth, K. and Mcpherson, G.R. (1995). Effects of Quercus emoryi trees on precipitation distribution and microclimate in a Semi-arid Savanna. Journal of Arid Environment, 31: 153-170. Hodge, A., Robinson, D., Griffiths, B.S. and Fitter, A.H. (1999). Why plants bother: root proliferation results in increased nitrogen capture from an organic patch when two grasses compete. Plant Cell and Environment, 22: 811-820. Jefferson, L.V and Pennacchio, M. (2005). The impact of shade on establishment of shrubs adapted to the high light irradiation of semi-arid environments. Journal of Arid Environments, 63: 706-716. Jones, M., Sinclair, F. L. and Grime, V. L. (1998). Effect of tree species and grown pruning on root length and soil water content in semi- arid agroforestry. Plant and Soil, 201: 197-207. Kasper, T.C. and Bland, W.L. (1992). Soil temperature and root growth. Soil Science, 154: 290299. Keddy, P.A. (1989). Competition. Chapman and Hall. London, UK. Ko, L.J. and Reich, P.B. (1993). Oak tree effects on soil and herbaceous vegetation in Savannas and pastures in Wisconsin. Am. Midl. Nat., 130: 31-42. Leakey, R.R.B., Wilson, J. and Deans, J.D. (1999). Domestication of trees for Agroforestry in Dry lands. Annals of Arid Zone, 38: 195-220. Ludwig, F. (2001). Tree-grass interaction on an East African Savanna: The effect of competition, facilitation and hydraulic lift. Doctoral thesis, Wageningen University. Ludwig, F., Dawson, T. and de Kroon, H. (2002). Competition between trees and grasses for water overhelms effects of hydraulic lifts in African Savannas. ESA 2002 Annual Meeting.

54

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Mann, H. S. and Saxena, S. K. (1980). Khejri (Prosopis cineraria) in the Indian desert and its role in agroforestry. CAZRI monograph no. 11 Jodhpur, India, CAZRI, 93 pp. Marschner, H. (1995). Mineral nutrition of higher plants. London: Academic, 2nd ed. Martin, S. C. and Morton, H. L. (1993). Mesquite control increases grass density and reduce soil loss in southern Arizona. Journal of Range Management, 46: 170-175. Menezes, R.S.C., Salcedo, I.H. and Elliott, E.T. (2002). Microclimatic and nutrient dynamics in a silvipastoral system of semiarid northeastern Brazil. Agroforestry Systems, 56: 27-38. Mordelet, P. and Menaut, J.C. (1995). Influence of trees on above-ground production dynamics of grasses in a humid Savanna. Journal of Vegetation Science, 6: 223-228. Mordelet, P., Abbadie, L. and Menaut, J. C. (1993). Effects of tree clumps on soil characteristics in a humid Savanna of West Africa. Plant and Soil, 153: 103-111. Moro, M. J., Pugnaire, F. I.. Haase, P. and Puigdefábregas. J. (1997a). Effect of the canopy of Retama sphaerocarpa on its understorey in a semi-arid environment. Functional Ecology, 11: 425–431. Moro, M. J., Pugnaire, F. I. and Puigdefábregas. J (1997b). Mechanism of interaction between Retama sphaerocarpa and its understorey layer in a semi-arid environment. Ecography, 20: 175–184 Ovalle, C. and Avendaňo, J. (1988). Interactions de la strate ligneuse avec la srate herbacée dans les formations d’ Acacia caven (Mol.) Hook. Et Arn. Au Chili. II. Influence de I’ arbre surquelques éléments du milieu : microclimate du sol. Acata Ecologica, 9: 113-134. Pieper, R.D. (1990). Overstory-understory relationship in pinyon Juniper woodlands in New Maxico. Journal of Range Management, 43: 413-415. Raffaele, E. and Veblen. T. T (1998). Facilitation by nurse shrubs on resprouting behavior in a post-fire shrubland in northern Patagonia, Argentina. J. Veg. Sci., 9: 693–698. Ramakrishna, U.S. and Shastri, A.S.R.A.S. (1977). Microclimate under Acacia tortilis plantation. Annual progress report, CAZRI, Jodhpur, 69-70 pp. Ramakrishna, Y.S. (1994). Climate of the Indian arid zone. In: Sustainable development of the Indian arid zone- A research perspective: 1-5, Singh, R.P. and Singh, S. (ed.). Scientific publisher, Jodhpur. Rao, A.S., Singh, K.C., Ramkrihna, Y.S. and Singh, R.S. (1993). Micro-climatic impacts on the relative growth. Annals of Arid Zone, 32: 245-250. Reifsnyder, W. E., and Darnhofer, T.O. (1989). Meteorology and agroforestry, 546 pp: Reifsnyder, W. E., and T. O. Darnhofer (ed.). International Council on Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), Nairobi. Rhoades, C.C., Sanford Jr. R.L. and Clark, D.B. (1994). Gender dependant influences on soil phosphorous by dioecious lowland tropical tree. Simarouba amara. Biotropica, 26: 362368. Scholes, R.J. (1990). The influences of soil fertility on the Ecology of African Savannas. Journal of Biogeography, 17: 417- 419. Schroth, G. (1999). A review of belowground interactions in agroforestry, Focusing on mechanisms and management options. Agroforestry Systems (in press). Schulze, E.D. (1986). Carbon dioxide and water vapour exchange in response to drought in the atmosphere and in the soil. Annual Review of Plant Physiology, 37: 247-274. Sharma, B. D., Bawa, A. K. and Gupta, I. C. (1990). Physio-chemical changes in soil as influenced by natural tree and grass covers in arid rangeland. Annals of Arid zone, 29: 15-18. Shukla, G.P. and Hazara. C.R. (1994). Evaluation of perennial forage species and their varieties for use in silvipastoral system. In: Singh, P., Pathak, P.S and Roy, M.M. (eds.) Agroforestry systems for degraded Lands. VOl II, pp 693-699. Oxford and IBH publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi. Singh, G. (2004a). Influence of soil moisture and nutrient gradient on growth and biomass production of Calligonum polygonoides in Indian desert affected by surface vegetation. J. Arid Environment, 56(3): 541-558.

55

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Singh, G. (2004b). Growth, biomass production and soil water dynamics in relation to habitat and surface vegetation in hot arid region of Indian desert. Arid Land Research and Management. 17(2): 1-17. Singh, G., Bala, N., Rathod, T.R. and Chouhan, S. (2003). Effect of adult neighbours on regeneration and performance of surface vegetation in shifting dune of Indian desert for the control of sand drift. Environmental Conservation, 30(4): 353-363. Singh, G., Gupta, G.N. and Rathod, T.R. (2001). Growth of woody perennials in relation to habitat condition in northwestern Rajasthan. Tropical Ecology, 42: 223-230. Singh, G., Rathod, T.R., Mutha, S., Upadhyay, S. and Bala, N. (2008). Impact of different tree species canopy on diversity and productivity of understorey vegetation in Indian Desert. Tropical Ecology, 49(1): 1323. Smuker, A.J.M, Ellis, B.G. and Kang B.T. (1995). Alley cropping on an Alfisol in the Forest Savanna transition zone : Root nutrient and water dynamics. In alley farming Research and Development, 103-121: Kang, B.T, Osiname, O.A. and Larbi, A. (ed.) Alley Farming Network for Tropical Africa; Ibadan, Nigeria. Soriano, A. and Sala, O. (1983). Ecological strategies in a Patagonian and steppe-vegetation. Vegetation, 56: 9-15. Szott, L.T., Fernandes, E.C.M. and Sachez, P.A. (1991). Soil plant interactions in agroforestry systems. Forest Ecology and Management. 45: 127-152. Tiedmann, A.R. and Klemmedson, J.O. (1977). Effect of mesquite trees on vegetation and soils in the desert grassland. Journal of Range Management, 30: 361-367. Tiedmann, A.R. and Klenmedson, J.O. (1973). Nutrient availability in desert grassland soils under mesquite (Prosopis juliflora) tree and adjacent open areas. Soil. Sci. Soc. Am. Proc., 37: 107-111. Tiedmann, A.R., J.O. Klemmedson, and Ogden, P.R. (1971). Response of four perennial Southwestern grasses to shade. Journal of Range Management, 24: 442-447. Tielbörger, K., and Kadmon, R. (1997). Relationship between shrubs and annual plant communities in a sandy desert ecosystem: a three year study. Plant Ecology, 130: 191-200. Toky, O.P. and Bisht, R.P. (1992). Observations on rooting patterns of some agroforestry trees in arid region of North-western India. Agroforestry Systems, 18: 245-263. Tournebize, R., Sinoquet, H. and Bussiere, I. (1996). Modeling evaporations-transpiration partitioning in a shrub/grass crop. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 81: 255-272. Tripathi, G., Ram, B., Sharma, B.M and Singh, G. (2005). Soil faunal biodiversity and nutrient status in silvipastoral systems of Indian deserts. Environmental Conservation, 32: 178-188. Upadhyay, S. (2008). Effect of resource manipulation on vegetation pattern and biomass production in arid environment. Ph. D. Thesis. FRI, Univeristy, Dehra Dun. Vandenbely, R. and Williams. L. (1992). The effect of soil surface temperature on the growth of millet in relation to the effect of Faidherbia albida trees. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 60: 93-150. Verinumbe, I. and Okali, D. U. U. (1985). The influence of coppiced teak (Tectona grandis L.F.) regrowth and roots on intercropped maize (Zea mays L.). Agroforestry Systems, 3: 381-386. Vetaas, O.R. (1992). Micro-site effects of trees and shrubs in dry Savannas. Journal of Vegetation Science, 3: 337-344. Virginia, R.A. (1986). Soil development under legume tree canopies. Forest Ecology and Management, 16: 6979. Vogt, K.A. and Persson, H. (1991). Techniques and approaches in forest tree ecophysiology. In root methods, Hinkley, T. and Lassoie, J. (ed.). CRC Press Inc. Florida. Wilson, J.R. and Wild, D.W.M. (1995). Nitrogen availability and grass yield under shade environments. In integration of Ruminants in plantation systems in South East Asia, 42-48, Miillen, B.F. (ed.). ACIAR proceedings No. 64, Canberra, Australia. Wilson, J.R., Catchpole, V.R. and Weir, K.L. (1986). Stimulation of growth and nitrogen uptake by shading a rundown green panic pasture on Brigalow clay soil. Tropical grassland, 20: 134-143. Wong, C.C. and Stur, W.W. (1996). Persistence of tropical forage grasses in shaded environments. Journal of Agricultural Science, 126: 151-159. Yadav, R. L. (1995). Soil organic matter and NPK status as influence by integrated use of green manure, crop residues, cane trash and urea N in sugarcane-based crop sequences. Bioresource Technology. Directorate Cropping Systems Res., Modipuram, Meerut 250 110, India, 54(2): 93-98. Young, J. A., Evans, R.A. and Easi, D.A. (1984). Stem flow on western Juniper trees. Weed Science, 32: 320327.

56

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

IMPACT OF ABIOTIC FACTORS ON THE POPULATION DYNAMICS OF ROHIDA DEFOLIATOR MEETA SHARMA* AND S.I. AHMED** Division of Forest Protection, Arid Forest Research Institute, New Pali Road, Jodhpur -342 005. e-mail: *[email protected]; **[email protected] ABSTRACT: Impact of abiotic factors on longevity of life cycle of forest insect pest ultimate creates complexity of insect pest-predator-host- relationship. Increased temperatures not only events, including droughts, heat waves, windstorms, or floods, could also disrupt the predatorprey relationships that normally keep pest populations in check. The predictions can be made, based on present studies and the severity of insect out break. Tecomella undulata (Sm.) Seem, commonly known as "Rohida" or "Marwar teak" is one of the economically important tree species of western Rajasthan and adjoining area of Haryana and Punjab. Severe damage by the P. tecomella caused by the foliage feeding larval stage on the rohida plantations. The life cycle of the pest was studied in different conditions of abiotic factors, which ultimately results in stunting of young plants. The duration of the life-cycle influenced greatly by climatic conditions, particularly temperature and relative humidity. The study revealed that under normal conditions of abiotic factors the adult insect has five overlapping genertations annually. But due to the change conditions of abiotic factors shows drastic changes in the different stages of pest. The natural enemies of P. tecomella also influenced by climate change, as high temperature alters the parasite and predators populations below effective ranges. KEY WORDS: Parasite, Pradator, Rohida, Patialus tecomella, Host, Longevity, Life cycle, Tecomella undulata, natural enemies.

INTRODUCTION Tecomella undulata (Sm.) Seem, commonly known as "Rohida" or "Marwar teak" family Bignoniaceae, is one of the economically important tree species of western Rajasthan and adjoining lands of Haryana and Punjab. It is high value timber tree species. The wood is very hard, close grained, strong, grayish to yellow brown in colour and used for making toys, fine carving work, furniture and agricultural implements. The leaves and raw fruits are utilized as fodder for cattles. Patialus tecomella Pajni, Kumar and Rose has been reported as a serious threat to marwar teak, Rajasthan and adjacent states. This pest has been described as a new species under a new genus belonging to subfamily Cioninae of the family Curculionidae. Severe damage by the P. tecomella caused by the foliage feeding larval stage on the rohida plantations. The life cycle of the pest was studied in different conditions of abiotic factors, which ultimately results in stunting of young plants. The duration of the life-cycle influenced greatly by climatic conditions, particularly temperature and relative humidity. The study revealed that under normal conditions of abiotic factors the adult insect has five overlapping genertations annually.

MATERIAL AND METHODS The experimental weevils and larvae of P. tecomella were collected from plants of Tecomella undulata. The mature larvae measuring 5.970 ± 0.150 mm in length, were sorted out in the laboratory for investigations. Similarly, adult weevils (males and females) of known age-group were also taken from the laboratory culture. The insects were kept under laboratory conditions in insect rearing cages with fresh leaves of T. undulata for about 12 hours before subjecting them to the different exposures of temperature and relative humidity levels.

57

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert The procedure followed was similar to one that employed by Sen-Sarma (1964) in case of Termite and by Ahmed (1982) for study on a Coleopterous beetle, Calopepla leayena Latr. The exact age of adult was recorded just after their emergence from the laboratory-bred pupae. Experimental insects, either single or in groups, were kept in small plastic vessels, which were provided with a piece of muslin cloth at the top. These vessels were arranged inside different desiccators, containing saturated solutions of various inorganic salts for regulating different levels of relative humidities. Each larva was collected on a moist filter paper and then transferred to the plastic vessels by gently tapping the filter paper in order to avoid any possible injury during handling. During the course of experiment no food was supplied to the test insects. Moreover, the experimental larvae and adults were sprinkled with only water after each 12 hours to provide them moist condition. Observations on mortality were recorded thrice a day at 10.00, 14.00 and 17.00 hours. There were three replications for each experiment.

OBSERVATIONS The different temperatures viz., 15o, 20o, 25o, 30o, 35o, 40o and 45oC were obtained in a BOD incubator. The variation in temperature did not exceed ± 0.5oC. Different relative humidities were regulated by means of saturated solutions of the various inorganic salts viz., CaCl2 (fused) (10%); ZnCl2 (17%); CaCl2.6H2O (34%); Ca(NO3).4H2O (56%); NaCl (74%) and K2SO4 (96%) (Zwolfer, 1932; Sweetman, 1933; Buxton and Mellanby, 1934; O'Brien, 1948; Ernst, 1957; Sen-Sarma, 1964; Ahmed and Sen-Sarma, 1983). 100 percent humidity was maintained by using only distilled water. Variation in the different relative humidities was observed to be within 5 percent when checked by means of a air hygrometer. Table-1. Influence of temperature and relative humidity on the life cycle of P. tecomella Temperature (in ºc) 35ºc to 40º c 34ºc to 40ºc 25ºc to 34ºc 25ºc to 30ºc 30.9ºc to 28.5ºc

Relative humidity (in percentage) 37 to 55 55 to 78 76 to 78 54 to 76 54 to 62

Days (From egg to egg) 42±2 40±2 41±2 43±2 98±2

Generation First Second Third Fourth Fifth

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 1. Adults weevils The adults of P. tecomella survived for a maximum period at a temperature of 35o ± 0.5oC and 74 ± 5% relative humidity, whereas minimum survival periods are observed under the temperatures of 45o ± 0.5oC and a relative humidity of 10 ± 5% in both the cases.

2. Larvae The maximum survival periods of larvae of P. tecomella were observed at 35o ± 0.5oC temperature and 74 ± 5.00 percent relative humidity, whereas the minimum survival time were recorded at the temperature of 45oC and 10% relative humidity (Table-1). Similar results were also recorded in case of a Chrysomelid beetle, Calopapla leayana, where survival period in both the cases (larvae and adults) increases with the increase of number of individuals in the different groups-size. Ahmed and Sen-Sarma, (1983) also observed in certain insect species that the longevity prolonged with the increase of group sizes when the test insects exposed with different ranges of temperature and relative humidity. It has also been observed that the survival period in P. tecomella both at very high (96-100%) and at a very low (10-17%) humidity levels are the lowest while at medium humidities (34-74%) and temperatures (30o-45oC), the survival periods are the higher side. The high levels of humidity are fatal to the larvae of some Coleopterous beetles (Cloudsley and Thompson, 1953; Ahmed 1982).

58

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

Feeding pattern of larvae

Patialus tecomella (Marwar teak defoliator)

The increase in temperature beyond 35oC results in reduction of the survival period both in larvae and adults of P. tecomella which may be apparently due to the loss of water from the body caused by a lower humidity level as well as due to an increase in the metabolic activities. Decrease in the survival periods in other Coleopterous insects under higher temperature has also been studied by Leather et. al., (1994). The shrunken condition of larvae at extremely lower level of humidity (10%) and high temperature (45oC) as observed during this experiment, is evidently due to the water loss.

It is also interesting to note that the larvae and the adults of P. tecomella can tolerate minor desiccation unlike the larvae of another coleopterous beetle, Tenebrio molitor, whose case is reported to be highly resistant to desiccation due primarily to the utilization of metabolic water from the body fats (Buxton, 1932; Leclercq, 1950). Lack of tolerance to minor desiccation has also been reported in case of termites by Ernst (1957), Sen-Sarma (1964, 1969), Mishra and Singh

59

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert (1978). Both the adults and larvae of P. tecomella survived for a longer period at medium temperature and relative humidity than at extreme higher and lower levels of temperature and relative humidity.. Such a phenomenon has also been reported by Pence (1956) in case of dry wood termites and by Ahmed (1982) in case of a chrysomelid beetle,Calopepla leayana Latr.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors are thankful to the Director, Arid Forest Research Institute (ICFRE), Jodhpur for providing research facilities to conduct the studies.

REFERENCES Ahmed, S.I. 1982. Studies on the morphology, bionomics, ecology and digestive physiology of Calopepla leayana (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Ph.D. thesis, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. Ahmed, S.I. 1991. Control of rohida skeletonizer, Patialus tecomella (Coleoptera : Curculionidae) in the AFRI experimental plots. AFRI, News letter, Jodhpur: 2. Ahmed, S.I. and Sen-Sarma, P.K. 1983. On seasonal variation in population of Calopepla leayana Latr. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Proc. Sym. Ins. Ecol. and Resource Manage. 93-98. Buxton,P.A. 1932. Terrestrial insects and the humidity of the environment. Biol. Rev., 7: 275-320. Buxton, P.A. and Mellanby, K. 1934. The measurement and control of humidity. Bull. Ent. Res., 25: 171-175. Cludsley-Thompson, J.L. 1953. Studies in diurnal rhythms, IV. Photoperiodism andgeotaxis in Tenebrio molitor L. (Coleoptera : Tenebrionidae). Proc. R. Ent. Soc. London, 28: 117-132. Deal, J. 1941. The temperature preference of certain insects. J. Anim. Ecol., 10: 323-356. Ernst, V.E. 1957. Der Einfluss der Luftfeuchtigkeit auf Lebensdauer and Verhalten Verschiede ner Termitenarten. Acta. Trop., 14: 96-156. Gaur, M. and Ahmed, S.I. 1996. Incidence of Patialus tecomella (Coleoptera :Curculionidae) on Tecomella undulata (Sm.) Seem in Rajasthan, India. Bull. Pure. Appl. Sci., 15 : 51-53. Gaur, M. 1998. Investigations on the morphology,bionomics,ecology and management of Rohida defoliator, Patialus tecomella Pajni, Kumar & Rose (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Ph.D thesis, F.R.I. Deemed university, Dehra Dun. Gunn, D.L. 1934. The temperature and humidity relations of the Cockroach, Blatta orientalis II. Temperature preference. Z. Vergl. Physiol., 20 : 617-625. Guppy, J.C. and Harcourt, D.G. 1990. Seasonal history and behaviour of the affalfa snout beetle, Otiorhynchus ligustici (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), in Eastern Ontario. Proc. Ent. Soc., 121: 71-78. Herter, K. 1953. Der Temperatursinn der insecten., Berlin, 670 pp. Hunt, D.W.A. and Raffa, K.F. 1991. Orientation of Hylobius pales and Pachylobius picivorus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) to visual cues. Great. Lakes Entomologist, 24: 225-229. Hussain, M. 1934. The effect of temperature on locust activity. Bull. Minist. Agric., 184: 55-56. Kennedy, J.S. 1939. The behaviour of the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria (Forsk.)(Orthoptera) in an out-break centre. Tran. Ent. Soc. London, 89: 385-542. Leather, S.R., Ahmed, S.I. and Hogan, L. 1994. Adult feeding preferences of the large pine weevil, Hylobius abietis (Coleoptera : Curculionidae). Eur. J. Entomol., 91 : 385-389. Leclercq, J. 1950. Ecologie et physiologie des populations de Tenebrio molitor L.(Insecta: Coleoptera). Physiologia Comp. Oecol., 2 : 161-180. Mishra, S.C. and Singh, P. 1978. Effect of temperature and relative humidity on the survival of workers in two species of termites. Nasutitermes dunensis Chatterjee and Thakur and Coptotermes heimi (Wasm.). Material U. Organismen, 13: 265-261. O' Brien, F.E.M. 1948. The control of humidity by saturated salt solutions. J. Sci. Instrum., 25 : 73-76.

60

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Pence, R.J. 1956. The tolerance of dry wood termite Kalo-termes mino Hagento desiccation. J. Econ. Ent., 49: 553-559. Perttunen, V. and Lahermaa, M. 1962. Humidity reactions of the larvae of Tenebrio molitor L. (Coleoptera : Tenebrionidae) and the effect of cannibalism on these reactions. Ann. Ent. Fen., 28: 71-80. Precht, H. Christopherson, J. and Hansel, H. 1955. Temperatur UnLeben. Berlin. Rather, 1989. Notes on four weevils in the tribe cionini (Coleoptera :Curculionidae) associated with Scrophularia nodosa L. (Scrophulariaceae). Bonn. Zool. Beitr., 40: 109-121. Rose, H.S. and Sidhu, A.K. 1993. Life history of Patialus tecomella Pajni, Kumar and Rose 1991, the first record of an Ootheca laying weevil infesting Tecomella undulata (seem) in India. The Entomologist, 112: 166-168. Rose, H.S. and Sidhu, A.K. 1993. Patialus tecomella, Kumar and Rose, an ootheca laying weevil (Coleoptera : Curculionidae). Coleopterists Bull, 47: 1. Sen-Sarma, P.K. 1964. The effect of temperature and relative humidity on the longevity of pseudoworker of Kalotermes flavicollis (Fabr.) under starvation conditions. Proc. Natn. Inst. Sci., 30: 300-314. Sen-Sarma, P.K. 1969. Effect of relative humidity on the longevity of starving workers and soldiers of Heterotermes indicola (Wasm) (Insecta : Isoptera). Proc. VI. Cong. Int. Union, 263-265. Sen-Sarma, P.K., Ahmed, S.I. and Ajuja, S.S. 1983. Influence of temperature and relative humidity on the survival periods of starved adults and larvae of Calopepla leayana Latr. In : Insect interrelations in forest and agro ecosystems (Eds. Sen-Sarma, Sangal and Kulshrestha), 59-77 pp. Sweetman, H.L. 1933. Studies of the chemical control of relative humidity in closed spaces. Ecology, 14 : 40-45. Verma, S.K. and Vir, S. 1995. Field insect pests of Rhoida (Tecomella undulata) in Arid Zones of Rajasthan. Ann. Arid Zone, 34: 51-55. Vidal, S. 1987. The population dynamics of the willow weevil Rhynchaenus populi (Coleoptera : Curculionidae). Interactions between microhabital selection, egg parasitism and leaf fall. Milteilungen. der. Deutschen Gesellschaft. fur Allgemeine. und Ange Wandte Entomologie., 6 : 580-585. Vir, S., Verma, S.K. and Jindal, S.K. 1994. Relative appearance of important insect pests on select genotypes of Tecomella undulata (Sm.) Seem at Jodhpur. Ann. Arid Zone, 33: 161162. Warkentin, D.L., Overhulser, D.L., Gara, R.I. and Hinckley, T.M. 1992. Relationships between weather patterns, sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) stress, and possible tip weevil (Pissodes strobi) infestation levels. Can. J. For. Res., 22: 667-673. Zwolfer, W. 1932. Methoden Zur Regulierving von temperature and Luftfeuchtigkeit. Z. angew. Ent., 19: 497-513.

61

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

LA NIÑA INDUCED DROUGHT AND VULTURE POPULATION DYNAMICS IN RAJASTHAN ANIL K. CHHANGANI Department of Zoology, J.N.V. University, Jodhpur- 342 001, Rajasthan, India e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: Large-scale climatic phenomena such as ENSO can drive population dynamics, particularly in semi-arid and arid regions. In a recent study it is reported that a catastrophic die-off of large mammals in a protected area, Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary in the Aravalli Hills, Rajasthan apparently triggered by the major 1998-2000 La Niña event. Previous researches on the catastrophic decline of the Gyps species complex has identified several causes like poisoning, pesticide, infections, disease or viral disease and recently diclofenac, an antiinflammatory drug administered to livestock, as the primary cause. Large-scale climatic phenomena, such as ENSO-induced drought, however have not been examined. In the present Survey (2004-2008), a total 5735 vultures of seven species have been observed in Rajasthan, viz. the Long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus), White-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis), Red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvus), Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), Cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus), Eurasian griffon (Gyps fulvus) and Himalayan griffon (Gyps himalayensis). Based on time series analysis of annual vulture population count data, 1995-2005, It provide evidence that ENSO impacts both migratory and resident vulture species in and around Jodhpur. All three migratory vulture species (Himalayan griffon, Eurasian griffon and Cinereous vulture) and one of the resident vulture species (Egyptian vulture) have been increasing, but suffered a temporary setback during the 1998-2000 La Niña event. The two remaining resident vulture species (Longbilled and White-backed vultures) suffered a concurrent downturn and have continued to decline. This suggests that La Niña played a role in triggering these setbacks and downturns in the vulture populations. Attempts to attribute catastrophic declines of vultures to putative causes such as the anti-inflammatory drug, diclofenac, should also account for any coincidental impact of drought. The impact of climate on population dynamics should not be overlooked while investigating mechanisms underlying population declines. KEY WORDS: Vulture population, Threats, ENSO, La Niña, Climate change, Drought, Gyps indicus and Gyps bengalensis.

INTRODUCTION Catastrophic declines of vultures belonging to the genus Gyps have been documented throughout India and Pakistan in recent years (Prakash 1999, Prakash et al., 2003; Gilbert et al., 2002; Oaks et al., 2004). The first early warning sign was detected in India’s Keoladeo National Park in the 1990s, when the White-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis), then one of the most common raptors on the Indian subcontinent, began a massive decline (Prakash et al., 1999). Since then, catastrophic declines, also involving Long billed vultures (Gyps indicus) and Slenderbilled vultures (Gyps tenuirostris), have been reported across the subcontinent (Prakash et al., 2003). These three vulture species are now listed as critically endangered (Birdlife International, 2008) White-rumped vultures, Long billed vultures and slender-billed vultures were also listed in the Indian wildlife act, 1972, Schedule-I. Since there are several area specific causes of vulture decline in Indian sub continent. It is therefore difficult to determine factor responsible for vulture decline (Arun & Azeez, 2004). A variety of explanations and hypotheses have been proposed, including a reduction in food availability, poisoning, habitat loss, pesticide intoxication, calcium deficiency, infectious diseases or a-viral disease (Prakash, 1999 and Conningham et. al., 2003). The cause of mortality remains unidentified but is suspected to be an infectious disease (Cunningham, 2003). Recently diclofenac residues have been identified as a cause for declining 62

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert population of oriental White-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis) in Pakistan (Oaks et. al., 2004), These crashes have been largely attributed to poisoning by a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, diclofenac, used widely to treat sick and arthritic livestock (Green et al., 2004, 2006; Oaks et al., 2004; Shultz et al., 2004; Taggart et al., 2006, 2007). Vultures that feed on diclofenac-laced carcasses can suffer renal failure and visceral gout (Oaks et al., 2004; Shultz et al., 2004; Swan et al., 2006), which arguably caused high mortality and led to dramatic population declines (34-95%) of Gyps bengalensis in Pakistan between 2000 and 2003 (Oaks et al., 2004). The drug was introduced in south Asia in 1994, but a vulture population decline was reported as early as the 1960’s in Kerala (Sashikumar, 2001), 1981 in Andhra (Rao, 1992) and disappearance from Karnataka (Denial et.al., 1994). The vulture population decline is also reported in West Africa, where diclofenac is not used to treat the livestock (Jackson, 2005). But, there are several other ecological and climatologically induced factors played an important role in the vulture population decline in different parts of Rajasthan (Chhangani, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007a,b, 2009; Chhangani et al, 2002 and Chhangani & Mohnot, 2004). However, the potential role of climate has been ignored so far in vulture population decline. This recognition weakens the claim that diclofenac might have solely accounted for 100% of the excess mortality of Gyps indicus, Gyps bengalensis and Gyps tenuirostris from 2000 to 2003 (Green et al., 2004). This claim was based on a demographic modeling study that implicitly assumed a major coincidental drought had no impact, despite growing evidence that El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events can overwhelm factors that ordinarily regulate populations. In arid regions, ENSO alternates between El Niño events leading to rainfall and La Niña events leading to drought. By suppressing plant growth and recruitment, drought can have bottom-up trophic effects (Holmgren, 2001), leading to vertebrate population crashes (Harrison, 2000; Cleary et al., 2006). In the case of the recent crash of Gyps spp., the role of climate seems worth considering because the crash coincided with the major ENSO-induced drought of 1998-2000, which apparently caused a simultaneous decline of the mammal community in a nearby wildlife sanctuary in the Aravalli Hills (Waite et al., 2007). Climate changes associated with ENSO may have particularly dramatic effects on arid and semi-arid ecosystems, where precipitation can have pronounced bottom-up effects (Holmgren et al., 2006). An initial increase in plant productivity following rain may trigger population increases in herbivores and subsequently carnivores. Plant regeneration provides abundant resources for wild herbivores and domestic animals, so overgrazing may become problematic during recurrent periods of drought (Holmgren and Scheffer, 2001; de Beer et al., 2006). Human activities, including agriculture and grazing, may alter availability of water and food resources in both positive and negative directions, potentially altering ecosystem dynamics (Gaston, 2005). In principle, ENSO indices can be used to forecast complex ecological effects in protected areas, especially in semi-arid regions where humans and their domestic animals are influenced strongly by drought. These effects may include crashes of conserved populations during drought.

MATERIAL AND METHODS Study Area: Vulture studies were carried out in wide areas of Rajasthan (Fig. 1). In the present study two national parks viz. Kaoladev National Park and Ranthambhore National Park with nine other wildlife sanctuaries were surveyed which includes Desert National Park, Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary, Sitamata Wildlife Sanctuary, Sawai Mansingh Sanctuary, Jawahar Sagar Sanctuary, National Chambal Sanctuary, Raoli Tadgarh Sanctuary, Sajangarh Sanctuary and Tal Chhapar Sanctuary. It is to be remembered that Rajasthan has traditionally been the holders of good livestock population since the rural economy is largely depend on livestock after agriculture. For example, if I calculate total livestock population of Rajasthan as per 1997 livestock census, it comes to 5,46,27,756. This includes an estimated population of 1,21,41,402 cattle, 97,70,490 buffalo, 1,45,84,819 sheep, 1,69,71,078 goats, 6,69,443 camels, 1,85,604 donkeys, 3,04,820 pigs and 24,016 horses, which is about seven present of India’s total livestock population and the animal husbandry contributes 19% of the State GDP (as per Government of India, 2006). 63

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

Fig. 1. Vulture Population found in Rajasthan.

Culturally, traditionally and climatically the Rajasthan have been supporting high population of cattle of which 2.12 lakh cross breed cattle and 1.9 crore were indigenous. Extensive random surveys of vultures population was carried out in all the districts of Rajasthan from July 2004 to July 2008 for active nests and their monitoring were undertaken in study area using a motorbike for short distances, and a four-wheeler for long-distances. For this purpose, some of the existing primary and secondary information of vulture population sites of previous studies (Chhangani 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007a; Vardhan et al., 2004). Extensive surveys of the nesting, roosting and feeding sites of vultures were conducted. Spot surveys at feeding sites mainly city dumping grounds in different parts of Rajasthan including protected and unprotected areas. Other surveys were carried out on the basis of ecological criteria in the study area, keeping in view the availability of water, water body, safe and undisturbed cliffs and trees, availability of wildlife, livestock population and carcass dumping grounds for dead animals in and around the village and cities of the state. To determine the exact population status of different species of vultures and avoid duplication, head count method supported by repeated photography and vediography during the study period. Survey of the nesting and roosting sites of vultures were carried out during the breeding seasons when the movements of the resident vultures were rather restricted. For this the nesting and roosting colonies were surveyed from early morning to 9:00 am well before the vultures leave these sites and in the evening from 04:30 pm to dusk well after they settled at nesting and roosting sites (Chhangani, 2007a). Often close observations were made using a hide, due care was taken not to disturb the vultures during observations. Vultures species observed and recorded during the study period were identified using Ali and Repley, 1987, Alstrom, 1997 and Kazmierczak, 2000. In this paper time series data from the annual census from 1995-2005 in and around Jodhpur city (Chhangani, 2005) were used to understand the INSO induced vulture population decline. Jodhpur city lies at 26º 19’ N latitude and 73º 8’ E longitude (altitude 240 msl) at the eastern fringe of the Great Indian Desert in Rajasthan, India covering an area of over 120 sq. km. The climate of Jodhpur and its vicinity is mainly arid and dry, characterized by uncertain and variable rains resulting in one lean year out of three, resulting in drought conditions, and one famine year in eight. The extremes of temperature are a striking feature of the region. The mean monthly temperature is about 17ºC, maximum going up to 48ºC in summer and 1º C in winters. The average annual rainfall is about 300 mm and 90% of this falls during the monsoon period 64

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert from July to September. The vegetation comprises open scrub forest with xerophytic plants like Acacia senegal, A. nilotica, Euphorbia caducifolia, Anogeisus pendula, Mytenus emarginata, Grewia tenex, Ziziphus nummularia and Prosopis juliflora. Climate data: Index of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the most important oceanicatmospheric driver of year-to-year variability in global climate, as a predictor of population dynamics. Specifically, Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI) (http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/people/ klaus.wolter/MEI/mei.html#ref_wt1), which is based on six variables observed over the tropical Pacific: sea-level pressure, zonal and meridianal components of surface wind, sea surface temperature, surface air temperature, and total fractional cloudiness. MEI is computed for sliding bimonthly periods, and standardized with respect to season and the reference interval 1950-1993. During study used the mean for the monsoon season (i.e. May/June–August/September). Fig. 2 shows Negative values of MEI represent the cold ENSO phase (La Niña), while positive values represent the warm ENSO phase (El Niño). ENSO: Is a naturally occurring oceanographic and atmospheric event in the equatorial Pacific Ocean that usually occurs every two to eight years and is characterized by an increase in the sea-surface temperature in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. ENSO is responsible for anomalous climatic conditions spanning most of the globe. El Niño and the Southern Oscillation are related, the two terms are often combined into a single phrase, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO for short. Often the term ENSO Warm Phase is used to describe El Niño and ENSO Cold Phase to describe La Niña. Many of the resulting impacts of ENSO are negative, causing drought, famine, usual rainfall and floods. La Niña: In simple words it is the cooling of water in the Pacific Ocean, which is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, which is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific and are accompanied by low rainfall then usual rainfall and droughts which typically comes about every three to five years. The La Niña current usually occurs after the El Niño events. El Niño: Is a regularly occurring climatic feature of our planet In simple words it is the warming of water in the Pacific Ocean and is used to refer to a much broader scale phenomenon associated with unusually warm water that occasionally forms across much of the tropical eastern and central Pacific are accompanied by heavier rainfall then usual rainfall, Hurricanes and floods. The time between successive El Niño events is irregular but they typically tend to recur every 3 to 5 years. 1998-2000 La Nina event: In the past over 100 years there have been 23 El Niño’s and 15 La Niña’s were recorded. The 1998-2000 La Nina event was the most savior period brings lowest rainfall and the most deadliest drought for the African and Asian countries. This brings resource limitation, population crashes, and loss of genetic diversity and even extinction of many floral and faunal species. Occurrence of this event was occurred just after the major 1997-98 El Niño event, which had deranged weather patterns around the world, killed an estimated 2,100 people, and caused at least 33 billion [U.S.] dollars in property damage. During this event the climate scientists were able to predict abnormal flooding and droughts months in advance for the first me in the human history.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Vulture Population A total of 5735 vultures of 7 different species which includes Long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus), White-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis), Red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvus), Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), Himalayan griffon (Gyps himalayensis), Eurasian griffon (Gyps fulvus) and Cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus) were observed in 24 districts of Rajasthan. District wise status of all the resident and migratory vulture species and their observed population from July 2004 to July 2008 is given in Table 1.

65

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

Fig. 2. Time series of the Multivariate El Niño Southern Oscillation Index (MEI) showing the major 1998-2000 La Niña event. Table 1. District Wise Vulture Population Recorded in Rajasthan (July, 2004-July, 2008) Vulture Population Species Found* S. District Observed No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23.

Ajmer Baren Barmer Beawar Bharatpur Bheelwara Bikaner Bundi Chittorgarh Churu Dungarpur Jaipur Jaisalmer Jalore Jhunjhunu Jodhpur Kota Nagour Pali Rajsamand Sawai Madhopur Sikar Sirohi

27 164 93 32 128 47 1643 113 102 95 18 17 196 65 15 2054 244 148 152 125 37 24 58

LBV, EV LBV, WBV, KV LBV , KV, EV LBV, WBV, KV, EV LBV , KV, EV LBV , WBV, KV, EV LBV , KV, EV, EG, HG, CV LBV , WBV, KV, EV LBV , WBV, KV, EV WBV, KV, EV EV EV LBV , WBV, KV, EV, EG, HG, CV LBV , KV, EV KV, EV LBV , WBV, KV, EV, EG, HG, CV LBV , WBV, KV, EV KV, EV LBV , WBV, KV, EV, EG LBV, WBV, KV, EV LBV, KV, EV EV LBV, KV 66

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 24.

Udaipur Total

138 5735

LBV, WBV, KV, EV

Where *LBV: Long-Billed Vulture, WBV: White-Backed Vulture, RHV: Red-headed Vulture, EV: Egyptian Vulture, HG: Himalayan Griffon, EG: Eurasian Griffon, CV: Cinereous Vulture.

Resident Vulture Population Out of seven vulture species observed in the study area, the Long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus), White-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis), Red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvus) and Egyptian vulture (Neophorn percnopterus) are resident and can seen in the study area round the year. A total 1210 long-billed vulture observed in 18 districts of the study area, with a highest 72 individuals at one site in the Phalodi range of Sawai Mansingh Wildlife Sanctuary, Sawai Madhopur district and lowest 3 LBV in Sikar district. Similarly 381 white-backed vultures were observed in 11 district of study area. The highest population of 89 was recorded in Jaisalmer district and minimum 2 individuals at Jorbeer, Bikaner district. With above two Gyps species there are 108 Red-headed vulture in 17 district and 2715 Egyptian vultures recorded in 21 districts (Table 1). The highest populations on 1171 Egyptian vultures were observed at Keru dead animal dumping ground and barli Talab on the outskirts of Jodhpur city.

Migratory Vulture Population There are three migratory vulture species viz. Himalayan griffon (Gyps himalayensis), Eurasian griffon (Gyps fulvus)) and Cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus) observed in the study area. Most of the migratory vulture populations were observed near municipal large dead animal dumping grounds of Jodhpur and Bikaner, besides this they were also observed at smaller but regular Panchayat’s dead animal dumping grounds at Chhoti Modi in Jodhpur and Sodakar in Jaisalmer district. The population of migratory vultures buildup gradually in the study area from October onwards and reaches to its peak during January and February. In March with the increase of temperature, their numbers start decreasing and by the end of March and first half of April they return. A total of 1321 migratory vultures were observed in the study area. This includes 283 Himalayan griffon (Gyps himalayensis), 787 Eurasian griffon (Gyps fulvus) and 251 Cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus). Interestingly the migratory vulture populations observed at large carcass dumping grounds observed feeding with other resident vultures and birds. Each large dumping site receives around 10-20 carcasses of dead cows, buffalos, camels, etc. every day and skinned by the contractor authorized by the Municipal Corporation.

ENSO and vulture population dynamics Time series of vulture population’s growth rates suggests that both of these La Niña events had a latent impact (Chhangani, 2005). Table 2 and Fig. 3 reveals that all vulture species shrank from 1997 to 1998 and again from 1999 to 2000. These universal downturns suggest that ENSOinduced drought might have synchronized population dynamics across the region. The MEI time series (Figure 2) includes two La Niña events, as shown by the prolonged series of negative MEI values extending into 1997 and the subsequent series spanning 1999. Such events can lead to monsoon failure. The major event spanning 1999 caused consecutive monsoon failures leading to a severe vegetative drought throughout Rajasthan in 2000.The MEI time series shows the major La Niña event of 1998-2000, as evidenced by the prolonged series of negative MEI values. Meanwhile, the population trajectories of six vulture species show signs of setbacks or downturns during the 1998-2000 La Niña (Fig. 4A&B). All three migratory species and one of the resident species Egyptian vultures have been on increasing trend overall, but appeared to suffer a setback coinciding with this event. The two remaining species, long-billed vultures and white-backed vultures, showed a downturn beginning during this interval. All six species experienced negative population growth at least once during 1998-2000 (Fig. 4A&B). Whereas all six vulture species tended to be more abundant during years when ENSO conditions favored greater rainfall in the

67

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert year 1996-97 (Fig. 3). NINA was a negative predictor of for all three migratory species and the Egyptian vulture. That is, four of the six species were less abundant during the 1998-2000 La Niña event. Table 2. Population data of different vulture species observed in and around Jodhpur (Chhangani, 2005)

Census Year 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05

King Egyptian Vulture Vulture 4 6 6 4 6 4 5 2 4 6

275 335 308 282 206 350 404 432 449 633

Long Billed Vulture

White Backed Vulture

Himalayan Griffon

Eurasian Griffon

148 168 196 175 210 170 138 112 108 87

74 97 118 80 65 67 58 43 28 14

37 58 74 86 78 67 83 107 92 127

68 86 108 105 95 121 152 179 218 237

Cinereous Vulture 24 20 25 28 30 38 35 52 67 76

Total Population 630 770 835 760 690 817 875 927 966 1174

Fig. 3. Total Population of different vulture species observed in and around Jodhpur (Chhangani, 2005) Niña was a positive predictor for the long-billed and white-backed vultures, the two species that began a downturn during the 1998-2000 La Niña. Table 2 provides evidence that these downturns began during this interval. This analysis reveals an inflection point in ~2000. So, unlike the four species that experienced a temporary setback during the 1998-2000 La Niña, these two species shows evidence of continued decline during 2001-2005 (Fig. 4A). The same decline was also causing many ecological changes on the ground during the La Niña, like scarcity of food and water. Meanwhile, all the other species show evidence of an increasing trend. The three migratory species have all increased exponentially (Fig. 4B). The Egyptian vulture has increased, despite the major setback during the 1998-2000 La Niña. Summing across species (Table 2), the overall abundance of migratory vultures overwintering in Jodhpur has increased, 68

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert and the overall abundance of resident vultures has held steady aside from the drought-related setback.

(4A)

(4B) Fig. 4A&B. Populations of resident and migratory vultures in and around Jodhpur, India (from 1995-2005). Our results indicate that ENSO events synchronized Long billed vulture population dynamics throughout western Rajasthan. We suggest that the major La Nina event spanning 1999

69

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert might have played a role in triggering the downturn in Long billed vultures throughout western Rajasthan (Chhangani, 2005). Until now, diclofenac has been implicated as the major, perhaps only, cause of the widespread decline of this species (Green et al., 2004). Our intent is not to discredit evidence that diclofenac poisoning has played a major causal role or to question IUCN’s diclofenac-related rationale for recently listing the Long billed vultures (Gyps indicus), Whiterumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis), and Slender-billed vultures (Gyps tenuirostris) as being critically endangered. It is simply emphasize that the potentially additive or synergistic role of climate should not be ignored, especially in an arid region where ENSO-induced drought is now known to cause catastrophic die-offs of vertebrates, even in a protected area and presumably in the absence of diclofenac poisoning (Waite et al., 2007). Future attempts to model causes of widespread population declines should begin by incorporating the climate cycle as the primary abiotic driver. This gives several insights regarding population dynamics of the critically endangered vulture species endemic to the Indian subcontinent. Population dynamics were synchronous across western Rajasthan, as if a large-scale abiotic driver overwhelmed intrinsic regulatory factors. Our analysis suggests ENSO was the major synchronizing factor. In part, a major La Niña-induced drought in 2000 apparently triggered a universal downturn in local populations throughout the region. The impact of the global climate cycle should not be overlooked while investigating mechanisms underlying local population declines, particularly when numerous parallel declines coincide with major ENSO events. ENSO events leading to monsoon failure and drought may have important implications for assessing threat and conservation needs for wild species in protected areas, particularly in arid and semi-arid ecosystems. The apparent die-offs in mammals in KWS are comparable in severity to die-offs reported elsewhere (Young, 1994; Erb and Boyce, 1999; Reed et al., 2003), and such catastrophes are expected to magnify the stochastic risk of extinction for isolated populations (Wilcox and Eldred, 2003). Effects of this kind of extreme environmental stochasticity should not be ignored; otherwise, population viability analysis for species in protected areas such as KWS may be too optimistic. Future work should also consider the ecological impact of ENSO in the context of climate change (Easterling et al., 2000). Although global warming could lead to an intensification of India’s summer monsoon, recent theoretical work prompts the concern that large-scale changes in agricultural land-use patterns could lead to a waning of the monsoon (Zickfeld et al., 2004).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thanks Dr. Padma Bohra, Scientist-D & Officer-in-Charge and Dr. Gaurav Sharma, Scientist-C of Zoological Survey of India, Desert Regional Centre, Jodhpur, for giving me opportunity to participate in national seminar and write this paper in the proceedings. Thanks are due to Shri R.N. Mehrotra, PCCF, State Forest Department, Jaipur and officials, staff posted at State Forest Department Jodhpur. I am thankful to CSIR, New Delhi for Senior Research Associateship. Prof. Devendra Mohan, Head, Dr. L. S. Rajpurohit, Department of Zoology, J.N.V. University, Jodhpur for necessary support and guidance. I am thankful to Prof. S. M. Mohnot, Director, The School of Desert Sciences, Shri Rakesh Vyas, Shri R.S. Toomar, Hadoti Natural History Society; Dr. A. Rahmani, BNHS, Shri Harsh Vardhan, TWSI, Director, Paryavaran Prabandhan Sansthan, Jodhpur, Rajulal Gurjar, Nagvendra Singh, Madan Mali for extending help to make this long study a success. I am also grateful to Dave Ferguson and Dr. Meenakshi Nagendran of U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for their constant support and guidance. I am thankful to Bob Risebrough, M. Gilbert, M. Anderson and M. Virani for providing literature and Bundu Khan for computation work.

REFERENCES Ali, S. and Ripley, S.R. 1987. Compact handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan, Oxford University Press, Delhi. Alstrom, P. 1997. Field identification of Asian Gyps vultures. Oriental Bird Club Bulletin, 25: 3249.

70

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Arun, P.R. and Azeez, P.A. 2004. Vulture population decline, diclofenac and avian gout. Current Science, 87(5): 565-568. Birdlife International 2008. Critically endangered birds: A global audit. Cambridge, UK: Birdlife International. Chhangani, A.K. 2002. Ecology of vultures of different species in and around Jodhpur (Rajasthan), India. Tigerpaper, 29(2): 28-32. Chhangani, A.K. 2004. Status of a breeding population of long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus) in and around Jodhpur (Rajasthan), India. Vulture News, 50: 15-22. Chhangani, A.K. 2005. Population ecology of vultures in the western Rajasthan, India. Indian Forester, 131(10): 1373-1382. Chhangani, A.K. 2007a. Study of the cause of vulture population decline in India with special reference to Jodhpur. Unpublished Progress Report No. 3, submitted to Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. pp.1-77. Chhangani, A.K. 2007b. Sightings and nesting sites of Red-headed Vulture, Sarcogyps calvus in Rajasthan, India, Indian Birds, 3(6): 218-211. Chhangani, A.K. 2009. Status of Vulture Population in Rajasthan, India. Indian Forester, 135(2): 239-251. Chhangani, A.K. and S.M. Mohnot 2004. Is Diclofenac the only cause of vulture decline. Current Science, 87(11): 1496-1497. Chhangani, A.K, Mohnot, S.M. and Purohit, A.K. 2002. Breeding Ecology of Egyptian Vulture (Neophron Percnoperus) in and around Jodhpur (Rajasthan), India. Flora and Fauna, 8(1): 29-32. Cleary, D.F.R., Fauvelot, C., Genner, M.J., Menken, S.B.J. and Mooers, A.O. 2006. Parallel responses of species and genetic diversity to El Niño Southern Oscillation-induced environmental destruction. Ecology Letters, 9: 301-307 Cunningham, A.A., V. Prakash, D. Pain, G.R. Ghalsasi, G.A.H. Wells, G.N. Kolte, P. Nighot, M.S. Goudar, S. Kshirsagar & A. Rahmani 2003: Indian vultures: victims of an infectious disease epidemic? Animal Conservation, 6: 189-197. Daniels, R.J.R., Joshi, N.V. and Gadgil, M. 1994. Changes in the Bird Fauna of Uttara Kannada, India (Extracts). Newsletter for Birdwatchers, 34(2): 26-27. de Beer, Y., Kilian, W., Versfeld, W. and van Aarde, R.J. 2006. Elephants and low rainfall alter woody vegetation in Etosha National Park, Namibia. Journal of Arid Environments, 64: 412–421. Easterling, D.R., Meehl, G.A., Parmesan, C., Chagnon, S., Karl, T. and Mearns, L. 2000. Climate extremes: observations, modeling, and impacts. Science, 289: 2068-2074. Erb, J.D. and Boyce, M.S. 1999. Distribution of population declines in large mammals. Conservation Biology, 13: 199-201. Gaston, K.J. 2005. Biodiversity and extinction: species and people. Progress in Physical Geography, 29: 239–247. Gilbert, M., Virani, M.Z., Watson, R.T., Oaks, J.L., Benson, P.C., Khan, A.A., Ahmed, S., Chaudhry, J., Arshad, M., Mahmood, S. and Shah, Q.A. 2002. Breeding and mortality of Oriental White backed vulture Gyps bengalensis in Punjab Province, Pakistan. Bird Conservation International. 12: 311-326. Government of India 2006. Rajasthan Development Report. Planning Commission, Government of India, New Delhi (Academic Foundation), pp. 1-306. Green, R.E., Newton, I., Shultz, S., Cunningham. A.A., Gilbert, M., Pain, D.J. and Prakash, V. 2004. Diclofenac poisoning as a cause of vulture population declines across the Indian subcontinent. Journal of Applied Ecology, 41: 793-800 Holmgren, M. and Scheffer, M. 2001. El Nino as a window of opportunity for the restoration of degraded arid ecosystems. Ecosystems, 4: 151-159.

71

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Holmgren M. et al. (18 other coauthors). 2006. Extreme climatic events shape arid and semiarid ecosystems. Frontiers in Ecology, 4: 87–96. Harrison, R.D. 2000 Repercussions of El Niño: drought causes extinction and the breakdown of mutualism in Borneo. Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series B, 267: 911–915. Jackson, P. 2005. African vulture decline. Newsletter for Birdwatchers, 45(3): 42. Kazmierczak, K. 2000. A Field guide to the Birds of India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and the Maldives. Pica Press, U.K. Oaks, J.L., Martin, G., Munir, Z.V., Watson, R.T., Meleyer, C.U., Rideaurt, B.A., Shivaprasad, H.L., Ahmad, S., Choudhary, M.J.I., Arshad, M., Mohmood, S., Ali, A. and Khan, A.A. 2004. Diclofenac residues as the cause of vulture population decline in Pakistan. Nature, 427: 630-633. Prakash, V. 1999. Status of vultures in Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, with special reference to population crash in Gyps species. Journal of Bombay Natural History Society, 96(3): 365-378. Prakash, V., Pain, D.J., Cunningham, A.A., Donald, P.F., Prakash, N., Verma, A., Gargi, R., Sivakumar, S. and Rahmani, A.R. 2003. Catastrophic collapse of Indian white backed gyps bengalensis and long billed gyps indicus vulture populations. Biological Conservation, 109: 381-390. Rahmani, A.R. 1998. Decline of vultures in India. Newsletter for Birdwatchers, 38(5): 80-81. Reed, D.H., O'Grady, J.J., Ballou, J.D. and Frankham, R. 2003 The frequency and severity of catastrophic die-offs in vertebrates. Animal Conservation, 6: 109–114. Rao, K.M. 1992. Vultures endangered in Guntur and Prakasam districts (AP) and vulture eating community. Newsletter for Birdwatchers, 32(7-8): 6-7. Sashikumar, C. 2001. Vultures in Kerala. Newsletter for Birdwatchers, 41(1): 1-3. Shultz, S., Baral, H.S., Charman, S., Cunningham, A.A., Das, D., Ghalsasi, G.R., Goudar, M.S., Green, R.E., Jones, A., Nighot, P., Pain, D.J. and Prakash, V. 2004. Diclofenac poisoning is widespread in declining vulture populations across the Indian subcontinent. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B (Supplement), 271: S458–S460 Swan, G.E., Cuthbert, R., Quevedo, M., Green, R.E., Pain, D.J., Bartels, P., Cunningham, A.A., Duncan, N., Meharg, A.A., Oaks, J.L., Parry-Jones, J., Shultz, S., Taggart, M.A., Verdoorn, G. and Wolter, K. 2006. Toxicity of diclofenac to Gyps vultures. Biology Letters, 2: 279–282 Vardhan, H., Rishbrough, R.R, Sangha, H.S. and Chhangani, A.K. 2004. Gyps Vultures Conservation Strategies, 2004. Published by Tourism & Wildlife Society of India. pp. 1-34. Waite, T.A., Campbell, L.G., Robbins, P. and Chhangani, A.K. 2007. La Niña’s signature: synchronous decline of the mammal community in a ‘protected’ area in India. Diversity Distrbutions, 13: 752-760 Wilcox, C. and Elderd, B. 2003. The effect of density-dependent catastrophes on population persistence time. Journal of Applied Ecology, 40: 859–871. Young, T.P. 1994. Natural die-offs of large mammals: implications for conservation. Conservation Biology, 8: 410-418. Zickfeld, K., Knopf, B., Petoukhov, V. and Schellnhuber, H.J. 2005. Is the Indian summer monsoon stable against global change ? Geophysical Research Letters, 32: Art. No. L15707.

72

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

INSECTS IN URBAN-INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPES: A CASE STUDY ON ODONATA AND LEPIDOPTERA (RHOPALOCERA: INSECTA) DIVERSITY OF PIMPRI-CHINCHWAD MUNCIPALITY, MAHARASHTRA K. A. SUBRAMANIAN* AND S. S. TALMALE** *Zoological Survey of India, Western Regional Centre, Akurdi, Pune-410 044 **Zoological Survey of India, Central Zone Regional Centre, Vijay Nagar, Jabalpur-482 002. e-mail: *[email protected] ABSTRACT: Managed ecosystems such as urban landscapes, support a significant number of species and require conservation attention. In this context, much of the focus should be given to inventorying, monitoring and conserving the species that exists in these landscapes. Here we present results of a study on odonates and butterflies in urban-industrial landscapes of Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipality. Butterflies and odonates are sensitive to environmental changes as they are closely dependent on host plants and wetlands. They also respond quickly to any kind of disturbance and changes in the habitat quality, thus they are good indicator taxa to study changes in the habitat and landscape. Few studies have also shown that insect species disappear more rapidly than other organisms due to habitat loss and degradation. Since butterflies and odonates can be reliably identified and observed in the field, they are ideal taxa for biodiversity monitoring at regional scale. Odonates and butterflies were sampled from 28 localities during January to April, 2008. A total of 22 species of odonates belonging to 6 families were recorded. Butterfly fauna was represented by 30 species belonging to 5 families. All the odonate and butterfly species recorded were widespread generalist species. This Indicates that urban-industrial landscape of the study area is degraded and require immediate conservation attention. Few study sites had higher species diversity indicating low aquatic and terrestrial pollution. Measures to increase insect diversity of urban-industrial landscapes by introduction of larval host plants and creation of artificial wetlands in gardens and residential areas are suggested. KEY WORDS: Urban Biodiversity, Odonates, Butterflies, Insect Conservation.

INTRODUCTION Information on diversity and distribution of various taxa at habitat, local and regional scale is the key to biodiversity conservation, especially of lesser known taxa such as insects. Managed ecosystems such as urban landscapes, support a significant number of species and require conservation attention. In this context, much of the focus should be given to inventorying and monitoring the species that exists in these landscapes (Gadgil, 1996). Studies have indicated that odonates and butterflies reliably indicate the health of wetland and terrestrial ecosystems. Here we present results of a study on Odonata and butterfly diversity in heterogeneous landscapes of Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipality. Odonates are aquatic insects and are highly specialized for a specific wetland habitat. Studies from different parts of the world has shown that insects like odonates are good indicators of ecosystem health. Odonates are one of the widely recognized indicators for monitoring wetland health (Samways, 1992). Methodologies for monitoring wetland health using odonates has been developed and currently being used in different parts of the world. Butterflies are sensitive to environmental changes as they are closely dependent on plants (Pollard, 1991). They also respond quickly to any kind of disturbance and changes in the habitat quality, thus they are good indicator taxa to study changes in the habitat and landscape. Few 73

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert studies have also shown that insect species disappear more rapidly than other organisms due to habitat loss and degradation (Thomas et. al., 2004 and Pennisi, 2004). Since butterflies can be reliably identified and observed in the field, they are ideal taxa for biodiversity monitoring at regional scale. The odonata and butterfly fauna of the region is well known taxonomically. Taxonomy of adults is well worked out and descriptions are available for all the reported species (Fraser, 1924, 1932, 1933-36, Davis and Tobin, 1984 &1985, Prasad and Varshney, 1995, Wynter-Blyth, 1957, Haribal, 1992, Gunathilagaraj et al., 1998), Kunte 2000). Previous studies on the odonate fauna of the region are species checklists based on field surveys (Prasad, 1996). Kunte (1997) studied the ecology and seasonality of butterflies around Pune. These published studies give valuable information on geographic and habitat distributions of Odonata and butterflies of the region.

METHODOLOGY Study localities: Odonates and butterflies were sampled from 28 localities (Table-1) during January to April, 2008. Table-1: List of study localities indicating species richness of butterflies and odonates. S.No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Number of Species Butterflies Odonates 24 4 24 19 21 4 18 4 17 3 11 4 11 5 10 4 10 8 9 4 9 4 9 10 8 9 8 10 8 4 8 6 8 10 7 4 7 3 7 6 7 2 7 10 7 14 7 8 7 10 7 9 7 7 7 10

Locality Name Durga Tekdi Tata Lake (Chinchwad) PCMC Fruit Nursery, Chikhali Talawade Plant Nursery (PCMC) Pimple Gurav-Kasarwadi near Pawana Newale wasti, near Chikhali Valhekarwadi near Pawana River Pawana River opp. Bus Stop, Old Sangvi Thergaon Boat Club Bopkhel village Pimple Gurav near Pawana River Talawade vill. Near Indrayani river Kasarwadi (Pawana river) near Railway Station Nighoje vill near Indrayani Pawana-Mula Sangam, Old Sangvi Rahatni near Pawana Rawet Upsa Station Bhosri Dumping station Charholi Budruk Chikhali sewage Plant Dudulgaon Ganesh Talav, Nigdi Moshi lake Pimple Nilakh (Mula river) Pimpri-Rahatni Bridge Punawale (Pawana river) Vishalnagar (Wakad) on Mula river Wakad

Sampling Method: In each locality different habitats were surveyed between 09-16 hrs. Since it was very difficult to estimate absolute abundance of different species, frequency of occurrence in different localities was estimated from presence-absence matrix (Table-2 & 3). Habits and habitat of each species were recorded in the field. Species which could not be identified in the field were collected for identification. All species were identified following Fraser (1933-36), Wynter-Blyth (1957), Haribal (1992), Gunathilagaraj et al., (1998), Kunte (2000). During the study period, threats to habitats in each locality were also recorded.

74

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION (A). Odonata A total of 22 species belonging to 6 families were recorded from 28 localities (Table-2). Eight localities had ten or more number of species. Highest number of species (19 sp.) was recorded from the Tata Motors Lake. Thirteen sites had five or less than five species (Table-2) and eight species were present in twelve or more number of sites. All the 22 species recorded are widespread and tolerant to disturbance and degradation to the wetland. An exception to this is Black winged Bambootail (Disparoneura quadrimaculata). This species prefers less disturbed and unpolluted stretches of rivers. A relict population of this species was recorded from Talawade village near river Indrayani. Though Tata Motors Lake has high species richness, most of the species present are common and very widespread throughout south and south East Asia. It was observed during the survey that all most all of the wetlands are very degraded and polluted. Rivers are devoid of their natural riparian cover and pollution from domestic and industrial waste is rampant. The explosive invasion of exotic weeds such as Pistia sp. and Eichornia sp. is also widespread. In many localities, small scale encroachments are very common. The degraded quality of wetlands is reflected by the presence of widespread hardy species such as Ditch Jewel (Brachythemis contaminata), Green Marsh Hawk (Orthetrum sabina) and Ground Skimmer (Diplacodes trivialis). Moreover, other common aquatic insects which are usually present in undisturbed or less polluted water bodies (eg: water striders (Gerridae), whirligig beetles (Gyrinidae) etc.) were not observed. This reiterates the degraded quality of the wetlands of the study area. Earlier studies have (Fraser, 1924, 1932, 1933-36, Prasad, 1996) reported about 65 species of Odonata from Pune city and its vicinity. A major part of these studies were done during 1920’s when the rivers were undammed and were free flowing with least disturbance. These studies also covered nearby forest areas, recording many species which prefers forested streams. Since 1950’s the construction of large number of dams, canals, check dams and rapid urbanization, the hydrology and ecology of rivers and its catchment have drastically altered. This change in the river ecology and landscape has definitely affected the odonate fauna. The odonate community has become species poor, indicating many local extinctions. However, it should be noted that, the study was carried out only during winter and summer months. Many species are highly seasonal and surveys during monsoon and post monsoon months are necessary to get a clear picture of odonate diversity of the region. This preliminary study clearly indicates that the degraded wetlands of the region could potentially only support hardy pollution tolerant species. However, many species which have become locally extinct can be encouraged to recolonize the area by creating suitable habitats and improving quality of the existing habitats.

(B). Butterflies A total of 30 species belonging to 5 families were recorded from 28 localities (Table-3). Eight localities had ten or more number of species. Highest number of species (24 sp.) was recorded from the Durga Tekadi and Tata Motors Lake. Nine sites had ten or more than ten species (Table-3) and seven species were present in twenty or more number of sites. All the 30 species recorded are widespread and tolerant to disturbance and degradation of the habitat. Most of the species present are common and very widespread throughout south and south East Asia. It was observed during the survey that all most all of the regions are much degraded. Dumping of garbage and industrial waste is common in public land. Invasion of exotic weeds such as Parthenium sp., Lantana camera, Argemon mexicanum etc. is common in most of the places. Gardens in the regions are dominated with exotic ornamental plants. They are of less importance to butterflies as they do not constitute larval food and adult nectar resource. Earlier studies have (Kunte, 1997) reported about 103 species from Pune city and its vicinity. High number of species recorded in that study could be due to much better seasonal and 75

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

76

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

77

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert spatial coverage for more than two years. Many species are highly seasonal and surveys during monsoon and post monsoon months are necessary to get a clear picture of butterfly diversity of the region. This preliminary study clearly indicates that the degraded lands of the region could potentially only support widespread species. However, many species which have become locally extinct can be encouraged to recolonize the area by introducing butterfly host and nectar plants in existing gardens and public places. Current study on odonates and butterflies in urban-industrial landscape shows that only widespread, pollution and disturbance tolerant species can exist in degraded ecosystems. Though the landscape has many gardens and public places, the vegetation is dominated by exotic garden plants which are neither larval host or adult nectar plants. This could be one of the major reasons for low diversity of butterflies in the study area. Planting of native flora, which are larval host and adult nectar resources for many butterflies and other insects, would definitely increase biodiversity of degraded urban industrial ecosystems.

REFERENCES Fraser, F.C. 1924. A Survey of the Odonata (Dragonfly) Fauna of Western India with Special remarks on the Genera Macromia and Idionyx and description of thirty new species with appendices I, II. Records of the Indian Museum ( A Journal of Indian Zoology). 26(5): 423-522. Davis, D., Allen, L. and Tobin, P. 1984. The Dragonflies Of The World: A Systematic List Of Extant Species Of Odonata. Vol I&Ii. Societas Internationalis Odontologica Rapid Communications (Supplements). No.3. Fraser, F.C. 1932. Addition to the survey of Odonate fauna of Western India, with descriptions of nine species. Records of the Indian Museum. 32: 443-473. Fraser, F.C. 1933. The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma, Odonata Vol. I. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London. 423pp. Fraser, F.C. 1934. The fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma. Odonata Vol. II. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London. 398pp. Fraser, F.C. 1936. The fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Odonata Vol III. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London. 461pp. Gadgil, M. 1996. Documenting Diversity: An Experiment. Current Science. 70: 36-44 Gunathilagaraj, K., Perumal, T.N.A., Jayaram, K. and Ganesh Kumar, M. 1998. Some South Indian Butterflies. Nilgiri Wildlife and Environment Association. Udhagamandalam. 274pp. Haribal, M. 1992. The butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and their Natural History. Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation. Gangtok. Kunte, K. 2000. Butterflies of Peninsular India. India-A Lifescape. Indian Academy of Sciences. Universities Press, Hyderabad. 254pp. Kunte, K. 1997. Seasonal Patterns in Butterfly Abundance and Species Diversity in Four Tropical Habitats in Northern Western Ghats. Journal of Bioscience. 22: 593-603. Pennisi, E. 2004. Naturalists’ Surveys Show That British Butterflies Are Going, Going. Science. 303: 1747. Pollard, E. and Yates T.J. 1993. Monitoring Butterflies for Ecology and Conservation (London: Chapman and Hall). Prasad, M. and Varshney, R.K. 1995. A check list of the Odonata of India including data on larval studies. Oriental Ins. 29: 385-428. Prasad, M. 1996. An account of the Odonata of Maharashtra State, India. Rec. zool. Surv. India. 95(3-4): 305-327. Samways, M.J. 1992. Dragonfly Conservation In South Africa: A Biogeographic Perspective. Odonatologica. 21(2): 165-180. Thomas, J.A., Telfer, M.G., Roy, D.B., Preston, C.D., Greenwood, J.J.D., Asher, J., Fox, R., Clarke, R.T. and Lawton, J.H. 2004. Comparative Losses of British Butterflies, Birds, and Plants and the Global Extinction Crisis. Science. 303: 1879-1881. Wynter-Blyth, M.A. 1957. Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay.

78

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

EFFECT OF CLIMATIC CONDITION ON REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS IN FREE RANGING HANUMAN LANGUR (Semnopithecus entellus) IN AND AROUND JODHPUR CHENA RAM, GOUTAM SHARMA AND L.S. RAJPUROHIT* Animal Behaviour Unit, Department of Zoology, J.N.V. University, Jodhpur- 342001, Rajasthan. e-mail. *[email protected] ABSTRACT: Reproductive strategy (i.e. Reproductive success, Conception and successful birth) of mammals are highly affected by climatic conditions. Consequently, many mammalian taxa have breeding seasons that coordinate critical reproductive stages with optimal environmental conditions. However, in contrast with most mammals, Hanuman langurs (Semnopithecus entellus entellus) of Jodhpur reproduce throughout the year. Here we depart from the typical approach of evaluating climatic effects on reproduction mainly for females. Our main focus was to determine how environmental conditions might mediate langurs reproduction. The data set includes all female reproductive cycles from langurs troops located in various site of Jodhpur (Daijar, Beriganga, Mandore Garden, Kailana canal, and Bijoli) since last two years. Results indicate that after periods of summer (drought or extreme heat), females were significantly less likely to cycle than expected. If females did cycle after these conditions, they were less likely to conceive; and if they did conceive after drought (heat effects were nonsignificant), they were less likely to have a successful birth. KEY WORDS: Reproductive Success, Hanuman langur, Climatic Condition.

INTRODUCTION In non-human primates, climatic conditions are critically important for regulating key physiological events essential to the maintenance of pregnancy and development of the fetus. Many mammalian taxa exhibit seasonal variation in their reproduction but langurs of Jodhpur reproduce through out year. In some species, this variation is extreme, with all mating and births taking place during a very restricted part of the year. Whether a mammal reproduces seasonally or continuously depends primarily on ecological factors, such as temperature and availability of resources (reviewed in Bronson 1985, 1989). Langur females seem to be very anthropomorphic to environmental fluctuations as found in several field studies. Langurs breed round the year at Kankori (Jay, 1965). Orcha (Krishnan, 1972) and Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka (Ripley, 1965) while at other sites like Rajaji National Park (Prater, 1965), Gir Forests (Rehman, 1973), Dharwar (Sugiyama et al., 1965) and Jodhpur (Rajpurohit et al., 1994) they breed only during some months of the year or have birth peaks during some months. Large fluctuations in climatic factors can produce high variability in female langur reproductive condition because reproductive physiology and behaviour are sensitive to these conditions. Certain aspects of the behavioural studies of langurs have been described by Jay (1965) and Sugiyama et al. (1965). The gross anatomy and histology of the female reproductive tract of the hanuman langur (Presbytis entellus) (David & Ramaswami, 1971) have been reported. However, there is very little information on the reproductive profile of this non-human primate. In wild populations of langur, the physiology of reproductive failure or fetal loss is undescribed. Thus, the objectives of the present study were (1) to describe the reproductive strategy of langur (2) pregnancy detection in langur, (3) detection of fetal loss in langur (4) to determine at which stage of pregnancy failure can be detected, and finally (5) to document the rate and timing of fetal loss across pregnancy in langur. Following all these objective we marked the mature females of specific bisexual troops of langurs. The large number of data already gathered on social behaviour and the ecologies of this species around Jodhpur. Mohnot (1974), Winkler et

79

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert al., (1984), Borries (1989), Rajpurohit (1987) and Swami (2010) have provided data on motherinfant relations and infant-development. Rajpurohit and Chena Ram (2009) have provided data on the effect of changing climate or global warming on the behavioural and feeding strategy of langurs population. The present paper provides data on study of pregnancy success in bisexual troops of Hanuman langurs around Jodhpur.

METHODS The Hanuman Langur (Semnopithecus entellus), a member of Indian Colobinae, perhaps is the most widely distributed of the non-human primates in Indian sub-continent. Hanuman langurs are studied in and around city of Jodhpur, which lies at the eastern fringe of the Great Indian Desert in Rajasthan (altitude about 241 m MSL, latitude 260 18’N and longitude 730 08’E). There are about 2000 langurs inhabiting in this isolated population in an area of about 150 sq km (Mohnot and Rajpurohit, 2001; Rajpurohit et al., 2001; Rajpurohit et al., 2010). It is the highly adaptable species and is still maintaining in various ecozones even in adverse ecological condition in its distribution zones. In the western part of its habitat, it is found pre-dominantly organized in the two types of troops viz. bisexual troops and unisexual all-male bands. The current investigations are the part of a field study on langurs of Jodhpur based on ad libitum and scan sampling (Altman, 1974) during 2005-2009. The climate of Jodhpur is dry with maximum temperature around 480C during May/June and minimum around 00C December/January. Seasons of Jodhpur is catagrised in five stage which are srring(Last Feb. to first week of April), Summer(Mid April to July), Rainy(July to September),and lastis winter (October to mid Feb.). It receives 90% of its scanty rainfall (average 360 mm) during monsoon months (i.e., July-September). The habitat used by the langurs includes open scrub forest, fields, farms and orchids (Mohnot, 1974; Sharma, 2007; Devilal, 2009). Water is available to all groups throughout the year from man-made water holes, which collect rainwater, lake, canal, and also by humans due to religious sentiment. The diet consists of different parts from approximate 190 plant species. Jodhpur langurs are well habituated, are considered sacred and are never been hunted. Temperature (0C) was measured daily from a central location within study sites of langur in Jodhpur using a maximum–minimum thermometer and a rain gauge. To identify the knam individuals a powerful binocular and to have photographic evidences of different behaviour / incidents a Canon camera was used.

OBSERVATION AND RESULTS The changes in birth time and successfully birth in hanuman langur is extremely triggered by climatic condition which can be seen as evolutionary changes. Data of 4 year study i.e. from Nov., 2005 to Oct., 2009 on cycle, conceptive cycle, non-conceptive cycle, pregnant female, successful birth and fetal loss in different season were obtained from 392 (208 Cyclic and 184 pregnant) female of five different bisexual troops of langurs in and around Jodhpur. We select 29 females except these 392 femalrs but due to misidentification of that females we are not describe about them. Success or failure of pregnancy (fetal loss) consider as the living birth or stillbirth death. Non-conceptive cycles are also considered as pregnancy failure. Although females in all groups had equal conception probabilities during optimal conditions, females in large groups were less likely than those in small groups to conceive during periods of summer (high temp. and drought). These results indicate that in a highly variable environment, langur reproductive success is mediated by the interaction between proximate ecological conditions and individual demographic environmental conditions at the start of reproduction are usually a good indicator of conditions throughout cycling, conception, and parturition. Extreme temperatures, heat in the case of Jodhpur, also can have a potent influence on reproductive success. Ecological conditions during gestation (as opposed to leading up to conception) failed to predict the probability of fetal loss in the logistic regression model. However, pregnancies that resulted in first-trimester fetal losses were characterized by higher temperatures during gestation compared with other pregnancies.

80

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert According to climatic variables we grouped these births in three trimester i.e., NovemberFebruary, March-June, July-October (total 12 trimester in 4 years) to investigate the seasonality of births and to ascertain the difference in the occurrence of births and then to see whether the difference among these quarters is statistically significant. The average temperature and rainfall of first trimester was 20.020C and 2.73mm, second trimester was 31.690C and 23.45mm and third trimester was 29.650C and 63.24mm in and around Jodhpur. Jodhpur langurs breed round the year. All births in five study troops were recorded in the every week of every month. We take failure or success of pregnancy after conception is on the basis of still birth. Still birth death is considered as pregnancy failure and live birth is as success because it is difficult in behavioural study to find out the stages at which fetal is loss during their gestation period. All the data were collected regular follow of pregnant female in all trimesters during study period. Data indicate that maximum case of pregnancy failure is find in second trimester (i.e. March to June). The result indicates that total 213 case cycle were recorded included 139 conceptive cycle and 74 non conceptive cycles. Out of 213 cycle 70 cycles (48 conceptive and 22 non-conceptive) were recorded in first trimester (Nov.-Feb.), 54 cycles (31 conceptive and 23 nonconceptive) were recorded in second trimester and 84 (60 conceptive and 24 non-conceptive) cycles were recorded in third trimester. Out of 139 conceptive cycle 48 conceptive cycle recorded in first trimester (Nov.-Feb.), 31 conceptive cycle recorded in second trimester (March-June) which is minimum and 60 conceptive cycle which is maximum were recorded in third trimester (JulyOct.). Data indicate that in the second trimester temperature is high, no rain fall and conditions are drought so female langurs are less like to cycle, if cycle then less likely to conceive and leads to maximum fetal loss (pregnancy failure). Difference in temperature of second trimester and third trimester is not more but due to rainy season and better natural food availability case of pregnancy failure in third trimester is very less, more cycle and more conception rate than other. Out of marked 184 pregnant females, 71 pregnant females marked in first trimester (i.e. November-February), 46 pregnant females marked in second trimester (i.e. March-June) and 67 pregnant females marked in third trimester (i.e. July-October) during 4 year (i.e. Nov., 2005 to Nov., 2009). The maximum case of pregnancy failure is finding in second trimester (i.e. March to June). Lesser case of pregnancy failure was observed in first trimester. The result indicate that total 39 case of fetal loss (pregnancy failure) were observed out of which maximum 17 case of fetal loss i.e. 43.5% case of fetal loss is observed in second trimester while minimum 10 case i.e. 25.6% case of fetal loss is observed in first trimester. Gestation period of abort embryo was about 4.2 + 1.3 months. Difference in temp of second trimester and third trimester is not more but due to rainy season and better natural food availability case of pregnancy failure in third trimester is very less than second trimester. 12 case of fetal loss i.e. 30.7% is observed in the third trimester. Result indicate that out of total total 108 failure cases (non-conception and fetal loss) maximum number (i.e. 45) case of pregnancy failure were recorded in the second trimester and ecological condition in this trimester is high temperature and droughts. Number of cycle and conceptive cycle more are in third trimester and conditions are moderate temp and rainfall. Due to rainfall better food is available to langurs.

DISCUSSION The results of our analyses, based on the daily meteorological data (temperature) preceding each reproductive event, parallel those from traditional analyses of ecological effects on reproduction that use seasons (defined by calendar months or threshold levels of rain) as proxies for ecological variables. Just as seasonal breeders limit or cease reproduction during poor ecological conditions, the environmental conditions for each individual female cycle; we were able to evaluate the relationship between weather variables and langur reproduction in much greater detail. We were able to distinguish the effects of temperatures and rainfall on reproduction in the Jodhpur female langur. Second, we were able to quantify the temporal relationship between ecological variables and reproductive failure, demonstrating that the success of each reproductive event (cycling, conception and live birth) depends primarily on optimal temperature and rainfall conditions preceding each stage. 81

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert In particular, inadequate food intake or increased energy expenditure to obtain food (or both) are critical factors contributing to the nutritional condition of a female initiating reproduction (Wade and Schneider, 1992). Females must first meet basic metabolic requirements before allocating energy to reproduction in order to avoid a negative energy balance, and female body mass and condition across many mammalian taxa have been linked to reproductive output (Roe deer, Capreolus capreolus: Hewison and Gaillard, 2001; uropean badgers, Meles meles: Woodroffe and MacDonald, 1995). Although little studied in wild populations, unusually high temperatures have been shown to affect several aspects of reproduction in laboratory and domestic animals and in humans. First, because males of most mammalian species rely on external testes for temperature control (Freeman, 1990; Setchell, 1998), seasonally high temperatures can suppress spermatogenesis in mature males enough to reduce the number of fertilizations in hotter months (Kandeel and Swerdloff 1988; Mendis-Handagama et al., 1990). Beehner et al. (2006) highlights the less number of cases of pregnancy failure during rainy season in wild baboon (Papio cynocephalus). Recent results on humans have shown that maternal stress during the period prior to physiological maturation of the placenta is most likely to result in miscarriage (Nepomnaschy, 2005). Given global and local climate change in the direction of increasing temperatures, the effects of heat stress on reproductive failure may be a growing concern for wildlife populations. Swami (2010) highlights the pregnancy failure due to high temperature in the month of April, May and June than other months.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors are grateful to S.M. Mohnot, Emeritus Professor of Zoology and Chairman, Primate Research Center, Jodhpur for continuous encouragement. To Prof. Devendra Mohan, Head, Department of Zoology, J.N.V. University, Jodhpur for providing facilities and logistic support during this study. Thanks are due to UGC New Delhi for financial support and for a major Project-UGC (No.F,30-200/2004 SR and No.F., 34-460/2008).

REFERENCES Altmann, J. 1974. Observational study of behaviour: Sampling methods. Behaviour. 49: 227-267. Baker, J.R. 1938. The evolution of breeding seasonality. In: DeBeer GR, editor. Evolution. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp.161–178. Beehner C., Daphne, A., Onderdonk, A., Susan, C., Alberts, B.C. and Altmanna, J. 2006. The ecology of conception and pregnancy failure in wild baboons. Behavioural Ecology doi. 10(1093): 741-750. Borries, C. 1989. Kinship and Komptition der weibliehe der freilebender Hanuman-Languren (Presbytis entellus) von Jodhpur, Rajasthan, Indien. Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Goettingen, Goettingen. David, G.F.X. and Ramaswami, L.S. 1971. The Pituitary Gland of the North Indian Langur (Presbytis entellus entellus Dufrèsne). Folia Primatol. 16: 52-73. Devilal, 2009. Study of the Differential Population Growth in Natural and Artificial fed Groups of Hanuman langur (Semnopithecus entellus entellus). Ph.D. thesis. J.N.V. University, Jodhpur. Freeman, S. 1990. The evolution of the scrotum: a new hypothesis. J. Theor. Biol. 145: 429-445. Hewison, A.J.M., Gaillard, J.M. 2001. Phenotypic quality and senescence affect different components of reproductive output in roe deer. J. Anim. Ecol. 70: 600–608. Jay, P.C. 1965. The common langur of north India. In: Primate Behaviour. I. DeVore ed. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, pp. 197-249. Krishnan, M. 1972. An ecological survey of the larger mammals of peninsular India. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 68: 503-555. Kandeel, F.R. and Swerdloff, R.S. 1988. Role of temperature in regulation of spermatogenesis and the use of heating as a method for contraception. Fertile Sterile. 49(1): 1-23.

82

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Mendis-Handagama, S.M.L., Kerr, J.B. and DeKretser, D.M. 1990. Experimental cryptorchidism in the adult mouse: II. A hormonal study. J. Androl. 11: 548-554. Mohnot, S.M. 1974. Ecology and Behaviour of the Common Indian Langur, Presbytis entellus. Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Jodhpur, Jodhpur. Mohnot, S.M. and Rajpurohit, L.S. 2001. Final Technical Report-Indo-US Primate Project (19942001), USFWS, USA and DOE & F, Govt. of India. Nepomnaschy, P.A. 2005. Stress and female reproduction in a rural Mayan population (dissertation). Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan. Prater, 1965. The book of Indian animals (Bombay natural history society and prince of wales Museum of western India.) Rahman, A. 1973. The langur of Gir Sanctuary (Gujrat)- A preliminary survey. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 70: 295-314 Rajpurohit, L.S. 1987. Male social organization in Hanuman langurs (Presbytis entellus). Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Jodhpur, Jodhpur Rajpurohit, L.S. and Chena Ram, 2009. Observation of Changes in Behaviour and Extent of Natural Feeding in Hanuman Langur, (Semnopithecus entellus) Triggered by Global Warming. National Seminar on Response of Eco-Biological Components to The Phenomenon of Global Warming. p.1. Rajpurohit, L.S., Srivastava, A. and Mohnot, S.M. 1994. Birth dynamics in Hanuman langurs, Presbytis entellus of Jodhpur, India,. J. Bios. 19(3): 315-324. Rajpurohit, L.S., Mohnot, S.M., Srivastava, A. and Chhangani A.K. 2001. I: Demography of Jodhpur langurs, 1970-2000. Advances in Ethology (36) Supplements of Ethology. XXVII International Ethological Conference, Tubingen Germany, August 2001 (pp. 245-246). Rajpurohit, L.S., Sharma, G., Devilal, Vijay, P. and Swami, B. and Chena Ram, 2010. Recent Survey of Population and its Composition in an around Jodhpur Rajasthan (India). Proc. 97th Ind. Sci. Cong. Held at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. p.72. Ripley, S. 1965. The ecology and social behaviour of the Ceylonese Gray langur, Presbytis entellus thersites. Ph.D. thesis, Berkeley, University. Setchell, K.D. 1998. Phytoestrogens: the biochemistry, physiology and implications for human health of soy isoflavones. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 68(Suppl): 1333S-46 Sharma, G. 2007. Paternal Care in Hanuman langur, Semnopithecus entellus entellus around Jodhpur (India). Ph.D. thesis. J.N.V. University, Jodhpur. Swami, B. 2010. Maternal Care in Hanuman langur, Semnopithecus entellus entellus around Jodhpur (India). Ph.D. thesis. J.N.V. University, Jodhpur. Sugiyama, Y., Yoshiba, K. and Parthasarathy, M.D. 1965. Home range, mating season, male group and intertroop relations in Hanuman langurs (Presbytis entellus). Primates. 6: 73106. Wade, G.N. and Schneider, J.E. 1992. Metabolic fuels and reproduction in female mammals. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 16: 235–272. Woodroffe, R. and MacDonald, D.W. 1995. Female-female competition in European badgers Meles meles: effects on breeding success. J. Anim. Ecol. 64: 12–20. Winkler, P., Loch, H. and Vogel, C. 1984. Life history of Hanuman langurs (Presbytis entellus): Reproductive parameters, infant mortality and troop development. Folia Primatol. 43: 1-23.

83

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

SEASONAL VARIATIONS IN ZOOPLANKTON POPULATION OF HEMAWAS DAM, PALI ARCHANA SHARMA* AND DEVENDRA MOHAN Department of Zoology, Jai Narayan Vyas University, Jodhpur- 342005, Rajasthan, India. e-mail: *[email protected] ABSTRACT: Diversity and richness of zooplankton of Hemawas dam were studied during December, 2006 to June, 2009 to observe the monthly and seasonal variations in their population. Minimum population was recorded during monsoon while maximum during winter months. The zooplankton biodiversity was represented by 12 genera belonging to Rotifers, Cladocera and Copepoda. Rotifers were observed as the most dominating group in respect to their density and diversity and it was represented by genera like Euchlanis, Brachionus, Kellikottia, Keratella and Trichocerca. Cladocera was represented by four genera Moina, Daphnia, Bosmina and Diaphanosoma. The peak of cladocera was recorded during post monsoon and winter months. The Copepoda was recorded as least dominating group and represented by Cyclops, Diaptomus and Senecella. The zooplanktons showed positive correlation with pH (r =0.845 and r =0.890), transparency (r =0.829 and r =0.818), DO (r =0.872 and r =0.874), carbonate (r =0.665 and r =0.696), bicarbonate (r =0.0.861 and r =0.900), GPP (r =0.871 and r =0.852) and NPP (r =0.953 and r =0.914) while negative correlation of zooplankton density was observed with temperature (r =-0.734 and r =-0.745), CO2 (r =-0.838 and r =-0.837), nitrate (r =-0.447 and r =-0.431), phosphate (r =-0.473 and r =-0.482) and salinity (r =-0.849 and r =-0.810). KEY WORDS: Zooplankton, density, diversity, Hemawas dam.

INTRODUCTION Planktons are microscopic organisms that live suspended in the water and form a very important part of the fresh water community. In almost every habitat of fresh water ecosystem, thousands of these organisms can be found; they are capable of occupying large expanses of water and multiplying at an exponential rate. The fresh water zooplankton forms an important group as they provide a crucial source of food to more familiar aquatic organisms such as fishes. They occupy an important position in the trophic structure and play the major role in the energy transfer in an aquatic ecosystem. According to Michael (1973) fresh water zooplankton forms an important group because most of them feed upon and incorporate primary producers in to their bodies and make them available to higher organisms in food chain. The occurrence, abundance and distribution of zooplankton depend on the productivity of the aquatic ecosystem which in turn is influenced by abiotic factors and level of the nutrients. Hemawas dam is the second largest lentic water body of Pali district of Rajasthan, connected with an extensive network of seasonal rivers namely Khari, Bandi, Jojari, Sumer nadi etc.was selected for the study. The present paper deals with the richness and diversity of zooplankton of Hemawas dam.

MATERIAL AND METHOD For the study of zooplankton 100 liters of water was filtered through the nylon bolting silk net (0.3 mm mesh size) in the first week of every month selecting two sampling stations. The samples were preserved using 4% formalin. Counting was done through Sedgwick counting chamber as suggested by APHA (1985). Identification of zooplankton was done under microscope using keys and monographs of Edmondson (1959), Pennak (1978), and Adoni (1985).

84

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

RESULT AND DISCUSSION In the present study it was observed that monthly fluctuations in plankton population follow no predictable rules and the data of maxima and minima of one year did not coincide with that of following years. Throughout the study, the recorded zooplankton richness was found to be maximum during winter months, when DO and calculated productivity of the dam was maximum to support aquatic life. The factors like temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity and transparency play an important role in controlling the diversity and density of plankton (Edmondson, 1965; Baker, 1979). Contradictory to this observation, Patil et al. (2008) studied two water bodies of District Washim and recorded highest zooplankton population in summer season. The recorded zooplankton population was found to be minimum during monsoon. Patil et al. (2008) explained that minimum population of zooplankton during monsoon is the result of dilution of water due to monsoon rain while maximum population during summer months indicated a positive relationship with temperature, while in the present study the higher number of zooplankton was found in winter months. The water of the dam is used for agriculture purposes so during summer very little water remains available. The reduction in the number of species may also be due to predation pressure in water body (Jhingran, 1982). According to Ugale et al. (2005) less number of genera might be attributed to fewer nutrients in water bodies which consequently result in less productivity or might be due to the depletion of important factors such as dissolved oxygen and pH. Table 1. Seasonal variations in densities of different groups of zooplankton in Hemawas dam (Sub station 1st) Season Monsoon Post Monsoon Winter Summer

Rotifera (Individual/lit.) 13 120 252.2 49

Cladocera (Individual/lit.) 7 45 94.95 19.125

Copepoda (Individual/lit.) 5 24 58.66 11.88

During the present study zooplankton biodiversity of Hemawas dam was represented by 12 genera belonging to rotifera, cladocera and copepoda groups. Rotifera was found as most dominating group in relation to density and diversity and it was represented by genera like Euchlanis, Brachionus, Kellikottia, Keratella, and Trichocerca. Among rotifers Brachionus was found as the most abundant genera. Kaushik and Saxena (1995) have also reported abundance of genus Brachionus in different water bodies of central India. Patil et al. (2008) suggested that rotifers have a remarkable quality to survive for a long period in dried and frozen conditions. Maximum density of rotifers was recorded during post monsoon period while minimum density was recorded during monsoon. Similar trend was observed by Kedar and Patil (2002) in Rishi Lake of Maharashtra and Jeelani et al. (2005) in Dal Lake of Kashmir. Contrary to present findings Yadav et al. (2003) noticed high density and diversity of rotifers both in summer and winter in Fatehpur Sikri Pond, Agra. Table 2. Seasonal variations in densities of different groups of zooplankton in Hemawas dam (Sub station 2nd) Season Monsoon Post Monsoon Winter Summer

Rotifera (Individual/lit.) 12.5 114 249.5 48.5

Cladocera (Individual/lit.) 6.5 82 93.3 37.8

Copepoda (Individual/lit.) 4 50 57.5 11.9

Cladocera was found as next dominating group of zooplankton in Hemawas dam. Biodiversity of cladocera was represented by four genera namely Moina, Daphnia, Bosmina and Diaphanosoma. The highest peak of cladocerans was recorded during post monsoon and winter months while least number was noted in summer and monsoon months. According to Rajan et al. (2007) the cladoceran components of zooplankton play an important role in the benthic trophodynamics. Most of the cladoceran species are primary consumers and feed on microscopic

85

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert algae and the fine particulate matter in the detritus thus influencing cycling of matter and energy in benthos (Jayabhaye and Madlapure, 2006). The Copepoda was recognized as least dominating group of zooplankton and represented by Cyclops, Diaptomus and Senecella. Some factors like the species composition (Frank, 1952), effect of temperature on ecology (Vasisht, 1968) and inhibition of zooplankton production by algae (Ryther, 1954) are responsible for the distribution of zooplankton. Table 3. Percentage contribution of different groups of zooplankton of Hemawas dam

Rotifera Cladocera Copepoda

Sub station 1st Individual/lit. Percentage 108.55 62% 41.52 23.7% 24.88 14.2%

Sub station 2nd Individual/lit. Percentage 106.13 55.3% 54.9 30.9% 30.9 28.6%

In the present study density of zooplanktons showed positive correlation with pH (r =0.845 and r =0.890), transparency (r =0.829 and r =0.818), DO (r =0.872 and r =0.874), carbonate (r =0.665 and r =0.696), bicarbonate (r =0.0.861 and r =0.900), GPP (r =0.871 and r =0.852) and NPP (r =0.953 and r =0.914) while negative correlation of zooplankton density was observed with temperature (r =-0.734 and r =-0.745), CO2 (r =-0.838 and r =-0.837), nitrate (r =-0.447 and r =-0.431), phosphate (r =-0.473 and r =-0.482) and salinity (r =0.849 and r =-0.810).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The first author owe sincere thanks to the Head, Department of the Zoology, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur for rendering his generous help and providing the necessary facilities.

REFERENCES Adoni, A.D. 1985. Workbook on Limnology (Ed), Department of Environment, Government of India, Bandona Printing Service, New Delhi. APHA. 1985. Standard methods for the examination of water and waste water, 16th D.C, 1193 ed. AWWA, WPCF. Amer. Pub. Health Assoc. Inc. Washington. Baker, S.L. 1979. Specific status of Keratella cochlearis and K. ahlastrar (Rotifera : Brachionidae) : Ecological consideration, Can. J. Zool. 7(9): 1719-1722. Edmondson, N.T. 1965. Reproductive rates of planktonic rotifers in relation to food temperature in nature. Ecol., 5: 61-68. Edmondson, W.T. 1959. Freshwater biology, Edward and Whipple, 2nd Ed. John Willey Sons Inc. New York. Frank, P.W. 1952. A laboratory study of intra-species and inter-species compitation in Daphnia pulicaria (FORBES) and Simocephalus vetlus. (O.F. MULLER) Physiol. Zool., 25: 178-204 Jayabhaye, V.M. and. Madlapure, V.R. 2006. Studies on zooplankton diversity in Parola Dam, Hingoli, Maharashtra, India. J. Aqua. Bio., 21(2): 67-71. Jeelani, M., H. Kaur and Sarwar S.G. 2005. Population dynamics of rotifers in the Anchar lake, Kashmir (India). In: ecology of plankton, Arvind Kumar (Ed.), Daya Publishing House, Delhi. pp. 55-60. Jhingran, V.G. 1982. Fish and Fisheries of India. Hindustan publishing corporation, New Delhi. pp. 268-269. Kaushik, S. and Saksena, D.N. 1995. Tropnic status and rotifer fauna of certain water bodies in central India. J. Environ. Biol., 16(1): 285-291. Kedar, G. T. and G. P. Patil 2002. Study on the biodiversity and physico-chemical status of Rishi lake, Karanja (Lad) M. S. Ph.D. Thesis, Amravati University, Amaravati. Michael, R. G. 1973. A guide to the study of fresh water organisms, 2, rotifera J. Maduri, Univ. Suppl., pp. 23-26. Patil, G.P., Kedar, G.T. and Yeole, S.M. 2008 Zooplankton biodiversity study of two water bodies in Washim District, Maharashtra. J. Aqua. Biol., 23(1): 13-17. Pennak, R.W. 1978 Freshwater invertebrates of United States 2nd Ed. John Willey Sons Inc. New York. Rajan, M.K., Mahendran, M., Pavaraj, M. and Muniasamy, S. 2007. Zooplanktonic assemblage in three polluted water bodies of Virudhunagar District, Tamilnadu. J. Aqua. Biol., 22(1): 18-21. Rhther, J.H. 1954. Inhabitory effects of phytoplanktons upon the feeding of Daphnia magna, with refference to growth, reproduction and survival. Ecology, 35: 522. Ugale, B.J., Hiware, C.J., Jadhav, B.V. and Pathan, D.M. 2005. Zooplankton diversity in Jagatunga Samudra Reservoir, Kandhar, Nanded district (M.S). J. Aqua. Biol., 20(2): 49-52. Vasisht, H.S. 1968. Limnology studies of sukhna lake, Chandigarh (India). Proc. Sym. Recent. Adv. Trop. Ecol., Part I, pp. 316-325. Yadav, G., Pundhir, P. and Rana, K.S. 2003. Population dynamics of rotifer fauna at Fatehpur Sikri pond, Agra. Poll. Res., 22(4): 541-542.

86

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

DISTRIBUTION, POPULATION STRUCTURE AND CONSERVATION OF FAUNA OF THE THAR DESERT OF RAJASTHAN C. SIVAPERUMAN1,4, RAMAKRISHNA2 AND Q.H. BAQRI3 1

Andaman & Nicobar Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Haddo, Port Blair- 744 102, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India. 2 3

Zoological Survey of India, M-Block, New Alipore, Kolkata- 700 053.

P.O. Said Nagli, Tehsil - Hasanpur, District - J.P. Nagar- 244 242, Uttar Pradesh. e-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT: The world wide decrease in faunal resources has been focus of much research. The first step in preserving the diversity is to characterize patterns of species distribution, thus providing the foundation for conservation. The Thar Desert is one of the smallest deserts in the world, but it exhibits a wide variety of habitats and faunal diversity. The vegetation of this region consist mainly Xerophytes like Prosobis cineraria, Capparis deciduas, Calotropis procera, Salvadora oleoides and Laisurus scindicus. The Thar Desert is quite rich in animal life and the fauna of this desert are mainly of the Palaearctic oriental origin and exhibit a remarkable diversity in their habitat. It is the most thickly populated deserts in the world with an average density of 83 persons per km2, whereas, in other deserts, the average is only seven persons per km2. Intensive and extensive surveys have been carried out to assess the faunal diversity and distribution in the Thar Desert. The species richness, abundance, diversity and distribution of selected faunal group were described in details. The plantations in the IGNP areas provide shelter to birds, mammals and also use as corridor for the movement. Availability of canal water for irrigation has completely changed the crop pattern in the Thar Desert. The Groundnut (Arachis hypogea), Cotton (Gossypium sp.), Paddy (Oryza sativa) and Surgarcane (Saccharum officinanarum) have replaced the traditional crops such as Moong (Phaseolas radiatus), Moth (Vigna acontifolia), Gaur (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba), and Bajra (Pennisitum tyhoides). The arrival of canal water has increased the diversity of fauna in the Great Indian Desert. KEY WORDS: Fauna, Conservation, Thar Desert, Rajasthan.

INTRODUCTION The Thar Desert is one of the smallest deserts in the world, located in western India and southeast Pakistan. It is biogeographically the easternmost edge of the Saharan-Arabian Desert zone, with an extends over 4,46,000 km2, of which 2,08,110 km2 lies in India and the rest in Pakistan. In India, most of the desert is found in the State of Rajasthan, extending into southern portions of Haryana and Punjab and northern portions of Gujarat State. About 61 per cent of the Indian part of the Thar Desert lies in Rajasthan State (25o 25’ and 30o 30’ N and 67o and 75o 25’ E), 20 per cent in Gujarat, and the remaining 9 per cent in Haryana and Punjab. The Thar Desert is bounded to the northwest by the Sutlej River, to the east by the Aravalli Mountains, to the south by the salt marshes of Rann of Kachch, and to the west by the Indus River. The Thar Desert is considered to be a unique desert because of its location at crossing where Palaearctic, Oriental and Saharan elements of biodiversity both at species level and at the level of ecological communities are found. Despite their inhospitable life conditions, deserts are characterised by often unique ecosystems, and the presence of an exclusive flora and fauna. The climate is characterised by low rainfall with erratic distribution, extremes of diurnal and annual temperatures, low humidity and high wind velocity. The arid climate has marked variations in diurnal and seasonal ranges of temperature, characteristic of warm-dry continental

87

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert climates. During summer (March to June), the temperature generally varies between 40 to 45oC, with occasional high reaching 51oC. Night temperatures decrease considerably, from 20 to 29oC. January is the coldest month. During winter (December to February), minimum temperatures may fall to - 2oC at night. The Indian arid zone receives rainfall mainly from the westward-moving depressions originating in the Bay of Bengal during the monsoon period. The depressions originating in the Arabian Sea are less frequent but do occasionally form and cause rain in the area. The mean annual rainfall in the region varies from less than 100 to more than 500mm (Rao, 2008). The natural vegetation is classified as Northern Desert Thorn Forest (Champion and Seth, 1968). These occur in small clumps scattered in a more or less open forms. Density and size of patches increase from West to East following the increase in rainfall.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The survey was carried out by a research team including the author in the Thar Desert during May, 2000-January, 2004. The investigation were concentrated in different habitats like sandy area, stable and shifting type of sand dunes, rocky areas, gravel, sewan grass, lakes and tanks of saline and fresh water, canal areas and agricultural fields. The surveys were conducted using previously recognized scientific sampling methods. Insects: Net Sweeping, Aspirator/ Pooter, Mechanical knockdown/Beating and Light Trap. Birds and mammals: Bird and mammals were assessed in the representative plots using line transect method in the arable sandy, farming, forest hills, gardens, groves, plantations, protected areas and sand dunes habitats and total count method in lakes and reservoir (Burnham et al., 1980; Hoves and Bakewell, 1989). Species richness, abundance and diversity indices: Species richness and abundance were calculated from the census data and field observations using the formula given by Magurran (1988). Shannon-Weiner (H'), Simpson’s (λ), and Hill’s diversity number N1, N2 and Evenness indices were calculated using the computer program SPDIVERS.BAS developed by Ludwig and Reynolds (1988).

RESULTS (A). Insects

6 00

70 0

5 00

60 0 50 0

4 00

40 0 3 00 30 0 2 00

20 0

1 00

10 0

op te ra Le pi to pt er a N eu ro pt er a O do na ta O rth op te ra Tr ic op te ra

H

Is

ip te ra em ip te ra H om op H ym tera on op te ra

0

D

le op

te ra Co lo m bo la D er m ap te ra

0

Co

Species abundance

Species richness

The species richness and abundance was highest in the order Lepidoptera followed by Coleoptera and Hemiptera (Fig. 1). The species richness showed highest in the order Lepidoptera and Coleoptera and lowest in Odonata and Dermoptera. The Shannon index of diversity was highest in the order Lepidoptera and lowest in Odonata (Table 1).

O rd e rs Sp e c ie s r ic h n e ss

Sp e c ie s a bun da n c e

Fig. 1. Species richness and abundance of insect in different in the Thar Desert

88

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

Table 1. Diversity indices of different orders of insects in the Thar Desert Richness Hill’s Number Evenness Simpson's Order Shannon R1 R2 N1 N2 E1 E2 Coleoptera 0.01 262.82 169.19 0.93 0.67 59.93 15.28 5.57 Colombola 4.38 1.28 0.09 2.74 15.55 11.39 0.82 0.56 Dermaptera 2.92 2.42 0.05 2.02 7.54 18.33 0.92 0.94 Diptera 10.91 5.51 0.03 3.69 39.93 38.38 0.92 0.71 Hemiptera 40.02 11.05 0.01 4.89 132.40 71.55 0.88 0.53 Homoptera 1.45 0.88 0.19 1.70 5.49 5.09 0.87 0.78 Hymonoptera 16.49 6.79 0.02 4.11 61.13 53.34 0.93 0.73 Isoptera 5.59 1.77 0.03 3.39 29.78 29.16 0.96 0.88 Lepidoptera 0.01 396.27 182.58 0.96 0.78 79.79 21.09 5.98 Neuroptera 4.29 3.33 0.01 2.46 11.68 78.00 0.99 0.97 Odonata 0.51 0.76 0.71 0.41 1.51 1.40 0.59 0.75 Orthoptera 10.98 6.07 0.01 3.70 40.64 92.81 0.97 0.90 Tricoptera 7.02 4.80 0.00 3.13 23.00 17.01 1.00 1.00

(b). Birds Total of 272 species of birds belonging to 55 Families under 17 Orders were recorded from the Thar Desert of Rajasthan (Sivaperuman et al., 2009). Out of these, 223 species were resident and 49 migrants (Table 2).

Species richness and abundance Species richness was highest in the month of January (159) followed by February (154) during the study period. Abundance of birds was highest in the month of February (19,283) and lowest in July (1,342) (Fig. 2). During the month of August survey was not conducted in all the years. Table 2. Order and status of bird species recorded from the Thar Desert* Sl. Order Total % STATUS No. Number R M of Species 1. Podicipediformes 01 -01 0.37 2. Pelecaniformes 06 02 08 2.94 3. Ciconiiformes 18 01 19 6.99 4. Phoenicopteriformes 02 -02 0.74 5. Anseriformes 11 10 21 7.72 6. Falconiformes 23 04 27 9.93 7. Galliformes 04 -04 1.47 8. Gruiformes 09 -09 3.31 9. Charadriiformes 14 29 43 15.81 10. Columbiformes 04 -04 1.47 11. Psittaciformes 02 -02 0.74 12. Cuculiformes 03 -03 1.10 13. Strigiformes 01 -01 0.37 14. Apodiformes 02 -02 0.74 15. Coraciiformes 12 -12 4.41 16. Piciformes 04 -04 1.47 17. Passeriformes 107 03 110 40.44

89

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 272

100.00

180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0

25000 20000 15000 10000 5000

A ug us t Se pt em be r O ct ob er N ov em be r D ec em be r

Ju ly

Ju ne

M ay

A pr il

M ar ch

0

Ja nu ar y Fe br ua ry

Number of species ± SE

49

Number of individuals ± SE

223

TOTAL

Months Species richness

Species abundance

* - Sivaperuman et al., 2009

Fig. 2. Species richness and abundance of birds in different months in the Thar Desert

S a Number of individuals nd y tu ra lf ie ld F or Fr es es th h w ill at Fr s er es a h nn w ua at er l Pe re ni al G ar de ns G ro ve Pl s an ta Sa t io l in ns e w et la nd Sa nd du ne s

Number of species

Eleven microhabitats were recorded in the study area namely arable sandy, farming, forest hills, freshwater annual, freshwater perennial, gardens, groves, plantations, protected areas, saline wetlands and sand dunes. Species richness and abundance was highest in the freshwater annual and freshwater perennial habitats (Fig. 3).

2 50 0 0 2 00 0 0 1 50 0 0 1 00 0 0 5 00 0 0

ul

ic

gr

A

A

ra

bl

e

1 80 1 60 1 40 1 20 1 00 80 60 40 20 0

H ab itats S pecies ab u nd an ce S p ecies rich n ess

Fig. 3. Species richness and abundance of birds in different habitats in the Thar desert

90

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

Diversity Indices Most widely used diversity indices like Shannon-Weiner Index, Simpson’s Index and Hill’s numbers were estimated for the birds of Thar Desert. The diversity indices for overall bird

)' H ( x e d n I y ti sr e iv D

4.50 4.00 3.50 3.00 2.50 2.00 1.50 1.00 0.50 0.00

Months

community (H') were 3.94 and (λ) 0.05. The species richness index R1 was 24.22 and R2 was 1.01. Similarly, high values were obtained for Hill’s number N1 and N2. Hill’s number N1 was 51.36 and Hill’s numbers N2 was 19.24. Month wise diversity Index presented in Fig. 4. Fig. 4. Diversity Index of birds in different months in the Thar Desert

4.00 3.50 3.00 2.50 2.00 1.50 1.00 0.50 0.00 A ra bl A eS gr an ic ul dy tu ra lf Fo ield Fr re es st h hi w Fr lls es ater h an w nu at a er Pe l re ni al G ar de ns G ro ve Pl s an ta Sa t io lin e w ns et la n Sa nd d du ne s

Diversity Index (H')

Among the habitats, wetland habitat showed highest diversity than other habitats (Fig. 5).

Habitats

Fig. 5. Diversity Index of birds in different habitats in Thar Desert

91

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

(c). Mammals Total of 66 species of mammals belongs to 13 Orders and 23 Families were recorded from the Thar Desert (Table 3). Of these highest numbers of species were recorded from the Order Rodentia followed by Chiroptera.

Table 3. Orders and Families of the Mammals recorded from the Thar Desert Order Sl. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

Family Thar Desert

India Insectivora Chiroptera Primates Pholidota Carnivora Artiodactyla Lagomorpha Rodentia Proboscidea Sirenia Perissodactyla Cetacea Scandentia Total

3 6 3 1 7 5 2 4 1 1 2 6 1 42

2 7 1 1 6 2 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 23

Species India Thar Desert 28 4 112 18 15 2 2 1 60 14 31 4 11 1 104 22 1 0 1 0 3 0 26 0 3 0 397 66

The diversity indices of mammals were presented in Table 4. Highest diversity of Shannon Index was observed in Gazella bennettii, followed by Lepus nigricollis, Boselaphus tragocamelus, Hemiechinus collaris. Similarly the Richness indices of R1 and R2 also higher in the following species Gazella bennetti, followed by Lepus nigricollis, Boselaphus tragocamelus, Hemiechinus collaris. Table 4. Diversity index of mammals in the Thar Desert Sl. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.

Species name Antilope cervicapra Boselaphus tragocamelus Canis aureus Canis lupus Felis chaus Felis silvestris Funambulus pennanti Gazella bennettii Gerbillus gleadowi Gerbillus sp. Hemiechinus auritus Hemiechinus collaris Herpestes auropunctatus Herpestes edwardsi Lepus nigricollis Merionis hurrianae Mus boodiga Paraechinus micropus Semnopithecus entellus

R1

R2

3.76 14.74 5.70 3.24 6.47 2.79 3.34 47.16 0.56 0.91 4.49 9.48 1.02 6.00 17.45 3.19 1.82 2.48 1.21

0.69 3.56 3.78 2.50 6.06 2.45 2.46 9.27 0.82 1.15 2.71 5.69 1.13 3.97 7.15 2.66 1.73 2.24 0.44

Simpson’s Index 0.25 0.06 0.03 0.06 0.09 0.00 0.06 0.01 0.66 0.33 0.37 0.01 0.48 0.02 2.24 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.27

92

Shannon Index 1.72 3.64 2.86 2.19 2.76 1.79 2.29 5.41 0.45 0.63 1.76 3.55 0.77 2.96 4.08 2.04 1.09 1.61 1.50

N1

N2

E1

E2

5.57 37.95 17.49 8.91 15.83 6.00 0.91 224.69 1.56 1.88 5.82 34.82 2.22 18.84 59.51 7.72 3.00 4.99 4.50

4.00 16.65 31.50 15.00 10.63 0.00 15.83 153.46 1.50 3.00 2.69 0.95 2.10 37.80 44.70 76.00 0.00 0.00 3.58

0.51 0.79 0.95 0.95 0.87 1.00 0.96 0.92 0.65 0.91 0.61 0.99 0.73 0.96 0.91 0.98 1.00 0.99 0.72

0.19 0.38 0.87 0.89 0.66 1.00 0.90 0.65 0.78 0.94 0.32 0.98 0.73 0.89 0.66 0.96 1.00 0.99 0.56

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 20. 21. 22. 23. 24.

1.31 1.30 6.68 2.41 12.31

Sus scrofa Tatera indica Vulpes bengalensis Vulpes vulpes Vulpes vulpes pusilla

1.09 1.26 4.43 2.02 6.69

0.21 0.36 0.01 0.02 0.04

1.48 1.08 3.09 1.86 3.88

4.43 2.97 21.98 6.44 48.62

4.66 2.81 87.75 11.00 206.63

0.93 0.78 0.98 0.95 0.98

0.88 0.74 0.95 0.92 0.95

3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500

Number of individuals

20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Jh un ju nu n Jo dh pu r N ag au r

Ja lo re

G an ga na ga H r an um an ga rh Ja i sa lm er

Ch ur u

Ba rm

Bi ka ne r

0 er

Number of species

Species richness and abundance was highest in Jaisalmer and Jodhpur districts and lowest in Barmer, Bikaner and Ganganagar districts (Fig. 6).

Districts Species richness

Species abundance

Fig. 6. Species richness and abundance of mammals in different districts the Thar Desert Shannon index of diversity was highest in Jaisalmer followed by Ganganager districts. Similarly, richness indices also showed higher in Jaisalmer district (Table 5). Table 5. Diversity indices of mammals in different district of the Thar Desert District Barmer Bikaner Churu Ganganagar Hanumangarh Jaisalmer Jalore Jhunjunun Jodhpur Nagaur

Richness indices R1 0.58 1.44 1.51 0.98 1.57 2.56 1.32 0.97 1.14 0.67

R2 0.53 0.88 0.79 0.65 1.04 0.56 0.43 0.46 0.19 0.42

Diversity indices Simpson 0.56 0.21 0.37 0.72 0.22 0.23 0.39 0.46 0.46 0.36

Shannon 0.7 1.68 1.26 0.64 1.62 1.74 1.31 1.02 1.03 1.14

Hill’s Numbers N1 N2 2.02 1.79 5.35 4.74 3.53 2.67 1.89 1.39 5.04 4.56 5.71 4.32 3.69 2.52 2.76 2.01 2.8 2.16 3.13 2.74

Evenness indices E1 E2 0.64 0.67 0.86 0.76 0.61 0.44 0.39 0.37 0.83 0.72 0.59 0.3 0.59 0.41 0.56 0.46 0.45 0.28 0.82 0.78

DISCUSSION The survey results show that the Thar Desert has a rich and diverse vertebrate fauna. The highest number of insects, birds (272) and mammals (66) were recorded in the Thar Desert is not 93

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert surprising, because of the intensive and extensive field surveys which have been conducted in this area. Among the different habitats, the wetlands showed the highest species richness and abundance of birds. The overall abundance of wetland species like Common Coot, Lesser Flamingo, Bar-headed Goose, Black-winged Stilt, Common Redshank, Little Cormorant, Northern Shoveller were also showed the high dominance (Sivaperuman et al., 2009). Other than the wetlands, the plantations in the vicinity of the Indira Gandhi Nahar Project (IGNP canal) and gardens showed high abundance of birds (Sivaperuman and Baqri, 2009). Among the insects, the members of the family Noctuidae, which constitute an important group of agricultural pests, are dominant in our collection from the Thar of Rajasthan. In this group, Utethesia pulchella has been found as most abundant species in the Thar desert. Odonata are generally found at or near freshwater bodies. Odonata are beneficial to us because they are predators and help in control of insect pests. In our study odonates have been collected from paddy fields of Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh districts, where generally knee-deep waters are maintained throughout the cultivation period. The crops such as millet, wheat, sorgham, green vegetables and oil seeds are widely cultivated in plains where water is available for irrigation. The under ground water is generally used for irrigation purposes in the Thar Desert, except in the IGNP command area. The sand dunes, sandy plains and inter dunes have good natural grasslands, specially the Sewan grass (Lasiurus indicus) in Jaisalmer district. However, this natural grassland is now threatened because they have been converted into crop lands in the command areas. The conversion of grasslands into croplands is reducing the suitable habitat of native birds. One of the endemic species in the desert Stoliczka’s Bushchat (Saxicola macrorhyncha) is facing severe threat, besides the Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps). Some wildlife species, which are fast vanishing in other parts of India, are found in the desert in large numbers such as the Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps), the Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra), the Indian Gazelle (Gazella bennettii) and the Indian Wild Ass (Equus hemionus khur) in the Rann of Kutch. There are certain other factors responsible for the survival of these animals in the desert. Due to the lack of water in this region, transformation of the grasslands into cropland has been very slow. The protection provided to them by a local community, the Bishnois, is also a factor. The IGNP is one of the largest and most expensive irrigation systems in the dry land in the world. Many urban and rural village of Bikaner, Churu, Ganganagar and Jodhpur districts are getting drinking water through the IGNP canal. The IGNP is now considered a grand endeavour to bring water from Himalayas to vast stretches of Arid Western Rajasthan. Greater part of the main IGNP canal suffers from wind and shifting sand dunes, which block the flow of water in canals. In order to prevent the wind and shifting sand dunes, Government of Rajasthan started afforestation on both sides of the IGNP canal up to 100 m width. A large number of nurseries have been established along the canal at various places, e.g. Hanumangarh, Chhatargarh, Bajiv, Bhikempur, Phalodi and Mohangarh. Main species of planted trees are Acacia nilotica, Dalbergia sissoo, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Prosopis cineraria, Tecomella undulata and Zizyphus mauritiana. Some of the afforested area provides shelter to the mammals, viz., Wild Boar, Nilgai, Jackal and Fox. The habitat alteration mainly under the impact of the massive Indira Gandhi Nahar Project (IGNP) is also giving pathway to various life forms from mesic areas replacing the indigenous desert biodiversity. Overall the canal water in this area has increased the diversity of fauna in the Thar Desert. The scientific studies over the past several years have shown there is considerable ecological variation in fauna and land systems throughout the Thar Desert. The desert has become recognised internationally as one of the most outstanding sand dune deserts in the world. In addition to its dune fields, the desert exhibits a diversity of other landforms including fringe water courses, salt lakes, clay pans, gibbers and breakaways. These provide habitats for a range of fauna superbly adapted to their desert environment.

94

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We are grateful to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India for the financial assistance. The first author gratefully acknowledges Dr. C. Raghunathan, Officer-inCharge, Andaman & Nicobar Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Hodda, Port Blair for providing necessary facilities.

REFERENCES Burnham, K.P., Anderson, D.R. and Laake, J.L. 1980. Estimation of density from the transect sampling of biological publications. Wildl. Monog. 72: 202pp. Champion, H.G. and Seth, S.K. 1968. A Revised Survey of the Forest Types of India. Govt. of India. 404pp. Hoves, J.G. and Bakewell, D. 1989. Shore Birds Studies Manual. AWB Publications. No.55, Kuala Lumpur. 362pp. Ludwig, J.A. and Reynolds, J.R. 1988. Statistical Ecology: A premier on methods and computing. A Wiley-Interscince Publication. 337pp. Magurran, A.E. 1988. Ecological Diversity and its Measurement. Croom Helm Ltd., London. 179pp. Rao, A.S. 2008. Climate and Microclimate Changes Influencing the Fauna of the Hot Indian Arid Zone. In: Faunal Ecology and Conservation of the great Indian Desert (Eds.) C. Sivaperuman, Q.H. Baqri, G. Ramaswamy and M. Naseema. Spinger-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. pp.13-24. Sivaperuman, C. and Baqri, Q.H. 2009. Avifaunal diversity in the IGNP canal area, Rajasthan, India. In: Faunal ecology and conservation of Great Indian Desert. (Eds.). Sivaperuman, C., Q.H. Baqri, G. Ramaswamy and M. Naseema. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. pp.113-118. Sivaperuman, C., Dookia, S., Kankane, P.L. and Baqri, Q.H. 2009. Structure of an arid tropical bird community, Rajasthan. In: Faunal Ecology and Conservation of the great Indian Desert (Eds.) C. Sivaperuman, Q.H. Baqri, G. Ramaswamy and M. Naseema. SpingerVerlag Berlin Heidelberg. pp.85-96.

95

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON FISH FAUNA OF THAR DESERT AND WESTERN HIMALAYA WITH CONSERVATION STATUS OF SPECIES AKHLAQ HUSAIN* 41, Hari Vihar, Vijay Park, Dehra Dun- 248 001, Uttarakhand. *Earlier Address: Zoological Survey of India, Northern Regional Centre, Kaulagarh Road, Dehra Dun- 248 195, Uttarakhand. e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: In the present study the fish fauna of Thar Desert and Western Haimalaya has been compared and 120 species out of 220 are found common to both the areas. The distributional pattern and conservation status of the species with an update on nomenclature are also provided. KEY WORDS: Fishes, Thar Desert, Western Himalayan, Conservation Status.

INTRODUCTION The Thar Desert is a large arid region, in the north-western part of Indian. It is the world's 9th largest subtropical desert, covering an area of about 208,110 km2 between 24o30'–30o N Latitude and 69o30'–76o E Longitude with its major part (about 61%) in the state of Rajasthan, extends into the southern portion of Haryana and Punjab states and into northern part of Gujarat state. It is bounded on the north-west by the Sutlej River, on the north-east by Himalayan plains, on the south-east by the Aravalli Mountain Range, on the south by the salt marshes of the Rann of Kachh (part of which fall in Thar), and on the south-west by the Indus River plains of Pakistan.The landforms of the desert are, the predominantly sand covered part, the plains with hills including the central dune free area and the semi-arid zone surrounding the Aravalli Range with less than 1% forest cover. It gets scanty rainfall, annual mean ranging from 100 mm or less in the west to about 500 mm in the east during July - September. The average temperature ranges from -2.0o Celsius in winter to around 51.0o Celsius during the summer. Drainage system: Luni is the main river of the Desert. It originates from Ana Sagar near Ajmer and passing through parts of Ajmer, Barmer, Jalore, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Pali and Sirohi districts of Rajasthan and Mithavirana Vav Radhanpur region of Banaskantha, North Gujarat ends in marshy lands of Rann of Kachh in Gujarat. River Ghaggar, a seasonal river, originating from Siwalik hills of Himachal Pradesh, flows through Punjab and Haryana to Rajasthan, just south-west of Sirsa in Haryana, by the side of Talwara Jheel in Rajasthan and terminates in Hanumangarh district. Sutlej, as mentioned above, binding the desert in nort-west, flows in south-west direction. The Indira Gandhi Nahar Project Canal, starting from the Hari-ke- Barrage in Punjab, passing through Punjab and Haryana, runs in north-western parts (Ganganagar, Bikaner and Jaisalmer districts) of Rajasthan and ends near Jaisalmer (Rajasthan) with a network of its branches. The area is also dotted with saline freshwater lakes. As regards Himalayan region, Burrard & Hayden (1933) divided the area as per drainage system into four groups, out of which Uttarakhnad falls in Kumaon (Ramganga, Ganga and Yamuna drainage) and Himachal Pradesh (Indus drainage) in Punjab Himalayas with altitude ranging from few hundred to thousands of meters, climate from moderate to very cold, heavy downpour and rich forest cover. The fish fauna of both Thar Desert and Western Himalaya is rich in its diversity, especially so of Himalayan region. The fauna of Thar is a conglomeration of Himalayan, Aravallian, Peninsular Indian, Middle-Eastern and Coastal water species where as that of Himalaya is mostly 96

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert oriental and adapted for survival in torrential streams. However, it has been observed that some Himalayan species, especially from Himachal Pradesh which have travelled to the Thar through the connecting rivers/canals, have adapted well to the new environment. In view of the diverse ecological conditions and presence of some Himalayan elements in Thar Desert a comparative study on fish fauna of both the areas has been taken up. Earlier, the fish fauna of Thar Desert (Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana) and its vicinity and Western Himalaya (Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh) has attracted the attention of various workers as below:

Thar Desert (Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana & Punjab) and vicinity: Acharya, 1939; Hora & Mathur, 1952; Mathur, 1952; Krishna & Menon, 1958; Chaturvedi, 1960; Dattagupta et al., 1961; Moona, 1962, Dhawan, 1969; Datta & Majumdar, 1970; Mathur & Yazdani, 1971, 1973; Johal & Tandon, 1979; Johal & Dhillon, 1981; Johal et al., 1994; Yazdani, 1996; Yazdani & Bhargava, 1969; Bhargava, 1974; Kumar, 1993; Kumar & Sankar, 1993; Kumar & Vijayan, 1988; Kumar & Rathore, 2007.

WESTERN HIMALAYA Uttarakhand: Gray, 1831; Chaudhuri, 1912; Chaudhry & Khandelwal, 1960; Das, 1960; Hora & Mukerji, 1936; Hora, 1937b; Menon, 1949, 1971; Menon & Sen, 1966; Lal & Chatterjee, 1963; Singh, 1964; Tilak, 1969; Tilak & Husain, 1973; Tilak & Baloni, 1984; Tilak & Juneja, 1978; Pant, 1970; Grover, 1970; Grover et al., 1994; Badola, 1975; Badola & Pant, 1973; Husain, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1987, 1995; 1997; 2003; Husain & Tilak, 1995; Gready, 1977; Baloni, 1980, Baloni & Grover, 1982; Singh & Dobriyal, 1983, 1987; Sharma, 1984; Juyal & Gusain, 1990; Khanna & Badola, 1990, 1992; Khanna et al., 1998; Joshi et al., 1993; Joshi, 1994; Joshi, 1999; Joshi & Joshi, 1996; Dobriyal et al., 1992; Rautela et al., 1993; Singh et al., 1987; Singh et al., 1992; Singh & Sharma, 1998; Johal, 2002; Nautiyal, 2001, 2005; Negi & Malik, 2005; Uniyal, 2010; Uniyal & Kumar, 2006; Uniyal & Mehta, 2007; Working Plans. Himachal Pradesh: Prasad, 1919; Menon, 1951; Bhatnagar, 1973; Sehgal, 1974; Tilak & Husain, 1977 b&c; Tilak & Juneja, 1978; Menon, 1978; Yazdani, 1980; Sharma & Ramarao, 1982; Sharma & Tandon, 1990; Sharma, 1991; Sharma & Mehta, 2009; Johal, 1998, 2002; Mehta, 2000; Mehta & Uniyal, 2005; Dhanze & Dhanze, 2004; Sharma & Mehta, 2009. McClelland (1839, 1842), Steindachner (1867), Day (1889) and Fowler (1924) dealt with fishes of India, Hora (1937a) and Menon (1954) with fish geography of Himalaya, Menon (1963) and Karmakar (2000) with distributional pattern of fishes in Himalaya, Menon (1987) with loaches, Tilak, 1987 with Indian Schizotharacine fishes, Peter & Swar (2002) on cold water fisheries in trans-Himalayan countries and Kapoor et al. (2002) on fish biodiversity and their conservation status. Yazdani (1996) compiled a list of 142 species from Thar Desert (Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab) from earlier records to which some more species are added here on the records of other workers (Beavan, 1877; Tilak, 1968; Bhargava, 1974; Johal & tendon, 1979; Kumar & Vijayan, 1988; Ramakrishna et al., 2010). On the other hand, the fish fauna of Western Himalaya (Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh) has been dealt by a number of workers as above, the comprehensive account being by Hasain (1975, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1995, 1997, 2003), Husain & Tilak (1995) and Tilak & Husain (1973, 1977 b&c) who in all recorded 129 species from Uttarakhand and 84 species from Himachal Pradesh. In addition to this, some species are added to the list as per the reports by other workers (Day, 1889; Chaudhuri, 1912; Fowler, 1924; Hora & Mukerji, 1936; Menon, 1963; Lal & Chatterjee, 1963; Singh, 1964; Grover, 1970; Tilak & Juneja, 1978; 1993; Singh & Dobriyal, 1983; Singh et al., 1987; Singh et al. 1992; Khanna & Badola, 1990; *Juneja & Tilak, 1991; Joshi & Josi, 1996; Karmakar, 2000, Mehta & Uniyal, 2005; other workers and personal information).

97

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

RESULTS DOUBTFUL RECORDS OF SPECIES FROM THE AREA AND SYNONYMS Das, 1960; Lal & Chatterjee, 1963; Sharma, 1984; Singh et al., 1987; Khanna & Badola, 1992; Singh et al., 1992 ; authors of Working Plans and other workers, besides local fauna, added some doubtful/ syn. species (Nemacheilus boutanensis (=Paracobitis boutanensis), the Afghanistan form, Noemacheilus rupecula inglisi- syn. of N. multifasciatus, N. multifaciatus, Botia geto-syn. of B. dario, Barbu stigma (=Puntius sophore), Danio dangila, Garra annandalei, a Darjeeling species, Schizothorax sinuatus–syn. of S. plagiostomus; S. curvifrons, S. esocinus, S. intermedius, S. micropogon and S. niger and the Kashmir and Ladakh species; Glossogobius gutum syn. of G. giuris, Glyptothorax madraspatanam and G. trilineatum to the fish fauna of Uttarakhand. Singh (1964) and Grover (1970) reported Mystus gulio, an estuarine fish, from Dehra Dun, the occurrence of which in Doon waters is very much doubtful. Mehta & Uniyal (2005) counted Puntius stigma, P. tetrarupasus, Botia geto (nec. Ham. Buch.) and Channa orientalis (nec. Bloch & Schneider) as valid species though these are the synonyms of Puntius sophore, P. chola, Botia dayi and Channa gachua respectively; the report of Neolissochilus hexagonolepis, an Eastern Himalayan species, by these authors is doubtful; further, Noemacheilus nilgiriensis, a Nilgiri (Tamil Nadu) species, is probably a misidentification for Schistura kangrae and communis, specularis and nudus are the varieties of Cyprinus carpio and not the subspecies. Uniyal & Kumar (2006) added Garra lamta, Nandus nandus and Colisa fasciata to Dehra Dun which is doubtful. Uniyal (2010) repeated the list of Husain (1987, 1995) in Uttarakhand fauna, adding some Kashmir and Ladakh elements (Schizothorax curvifrons and S. esocinus) to the Uttarakhand fauna, the occurrence of which in the area is very much doubtful and also the inclusion of the species which are considered synonyms (Schizothorax sinuatus and Glossogobius gutum) and the unrecorded new species under genera Barilius and Nemacheilus of Husain at Sl. Nos. 17 & 76) to the list is not proper.

SPECIES DISCOVERED FROM THE AREA The notable works on the region, especially related with the discovery of new taxa from the area (Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan) are by Gray (1831), McClelland (1835), Chaudhuri (1910, 1912), Hora (1921), Fowler (1924), Menon (1951,1971, 1987), Datta & Majumdar (1964), Tilak (1968, 1969), Mathur & Yazdani (1970) and Tilak & Husain (1974, 1976, 1977a, 1978, 1980a&b, 1990). Gray (1831) described Botia almorhae from Almorha district of Kumaon. McClelland (1835) desceibed Gonorhynchus petrophilus, syn. of Schizothorax richardsonii, from Kumaon. Chaudhuri (1910, 1912) described Nemachilus mackenzei, syn. of Acanthocobitis botia, from Nainital and Labeo almorhae (=Bangana almorae) from Almora and Barilius bonarensis from Bonar stream in Garhwal. Hora (1921) described Garra prashadi, syn of G. lamta, from Nainital. Fowler (1924) described Barbus carletoni (=Puntius carletoni) B. garmani, syn. of P. sarana, from Dehra Dun and Nemacheilus carletoni from Kullu Valley. Tilak (1969) described two new sisorids, Glyptothorax brevipinnis alaknandi (=Glyptoyhorax alaknandi) and G. garhwali from Pauri Garhwal. Tilak & Husain (1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980a, b, 1990) described new taxa viz. Laguvia ribeiroi kapuri (=Pseudolaguvia kapuri), Glyptothorax dakpathari, Noemacheilus doonensis (=Nemacheilus doonensis), Lepidocephalus caudofurcatus (=Lepidocephalichthys caudofurcatus), Psilorhynchus sucatio nudithoracicus, Barilius corbetti, and B. dimorphicus from Hardwar, Dehra Dun, Corbett National Park and around, respectively. Menon (1951, 1971, 1987) described Nemachilus horai (=Schistura horai) and N. kangrae (=S. kangrae) from Kangra Valley, Schizothorax kumaonensis from Nainital and Noemacheilus himachalensis (=Nemacheilus himachalensis) from Kangra district and N. gangeticus (=Nemacheilus gangeticus) from Srinagar, Garhwal respectively. Tilak (1968), Datta & Majumdar (1970) and Mathur & Yazdani (1971) described Labeo udaipurensis, L. rajasthanicus and Noemacheilus rajasthanicus respectively from Rajasthan. Talwar & Jhingran (1991) considered N. rajasthanicus as the synonym of Nemacheilus

98

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert baluchiorum Zugmayer, which is not well based as the new species differs from it in a number of characters (fin ray counts, extent of lateral line, colouration etc.).

SPECIES COMMON TO THAR AND WESTERN HIMALAYA During the present study the fish fauna of two diverse niches, the Thar Desert and vicinity (Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab states) and Western Himalaya (Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh states) has been compared and interstingly out of 220 species / subspecies (Table 1) from both, Thar Desert (153 combined, in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab states and the vicinity) and Western Himalaya ( 185 combined in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh states), 120 (including exotic species) are found common to both the areas and 14 common to all the six states as under, which is significant from zoogeographical point of view. The absence 35 Western Himalayan species from Thar Desert and 65 Thar Species from Western Himalaya is significant from zoogeographical point of view. Thar Desert and Western Himalayan Species (120): Gadusia chapra, Acanthocobitis botia, Nemacheilus carleroni, Schistura corica, S. denisoni, S. horai, S. montana, S. rupecula, Botia birdi, B. dayi, B. lohachata, Lepidocephlichthys guntea, Chela cachius, Laubuca laubuca, Salmophsia bacaila, S. phulo, S. punjabensis, Securicula gora, Bangana dero, B. diplostoma, Chagunius chagunio, Cirrhinus mrigala, C. reba, Gibelion catla, Labeo bata, L. boga, L. calbasu, L. dyocheilus, L. gonius, L. microphthalmus, L. nigripinnis, L. pangusia, L. ricnorhynchus, L. rohita, Osteobrama cotio, Puntius chola, P. conchonius, P. guganio, P. punjabensis, P. sarana, P. sophore, P. terio, P. tico, P. waageni, Tor putitora, T. tor, Amblypharyngodon mola, Aspidoparia morar, Barilius barila, B. barna, B. bendilisis, B. modesta, B. vagra, Danio rerio, Devario devario, Esomus danricus, Megarasbora elanga, Raiamas bola, Rasbora daniconius, Crossocheilus diplocheilus, C. latius, Garra gotyla gotyla, G. lamta, Schizopygopsis stoliczkai, Schizothorax richardsonii, Psilorhynchus balitora, Oryzias melastigma, Aplocheilus panchax, Xenentodon cancila, Chitala chitala, Notopterus notopterus, Anaba testudineus, Colisa fasciata, C. lalius, Osphronymus goramy, Ophiocephalus gachua, O. marulius, O. punctatus, O. striatus, Glossogobius giuris, Macrognathus aral, M. pancalus, Mastacembelus armatus, Rhinomugil corsula, Sicamugil cascasia, Chanda nama, Parambassis ranga, Pseudambassis baculis, Nandus nandus, Amblyceps mangois, Sperata aor, S. seenghala, Mystus bleekeri, M. cavasius, M. horai, M. vittatus, Rita rita, Clarias batrachus, Heteropneustes fossilis, Ailia coila, Clupisoma garua, C. montana, Eutropiichthys vacha, Neotropius atherinoides, Silonia silondia, Ompok bimaculatus, Wallago attu, Bagarius bagarius, B. yarrelli, Gagata cenia, Glyptothorax pectinopterus, G. telchitta, Gogangra viridescens, Nangra nangra, Sisor rabdophorus and Monopterus cuchia. Exotic Species: Carassius carassius, Cyprinus carpio carpio, Hypophthalmichthys moltrix, Ctenopharyngodon idellus, Gambusia affinis and Osphronemus goramy.

SPECIES COMMON TO ALL THAR AND HIMALAYAN STATES During the present study only the following 14 species are found common to all the four Thar states (Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab) and two Himalayan states (Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh), dealt: Cirrhinus mrigala, Labeo calbasu, Puntius sarana, P. sophore, P. ticto, Amblypharyngodon mola, Barilius bendilisis, Xenentodon cancila, Notopterus notopterus, Ophiocephalus punctatus, Glossogobius giuris, Parambassis ranga, Mystus cavasius and Wallago attu.

ABSENCE OF THAR SPECIES IN WESTERN HIMALAYA It is interesting to note that the following 35 species, occurring in the Thar area, are not found in Western Himalaya (Uttarakhand / Himachal Pradesh), as not ascended to the area due to lack of viable route / suitable conditions. Anguilla bengalensis bengalensis, Nemacheilus baluchiorum, N. rajasthanicus, Tryplophysa gracilis, Salmophasia acinaces, S. balookee, S. orissaensis, Cirrhinus cirrhosus, Labeo angra, L. boggut, L. dussumieri, L. fimbriatus, L. potail, L. rajasthanicus, L. udaipurensis, Puntius aurulius, P. amphibious, P. dorsalis, P. parrah, P. stoliczkanus, P. vittatus, Tor khudree, Amblypharyngodon microlepis, Devario aequipinnatus, Garra mullya, Aplocheilus blockii, A. lineatus, Aphanius dispar dispar, Gambusia affinis, Colisa labiosa, Channa leucopuntata, Acentrogobius viridipunctatus, Liza parsia, Mugil cephalus and Oreochromis mossambicus. 99

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

ABSENCE OF WESTERN HIMALYAN SPECIES IN THAR DESERT The following 65 species, occurring in Western Himalaya (Uttarakhand / Himachal Pradesh), are not found in Thar Desert as most of these are adapted to high altitude conditions. Further, the Uttarakhand drainage species don’t have the access to the Thar as the Himachal Pradesh species. Balitora brucei, Nemacheilus doonensis, N. gangeticus, N. himachalensis, Schistura beavani, S. dayi, S. kangrae, S. punjabensis, S. savona, S. scaturigina, S. spiloptera, S. zonata, Triplophysa stoliczkae, Botia almorhae, B. dario, B. rostrata, Lepidocephalichthys annandalei, L. caudofurcatus, Bangana almorae, Carassius auratus, Neolissochilus dukai, N. hexasticus, Oreichthys cosuatis, Puntius carletoni, P. chelynoides, P. gelius, P. phutunio, Tor mosal, Aspidoparia jaya, Barilius bonarensis, B. corbetti, B. dimorphicus, B. shacra, Diptychus maculatus, Schizothorax kumaonensis, S. plagiostomus, S. progastus, Psilorhynchus sucatio nudithoracicus, Colisa chuna, Odontamblyopus rubicundus, Badis badis, Orcorhynchus mykiss, Salmo trutta fario, Chandramara chandramara, Mystus tengara, Pseudolaguvia kapuri, Pangasius pangasius, Ailiichthys punctatus, Ompok pabda, Gagata sexualis, Glyptoyhorax alaknandi, G. brevipinnis, G. cavia, G. conirostris, G. dakpathari, G. garhwali, G. gracilis, G. indicus, G. kashmirensis, G. saisii, G. stolickae, Glyptosternon reticulatum, Parachiloglanis hodgarti, Pseudecheneis sulcata and Tetraodon cutcutia.

CONSERVATION STATUS OF THAR DESERT AND WESTERN HIMLAYAN SPECIES IUCN: Critically Endangered (CR): Barilius dimorphicus, Pseudotrpoius kapuri, Pangasius pangasius, Glyptothorax alaknandi, G. dakpathari, G. garhwali and G. stoliczkae. Endangered (EN): Anguilla bengalensis. Nemacheilus carletoni, N. himachalensis, Schistura kangrae, S. montana. Botia almorhae, B. lohachata, Labeo dussumieri, Puntius carletoni, P. dorsalis, Tor mosal, T. putitora, T. tor, Barilius corbetti, Psilorhynchus nudithoracicus, Neotropius atherinoides, Eutropiichthys vacha, Ompok bimaculats, O. pabda, Glyptothorax kashmirensis, G. saisii and Sisor rabdophorus. Vulnerable (VU): Schistura horai, Lepidocephlichthys caudofurcatus, Bangana dero, Cirrhinus cirrhosus, C. reba, Cyprinus carpio carpio, Catla catla, Labeo dyocheilus, Puntius chola, P. conchonius, P. sarana, Aspidoparia jaya, Barilius barila, B. vagra, Raiamas bola, Garra gotyla gotyla, Schizothorax richardsonii, Anabas testudineus, Ophiocephalus gachua, Rhinomugil corsula, Sicamugil cascasia, Mystus bleekeri, M. vittatus, Heteropneustes fossilis, Ailia coila, Ailiichthys punctata, Clupisoma garua, Bagarius bagarius, Euchiloglanis hodgarti, Glyptothorax brvipinnis, Nangra nangra and Pseudecheneis sulcata. Exotic Species: Cyprinus carpio carpio.

Lower Risk-near threatened (LR-nt.): Balitora brucei, Acanthocobitis botia, Schistura corica, S. rupecula, Botia birdi, B. Dario, Lepidocephalichthys annandalei, Labeo angra, L. bata, L. calbasu, L. fimbriatus, L. gonius, L. pangusia, L. rohita, Osteobrama cotio cotio, Puntius guganio, P. sophore, P. terio, P. ticto, Aspidoparia morar, Barilius bendelisis, B. shacra, Danio rerio, Devario aequipinnatus, D. devario, Rasbora daniconius, Schizothorax kumaonensis, S. plagiostomus, S. progastus, Xenentodon cancila, Notopterus notopterus, Colisa fasciata, Ophiocephalus marulius, O. punctatus, Glossogobius giuris, Macrognathus aral, M. pancalus, Nandus nandus, Amblyceps mangois, Mystus cavasius, Rita rita, Silonia silondia, Glyptothorax pectinopterus, G. telchitta, Monopterus cuchia and Tetraodon cutcutia. Exotic Species: Oreochromis mossambicus.

NBFGR: Endangered (EN): Chagunius chagunio, Labeo dussumieri, L. nigripinnis, Tor putitora, T. tor, Chitala chitala, Bagarius yarrelli, Sisor rabdophorus and Nangra nangra.

100

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Vulnerable (VU): Botia dario, Cirrhinus cirrhosus, Labeo pangusia, Puntius sarana, Garra gotyla gityla, Rhinomugil corsula, Heteropneustes fossilis, Pangasius pangasius, Eutropiichthys vacha, Silonnia silondia, Ompok pabda, Bagarius bagarius and Glyptothorax telchitta.

ZSI: Threatened (TD): Bangana dero, Chagunius chagunio, Labeo pangusia, Tor putitora, T. tor and Bagarius bagarius.

FishBase: Very high vulnerability: Labeo gonius, Tor putitora, Chitala chitala, Sperata aor, S. seenghala, Rita rita, Pangasius pangasius, Silonia silondia and Bagarius yarrelli. High to very high vulnerability: Anguilla bengalensis, Cirrhinus cirrhosus, C. mrigala, Labeo dyochelus, L. pangusia, Diptychus maculates, Clupisoma garua and Bagarius bagarius.

Exotic Species: Carassius carassius and Ctenopharyngodon idellus. High vulnerability: Bangana dero, Labeo calbasu, L. fimbriatus, L. rajasthanicus, L. udaupurensis, Neolissochilus dukai, N. hexasticus and Puntius chelynoides Exotic Species: Cyprinus carpio carpio and Osphronemus goramy. Moderate to high vulnerability: Chagunius chagunio, Catla catla, Labeo dussumieri, L. rohita, Tor khudree, T. tor, Schizothorax plagiostomus, S. progastus, Notopterus notopterus, Ophiocephalus marulius, Mystus cavasius, Ompok bimaculatus, Eutropiichthys vacha and Glyptothoras saisii. Exotic Species: Hypophthalmichthys motrix. Moderate vulnerability: Bangana almorae, B. diplostoma, Labeo boga, L. potail, Raiamas bola, Schizopygopsis stoliczkai, Aphanis dispar dispar, Ophiocephalus striatus, Odontamblypus rubicundus, Mugil cephalus, Rhinomugil corsula, Ailia coila and Wallago attu. Exotic Species: Gambusia affinis, Oncorhynchus mykiss and Salmo trutta fario. Low to Moderate vulnerability: Laubuca laubuca, Salmophasia acinace, S. bacaila, S. balookee, Securicula gora, Labeo angra, L. boggut, L. microphthalmus, L. nigripinnis, Osteobrama cotio cotio, Puntius amphibius, P. sarana, Amblypharyngodon mola, Aspidoparia jaya, A. morar, Barilius barna, B. bendilisis, B. dimorphicus, Devario aequipinnatus, Megarasbora elenga, Raiamas bola, Crossocheilus latius, Garra gotyla gotyla, G. lamta, Schizothorax kumaonensis, S. richardsonii, Ophiocephalus gachua, Glossogobius giuris, Macrognathus aral, Mystus horai, M. vittatus, Neotropius atherinoides, Clupisoma montana and Ompok pabda. Exotic Species: Oreochromis mossambica.

CONCLUSION During the present study 220 species belonging to 10 orders, 35 families and 98 genera have been dealt and it has been observed that fish diversity in Himalayan region (Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand) is more rich (185 species) than in Thar Desert (153 species), though it is not less for the later but a good number (120 species) is common to both, which is significant. Further, 14 species are found distributed in all the four Thar states (Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab) and two Himalayan States (Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh). The record of species of doubtful occurrence and listing of synonyms by various workers have also been mentioned. Over all, the fish diversity in Thar Desert has been found to be the highest (126 species) in Rajasthan part and much less (23 species) in Gujarat part of of the Desert. The occurrence of Himalayan forms, especially from Himachal Pradesh, like Nemacheilus spp., Schistura spp., Triplophysa stoliczkai, Botia spp., Bangana spp., Chagunius chagunio, Labeo 101

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert dyocheilus, Tor spp., Barilius spp., Raiamas bola, Crossocheilus spp., Garra spp., Schizopygopsis stoliczkai, Schizothorax richardsonii, Psilorhynchus spp., Clupisoma montana and Glyptothorax pectinopterus in Thar area is interesting as it explains the dispersal of the species through the possible route of River Sutlej and IGNP canal. Earlier, Yazdani (1996) also thought of the same. On the other hand, the absence of most of the Uttarakhand drainage species in Thar is significant which might have been due to absence of some viable link between the two areas. Further, the presence of Aphanius dispar dispar in Luni river (Rajasthan) and Kachh support the theory that fishes of middle-east have migrated along the coast to India and the presence of Indian peninsular species ie. Salmophasia balookee and Garra mullya in the Thar that some faunal elements have derived through the Aravallis as mentioned earlier by Yazdani (1996). Salmophasia orissaensis, Labeo potail, Puntius parrah, P. stoliczkanus, Tor khudree and Channa leucopunctata, also peninsular species, might have entered the area through Aravallis in the same way. On the presence of Nemacheilus baluchiorum in Thar, Krishnan (1952) tried to explain that the Sind Hills were once connected with Aravallis through the Sangla Hills in Punjab. The species of coastal, brackish and estuarine waters, like Oryzias melanostigma, Aphanius dispar dispar, Acentrogobius viridipunctatus, Liza parsia and Mugil cephalus, ascended to the area (Thar), have adapted to the new environment and flourishing well. Menon (1963) has shown the distribution of Odontamblyopus rubicundus of coastal waters and estuaries in Indus drainage (Punjab Himalaya) and is likey to be found in Thar area. The exotic species viz. Carassius auratus, C. carassius, Cyprinus carpio carpio, Hypophthalmichthys moltrix, Cenopharngodon idellus, Gambusia affinis and Osphronemus goramy introduced in both the areas for various purposes are flourishing well. Oreochromis mossambicus has been introduced in Kailana Lake, Jodhpur. The trouts, Oncorhynchus mykiss and Salmo trutta fario are introduced in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh and thriving well. Table 1. Comparision of the fish species of Thar Desert (Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab) and vicinity with that in Western Himalaya (Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh) and their Conservation status. Sl. No.

Species

Thar Des. Raj.

Thar Des. Guj.

Thar Des. Har, Pnb. -

West. Him. U. K.

West. Him. H. P.

Conservation Status

-

-

har, pnb. -

+

+

+

-

IUCN: EN. FishBase: High to very high vulnerability. Freshwaters, estuaries IUCN: LR-lc FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: LR-nt FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: LR-nt FishBase: Low vulnerability.

1.

Anguilla bengalensis bengalensis (Gray)

+

-

2.

+

-

-

-

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

+

-

-

-

-

FishBase: Low vulnerability.

6.

Gudusia chapra (Ham. Buch.) =G. godanahiai Srivastava Balitora brucei Gray Syn. Homaloptera brucei Gray) Acanthocobitis botia (Ham. Buch.) Syn. Nemacheilus botia Nemacheilus baluchiorum Zugmayer N. carletoni Fowler

-

-

-

+

7.

N. doonensis Tilak & Husain

-

-

har, pnb. -

+

-

IUCN: EN. FishBase: Low vulnerability. FishBase: Low vulnerability.

8. 9.

N. gangeticus Menon N. himachalensis Menon

-

-

-

+ -

+

FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: EN. FishBase: Low vulnerability.

10.

N. rajasthanicus Mathur & Yazdani Schistura beavani (Gunther)

+

-

-

-

-

FishBase: NE.

-

-

-

+

-

FishBase: Low vulnerability.

3. 4.

5.

11.

102

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

12.

S. corica (Ham. Buch.)

+

-

13.

S. dayi (Hora)

-

14.

S. denisoni (Day)

15. 16.

+

+

-

har, pnb. -

rnp

-

IUCN: LR-nt FishBase: Low vulnerability. FishBase: Low vulnerability.

+

-

-

rs

-

FishBase: Low vulnerability.

S. horai (Menon)

-

-

-

+

-

-

-

+

IUCN: VU. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: EN.

17.

S. kangrae (Menon) Syn. Noemacheilus nilgiriensis, Mehta & Uniyal (nec. Menon) S. montana (McClell)

har, pnb. -

-

-

+

+

18. 19.

S. punjabensis (Hora) S. rupecula (McClell.)

-

-

+

+ +

20.

S. savona (Ham. Buch.)

-

-

har, pnb. har, pnb. -

+

-

IUCN: EN. FishBase: Low vulnerability. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN:LR-nt FishBase: Low vulnerability. FishBase: Low vulnerability.

21.

S. scaturigina McClell.

-

-

-

+

-

FishBase: Low vulnerability.

22.

S. spiloptera (Val.)

-

-

-

-

+

FishBase: Low vulnerability.

23.

S. zonata McClell.

-

-

-

+

-

24.

Triplophysa gracilis (Day)

-

-

-

-

25.

-

-

-

+

26.

T. stoliczkae (Steind.) Syn. Nemacheilus stoliczkae (Steind.) Botia almorhae Gray

har, pnb. -

FishBase: Low vulnerability. Jamuna, Ganges & affluents… (Day, 1889) FishBase: Low vulnerability FishBase: Low vulnerability

-

-

-

+

-

27.

B. birdi Chaudhuri

+

-

-

-

+

28.

B. dario (Ham. Buch.) Syn. B. geto (H. B.)

-

-

-

+

+

29.

-

-

+

+

-

+

+

31.

B. rostrata Gunther

-

-

har, pnb. har, pnb. -

+

30.

B. dayi Hora Syn. B. geto (nec. H. B.) B. lohachata Chaudhuri

+

-

32.

Lepidocephalichthys annandalei Chaudhuri Syn: L. menoni Pillai & Yazdani Tilak & Husain, 1981) L. caudofurcatus Tilak & Husain

-

-

-

+

-

IUCN: LR-nt. FishBase: Low vulnerability.

-

-

-

+

-

IUCN: VU. FishBase: Low vulnerability.

har, pnb. har, pnb. har, pnb.

+

+

FishBase: Low vulnerability.

+

+

FishBase: Low vulnerability.

+

+

har, pnb.

-

-

IUCN: LR-lc FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability.

33.

34.

L. guntea (Ham. Buch.)

+

-

35.

Chela cachius Ham. Buch. = C. atpar (Ham. Buch.) Laubuca laubuca (Ham. Buch.) Syn. Chela laubuca (H. B.)

+

-

-

-

Salmophasia acinaces (Val.)

-

-

36.

37.

103

IUCN: EN. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: LR-nt. FishBase: Low Vulnerability. IUCN:LR-nt NBFGR: VU. FishBase: Low vulnerability. FishBase: Low Vulnerability. IUCN: EN. FishBase: Low vulnerability. FishBase: Low vulnerability.

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

38.

Syn.Chela argentea Day S. bacaila (Ham. Buch.) Syn. Chela bacaila (Ham. Buch.)

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

39.

S. balookee (Bloch) =chela clupeiodes (Bloch)

+

+

-

-

-

40.

S. orissaensis (Banarescu)

+

-

-

-

-

IUCN: LR-lc FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. IUCN:LR-lc FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. FishBase: Low vulnerability.

41.

S. phulo (Ham. Buch.) Syn. Chela phulo (H. B.) S. punjabensis (Day) Syn. Chela punjabensis Day Securicula gora (Ham. Buch.) Syn. Oxygaster gora (Ham. Buch.) Bangana almorae (Chaud.),

+

-

+

+

FishBase: Low vulnerability.

+

-

-

+

FishBase: Low vulnerability.

+

-

har, pnb. har, pnb. har, pnb.

+

+

FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability.

-

-

-

+

-

B. dero (Ham. Buch.) =Labeo dero (Ham. Buch.), L. henshawi Fowler (from Roorkee) B. diplostoma (Heckel) Syns. Labeo horai (Fowler), L. sindensis (Day) Carassius auratus (Linn.) Edible Gold Fish C. carassius (Linnaeus) Wild Gold Fish

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

+

-

har, pnb.

-

+

FishBase: Moderate vulnerability. IUCN: VU. FishBase: High vulnerability. ZSI: TD. FishBase: Moderate vulnerability.

-

-

-

-

+

+

-

-

+

+

42. 43.

44. 45.

46.

47. 48.

49.

Chagunius chagunio (Ham. Buch.)

+

-

-

+

+

50.

Cirrhinus cirrhosus (Bloch)

-

+

-

-

-

51.

C. mrigala (Ham. Buch.)

+

+

har, pnb.

+

+

52.

C. reba (Ham. Buch.)

+

-

+

+

53.

Cyprinus carpio carpio Linnaeus Common Carp var. communis Linnaeus var. nudus Bloch var. specularis Lacepede Gibelion catla (Ham.Buch.) = Catla catla (Ham.Buch.)

+

-

har, pnb. -

+

+

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

55.

Labeo angra (Ham. Buch.),

+

-

-

-

-

56.

L. bata (Ham. Buch.)

+

-

+

+

57.

L. boga (Ham. Buch.)

+

-

har, pnb. -

+

+

58.

L. boggut (Sykes)

+

+

-

-

-

59.

L. calbasu (Ham. Buch.),

+

+

har,

+

+

54.

104

FishBase: Low vulnerability. Exotic: Introduced. FishBase: High to Very high vulnerability. Exotic: Introduced. NBFGR: EN FishBase: Moderate to high vul. ZSI: TD. IUCN: VU. NBFGR: VU. FishBase: High to very high vulnerability. IUCN: LR-lc FishBase: High to very high vulnerability. IUCN: VU. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: VU. FishBase: High vulnerability. Exotic: Introduced.

IUCN: VU. FishBase: Moderate to high vulnerability. IUCN: LR-nt FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. IUCN:LR-nt FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN:LR-nt FishBase: Moderate vul. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. IUCN: LR-nt

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

-

-

har, pnb.

+

+

+

-

-

-

+

-

+

+

L. microphthalmus Day

-

-

-

+

65.

L. nigripinnis Day

+

-

har, pnb. har, pnb. -

d

-

66.

L. pangusia (Ham. Buch.) Syn. L. kunki Chaud

+

-

-

+

+

67.

L. potail (Sykes)

+

+

pnb.

-

-

68.

+

-

-

-

-

-

-

pnb.

-

+

No data available.

70.

L. rajasthanicus Datta & Majumdar, 1970 L. ricnorhynchus McClelland, 1839, L. rohita (Ham. Buch.)

FishBase: High vulnerability IUCN: EN. NBFGR: EN. FishBase: Moderate to high vul. IUCN: VU. FishBase: High to very high vulnerability. IUCN: LR-nt FishBase: High vulnerability. IUCN:LR-nt FishBase: Very high vul. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. NBFGR: EN. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. IUCN: LR-nt NBFGR: VU. FishBase: High to very high vulnerability. ZSI: TD. FishBase: Moderate vulnerability. FishBase: High vulnerability.

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

71.

L. udaipurensis Tilak, 1968

upr

-

-

-

-

72.

Neolissochilus dukai (Day), =Acrossocheilus dukai (Day) N. hexasticus (McClell.)

-

-

-

+

-

IUCN: LR-nt FishBase: Moderate to high vul. IUCN: NE. FishBase: High vulnerability. FishBase: High vulnerability.

-

-

-

+

+

FishBase: High vul.

Oreichthys cosuatis (Ham. Buch.) Osteobrama cotio cotio (Ham. Buch.)

-

-

-

+

-

FishBase:Low Vulnerability.

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

76.

Puntius arulius (Jerdon)

-

+

-

-

-

77.

P. amphibius (Val.)

+

-

-

-

-

78.

P. carletoni (Fowler)

-

-

-

+

-

IUCN: LR-nt FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. NBFGR: EN. FishBase: Low vulnerability. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. IUCN: EN.

79.

-

-

-

+

+

FishBase: High vulnerability.

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

IUCN: VU. NBFGR: VU. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: VU. FishBase: Low vulnerability.

82.

P. chelynoides (McClell.) =Naziritor chelynoides (McClell.) P. chola Ham. Buch. =P. tetrarupagus (McClell.), P. titius (Ham. Buch.) P. conchonius Ham. Buch. syn. P. c. khagariansis Dattamunshi & Srivas. P. dorsalis (Jerdon)

+

-

-

-

-

83.

P. gelius Ham. Buch.

-

-

-

+

-

60.

L. dussumieri (Val.)

+

+

61.

+

-

62.

L. dyocheilus (McClelland) Syn. Labeo d. pakistanicus Mir. & Awa. L. fimbriatus (Bloch)

+

63.

L. gonius (Ham. Buch.)

64.

69.

73. 74. 75.

80.

81.

pnb. -

105

IUCN: EN. FishBase: Low vulnerability. FishBase: Low vulnerability.

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 84.

P. guganio (Ham. Buch.)

-

-

85.

P. parrah Day

+

86.

P. phutunio Ham. Buch.

87. 88.

+

+

-

har, pnb. -

-

-

-

-

-

+

+

P. punjabensis (Day)

-

-

-

+

FishBase: Low vulnerability.

P. sarana Ham. Buch. Syn. Barbus garmani Fowler, 1924, P. saberi Datta & Karmakar, 1981 P. sophore Ham. Buch. Syn. P. chrysopterus (McClell.), P. stigma (Val.) P. stoliczkanus (Day)

+

+

har, pnb. har, pnb.

+

+

IUCN: VU. NBFGR: VU. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability.

+

+

har, pnb.

+

+

IUCN: LR-nt FishBase: Low vulnerability.

+

-

-

-

-

FishBase: Low vulnerability.

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

IUCN: LR-nt FishBase: Low vulnerability.

92.

P. terio Ham. Buch. Syn. P. muzaffarpurensis Srivastava et al., 1977 P. ticto Ham. Buch.

+

+

+

+

93.

P. vittatus Day, 1865

+

-

har, pnb. -

-

-

94.

P. waageni (Day, 1872)

-

-

-

+

95.

Tor khudree (Sykes)

+

-

har, pnb. -

IUCN: LR-nt FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: VU. NBFGR: VU. FishBase: Low vulnerability. FishBase: Low vulnerability.

-

-

96.

-

-

-

+

+

97.

T. mosal (Ham. Buch.) Talwar & Jhingran, 1991 T. putitora (Ham. Buch.)

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

98.

T. tor (Ham. Buch.),

+

-

-

+

+

99.

+

-

-

-

-

100.

Amblypharyngodon microlepis (Bleeker) A. mola (Ham. Buch.)

+

+

har, pnb.

+

+

101.

Aspidoparia jaya (Ham. Buch.)

-

-

-

+

-

102.

Aspidoparia morar (Ham. Buch.)

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

103.

Barilius barila Ham. Buch.

+

-

-

+

+

104.

B. barna Ham. Buch.

+

-

-

+

+

105.

B. bendilisis Ham. Buch.

+

+

har, pnb.

+

+

89.

90. 91.

106

IUCN: LR-nt FishBase: Low vulnerability. FishBase: Low Vulnerability. IUCN:LR-lc. FishBase: Low vulnerability.

IUCN: DD. NBFGR: VU. FishBase: Moderate to high vulnerability. IUCN: EN. NBFGR: EN. IUCN: EN. NBFGR: EN FishBase: Very high vul. ZSI: TD. IUCN: EN. NBFGR: EN FishBase: Moderate vul. ZSI: TD. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: LR-lc. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. IUCN: VU. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. IUCN: LR-nt. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. IUCN: VU. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: LR-nt. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. IUCN: LR-nt. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability.

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 106.

B. bonarensis Chaudhuri

-

-

-

+

-

FishBase:Low vulnerability.

107.

-

-

-

+

-

IUCN: EN.

108.

B. corbetti Tilak & Husain, 1980b (differs from Raiamas bola (Ham. Buch.) B. dimorphicus Tilak & Husain

-

-

-

+

-

109.

B. modestus Day

-

-

har, pnb.

-

+

IUCN: CR. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. FishBase:Low vulnerability.

110.

B. shacra Ham. Buch.

-

-

-

+

+

111.

B. vagra Ham. Buch.

+

-

+

+

112.

Danio rerio Ham. Buch. =Brachydanio rerio (Ham. Buch.) Devario aequipinnatus (McClell.) =Danio aequipinnatus (McClell.) D. devario (Ham. Buch.) =Danio devario (H. B.) Esomus danricus (Ham. Buch.), Syn. E. d. grahami (Chaud., 1912), E. d. jabalpurensis Rao & Sharma, 1972 Megarasbora elanga (Ham. Buch.)= Bengala elanga (H.B.) Raiamas bola (Ham. Buch.) =Barilius bola (H. B.)

+

-

har, pnb. har, pnb.

+

+

+

-

-

-

-

+

-

+

+

+

-

har, pnb. har, pnb.

+

+

+

-

-

+

-

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

Rasbora daniconius (Ham. Buch.) Crossocheilus diplochilus (Heckel) =C. latius diplochilus (Heck), syn. C. l. punjabebsis Mukerji, 1934 C. latius (Ham.Buch.) =C. l. latius (H. B.),

+

-

+

+

+

-

har, pnb. har, pnb.

-

+

-

-

har, pnb.

+

+

Garra gotyla gotyla (Gray), =Discognathus kangrae Prashad, 1919 G. lamta (Ham. Buch.) Syn. G. prashadi Hora

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

+

-

-

+

+

G. mullya (Sykes) Syn. G. malabarica Day Diptychus maculatus Steind. Syn. D. pakistanicus Mirza & Awan Schizopygopsis stoliczkai Steindach. Schizothorax kumaonensis Menon’71 Syn. Oreinus kumaonensis (Menon) S. plagiostomus Heckel

+

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

+

FishBase:High to very high vulnerability.

-

-

+

+

-

-

har, pnb. -

+

-

FishBase: Moderate vulnerability. IUCN: LR-nt. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability.

-

-

-

+

+

IUCN: LR-nt.

113.

114. 115.

116. 117.

118. 119.

120.

121.

122.

123. 124.

125. 126.

127.

107

IUCN: LR-nt. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: VU. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: LR-nt. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: LR-nt. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. IUCN: LR-nt. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN:LR-lc. FishBase:Low vulnerability.

FishBase:Low to moderate vulnerability. IUCN: VU. FishBase: Moderate vulnerability. IUCN: LR-nt. FishBase: Low vulnerability. FishBase: Low vulnerability.

IUCN: DD. NBFGR: VU. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. IUCN: VU. NBFGR: VU. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. NBFGR: VU. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. FishBase:Low vulnerability.

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Syn. S. sinuatus (Heck.)

FishBase: Moderate to high vul.

S. progastus (McClell.) =Schizothoraichthys progastus (McClell.) S. richardsonii (Gray) Syn. Gonorhynchus pterophilus McClell.

-

-

-

+

+

-

-

har, pnb.

+

+

Hypophthalmichthys moltrix (Valenciennes) Silver Carp Ctenopharyngodon idella (Val.) Grass carp

+

-

-

+

+

+

-

-

+

+

Psilorhynchus balitora (Ham. Buch.), Syn. P. variegatus McClelland P. sucatio nudithoracicus Tilak & Husain, 1980a (differs from P.s. sucatio (Ham. Buch.) Oryzias melastigma (McClell.), Syn. Panchax argenteus Day, Aplocheils melastigmus McClell.

+

-

-

+

-

IUCN: LR-nt. FishBase: Moderate to high vul. IUCN: VU. NBFGR: VU. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. Exotic: Introduced. FishBase: Moderate to high vul. FishBase: High to very high vulnerability. Exotic: Introduced. FishBase: Low vulnerability.

-

-

-

+

-

IUCN: EN.

+

-

har, pnb.

-

+

Aplocheilus blockii (Arnold), A. lineatus (Val.) Syn. A. affinis Jerdon A. panchax (Ham. Buch.), Syn. Panchax kuhlii Val. Aphanius dispar dispar (Ruppell)

+ +

+ -

-

-

-

FishBase: Low vulnerability. Brackish waters, estuaries, lagoons, Swamps. FishBase: Low vulnerability. FishBase: Low vulnerability

-

-

+

+

+

+

har, pnb. -

-

-

139.

Gambusia affinis (Baird & Girard), Syn. G. patruelis (Baird & Girard)

+

-

-

-

-

140.

Xenentodon cancila (Ham. Buch.) =Belone cancila (H. B.) Chitala chitala (Ham. Buch.), =Notopterus chitala (Ham. Buch.)

+

+

har, pnb.

+

+

+

-

-

+

+

142.

Notopterus notopterus (Pallas),

+

+

har, pnb.

+

+

143.

Anabas testudineus (Bloch),

-

-

+

+

144. 145.

Colisa chuna (Ham. Buch.) C. fasciata (Schneider)

+

-

+ +

+

146.

C. labiosa (Day)

-

-

-

-

147.

C. lalia (Ham. Buch.)

+

-

har, pnb. har, pnb. har, pnb. har,

IUCN: EN. NBFGR: EN. FishBase:High to very high vulnerability. IUCN: LR-nt. FishBase: Moderate to high vul. IUCN: VU. FishBase: Low vulnerability. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: LR-nt. FishBase: Low vulnerability. FishBase: Low vulnerability.

+

+

FishBase: Low vulnerability.

128.

129.

130.

131.

132.

133.

134.

135. 136. 137. 138.

141.

108

IUCN: DD. FishBase: Low vulnerability. FishBase: Moderate Vulnerability. Coastal zones, freshwaters. FishBase: Moderate Vulnerability. Exotic: Introduced. Lower reaches of streams, back waters, ponds, lakes. IUCN: LR-nt. FishBase: Low vulnerability.

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

148.

Osphronemus goramy Lacepede

+

-

149.

Channa gachua (Ham. Buch.), =Ophiocephalus gachua Ham. Buch. Syn. Channa orientalis (nec. Bloch & Schn.) C. leucopunctata (Sykes) =Ophiocephalus leucopunctatus (Sykes, 1841), differs from C. marulia (Ham. Buch.)** C. marulia (Ham. Buch.), =Ophiocephalus marulius Ham. Buch.

+

-

+

152.

pnb. -

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

-

-

-

-

Data on conservation status not available.

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

C. punctata (Bloch) =Ophiocephalus punctatus Bloch

+

+

har, pnb.

+

+

IUCN: LR-nt. FishBase: Moderate to high vul. IUCN: LR-nt. FishBase: Low vulnerability.

153.

C. striata (Bloch), =Ophiocephalus striatus Bloch

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

154.

Acentrogobius viridipunctatus (Val.)

+

-

-

-

-

155.

Glossogobius giuris (Ham. Buch.) Syn. Gobius gutum Ham. Buch. Odontamblyopus rubicundus (Ham. Buch.)

+

+

har, pnb.

+

+

-

-

-

-

+

Macrognathus aral (Bloch & Schn.) Syn. M. jammuensis Malhotra & Singhdutta, 1975 M. pancalus Ham. Buch.

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

IUCN: LR-nt FishBase: Low vulnerability.

Mastacembelus armatus (Lacepede) Liza parsia (Ham. Buch.), =Mugil parsia Ham. Buch.

+

-

+

+

FishBase: Low vulnerability.

+

-

har, pnb. -

-

-

161.

Mugil cephalus Linn.

+

-

-

-

-

162.

Rhinomugil corsula (Ham. Buch.) =Liza corsula (H. B.)

+

-

-

+

-

163.

Sicamugil cascasia (Ham. Buch.) =Liza cascasia (H. B.)

-

-

har, pnb.

+

+

164.

Chanda nama Ham. Buch. =Ambassis nama (H.B.) Parambassis ranga (Ham. Buch.) =Chanda ranga H. B. Pseudambassis baculis (Ham. Buch.) =Chanda baculis H. B.

+

-

+

+

+

+

+

+

FishBase: Low vulnerability.

+

-

har, pnb. har, pnb. har, pnb.

FishBase: Low vulnerability. Coasts, estuaries, lagoons, tidal rivers. FishBase: Moderate vulnerability. Coastal waters, estuaries, rivers IUCN: VU. NBFGR: VU FishBase: Moderate vul. IUCN: VU. NBFGR: VU. FishBase: Low vulnerability. FishBase: Low vulnerability.

+

+

IUCN: LR-lc FishBase: Low vulnerability.

150.

151.

156.

157.

158.

159. 160.

165. 166.

109

FishBase: High vulnerability. Exotic: Introduced. Swamps, lakes, rivers. IUCN: VU. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability.

IUCN: LR-lc. FishBase: Moderate vul. FishBase: Low vulnerability. Coastlines, estuaries, freshwaters IUCN: LR-nt. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. FishBase: Moderate vulnerability. Coastal waters & estuaries. IUCN: LR-nt FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability.

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 167.

Oreochromis mossambicus (Peters) =Tilapia mossambica (Peters)

kl

-

-

-

-

168.

Badis badis (Ham. Buch.)

-

-

-

+

+

169.

Nandus nandus (Ham. Buch.),

+

-

+

+

170.

Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), Rainbow Trout, Syn. Salmo gairdnerii gairdnerii Richrdson & S. g. irideus Gibbons Salmo trutta fario Linn. Brown Trout

-

-

har, pnb. -

+

+

-

-

-

+

+

172.

Amblycep mangois (Ham. Buch.)

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

173.

-

-

-

+

-

174.

Chandramara chandramara (Ham. Buch.), =Rama chandramara (Ham. Buch.) Mystus bleekeri (Day)

+

-

+

+

175.

M. cavasius (Ham. Buch.)

+

+

har, pnb. har, pnb.

+

+

176.

M. horai Jayaram

-

-

-

+

177.

M. tengara (Ham. Buch.)

-

-

har, pnb. -

+

-

178.

M. vittatus (Bloch)

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

179.

Rita rita (Ham. Buch.)

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

180.

Sperata aor (Ham. Buch.), =Aorichthys aor (Ham. Buch.)

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

181.

S. seenghala (Sykes) =Aorichthys seenghala (Sykes), syn. A. aor sarwari Mirza et al., 1992 Clarias batrachus (Linn.)

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

Pseudolaguvia kapuri (Tilak & Husain) =Laguvia r. kapuri Tilak & Husain, 1974 Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch),

-

-

-

+

-

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

Pangasius pangasius (Ham. Buch.)

-

-

-

+

-

171.

182.

183.

184.

185.

110

IUCN: LR-nt. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. Coastal plains, rivers. Exotic: Introduced. NBFGR: VU. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: LR-nt FishBase: Low vulnerability. FishBase: Moderate vul. Exotic: Introduced. Headwaters, lakes. Anadromous in coastal streams FishBase: Moderate vul. Exotic: Introduced. Sea, mountain streams. IUCN:LR-nt NBFGR: EN FishBase: Low vulnerability. FishBase: Low vulnerability.

IUCN: VU. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN:LR-nt Moderate to high vul. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. FishBase: Low vulnerability.

IUCN: VU. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. IUCN:LR-nt FishBase:Very high vul. NBFGR: VU. FishBase: Very high vulnerability. FishBase: Very high vul.

IUCN: VU. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: CR. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: VU. NBFGR: VU. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: CR. NBFGR: VU.

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

186.

Syn. P. p. godavarii David, 1962, P. p. upiensis Srivastava,1968 Alia coila (Ham. Buch.)

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

187.

Ailiichthys punctatus (Day)

-

-

-

+

-

188.

Clupisoma garua (Ham Buch)

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

189.

C. montana Hora

-

-

+

-

190.

Eurtopiichthys vacha (Ham. Buch.).

+

-

har, pnb. har, pnb.

+

+

191.

+

-

-

+

-

192.

Neotropius atherinoides (Bloch) =Pseudotropius athreinoides (Bloch), syn. P. a. walkeri Ch’12 Silonia silondia (Ham. Buch.)

+

-

-

+

-

193.

Ompok bimaculatus (Bloch)

+

-

har, pnb.

+

+

194.

O. pabda (Ham. Buch.)

-

-

-

+

-

195.

Wallago attu (Bloch & Schneider) Bagarius bagarius (Ham. Buch.)

+

+

+

+

+

-

har, pnb. -

+

+

197.

B. yarrelli Sykes

-

-

har, pnb.

+

+

198.

Gagata cenia (Ham. Buch.),

+

-

+

+

199.

G. sexualis Tilak, 1970

-

-

har, pnb. -

+

-

200.

-

-

-

+

-

201.

Glyptothorax alaknandi Tilak =G. brevipinnis alaknandi Tilak, 1969 G. brevipinnis Hora

-

-

-

+

+

202.

G. cavia (Ham. Buch.)

-

-

-

+

-

203.

G. conirostris (Steind.)

-

-

-

+

+

204.

G. dakpathari Tilak & Husain

-

-

-

+

+

205.

G. garhwali Tilak, 1969

-

-

-

+

+

206.

G. gracilis (Gunther)

-

-

-

+

+

196.

111

FishBase:Very high vulnerability. IUCN: VU. FishBase: Moderate vul. IUCN: VU. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: VU. FishBase: High to very high vulnerability. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. IUCN: EN. NBFGR: VU FishBase: Moderate to high vul. IUCN: EN. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. IUCN:LR-nt NBFGR: VU FishBase:Very high vul. IUCN: EN. FishBase: Moderate to high vul. IUCN: EN. NBFGR: VU. FishBase: Low to moderate vulnerability. FishBase: Moderate vulnerability. IUCN: VU. NBFGR: VU. FishBase: High to very high vul. ZSI: TD. NBFGR: EN. FishBase: Very high vulnerability. FishBase: Low vulnerability. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: CR. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: VU. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: EN. NBFGR: EN. FishBase: Low vulnerability. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: CR. IUCN: CR. FishBase: Low vulnerability. FishBase: Low

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert vulnerability. FishBase: Low vulnerability.

207

G. indicus Talwar, 1991 Syn.G. horai Shaw & Shebbeare

-

-

-

+

+

208.

G. kashmirensis Hora Syn. G. conirostris punjabensis Mirza & Kashmiri, 1971 G. pectinopterus (McClell.)

-

-

-

-

+

-

-

har, pnb.

+

+

-

-

-

+

-

211.

G. saisii (Jenkins) Syn. G. coheni Ganguly et al., 1972 G. stolickae (Steind.)

-

-

-

+

+

212.

G. telchitta (Ham. Buch.)

+

-

har, pnb.

+

-

213.

Glyptosternon reticulatum McClell. Syn. Exostoma stilczkae Day Gogangra viridescens (Ham. Buch.) = Nangra viridescens (Ham. Buch.) Nangra nangra (Ham. Buch.) =Gagata nangra (H. B.)

-

-

-

-

+

+

-

-

+

-

FishBase: Low vulnerability.

+

-

-

+

+

Parachiloglanis hodgarti (Hora) =Euchiloglanis hodgarti (Hora, 1923) Pseudecheneis sulcata (McClell.)

-

-

-

+

-

-

-

-

+

+

218.

Sisor rabdophorus Ham. Buch.

-

-

har, pnb.

+

+

219.

Monopterus cuchia (Ham. Buch.) =Amphipnous cuchia (Ham. Buch.)

-

-

har, pnb.

+

+

220.

Tetraodon cutcutia Ham. Buch.

-

-

-

+

-

Total

1. Thar Desert: 153 2. West. Himalaya: 185 3. Common to Thar & West. Himal.: 120 4. Common to all Thar & West. Himal. states: 14

126

23

100

163

138

IUCN: VU. NBFGR: EN. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: VU. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: VU. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: EN. NBFGR: EN. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: LR-nt. FishBase:Low to moderate vulnerability. IUCN: LR-nt. FishBase: Low vulnerability. CR/EN / VU/ TD/LR.nt/Vul.

209.

210.

214.

215.

216.

217.

IUCN: EN. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: LR-nt. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: EN. FishBase: Moderate to high vul. IUCN: CR. FishBase: Low vulnerability. IUCN: LR-nt NBFGR: VU. FishBase:Low vulnerability. FishBase: Low vulnerability.

Abbreviations used: CAMP: Conservation Assessment and Management Plan Workshop, 1996. IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature (vide: CAMP Workshop Report for Freshwater Fishes of India, Biodiversity Conservation Prioritisation Project, 1997): CR = Critically Endangered, DD = Data Defecient, EN = Endangered, LR = Low Risk, lc. = Least Concern, nt. = Near Threatened, VU = Vulnerable.

112

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert FishBase: Vul. = Vulnerability. ICZN: International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. NBFGR: National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (Lucknow). ZSI: Threatened Fishes of India and their Conservation, Zoological Survey of India, 2004: TD = Threatened. guj. = Gujarat; har. = Haryana; raj. = Rajasthan; kl. = Kailana Lake, Jodhpur; gir. = Giri river (Himacha Pradesh); rs. = Rajaji Sanctuary (now in Rajaji National Park); rnp. = Rajaji National Park.

References on Distribution Records by other workers, in Table 1: H.P. (Himachal Pradesh): Sl. Nos. 2, 127, 134, 141, 143, 153, 156, 157, 163, 164, 176, 186, 190 = Menon, 1963; 16, 38 = Menon, 1963, Tilak & Husain, 1977 b & Karmakar, 2000; 22, 42, 165, 184 = Tilak & Juneja, 1978; 25 = Tilak & Husain, 1977b; 35, 36, 41, 43, 46, 64, 69, 84, 91, 100, 102, 137, 155, 158, 169, 175, 179, 182, 198, 219 = Menon, 1963 & Karmakar, 2000; 47, 48, 86, 87, 120, 122, 130, 131, 168, 204 = Mehta & Uniyal, 2005; 65 = Giri river; 120 = Tilak, 1987; 73, 128, 145, 147, 193, 197, 215, 218 = Karmakar, 2000; 125 = Tilak & Juneja, 1978 & Karmakar, 2000; 207 = Tilak & Husain, 1977 c. U. K. (Uttarakhand): Sl. Nos. 21 = Hora & Mukerji, 1936; 23 = Day, 1889 & Singh et al., 1987; 28 = Singh & Dobriyal, 1982; 43, 101, 157 = Juneja & Tilak, 1991; 44 = Chaudhuri, 1912; 57, 179 = Khanna & Badola, 1990; 65, = Fowler, 1924; 66 = Singh, 1964; 72 = Joshi & Josi, 1996; 73, 96, 144, 166, 173, 180, 185, 187, 196, 199, 214, 215, 218 = Karmakar, 2000; 86 = Fowler, 1924 & Lal & Chatterjee, 1963; 106 = Chaudhuri, 1912, Menon, 1963 & Karmakar, 2000; 116, 220 = personal information; 127 = Menon, 1963 & Singh, 1964; 177 = Lal & Chatterjee, 1963, Grover, 1970 & Karmakar, 2000; 201, 206 = Tilak & Husain,1973; 203 = Singh et al., 1987 & Singh et al., 1992; 211 = Menon, 1963 & Karmakar, 2000. raj. (Rajasthan): Sl. Nos. 10 = Mathur & Yazdani, 1971; 40, 42, 85, 198 = Johal et al., 1994; 65, 68 = Datta & Majumdar, 1970; 71 = Tilak, 1968; 90 = Mathur & Yazdani, 1973; 150 = Bhargava, 167 = Ramakrishna et al. 2010; 191, 214 = Kumar & Vijayan, 1988. pnb. (Punjab): Sl. No. 67 = Johal & Tandon, 1979; 69 = Beavan, 1877. *Juneja & Tilak, 1991: Earlier Hardwar, Roorkee and adjoining area were part of Saharanpur district (Uttar Pradesh), now fall under Hardwar district of Uttarakhand and hence included here. **According to Sykes (1841) O. leucopunctatus differs from O. marulius HamiltonBuchanan in having lesser rays in pectoral fin (15-17 v/s 19) and caudal fin (13-excluding 2-3 minute outer rays v/s 15), tip of dorsal, anal and caudal fins (pointed v/s rounded) and in colouration (absence of ocellated spot on caudal fin and having numerous white dots v/s ocellus present and white dots absent).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author feels grateful to the Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata for encouragement and to the Officer-in-Charge, Northern Regional Centre, ZSI, Dehra Dun for Library facility.

REFERENCES Acharya, H. G. 1939. Freshwater fishes of North Gujarat. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 40: 772-773. Badola, S. P. 1975. Fish fauna of the Garhwal hills, pt. II. Pauri-Garhwal, U. P. Indian J. Zoot., 16(1): 57-70. Badola, S. P. and Pant, M. C. 1973. Fish fauna of the Garhwal hills, pt. I. Indian J. Zoot., 14(1): 37-44. Baloni, S. P. 1980. Fish fauna of Kedar Valley, Chamoli-Garhwal. Indian J. Fish., 27(1-2): 10-16. Baloni, S. P. and Grover, S. P. 1982. Fish fauna of Kedar Valley with notes on adaptations and ecology. Indian J. Forest., 5(2): 131-137. Bhargava, R. N. 1974. On a new record of a Murrel, Channa leucopunctatus (Sykes) from Rajasthan. (Jodhpur, Kailana Lake). J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 71(1): 152-153

113

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Bhatnagar, G. K. 1973. On a collection of fish from Bhakra reservoir, Sutlej river and closely associated waters. J. Inland Fish. Soc. India, 5: 134-136. Burrard, G. S. and Hayden, H. H. 1933. A sketch of the Geography and Geology of the Himalayan mountains and Tibet. Revised by Burrard and Herren, Delhi. Chaudhuri, B. L. 1910. Description of a new species of Nemachilus from Northern India. Rec. Indian Mus., 5(3): 183-185. Chaudhuri, B. L. 1012. Description of some new species of freshwater fishes from North India. Rec. Indian Mus., 7(5): 437-444. Chaturvedi, G. R. 1960. Preliminary list of the fishes of Rajasthan. IPFC OCC. Paper No. 60: 2-7. Das, S. M. 1960. The fisheries of the Doon Valley. Uttar Bharti, pp.11-17. Datta, A. K. and Majumdar, N. 1970. Fauna of Rajasthan, India. Part 7, Fishes. Rec. zool. Surv. India, 62(12): 63-100 (Labeo rajasthanicus: 83, fig. 2, pl. 8, fig. 3, type-locality: Jaisamand Lake, Udaipur dist., Rajasthan). Dattagupa, A. K., Menon, P. K. B., Nair, C. K. G., and Das, C. R. 1961. Proc. Rajasthan Acad. Sci., Pilani, 8(12): 129-134. Day, F. 1878. The fishes of India. London: 553-778. Day, F. 1889. The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Fishes. 1: 548 pp.; 2: 509 pp. Taylor & Francis, London. Dhanze, R. and Dhanze, J. R. 2004. Fish diversity of Himachal Pradesh. In: Fish diversity in protected habitats (Eds. Ayyappan, S., Malik, D. S., Dhanzr, R. and Chauhan, R. S.): 39-60. NATCON Publication, Muzaffarnagar (U. P.), India. Dhawan, S. Fish fauna of Udaipur lakes. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 66(1): 190-194. Dobriyal, A. K., Bhauguna, A. K., Kotnala, C. B., Kumar, N. and Singh, H. R. 1992. Studies on the fish and fisheries of the river Nayar. In: Recent Research in Coldwater Fisheries (Ed. Sehgal, K. L.). Today & Tomorrow’s Printers & Publication, New Delhi: 93-98. Fowler, H. W. 1924. Notes and description of Indian fresh water fishes. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., 76: 67101. Froese, R. and Pauly, D. (eds.). 2000. FishBase 2000: Concept, design and data sources. ICLARM, Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines, 344 pp. (for FishBase). Gray, J. E. 1831. Description of twelve new genera of fish, discovered by Gen. Hardwick in India, the greater part in the British Museum. Zool. Misc., p.8. Grover, S. P. 1970. On a collection of fishes of song river in Doon Valley, Uttar Pradesh, G. K. Vishwa. J. Sci. & Res., 2: 115-118. Grover, S. P., Agarwal, B. S. and Rauthan, J. V. S. 1994. Ichthyofauna of Doon Valley. Him. J. Env. Zool., 38(2): 133-136. Hora, S. L. 1921. Indian cyprinid fishes belonging to the genus Garra with notes on related species from other countries. Rec.Indian Mus., 22(5): 633-687. Hora, S. L. 1937a. Distribution of Himalayan fishes and its bearing on certain palaeogeographical problems. Rec. Indian Mus., 39: 251- 259. Hora, S. L. 1937b. Notes on fishes of Indian Museum. XXXIII. On a collection of fish from Kumaon Himalayas. Rec. Indian Mus., 39(4): 338-348. Hora, S. L. and Mukerji, D. D. 1936. Fish of the Eastern Doons, United Provinces, Rec. Indian Mus., 38(2): 133-146. Hora, S. L. and Mathur, B. B. L. 1952. On certain palaeographical features as evidenced by the distribution of fishes. Bull. Natl. Inst. Sci. India, Delhi, 1: 32-36. Husain, A. 1975. Fauna of Rajaji Sanctuary (District Saharanpur), Uttar Pradesh. 2. Fish, Cheetal, 16(4): 5557. Husain, A. 1976. Fish fauna of Corbett National Park, Uttar Pradesh, Cheetal, 17(2): 39-42. Husain, A. 1979. Fish fauna of Corbett National Park, 5. Fish, Cheetal, 21(1): 31-32 (contd.). Husain, A. 1980. Fish fauna of Corbett National Park, 5. Fish, Cheetal, 21(2-3): 43. Husain, A. 1987. Studies on the fish fauna of some streams of Dehra Dun with notes on systematics, ecology and zoogeography: 1212 pp, plts. 76, figs.140 (Thesis Garhwal Univ., Srinagar). Husain, A. 1995. Pisces: in Fauna of Western Himalaya (U. P.), Himalayan Ecosystem Series: Part I: 117-150, Zoological Survey of India. Husain, A. 1997. Pisces. In: Fauna of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve: Fauna of Conservation Area, 9. Zoological Survey of India. Husain, A. 2003. Pisces. In: Fauna of Asan Wetland, Wetland Ecosystem Series, 5: 23-26. Zoological Survey of India. Husain, A. and Tilak, R. 1995. Fishes (Pisces). In: Fauna of Rajaji National Park. Fauna of Conservation Areas, 5: 115-193, figs. 1-49.

114

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Johal, M. S. 1998. Fishes of Himachal Pradesh (India). Proc. Indo-U.S. Workshop on Conservation and Development of Natural Fishery Resources of Western Himalayas. December, 7-8, 1998, Department of Zoology, Panjab University, Chandigarh: 32-35. Johal, M. S. 2002. Ecology of hillstreams of Himachal Pradesh and Garhwal region with special reference to fish community: 63 pp + Appendices 1-18. Report submitted to U. S. Fish and Woldlife Services (U. S. A.). Johal, M. S., Chahal, J. S. and Tandon, K. K. 1994. Ichthyofauna of Rajasthan State (India). J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 90(3): 404-411. Johal, M. S. and Dhillon, K. S. 1981. Ichthyofauna of Ganganagar district (Rajasthan), India. Res. Bull. Panjab Univ., 32: 105-110. Johal, M. S. and Tandon, K. K. 1979. Monograph on the fishes recognised in Punjab. Pb. Fish. Bull., 3(2): 194. Joshi, B. D. and Joshi, P. C. 1996, Puntius dukai Day (Pisces: cyprinidae) - a new record from Uttar Pradesh hills. J. Bombay nat. Hist Soc., 93(1): 102 (Gharhakiya gad, Pithoragarh dist., U. P.). Joshi, C. B. 1994. Survey report of Pithoragarh dist. In: Kumaon Himalaya (U. P.). NRC Publication No. 5: 13p. Joshi, K. D. 1999. Piscine diversity in Kumaon rivers (Central Himalaya). J. Inland Fish. Soc. India, 31(2): 2024. Joshi, S. N., Tripathi, G. and Tewari, H. C. 1993. Fish and fisheries of the Gori Ganga. In: Advances in Limnology (ed. H. R. Singh). Narendra Pub., Delhi: 361-366. Juneja, D. P. and Tilak, R. 1991. Fish fauna of district Saharanpur with notes on their ecology and zoogeography. Rec. zool. Surv. India, 89: 177-188. Juyal, C. P. and Gusain, O. P. 1990. Fish and fisheries of river Khoh (Garhwal Himalaya). Geobios news Reports, 9(2): 133-135. Kapoor, D., Dayal, R. C. and Ponniah, A. G. 2002. Fish biodiversity of India. National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources, Lucknow, India: 775 pp. Karmakar, A. K. 2000. Fish communities and their distribution in Himalayan drainage system. Rec. zool. Surv. India, 98(4): 25-37. Khanna , D. R. and Badola, S.P. 1990. Ichthyofauna of river Ganga at the foothills of Garhwal Himalaya. J. Nat. & Phy. Sci., 4(1-2): 153-162. Khanna, D. R. & Badola, S. P. 1992. 7. Fish fauna of the river Ganga at Hardwar, Aquatic Environment (Ed. Ashutosh Gautam): 90-94. Khanna, D. R., Malik, D. S. and Rupendra. 1998. Fish fauna of the river Ganges at Rishikesh (U. P.). J. Nat. Conserv., 9(2): 197-202. Krishna, D. and Menon, C. B. 1958. A note on the fishes of Jodhpur (Rajasthan). Vijnan Parishad Anusandhan Patrika, Allahabad, 1(4): 207-209. (in Hindi). Kumar, C. R. A. 1993. Aplocheilus panchax (Ham.) - An addition to the fish fauna of Rajasthan. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 90(1): 115 (Ramgarh, Banganga and Gambhi rivers). Kumar, C. R. A. and Sankar, K. 1993. Ichthyofauna of Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 90(2): 299-300 (Sariska Tiger Reserve, Pandupol, Algual and Bandipul ponds, Rajasthan). Kumar, C. R. A. and Vijayan, V. S. 1988. On the fish fauna of Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur (Rajasthan). J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 85(1): 44-49. Kumar, S. and Rathore, N. S. 2007. Pisces: in Fauna of Pichhola Lake, Wetland Ecosystem Series, 6: 139166. Lal, M. B. and Chatterjee, P. 1963. Survey of Eastern Doon fishes with certain notes on their bilogy. J. Zool. Soc. India, 14(2): 230-243. Mathur, B. B. L. 1952. Notes on fishes from Rajasthan, India. Rec. Indian Mus., 50(1): 105-110. Mathur, D. S. and Yazdani, G. M. 1971. Noemacheilus rajasthanicus, a new loach from Rajasthan (India). J. Zool. Soc. India, Calcutta, 22(1-2): 97-99 (type-locality: Takhat sagar, Kailana, Jodhpur). Mathur, D. S. and Yazdani, G. M. 1973. Additional record of fish from Jodhpur with a list of species occurring in the district. Sci. & Cult., 39: 87-89. McClelland, J. 1835. Description of the (so called) mountain trout of Kumaon. J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 4: 39-41. McClelland, J. 1839. Indian Cyprinidae. Asiat. Res., 19(2): 262-450. McClelland, J. 1842. On freshwater fishes collected by William Griffith. Calcutta J. Nat. Hist., 2: 560-589. Mc Gready, C.E. 1977. Mahseer in Ramganga river, U. P. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 74(1): 188 (Corbett National Park). Mehta, H. S. 2000. Pisces. In: Fauna of Renuka Lake Wetland, Wetland Ecosystem Series, 2: 141-149. Mehta, H. S. and Uniyal, D. P. 2005. Pisces. In: Fauna of Western Himalaya (Part-2): 255-268. Zoological Survey of India. Menon, A. G. K. 1949. Fishes of Kumaon Himalayas. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 48(3): 536-542.

115

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Menon, A. G. K. 1951. Notes on fishes in the Indian Museum. XLVII. On two new species of the genus Nemachilus from Kangra Valley, Punjab. Rec. Indian Mus., 49(2): 227-230. Menon, A. G. K. 1954. Fish geography of Himalayas. Proc. Nat. Inst. Sci. India, 20(4): 467-493. Menon, A. G. K. 1963. A distributional list of fishes of the Himalayas. J. Zool. Soc. India, 14(1): 23-32. Menon, A. G. K. 1971. Taxonomy of fishes of the genus Schizothorax Heckel with the description of a new species from Kumaon Himalaya. Rec. zool. Surv. India, 63(1-4): 195-208. Menon, A. G. K. 1987. Fauna of India and adjacent countries. Pisces. Vol. 4. Teleostei – Cobitoidea. Part 1. Homalopteridae. Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta: 82-84, fig. 6, pl. 12. Menon, A. G. K. and Sen, T. K. 1966. Extension of the geographical range of Euchiloglanis hodgarti (Hora) with certain observations on the zoogeography and evolition of glyptosternoid fishes of the Family Sisoridae. Sci & Cult., 32(4): 211-212. Moona, J. C. 1962. Notes on fishes from Bharatpur district, Rajasthan. Rec. Indian Mus., 58(1): 59-66. Nautiyal, P. 2001. Ichthyofauna. In: Garhwal Himalaya, Nature, Culture and Society. (Eds. O. P. Kandari and O. P. Gusain): 191-197. Transmedia Publication, Srinagar, Garhwal. Nautiyal, P. 2005. Taxonomic richness in the fish fauna of the Himalaya, Central highlands and Western Ghats (Indian subcontinent). Intl. J. Eco. & Environ. Sci., 31(2): 73-92. Negi, K. S. and Malik, D. S. 2005. Fish fauna of Ganga river at Rishikesh. Him. J. Env. Zool., 19(2): 145-148. Negi, R. K. and Johal, M. S. 2005. Ichthyofaunal diversity of Pong Dam Reservoir in Himachal Pradesh, India. Him. J. Env. Zool., 19(2): 219-222. Pant, M. C. 1970. Fish fauna of the Kumaon hills. Rec. Indian Mus., 64(1-4): 85-93. Peter, T and Swar, D. B. 2002. Cold water fisheries in the trans-Himalayan countries. Food & Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations: 363 pp. Prasad, B. 1919.On a new species of Discognathus from Kangra Valley. Rec. Indian Mus., 16: 163-165. Ramakrishna, Baqri, Q. H. and Shivaperuman, C. 2010. Fish fauna in the Kailana Lake, Great Indian Desert. In: Faunal ecology and conservation of Great Indian Desert. National Seminar on Impact of Climate change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert, July 9, 2010, Organized by Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Jodhpur. Lead Papers, Abstracts: 16. Rautela, A. S., Kala, S. And Rautela, K. K. 1993. Fish and fisheries of the river Khoh at Kotdwar. J. Env. Zool., 7: 23-36. Sehgal, K. L. 1974. Fisheries survey of Himachal Pradesh and some adjacent areas with special reference to Trout, Mahseer and allied species. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 70(3): 458-474. Sharma, I. and Mehta, H. S. 2009. Pisces. In: Faunal Diversity of Pong Dam. Wetland Ecosystem Series, Zoological Survey of India. 12: 65-92. Sharma, R. C. 1984. Ichtyofauna of the snowfed river Bhagirathi of Garhwal Himalaya. Uttar Pradesh J. Zool., 4(2): 208-212. Sharma, V. K. 1991. Fishes of Govindsagar, Himachal Pradesh , Pb. Fish. Bull., 15(1); 61-63. Pb. Fish. Bull., 14(1): 41-46. Sharma, V. K. and Ramarao, Y. 1982. A new record of Salmo trutta fario from Gobind Sagar reservoir. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., (Beas and Sutlej rivers, Himachal Pradesh). 79(3): 692. Sharma, V. K. and Tandon, K. K. 1990. The fish and fisheries of Himachal Pradesh state of India, Pb. Fish. Bull., 14(1): 41-46. Singh, D. and Sharma, R. C. 1998. Biodiversity, ecological status and conservation priority of the fish of the River Alaknanda, a parent stream of the River Ganges (India). Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. 8(6): 761–772. Singh, H. R., Badola, S. P. & Dobriyal, A. K. 1987. Geographical distributional list of ichthyofauna of the Garhwal Himalaya with some new records. J. Bombay nat. Hist Soc., 84: 126-132. Singh, H. R., Dobriyal, A. K. and Kumar, N. 1992. Hillstream fishery potential and development issues. J. Inland Fish. Soc. India, 23(2): 60-68. Singh, H. R. and Dobriyal, A. K. 1982. First report on the occurrence of Botia geto (Ham.) in the river Alaknanda of the Garhwal Himalaya. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. India. 52B(2): 137-139. Singh, H. R. and Dobriyal, A. K. 1987. First report on the occurrence of Botia almorhae Gray in the river Alaknanda of Garhwal Himalaya. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. India. 52B: 537-539. Singh, P. P. 1964. Fishes of the Doon Valley. Ichthyologica, 3(102): 86-92. Sykes, W. H. 1841. On the fishes of the Dukhun. Trans. Zool. Soc. London, 12: 349-352.

Talwar, P. K. and Jhingran, A. G. 1991. Inland Fishes of India and Adjacent Countries. Vols. 1-2: xix + 1158 pp. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, Bombay & Calcutta. Tilak, R. 1968. On a new species of the genus Labeo Cuvier (Pisces) from Rajasthan. Ann. Zool., Wearsz, 25(15): 351-353. Tilak, R. 1969. Description of two new sisorids and a hybrid carp from Pauri-Garhwal (Kumaon hills), Uttar Pradesh. J. Inland Fish. Soc. India, 1: 37-48, figs. 1-14.

116

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Tilak, R. 1970. On a little known cyprinid, Puntius carletoni (Fowler) (Pisces, Cypriniformes). Sci. & Cult., 36(11): 613-614. Tilak, R. and Baloni, S. P. 1984. On the fish fauna of Tehri-Garhwal, Uttar Pradesh. Rec. zool. Surv. India, 81(3-4): 255-271. Tilak, R. and Husain, A. 1973. Notes on fishes of Doon Valley, Uttar Pradesh. I. Distributional and morphological studies on some glyptothoracoid fishes (Sisoridae). Rec. zool. Surv. India, 67(1-4): 391-399. Tilak, R. & Husain, A.1974. A new sisorid catfish, Laguvia riberoi kapuri (Sisoridae: Siluriformes) from Uttar Pradesh. J. Inland Fish. Soc. India, 6: 1-5, figs. 1-3. Tilak, R. and Husain, A. 1976. Descrition of a new species of the genus Glyptothorax Blyth from river Yamuna, India (Pisces, Siluriformes, Sisoridae). Ann. Zool. Warszwa, 33(14): 229-234, fig. 1-8. Tilak, R. and Husain, A. 1977a. Description of a new species of the genus Noemacheilus from district Dehra Dun (U. P.). Sci. & Cult., 43(3): 133-135, figs. a-c. Tilak, R. and Husain, A. 1977b. A checklist of fishes of Himachal Pradesh. Zool. Jb. Syst., 104: 265-301. Tilak, R. and Husain, A. 1977c. A report on the fishes of Sirmour district (Himachal Pradesh). Newsl. zool. Surv. India, 3(5): 281-283. Tilak, R. and Husain, A. 1978. Description of a new species of the genus Lepidocephalus Bleeker from Uttar Pradesh (Cobitidae: Cypriniformes). Matsya, 3: 60-63, figs. 1-3. Tilak, R. and Husain, A. 1980a. Description of a new Psilorhynchid, Psilorhynchus sucatio nudithoracicus from Uttar Pradesh with notes on zoogeography. Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, 56(1): 35-40, figs. 1-3. Tilak, R. and Husain, A. 1980b. Description of a new species of the genus Barilius Hamilton (Cyprinidae: Cypriniformes) from Corbett National Park, Uttar Pradesh. Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin, 56(1): 41-44, fig. 1. Tilak, R. and Husain, A. 1990. Description of a new cyprinid Barilius dimorphicus (Subfamily: Rasborinae) from Rajaji National Park, Uttar Pradesh. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 87(1): 102-105, figs. 1-4. Tilak, R and Juneja, D. P. 1978. On a collection of fishes of district Kangra (Himachal Pradesh), Newsl. zool. Surv. India, 4: 280-283. Uniyal, D. P. 2010. Pisces: in Fauna of Uttarakhand, State Fauna Series, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata. 18(1): 533-621. Uniyal, D. P. and Kumar, A. 2006. Fish diversity in selected streams of Chakrata and Shiwalik hills (District: Dehradun, Uttaranchal), India. Rec. zool. Surv. India, Occ. Pap. 253: 1-129. Uniyal, D. P. and Mehta, H. S. 2007. Fishes (Pisces). In: Faunal Diversity Western Doon Shiwaliks: 41-59. Zoological Survey of India. Working Plans of various Forest Divisions, Uttarakhand. Yazdani, G. M. 1980. Occurrence of Botia lohachata Chaudhuri in Himachal Pradesh with remarks on the taxonomy of Indian species of Botia Gray (Pisces: Cobitidae). J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 77(1): 152-153. (Deragopipur, Kangra dist.) Yazdani, G. M. 1996. Fish diversity in Thar Desert: In: Faunal Diversity in the Thar Desert: Gaps in Research (Eds. Ghosh, A. K., Baqri, Q. H. & Prakash, I.). Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur: pp. 285-395. Yazdani, G. M. and Bhargava, R. N. 1969. On a new record of a minnow, Aphanius dispar (Ruppell) from Rajasthan. Labdev J. Sci & Tech. India, Kanpur, 7-B(4): 332-333.

117

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

AMPHIBIANS OF THAR DESERT AND THEIR CONSERVATION STATUS AKHLAQ HUSAIN* 41, Hari Vihar, Vijay Park, Dehra Dun-248 001, Uttarakhand. *Earlier Address: Zoological Survey of India, Northern Regional Centre, Kaulagarh Road, Dehra Dun- 248 195, Uttarakhand. e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: The paper deals with amphibian fauna of Thar Desert and vicinity and distributional pattern and conservation status of the species. Due to lack of sufficient water bodies and scanty rains, the amphibian fauna of Rajasthan and other Thar states has been found poor in its diversity. KEY WORDS: Amphibia, Thar Desert, conservation status.

INTRODUCTION The amphibian fauna, especially the frogs and toads, of Thar Desert ( 24o30' - 30o N Lat. and 69o30' - 76o E Long.) has attracted the attention of only a few workers during the past. Mc Cann (1943) collected Rana cyanophlyctis, R. limnocharis, R. tigrina, Microhyla ornata, Bufo andersoni (=Duttaphrynus stomaticus) and B. melanostictus from Sirohi district. Mansukhani & Murthy (1964) listed Rana cyanophlyctis, R. limnocharis, R. hexadactyla, R. tigrina tigrina, R. breviceps, Microhyla ornate, Bufo andersoni (=D. stomaticus) and B. melnostictus from various districts of the Desert and around. Bohra et al. (1983) listed frogs of Indian Desert and presented a key for their identification. Sharma (1992) recorded Uperodon systoma for the first time from Rajasthan and latter (Sharma, 1995) listed nine species from various districts in northern, northeastern, eastern, southern and central parts of Rajasthan. Sharma (1996) reported eight species, as Rana hexadactylus, R. cyanophlyctis, R. tigerina, R. limnocharis, R. breviceps, Bufo melanostictus, B. andersoni (=D. stomaticus) and Microhyla ornata from Thar Desert and found none of them endemic to the area. Sharma and Gaur (2005) repeated also reported the same eight species. Chanda (2002) while dealing with Indian Amphibians, listed the same species from Rajasthan state. Chanda (2004) reported Bufo stomaticus, the only species from Desert National Park (Jaisalmer). Recently, Akhtar & Sharma (2010) recorded Marbled Toad, (Bufo andersoni= D. stomaticus) and Indian Balloon Frog (Uperodon systoma) from Todagarh-Raoli Wildlife Sanctuary (between hilly forest of Aravalli and Thar Desert), Rajasthan. Interestingly, most of these species are widely distributed and appear well adapted to various niches, occurring even in Himalayan region, particularly Western Himalaya (Waltner, 1974; Chopra, 1977; Tilak & Husain, 1977; Husain, 1994, 2000, 2003; Husain & Joshi, 1998; Ray, 1995, 1999; Ray & Tilak, 1995; Mehta, 2005; Bahuguna & Bhutia, 2010). The distributional pattern of Thar Desert species in India is given in Table. The data on Delhi, shown in Table, is after Husain (1997). In the present study, update information on nomenclature (Dinesh et al., 2009, 2010; Frost, 2010), type-locality, type-specimen, characters, tadpoles, distribution and conservation status have been dealt.

118

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

RESULTS

SYSTEMATIC ACCOUNT, DISTRIBUTON AND CONSERVATION STATUS Order: Anura Suborder: Neobatrachia Family: Bufonidae Genus: Duttaphrynus Frost et al. 1. Duttaphrynus melanostictus (Schneider)

Common Indian Toad, Black-spined Toad Bufo melanostictus Orientalis”).

Schneider,

1799,

Hist. Amph.1: 216 (type-locality: “Ex India

Type-specimen: Not traced (Chanda, 1994). Bufo melanostictus, Mc Cann, 1943, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 206-217 (Abu hills, Sirohi district). Bufo melanostictus, Mansukhani, 1964, Rec. zool. Surv. India, 62(1-4): 51-60, 1 pl (Jaipur, Sirohi & Udaipur dists.). Bufo melanostictus, Sharma, 1995, Flora & Fauna, 1(1): 47-48 (Jaipur, Sirohi, Udaipur eastern and southern Rajasthan). Bufo melanostictus, Sharma, 1996, In: Faunal Diversity in the Thar Desert: Gaps in Research (Eds. Ghosh, A. K., Baqri, Q. H, & Prakash, I.). Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur: 297-306 (Thar Desert, Rajasthan). Bufo melanostictus, Chanda, 2002, Hand book Indian Amphibians, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata Publication: 25-26, 271 (Rajasthan). Bufo melanostictus, Sharma & Gaur, 2005, In: Changing faunal ecology in the Thar Desert (Eds. Tyagi, B. K. & Baqri, Q. H.), Scientific Publishers, pp. 61-84 (Jodhpur, Sirohi).

Duttaphrynus melanostictus, Dinesh et al, 2009, A Checklist of Amphibia of India, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata Publication. Diagnostic Features: Large-sized toad; head broad with elevated bony ridges; canthus rostralis angular; tympanum prominent, nearer eye, little more than half eye diameter or 2/3rd; parotids prominent, kidney-shaped or elliptical. Finger and toe tips blunt, cornified, first finger equal or little longer to second, second longer than 4th, 3rd the longest, metacarpal tubercles spinous; toes obtuse, half-webbed and with single, small subarticular tubercles, smaller outer and inner metatarsal tubercles.

Colouration: Body yellowish or brownish above, spines of warts and ridges of head black, immaculate or more or less spotted with brown below. Tadpoles black. Sexual Dimorphism: Males smaller than females and with subgular vocal sacs, cornified nuptial pads on two inner fingers, tips of digits black-capped during breeding season.

Distribution: Thar Desert States: Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan.

119

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Western Himalaya: Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand. Elsewhere: India (all over India - from plains to 2500 m. altitude), Bali, Bangladesh, Borneo, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Java, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sumatra. Coservation Status: Least Concern under IUCN 3.1 Remarks: Tadpoles are black in colour and hence can easily be distinguished from of ranids which are grayish.

2.

Duttaphrynus stomaticus (Lutken)

Marbled Toad Bufo stomaticus Lutken, 1862, Vidensk. Medd. Dansk. Naturhist. Foren.: 305 (type-locality: “ostindiske” (East Indies), Assam, India). Type-specimen: At Universitets Kobenhavn, Zoologisk Museum (ZMUC-register no. not available), Universitetsparken, Denmark. Bufo andersonii Boulenger, 1883, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 3(12):163. Bufo andersoni, Mc Cann, 1943, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 206-217 (Abu hills, Sirohi district). Bufo andersoni, Mansukhani, 1964, Rec. zool. Surv. India, 62(1-4): 51-60, 1 pl. (Bikaner, Ganganagar, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Nagaur & Udaipur districts). Bufo andersoni, Sharma, 1995, Flora & Fauna, 1(1): 47-48 (Ajmer, Bikaner, Ganganagar, Jaipur, Nagore, Sirohi, Udaipur - northern, central and southern Rajasthan). Bufo andersoni, Sharma, 1996, In: Faunal Diversity in the Thar Desert: Gaps in Research (Eds. Ghosh, A. K., Baqri, Q. H. & Prakash, I.). Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur: 297-306 (Thar Desert). Bufo stomaticus, Chanda, 2002, Hand book Indian Amphibians, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata Publication: 28 (Rajasthan). Bufo stomaticus, Chanda, 2004, Conservation Area Series 19: 109-110 (Desert National Park, Jaisalmer). Bufo stomaticus, Sharma & Gaur, 2005, In: Changing faunal ecology in the Thar Desert (Eds. Tyagi, B. K. & Baqri, Q. H.), Scientific Publishers, pp. 61-84 (Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Nagaur, Sri Ganganagar). Bufo stomaticus, Dinesh et al, 2009, A Checklist of Amphibia of India, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata Publication: 6. Diagnostic Features: Moderately large toad, skin of dorsal side, palm and soles with glands. Head wider than long, interorbital space broader than upper rye-lid, without cranial ridges; parotids elliptical, flattened; tympanum distinct, rounded, almost 2/3rd of eye diameter; chin and throat smooth; crown above parotid glands smooth or with scattered tubercles, parotids longer than broad. Forearms with a row of tubercles on their outer edge; fingers free, 1st longer than 2nd, 3rd longest and 4th shortest, subarticular tubercle blunt, palmer tubercle prominent, tarsus with spiny ridge. Toes 2/3rd webbed, two equal-sized and sharp metatarsals tubercles, subarticular tubercles simple. Colouration: Body greyish or olive above, whitish below with dark mottling on throat, dark bands on forearm; juveniles brownish with darker marblings. Sexual Dimorphism: Males smaller and brighter in colour, with subgular vocal sac. During breeding season, nuptial callosities appear on outer edge of 1st finger. Sexual Dimorphism: Males smaller than females and with subgular vocal sacs and nuptial callosities on outer edge of 1st finger during breeding season.

120

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

Distribution: Thar Desert States: Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan. Western Himalaya: Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand. Elsewhere: India (plains to about 1800 m), Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Iran, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Oman, Sri Lanka. Conservation Status: Least Concern under IUCN. Remarks: The juveniles of this species can easily be distinguished from the blackish young ones of Duttaphrynus melanostictus. At tadpole stage, the head and body are club-shaped with head wider than body in this species where as in D. melanostictus they are globular in shape and equal in width. Family: Dicroglossidae Subfamily: Dicroglossinae Genus: Euphlyctis Fitzinger

3.

Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis (Schneider)

Skipper Frog, Skittering Frog Rana cyanophlyctis Schneider, 1799, Hist. Amph., 1: 137 (type-locality: “India orientali”). Type-specimen: At Universitat Humboldt, Zoologisches Museum, Invalidenstrasse (ZMB 3197-98), Berlin, Germany. Rana cyanophlyctis, Mc Cann, 1943, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 206-217 (Abu hills, Sirohi district). Rana cyanophlyctis, Mansukhani, 1964, Rec. zool. Surv. India, 62(1-4): 51-60, 1 pl. (Ajmer, Barmer, Ganganagar, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur districts). Rana cyanophlyctis, Sharma, 1995, Flora & Fauna, 1(1): 47-48 (whole Rajasthan). Rana cyanophlyctis, Sharma, 1996, In: Faunal Diversity in the Thar Desert: Gaps in Research (Eds. Ghosh, A. K., Baqri, Q. H. & Prakash, I.). Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur: 297-306 (Thar Desert). Rana cyanophlyctis, Chanda, 2002, Hand book Indian Amphibians, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata Publication: 98-103, 271 (Rajasthan). Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis, Chanda, 2002, Hand book Indian Amphibians, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata Publication: 274 (Rajasthan). Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis, Sharma & Gaur, 2005, In: Changing faunal ecology in the Thar Desert (Eds. Tyagi, B. K. & Baqri, Q. H.), Scientific Publishers, pp. 61-84 (Barmer, Jaisalmer, Jhunjhunu, Nagaur, Pali, Sikar, Sri Ganganagar). Diagnostic Features: Head moderate, depressed; interorbital space much narrower than eyelid; canthus rostralis distinct; vomerine teeth in two small oblique series.1st finger equal or slightly shorter than 2nd, 3rd the longest, 4th almost equal to 2nd, subarticular tubercles small, palmer tubercles indistinct. Toe tips knob-like, web extensive, upto tips, 4th toe longest, outer metatarsals separated by web, inner metatarsal tubercle and subarticular tubercles small, outer tubercle absent. Skin with small tubercles and warts / pores on back, lower parts generally smooth. Colouration: Olive to brown above with dark spots and creamy band along the flanks, limbs with spots, whitish with marble pattern on ventral side. Sexual Dimorphism: Males smaller than females, with blackish vocal sacs. Distribution: Thar Desert States: Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan. Western Himalaya: Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand.

121

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Elsewhere: India (throughout), Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Oman, Sri Lanka. Thailand, Vietnam. Conservation Status: Least Concern under IUCN Red List. Remarks: Tail of tadpoles 1 ½ to 2 times longer than body.

4.

Euphlyctis hexadactylus (Lesson)

Five-fingered Frog, Green Pond Frog Rana hexadactylus Lesson, 1834, in Belanger (ed.), Voy-Indes-Orientales N. Eur. Caucase Georgie Perse, Zoo. : 331 (type-locality: “Pondichery”, India). Type-specimen: At Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHNP 4363), Rue Cuvier, Paris, France. Rana hexadactylus, Mansukhani, 1964, Rec. zool. Surv. India, 62(1-4): 51-60, 1 pl (Jaipur district). Rana hexadactyla, Sharma, 1995, Flora & Fauna, 1(1): 47-48 (Jaipur – central Rajasthan). Rana hexadactylus, Sharma, 1996, In: Faunal Diversity in the Thar Desert: Gaps in Research (Eds. Ghosh, A. K. Baqri, Q. H. & Prakash, I.). Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur: 297-306 (Thar Desert). Rana hexadactylus, Chanda, 2002, Hand book Indian Amphibians, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata Publication: 271 (Rajasthan), 274. Hoplobatrachus hexadactylus, Chanda, 2002, Hand book Indian Amphibians, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata Publication: 274 (Rajasthan). Euphlyctis hexadactyla, Sharma & Gaur, 2005, In: Changing faunal ecology in the Thar Desert (Eds. Tyagi, B. K. & Baqri, Q. H.), Scientific Publishers, pp. 61-84 (Jodhpur, Nagaur). Diagnostic Features: Head moderate, interorbital space much narrower than eyelid, vomerine teeth in two oblique series; tympanum distinct, equal to or slightly less than eye diameter. 1st finger little longer than 2nd; toes webbed to tips, outer toe highly fringed, 1st toe slightly longer than 2nd, 4th little longer than 3rd or 5th; subarticulars of fingers and toes small; inner metatarsal tubercle small and conical, outer absent. Skin smooth, with more or less distinct rows of pores on neck, sides and belly. Colouration: Brown or olive green above with or without a light vertebral line and two blackish streaks on thighs. Juveniles beautifully striped. Sexual Dimorphism: Males with two external vocal sacs, nuptial pads on outer edge of 1st and 2nd fingers during breeding season. Distribution: Thar Desert State: Gujarat, Rajasthan. Recorded from eastern side of Thar Desert (Sharma, 1996). Western Himalaya: No record. Elsewhere India (up to 760 m msl), Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka. Conservation Status: Least Concern under IUCN Red List, Appendix II under CITES and Lower Risk under National Status. Remarks: Its possible depletion could be due to water pollution and urbanization. Genus: Frajervarya Bolkay

5. Frajervarya limnocharia (Gravenhorst)

Cricket Frog, Paddy-field Frog

122

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Rana limnocharis Gravenhorst, 1829, Delic. Zool.Vrat.: 41 (type-locality: Java, Indonesia). Type-specimen: Not known (Chanda, 1994). Rana limnocharis, Mc Cann, 1943, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 206-217 (Abu hills, Sirohi district). Rana limnocharis, Mansukhani, 1964, Rec. zool. Surv. India, 62(1-4): 51-60, 1 pl. (Jaipur, Nagaur, Pali, Sirohi & Udaipur districts). Rana limnocharis, Sharma, 1995, Flora & Fauna, 1(1): 47-48 (Chittorgarh, Udaipur – southern Rajasthan). Rana limnocharis, Sharma, 1996, In: Faunal Diversity in the Thar Desert: Gaps in Research (Eds. Ghosh, A. K., Baqri, Q. H. & Prakash, I.). Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur: 297-306 (Thar Desert). Rana limnocharis, Chanda, 2002, Hand book Indian Amphibians, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata Publication: 122-125, 271, 274 (Rajasthan). Frajervarya limnocharia, Chanda, 2002, Hand book Indian Amphibians, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata Publication: 274 (Rajasthan). Limnonectus limnocharis, Sharma & Gaur, 2005, In: Changing faunal ecology in the Thar Desert (Eds. Tyagi, B. K. & Baqri, Q. H.), Scientific Publishers, pp. 61-84 (Jodhpur, Nagaur, Pali, Sirohi). Diagnostic Features: Moderate sized frog; stout; head as long as broad; tympanum distinct, nearly ½ eye diameter; canthus rostralis obtuse; vomerine teeth in two oblique series. 1st finger longer than 2nd, 3rd longest, 4th shortest and almost equal to 2nd ; toes slightly swollen at tips, half-webbed, subarticular tubercles distinct, inner metatarsal tubercle oblong, outer rounded. Skin with longitudinal glands above and smooth below, anal region glandular. Colouration: Greenish or 123rnate123-olive with dark spots, ‘V-shaped’ marking between eyes and sometimes a pale vertebral streak on dorsal side, whitish below. Sexual Dimorphism: Males smaller than females, with vocal sacs, nuptial pad on inner side of 1st finger and generally bear ‘M-shaped’ black marking on throat. Males with loud voice, choruses formed at breeding grounds. Distribution: Thar Desert State: Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan. Western Himalaya: Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand. Elsewhere: India (throughout & Himalaya up to 2133.6 m), Bangladesh, Borneo, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand. Consevation Status: Least Concern under IUCN Red List. Remarks: Tadpoles are characterized by light coloured body and little pigmented tail, moderately dorso-ventrally compressed, ovoid from above, tail relatively short, brown or grey above, silvery below. Dinesh et al. (2009) considered it assemblage of ‘cryptic taxa’. Genus: Hoplobatrachus Peters

6.

Hoplobatrachus tigerinus (Daudin)

Bull Frog Rana tigerina Daudin, 1803, Hist. Rain. Gren. Crap. : 64, pl. XX (type-locality: “Bengale” (West Bengal), India).

123

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Type-specimen: At Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Laboratoire des Amphibians et Reptiles, Paris, France. (now lost). Rana tigrina, Mc Cann, 1943, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 206-217 (Abu hills, Sirohi district). Rana tigrina, Mansukhani, 1964, Rec. zool. Surv. India, 62(1-4): 51-60, 1 pl (Ganganagar, Jaipur, Nagaur & Udaipur districts). Rana tigrina, Sharma, 1995, Flora & Fauna, 1(1): 47-48 (Alwar, Banswara, Bharatpur, Dausa, Dungarpur, Ganganagar, Jaipur, Nagore, Sirohi, S. Madhopur, Udaipur, ie. Whole Rajasthan). Rana tigerina, Sharma, 1996, in Faunal Diversity in the Thar Desert: Gaps in Research (Eds. Ghosh, A. K., Baqri, Q. H. & Prakash, I.). Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur: 297-306 (Thar Desert). Rana tigerina, Chanda, 2002, Hand book Indian Amphibians, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata Publication: 136-141, 271 (Rajasthan). Hoplobatrachus tigerinus, Sharma & Gaur, 2005, In: Changing faunal ecology in the Thar Desert (Eds. Tyagi, B. K. & Baqri, Q. H.), Scientific Publishers, pp. 61-84 (Hanumangarh, Jalore, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Sikar, Sirohi, Sri Ganganagar). Hoplobatrachus tigerinus, Dinesh et al, 2009, A Checklist of Amphibia of India, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata Publication: 24-25. Diagnostic Features: Largest of all Indian frogs, head moderate, broader than long, canthus rostralis obtuse, interorbital space narrower than upper eyelid, tympanum distinct, 2/3rd eye diameter, vomerine teeth rows obliquely placed. Fingers with distinct subarticular tubercles, 1st finger longer than 2nd, 3rd longest, 4th almost equal to 2nd or slightly longer; toes entirely webbed, tips somewhat swollen, metatarsals separated, subarticular tubercles distinct; inner metatarsal tubercle distinct, oblong; outer absent. Skin smooth, with longitudinal glandular folds on dorsal side, smooth below, anal region and limb warty. Colouration: olive brown above with irregular dark spots and a yellowish vertebral stripe, pale below. Juveniles bear a yellowish lateral band behind eye which disappears in adults. Sexual Dimorphism: Males with vocal sacs and a nuptial pad on inner side of 1st finger. Distribution: Thar Desert State: Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan. Western Himalaya: Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand. Elsewhere: India (throughout from base of Himalaya, except Meghalaya), Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Malysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand. Conservation Status: Least Concern under IUCN Red List, 3.1. Remarks: Tadpoles with globular head and body and well blotched longer tail. Genus: Sphaerotheca Gunther

7. Sphaerotheca breviceps (Schneider)

Burrowing Frog Rana breviceps Schneider, 1799, Hist. Amph. Nat.: 140 Type-locality: “Indes Orientales”; “probablement de Tranquebar (Tamil Nadu; 11° 02´ N, 79° 51´ E), India”). Type-specimen: At Universitat Humboldt, Zoologisches Museum, Invalidenstrasse (ZMB 3351), Berlin, Germany. Rana breviceps, Mansukhani, 1964, Rec. zool. Surv. India, 62(1-4): 51-60, 1 pl (Jodhpur, Nagaur & Udaipur districts).

124

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Rana breviceps, Sharma, 1995, Flora & Fauna, 1(1): 47-48 (Jaipur, Nagore, Pali, Sirohi, Udaipur – north-eastern and southern Rajasthan). Rana breviceps, Sharma, 1996, In: Faunal Diversity in the Thar Desert: Gaps in Research (Eds. Ghosh, A. K., Baqri, Q. H. & Prakash, I.). Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur: 297-306 (Thar Desert). Tomopterna breviceps, Chanda, 2002, Hand book Indian Amphibians, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata Publication: 142-143, 271 (Rajasthan). Tomopterna breviceps, Sharma & Gaur, 2005, In: Changing faunal ecology in the Thar Desert (Eds. Tyagi, B. K. & Baqri, Q. H.), Scientific Publishers, pp. 61-84 (Jodhpur, Nagaur, Pali). Sphaerotheca breviceps, Dinesh et al, 2009, A Checklist of Amphibia of India, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata Publication: 34-35. Diagnostic Features: Body short, head broader than long, canthus rostralis obtuse, tympanum distinct, oval; vomerine teeth in two oblique patches; tongue deeply notched. 1st finger longer than 2nd, 3rd as long as 1st or slightly longer, 4th shortest, 1st finger with large and round subarticular tubercle on palmer surface, subarticular tubercles on 2nd , 3rd and 4th almost equal in size and quite distinct; toes half-webbed, inner metatarsal tubercle shovel-shaped, no outer tubercle. Skin smooth with elongated tubercles on dorsal side, glandular ventrally. Colouration: variable, brick-red or yellowish-brown with dark patches and with or without vertebral streak dorsally, immaculate ventrally. Sexual Dimorphism: Males smaller than females but stouter, with vocal sacs and dark brown or blackish throat. Distribution: Thar Desert State: Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan. Western Himalaya: Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhnd. Elsewhere: India (throughout), Mayanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka. Consevation Status: Least Concern under IUCN Red List 3.1. Remarks: Tail of Tadpole is well marked with brownish patches. Family: Microhylidae Gunther Subfamily: Microhylinae Gunther Genus: Microhyla Taschudi

8. Microhyla ornata (Dumeril & Bibron)

Narrow-mouthed Ornate Frog Engystoma ornatum Dumeril & Bibron, 1841, Erp. Gen., 8: 745 (type-locality: “cote Malabar”, India). Type-specimen: At Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHNP 5035), Rue Cuvier, Paris, France. Microhyla ornata, Mc Cann, 1943, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 206-217 (Abu hills, Sirohi district). Microhyla ornata, Mansukhani, 1964, Rec. Zool. Surv. India, 62(1-4): 51-60, 1 pl (Pali & Sirohi districts). Microhyla ornata, Sharma, 1995, Flora & Fauna, 1(1): 47-48 (Chittorgarh, Pali, Sirohi, Udaipur – southern Rajasthan).

125

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Microhyla 126rnate, Sharma, 1996, In: Faunal Diversity in the Thar Desert: Gaps in Research (eds. Ghosh, A. K, Baqri, Q. H. & Prakash, I.). Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur: 297-306 (Thar Desert). Microhyla 126rnate, Chanda, 2002, Hand book Indian Amphibians, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata Publication: 41-42, 271 (Rajasthan). Microhyla ornate, Sharma & Gaur, 2005, In: Changing faunal ecology in the Thar Desert (Eds. Tyagi, B. K. & Baqri, Q. H.), Scientific Publishers, pp. 61-84 (Jodhpur, Pali, Sirohi). Diagnostic Features: Small-sized frog, head longer than broad, interorbital space greater than upper eyelid; canthus rostralis obtuse, straight; tympanum invisible, tongue entire, teeth absent. Finger and toe tips dilated into very small discs, fingers free, 1st shorter than 2nd, toes with rudimentary web, subarticular tubercles distinct, two metatarsal tubercles, inner elongated, outer rounded, tibiotarsal articulation reaching hind edge of eye. Skin smooth with fine tubercles on dorsal side and anal region. Colouration: Redish or grayish brown with a characteristic arrow-shaped dark marking on back. Sexual Dimorphism: Males smaller than females, with subgular vocal sacs and densely pigmented ventral side during breeding season. Distribution: Thar Desert State: Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan. Rare in Thar, recorded from eastern fringe (Sharma, 1996). Western Himalaya: Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand. Elsewhere: India (throughout including Andaman & Nicobar Islands, from Cape to Himalyan base- up to 1524 m), Argentina (Formosa), China (Hainan), Indo-China, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Siam, Sri Lanka, Tonkin, Vietnam (Cochin-China). Conservatin Status: Least Concern under IUCN Red List 3.1. Remarks: Tadpoles with head and body depressed anteriorly; tail about 1 ½ times longer. Genus: Uperodon Dumeril & Bibron

9. Uperodon systoma (Schneider)

Marbled Balloon Frog Rana systoma Schneider, 1799, Hist. Amph. Nat., I: 144 (type-locality: “India orientali”). Type-specimen: At Universitat Humboldt, Zoologisches Museum, Invalidenstrasse (ZMB 3551), Berlin, Germany. Uperodon systoma, Sharma, 1992, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 89(1): 133-134 (first record from Rajasthan). Uperodon systoma, Sharma, 1995, Flora & Fauna, 1(1): 47-48 (Jaipur, Udaipur – eastern and southern Rajasthan). Uperodon systoma, Akhtar & Sharma, 2010, National Seminar on Impact of Climate Changes on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert, Abstracts: 119-120. Organized by Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Jodhpur on July 9, 2010 (Todgarh Raoli Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajasthan). Characters: Stout and robust frog, head small, tympanum hidden, canthus rostralis indistinct, interorbital space wide, about twice that of eyelid. Fingers free, 1st finger slightly longer than 2nd which almost equal to 4th, 3rd longest; toes with rudimentary web, 1st toe smallest, 4th longest.; subarticular tubercles indistinct; two strong, compressed and shovel-shaped metatarsal tubercles, inner larger. Skin smooth above, anal region glandular. Colouration: Dark brown, marbled above, immaculate below. Sexual Dimorphism: Males smaller than females, with dark vocal sacs. Distribution:

126

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Thar Deser State: Gujarat, Rajasthan. Western Himalaya: Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand. Elsewhere: India (throughout), Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka. Conservation Status: Least Concern under IUCN Red List. Remarks: Tadpole with squarish head and body; light brown and well blotched.

Abbreviations used: IUCN= International Union for Conservation of Nature. CITES= Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author feels grateful to the Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata for encouragement and the Officer-in-Charge, NRC, ZSI, Dehra Dun for library facility. The author is also thankful to Mr. C. Radhakrishnan, Scientist-F & Officer-in-Charge, WGRC, ZSI, Kozhikode (Calicut) for help on some literature.

REFERENCES Akhtar, T. and Sharma, A. 2010. Amphibian and Reptile Biodiversity in Thodgarh-Raoli Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajasthan, National Seminar on Impact of Climate Changes on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert, Abstracts: 119-120. Organized by Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Jodhpur. Bahuguna, A. and Bhutia, P. T. 2010. Amphibia: in Fauna of Uttarakhand, State Fauna Series, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata Publication. 18(1): 505-532. Bohra, P., Tak, N., Bhargava, R. N. and Rathore, N. S. 1983. Frogs of the Indian desert with illustrated key to their field identification. Trans. Isdt. & Ucds., 8(2): 113-118. Chanda, S. K. 1994. Anuran (Amphibia) Fauna of Northeast India, Mem. Zool. Surv. India, 18 (2): 1-143. Chanda, S. K. 2002. Hand book Indian Amphibians. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata Publication. 1-313. Chanda, S. K. 2004. Fauna of Desert National Park. Conservation Area Series, Zoological Survey of India. 19: 109-110. Chopra, R. N. 1977. Amphibian Fauna of Corbett National Park (U. P.), Newsl. Zool. Surv. India, 3(4): 215-217. Dinesh, K. P., Radhakrishnan, C., Gururaja, K. V. and Bhatta, G. 2009. An annotated checklist of Amphibia of India with some insights into the patterns of species discoveries, distribution and endemism. Rec. Zool. Surv. India, Occa. Paper. 302: 1-152. Dinesh, K. P., Radhakrishnan, C., Gururaja, K. V. and Bhatta, G. 2010. A checklist of amphibians of India – update till July 2010. Online Version. Frost, D. R. 2010. Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 5.4 (8 April, 2010). Electronic Database accessible at http://research.amnh.org/vz/herpetology/ Amphibian/ American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA. Husain, A. 1994. Faunal Analysis: Amphibia. Goriganga Hydel Project: Environmental Impact Assessment Study, Zoological Survey of India. 50-58. Husain, A. 1997. Amphibia. In: Fauna of Delhi, State Fauna Series, Zoological Survey of India Publication. 6: 653-663, figs. 1-6. Husain, A. 2000. Fauna of Govind Vanya Jeev Vihar, Uttar Pradesh: Amphibia. Fauna of Conservation Areas Series, Zoological Survey of India Publication. 1-6. Husain, A. 2003. Amphibia. In: Fauna of Asan Wetland, Wetland Ecosystem Series, Zoological Survey of India Publication. 5: 27-28.

127

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Husain, A. and Joshi, A. K. 1998. Amphibia. Panchuli Multidimentional Expedition, 1998, Sappers Adventure Foundation, Corps of Engineers, Indian Army, New Delhi, Report: 8, figs 8-9. (in p. 82). Zoological Survey of India, Dehra Dun. Mansukhani, M. R. and Murthy, T. S. N. 1964. Fauna of Rajasthan, India, Part 6. Amphibia. Rec. zool. Surv. India, 62(1-4): 51-60. Mc Cann, C. 1943. A “Bushman’s holiday” in the Abu hills. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 43(2): 206217. Mehta, H. S. 2005. Amphibia: Fauna of Western Himalaya, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata. (Part-2): 269-274. Ray, P. 1995, Amphibia, in Fauna of Western Himalaya, Part 1, Uttar Pradesh, Himalayan Ecosystem Series, Zoological Survey of India: 151-157. Ray, P. 1999. Systematic studies on Amphibian fauna of the district Dehra Dun, uttar Pradesh, India. Mem. Zool. Surv. India, 18(3): 1-102. Ray, P. and Tilak, R. 1995. Amphibia. In: Fauna of Rajaji National Park, Fauna of Conservation Areas, Zoological Survey of India Publication. 5: 55-75. Sharma, R. C. 1996. Herpetology of the Thar Desert In: Faunal Diversity in the Thar Desert: Gaps in Research. (Eds. Ghosh, A. K., Baqri, Q. H. & Prashad, I). Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur. pp. 297-306. Sharma, S. K. 1992. First record of Uperodon systoma from Rajasthan. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 89(1): 133-134. Sharma, S. K. 1995. An overview of the amphibians and reptilian fauna of Rajasthan. Flora & Fauna, 1(1): 47-48. Sharma, R. C. and Gaur, S. 2005. Changing ecology and faunal diversity of amphibians and reptiles in Thar Desert of Rajasthan, India. In: Changing Faunal Ecology in the Thar Desert. (Eds.Tyagi, B. K. and Baqri, Q. H.). Scientific Publishers. pp.61-84. Tilak, R. and Husain, A. 1977. Extension of the range of distribution of a microhylid frog, Uperodon systoma (Scheinder). J. Bombay nat. Hist Soc., 73(2): 407-408. Waltner, R. C. 1974. Geographical and altitudinal distribution of amphibians and reptiles in the Western Himalaya, Cheetal, 16(1): 17-25.

128

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THAR DESERT AND WESTERN HIMALAYAN REPTILES WITH CONSERVATION STATUS OF THREATENED SPECIES AKHLAQ HUSAIN* AND GAURAV SHARMA** *

41, Hari Vihar, Vijay Park, Dehra Dun-248 001 (Uttarakhand)/ Earlier Address: Zoological Survey of India, Northern Regional Centre, Kaulagarh Road, Dehra Dun- 248 195. ** Zoological Survey of India, Desert Regional Centre, Jodhpur- 342 005 (Rajasthan, India). e-mail: *[email protected]; **[email protected]

ABSTRACT: In the present study the reptilian fauna of Thar Desert has been compared with that in Western Himalaya. The occurrence of species common to both the areas is found to be significant from zoogeographical point of view. The conservation status of the species, threatened, has also been provided. KEY WORDS: Reptiles, Conservation Status, Thar, Western Himalayan.

INRODUCTION The Indian part of Thar Desert lies between 24o30’ N-30o N Latitude and 69o30’-76o E Longitude and with a spread of 2,08,110 Km 2 into four states viz. Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab with its major portion (61%) in the state of Rajasthan. It is bounded on the north-west by River Sutlej, on the north-east by Himalayan Plains, on the south-east by Aravalli Mountain Range, in the south by salt marshes of Rann of Kachh and in the west by Indus River Plains. It is peculiar, being situated in the unique biogeographical location where a conglomeration of Saharan, Turanian, Oriental and Peninsular biological taxa exist. Further, despite its harsh climatic conditions (temperature range between -2.0o and 51.0o Celsius, annual rain fall around100-500 mm and less than 1% forest cover), it is rich in its biodiversity, especially the reptilian community which may be due to its diverse ecosystem. It has attracted the attention of various workers (Stoliczka, 1872; Blanford, 1875, 1876, 1879; McCann, 1938; Acharya, 1949; Daniel and Skull, 1963; Rathore, 1970; Prakash, 1971,1972, 2001; Sharma, 1974, 1975, 1982, 1998, 2002, 2003; Sharma and Dikshit, 1976; Sharma and Vazirani, 1977; Krishna, 1975; Krishna and Dave, 1960; Biswas & Sanyal, 1977; Roonwal, 1982; Tikader and Sharma, 1985, 1992; Bhupaty & Kumar, 1988; Bhupaty & Vijayan, 1991; Sharma, 1993, 1994; Sharma, 1995; Bhatt et al., 1999; Gayen, 1999; Nande and Deshmukh, 2007; Pratap et al., 2010; Akhtar and Sharma, 2010, Vyas, 2004, 2006, 2010a,b; Bhatnagar and Mahur, 2010) during the past. In the present study fauna of the desert and its vicinity has been dealt. On the other hand, the fauna of Western Himalaya, especially the Uttarakhand State has been equally worked out (Wall, 1906; Walton, 1911; Bhatnagar, 1969, 1972; Chopra, 1979, 1995; Sanyal and Talukdar, 1977; Sanyal et al., 1979; Osmaston and Sale, 1989; Husain, 2003, 2004; Husain and Ray, 1993a, b, 1997; Bahuguna and Padmanaban, 2007, Bahuguna, 2010). Waltner (1974) studied the geographical and altitudinal distribution of amphibians and reptiles in the Himalaya. Forest Division Working Plans of Uttarakhand and around (1970-80) also possess some faunal information. However, the faunistic works on Thar by Sharma (1996), Sharma and Gaur (2005), Sharma and Mehra (2009), Gaur (2009) and Western Himalaya by Husain and Ray (1995), Husain and Tilak (1995 a, b), Bahuguna (2010) are worth mentioning.

129

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Tikader and Sharma (1985, 1992) dealt with Testudines and Lizards of India respectively, Sharma (1998, 2002, 2003) on Testudines & Corocodilians, Sauria and Snakes respectively of India with some distrubutional information of some species in Rajasthan and other Thar Desert states.

RESULTS

SYSTEMATIC ACCOUNT AND CONSEVATION STATUS OF SPECIES (A). CROCODILES Total Species: 2, from Thar Desert: 2, from Western Himalaya (Uttarakhand): 2 (Table 1). Species Common to Thar Desert and Western Himalaya: 2, Crocodylus palustris is reported from Jawai Dam, Sirohi and Jamwa Ramgarh, Jaipur in Rajasthan. As regards further record from Rajasthan, Sharma (1995) recorded it from Chambal river and water bodies in southern Rajasthan. Recently Bhatnagar and Mahur (2010) made observations on its feeding behavior in Baghdarra Lake, Udaipur. In Western Himalaya (Uttarakhand) it inhabits river Ramganga, passing through the Corbett Tiger Reserve. Gavialis gangeticus is recorded from Chambal river, Rajasthan (Sharma, 1995) and River Ranganga in Corbett Tiger Reserve, Uttarakhand.

Consrvation Status: IUCN: Crocodylus palustris Vulnerable; Gavialis gangeticus Endangered. IWPA: Crocodylus palustris, Gavialis gangeticus Schedule I. ZSI: Crocodylus palustris, Gavialis gangeticus Endangered. Endemic to Thar Desert: None.

Sl. No. 1

2

Total

Table-1. Crocodiles: Thar Desert and Western Himalaya. Species with classification Thar West. Conservation Status Desert Himal. Order: Crocodylia jpr,sir, g,n. IWPA: Schedule I Family: Crocodylidae upr. ctr IUCN Red List: Vulnerable. Red Data Book ZSI: Endangered. Crocodylus palustris Lesson Marsh Crocodile, Magar CITES: Appendix I. Family: Gavialidae cr g,n. IWPA: Schedule I. ctr. IUCN Red List: Endangered. Gavialus gangeticus (Gmelin) Long-snouted Crocodile, Gharial Red Data Book, ZSI: Endangered. CITES: Appendix I. Common 1 2 2 EN / VU: 2.

(B). LIZARDS Total Species: 43, from Thar Desert: 37, from Western Himalaya (Uttarakhand): 21 (Table 2). Species Common to Thar Desert and Western Himalaya: 15, viz. Calotes versicolor, Sitana ponticeriana, Cryptopodion lawderanus, Hemidactylus brookii, H. flaviviridis, H. leschenaulti, Eublepharis hardwickii, Ophisops jerdoni, Eumeces taeniolatus, Mabuya carinata, M.

130

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert dissimilis, M. macularia, Lygosoma albopunctata, L. punctata and Varanus bengalensis are common to both areas. Remarks: The distribution of Eublepharis hardwickii in Thar and Western Himalaya and elsewhere is as per Tikader and Sharma (1992: 12-13). These authors found Cryptopodion scaber, Hemidactylus brooki and H. flaviviridis in harmonious existence in Rajasthan. Prakash (2001) recorded Chaemeleo zeylanicus, a peninsular species, from Bhopalgarh (26o55’ N and 73o5’ E) which fall in 250 mm rain zone. Vyas (2010a) reported Lysosoma albopunctata and L. punctata from Vansda National Park, Gujarat and also shown its distribution in Uttarakhand. Conservation Status: Endengered / Vulnerable: 9 species. IUCN: Japalura kumaonensis and J. major Critically Endangered; Uromastix hardwickii, Chamaeleo zeylanicus, Cyrtopodion faciolatus, C. lawderanus, Varanus bengalensis and V. flavescens Vulnerable. IWPA: Varanus bengalensis and V. grieseus Schedule I, II; V.flavescens Schedule I. ZSI: Varanus bengalensis Endangered. Endemic to Thar Desert: 2 species, viz. Phrynocephalus laungwalansis and Ablepharus grayanus (Pratap et al., 2010). Endemic to Indian Sub-Region: 7 species, viz. Sitana ponticeriana, Chaemeleo zeylanicus, Eublepharis hardwickii, Mabuya carinata, Lygosoma albopunctata, L. punctata and Varanus flavescens (Tikades and Sharma, 1992).

Table-2. Lizards: Thar Desert and Western Himalaya. Sl. No. 1.

2.

Species with classification Order: Squamata Suborder: Sauria Family:Agamidae Subfamily: Agaminae Brachysaura minor (Hardwicke & Gray) Hardwicke’s Blood Sucker Calotis versicolor versicolor (Daudin) Garden Lizard

3.

Japalura kumaonensis (Annandale) Kumaon Mountain Lizard

4.

J. major (Jerdon) Large Mountain Lizard Laudakia nupta fusca (Blanford) Yellow-headed Rock Agama Laudakia tuberculata (Gray) =Agama tuberculata Gray Rock Lizard

5. 6.

Thar Desert jun,kch.

West. Himal. -

Notes / Status

ajr,bmr, bkr,jpr, jsr,jdr, ngr,pli, sir. ban,jam, jun,kch, meh, rkt, sbr. -

d,t,g,u, c,n,a,p. ctr,rnp

SVL: 8.6-12.9, tail 30.0-35.0 cm.

d,n,a,p. ctr

-

d,t,g, u,c. -

SVL: 6.0, tail 15.5 cm. IUCN: Critically Endangerd (CR) / N. SVL: 8.5, tail 15.5 cm. IUCN: CR . IUCN Red List Status: Not Evaluated 30-1950 m. SVL: 14.0, tail 25.0 cm. IUCN: LR-lc / N.

td. -

131

d,t,g,u, c,n,a,p. abcc,ctr, gws,rnp,

SVL: 5.3-9.0, tail 4.5-8.6 cm. IUCN: LR-lc / N.

IUCN: LR-nt / N.

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

7.

8.

Phrynocephalus euptilopus Alcock & Finn Sand Toad Agama, Diural Toad Agama P. laungwalansis Sharma Jaisalmer Toad Agama

9.

Sitana ponticeriana Cuvier Fan-throated Lizard

10.

Trapelus agilis (Olivier) =Agama agilis Olivier Brilliant Ground Agama Uromastix hardwickii Gray Hardwicke’s Spiny-tailed Lizard

11.

jsr.

ndbr -

SVL: 6.0, tail 6.5 cm. Abundant in western Jaisalmer.

jsr, mnt abu (sir.) kach. ajr,jpr, jun,kch, rkt

-

SVL: 2.9-6.9, tail 1.5-4.2 cm. Diurnal. Endemic to Thar.

+

SVL: 4.0-8.0, tail 6.0-17.0 cm. IUCN: LR-lc / N. Endemic to Indian sub-Region.

bmr, bkr, gnr,jsr, jdr,ngr. bkr, gnr, jlr,jsr, jdr,pli. kch,sgr. bgr (jdr). ban,kch.

-

SVL: 10.5, tail 16.0 cm. IUCN: DD.

-

SVL: 16.6-24.0, tail 14.3-20.7 cm. IUCN: Vulnerable / N. CITES: Appendix II.

-

12.

Family: Chamaeleonidae Chamaeleo zeylanicus Laurenti Indian Chameleon

13.

Family: Gekkonidae Subfamily: Eublepharinae Crossobamon lumsdeni (Boulenger) C. orientalis (Blanford) Dwarf Gecko Subfamily: Gekkoninae Cyrtopodion faciolatus (Blyth) Banded Bent-toed Gecko C. fedtschenkoi (Strauch) Turkish Rock Gecko C. kachhensis (Stoliczka) Kutch Warty Rock Gecko C. lawderanus (Stoliczka) Lawder’s Bent-toed Gecko C. scaber (Hyden) Keeled Rock Gecko C. watsoni (Murray) Watson’s Gecko Eublepharis hardwickii Gray Hardwicke’s Fat-tailed Gecko

wr

-

SVL: 17.5, tail 20.0 cm. IUCN: VU / N. CITES: Appendix II. IWPA: Schedule II. Endemic to Indian sub-Region. -

bmr, bkr, jsr,jdr. -

-

SVL: 4.0-5.5, tail 3.5-5.0 cm. SVL: 8.2, tail 11.0 cm. IUCN: Vulnerable.

ajr

t,g, n,a. ctr. -

SVL: 4.2-5.0, tail 6.5 cm

kch

-

SVL: 3.4-4.4, tail 4.0 cm

har.

g,a. ctr -

SVL: 4.0-5.5, tail 3.8-5.0 cm. IUCN: Vulnerable. SVL: 5.0, tail 6.7 cm. IUCN: DD / N. -

raj.

west. himal.

22.

E. macularius Blyth Leopard Ground Gecko

-

23.

Hemidactylus brookii Gray Brook’s House Gecko

bmr,bkr, jsr,ngr, pli ajr,jpr, jsr,jdr, ngr,sir, pli. jam,kch, rkt,sbr.

14. 15.

16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21.

bkr,jsr, jdr td

132

-

d,t,g,u, c,n,a,p. ctr,rnp

SVL: 11.0, tail 8.5 cm. IUCN: DD / N. Endemic to Indian sub-Region. IUCN: LR-lc / N.

SVL: 1.4-6.0, tail 1.7-7.5 cm. IUCN: LR-lc / N.

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 24.

H. flaviviridis Ruppell Yellow-bellied House Gecko

25.

H. leschenaulti Dumeril & Bibron Common Bark Gecko H. triedrus (Daudin) Termite-hill Gecko Family: Lacertidae Acanthodactylus cantoris cantoris Gunther Indian Fringe-fingered Lizard

26. 27.

28. 29.

Ermias guttulata watsonana Stoliczka Long-tailed Desert Lacerta Ophisops jerdonii Blyth Jerdon’s Snake-eye

30.

O. microlepis (Blanford) Cobra-eyed Lizard

31.

Family: Scincidae Ablepharus grayanus (Stoliczka) Minor Snake-eyed Skink Dwarf Earless Skink Eumeces taeniolatus (Blyth) Alpine Punjab Skink

32.

33.

34.

35.

36. 37.

38.

39.

40.

Lygosoma albopunctata (Gray) Brown Dwarf Skink White-spotted Supple Skink Lygosoma punctata (Gmelin) Dotted Garden Skink

Mabuya carinata (Schneider) =Eutropis carinata (Schneider) Keeled Indian Mabuya Mabuya dissimilis (Hallowell) Striped Grass Skink M. macularia (Blyth) =E. macularia (Blyth) Bronze Mabuya Ophiomorus raithmai Anderson & Leviton Raithmai Skink O. tridactylus (Blyth) Three-toed Snake Skink Indian Sand-swimmer Scincella himalayanum (Gunther)

ajr,bmr, bkr,chu, jpr,jsr, jdr,ngr, pli. jam,rkt. bmr,jsr, ngr,sir. ajr,jdr

d,t,g,u, c,n,a,p. ctr,rnp

SVL: 4.2-9.0 cm, tail 3.8-9.0 cm. IUCN: LR-lc / N.

d.

SVL: 3.2-8.3 cm, tail 3.1-8.3 cm. IUCN: LR-lc / N. SVL: 6.5-8.0, tail 6.3-9.0 cm. IUCN: Lr-lc / N. SVL: 6.4-7.6, tail 11.5-18.5 cm. IUCN: LR-nt.

-

ajr,bmr, bkr,jpr, jsr,jdr, ngr,sir. jam,jun. td

-

jsr,jdr, sir. jam, jun, kch,rkt. jdr,pli. jam,kch, rkt. mt. abu (sir.). kch.

rnp

bmr,jsr, jdr. pli. vnp.

d,p,n. gws

jpr. vnp.

d,p,n. ctr, rnp.

bmr,jdr, pli. jam,jun. ajr

d,p,n.

SVL 12.5, tail 16.5 cm. IUCN: LR-nt / N.

rnp d,p,n. rnp

Lays 6-7 eggs. IUCN: DD / N. SVL 6.0-7.5, tail 11.0-14.0 cm. IUCN: LR-lc / N.

-

Max. 9.9 cm.

-

SVL: 7.1-10.5, tail 8.0 cm. Found in sandy desert tracts. IUCN: DD / N. SVL 6.5, tail 9.3 cm

ajr,bmr, jdr,pli. kch. bmr,jdr, ngr. guj. bmr,jdr, ngr.kch -

133

-

SVL: 5.5, tail 9.0 cm. IUCN: DD / N. SVL 4.5, tail 9.0 cm. IUCN: DD / N.

-

SVL 6.5, tail 14.5 cm. IUCN: LR-lc.

-

SVL 3.0, tail 5.5 cm. Mount Abu: 1,164 m elevation. Endemic to Thar. IUCN: DD. SVL 12.0-15.0, tail 18.0 cm. IUCN: DD / N.

uk.

d,t,p,u,

SVL: 6.0 cm. IUCN: LR-lc / N. Endemic to Indian sub-Region. SVL 8.6, tail 9.2 cm. IUCN: LR-lc / N. Endemic to Indian sub-Region.

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Himalayan Ground Skink 41.

Family: Varanidae Varanus (Empagusia) bengalensis (Daudin) Bengal Monitor, Common Monitor

42.

V. (Empagusia) flavescens (Hardwicke & Gray), Yellow Monitor

43.

V. (Psammosauru) griseus (Daudin) Desert Monitor Common: 15

Total

ajr, bkr, jsr,jdr, ngr,pli, sir. jam,jun, kch,meh. trws. -

bkr,jsr, jpr. 37

c,n,a,p. ctr. d,p,u, a,n,p. ctr,rnp.

IUCN: DD / N.

p.

SVL: 36.0, tail 46.0 cm. IUCN 2.3: Least Concern. IUCN: Vulnerable / N (BCCPCAMP Report, 1997). CITES: Appendix I. IWPA: Schedule I. Endemic to Indian sub-Region. SVL: 52.0, 80.0 cm. IWPA: Schedule I, II CR / ED / VUL / S I: 9

21

SVL: 72.0-75.0, tail 1.0 m (wt. 7.18 kg). IWPA: Schedule I., II. Red Data Book, ZSI: Endangered. CITES: Appendix I. IUCN: VU / N.

(C). SNAKES Total Species: 56, from Thar Desert: 34, from Western Himalaya (Uttarakhand): 44 (Table 3). Species Common to Thar Desert and Western Himalaya: 22, viz. Eryx johni johni, Gongylophis conicus, Ahaetulla nasuta, Argyrogena fasciolata, A. rhodorachis, Coelognathus helena helena, Platypus ventromaculatus ventromaculatus, Ptyas mucosus, Spalerosophis diadema articeps, Lycodon aulicus, Bungarus caeruleus, Naja naja, N. oxiana, Boiga trigonata, Elachistodon westermanni, Amphiesma stolata, Xenochrophis piscator, Python molurus molurus, Ramphotyphlops braminus, Typhlops porrectus, Echis carinatus carinatus and Daboia russelli. Murthy et al. (1993) believed Elachistodon westermanni to be ‘extinct’. In view of this the report of this rarely found, E. westermanni, the Indian Egg-eater, from Maharashtra (Wardha) (Captain, et al., 2005) is interesting. Vyas (2006, 2010b) reported it from Gujarat and quoted its records (Smith, 1943; Daniel, 2002) from Bihar, Uttarakhand and West Bengal (India), Bangladesh and Nepal. This is further extension of its range to south-westwards. Tillack et al. (2002) while dealing with the distribution etc. of Ovophis monticola monticola, the Mountain Pit Viper, quoted its record from Uttarakhand. Conservation Status: Endengered/ Vulnerable: 13 species. IUCN: Spalerosophis arenarius, Trachischium fuscum, Elachistodon westermanni, Lycodon mackinnoni, Boiga multifasciata and Amphiesma platyceps, Vulnerable; Naja oxiana Critically Endangered. IUCN-SSC: Elachistodon westermanni Vulnerable (Mukerjee, 1982).

Elachistodon westermanni Schedule I, IV, Xenochrophis piscator, Naja naja, N. oxiana, Ophiophagus hanna, Daboia russelli Schedule II IWPA: Python mulurus molurus Schedule I, Ptyas mucosus Schedule II,

ZSI: Python molurus molurus Endangered. Endemic to Thar Desert: Lytorhynchus paradoxus (Pratap et al., 2010).

134

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Table-3. Snakes: Thar Desert and Western Himalaya. SL. No.

Species with classification

Thar Desert

West. Himal.

Notes / Conservation Status

1.

Suborder: Serpentes Family: Boidae Eryx johnii (Russell) Red Sand Boa, Brown Sand Boa

ajr,bkr, jpr, jdr,pli. jun. pnj.

g,n. ctr, rnp

2.

Gongylophis conicus (Schneider) Rough-scaled Sand Boa, Rough-tailed Sand Boa

jdr,pli.

g,n. ctr.

3.

Family: Colubridae Subfamily: Colubrinae Ahaetulla nasuta (Lacepede) Common Whip Snake Argyrogena fasciolata (Shaw), Banded Racer Argyrogena rhodorachis (Jan) Braid Snake Coelognathus helena helena (Daudin) Trinket Snake

sir.

d. rnp.

bmr,jsr.

ctr.

td

g,n. ctr d,g,u, a,a. rnp

Length: 61.0-91.0 cm, 1.2 m, males shorter. Plains and hills (up to 600 m). Nocturnal and burrowing. IUCN: LR-lc / N. CITES: Appendix II. IWPA: Schedule IV. Total length: 99.0 cm; tail 7.6 cm. Plains to 900 m. IUCN: LR-nt / N. IWPA: Schedule IV. Length: 2.0 m, males shorter. Viviparous. Plains and hills (up to 2,500 m). IUCN: LR-nt. Max. Length 1.2 m. IUCN: LR-nt / N. IUCN: NE. / N. Plains to 1800 m. Length: 1.3 m, tail 25.4 cm, males shorter. Common between 500-2000 m. IUCN: LR-nt / N. WPA: Schedule IV. Length: 1.5-1.8 m, max. 2.13, females shorter. Plains to 2700 m IUCN: LR-lc / N. IWPA: Schedule IV. IUCN: LR-lc. Upto 800 m. Length: 1.22 m, tail 22.8 cm. IUCN: LR-nt / N. IWPA: Schedule IV. Male 33.5, tail 10.8; Female 39.0, tail 10.0 cm. IUCN: LR-nt / N. IWPA: Schedule IV. 35.6 cm, tail 5.0-7.6 cm. Endemic to Thar. IUCN Red List: NE. Length: 1.1 m, females slightly shorter. Plains to 1800 m. IUCN: LR-lc / N. IWPA: Schedule IV. Length: 99.0 cm, tail 30.5 cm. IUCN: LR-nt / N. WPA: Schedule IV. Length: Male 42.0, female 45.0 cm without tail. IUCN: LR-nt / N. IWPA: Schedule IV.

4. 5. 6.

ajr,sir. guj.

7.

C. radiatus (Boie) Radiated Rat Snake, Copper-head Rat Snake

-

d. rnp.

8.

Dendrelaphis tristis (Daudin). Daudin’s Bronze-back Gonyosoma hodgsoni (Gunther) Himalayan Trinket Snake

sr

-

-

ctr

10.

Liopeltis calamaria (Gunther) Calamaria Reed Snake

-

a.

11.

Lytorhynchus paradoxus (Gunther) Long-nose Sand Snake

td.

-

12.

Platyceps ventromaculatus ventromaculatus (Gray) Glossy-bellied Racer

bkr,jpr, jdr,jsr.

g,n,a. ctr, rnp.

13.

Psammophis leithi Gunther Leith’s Sand Racer, Pakistan Sand Racer P. schokari (Forskal) Schokari Sand Racer Forskal Sand Racer

raj. jam,kch.

-

bkr,jdr.

-

9.

14.

135

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 15.

Ptyas mucosus (Linnaeus) Oriental Ratsnake, Dhaman

ajr,bmr, bkr,gnr, jsr,jdr, pli,sir.

d,t,g,u, c,n,a,p. ctr,rnp.

16.

Spalerosophis arenarius (Boulenger) Red-spotted Royal Snake S. diadema atriceps (Fischer) Royal Diadem Ratsnake, Black-headed Royal Snake S. diadema diadema (Schlegel) Diadem Snake

bkr,jdr

-

ngr. pnj.

d.rnp.

ajr,jpr, jdr,ngr.

-

19.

Family: Dispadidae Subfamily: Lycodontinae Lycodon aulicus (Linnaeus) Indian Wolf Snake

ajr, jdr. ban.

d,n,a. ctr, rnp.

20.

L. jara (Shaw) Twin-spotted Wolf Snake

-

d. rnp.

21.

L. mackinnoni (Wall) Mackinnon’s Wolf Snake L. striatus (Shaw) Northern Wolf Snake

-

d,g, n,a. d. rnp.

23.

Oligodon arnensis (Shaw) Coomon Kukri Snake

-

d.a. rnp.

24.

O. taeniolatus taeniolatus (Jerdon) Streaked Kukri Snake

rkt.

-

25.

Trachischium fuscum (Blyth) Black-belly Worm-eating Snake

-

g. rnp.

26.

T. leave Peracca Olive Oriental Slender Snake Subfamily: Sibynophinae Sibynophis sagittarius (Cantor) Cantor’s Black-headed Snake Family: Elapidae Bungarus caeruleus (Schneider) Common Krait

-

g,n.

-

g,n, a,p. rnp. d,g,u, n,a,p. ctr,rnp.

17.

18.

22.

27.

28.

-

ajr,bkr, jsr,jdr. trws.

136

Length: 4.0 m, females shorter. Plains to 3600 m. IUCN: LR-nt / N. IWPA: Schedule II. CITES: Appendix II. Length: 93.0, tail 17.5 cm. IUCN: Vulnerable / N. Length: 2.25 m, males shorter. Plains to 1800 m. Length: Max. 1.88 m., rarely exceeds 1.30 m. Up to 2,200 m in arid to semiarid terrain. Diurnal. IUCN: LR-nt / N. Length: 63.5, tail 10.0 cm, males longer. Plains to 2,000 m. Nocturnal. IUCN: LR-lc / N. IWPA: Schedule IV. Length: 40.6 cm, tail 10.0 cm, males slightly shorter. Plains to 2,000 m. Nocturnal. IUCN: DD / N. IWPA: Schedule IV. IUCN: Vulnerable. Length: 60.0 cm. Plains to 1,800 m. Nocturnal. IUCN: LR-nt / N. IWPA: Schedule IV. Length: 64.0, tail 10.0 cm. (female). Plains to 2,000 m. Diurnal. IUCN: LR-lc / N. IWPA: Schedule IV. Length: 50.0 cm, hatchlings 12.0 cm. IUCN: NE. IWPA: Schedule IV. Length: 70.0 cm, males shorter. Hills region (up to 3,000 m.). IUCN: Vulnerable / N. IWPA: Schedule IV. 1800-2700 m. IUCN: DD. Length: 30.5 cm. Plains to 1,000 m. IUCN: LR-nt / N. Length 1.0 m.(average). ‘Kala taro’ in Gujarati Plains to 1800 m.

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

29.

B. fasciatus Schneider Banded Krait

-

30.

B. sindanus Boulenger Sind Krait B. walli Wall Wall’s Krait Calliophis mcclellandi (Reinhardt) McClelland’s Coral Snake Naja naja (Linnaeus) Spectacle Cobra, Indian Cobra

raj, guj, pnj. -

34.

31. 32.

d,t,g, c,n. ctr. rnp.

-

c.

ajr,gnr, jpr,jsr, jdr,ngr, pli. trws.

d,g,u, n,a,p. ctr, rnp.

N. oxiana (Eichwald) Central Asian Cobra

ajr,jpr, jdr.

u.

35.

Ophiophagus hanna (Cantor) King Cobra

-

d,g,n. ctr, rnp.

36.

Family: Homolposidae Subfamily: Boiginae Boiga forsteni (Dumeril, Bibron & Dumeril) Forsten’s Cat Snake B. multifasciata (Blyth) Many-banded Tree Snake B. trigonata (Schneider) Indian Gamma Snake, Common Cat Snake Subfamily:Dasypeltinae Elachistodon westermanni (Reinhardt) Indian Egg-eating Snake

-

d,g,n.

-

d,g,n. gws. d,g,n. gws, rnp. g,n.

Subfamily: Homalopsinae Enhydris enhydris (Schneider) Smooth Water Snake Enhydris sieboldii (Schlegel) Siebold’s Water Snake Family: Leptotyphlopidae

-

d,g,n.

-

g,n. rnp. -

33.

37. 38.

39.

40.

41. 42.

jpr,jdr.

amr.bha. Jun.sur. gws. (guj.).

jdr.

137

IUCN: LR- nt / N. Plains to 1800 m.

IUCN: DD / N. Length: 1.64 m, females smaller. IUCN: DD / N. Can be found up to 4,000 m. in heavy forested Himalayas. Length: 1.9-2.4 m. Plains to 3600 m. Venom neurotoxic and hemotoxic. IWPA: Schedule II. IUCN: LR-nt / N. CITES: Appendix II. Up to 3000 m alt. Venom neurotoxic. IWPA: Schedule II. IUCN 3.1: DD; IUCN: CR / N (BCPPCAMP Report, 1997). Length: 5.6 m. Plains to 1800 m. Venom neurotoxic, cardiotoxic. Least Concern under IUCN 3.1: Least Concern. IUCN: LR-nt / N (BCPP-CAMP Report, 1997). CITES: Appendix II. IWPA: Schedule II. Length: 1.5 m, tail 30.5 cm. Plains to 900 m. IUCN: LR-nt / N 900 to 2700 m. IUCN: VU / N. Length: 91.5, tail 17.8 cm., males shorter. Plains and hills up to 1500 m. IUCN: LR-lc / N TL: 43.0 cm-1.0 m (Vyas, 2010). Plains to 900 m. IUCN 2.3: DD. IUCN: Vulnerable / N (BCPP-CAMP, 1997) IUCN-SSC: Vulnerable. CITES: Appendix II. IWPA: Schedule I, IV. Plains to 900 m. IUCN: Lr-nt / N. IWPA: Schedule IV. Length: 80.0 cm. Plains to 900 m. IUCN Red List: NE.

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

43.

44.

45. 46.

Leptotyphlops macrorhynchus (Jan) Long-nose Worm Snake Family: Natricidae Amphiesma platyceps (Blyth) Mountain Keel-back A. stolata (Linnaeus) Buff-striped Keel-back

-

Atretium schistosum (Daudin) Olivaceous Keelback Macropisthodon plumbicolor (Cantor) Lead Keel-back Green Keel-back

d,u,c. gws, ndbr. d,t,g,u, c,n,a,p. rnp

bmr,bkr, gnr,jsr, jdr,ngr, sir. sr

-

sir.

-

47.

Xenochrophis piscator (Schneider) Chequered Keelback

ajr,jdr, pli,sir.

d,t,g,u, c,n,a,p. abcc, ctr, rnp.

48.

Family: Pythonidae Python molurus molurus (Linnaeus) Indian Python, Black-tailed Python

trws.

d,g, u,n.

49.

Family:Typhlopidae Ramphotyphlops braminus (Daudin) Brahminy Blind Snake

ajr,bkr, jdr,jam.

d,g,n. ctr, rnp.

50.

Rhinotyphlops acutus (Dumeril. Bibron) =Typhlops acutus (Dumeril & Bibron) Beak-nosed Worm Snake Typhlops diardii Schlegel Diard’s Blind Snake

jdr.

-

-

d. rnp.

51.

&

52.

Typhlops porrectus Stoliczka Slender Worm Snake

jun.

g,u,n. ctr, rnp.

53.

Family: Viperide Subfamily: Crotalinae Gloydius himalayanus (Gunther) Himalayan Pit Viper Ovophis monticola monticola (Gunther) Mountain Pit Viper

-

g,u, a,p.

-

d,n,a. rnp.

54.

138

Length: 85.0 cm, females shorter. 900 to 2700 m. IUCN: Vulnerable. Length: 40-50 cm, max. 90.0 cm., females longer, 62.0 cm. Plains to 1800 m. IUCN: LR-nt / N IUCN: LR-nt. Upto 100 m. Length: 55.0-80.0 cm.; 7.5 cm at birth. At 600-1800 m alt. IUCN: LR-nt / N. IWPA: Schedule IV. Length: 2.0 m, males shorter. Gestation 55-67 days. Plains to 3,000 m. IWPA: Schedule II. CITES: Appendix II. IUCN: LR-lc / N. TL: 10.0 m. Plains to 1800 m. IWPA: Schedule I. IUCN Red List, 1993: Vulnerable. IUCN 3.1: NT. Red Data Book, ZSI: Endangered. CITES: Appendix I. Length: 20.3 cm. Plains and hills (up to 1,000 m.). IUCN 3.1: Least Concern. IUCN: LR-nt / N (BCPP-CAMP Report, 1997). Found in peninsular India (endemic to) south of the Ganges and Rajasthan basins.

Length: 43.0 cm. Ovo-viviparous. Plains to 900m. IUCN: DD / N. Length: 28.5 cm. Plains and hills (up to 2,000 m.). IUCN: LR-nt / N. IWPA: Schedule IV. 1524-3048 m alt. 900 to 4875 m. (Waltner, 1974). Type-locality: Garhwal (Uttarakhand). IUCN: DD. TL: Male 49.0, tail 8.0 cm, Female 110.0, tail 15.0 cm. Venomous. Plains to 2700 m. IUCN: DD / N.

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 55.

Subfamily: Viperinae Echis carinatus carinatus (Schneider) Saw-scaled Viper

d,g,n. ctr, rnp.

Daboia russelli (Shaw & Nodder) Russell’s Viper, Chain Viper

ajr,bkr, jsr,jdr, ngr,pli, sir. jam,kch, rkt. jdr. trws.

56.

Total

Common: 22

34

44

d,g, n,a,p. ctr, rnp.

Length: 38.0-80.0 cm. Plains to 900 m. 5 mg. venom lethal, with hemorrhage and coagulation symptoms. Ovo-viviparous. IUCN: LR-nt / N. Length: 1.24 m, tail 19.0 cm. Plains to 2700 m. Ovo-viviparous. Venom lethal dose 40-70 mg with bleeding & blustering symptoms. IWPA: Schedule II. IUCN: LR-nt / N. CITES:Appendix III. ED / VU / S I, II: 13

(D). TESTUDINES Total Species: 16, from Thar Desert: 7, from Western Himalaya (Uttarakhand): 14 (Table 4). Species Common to Thar Desert and Western Himalaya: 5, viz. Geoclemys hamiltoni, Hardella thurjii, Geochelone elegans, Lissemys punctata punctata and Nilssonia gangetica. Remarks: For adopting generic name Nilssonia Gray, followed Praschag et al. (2007b). Praschag et al. (2007a) suggested for abandoning the subspecies of H. thurjii as they lack sufficient morphological and genetic differences. A record from near Bombay, India is probably an error ((Grumwaldt, 1980). Conservation Status: Endengered / Vulnerable: 12 species. IUCN: Batagur dhongoka, Geoclemys hamiltonii, Hardella thurjii, Melanochelys tricarinata, Pangshura tentoria circumdata, Morenia petersi, Nilssonia gangetica and N. leithii Vulnerable; Batagur kachuga Vulnerable / Critically Endangerd; Chitra indica Endangered. IUCN-SSC: Batagur kachuga most Endangered. IWPA: Geoclemys hamiltonii, Batagur kachuga, Lissemys punctata punctata and Nilssonia gangetica Schedule I. Chitra indica recommended to Schedule I (presently in Schedule IV). ZSI: Lissemys punctata punctata and Nilssonia gangetica Vulnerable. Tikader & Sharma (1985): Batagur dhongoka-Extremely vulnerable; protected buy legislation; Nilssonia hurum-Endangered; protected by legislation. Endemic to Thar Desert: None. Table-4. Testudines: Thar Desert and Western Himalaya. Sl. No. 1.

Species with Classification Order: Testudines Family: Geoemydidae Batagur dhongoka Gray) = Kachuga dhongoka (Gray) Three-striped Roof

Thar Desert se-er

West. Himal. -

Consevation Status, Size, Sexual Dimorphism IUCN: Endangered. Tikader & Sharma, 1985: Extremely vulnerable; protected by legislation. Size: 40 cm, male 20 cm.

139

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

2.

3.

Turtle B. kachuga (Gray) =Kachuga kachuga (Gray) Red-crowned Roofed Turtle Geoclemys hamiltonii Gray Black Pond Turtle Spotted Pond Turtle

-

rnp.

IUCN Red List 2.3: Critically Endangered. IUCN-SSC, 2007: Most Endangered. IUCN: Vulnerable / N (BCPP-CAMP Report, 1997). IWPA: Schedule I. Size: 39.0 cm.

td (raj.).

rnp

IUCN Red List 2.3: Vulnerable. IUCN Red List (1996), Lower Risk: Near Threatened. IUCN: Vulnerable / N (BCPP-CAMP Report, 1997). CITES: Appendix I. IWPA: Schedule I. Bangladesh Wildlife Protection Act, 1974: Schedule III. Bangladesh Red Data Book: Endangered. FWS Endangered Species Act: Protected. Size: 36.0-39.0 cm. Sexual Dimorphism: Males smaller than females, with concave plastron and thicker tail. Females with flattened plastron and comparatively smaller tail. IUCN Red List 2.3: Vulnerable / N. Size: 65.0 cm. Sexual Dimorphism: Males much smaller than females, females may have three times the carapace length of male.

4.

Hardella thurjii (Gray) Brahminy River Turtle Crowned River Turtle

bmr, jsr, gnr.

rnp.

5.

Melanochelys tricarinata (Blyth) Three-keeled Turtle

-

IUCN Red List 2.3: Vulnerable. IUCN: LR-lc / N (BCPP-CAMP Report, 1997). Size: 17.0 cm.

6.

M. trijuga trijuga (Schweigger) Black Turtle, Pond Terrapin Morenia petersi Anderson Indian Eye Turtle Pangshura smithii smithii (Gray) Brown Roofed Turtle P. tecta (Gray) Roofed Turtle

-

ctr, rnp. g. ctr, rnp. ddn.

-

uk

IUCN: Vulnerable.

-

rnp

-

rnp

10.

P. tentoria circumdata Mertens Circled Tent Turtle

-

uk

11.

Family: Testudinidae Geochelone elegans (Schoepff) Indian Starred Tortoise Star Tortoise

ajr,jdr, sir.

rnp (local infor.).

IUCN Red List 2.3: LR-nt. IUCN: LR-lc /N (BCPP-CAMP Report, 1997). Size: 23.0 cm, males much smaller, usually half of females. IUCN Red List 2.3: LR-lc. IUCN: LR-nt / N (BCPP-CAMP Report, 1997). Size: 23.0 cm. IUCN Red List 2.3: Least Concern. IUCN: Vulnerable (BCPP-CAMP Report, 1997). CITES: Appendix II. Size: 19.0 cm. IUCN Red List 2.3: LR-lc. Size: 25.0 cm. Sexual Dimorphism: Females are much larger than males, with much flatter plastron; males having concave plastron. Reported from adjoining area, Bijnor.

12.

Family: Trionychidae Subfamily: Cyclanorbinae (Lissemyninae)

ajr,jpr, jdr,pli. guj.

ctr, rnp.

7.

8.

9.

IUCN Red List 2.3: LR-nt. IUCN: LR-lc (BCPP-CAMP Report, 1997). Size: 23.0 cm.

IUCN Red List 2.3: LR-lc. IUCN: LR-nt / N (BCPP-CAMP Report, 1997). CITES, 1975: Appendix I, (at the request of Bangladesh), CITES: Appendix II (BCPP-CAMP Report, 1997).

140

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Being most common turtle in India, removed from the endangered species list in 1983 (48 FR 52740). Red Data Book, Z.S.I: Vulnerable. IWPA: Schedule I. Size: Females 27.5 cm (weight 4.5 kg), males 16.2 cm. Sexual Dimorphism: Males smaller than females, tail comparatively large, thick and with longer covering flap; females with short stubby tail. IUCN Red List 2.3: Endangered. IUCN-SSC, 2007: Most Endangered. IUCN: LR-nt / N (BCPP-CAMP Report, 1997). IWPA: Schedule IV, recommended to Schedule I. Size: 90.0 cm. IUCN Red List 2.3: Vulnerable.

Lissemys punctata punctata (Bonnaterre) North Indian Flapshelled Turtle

13.

Subfamily: Trionychinae Chitra indica (Gray) Narrow-headed Softshell Turtle

-

rnp

14.

Nilssonia gangetica (Cuvier) (=Aspideretes gangetica (Cuvier)

ajr, jpr, jdr,pli.

ctr, rnp.

Gangetic Turtle

IWPA: Schedule I. Red Data Book, Z.S.I: Vulnerable. CITES: Appendix I. Size: 45.0-70.0 cm. Sexual Dimorphism: Females larger while males much smaller.

Soft-shell

15.

N. hurum (Gray) Peacock Soft-shell

er

-

16.

N. leithii (Gray) (=Aspideretes leithii (Gray) Leith’s Soft-shell Turtle Common: 5

-

rnp

7

14

Total

IUCN: Vulnerable. Tikader & Sharma, 1985: Endangered; protected by legislation. Size: 60 cm. IUCN Red List 2.3: Vulnerable. IUCN-SSC, 2007: Most Endangered Size: 50.0 cm. CR / ED / VU / S I: 12

CONCLUSION Out of total 117 species of reptiles (Crocodiles, Lizards, Snakes and Testudines) from both, the Thar Desert and the Western Himalaya, dealt herewith, 80 species are from the Thar Desert and 81 from Western Himalaya and 44 common to both the areas (Table 5). It is interesting to note that the number of species of lizards is much more in the Thar Desert (37) than in Western Himalaya (21) and it is just the reverse in the case of snakes ie.34 and 44 species. The diversity of testudines is double (14) in Western Himalaya that to that in Thar (7). Three species (two lizards and one snake), are endemic to the Thar. There are 36 Endangered / Vulnerable species in both the areas, which need special attention for their protection. Table-5. Summary of Results. Sl. No.

Group

Total species

Thar Desert

Western Himalaya

1. 2. 3. 4. Total

Crocolidiles Lizards Snakes Testudines Reptiles: 4

2 43 56 16 117

2 37 34 7 80

2 21 44 14 81

Common to both areas 2 15 22 5 44

Endaemic to Thar

Endengered / Vulnerable

2 1 3

2 9 13 12 36

Abbreviations used: Gujarat (guj.): amr= Amreti, ban=Banaskantha, bha= Bhavnagar, jam=Jamnagar, jun=Junagarh, kch=Kachchh, rkt=Rajkot, sur= Surat City, gws= Gir Wildlife Sanctuary And Park, vnp= Vansda National Park.

141

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Haryana= har. Punjab= pnj. Rajasthan (raj.): ajr=Ajmer, bmr=Barmer, bkr=Bikaner, bgr= Bhopalgarh (Johpur), chu=Churu, cr=Chambal river, er=Eastern Rajasthan, gnr=Ganganagar, jpr=Jaipur, jsr=Jaisalmer, jlr=Jalore, jdr=Jodhpur, meh=Mehsana, ngr=Nagaur, pli=Pali, sbr=Sabarkantha, se-er=South-eastern & Eastern Rajasthan, sir=Sirohi, sgr=Surendranagar, sr=Southern Rajasthan, td=Thar Desert, upr= Udaipur (Baghdarrah Lake), wr=Western Rajasthan Records: Sl. No. 2 (Croco, Thar), 13 (Liz. Thar), 8, 45 (Snk. Thar), 1, 15 (Testu. Thar)= Sharma, 1995; 7 (Testu. U.K.)= Bahuguna, 2010; 11 (Testu. U. K.)= local information; 9-map (Liz. U. K.), 36(Liz. Thar)= Tikader & Sharma, 1992; 33(Liz. U. K.), 33, 34(Liz. Thar)= Vyas, 2010a. Uttarakhand (uk) districts, before re-organised: Garhwal Division: c=Chamoli, d=Dehradun, g=Pauri-Garhwal, t=Tehri, u=Uttarkashi. Kumaon Division: a=Almorah, n=Nainital, p=Pithoragarh. Conservation Areas: abcc=Asan Barrage Conservation Centre, ctr=Corbet Tiger Reserve, gws=Govind Wildlife Sanctuary, rnp=Rajaji National Park, ndbr=Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (Uttarakhand=uk), trws=Todagarh-Raoli Wildlife Sanctuary (Rajasthan). BCPP= Biodiversity Conservation Prioritisation Project, India. CAMP= Conservation Assessment and Management Plan. CITES= Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. IUCN= International Union for Conservation of Nature, CR= critically endangered, DD=data deficient, EN= endangered, LC / lc=least concern, LR=lower risk, N= nationally, nt= near threatened, VU= vulnerable. IUCN-SSC= IUCN Species Survival Commission. FWS= United States Fish and Wildlife Service. IWPA= Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. SVL= snout to vent length, TL= total length.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors are grateful to the Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata for encouragement and the respective Officer-in-Charge, ZSI, NRC, Dehra Dun and ZSI, DRC, Jodhpur for library facility.

REFERENCES Acharya, H. 1949. List of reptiles from Gujarat State. Prakurti, 8: 158-178. Bahuguna, A. 2008. Reptilia. In: Fauna of Corbett Tiger Reserve, Conservation Area Series, 35: 143-157. Bahuguna, A. 2010. Reptiles: In: Fauna of Uttarakhand, State Fauna Series, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, 18(1): 445-503. Bahuguna, A. 2010. New distributional record of Morenia petersi. Herpetological Review, 41(2): 242. Bahuguna, A. and Padmanaban, P. 2007. Reptilia. In: Faunal Diversity Western Doon Shiwaliks, Zoological Survey of India, 65-72. Bhatnagar, C. and Mahur, M. 2010. Observations on feeding behavior of a wild population of Marsh Crocodile in Baghdarrah Lake, Udaipur, Rajasthan. Reptile Rap, 10: 16-18.

142

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Bhatnagar, R. K. 1969. Extension of range of Copper-head Snake, Elaphe radiata Schlegel (Ophidia: Colubridae) to Doon Valley and Doon Siwaliks. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 66(2): 383. Bhatnagar, R. K. 1972. Reptile fauna of Dehra Dun district (Uttar Pradesh). Part – I, Cheetal, 15(4): 15-23. Bhatt, K. Vyas, R. and Singh, M. 1999. Herpetofauna of Gir protected area. Zoos’s Print, 14(5): 2730. Bhupaty, S. and Kumar, A. C. R. 1988. On the identity and occurrence of the Peacock Soft-shell (Trionyx hurum Gray) in Rajasthan. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 85(3): 629. Bhupaty, S. and Vijayan, V. S. 1991. The fresh water turtle fauna of eastern Rajasthan. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 88(1): 118-122. Biswas, S. and Sanyal, D. P. 1977. Fauna of Rajasthan, India, Part II: Reptila. Rec. zool. Surv. India, 73: 247-269. Blanford, W. T. 1879. Notes on a collection of reptiles made by Major O. B. ST. John, R. E., at Ajmer, Rajputana. J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 48(2): 119-127. Captain, A., Tillack, F., GUmprecht, A. and Dandge, P. 2005. First record of Elachistodon westermanni Reinhardt, 1863 (Serpentes, Colubridae, Colubrinae) from Maharashtra, India. Russian J. Herpt., 12(2): 156-158. Chopra, R. N. 1979. Fauna of Corbett National Park. 3. Reptiles. Cheetal, 21(1): 30-31. Chopra, R. N. 1995. Lizards (Reptilia: Sauria). In: Fauna of Rajaji National Park. Fauna of Conservation Areas, 5: 87-90. Daniel, J. C. 2002. The Book of Indian Reptiles and Amphibians. Bombay Natural History Society, Oxford University Press, Mumbai, 238 pp. Daniel, J. C. and Shull, E. M. 1963. A list of the reptiles and amphibians of Surat, Dangs, South Gujarat. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 60: 737-743. Dave, K. C. 1960. Contribution to the systematics, distribution and ecology of the reptiles of the desert of Rajasthan, with special reference to the ecology of certain lizards. Proc. 47th Indian Sci. Congr., Calcutta, Pt. 3 (Abstract): 482-483. Forest Division Working Plans, Uttarakhand and around (1970-1980). Gaur, S. 2009. Species richness and dominance of Reptiles in the Aravalli Foothills of Rajasthan In: Sivaperuman, C., Baqri, Q. H., Ramaswamy, G. and Naseema, M. (Eds.). Faunal Ecology and Conservaion of the Great Indian Desert: 53-64. Published by Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Grumwaldt, P. H. 1980. Liste der Schildkröten in der herpetologischen Sammlung des Zoologischen Instituts und Zoologischen Museums der Universität Hamburg (Testudines, Reptilia). Best. Herp. Samml. Zool. Inst. Zool. Mus. Univ. Hamburg, 1: 1-19. Gayen, N. C. 1999. A synopsis of the reptiles of Gujarat, Francis, London, 185 pp. Husain, A. 2003. Reptilia. In: Fauna of Asan Wetland. Wetland Ecosystem Series, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, 5: 29-30. Husain, A. 2004. Reptilia. In: Some selected Fauna of Gobind Pashu Vihar. Conservation Area Series, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, 18: 37-39. Husain, A. and Ray, P. 1993a. Occurrence of Twin-spotted Wolf Snake, Lycodon jara (Shaw) (Dipsadidae:Lycodontinae) in Rajaji National Park and Doon Valley, Uttar Pradesh, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 90(1): 112-113. Husain, A. and Ray, P. 1993b. First record of Cyrtodactylus fasciolatus (Blyth), the Bent-toed Banded Gecko (Sauria: Gekkonidae: Gekkoninae) from Garhwal Hills. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 90(3): 518 (1994). Husain, A. and Ray, P. 1995. Reptilia. Fauna of Western Himalaya, Part 1, Uttar Pradesh, Himalayan Ecosystem Series: 159-167. Zoological Survey of India.

143

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Husain, A. and Ray, P. 1997. Reptilia. In: Fauna of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve: A World Heritage Site. Fauna of Conservation Area Series, Zoological Survey of India, 9: 115-117. Zoological Survey of India. Husain, A. and Tilak, R. 1995. Turtles and Tortoises (Reptilia: Testudines). Fauna of Rajaji National Park, Fauna of Conservation Area, Zoological Survey of India, 5: 77-85. Husain, A. and Tilak, R. 1995. Snakes (Reptilia: Serpentes). In: Fauna of Rajaji National Park, Fauna of Conservation Area, Zoological Survey of India, 5: 91-114. Krishna, D. and Dave, K. C. 1960. A note on the reptiles of the desert of Rajasthan. Vijnana Parishad Anusandhan Patrika, Allahabad. 3(4): 215-231. McCann, C. 1938. Reptiles and amphibians of Cutch State. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 40: 425427. Mukherjee, A. K. 1982. On some endangered animal life of India: Reptiles. Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, 1-8 pp. Murthy, T. S. N., Sanyal, D. P. and Duttagupta, B. 1993. Rare snakes of India. The Snake, 25: 135-140. Nande, R. and Deshmukh, S. 2007. Snakes of Amravat district including Melghat, Maharashtra, with important records of the Indian Egg-eater, Montane Trinket Snake and Indian Smooth Snake. Zoos’ Print Journal, 22(12): 2920-2924. Osmaston, B. B. and Sale, J. B. 1989. Wildlife of Dehra Dun and adjacent hills. Natraj Publishers, Dehra Dun, 104 pp. Praschag, P., Hundsdörfer, A.K. and Fritz, U. 2007a. Phylogeny and taxonomy of endangered South and South-east Asian freshwater turtles elucidated by mt DNA sequence variation (Testudines: Geoemydidae: Batagur, Callagur, Hardella, Kachuga, Pangshura). Zoologica Scripta, 36(5): 429–442. Praschag, P., Hundsdörfer, A.K., Reza, A. H. M. A. and Fritz, U. 2007b. Genetic evidence for wildliving Aspideretes nigricans and a molecular phylogeny of South Asian softshell turtles (Reptilia: Trionychidae: Aspideretes, Nilssonia). Zoologica Scripta, 36(4): 301–310. Prakash, I. 1971. Testudo elegans in Western Rajasthan. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 68(1): 273274. Prakash, I. 1972. Notes on little known lizards from the Rajasthan Desert. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 69(2): 424-428.Prakash, I. 2001. Biological invasion and loss of endemic biodiversity in the Thar Desert. Resonance, March: 76-85. Rathore, M. S. 1970. Indian Sand Lizard, Opiomorus tridactylus (Blyth), that swims in the sand. Zoolgica Poloniae, 20(4): 527-529. Roonwal, M. L. 1982. Fauna of the Great Indian Desert (Past and present composition). In: Singh, A. (Editor).Desert Resources and Technology-1, Scientific Publishers & Geo-Tech. Academy, Jodhpur: 1-186. Sanyal, D. P. and Talukdar, S. K. 1977. Occurrence of the Indian Egg-Eating Snake, Elachistodon westermanni Reinhardt (Serpentes: Dasypeltidae) in the Corbett National Park, Western Uttar Pradesh. Sci. & Cult., 43(12): 549-550. Sanyal, D. P., Talukdar, S. K. and Dasgupta, G. 1979. Two new distributional records of snakes from the Dun Valley and the Corbett National Park, Uttar Pradesh. Cheetal, 21(1): 11-12. Sharma, K. K. and Mehra, S. P. 2009. The Thar of Rajasthan (India): Ecology and Conservation of a Desert Ecosystem. In: Sivaperuman, C., Baqri, Q. H., Ramaswamy, G. and Naseema, M. (Eds.). Faunal Ecology and Conservaion of the Great Indian Desert: 1-10. Published by Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Sharma, R. C. 1974. A report on the snakes of Rajasthan. Indian J. Zool., 2(2): 19-28. Sharma, R. C. 1975. Occurrence of Russell’s Viper, Vipera russelli (Shaw) from Rajasthan. Newsl. zool. Surv. India, 1(3): 34. Sharma, R. C. 1982. Taxonomic and ecological studies on the reptiles of Gujarat. Rec. zool. Surv. India, 80: 85-108.

144

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Sharma, R. C. 1996. Herpetology of the Thar Desert, In: Faunal Diversity in The Thar Desert: Gaps in Research. (Eds. Ghosh, A. K., Baqri, Q. H. & Prakash, I.). Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur, India: 285-306. Sharma, R. C. 1998. Fauna of India. Reptilia: Testidines and Crocodilians, 1(16): 192 pp. Zoological Survey of India. Sharma, R. C. 2002. Fauna of India and adjacent countries. Reptilia (Sauria), Zoological Survey of India, 2: 1-430. Sharma, R. C. 2003. Handbook Indian Snakes. Zoological Survey of India: 1-282. Sharma, R. C. and Dikshit, V. K. Occurrence of Banded Racer, Coluber fasciolatus (Shaw) (Serpentes: Colubridae) in Rajasthan. Newsl. zool Surv. India, 2(4): 171. Sharma, R. C. and Gaur, S. 2005. Changing ecology and faunal divercity of amphibians and reptiles in Thar Desert of Rajasthan, India. In: Changing Faunal Ecology in the Thar Desert. (Eds) Tyagi, B. K. and Baqri, Q. H. Scientific Publishers, pp. 61-84. Sharma, S. K. 1993. Presence of sandfish Ophiomorus tridactylus (blyth) in Eastern Rajasthan. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 90(3): 519. Sharma, S. K. 1994. Snakes of Rajasthan. Vijnana Parishad Anusandhan Patrika, 37(4): 209-220. Sharma, S. K. 1995. An overview of the amphibians and reptilian fauna of Rajasthan. Flora & Fauna, 1(1): 47-48. Smith, M. A. 1943. The Fauna of British India, Ceylon and Burma, including the whole of the IndoChinese Sub-Region. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. III– Serpentes. Taylor & Francis Ltd., London: xii + 583 pp. Pratap, S., Sokanki, J., Sharma, R., Idris, M. and Arora, A. 2010. Status of faunal diversity in thr Thar desert: An ecological assessment. In: National Seminar on Impact of climate change on biodiversity and challenges in the Thar Desert. DRC, ZSI, Jodhpur, 99-100 Tikader, B. K. and Sharma, R. C. 1985. Handbook Indian Testudines. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India: 156 pp. Tillack, F., Shah, K. B., Gumprecht, A. and Husain, A. 2002. Anmerkungen zur Verbietung, Morphologie, Biologie, Haltung und Nachzucht der Berg-Grubenotter Ovophis monticola monticola (Gunther, 1864) (Serpentes: Viperidae: Crotalinae). Sauria, Berlin, 25(4): 29-46. Tikader, B. K. and Sharma, R. C. 1992. Handbook: Indian Lizards. Zoological Survey of India: i-xiv +1-250. Vyas, R. 2004. Herpetofauna of Vansda National Park, Gujarat. Zoos’s Print Journal, 19(6): 15121514. Vyas, R. 2006. Story of a snake’s photograph from Gujarat and notes on further distribution of the Indian Egg-eater Snake, Herpinstance, 3(2): 1-4. Vyas, R. 2010a. Record of Lygosoma albopunctata Gray, 1846 from Vansda forest and comments on its distribution in Gujarat state. Reptile Rap, 10: 4-5. Vyas, R. 2010b. Distribution of Elachistodon westermanni in Gujarat. Reptile Rap., 10: 7-8. Wall, F. 1906. A new Himalayan snake (Lycodon mackinnoni). J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 17(1): 29-30.Wall, F. 1913. A rare snake, Elachistodon westermanni from Jalpaiguri District. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 22: 400. Waltner, R. C. 1974. Geographical and altitudinal distribution of amphibians and reptiles in the Himalaya. Cheetal, 16(1): 17-25; 16(2): 28-36; 16(3): 14-19; 16(4): 12-17. Walton, H. G. 1911. Dehra Dun: A Gazetteer, being Vol. I of the District Gazetteers of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, Allahabad, 33.

145

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

AVIFAUNA OF THAR DESERT: SPECIES DIVERSITY AND ABUNDANCE DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS C. SIVAPERUMAN1,4, RAMAKRISHNA2 AND Q.H. BAQRI3 1

Andaman & Nicobar Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Haddo, Port Blair- 744 102, Andaman & Nicobar Islands. 2 Zoological Survey of India, M-Block, New Alipore, Kolkata- 700 053. 3

P.O. Said Nagli, Tehsil- Hasanpur, District- J.P. Nagar, Uttar Pradesh- 244 242. e-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT: The Thar Desert in western Rajasthan is unique and the only habitat of its type on the Indian subcontinent. Despite very harsh climatic conditions, this extremely hot region of the country exhibits a vivid and spectacular biodiversity. The Thar Desert is an important area biologically, showing a close juxtaposition of very different habitats, namely grassland, sand dunes and rocky patches. Many of the gardens in the desert contain a variety of fruit trees and agriculture crops, which attract numerous avian species. The distribution of 272 species of birds, belonging to 17 orders and 55 families, were recorded during the period of study in the Thar Desert. Of the recorded species, 223 species were residents and 49 migrants. The species richness and abundance was studied by line transect and total count methods. Species richness was highest in the month of January, followed by February. The highest bird species abundance was observed in February and the lowest in July. Diversity was highest in the months of May and October. Notably, 14 threatened bird species were recorded during the study. The species richness, abundance and diversity were varies in different habitats and the values are comparable with other tropical ecosystems in India. The long-term monitoring of avifauna in this region is necessary in order to identify any changes in health of this desert ecosystem. KEY WORDS: Avifauna, diversity, Thar Desert.

INTRODUCTION The Thar Desert in western Rajasthan is unique and the only habitat of its type over the Indian subcontinent. The Thar Desert is an important area biologically, being at the confluence of different habitats namely grassland, sand dunes and rocky patches. Many of the gardens in the desert contain variety of fruit trees and agriculture crops, which are attracting many avian species. Long term monitoring of avifauna of this area is necessary to monitor the changes in the health of desert ecosystem. Studies on the avifauna of the Thar Desert were carried out by different researchers and these studies mainly listed the species from different parts of the Thar desert (Adams, 1873 and 1874; Barnes, 1886; Ticehurst, 1922a, 1922b, 1923a, 1923b, 1923c, 1923d, 1924a and 1924b; Whistler, 1938; Rana, 1973; Ali, 1975; Prakash, 1983; Sharma, 1983 and 1984; Rana and Idris, 1986; Bohra and Goyal, 1992; Sangha, 1993; Rahmani, 1994, 1995 and 1997; Rahmani and Soni, 1997 and Islam, 1999). Hence, this study was carried out to find out the species richness, diversity and abundance of the birds in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan.

METHODS The study was conducted during the period from May 2000 to May 2003. Bird species were assessed in the representative plots using line transect method for arable sandy, farming, forest hills, gardens, groves, plantations, protected areas and sand dune habitats and total count method for wetland habitat (Burnham et al., 1980; Hoves and Bakewell, 1989). Species richness and species composition of birds in the area were computed from the data obtained from the line transect and total count method. Diversity Indices were calculated using the computer program SPDIVERS.BAS developed by Ludwig and Reynolds (1988).

146

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

RESULTS Occurrence of birds During the present study, a total of 272 species of birds belonging to 55 Families under 17 Orders were recorded from the Thar Desert of Rajasthan. Out of these, 223 species were resident and 49 migrants (Sivaperuman et al., 2009).

Species richness and abundance

Number of individuals ± SE

200

25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0

150 100 50 0 Ja nu a Fe ry br ua ry M ar ch A pr il M ay Ju ne Ju ly A ug u Se p t st em be r O ct ob N ov er em D ber ec em be r

Number of species ± SE

Species richness was highest in the month of January (159) followed by February (154). Abundance of birds was highest in the month of February (19,283) and lowest in July (1,342) (Fig. 1). During the month of August survey was not conducted in all the years.

Months Species richness

Species abundance

Fig. 1. Species richness and abundance of birds in different months in the Thar Desert Eleven microhabitats were recorded in the study area namely arable sandy, farming, forest hills, freshwater annual, freshwater perennial, gardens, groves, plantations, protected areas, saline wetlands and sand dunes. Species richness and abundance was highest in the freshwater annual and freshwater perennial habitats (Fig. 2).

s ei ce p s fo r eb m u N

180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0

25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0

sl a u d i v i d in f o re b m u N

Habitats Species richness

Species a bundance

Fig. 2. Species richness and abundance of birds in different habitats 147

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

Diversity Indices The information on diversity indices of birds species belonging to different orders in the Thar Desert has been furnished in Table 1. Highest richness was in the order Passeriformes followed by Chradriiformes. Shannon index was also highest in Passeriformes and Charadriiformes. Similarly Hill’snumbers like N1 and N2 also showed highest in the order Passeriformes and Charadriiformes. E1 and E2 showing evenness of birds was also found Cuculiformes, Columbiformes and Ciconiformes.

Table 1. Diversity indices of birds in different orders in the Thar Desert Richness

Order Anseriformes Apodiformes Charadriiformes Ciconiformes Columbiformes Coraciiformes Cuculiformes Falconiformes Galliformes Gruiformes Passeriformes Pelecaniformes Phoenicopteriformes Piciformes Psittaciformes

R1 2.29 0.18 4.47 2.15 0.72 1.07 0.44 3.55 0.45 0.84 11.37 0.89 0.12 0.85 0.14

R2 0.27 0.12 0.39 0.29 0.50 0.10 0.31 0.70 0.14 0.08 0.94 0.16 0.03 0.69 0.06

Simpson’s Index

Shannon Index

0.19 0.97 0.09 0.12 0.40 0.39 0.41 0.16 0.48 0.85 0.06 0.33 0.85 0.45 0.95

2.11 0.08 2.79 2.31 1.09 1.17 0.94 2.20 0.78 0.38 3.36 1.42 0.29 0.94 0.11

HILL’S NUMBER N1 N2 8.24 5.26 1.08 1.04 16.24 11.30 10.03 8.35 2.96 2.50 3.23 2.54 2.57 2.45 8.99 6.10 2.19 2.07 1.46 1.18 28.87 17.11 4.13 3.05 1.33 1.18 2.56 2.20 1.11 1.05

Evenness E1 0.69 0.12 0.74 0.78 0.78 0.49 0.86 0.67 0.57 0.17 0.72 0.68 0.41 0.68 0.16

E2 0.39 0.54 0.38 0.53 0.74 0.29 0.86 0.33 0.55 0.16 0.26 0.52 0.67 0.64 0.56

The analysis of the observations reveals that highest richness was in the family Anatidae followed by Scolopacidae, while Shannon index was highest in Muscicapidae and Scolopacidae. Similarly Hill’snumbers like N1 and N2 also showed highest in the family Muscicapidae. Highest evenness was observed in the family Falconidae (Table 2).

Table 2. Diversity indices of birds in different families in the Thar Desert FAMILY Anatidae Apodidae Burhinidae Charadriidae Glareolidae Jacanidae Laridae Recurvirostridae Scolopacidae Ardeidae Ciconiidae

Richness R1 2.21 0.18 0.39 0.86 0.47 0.31 0.93 0.13 1.88 1.16 0.43

R1 0.27 0.12 0.23 0.13 0.35 0.41 0.27 0.04 0.24 0.21 0.13

Simpson’s Index

Shannon Index

0.23 0.97 0.44 0.41 0.72 0.88 0.56 0.57 0.14 0.25 0.57

2.03 0.08 0.88 1.14 0.50 0.17 0.85 0.62 2.28 1.58 0.66

148

Hill’s Number N1 N2 7.63 4.44 1.08 1.04 2.41 2.27 3.13 2.45 1.64 1.38 1.19 1.14 2.33 1.77 1.85 1.74 9.76 7.29 4.85 3.97 1.93 1.75

Evenness E1 0.68 0.12 0.80 0.55 0.45 0.25 0.44 0.89 0.80 0.69 0.47

E2 0.38 0.54 0.80 0.39 0.55 0.59 0.33 0.93 0.57 0.48 0.48

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Threskiornithidae Columbidae Pterocididae Alcedinidae Columbidae Coracidae Meropidae Cuculidae Accipitridae Falconidae Phasidnidae Gruidae Rallidae Alaudidae Campephagidae Corvidae Dicruiridae Estrildidae Hirundinidae Laniidae Motacillidae Muscicapidae Passeridae Pycnonotidae Sturnidae Pelecanidae Phalacrocoracidae Phoenicopteridae Captitonidae Psittacidae

0.44 0.38 0.26 0.22 0.33 0.21 0.28 0.44 3.29 0.37 0.45 0.30 0.32 1.54 0.51 0.41 0.18 0.39 0.78 1.06 1.35 5.59 0.26 0.44 0.83 0.31 0.53 0.12 0.80 0.14

0.13 0.53 0.28 0.20 0.04 0.19 0.09 0.31 0.65 0.52 0.14 0.11 0.03 0.54 0.76 0.10 0.13 0.22 0.15 0.56 0.27 0.94 0.06 0.14 0.18 0.12 0.11 0.03 0.87 0.06

0.35 0.52 0.62 0.64 0.51 0.92 0.85 0.41 0.17 0.44 0.48 0.81 0.95 0.41 0.38 0.83 0.99 0.57 0.33 0.29 0.43 0.12 0.79 0.42 0.29 0.45 0.54 0.85 0.43 0.95

1.09 0.60 0.55 0.54 0.79 0.16 0.29 0.94 2.15 0.69 0.78 0.36 0.13 1.26 0.68 0.40 0.03 0.76 1.22 1.41 1.21 2.59 0.41 1.02 1.46 0.91 0.83 0.29 0.82 0.11

2.98 1.82 1.74 1.71 2.20 1.17 1.33 2.57 8.62 2.00 2.19 1.43 1.14 3.52 1.98 1.49 1.03 2.14 3.39 4.11 3.37 13.33 1.51 2.77 4.33 2.50 2.30 1.33 2.28 1.11

2.90 1.91 1.62 1.57 1.98 1.09 1.17 2.45 5.98 2.29 2.07 1.23 1.05 2.44 2.67 1.21 1.01 1.76 3.05 3.44 2.33 8.34 1.26 2.37 3.46 2.23 1.87 1.18 2.31 1.05

0.79 0.86 0.80 0.78 0.57 0.23 0.26 0.86 0.67 1.00 0.57 0.33 0.09 0.55 0.99 0.29 0.04 0.69 0.63 0.79 0.51 0.68 0.38 0.73 0.75 0.83 0.52 0.41 0.75 0.16

0.75 0.91 0.87 0.86 0.55 0.59 0.44 0.86 0.34 1.00 0.55 0.48 0.28 0.35 0.99 0.37 0.51 0.71 0.48 0.69 0.31 0.30 0.50 0.69 0.62 0.83 0.46 0.67 0.76 0.56

Highest richness was observed in the month of January followed by February. Shannon index and Hill’s numbers like N1 and N2 were also noted highest in October while highest evenness was observed in the month of July and May (Table 3).

Table 3. Diversity indices of birds in different moths in the Thar Desert Month January February March April May June July September October November December

Richness R1 R2 16.92 1.49 15.51 1.11 16.22 1.75 12.72 1.98 14.39 2.43 10.28 1.19 7.08 1.42 6.38 1.14 13.16 1.60 9.19 1.09 6.29 1.02

Simpson’s Index

Shannon Index

0.09 0.06 0.13 0.21 0.03 0.13 0.05 0.22 0.04 0.07 0.23

3.28 3.46 3.30 2.45 3.87 2.77 3.43 2.32 3.72 3.16 2.36

149

Hill’sNumber N1 N2 26.50 11.07 31.80 16.61 27.24 7.47 11.60 4.81 48.04 31.13 15.99 7.56 30.76 21.53 10.18 4.53 41.18 25.98 23.51 13.39 10.56 4.37

Evenness E1 E2 0.65 0.17 0.69 0.21 0.66 0.19 0.53 0.11 0.82 0.43 0.62 0.18 0.87 0.59 0.60 0.21 0.79 0.36 0.72 0.29 0.60 0.21

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Among the habitats, wetland habitat showed highest diversity than other habitats (Table 4). Table 4. Diversity Index of birds in different habitats Richness R1 R2 10.76 1.84 12.11 1.35 12.99 1.61 16.88 1.11 13.94 1.17 7.49 1.65 7.57 1.48 14.23 2.15 13.75 1.72 13.27 1.92 11.75 1.69

Habitat Arable Sandy Farming Forest hills Fresh water annual Fresh water Perenial Gardens Groves & Orans Plantations Protected areas Saline wetland Sand dunes

Shannon Index 3.18 3.48 3.43 3.30 3.40 2.93 2.50 3.00 3.49 3.67 3.43

Simpson’s Index 0.09 0.06 0.06 0.09 0.08 0.12 0.20 0.17 0.05 0.05 0.07

Hill’s Number N1 N2 23.96 11.49 32.51 17.98 30.76 16.05 27.06 11.28 30.08 12.20 18.71 8.63 12.16 4.94 20.00 5.88 32.86 19.57 39.21 21.39 30.82 13.93

Evenness E1 E2 0.72 0.29 0.75 0.30 0.73 0.28 0.64 0.16 0.70 0.23 0.74 0.35 0.62 0.22 0.63 0.18 0.73 0.28 0.78 0.36 0.75 0.32

Highest diversity index was observed in Beach Stone Plover, followed by Spot-billed Pelican Table 5. Table 5. Diversity index of threatened bird species Species Painted Stork Beach Stone Plover Marbled Teal Sarus Crane Spot-billed Pelican Cinereous Vulture Darter Ferruginous Pochard Indian White-backed Vulture Great Indian Bustard Pallid Harrier

Richness R1 R2 2.46 0.87 0.67 0.42 0.68 0.44 0.70 0.46 1.17 0.70 1.24 0.80 2.38 1.51 0.75 0.53 2.96 2.18 0.74 0.77 2.17 1.90

Simpson’s Index 0.26 0.52 0.24 0.39 0.42 0.20 0.16 0.36 0.10 0.29 0.08

Shannon Index 1.73 0.82 1.38 1.05 1.12 1.58 1.93 1.08 2.11 1.06 1.75

Hill’s Number N1 N2 5.62 3.90 2.27 1.93 3.96 4.11 2.85 2.59 3.07 2.38 4.84 4.90 6.86 6.16 2.94 2.76 8.23 10.48 2.89 3.39 5.74 12.38

Evenness E1 E2 0.64 0.37 0.59 0.57 0.99 0.99 0.76 0.71 0.63 0.51 0.88 0.81 0.84 0.69 0.78 0.73 0.92 0.82 0.97 0.96 0.98 0.96

DISCUSSION The species richness, abundance and diversity of birds in the Thar Desert were comparable with the other ecosystems in India namely the moist deciduous forest of Mudumalai (Gokula, 1998), Tropical evergreen forests of Silent Valley (Jayson and Mathew, 2000), Kole wetlands of Thrissur (Sivaperuman and Jayson, 2000), dry deciduous forest of Tamil Nadu (Nirmala, 2002) and grassland of Gujarat (Natarajan and Rahmani, 2002). The number of bird species in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan is comparable to other desert in the world (Table 6). Table 6. Comparison of present study with other desert in the world Name of the Desert

Name of the country

Number of species

Reference

Sonaran Desert

United States of America

192

Powell et al., 2002

Mojave Desert

United States of America

125

Fleishman et al., 2003

Arizona Desert

United States of America

127

M-hall, 1957

150

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert California Desert

United States of America

Chihuahuan Desert

425

England, 1995

244

Bryan, 2002

Kalahari Desert

South Africa

56

Dean et al., 2001

Great Victoria Desert

Australia

229

Anon. 1996

Simpson Desert

Australia

156

Anon., 1998

Thar Desert

India

272

Present study

70

Salem et al., 2003

240

CAFF, 2001

Omayed Biosphere Reserve Arctic Desert

United States of America

Among the different habitats, the wetlands showed the highest species richness and abundance of birds. Other than the wetlands, the plantations in the vicinity of the Indira Gandhi Nahar Project (IGNP canal) and gardens showed high abundance of birds. The crops such as millet, wheat, sorgham, green vegetables and oil seeds are widely cultivated in plains where water is available for irrigation. The under ground water is generally used for irrigation purposes in the Thar Desert, except in the IGNP command area. As a result, the soil surface generally remains moist for some period in these areas. The standing crops provide shelter to a variety of resident birds and also attracted the migratory species. The insectivore species like Bee-eater (Merops orientalis and Merops persicus) was recorded abundantly in the vicinity of the electric lines and agricultural crops. Though the orchards are rare, they are one of the important habitats in the Thar Desert. They provided shelter for many species passerines. The water pools created due to the seepage of water from the IGNP canals, and saline wetland (Deedwana) attracted many species of migratory waders like Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos), Lesser Sand Plover (Charadrius mongolus), Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arguata), Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea), Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybridus), Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus) and Pallas’s Gull (Larus ichthyaetus). Reservoirs like Jawai Bandh and Hemaswas harbour many species of waterfowls and because of the availability of food, large number of waterfowls was recorded from these wetlands viz. Little Cormorant (Phalacrocorax niger), Lesser Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna javanica), Darter (Anhinga melanogaster) and Spotbilled Duck (Anas poecilorhyncha). Apart from the above, many species of wading birds were also recorded namely the Mesophoyx intermedia, Egretta garzetta, Ardea cinerea, Mycteria leucocephala, Anastomus oscitans, and Phoenicopterus minor. The species richness, abundance and diversity in the Thar desert is much greater than that in the other ecosystems. While analysing the species richness and abundance in different habitats, the wetland habitats showed the highest richness and abundance. The wetlands and the plantations of trees in the vicinity of IGNP and gardens also showed high relative abundance.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We are grateful to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India for providing the funds for this study. The first author thankful to Dr. C. Raghunathan, Officer-in-Charge, Zoological Survey of India, Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre, Port Blair for providing necessary facilities.

REFERENCES Adams, R.M. 1873. Notes on the birds of the Sambhar Lake and its vicinity. Stray Feathers, 361404. Adams, R.M. 1874. Additional notes on the birds of the Sambhar Lake and its vicinity. Stray Feathers, 2: 337-41. Ali, S. 1975. Some birds of Indian desert. In: Environmental analysis of Thar Desert. English Book Co., Dehra Dun. Anon. 1996. Little Desert National Park Management Plan, Department of Natural Resources and Environment 240, Victoria Parade East Melbourne 3002 Victoria. 45 pp.

151

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Anon. 1998. A Review of the Simpson Desert Regional Reserve 1988 – 1998. Department for Environment Heritage and Aboriginal Affairs Adelaide, South Australia. 103 pp. Barnes, H.E. 1886. Birds nesting in Rajpootana. Journal of Bombay natural History, 1(2): 38-62. Bohra, H.C. and Goyal, S.P. 1992. Checklist of the birds of Machia Safari Desert Park, Jodhpur (Rajasthan). Pavo, 30(1&2): 87-97. Bryan, K.B. 2002. Birds of the field checklist Trans-Pecos, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Texas. 22 pp. Burnham, K.P., Anderson, D.R. and Laake, J.L. 1980. Estimation of density from the transect sampling of biological publications. Wildlife Monograph, 72: 202 pp. CAFF, 2001. Arctic Flora and Fauna: Status and Conservation. Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna, Edita, Helsinki, 272 pp. Dean, W.R.J., Andersonw, M.D., Miltonz, S.J. and Anderson, T.A. 2001. Avian assemblages in native Acacia and alien Prosopis drainage line woodland in the Kalahari, South Africa. J. Arid Environ. http://www.idealibrary.com. England, A.S. and Laudenslayer, Jr. W.F. 1995. Birds of the California Desert. pp 337-372. In: The California Desert: An Introduction to Natural Resources and Man’s Impact. J. Lathing and P.G. Rowlands (Eds.). Jane Latting Books, California. 665 pp. Fleishman, E., Mcdonal, N., Mac Nally, R., Murphy, D.D., Walters, J. and Floyd, T. 2003. Effects of Floristics, physiognomy and non-native vegetation on riparian bird communities in a MojaveDesert watershed. J. Anim. Ecol. 72: 484-490. Gokula, V. 1998. Bird communities of the thorn and dry deciduous forests in Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, South India. Ph.D. Thesis. Bharathiar University, Coimbatore. 200 p. Hoves, J.G. and Bakewell, D. 1989. Shore Birds Studies Manual. AWB Publications. No.55, Kuala Lumpur. 362 p. Islam, M. Zafar-ul. 1999. Sultn Wetland in the Thar Desert. Newsl. Birdwatchers 39(5): 73-74. Jayson, E.A. and Mathew, D.N. 2000. Diversity and species abundance distribution of birds in the tropical forests of Silent Valley, Kerala. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 97: 52-61. Ludwig, J.A. and Reynolds, J.R. 1988. Statistical Ecology: A premier on methods and computing. A Wiley-Interscince Publication. 337 pp. M-hall, Jr. J. T. 1957. Birds of pine-oak woodland in southern Arizona and Adjacent mexico. Cooper ornithological society, Pacific coast avifauna number 32. Berkeley, California. 127 pp. Natarajan, V. and Rahmani, A.R. 2002. Bird community structure in three different habitat types at Dahod, Panchmahals District, Gujarat, India. In: Birds of Wetlands and Grasslands: Proceedings of the Salim Ali Centenary Seminar on Conservation of Avifauna of Wetlands and Grasslands. Eds. Rahmani, A.R. and G. Ugra. Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, pp. 217-226. Nirmala, T. 2002. Ecology of bird communities in the Anaikatty hills, Coimbatore. Ph.D. Thesis. Bharathiar University, Coimbatore. 274pp. Powell, B., Albrecht, E. and Docherty, K. 2002. Biological Inventory Report for the Sonoran Desert Network: 2002. Biological Inventory Report for SODEN parks, 58 pp. Prakash, I. 1983. Current status of the Great Indian Bustard (Choriotis nigriceps) in the Thar Desert. In: Bustards in decline. (Eds: Goriup, P.D; Vardhan, H) Tourism and Wildlife Society of India, Jaipur, 39-43. Rahmani, A.R. 1994. Wildlife situation in the Thar Desert. Report submitted to World Wide Fund for Nature, New Delhi. Rahmani, A.R. 1995. Status and conservation of the Great Indian Bustard in the Thar Desert. Newsl. Birdwatchers. 35(4): 64-65. Rahmani, A.R. 1997. The effect of Indira Gandhi Nahar Project on the Avifauna of the Thar Desert. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 94(2): 233-266. Rahmani, A.R. and Soni, R.G. 1997. Avifaunal changes in the Indian Thar Desert. J. of Arid Environment, 36: 687-703. 152

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Rana, B.D. 1973. Food and feeding habits of the common Indian desert birds. Indian Forester, 99: 669-673. Rana, B.D and Idris, M.D. 1986. Population structure of the House Sparrow, Passer domesticus indicus, in western Rajasthan desert. Pavo, 24(1&2): 91-96. Salem, B., Shaltout, K., Heneidy, S., Ramadam, A.E., El Fiky, A. and Mabrouk, S. 2003. Sustainable Management of Marginal Drylands. “Smamad”. Site Assessment Methodology For Omayed Biosphere Reserve. National UNESCO Commission Cairo - Egypt. 118 pp. Sangha, H.S. 1993. Avifaunal survey of Desert National Park, Rajasthan, India. OBC Bull. 18: 13. Sekhar, U.N. 1988. Ecological status of the Desert National Park past and present. Tigerpaper. 25(20): 14-18. Sharma, I.K. 1983. The Grey Partridge Francolinus pondicerianus in the Rajasthan desert. Annals Arid Zone. 22(2): 117-120. Sharma, I.K. 1984. Habitat preferences, feeding, breeding and survival of the Common Sandgrouse Pterocles exustus in the Indian Thar Desert. Tigerpaper, 11(4): 14. Sivaperuman, C. and Jayson, E.A. 2000. Birds of Kole Wetlands, Thrissur, Kerala. Zoos' Print Journal, 15(10): 344-349. Sivaperuman, C., Sumit Dookia, Kankane, P.L and Baqri, Q.H. 2008. Structure of an arid tropical bird community, Rajasthan. In: Faunal ecology and conservation of Great Indian Desert. (Eds.). Sivaperuman, C., Q.H. Baqri, G. Ramaswamy and M. Naseema. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. pp. 85-98. Ticehurst, C.B. 1922a. The birds of Sind. Ibis, 4(3): 526-572. Ticehurst, C.B. 1922b. The birds of Sind, part 2. Ibis, 4(4): 605-662. Ticehurst, C.B. 1923a. The birds of Sind, part 3. Ibis, 5(1): 1-43. Ticehurst, C.B. 1923b. The birds of Sind, part 4. Ibis, 5(2): 235-275. Ticehurst, C.B. 1923c. The birds of Sind, part 5. Ibis, 5(3): 438-474. Ticehurst, C.B. 1923d. The birds of Sind, part 6. Ibis, 5(4): 645-666. Ticehurst, C.B. 1924a. The birds of Sind, part 7. Ibis, 6(1): 110-146. Ticehurst, C.B. 1924b. The birds of Sind, part 8. Ibis, 6(3): 495-518. Whistler, H. 1938. The ornithological survey of Jodhpur State. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 40: 213235.

153

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

NEW RECORDS AND ADDITION TO ODONATA (INSECTA: ARTHROPODA) FAUNA OF PICHHOLA LAKE, UDAIPUR, RAJASTHAN, INDIA GAURAV SHARMA Zoological Survey of India, Desert Regional Center, Jhalamand, Jodhpur-342 005, Rajasthan. e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: The studies were conducted on Damselflies and Dragonflies in and around Pichhola Lake, Udaipur, Rajasthan during 2008-10. A total of 21 species belongs to 5 families under 2 suborders of order Odonata were recorded from the study site, in that 16 species are new records i.e. Ceriagrion coromandelianum (Fabricius), Rhodischnura nursei (Morton), Pseudagrion rubriceps Selys, Disparoneura quadrimaculata (Rambur), Anax parthenope (Selys), Ictinogomphus rapax (Rambur), Orthetrum pruinosum neglectum (Rambur), Orthetrum sabina (Drury), Crocothemis servilia (Drury), Pantala flavescens (Fabricius), Acisoma panorpoides Rambur, Orthetrum glaucum (Brauer), Diplacodes trivialis (Rambur), Trithemis festiva (Rambur), Trithemis pallidinervis (Kirby) and Rhyothemis variegata (Linnaeus). The family Libellulidae, represented by 13 species was the most dominant followed by Coenagrionidae (5 species); Aeshnidae, Gomphidae and Protoneuridae (each having 1 species). Ceriagrion coromandelianum (Fabricius), Brachythemis contaminata (Fabricius), Bradinopyga geminata (Rambur), Crocothemis servilia (Drury), Orthetrum glaucum (Brauer), Orthetrum sabina (Drury) were the dominant species of Odonata in the study site. KEY WORDS: Odonata, New Records, Pichhola Lake, Rajasthan.

INTRODUCTION Pichhola lake is one of the most beautiful and picturesque lakes of Rajasthan, India. Located in the heart of the city, it is the oldest and one of the largest lakes of Udaipur. In 1362, the beautiful lake was built by Pichhu Banjara during the ruling period of Maharana Lakha. Talking about the dimensions of Pichhola lake, it is extended to 3 miles in length, 2 miles in width and has depth of 30 feet. The beauty of this lake has not separated anyone to attract towards it. The lake looks more enchanting with its scenic surroundings. Maharana Udai Singh must have been certainly captivated by the charm of this pristine lake with the perfect backdrop of lush green hills as when he founded the city of Udaipur, he enlarged this lake. He also constructed a dam made in stone that falls under the 'Badipol' region on the shore of this lake. Pichhola lake is enveloped by lofty Palaces, temples, bathing ghats and elevated hills on all its sides. In the southern part of this lake, there is a hill that is known as Machhala Magra and one can see glimpse of Eklinggarh Fort from here. The City Palace of Udaipur broadens along the eastern banks of this lake. Built by Jagat Singh, Mohan Mandir is situated in the north-east corner of lake Pichhola. Lake Pichhola comprises several islands that accompany the calm waters of the lake. The world-renowned Lake Palace is perfectly located on the Jag Island of this tranquil lake. Even the Jag Mandir, another destination of tourists, is located on an island of this lake. Rudyard Kipling mentioned this lake in his Letters of Marque (1899), "If the Venetian owned the Pichhola lake, he might say with justice, `see it and die'". The beauty of lake Pichhola attracts people from all over the world. One can undeniably say for Pichhola that once, if you see this lake, you would definitely fall in love with it. Odonates (Damselflies and Dragonflies) are probably descendants of one of the most archaic insect group-the Protodonate which successfully flourished during the Upper Carboniferous and Permian Periods about 255 million years ago. For some 255 million years, odonates with their four long independent membranous wings and long bodies have remained unchanged in their essential form and are dominant invertebrate predators in ecosystem. They

154

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert were the first creatures to truly command the air of this earth. They are amphibious hemimetabolous insects having the aquatic egg and larval (nymph) stages, while the adults are terrestrial, both larvae and adults are predator. They are some of the best hunters in the insect world. Approximately 6,000 species and subspecies belonging to 630 genera in 28 families of Odonata are known from all over the world, out of which 499 species and subspecies of Odonata under 139 genera belonging to 17 families are reported from India (Prasad and Varshney, 1995). Perusal of literature reveals that no consolidated account is available on the Odonata fauna of Pichhola Lake. Though Prasad (2007) recorded 5 species belongs to 5 genera of order Odonata from Pichhola Lake i.e. Ischnura sp., Agriocnemis sp., Brachythemis contaminata (Fabricius), Bradinopyga geminata (Rambur) and Trithemis aurora (Burmeister). Therefore, the present study makes a modest attempt to explore the existing diversity of Odonata fauna of Pichhola lake, Udaipur, Rajasthan.

MATERIALS AND METHODS An extensive collection of representatives of odonates were made in Pichhola lake, Udaipur, Rajasthan by using aerial sweep net during 2008-10. The collected individuals were transferred into insect collection paper packs and were brought to the laboratory, where these were properly stretched, pinned, oven dried for 72 hours at 600C and preserved in insect collection boxes in National Zoological Collection, ZSI, DRC, Jodhpur. Identification of adult individuals was carried out using identification keys provided by Fraser (1933, 1934 & 1936).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A total of 21 species belongs to 5 families under 2 suborders of order Odonata were recorded during the study period, in that 16 species are new records from Pichhola lake i.e. Ceriagrion coromandelianum (Fabricius), Rhodischnura nursei (Morton), Pseudagrion rubriceps Selys, Disparoneura quadrimaculata (Rambur), Anax parthenope (Selys), Ictinogomphus rapax (Rambur), Orthetrum pruinosum neglectum (Rambur), Orthetrum sabina (Drury), Crocothemis servilia (Drury), Pantala flavescens (Fabricius), Acisoma panorpoides Rambur, Orthetrum glaucum (Brauer), Diplacodes trivialis (Rambur), Trithemis festiva (Rambur), Trithemis pallidinervis (Kirby) and Rhyothemis variegata (Linnaeus) (Table-1). Table-1. Annotated checklist of Odonata fauna of Pichhola lake, Rajasthan. S.No. (A).

Suborder Zygoptera

(B).

Anisoptera

Family Coenagrionidae

Protoneuridae Gomphidae Aeshnidae Libellulidae

Total 2 5 Where * indicates New records from Pichhola lake

Species Agriocnemis pygmea (Rambur) *Ceriagrion coromandelianum (Fabricius) Ischnura aurora (Brauer) *Pseudagrion rubriceps Selys *Rhodischnura nursei (Morton) *Disparoneura quadrimaculata (Rambur) *Ictinogomphus rapax Rambur *Anax parthenope (Selys) *Acisoma panorpoides Rambur Brachythemis contaminata (Fabricius) Bradinopyga geminata (Rambur) *Crocothemis servilia (Drury) *Diplacodes trivialis (Rambur) *Orthetrum glaucum (Brauer) *Orthetrum pruinosum neglectum (Rambur) *Orthetrum sabina (Drury) *Pantala flavescens (Fabricius) *Rhyothemis variegata Linnaeus Trithemis aurora (Burmeister) *Trithemis festiva (Rambur) *Trithemis pallidinervis (Kirby) 21

155

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Ceriagrion coromandelianum (Fabricius), Brachythemis contaminata (Fabricius), Bradinopyga geminata (Rambur), Crocothemis servilia (Drury), Orthetrum glaucum (Brauer), Orthetrum sabina (Drury) were the dominant species of Odonata in the study site. The family Libellulidae, represented by 13 species was the most dominant followed by Coenagrionidae (5 species); Aeshnidae, Gomphidae and Protoneuridae (each having 1 species). The dominance of family Libellulidae was reported by many earlier workers as Kumar and Mitra (1998); Prasad (2002); Kumar (2002); Vashishth et al. (2002); Kandibane et al. (2005); Emiliyamma (2005); Emiliyamma et al. (2005) and Sharma and Joshi (2007). The mass emergence of Pantala flavescens (Fabricius), a migratory species was recorded during 2008-2010 (June to September). Therefore, the present study reveals that Pichhola lake, Udaipur, Rajasthan is rich in Odonata fauna and provided a suitable natural habitat for their existence and alternatively acts as natural biological control agent against pests and noxious insects.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author are grateful to the Director, Zoological Survey of India (Ministry of Environment and Forests), Kolkata for the necessary permission and facilities provided.

REFERENCES Agarwal, J.P. 1957. Contribution towards the Odonata fauna of Pilani. Proc. 44th Indian Sci. Congress. Kolkata. p. 309. Bose, B. and Mitra, T.R. 1976. The Odonata fauna of Rajasthan. Rec. zool. Surv. India, Kolkata. 71: 1-11. Emiliyamma, K.G. 2005. On the Odonata (Insecta) fauna of Kottayam district, Kerala, India. Zoos' Print Journal. 20(12): 2108-2110. Emiliyamma, K.G., Radhakrishnan, C. and Muhamed, J.P. 2005. Pictorial Handbook on- Common Dragonflies and Damselflies of Kerala. Published Director, Zool. Surv. India, Kolkata. 67pp. Fraser, F.C. 1933. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Odonata, Vol. I. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London. 423pp. Fraser, F.C. 1934. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Odonata, Vol. II. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London. 398pp. Fraser, F.C. 1936. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Odonata, Vol. III. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London. 461pp. Kandibane, M., Raguraman, S. and Ganapathy, N. 2005. Relative abundance and diversity of Odonata in an irrigated rice field of Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Zoos’ Print Journal. 20(11): 2051-2052. Kumar, A. 2002. Odonata diversity in Jharkhand state with special reference to niche specialization in their larva forms, pp. 297-314. In Kumar, A. (editor). Current Trends in Odonatology. Daya Publishing House, Delhi (India). 377pp. Kumar, A. and Mitra, A. 1998. Odonata diversity at Sahastredhara (Sulphur springs), Dehra Dun, India, with notes on their habitat ecology. Fraseria. 5(1/2): 37-45. Prasad, M. 1996. Odonata in the Thar desert. pp. 145-149. In: Faunal diversity in the Thar desert: Gaps in research. Ed. A.K. Ghosh, Q.H. Baqri and I. Prakash. Scientific publishers, Jodhpur. 410pp. Prasad, M. 2002. Odonata diversity in Western Himalaya, India, pp. 221-254. In Kumar, A. (editor). Current Trends in Odonatology. Daya Publishing House, Delhi (India). 377pp. Prasad, M. 2004. Insecta: Odonata of Desert National Park. Fauna of Desert National Park, Rajasthan. 19: 51-58. Conservation Area Series, published by the Director, Zool. Surv. India, Kolkata. 135pp. Prasad, M. and Varshney, R.K. 1995. A checklist of the Odonata of India including data on larval studies. Oriental Insects. 29: 385-428. Sharma, G. and Joshi, P.C. 2007. Diversity of Odonata (Insecta) from Dholbaha dam (Distt.) Hoshiarpur) in Punjab Shivalik, India. Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology, Korea. 10(2): 177-180. Thakur, R.K. 1985. Field notes on the Odonata around lake Kailana, Jodhpur (Rajasthan). Bull. zool. surv. India. 7(1): 143-147. Tyagi, B.K. and Miller, P.L. 1991. A note on the Odonata collected in South-Western Rajasthan, India. Notul. Odonatol. 3: 134-135. Tsuda, S. 1991. A distributional list of world Odonata. Osaka. 362pp. Vashishth, N., Joshi, P.C. and Singh, A. 2002. Odonata community dynamics in Rajaji National Park, India. Fraseria. 7(1/2): 21-25.

156

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

WHITEFLIES (ALEYRODIDAE: HEMIPTERA) OF INDIAN ARID ZONE R. SUNDARARAJ1,3, R. PUSHPA1, MEETA SHARMA2 AND S.I. AHMED2,4 1

Wood Biodegradation Division, Institute of Wood Science and Technology, 18th Cross Malleswaram, Bangalore- 560 003 (Karnataka). 2 Division of Forest Protection, Arid Forest Research Institute, Jodhpur- 342 005 (Rajasthan). e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] ABSTRACT: A review of whitefly fauna of Indian arid zone indicated the presence of 21 species under 14 genera. Among them most of the species are polyphagous and distributed other parts of India except Aleuroclava afriae Sundararaj & David which is monophagous and reported only from Indian arid zone. Alerurolobus psidii, Aleuromarginatus tephrosiae and Alerulobus gmelinae were also found breed on only one host plant each but they were distributed outside of arid zone in India. KEY WORDS: Whiteflies, Hemiptera, Arid Zone, India.

INTRODUCTION Whiteflies comprise a single hemipterous family Aleyrodidae and are exclusively phytophagous insects infesting a wide range of host plants. They rank among the most noxious insects attacking field crops, green house crops and trees around the world. The economic loss is due to their activities of sucking the plant sap, acting as vectors of viral diseases, and production of honey dew leading to the development of mould on leaves, thus, and adversely affecting photosynthesis. There are 1556 described whitefly species grouped in 161 genera in the world, in which 333 species under 50 genera are recorded in India (Martin and Mound, 2007). In India though aleyrodids are known since 1896 (Maskell, 1896) it was only in 1995 Sundararaj and David described the Aleuroclava afriae the first whitelfy from Rajasthan. Following this Sundararaj and Murugesan (1996) reported Acaudaleyrodes rachipora (Singh) as a severe pest on important forest tree species of arid and semi-arid regions in and around Jodhpur. Gaur et al. (1999) reported this whitefly reproducing on 48 host plants representing 16 families in Indian arid zone. Sundararaj et al. (2000) recorded Rosa chinensis as a new host to this whitefly in Indian arid zone. Gaur and Sundararaj (2001) reported the occurrence of 19 species of whiteflies representing 14 genera in Indian arid zone. In this paper an attempt was made to review whitefly fauna of Indian arid zone and their host range in India.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The present study was largely based on the whitefly puparia collected from various localities of Rajasthan and Gujarat and also based on the review of the earlier reports. The whitefly infested leaves were collected from the host plants and permanent mounts of the puparia were prepared by adopting the method of David & Subramaniam (1976). Observations, micromeasurements and camera lucida drawings were made by using Nikon Optiphot T-2 EFD (Japan) microscope and the identity of the whiteflies were confirmed.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The study indicated the presence of 21 species of whiteflies under 14 genera (Table 1). Among them most of the species are polyphagous and distributed other parts of India except Aleuroclava afriae Sundararaj & David which is monophagous and reported only from Indian arid zone. Alerurolobus psidii, Aleuromarginatus tephrosiae and Alerulobus gmelinae were also found 157

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert breed on only one host plant each but they were distributed outside of arid zone. Bemisa tabaci is highly polyphagous followed by A. rachipora breeding on 67 hosts, Aleruolobus marlatti on 61 hosts, Dialeuropora decempuncta on 39 hosts, Aleuroclava complex on 32 hosts, Aleurolobus orientalis on 19 hosts, Trialeurodes ricini on 18 hosts, Dialeruodes kirkaldyi on 12 hosts and D. citri on 11 hosts. The remining whiteflies were reported to breed on less than 10 hosts. It seems the host specificity in whiteflies is not developed, though many species are known from only few host plants. Mound and Halsey (1978) listed global host plants of whiteflies in their catalogue and Dubey and Ko (2008) listed th host plants of whiteflies of India. Table: 1. Whiteflies of Indian arid zone and their distribution in India Aleyrodid Family I. Genus- Acaudaleyrodes Takahashi 1. A. rachipora (Singh) Apocynaceae Asteraceae Berberidaceae Bignonaceae Bombacaceae Boraginaceae

Burseraceae Caesalpiniaceae

Combretaceae Erythroxylaceae Euphorbiaceae

Fabaceae

Host plant

Distribution

Carissa carandas L. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Helianthus annus L. Nadu. Berberis sp. Tecoma stans (L.) Juss. ex Kunth Tecomella undulata (Sm.) Seem. Bombax ceiba L. Cordia gharaf (Forsk.) Ehrenb. C. myxa Sensu Clarke C. rothii Roem & Schult. Cordia sp. Commiphora wightii (Arn.) Bhandari Bauhinia sp. Cassia alata L. C. auriculata L. C. fistula L. C. moulana Heyne ex Roth. C. siamea L. C. tora L. Delonix elata (L.) Gamble D. regia (L.) Gamble Parkinsonia aculeata L. Peltophorum ferruginea Benth. Tamarindus indica L. Senna auriculata (L.) Roxb. Terminalia arjuna (DC.) Wight and Arn. Erythroxylum monogynum Roxb. Euphorbia pilulifera L. E. hirta L. Phyllanthus reticulatus Poir. Phyllanthus sp. Radermachera xylocarpa (Roxb.) K. Schum. Securinega leucopyrus (Willd.) Muell-arg S. virosa (Roxb. ex Willd.) Baill Abrus precatorius L. Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub. Dalbergia sissoo Roxb.

158

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Aleyrodid

Family

Leguminosae Mimosaceac

Moraceae Myrtaceae Punicaceae Rhamnaceae Rosaceae Rutaceae Sapindaceae Sapotaceae Ulmaceae II. Genus- Aleurocanthus Quaintance & Baker 2. A. rugosa Singh Annonaceae

Magnoliaceae Moraceae Myrtaceae Piperaceae Sapindaceae III. Genus - Aleuroclava Singh 3. A. afriae Sundararaj & David Boraginaceae 4. A. complex Singh Annonaceae Araceae

Host plant Derris elliptica Benth. D. indica (Lam.) Bennet Indigofera sp. Tephrosia purpurea Pers Inga dulce Willd. Sesbania grandiflora (L.) Poir. A. cavan (Molina) Hook & Arn A. farnesiana (L.) Willd. A. pennata (L.) Willd. A. senegal (L.) Willd. A. seyal Del. A. tortilis (Forsk.) Hayne Albizia amara (Roxb.) Boivin A. lebbeck (L.) Benth. A. procera (Roxb.) Benth. Delonix regia (L.) Gamble Dichrostachys cinerea Wight & Arn. Leucaena leucocephala (L.) Benth. Pithecellobium dulce Benth. Prosopis juliflora (Sw.) DC. Prosopis sp. Ficus racemosa L. Moras alba L. Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dennst. Punica granatum L. Ziziphus xylopyrus (Retz.) Willd Rosa chinensis Jacq. Citrus sp. Dodonaea viscosa (L.) Jacq. Mimusops hexandra Roxb. Holoptelia integrifolia Planch.

Distribution

Annona sp. Bihar, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu. Annona squamosa Polyalthia pendula G.E.Schatz & Le Thomas P. longifolia (Sonner.) Thw. Michelia champaca(L.) Baill. Ex Pierre Psidium guajava L. Eugenia (Syzigium) jambolana DC. Piper betel L. Dodonaea viscosa (L.)Jacq. Cordia myxa Polyalthia cerasoides (Roxb.) Bedd. Pothos scandens L.

159

Gujarat, Rajasthan Andra Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu.

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Aleyrodid

Family Asclepiadaceae Bignonaceae Boraginaceae Clusiaceae Combretaceae Dioscoreaceae Euphorbiaceae Flacourtiaceae

Icacinaceae Lecythidaceae Loganiaceae Meliaceae Moraceae

Rhamnaceae Rutaceae Sapotaceae Smilacaceae Sterculaceae Tiliaceae Verbenaceae

5. A. orientalis Jesudasan & David 6. A. psidii (Singh)

Zingiberaceae Rhamnaceae Ulmaceae Dipterocarpaceae Flacourtiaceae Moraceae Myrtaceae Rubiaceae

Host plant Distribution Tylophora sp. Dolichandrone falcate Seem. Cordia obliquaWilld. Mesua ferrea L. Terminalia paniculata Roth Dioscorea oppositifolia L. Phyllanthus emblica L. Croton malabaricus Bedd Flacourtia montana Grah. Hydnocarpus pentandra (Buch.Ham.) Oken Hydnocarpus sp. Nothapodytes nimmoniana (Grah.) Mabber. Careya arborea Roxb. Strychnos nux-vomica L. Reinwardtiodendron anamallayanum (Bedd.) Mabb. Ficus exasperate Vahl F. racemosa F. religiosa L. Streblus asper Lour. Ziziphus mauritiana Lam. Z. rugosa Lam. Aegle marmelos Corr. Atalantia racemosa Wight & Arn. Madhuca latifolia (Roxb.) Smilax zeylanica L. Aporosa lindleyana Baill. Grewia sp. Clerodendrum viscosum H.W. Moidenke Vitex altissima L.f. Alpinia sp. Ziziphus oenoplia (L.) mill. Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu. Holoptelia integrifolia Planch. Dipterocarpus indicus Bedd. Andhra Prdesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala Maharashtra, Scolopia crenulata (Wight & Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu. Arn.) Clos Morus alba L. Streblus asper Lour. Psidium guajava L. Clerodendrum sp. Oxyceros rugulosus (Thw.) Tirveng. Tarenna asiatica (L.) Kuntze ex Schumann Tiliacora acuminate (Lam.) Hook. f. & Thomson,

IV. Genus- Aleurolobus Quaintance & Baker

160

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Aleyrodid 7. A. barleriae Jesudasan & David

8. A. marlatti (Quaintance)

Family Acanthaceae

Apocynaceae Bignoniaceae Acanthaceae Anacardiaceae Apocynaceae Bignonaceae

Boraginaceae Caesalpiniaceae Capparaceae Combretaceae

Cordiaceae Euphorbiaceae Fabaceae

Flacourtiaceae Leccythidaceae Malvaceae

Moraceae

Myrtaceae Pandanaceae Rhamnaceae

Rosaceae

Host plant Adathoda vasica

Distribution Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu

Barleria buxifolia L. Wrightia tinctoria (Roxb.) R. Br. Dolichondrane atrovivens (Heyne Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, ex Roth) Sprague Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal. Barleria noctiflora L.f. B. prionitis L. Buchanania lanzan Spreng. Holarrhena pubescens (Buch.Ham.) Wallich. ex Don. Tabebuia rosea (Bertol.) DC. Tecoma stans (L.) Kunth. Tecomella undulata (Sm.) Seem. Ehretia sp. Bauhinia racemosa Lam. Tamarindus indica L. Capparis spinosa L. Crateva magna (Lour.) DC. Terminalia bellirica (Gaertn.) Roxb. T. arjuna (DC.) Wight & Arn. T. elliptica Willd. Cordia sp. Homonoia riparia Lour. Securinega sp. (=Fluggea sp.) .Alysicarpus monilifer (L.) DC. A. rugosus (Willd.) DC Cassia sp. Dalbergia sissoo Roxb. Flemingia strobilifera (L.) R. Br. Ex Ait. f. Millettia racemosa (Roxb.)Benth. Pongamia pinnata (L.) Pierre Hydnocarpus pentandra (Buch.Ham.) Oken. Couroupita guianensis Aublet Thespesia populnea (L.) Sol. Ex Corr. Thespesia sp. Ficus sp. Morus alba L. Morus sp. Streblus asper Lour. Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels Pandanus canaranus Warb. Ventilago sp. Zyzyphus sp. Z. oenoploea (L). Mill Rosa sp. Rosa chinensis Jacq

161

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Aleyrodid

Family Rubiaceae

Rutaceae

Sapindaceae

Sapotaceae Ulmaceae Verbenaceae 9. A. orientalis David & Jesudasan Alangiaceae Boraginaceae

Capparaceae Euphorbiaceae

Fabaceae

Flacourtiaceae Rhamnaceae

Rubiaceae

Rutaceae 10. A. psidii Jesudasan & David Myrtaceae V. Genus- Aleuromarginatus Corbett 11. A. tephrosiae Corbett Fabaceae

VI. Genus - Aleuropapillatus Regu & David 12. A. gmelinae (David, Verbenaceae Jesudasan & Mathew)

Host plant Distribution Catunaregum spinosa (Thunb) Ixora pavetta Andrews Ixora sp. Morinda sp. Acronychia pedunculata (L.) Miq. Chloroxylon swietenia DC. Citrus decumana L. Citrus sp. Murraya exotica L.. M. koenigii (L.) Spreng Allophylus serratus (Roxb.) Kurz Dodonaea viscosa Jacq. Filicium decipiens L. Madhuca sp. Sapindus emarginata Vahl. Schleichera oleosa (Lour.) Oken Madhuca indica J. Gmelin Holoptelia sp. Vitex negundo L. Woodfordia fruticosa Kurz Alanguium sp. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Carmona retusa (Vahl) Masam. Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Cordia sp. Ehretia ovalifolia Wight Capparis zeylanica L. Fluggea sp. Securinega virosa (Roxb. ex Willd.) Baill Derris trifoliata Lour. Flemingia strobilifera (L.) R. Br. Ex Ait. f. Flacourtia indica (Burm. f.) Merr. F. sepiaria Roxb. Scutia myrtana (Burm. f.) Kurz Zyzyphus maurtiana Z. oenoplia (L.) Miller Z. glabrata Heyne ex Roth Canthium coromandelicum (Burm. f.) Alston Canthium sp. Limonia acidissima L. Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng Psidium guajava L. Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Pers.

Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Maharshtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka.

Gmelina arborea Roxb.

Kerala, Karnataka, Rajasthan.

162

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Aleyrodid Family VII. Genus - Aleurotrachelus Quaintance & Baker 13. A. tuberculatus Singh Caesalpiniaceae Moraceae Rubiaceae VIII. Genus- Bemisia Quaintance & Baker 14. B. tabaci (Gennadius) Many families IX. Genus- Cockerelliella Sundararaj & David 15. C. somnathensis Lauraceae Sundararaj

Host plant Bauhinia racemosa Lam.

Distribution Bihar, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu.

Ficus sp. Morus alba Tarenna asiatica (L.) Kuntze ex Schumann Many hosts

Throughout India

Actinodaphne sp.

Gujarat, Karnataka Kerala.

Cinnamomum malabathrum Burm. f. (Bl.) X. Genus- Crenidorsum Russell 16. C. caerulescens (Singh) Moraceae Rosaceae

Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. Rosa sp.

Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu.

Rosa chinensis Jacq XI. Genus- Dialeurodes Cockerell 17. D. citri (Ashmead) Euphorbiaceae Malpighiaceae Myrsinaceae Myrtaceae Oleaceae

18. D. kirkaldyi (Kotinsky)

Rutaceae Apocynaceae Euphorbiaceae Icacinaceae Oleaceae

Rubiaceae

Zingiberaceae XII. Genus - Dialeuropora Quaintance & Baker 19. D. decempuncta (Quaintance &Alangiaceae Baker) Anacardiaceae Annonaceae

Emblica officinalis Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka. Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Ricinus communis L. Tamil Nadu, Hiptage benghalensis (L.) Kurz. Rajasthan, Uttaranchal. H. medabolata Gaertner Ardisia humilis Vahl Syzygium jambos (L.) Alston Syzygium sp. Jasminum arborescens Roxb. J. sambac Ait. Jasminum sp. Citrus sp. Ichnocarpus frutescens (L.) R. Br. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Plumeria rubra L. Tamil Nadu,West Bengal. Phyllanthus reticulatus Poir. Sarcostigma kleinii Wight & Arn. Jasminum sambac Ait. J. sessiliflorum Vahl. J. auriculatum Vahl Morinda citrifolia L. M. pubescens J. E. Smith M. tinctoria Roxb. Mussaenda frondosa L. Ammomum cannicarpum (Wight) Benth.ex Baker Alangium salvifolium (L.f.) Wangerin Semicarpus anacardium L. f. Annona cherimola Mill. A. reticulata L. A. squamosa L.

163

Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh.

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Aleyrodid

Family

Bignoniaceae Caesalpiniaceae Combretaceae Connaraceae Euphorbiaceae

Fabaceae

Lauraceae

Lobeliaceae Moraceae

Myrtaceae Oleaceae Periplocaceae Rhamnaceae Rosaceae

Sterculiaceae Vitaceae XIII. Genus - Trialeurodes Cockerell 20. T. ricini (Mishra) Annonaceae

Host plant Desmos lawii (Hook.f & Thomas.) Polyalthia cerasoides (Roxb.) Bedd. P. longifolia (Soon.) Thw. Cordia myxa L. Stereospermum sp. Cassia fistula L. Moullava spicata (Dalz.) Nicols. Calycopteris flouribunda (Roxb.) Poir. Connarus wightii (Wight & Arn.) Verde. Euphorbia pilulifera L. Homonoia riparia Lour. Macaranga peltata (Roxb.) Muell.-Arg. Crotalaria laburnifolia L. Dalbergia sissoo Roxb. Desmodium pulchellum L. Actinodaphne sp. Cinnamomum sulphuratum Nees C. malabathrum (Burm. f.) Blume Litsea sp. Persea macrantha (Nees) Kosterm. Lobelia nicotianiifolia Roth ex Roem. & Schult. Ficus religiosa L. Ficus sp. Morus alba L. Streblus asper Lour. Psidium guajava L. Chionanthus sp. Hemidesmus indicus (L.) R. Br. Zyzyphus sp. Prunus sp. Rosa sp. Rosa chinensis Jacq Pterospermum xylocarpum Gaertn. Ampelocissus latifolia (Roxb.) Planch. Annona glabra Constit

Aristolochiaceae

Aristolochia bracteata Retz.

Bignoniaceae

Tabebuia avellandene (=Tabebuia avellanedae) Lorentz Cordia sp.

Boraginaceae

164

Distribution

Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajastan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Aleyrodid

Family Caesalpiniaceae

Host plant Bauhinia sp.

Euphorbiaceae

Breynia rhamnoides (Retz) Muell. Arg. Euphorbia sp.

Distribution

Phyllanthus acidus (L.) Skeels Phyllanthus sp. Ricinus communis L. Fabaceae

Lab lab niger Medikus

Malvaceae

Gossypium hirsutum L.

Menispermaceae

Cissampelos pariera L.

Moringaceae

Moringa oleifera Lam.

Rosaceae

Rosa sp.

Rutaceae

Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng.

Sapotaceae

Achras sapota L.

Sterculiaceae

Dombeya phoenicea

XIV. Genus- Zaphanera Corbett 21. Z. publicus (Singh) Commenilaceae Fabaceae

Commelina sp.

Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu.

Phaseolus aureus Roxb. Tephrosia purpurea Pers.

REFERENCES David, B.V. and Subramaniam, T.R. 1976. Studies on some Indian Aleyrodidae. Rec. Zool. Surv. India, 70: 133-233. Dubey, A.K. and Ko, C.C. 2008. Whitefly (Aleyrodidae) host plants list from India. Oriental Ins., 42: 49-102. Gaur, M, Sundararaj, R. and Murugesan, S. 1999. Host range and distribution of the Babul whitefly Acaudaleyrodes rachipora (Singh) (Aleyrodidae: Homoptera) in Indian arid zone. In Management of Arid Ecosystems (Eds. A.S.Faroda, N.L. Joshi, S.Kathju and Amal Kar), Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur, 397-400 pp. Gaur, M. and Sundararaj, R. 2001. Distribution of the Aleyrodid fauna (Aleyrodidae: Homoptera) in Indian Arid Zone. Annals of Arid Zone, 40(4): 473-476. Maskell, W.M. 1896. Contributions towards a monograph of the Aleurodidae, a family of Hemiptera - Homoptera. Trans. Proc. N. Z. Inst., 28: 411-449. Martin, J.H. and Mound, L.A. 2007. An annotated check list of the world’s whiteflies (Insecta: Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). Zootaxa, 1492: 1-84. Mound, L.A. and Halsey, S.H. 1978. Whitefly of the World. A systematic catalogus of the Aleyrodidae (Homoptera) with host plant and natural enemy data. British Museum (Natural History) and John Wiley and Sons. Chichester, 340pp. Sundararaj, R. and David, B.V. 1995. Aleuroclava afriae, a new species of whitefly from India (Insecta, Homoptera, Sternorrhyncha: Aleyrodidae). Reichenbechia, 31(4): 17-18. Sundararaj, R., Sharma, M. and Ahmed, S.I. 2000. Aleyrodids infesting Rose (Rosa chinensis) in Indian Arid zone. Hexapoda, 12(1&2): 19-20. Sundararaj, R. and Murugesan, S. 1996. Occurrence of Acaudaleyrodes rachipora (Singh) (Aleyrodidae: Homoptera) as a pest of some important forest trees in Jodhpur (India). Indian Journal of Forestry, 19(3): 247-248.

165

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

PLANT ASSOCIATION AND DIVERSITY OF HERBS AND GRASSES IN A PROTECTED AREA IN WESTERN RAJASTHAN G. SINGH1, ABHA RANI2 AND C. S. PUROHIT* Division of Forest Ecology, Arid Forest Research Institute, Jodhpur-342 005, Rajasthan. *Presently working as JRF, CAZRI, Jodhpur- 342005. e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] ABSTRACT: Thirty two plots of 1m2 area comprising 19 and 13 plots dominated by different species of grasses and herbs, respectively were studied with a view to examine species dominance and their association with the other grasses/herbs species. The objectives were to understand how the spatial heterogeneity of species composition (beta diversity) varies in a structured landscape, and how the long-range spatial autocorrelation of plant species is affected by the spatial configuration of patches. The plots with dominant grasses were Acrachne racemosa, Aristida funiculata, Brachiaria ramosa, Cenchrus biflorus, C. pennisetiformis, Chloris barbata, Dactyloctenium aegyptium, D. sincicum, Digitaria ciliaris, Eragrostis tremula, Melanocenchrus jacquemontii, Ochthochloa compressa, Tetrapogon tenellus, Tragus roxburghii, whereas the plots with dominant herbs were Ageratum conyzoides, Boerhaavia diffusa, Cleome viscosa, Cocculus pendulus, Crotalaria medicagenia, Digera muricata, Euphorbia granulata, E. hirta, Heliotropium ellipticum, Indigofera cordifolia, Malva parviflora, Mukia medraspatna, Phyllanthus amarus, Rhynchosia minima, Sida cordifolia, Tephrosia purpurea, Tribulus terrestris, Trichodesma indica. A total of 43 numbers of species were recorded in combined, in this 35 were with grass plots and 39 species were with herbs plots. Among the grasses, the highest and lowest populations were for M. jaquemonttii and C. biflorus dominated plots, though the percent contributions were 20.65% and 42.02%, respectively. Among the herbs, highest and lowest population were in the plots of R. minima and (17.99%) and P. amarus, respectively with 17.99% and 35.55% contribution by the dominant species. Though overlap at some of the places but most of the species indicated dominance in certain localities probably depended upon microhabitats and edaphic conditions. KEY WORDS: Herbs, Grasses, Diversity, Western Rajasthan.

INTRODUCTION Humans and climate affect ecosystems and their services, which may involve continuous and discontinuous transitions from one stable state to another. Discontinuous transitions are abrupt, irreversible and among the most catastrophic changes of ecosystems. For terrestrial ecosystems, it has been hypothesized that vegetation patchiness could be used as a signature of imminent transitions particularly in arid and semiarid environments (Busso and Bonvissuto, 2009) and seems to be a warning signal for the onset of desertification in the region (Kefi et al., 2007). Von-Hardenberg et al. (2001) proposed a model which reproduces a wide range of patterns observed in water-limited regions, including drifting bands, spots, and labyrinths. The model predicts transitions from bare soil at low precipitation to homogeneous vegetation at high precipitation, through intermediate states of spot, stripe, and hole patterns and also predicts wide precipitation ranges where different stable states coexist. The formation of vegetation bands or development of patches is a result of low water infiltration in bare soil compared to vegetated soil, and the consequent accumulation of runoff at vegetation patches influencing vegetation pattern and composition. A field research that links ecological measures on the composition and structure of vegetation on resource uses provides opportunities for collaborative learning about a place that can be applied to identify the opportunities, or map the social assets (del Campo and Wali, 2007) for conservation in situ. However, the extremely variable rainfall both in space and time, high evaporation and extended drought are likely to affect plant physiology and ecology (Westby, 1980) 166

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert and hence vegetation patterns in arid and semi-arid regions, which are jeopardized by land degradation with serious consequences for the natural vegetation, plant biodiversity and sustainable use of the natural environment (Brown, 2003). The dominating driving forces for patch type of vegetation existence in arid lands are water scarcity, plant competition over water resources, and redistribution of water by runoff. The differences in the species composition and their distribution pattern are thus controlled by mean annual temperature, annual precipitation and the length of dry season (Zipperer, 2002). Sometimes, a group of species depends on each other and on a specific set of physical conditions for their existence. Different species showing similar distribution pattern along any environmental gradient are said to be associated and constitute the dominant vegetation type (Varghese and Murthy, 2006). Thus abundance of different plant species at a site depends on the amount of available soil moisture and mineral contents essential for plant growth and development and thus, assessing biodiversity on the landscape scale is an appropriate way to ascertain the impact of human activities in degradation processes (Castillo-Campos et al., 2008). Though vegetation patchiness is a warning to desertification but conservation of these vegetation patches may be crucial to prevent increased soil erosion and desertification in the desert ecosystem (Busso and Bonvissuto, 2009). Therefore objectives of the present study were to (a) study the spatial variability of vegetation composition and (b) investigate relationships between them. Here we present diversity variables observed in 32 patches with reference to grasses and herbs or the regenerated tree seedlings.

MATERIALS AND METHODS Study site This study was conducted at the experimental farm of Arid Forest Research Institute, Jodhpur (260 45' North latitude and 720 03' East longitudes) in northwestern India. The altitude is about 226 m. The climate of the region is dry tropical type and experience strong winds (usually 20-30 km h-1). Average annual rainfall for the last ten years (1995-2004) was 318.1 mm, out of which 90% rainfall occurred between June to September. Mean monthly maximum and minimum temperature varied from 32.41 to 35.310C and from 19.48 to 21.110C, respectively. Mean maximum and minimum relative humidity varied from 50- 67% and from 22-35%, respectively. The soil of the experimental site was alkaline in reaction with soil organic matter of 0.218%. The soil is coarse loamy, mixed hyperthermic family Camborthids according to US soil taxonomy. The soil of study field was loamy sand with pH 8.27, EC - 0.49 dSm-1, water holding capacity of 10.67% (W/W) at -0.03 MPa and 3.23% at -1.5 MPa.

Associated flora in the area The above-mentioned area has both natural and planted species, which were planted during 1990 to 2001 with different species of tree and shrubs. The naturally occurring tree and shrub species are Acacia jacquemontii, Azadirachta indica, Balanites aegyptiaca, Colophospermum mopane, Maytenus emarginata, Prosopis cineraria, P. juliflora, Momosa hamata, Tecomella undulata, Calotropis procera, Capparis decidua and Zizyphus mauritiana etc. The planted species are consist of Acacia nilotica, A. tortilis, A. planifronse, Faidherbia albida, Albizia lebbeek, Azadirachta indica, Colophospermum mopane, Cordia myxa, Dalbergia sissoo, Emblica officinalis, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Hardwikia binata, Prosopis cineraria, Syzgium cumini and Tecomella undulata. Regeneration of A. indica and C. mopane are more common, in which C. mopane regenerated through seeds, whereas A. indica and Z. mauritiana regenerated by both seeds and root suckers.

Data recording Thirty two plots of 1 m2 area comprising 19 and 13 plots dominated by different species of grasses and herbs respectively were laid out in the area in September 2007. The number of the species of herbs, grass and regenerated shrub and tree species in each plot was counted. Vegetation was identified as per taxonomy classification using standard literatures (Shetty and

167

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Singh, 1993). These species were counted manually and categorized into number of species and their populations. Phytosociological parameters such as frequency, density, abundance and A/F ratio were calculated. The collected data were analyzed for measuring the species richness (Magurran, 1988) , Shannon-Weiner Index (H’) of species diversity (Shannon & Wiener, 1963), Simpson’s (1949) index of dominance (D) and species evenness (e) index (Pielou, 1966). Beta diversity in the observed plots was also calculated following the method of Whittaker (1972).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A total number of 43 species of grasses and herbs were recorded in the 32 plots across the field, in which 17 were grass species and 26 were herbs/regenerated tree/shrub species (Table 1). In this 35 species were with the plots dominated by grasses and 39 species were observed in plots dominated by herbs. However, greater value of H' index in the plots dominated by herbs than the plots dominated by grasses indicates that plots dominated by former community were more divers– high Shannon-Weaver Index (H') than the plots dominated by grasses (Table 1) with similar plot size, though species diversity varies with patch size (Busso and Bonvissuto, 2009). High values of species evenness index suggest that plots had equal distribution of these species. But relatively greater values of species evenness index and species dominance index in the plots dominated by grasses suggest an evenly distributed less number of species. Table 1. Diversity variables of herbs species in a protected area near Jodhpur. Type of vegetation

Species richness

Shannon-Weaver Index (H)

Evenness (Shannon)

Dominance (D)

Grasses Herbs

17 26

2.30 2.44

0.80 0.75

0.15 0.13

Patterns of species richness per study plot varied strongly between taxonomic groups i.e., species and ranged from 4 (dominated by Digera muricata) to 13 (dominated by Tetrapogon tenelus) in the study area with an average of 8.2 species per 1 m2 area (Table 2). Beta diversity ranged from 0.21 to 9.65 with an average value of 2.85. These vegetations are seemed to be more α diverse than β diverse indicated by high values of species richness as compared to β diversity value. Castillo-Campos et al. (2008) observed that secondary vegetation is more alpha diverse than primary forest, both in terms of cumulative and mean species richness. About 18.8% plots (2, 11, 15-18) showed βw values of 5 (dominated by grasses). Rest of the plots showed the values 5>βw>1. The plots which are more β diverse are mostly dominated by grass species e.g. A. funiculata, B. ramosa, D. aegyptium, M. jacquemontii, O. compressa and Tragus roxburghii the palatable grasses. Such variations might be due to micro-environmental or soil water and nutrient availability. Susan (1999) predicted that relative to communities in widespread habitats, local communities in patchy habitats will contain more habitat generalist and fewer habitat specialist species and soil calcium was positively correlated with the number of alien species on small patches, and negatively with the number of serpentine-endemic species on continuous sites. In this, total herb diversity was negatively correlated with elevation on continuous sites. While conducting spring and summer vegetation surveys to investigate differences in floristic composition between aspen patches and surrounding forest, Larrimar and MacCarthy (2010) found significant (P0.05 abundance to frequency of occurrence ratio (A/F ratio) indicating contagious distribution of each species (Verma et al., 1999). The highest A/F ratio for M. jacquemontii followed by Acrachne racemosa was due to less frequent distribution of these species in the area. But relatively high value of all the studied variables for A. funuculata, B. ramosa and T. roxburghii grasses is indicative of their wide distribution. Table 3. Diversity variables of grass species in a protected experimental area near Jodhpur. S. No. Species

Species richness index Species density Frequency (%)

Abundance

A/F ratio

1 2

Acrachne racemosa Aristida funiculata

0.80 14.10

1.50 26.50

3.13 59.40

48.00 44.58

15.36 0.75

3

Brachiaria ramosa

12.40

23.40

65.60

35.62

0.54

169

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 4

Cenchrus biflorus

4.41

8.28

56.30

14.72

0.26

5

Cenchrus pennisetiformis

2.48

4.66

28.10

16.56

0.59

6

Cenchrus setigerus

0.40

0.75

15.60

4.80

0.31

7

Chloris barbata

1.21

2.28

12.50

18.25

1.46

8

Cyperus sp.

1.17

2.19

21.90

10.00

0.46

9

Dactyloctenium aegyptium

3.08

5.78

18.80

30.83

1.64

10

Dactyloctenium sindicum

1.48

2.78

9.38

29.67

3.16

11

Digitaria bicornis

0.48

0.91

18.80

4.83

0.26

12

Digitaria ciliaris

0.93

1.75

6.25

28.00

4.48

13

Eragrostis tremula

0.70

1.31

12.50

10.50

0.84

14

Melanocenchris jacquemontii

2.41

4.53

3.13

145.00

46.40

15

Ochthochloa compressa

1.90

3.56

6.25

57.00

9.12

16

Tetrapogon tenellus

1.35

2.53

15.60

16.20

1.04

17

Tragus roxburghii

10.70

20.16

43.80

46.07

1.05

Herbs diversity Among the herbs (Table 4) the highest and lowest population were recorded for Rhynchosia minima and Phyllanthus amarus with 17.99% and 35.55% of the total population, respectively. I. cordifolia showed the highest species richness index and species density. The species richness index ranged from 0.01 to 10.80 with an average value of 1.54. This indicated that diversity of herbs is relatively less as compared to the grasses. The frequency of occurrence was highest for Boerhaavia diffusa and Indigofera cordifolia, whereas the lowest values were for Ageratum conyzoides, Cocculus pendulus and Eclipta alba. This indicated that I. cordifolia is the most common species and widely distributed in the area. The most abundant species was Crotalaria medicaginea followed by Indigofera cordifolia. The highest A/F ratio was observed for Ageratum conyzoides followed by Crotalaria medicagenia suggesting that these species are less common and showed a patchy behaviour probably because of a particular type of micro-habitat depending upon resource availability. An A/F ratio of >0.05 for each species of herbs indicated their contagious distribution (Chen et al., 2008). In the study of Khairwal and Rawat (2010) also, the total abundance-frequency (AF) ratio of tree, shrub and herb species in different sampling sites ranged from 0.23 to 1.25, 0.25 to 1.79 and 3.4 to 27.3, respectively, which indicated that the tree, shrub and herb species were contagiously distributed in all forest sites. The least common species recorded in the area were C. pendulus and T. porlacastrum. Table 4. Diversity variables of herbs species in a protected experimental area near Jodhpur.

0.41 0.07

Species density 0.53 0.09

Frequency (%) 3.13 9.38

17.00 1.00

A/F ratio 5.44 0.11

Boerhavia diffusa

5.24

6.72

46.9

14.30

0.31

4

Capparis decidua

0.10

0.13

9.38

1.33

0.14

5

Chorchorus aestuans

0.07

0.09

3.13

3.00

0.96

6

Cleome viscosa

4.76

6.09

34.40

17.70

0.52

7

Cocculus pendulus

0.02

0.03

3.13

1.00

0.32

8

Colophospermum mopane

0.02

0.03

3.13

1.00

0.32

9

Convolvulus microphyllus

0.22

0.28

6.25

4.50

0.72

10

Crotalaria medicaginea

3.78

4.84

12.50

38.80

3.10

11

Digera muricata

3.27

4.19

21.90

19.10

0.88

S. No.

Species

Species richness index

1 2

Ageratum conyzoides Azadirachta indica

3

170

Abundance

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

12

Eclipta alba

0.05

0.06

3.13

2.00

0.64

13

Euphorbia granulata

1.34

1.72

9.38

18.30

1.96

14

Euphorbia hirta

0.63

0.81

12.50

6.50

0.52

15

Heliotropium ellipticum

0.63

0.81

9.38

8.67

0.92

16

Indigofera cordifolia

10.80

13.80

46.90

29.50

0.63

17

Malva parviflora

0.83

1.06

12.50

8.50

0.68

18

Mukia moderaspatana

0.46

0.59

6.25

9.50

1.52

19

Phyllanthus amarus

0.98

1.25

15.60

8.00

0.51

20

Rhynchosia minima

0.37

0.47

6.25

7.50

1.20

21

Sida cordifolia

0.93

1.19

18.80

6.33

0.34

22

Tephrosia purpurea

0.98

1.25

34.40

3.64

0.11

23

Tribulus terrestris

3.32

4.25

62.50

6.80

0.11

24

Trianthema portulacastrum

0.05

0.06

6.25

1.00

0.16

25

Trichodesma indica

1.68

2.16

12.50

17.3

1.38

26

Ziziphus mauritiana

0.07

0.09

9.38

1.00

0.11

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS This study suggests that protection and plantation of the area resulted in a better species composition. Plantation of different species probably had positive effects on edaphic factors as well as microclimate modification that improved the species composition. Researches conducted in tropical countries have shown that tree planting on a degraded tropical land can drastically increase the native forest species diversity. However, the varying effects of species probably cause unequal distribution of the soil resources resulting in patchy growth or occupancy by different species. However, high value of species richness than β diversity suggests that this area is more α diverse. Herb diversity was more but the plots dominated by grass were found more even but occupied by relatively less number of species. Though vegetation patchiness is there but these are limited to some species indicated by common distribution of some of the species like A. funiculata, B. ramosa, T. roxburghii, I. cordifolia, C. biflorus etc.

REFERENCES Brown, G. (2003). Factors maintaining plant diversity in degraded areas of northern Kuwait. J. Arid Environment, 54: 184-193. Busso, C.A. and Bonvissuto, G.L. 2009. Structure of vegetation patches in northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. Biodiversity Conservation, 18: 3017-3041. Castillo-Campos, G., Halffter, G. and Moreno, C.E. (2008). Primary and secondary vegetation patches as contributors to floristic diversity in a tropical deciduous forest landscape. Biodiversity and Conservation, 17: 1701-1714. Chen, J., Shiyomi, M., Hori, Y. and Yamamura, Y. (2008). Frequency distribution models for spatial patterns of vegetation abundance. Ecol. Modeling, 211: 403-410. del Campo, H. and Wali, A. (2007). Applying asset mapping to protected area planning and management in the cordillera Azul National Park, Peru. Ethnobotany Research and Applications, 5: 25-36. Kéfi, S., Rietkerk, M., Alados, C.L., Pueyo, Y., Papanastasis, V.P., ElAich, A. and de Ruiter, P.C. (2007). Spatial vegetation patterns and imminent desertification in Mediterranean arid ecosystems. Nature, 449: 213-217. Kessler, M., Abrahamczyk, S., Bos, M., Buchori, D., Putra, D.D., Gradstein, S.R., Höhn, P., Kluge, J., Orend, F., Pitopang, R., Saleh, S., Schulze, C.H., Sporn, S.G., Steffan-Dewenter, I.,

171

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Tjitrosoedirdjo, S.S. and Tscharntke, T. (2009). Alpha and beta diversity of plants and animals along a tropical land-use gradient. Ecological Applications, 19: 2142-2156. Kharkwal, G. and Rawat, Y.C. (2010). Structure and composition of vegetation in subtropical forest of Kumaun Himalaya. African Journal of Plant Science, 4: 116-121. Larrimer, A.K. and McCarthy, B.C. (2010). Biological Diversity Associated with Bigtooth Aspen Patches in a Mixed Oak Landscape. Castanea, 75: 211-225. Magurran, A. E. (1988). Ecological diversity and its measurement. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N. J. Pielou, E.C. (1966). The measurement of diversity in different types of biological collections. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 13: 145-163. Shannon, C.E. and Weiner, W. (1963). The mathematical theory of communication. Urbana, USA: University of Illinois press: p. 177. Shetty, B.V. and Singh V. ( 1993). Flora of Rajasthan, Vol. I-III. Botanical survey of India, Howrah. Simpson, E.H. (1949). Measurements of diversity. Nature, 163: 683-688. Susan, H. (1999). Local and regional and regional diversity in a patchy landscape: native, alien, and endemic herbs on serpentine. Ecology, 80: 70-80. Varghese, A.O. and Murthy, Y.V.N.K. (2006). Application of geoinformatics for conservation and management of rare and threatened plant species. Current Science, 91: 762-769. Verma, R. K., Shadangi, D. K. and Totey, N. G. (1999). Species diversity under plantation raised on a degraded land. The Malaysian Forest, 62: 95-106. Von-Hardenberg, J., Meron, E., Shachak, M. and Zarmi, Y. (2001). Diversity of Vegetation Patterns and Desertification. Physical Review Letters, 87: 198101-198104. Westby, M. (1980). Element of a theory of vegetation dynamics in arid rangelands. Israel Journal of Botony, 28: 169-194. Whittaker, R.H. (1972). Evolution and measurement of species diversity. Taxon, 21: 213-251. Zipperer, W.C. (2002). Species composition and structure of regenerated and remnant forest patches within an urban landscape. Urban Ecosystem, 6: 271-290.

172

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

ENDANGERED PLANT SPECIES OF ARID AND SEMI-ARID ZONE MALA RATHORE* AND SANGEETA TRIPATHI** Arid Forest Research Institute, Pali Road, Jodhpur-342005 (Rajasthan), India e-mail: *[email protected]; **[email protected] ABSTRACT: The diversity and distribution of the world’s terrestrial vegetation is the product of a complex suite of interactions between individual plants and a multitude of climatic and environmental variables. Plants are major regulators of the global climate, and their collective responses to increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations have clearly played an important role in mitigating climate change up to this point. Climates are changing more rapidly than species can adapt and there is a high risk of mass extinctions of biodiversity as the planet warms. There is growing evidence that climate change will become one of the major drivers of species extinctions in the 21st Century. In a changing environment, ‘weedy’ species with fast generation times and wide ecological tolerances are more likely to adapt or migrate quickly and are more likely to flourish. Conservative species with specific habitat requirements or long generation times are more prone to the threat of extinction. With predicted temperature increases, changing hydrological cycles and other factors of climate change, as many as half of all plant species may be lost over the next century. Plant species restricted to high-risk habitats are likely to be the first casualties of climate change. GES (2000) has recorded 8 plants from coastal area, 5 from wetlands, 12 from forests, 3 from grasslands, 11 from arid region and 6 from agro system as rare and endangered. Three species Commiphora wightii, Butea monosperma var. lutea and Saraca asoka have been recorded in IUCN red data book-2000, but there are several plant species in the state which are on the verge of extermination. Ephedra foliata, Caralluma edulis, Farsetia macrantha, Tephrosia falciformis, Withania coagulens and Ziziphus truncata are some of the important threatened species of thar desert which need immediate conservation measures. Many of the world’s poor depend directly on harvesting non-timber forest products, edible, medicinal and aromatic plants for livelihoods and sustenance. With increasing human pressure and loss of natural vegetation, many of these species are under threat. Climate change will further threaten these species and, as a consequence, the people who depend on them. The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (CBD, 2002), and achieving its 16 plant conservation targets for 2010, becomes more important in the light of climate change. Conserving plant diversity will help in the maintenance of carbon sinks and will ensure options for future plant use under different climatic conditions. KEY WORDS: Endangered, arid zone, Conservation, Climate, Medicinal, Edible.

INTRODUCTION India is one of the twelve ‘mega diversity’ countries in the world, which collectively account for 60-70% of the world’s biodiversity. The annual rate of deforestation is massive and our tropical forests, rich source of world’s biodiversity, are rapidly disappearing. Deforestation will adversely affect the rainfall pattern, as trees are primarily a source of water and only secondary producer of timber. This condition becomes very much severe in the arid and semiarid regions. The arid region of India occupies nearly 9% of India's geographical area and covers 2,08,751 square Km in Rajasthan viz. the Thar desert, and about 62180 square Km in Gujarat viz. Kuchchh Desert (Kotia, 2008). The arid zone of Rajasthan or Great Indian Thar Desert, popularly known as Thar, is a vast tract of dry land of about 2.34 million square kilometers. The whole tract is distinguished by low and erratic rainfall, low humidity, high solar radiation, strong

173

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert dust raising winds, scanty vegetation and dry, sand-dune dominated landscape. Besides, Thar Desert is home of several tribes and communities who have got a rich culture heritage and colorful traditions. Various tribes and communities such as Bhils, Sansis, Kalbelias, Raikas, Banjars, Sindhis, Gadolia lohars and Bolochis live in Thar Desert. The natural flora, hide and wool are subsistence and earning sources for communities in Thar Desert. Due to few or sometimes in-existent opportunities to access modern healthcare facilities, the use of effective herbal resources through generations of old traditional knowledge is applied. Hence, the desert communities, from an early childhood are well versed with the various use of plant species. However, as the collectors, being mostly tribals and unskilled women, are ignorant about proper collection, harvesting and storage methods and also due to the drastic changes in the land use pattern in recent decades and changes in habitat conditions due to invasion of alien invasive species, many plant species have become endangered and threatened. The Indian desert flora has an important place in the field of desert floristics, as it support western as well as eastern elements along with higher percentage of endemic plants (Bhandari, 1990). Survey of the economically important, naturally occurring species of the Indian desert showed that about onefourth of the total 84 taxa were facing varying stages of risk. Of these, 17 species and 8 botanical varieties are endemic to Indian desert. Eighteen species in Bikaner, 21 in Jaisalmer and 19 in Jodhpur divisions were at risk (Singh, 2004). In Great Rann of Kachchh (GRK), Gujarat, Pachchham is largest island of the Kachchh district and due to diverse habitats it supports many plant species. In 2002, being a high floral diversity area, it was suggested that it should be declared as an Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) (Joshi, 2002). Similarly, Khadir is also one of the largest island of GRK which supports diverse vegetation types including mixed scrub thorn and savanna. Rare and Endangered plants species of GRK includes Citullus colocynthis, Commiphora wightii, Convolvulus stoksii, Dactyliandra welwitschii, Dipcadi erythraeum, Ephedra foliata, Helichrysum cutchicum, Heliotropium bacciferum, Heliotropium rariflorum, Ipomoea kotschyana, Indigofera caerulea, Limonium stocksii, Pavonia certatocarpa, Sida tiagi and Tribulus rajasthanisis (Sabnis and Rao, 1983; Pardeshi, 2010) . The semi-arid zone in India represents `Savannah' vegetation and extensive xerophilous grasslands rich in legumes and shrubs. In Rajasthan, Aravalli Hill ranges separate the semi arid tract from the arid region. This zone has higher rainfall reaching upto 1000 mm at some places. The rich alluvial soil supports good forests and agricultural crops. In Gujarat the semi arid tract is formed by central Gujarat, Arawalli and adjoining tracts, and kathiawad peninsula. According to Puri (1952), Pandey et al. (1983), Shah (1983), Shetty & Singh (1991) and Pandey & Teotia (2000) following plants have been recognized as typical and threatened species of semiarid zone: Dicliptera abuensis, Strobilanthes hallbergii, Bonnaya bracteoides, Oldenlandia clausa, Veronica anagallis var. bracteoa, Ceropegia odorata, C. hirsuta, C. vincaefolia, Ischaemum kingii, Rosa involucrata, Sterculia villosa, Eulophia ochreata, Aerides crispum, A. multiflora, A. maculosum, Nervilia oragonna, Vanda testacea, Anogeissus sericea var. nummularia, Blumea bovei, Chlorophytum bharuchae, Commiphora wightii, Convolvulus auricomus, C. stockii, Gloriosa superba, Heliotropium rariflorum, Tribulus rajasthanensis, T. jamnagarensis, Butea monosperma var. lutea, and Cochlospermum religiosum. GES (2000) has recorded 8 plants from coastal area, 5 from wetlands, 12 from forests, 3 from grasslands, 11 from arid region and 6 from agro system as rare and endangered. Main threats for these plants include degradation of forests due to excessive biotic pressure including livestock grazing. Besides, invasive species like Prosopis juliflora and Lantana camara are big competitors and inhibitors for native flora as they occupy continuously major portion of habitat. The paper here encapsulates about some of the economically important endangered plant species of arid and semi arid zone.

ENDANGERED PLANT SPECIES OF ARID AND SEMI-ARID ZONE Commiphora wightii (Arn.) Bhand. (Syn: C. mukul) Family: Burseraceae

174

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert A much branched spinous shrub or a small tree. It has become endangered because of its slow growing nature, poor seed setting, lack of cultivation, poor seed germination rate and excessive tapping for gum extraction. It has also been included in the Red Data Book of IUCN. It is distribution in arid and semi arid region of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Parts of Karnataka (India), Pakistan and Baluchistan. In Rajasthan, it occurs in the districts of Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Barmer, Sirohi, Pali, Nagour, Sikar, Churu, Bikaner and Jhunjhunu. Plants in low density are also found in Jalore, Siwana, Jaswantpura (Jalore district), Bhinmal, Jassi, Bisala, Chohatan etc. and in Udaipur, Alwar, Ajmer, Sawai Madhopur, Bundi, Kota and Jaipur (Soni, 2010). As a result of increasing exploitation, in the year 1994, the Ministry of Environment & Forests, GOI has banned the export of this high valued medicinal plant species Medicinal Uses It has been used as an inactive pharmaceutical ingredient, binding agent, anti-obesity agent, and cholesterol-reducing agent. Therapeutic uses include treatment of nervous diseases, leprosy, muscle spasms, ophthalmia, skin disorders, ulcerative pharyngitis, hypertension, ischaemia, and urinary disorders. The demand supply gap of gum guggul is increasing very fast. According to an estimate, the domestic demand of gum guggul is to the tune of 300 tonnes, while the supply is only 75 tonnes. To meet the domestic demand, presently India is importing substantial quantities of guggul. It is also used in incense, lacquers, varnishes, and ointments, as a fixative and in perfumes (Dixit and Rao, 2000). Calligonum polygonoides L. (Phog) Family: Polygonaceae It is a rigid, much branched, leafless typical sand dune shrub, found in whole of arid zone viz. Jodhpur, Barmer, Jaiselmer etc. Flowering and fruiting occurs in April-May. It commonly grows on dry sandy soil and on sand dunes. It is very hardy and being capable of growing under adverse conditions of soil and moisture. Edible Uses Floral buds abort and drop off in substantial quantities in May which are collected. The floral buds are used as salad with curd (Raita) or fried and eaten. Other uses The plant is extensively used for fuelwood purpose which has made the plant endangered. It has been included in Red Data Book of IUCN. Cordia crenata subsp. crenata (Gundi) Family: Boraginaceae It is a small tree, wholly glabrous except minutely hairy inflorescence. Flowering & Fruiting occurs from January to April. Taxon is almost extinct in wild (Pandey & Teotia, 2000). Edible Uses A number of the tropical species have edible fruits, known by a wide variety of names including clammy cherries, glue berries, sebesten, or snotty gobbles. The fruits are used as a vegetable, raw, cooked, or pickled. Caralluma edulis (Edgew.) Benth. & Hook.f (Pimpa) Family: Asclepiadaceae An annual erect succulent herb, 15-60 cm high, branches, 4-angled. It is endemic to deserts of Pakistan and Western Rajasthan. Flowering occurs from February to September and fruiting from March to May. Medicinal Uses This has been cited as a cooling, alterative, anthelmintic agent, useful in leprosy and diseases of blood. Juicy stem is bitter tonic, febrifuge, stomachic and carminative useful in

175

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert rheumatism. Caralluma edulis is known for its antidiabetic and antioxidant properties (Tatiya et al., 2010). Edible Uses The young shoots are eaten as vegetable and often sold in market at Jaisalmer (Mohangarh) (Bhandari, 1990). Ephedra foliata Boiss. & Kotschy (Andho-khimp) Family: Ephedraceae It is distributed in Ajmer, Bikaner, Churu, Barmer, Jodhpur and Jhunjhunu districts of Rajasthan. This is only Gymnosperm in the Thar Desert, rare in sandy habitat and occasionally climbing on shrub or a tree. It is a perennial, with climbing fascicled branches, smooth, slender, striated, knotted stems. Medicinal Uses The alkaloids ephedrine and pseudoephidrine are active constituents of E. foliata. These compounds are sympathomimetics with stimulant and decongestant qualities and are related chemically to the amphetamines. The decoction of stem, is used as a remedy for rheumatism and syphilis (Abourashed et al., 20003). Edible Uses The fruits are eaten by the natives in the time of scarcity (Bhandari, 1990). Farsetia macrantha Blatter & Hallberg (Motio-Hiran Chobbo) Family: Brassicaceae A twiggy, rigid undershurb. Leaves 4-7 x 1.5-2.5 cm, broadly linear-lanceolate, attenuated at the base, sub-coriaceous. Flowering and fruiting occurs from August to January. It is threatened and endemic to deserts. Medicinal Uses Plant is reported to be useful in rheumatism. Leptadenia reticulata (Retz) Wight & Arn (Jivanti) Family: Asclepidaceae Twining shrub, with numerous branches, the stems of which have a cork-like, deeply cracked bark, glabrous in the younger ones. Leaves are coriaceous, ovate, acute, glabrous above, finely pubescent below. Flowers are greenish-yellow, in lateral or subaxillary cymes, often with small hairs. Fruit follicles may be woody. The external surface of the root is rough, white or buff coloured with longitudinal ridges and furrows, and in transverse section, the wide cork, lignified stone cell layers and medullary rays can be seen. In commerce, the root samples vary from 3 to 10 cm in length and 1.5 to 5 cm in diameter. Medicinal Uses The plant is a stimulant and restorative. The leaves and roots are used in skin affections such as ringworm, wounds, nose and ear disorders, asthma, cough and in the treatment of habitual abortion in women. Roots are reported to be antibacterial, antifungal, hypotensive, lactogenic. (Ravishankar & Shukla, 2007; Rani et al., 2009). Ethanolic extract of leaves of Leptadenia reticulate leaves show protective effect against Dalton’s Ascitic Lymphoma (Sathiyanarayanan et al., 2007)

176

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

Tribulus rajasthanensis Bhandari & Sharma (Marwadi Gokharu) Family: Zygophyllaceae Tribulus rajasthanensis, is an endemic species of Rajasthan. It is commonly found in western Rajasthan and its distribution extends southwards to Gujarat and westwards to Pakistan (Bhandari, 1990; Shetty & Singh, 1987). It is a perennial or rarely annual, diffusely prostrate or somewhat ascending herb found occurring commonly on sand stone hills of Jodhpur. The flowers are small, yellowish, and solitary. The fruits are angled and spinous. As compared to T. terrestris whose fruit has 4 spines, T. rajasthanensis fruits are with multiple spines. Habitat loss is the major cause of threat (Jain & Sikarvar, 2004). Medicinal Uses Contains saponins which may have medicinal properties as in Tribulus terrestris (Rathore & Meena, 2010). Withania coagulans (Stocks) Dunal (Paneer-bandh) Family: Solanaceae A stiff, ashy-grey undershurb, up to 1m high and found in Barmer, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. Stem woody, terete, densely clothed with mealy, stellate tomentum, sulcate when dry. Seed ear-shaped, glabrous. Flowering and fruiting occurs from November to March. This species has become extremely rare. Medicinal Uses The fruits of the plant are sweet and are reported to be sedative, emetic, alterative and diuretic. They are useful in chronic complaints of liver. The fruits are also used in dyspepsia, flatulent colic and other intestinal infections. They are employed for the treatment of asthma, biliousness and stranguary. In some parts of the sub-continent, the berries are used as a blood purifier. The twigs are chewed for cleaning teeth and the smoke of the plant is inhaled for relief in toothache Traditionally Withania coagulens is believed to be antihyperglycemic and antidyslipidemic agent (Rahman et al., 2003). Fifteen gm seeds of the plant are soaked in water for whole night and given early morning before breakfast are given to patients in Pakistan as a treatment for diabetes (Ahmed et al., 2009). Edible uses The fruits are used for coagulating milk and making Paneer. It’s earlier name Punneria coagulans was perhaps related to this property. This property is attributed to the pulp and husk of the berry, which is known to contain an enzyme. The main components of berries are esterases, free amino acids, fatty oils, essential oils and withanolides. Zizyphus truncata Blatter & Hallberg (Boti) Family: Rhamnaceae A rare endemic shrub with divaricate branches, younger parts downy. Leaves orbiculate, subcordate, serrulate, coriaceous, and 3-nerved from the base. Flowers in short axillary cymes, greenish yellow. Drupes c. 0.75cm across, globose,glabrous, yellow when ripe. Flowering and fruiting occurs from October to January. Ziziphus truncata is endemic to North-West Rajasthan, distributed in Jaisalmer and Jodhpur districts. Edible Uses Ripe fruit is eaten during scarcity (Gupta and Kanodia, 1968).

177

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

Tephrosia falciformis Ramasw. (Rati Biyani) Family: Fabaceae It is a shrub with white silky branches. Flowers in racemes, longer than leaves, purple-red. Calyx-teeth as long as tube. Standard silvery-whiteoutside. Style incurved. Pods flat, sparsely hairy and 3-5-seeded. Flowering and fruiting occurs from August to October. It is a threatened species, endemic to Thar Desert. Occasionally seen in sand-dunes and distributed in Churu, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Pali districts of Rajasthan. Medicinal Uses Seeds are given in rheumatic pains and backache (Qureshi, 2010). Antioxidant activity of the ethanol extract of Tephrosia falciformis was investigated in rats with carbon tetrachloride induced erythrocyte damage indicated that the roots of Tephrosia falciformis Linn. possess an erythrocyte protective activity against drug induced oxidative stress ( Khan et al., 1986) . Moringa concanensis Nimmo ex Dalz. & Gibs. (Sargvo) Family: Moringaceae It is distributed in Churu, Jhalawar, Jaisalmer, Pali, Tonk etc. Flowering and fruiting occurs in most part of the year. Medicinal Uses Moringa concanensis is widely used in India, since the Ayurveda and Unani medicinal systems use it for the treatment of several ailments. In literature seed extract of Moringa species reported to have anti-inflammatory, purgative, tonic, analgesic 10, potential antitumor, antifungal, antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory and diuretic activity . Dried seeds of Moringa concanensis, Nimmo. are used in ophthalmic preparation, venereal affection, in goitre, glycosuria and lipid disorders. Fatty oil obtained from the seed kernels of Moringa concanensis, Nimmo. is yellowish brown, semi-solid, with a faint odour of bitter almonds. Fresh bark is tied on leg to reduce pain. Flakes of stern bark are kept on the stomach of pregnant (Kale et al., 2010). Berberis asiatica Roxb. ex DC (Kantela, Kamadi) Family: Berberidaceae It is an erect, spiny bush with pale bark. Flowering occurs in April and fruiting in May to June. Medicinal Uses The roots are used in treating ulcers, urethral discharges, ophthalmia, jaundice, fevers etc. The roots contain 2.1% berberine, the stems 1.3%. The bark and wood are crushed in Nepal then boiled in water, strained and the liquid evaporated until a viscous mass is obtained. This is antibacterial, laxative and tonic. It is taken internally to treat fevers and is used externally to treat conjuctivitis and other inflammations of the eyes. Tender leaf buds are chewed and held against affected teeth for 15 minutes to treat dental caries. The fruit is cooling and laxative. Berberine, universally present in rhizomes of Berberis species, has marked antibacterial effects. Since it is not appreciably absorbed by the body, it is used orally in the treatment of various enteric infections, especially bacterial dysentery. Berberine has also shown antitumour activity (Uniyal et al., 2006; Kunwar et al., 2008). Edible Uses Fruit is used either raw or dried and used like raisins. This species is said to make the best Indian raisins. Fully ripe fruits are fairly juicy with a pleasantly acid flavour, though there are rather a lot of seeds (Kala, 2007).

178

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

Other Uses A yellow dye is obtained from the roots and stems (Tomlinson, 1866). The spiny branches are used to make fencing around fields in Nepal. Ceropegia odorata Nimmo. ex Hook.f. (Khilodia, Khadulia) Family: Asclepiadaceae They are slender, tuberous twiners. Stem mostly glabrous. It is an endemic plant of India, distributed in Mount Abu (Rajasthan), Gujarat (Ansari 1984). Flowering and fruiting occurs in August-September. Over exploitation of tubers, over grazing and rapid invasion by Lantana camara are the major causes of its decline. Medicinal Uses Leaves are chewed as stomache. Tuber juice is dropped into eye to cure opacity. Tubers are consumed as vegetable.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND PLANT EXTINCTION The diversity and distribution of the world’s terrestrial vegetation is the product of a complex suite of interactions between individual plants and a multitude of climatic and environmental variables. Plants are major regulators of the global climate, and their collective responses to increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations have clearly played an important role in mitigating climate change up to this point. Climates are changing more rapidly than species can adapt and there is a high risk of mass extinctions of biodiversity as the planet warms. There is growing evidence that climate change will become one of the major drivers of species extinctions in the 21st Century. An increasing number ofpublished studies have documented a variety of changes attributable to climate change (IPCC, 2007), for example changes in distribution. One study suggests that 15-37% of terrestrial species may be ‘committed to extinction’ by 2050 due to climate change (Thomas et al., 2004). In a changing environment, ‘weedy’ species with fast generation times and wide ecological tolerances are more likely to adapt or migrate quickly and are more likely to flourish. Conservative species with specific habitat requirements or long generation times are more prone to the threat of extinction. It is estimated that some 270,000-425,000 vascular plant species are already known (Govaerts, 2001) with perhaps a further 10-20% still to be discovered and described (Hawksworth & Kalin-Arroyo, 1995). With predicted temperature increases, changing hydrological cycles and other factors of climate change, as many as half of all plant species may be lost over the next century. Native plants are key components of the global biological diversity, these plants are an integral part of our ecosystem in which they are facing multiple threats i.e. habitat loss and degradation, introduction of alien species, pollution and diseases, over-exploitation and climate change (Abbas et al., 2010). Plant species restricted to high-risk habitats are likely to be the first casualties of climate change. Rabinowitz (1981) suggests that those species which are found over a wide geographic range but are consistently rare throughout their distribution need immediate attention as they are more vulnerable from extinction point of view. MoEF (2004) stated that it would be prudent to not only conserve the species we already have information about, but also species we have not yet identified and described from economic point of view. The value of biodiversity as a source of pharmaceutically active substances is now being cited as one of the many arguments for conserving natural habitats in general and tropical forests in particular, which contain the largest number of plant species (Singh et al., 2003). According to the World Health Organization, 80% of World's population depends on traditional medicines, derived from plant sources for primary healthcare (Singh et al., 2003). This interrelationship may be an advantage for conservation and sustainable utilization of the plant species.

179

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Anthropogenic climate warming at least ranks alongside other recognized threats to global biodiversity. It is likely to be the greatest threat in many, if not, most regions. Furthermore, many of the most severe impacts of climate-change are likely to stem from interactions between threats rather than from climate acting in isolation. The ability of species to reach new climatically suitable areas will be hampered by habitat loss and fragmentation, and their ability to persist in appropriate climates is likely to be affected by new invasive species. Minimum expected climatechange scenarios for 2050 produce fewer projected ‘committed extinctions’ than mid-range projections (24%), and about half of those predicted under maximum expected climate change (35%). These scenarios would diverge even more by 2100. Minimizing green house gas emissions and sequestering carbon to realize minimum, rather than mid-range or maximum, expected climate warming could save a substantial percentage of terrestrial species from extinction. Returning to near pre-industrial global temperatures as quickly as possible could prevent much of the projected, but slower acting, climate-related extinction from being realized (Thomas et al., 2004).

CONCLUSION There are numerous plant species which are confined to western part of our country and are less known at this point of time in other areas. Besides mitigating the ethno-medicinal needs of the desert peasantry, these species offer potential for conservation and optimum use in the field of medicines. Study on their physico-chemical composition would provide more information on the economic values of individual plant species. Efforts are necessary to investigate these species, which would provide valuable information on different aspects of conservation and propagation of these endemic species for better eco-environment in the extreme arid regions along with their medicinal value.

REFERENCES Abbas, H., Qaiser, M. and Alam, J. 2010. Conservation status of Cadaba heterotricha stocks (Capparaceae): An endangered species in Pakistan. Pak. J. Bot., 42(1): 35-46. Abourashed, E, El-Alfy, A, Khan, I. and Walker, L. 2003. Ephedra in perspective-a current review. Phytother. Res., 17(7): 703-712. Adnan, S.M., Khan, A.A., Latif, A. and Shiwari, Z.K.. 2006. Threats to the sustainability of EthnoMedicinal uses in Northern Pakistan (A Case Study of Miandam Valley, District Swat, NWFP Province, Pakistan). Lyonia, 11(2): 91-100. Ansari, A.S. 1984. Asclepiadaceae: Genus-Ceropegia. In : Fascicles of flora of India. Vol 16. Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta. Badola, Hemant K. and Pal Mohinder. 2003 (GB Pant Inst. Himalayan Env. Dev., Himachal Unit, Mohal-Kullu, Himachal Pradesh). Threatened medicinal plants and their conservation in Himachal Himalaya. The Indian Forester, 129(1): 55-68. Bhandari, D. K., Nath, G., Ray, A. B. and Tewari, P. V. 2000. Antimicrobial Activity Of Crude Extracts From Berberis Asiatica Stem Bark. Pharmaceutical Biology, 38(4): 254-257. Bhandari, M.M. 1990. Flora of Indian Desert. MPS Repros. Jodhpur. Dixit, A.M. and Rao, S.V.S. 2000. Observation on distribution and habitat characteristics of Gugal (Commiphora wightii) in the arid region of Kachchh, Gujarat (India). Tropical Ecology, 41(1): 81-88. GES. 2000. State Environment Action Plan, Sub Component: Biodiversity conservation (Phase-IOverview and Problems), GEC, Vadodara. Govaerts, R. 2001. How many species of seed plants are there? Taxon, 50(4): 1085-1090. Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. 2002. Published by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Canada.

180

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Gupta, R.K. and Kanodia, K.C. 1968. Plants used durng scarcity and famine perioids in the dry regions of India. Journal d'Agriculture Tropicale et de Botanique Appliquée, 15: 265-285. Hawksworth, D.L. and Kalin-Arroyo, M.T. 1995. Magnitude and distribution of biodiversity. In: Global Biodiversity Assessment. (Ed.): V.H. Heywood. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 107-192. IPCC. 2007. Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. Jain, S.K. and Sikarwar, S.L. 2004. Bharat ke durlabh Podhe. National Book Trust of India. Joshi, P.N. 2002. Study of ethnobotanical angiosperms of Bhuj and Mandvi Talukas of Kachchh, Gujarat. Ph.D. Thesis, Bhavnagar University, Bhavnagar. Kala, C.P. 2007. Prioritization of cultivated and wild edibles by local people in the Uttaranchal hills of Indian Himalaya. I.J.T.K. 6(1): 239-244. Kale, S., Gajbhiye, G. and Chaudhari, N. 2010. Formulation and in- vitro Evaluation of Moringa concanensis, Nimmo. Seed Oils Sunscreen Cream. International Journal of Pharm. Tech. Research, 2(3): 2060-2062. Kotia, A. 2008. Threatened plants and their habitats in Indian Thar desert. Envis Bulletin, 11(1): 93-99. Khan, H.A., Chandrasekharan I. and Ghanim A. 1986. Falciformin, a flavanone from pods of Tephrosia falciformis. Phytochemistry, 25(3): 767–768. Kunwar, R.M., Chowdhary, C.L. and Bussmann, R.W. 2008. Diversity, Utilization and Management of Medicinal Plants in Baitadi and Darchula Districts, Far West Nepal. The Initiation–SUFFREC. 157-164. MoEF. 2000. Annual Report (1999-2000). New Delhi: Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. Pandey, R.P. and P. Teotia. 2000. Cordia crenata Delile. subsp. crenata- a taxon almost extinct in wild. Indian J. Forestry, 23(1): 129-134. Pandey, R.P., Shetty B.V. and Malhotra S.K. 1983. A preliminary census of rare and threatened plants of Rajasthan. In An Assessment of threatened plants of India. (S.K.Jain and R.R.Rao eds.). Naba Mudran Pvt.Ltd., Calcutta. Director, Botanical Survey of India. Pardeshi, M., N. Gajera and P.N. Joshi, 2010. Kachchh biosphere reserve: Rann and biodiversity. Res. J. For., 4: 72-76. Puri G.S. 1952. Present position of plant ecology of the desert of Rajasthan and Saurashtra. Bull. Nat. Inst. India, 1: 233-241. Qureshi, R., Bhatti, G. R. and Memon, R.A. 2010. Ethnomedicinal Uses Of Herbs From Northern Part Of Nara Desert, Pakistan. Pak. J. Bot., 42(2): 839-851. Rahman, A-ur, Shahwar, D., Naz, A., Choudhary, M.I. 2003. Withanolides from Withania coagulans. Phytochemistry, 63: 387-390. Ravishankar, B. and Shukla, V.J. 2007. Indian Systems Of Medicine: A Brief Profile. Afr. J. Trad. CAM (2007), 4(3): 319-337. Rani, S., Manavalan, R., Kilimozhi, D. and Balamurugan, K. 2009. Preliminary study on the anti - implantation activity of Leptadenia reticulata in female rats. International Journal of Pharm. Tech. Research, 1(4): 1403-1405. Rathore, M. and Meena, R.K. 2010. Variation in saponin content of Tribulus rajasthanensis Bhandari et Shatrma in different developmental stages. J. Econ. Taxon. Bot., 34(1): 182185.

181

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Rabinowitz, D. 1981. Seven forms of rarity. In: The Biological Aspects of Rare Plant Conservation. (ed. H. Synge.).Wiley & Sons Ltd., pp. 205-217. Sathiyanarayanan, L., Arulmozhi, S. and Chidambaranathan, N. 2007. Anticarcinogenic Activity Of Leptadenia Reticulata Against Dalton’s Ascitic Lymphoma. Iranian Journal of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 6: 133-135. Shah, G.L. 1983. Rare species with restricted distribution in South Gujarat . In An Assessment of threatened plants of India. (eds.S.K. Jain and R.R. Rao). Naba Mudran Pvt. Ltd., Calcutta. Director, Botanical Survey of India. Sabnis, S.D. and Rao, K.S.S. 1983. Observations on some Rare or Endangered, Endemics of Southeastern Kutch. pp. 71-77. In: An assessment of threatened plants of India. Naba Mudran Private Limited, Calcutta, India: Director, Botanical Survey of India. Shetty, B.V. and Singh, V. 1987, 1991. Flora of Rajasthan, Vol. I & II. Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta, India. Singh, V. and Pandey, P.R. 1999. Rajasthan. In: V. Mudgal & P K. Hajra (eds.) Floristic Diversity and conservation strategies in India, Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta, India. 3: 13831418. Singh, J., Singh, A.K. and Kanjiya, S.P.S. 2003. Medicinal plants: India’s Opportunity. Pharma Bio world Jassubhai Media, India. pp. 59-66. Singh, A.K. 2004. Endangered economic species of Indian Desert. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. 51: 371-380. Soni, V. 2010. Conservation of Commiphora wightii, an endangered medicinal shrub, through propagation and planting, and education awareness programs in the Aravali Hills of Rajasthan, India. Conservation Evidence. 7: 27-31. Tatiya, A.U., A.S. Kulkarni, S.J. Surana and N.D. Bari, 2010. Antioxidant and hypolipidemic effect of Caralluma adscendens Roxb. in alloxanized diabetic rats. Int. J. Pharmacol., 6: 362-368. Thomas C.D., Cameron, A., Green, R.E., Bakkenes, M., Beaumont, L.J., Collingham, Y.C., Erasmus, B.F.N., de Siqueira, M.F., Grainger, A., Hannah, L., Hughes, L., Huntley, B., van Jaarsveld, A.S., Midgley, G.F., Miles, L., Ortega-Huerta, M.A., Peterson, A.T., Phillips, O.L. and Williams, S.E. 2004. Extinction risk from climate change. Nature, 427(6970): 145-148. Tomlinson, C. (ed.) 1866. Tomlinsons Cyclopaedia of useful Arts London: Virtue & Co., Vol I, p. 97. Uniyal, S.K., Singh, K.N., Jamwal, P. and Lal, B. 2006. Traditional use of medicinal plants among the tribal communities of Chhota Bhangal, Western Himalaya. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine. 2-14.

182

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

STUDIES ON THE BEE VISITORS OF Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Purs. (FABACEAE), THE RESOURCE FOR THE CONSERVATION OF APOIDEA BIODIVERSITY IN WESTERN RAJASTHAN RAJIV K. GUPTA, S. K. CHARAN, J. SAINI, S. K. RAO AND S. L. SHARMA* Department of Zoology, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur-342001, Rajasthan, India. * Department of Zoology, R. R. College, Alwar, India. e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: This study, for the first time explored and identified the bee species (Apoidea) which are regularly associated with Tephrosia purpurea (L.) Purs. in western Rajasthan. This wild plant has quite important medicinal value in curing several disorders. The investigations conducted since 1986 revealed that flowers of T. purpurea attracted a total of 54 species of bees (Apoidea) in western Rajasthan. These have been identified belongs to 18 genera incoming four families. These genera and number of their species are: Amegilla Friese (04 species), Andrena Fabricius (03 species), Apis Linnaeus (03 species), Braunsapis Michener (03 species), Ceratina Latreille (03 species), Eoanthidium Popov (01 species), Halictus Latreille (04 species), Icteranthidium Michener (02 species), Megachile Latreille (12 species), Nomia Latreille (04 species), Pseudapis Kirby (01 species), Pseudoheriades Peters (05 species), Tetragonula Moure (01 species), Trachusa Panzer (01 species), Xylocopa Latreille (03 species) and, the 03 cleptoparasitic genera: Sphecodes Latreille (01 species), Coelioxys Latreille (02 species) and Thyreus Panzer (01 species). A Tephrosia purpurea plant fully blooms for a very short period amidst August to December and during the extremity of cold seasons, bees exclusively depend upon this flower resource. Precisely, this plant is a very useful resource for a rich bee biodiversity and amidst the storm of expansion of urbanization; attempts should be initiated to conserve T. purpurea along with its habitat. KEY WORDS: Tephrosia purpurea, Apoidea, Hymenoptera, bee species composistion, bee biodiversity, western Rajasthan, India.

INTRODUCTION Tephrosia purpurea (Linn.) Purs. is a perennial herb distributed all over the tropical and subtropical regions, commonly known as Sarphonk, Bisoni, Biyani or Sharpunkha. It grows as common wasteland weed. In many parts it is under cultivation as green manure crop. Its aerial parts and roots are used in bronchial asthma, hepatic ailments, cutaneous toxicities and pain (Chang et al., 1997). Since long T. purpurea has been widely used in the traditional Indian system of medicine as an anti-inflammatory agent and also used in various liver, spleen and kidney disorders. The protective role of this plant was also investigated in gentamicin-induced rat kidney cortical cell damage (Kumar et al., 2001). Sinha et al. (2001) extracted prenylated flavonoids from T. purpurea seeds. This extract is commonly called as Sarphonk extract and has RTECS registration number WY8420000, as a natural product to be used in cosmetics and dermatological production (Anonymous, 1969). More particularly the extract is widely used in skin care products with wellness effect, day creams and lotions, massage products, anti-stress & anti-ageing cosmetics, night creams and after-sun products (Chang et al., 1997; Soni et al., 2006). Chang et al. (2000) explored that the ethanolic extract of T. purpurea exhibits antioxidant activity in vivo and the ethyl acetate soluble fraction has improved antioxidant potential than the extract. According to Unani system of medicine its roots are diuretic, allay thirst, and enrich blood, cures diarrhea, useful in bronchitis, asthma, liver, spleen diseases, inflammations, boils and pimples. Leaves are tonic to intestine and a promising appetizer and, good in piles, syphilis and gonorrhoea. Plants check the soil erosion and fixes nitrogen. Leaves are used as fodder.

183

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert T. purpurea is one of the most common species of Tephrosia found in western Rajasthan on sand throughout the area, rarely forming dense, almost pure, association on road sides, pathways, open waste lands and fields. This branched perennial herb is of about 6-8dm in height. Stem is more or less hairy with ad- pressed hairs. Flowers of this plant are reddish-purple and Pods are slightly recurved, glabrous or softly pubescent, 5-6-seeded.The flowering and fruiting of this plants take place during the months of August-December. T. purpurea plant fully blooms for a very short period. This period ranges for around 15 to 25 days and, amidst August to December based upon availability of initial rain for its seed germination. This paper presents the bees which visit T. purpuria in western Rajasthan. It is the first attempt to explore pollination studies on this wild crop. In India most of the pollination studies have been restricted exclusively on honey bees and their pollinated cultivated plants on the contrary an absolute overlook has been observed with regard to other bees. One may find rare references conerning wild crop and non-Apis bee pollination biology. The previous works have been related more on the comments on listing of honey bees (and, a few other bees) on various crops (Anonymous, 1999; Burkill, 1906; Howard et al., 1920). Some significant works that further detailed pollination aspect need to be mentioned here are: Mohammad (1935) and Rahman (1940) concerning Sarson, Toria and cotton; Batra (1968 & 1977), Mattu et al. (1989) concerning general pollination behaviour; Rahoo & Munshi (1974), Rana et al. (1998) etc. on honey bee related aspects on various crops. Dulta & Verma (1987) gave a comparative description for various aspects of pollination on Apple crops. Gupta and Yadav (2001) recorded a total of 64 species of bees (Apoidea) on four cultivated crops. They described crop rotation and various aspects of population dynamics of bees however, the work was limited for the region of eastern Rajasthan and adjacent Uttar Pradesh. Elsewhere several studies have been made, such as: Free (1960, 1964, 1970, 1973, 1975a&b, 1980, 1993 & 1998) made an excellent presentation on studies on pollination of around 70 crops; many more such as works of Free & Ferguson (1980), Free & Williams (1976a&b), Free et al. (1975) are a few more to mention here. The famous book of McGregor (1976) is being updated regularly and is available online. Currie et al. (1990) made comparison between pollination activities on leafcutting bees and honey bees on beans (Vicia faba L.). Hogendoorn et al. (2010) published their results for the pollination studies on Tomato.

MATERIAL AND METHODS The study was conducted during the span of years 2000 to 2009 in western Rajasthan. The collection of bees was continuously made from 07 selected farms and wild habitates located in the districts of Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bikaner and Jodhpur. Various farms of Bikaner Agriculture University, Central Arid Zone Research Institute and those of private cultivators were regularly visited for the collections. Bees were collected by sweeping an insect net across the flowers as the collector moved through the field. Collections were made on every one out of the three days during two months of blooming periods that normally ranged between Septembers to Octobers. The temperature of the area ranged between 350C to 400C during this tenure. Bee samples were collected from 8 or 9 AM up to 5 or 6 PM on every day of the field visit. However, at times first author made field visits at sunrise and at sunset to make observations for extended activities of bees, if any. Collected bees were instantly killed using Benzene fumes in a killing bottle. They were brought to the laboratory, remoisten and properly spread before each one was identified.

FIELD OBSERVATIONS A total of 762 bees were collected on T. purpuria from various locations in the referred districts. These were identified belongs to 54 species grouped under 18 genera incoming 04 families of Apoidea (Andrenidae, Halictidae, Megachilidae and Apidae). So far no bee has been recorded on this crop which belongs to family Colletidae. On a normal sunny day most of the bees started their foraging activities around 7.30 to 9.00 A.M. i.e. when ample of sunshine was spread all over the fields. Their population attained its peak at around 1.00 to 2.00 P.M. and most of the bees begun to return to their nests around 3.00 to 5.00 P.M. onwards. During extremity of cold seasons, bees exclusively depend upon this flower resource. Therefore, the plant is noticed as a very useful resource for a rich bee biodiversity during hours of constrains. 184

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION It is a well known fact that a number of flowering plants use insects as pollen vectors, and that they actually depend on the visits of insects for their pollination. Present study is the first attempt to explore the pollinator bees, on a very short duration blooming wild Fabaceae Tephrosia purpurea. Its flowerings attract a total of 54 species of bees which have been identified belong to 18 genera incoming four families of Apoidea. The number of species recorded on this plant, from all over the sand filled western Rajasthan, may be considered as quite high looking at merely a fortnight blooming period of the plant during and after the Monsoon. So far around 650 species of bees have been recorded from India which are identified to 65 Genera grouped under 6 families (Gupta, 2003). It was fascinating to record more than 50 species in the Desert of Thar in western Rajasthan on a single crop. Evidentally the referred plant has plenty of resources to attract huge number of bees. Following account details the family-wise data with regard to various genera and species found on this crop. Bees of family Colletidae were never found on T. purpurea. On other hand 03 species of family Andrenidae were collected on its flowerings. They seem to be quite rare in their visits but these were noticed collecting pollens from the flowers. All 03 species belong to genus Andrena Fabricius (Table 1). Table 1. Showing Bee species activity periodicity, population density, attracting resource on T. purpurea S. No.

Family

Species

Activity periodicity

Population density

Attracting Resource Nectar / Pollen

Andrena aegyptiaca Friese, 1899 Andrena flavipes Panzer, 1799 Andrena savignyi Spinola, 1838

RV

+

P

RV RV

+ +

P P

Halictus latisignatus Cameron, 1908 Halictus lucidipennis Smith, 1853 Halictus propinquus Smith, 1853 Halictus sp. Sphecodes olivieri Lepeletier, 1825 Nomia aurata Bingham, 1897 Nomia elliotii Smith, 1875 Nomia westwoodi Gribodo, 1894 Nomia sp. Pseudapis oxybeloides (Smith, 1875)

8.30 AM – 3 PM

+

P

8.30 AM – 3 PM

+

P

8.30 AM – 3 PM

+

P

8.30 AM – 3 PM RV

+ +

N

8.30 AM – 4 PM 8.30 AM – 4 PM 8.30 AM – 4 PM

++ ++ +

N N N

P P P

8.30 AM – 4 PM 8.30 AM – 4 PM

+ +

N ?

P P

8.30 AM – 5 PM

++

N

P

8.30 AM – 5 PM

+++

N

P

8.30 AM – 4 PM

+

N

P

8.30 AM – 4 PM

++

N

P

8.30 AM – 5 PM

++

N

P

8.30 AM – 4 PM

+

N

P

Andrenidae 1 2 3 Halictidae 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

P

Megachilidae 14 15 16 17 18 19

Megachile bicolor (Fabricius, 1781) Megachile cephalotes Smith, 1853 Megachile coelioxysides Bingham, 1899 Megachile creusa Bingham, 1898 Megachile gathela Cameron, 1908 Megachile lanata (Fabricius, 1775)

185

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 20

Megachile latimanus Say, 1823 Megachile phaola Cameron, 1907 Megachile rugicauda Cameron, 1908 Megachile studiosa Bingham, 1897 Megachile suavida Cameron, 1908 Megachile vera Nurse, 1901 Coelioxys capitata Smith, 1854 Coelioxys coturnix Pérez, 1884 Pseudoheriades pellucidus (Cockerell, 1920) Pseudoheriades pentatuberculata (Gupta & Sharma, 1993) Pseudoheriades rufomandibulata (Gupta & Sharma, 1993) Pseudoheriades sp.1 Pseudoheriades sp.2 Eoanthidium adentatum Gupta & Simlote, 1993 Icteranthidium sinapinum (Cockerell, 1911) Icteranthidium tshangiricum (Mavromoustakis, 1951) Trachusa serratocaudata Gupta, Sharma & Simlote, 1993

21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30

31 32 33 34 35 36

8.30 AM – 4 PM

++

N

P

9 AM – 2 PM

+

N

P

8.30 AM – 5 PM

+++

N

P

8.30 AM – 2 PM

+

N

P

8.30 AM – 2 PM

+

N

P

8.30 AM – 2 PM RV RV 8 AM – 4 PM

+ ++ + ++

N N N N

P

8 AM – 4 PM

+++

N

P

8 AM – 4 PM

+++

N

P

8 AM – 4 PM 8 AM – 4 PM RV

++ ++ +

N N N

P P P

8.30 AM – 5 PM

+++

N

P

8.30 AM – 5 PM

+

N

P

8 AM – 5 PM

++

N

P

8.30 AM – 2 PM

+++

N

P

8.30 AM – 2 PM

++

N

P

8.30 AM – 2 PM

+++

N

P

6 AM – 6 PM*

+

N

6 AM – 6 PM*

+

N

6 AM – 6 PM*

+

N

8 AM – 3 PM

+++

N

P

8 AM – 4 PM

+++

N

P

++

N

P

9 AM – 5 PM

+

N

9 AM – 5 PM

+

N

9 AM – 5 PM

+

N

9 AM – 6 PM

++

N

RV

+

N

P

Apidae 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

Ceratina binghami Cockerell, 1908 Ceratina hieroglyphica Smith, 1854 Ceratina smaragdula (Fabricius, 1787) Xylocopa aestuans (Linnaeus, 1758) Xylocopa amethystina (Fabricius, 1793) Xylocopa fenestrata (Fabricius, 1798) Braunsapis mixta (Smith, 1852) Braunsapis picitarsis (Cameron, 1902) Braunsapis puangensis (Cockerell, 1929) Amegilla confusa (Smith, 1854) Amegilla mucorea (Klug, 1845) Amegilla niveocincta (Smith, 1854) Amegilla zonata (Linnaeus, 1758) Thyreus massuri (Radoszkowski, 1893)

186

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 51

Tetragonula 8 AM – 6 PM +++ N P iridipennis (Smith, 1854) 52 Apis dorsata Fabricius, 1793 6 AM – 6 PM RV N 53 Apis cerana Fabricius, 1793 6 AM – 6 PM ++ N 54 Apis florea Fabricius, 1787 6 AM – 6 PM +++ N P Where RV– Rare visitor; N– Nectar; P– Pollen; ? Not sure of referred flower resource; + comparative population collected & observed.

A total of 10 species of family Halictidae were collected in a considerable number. They belong to genera Halictus Latreille, Nomia Latreille, Pseudapis Kirby and the cleptoparasite genus Sphecodes Latreille. They had enough affection for the nectar and pollen both therefore a good number of them were seen working on the flowers a little after sunrise until 3.30 PM or 4 PM or even afterwards in the evenings. Very small bees of genus Nomioides Schenck and Ceylalictus Strand were never recorded on this plant. A total of 24 species identified under 06 genera of family Megachilidae may be referred as the top pollinators for this crop. Genus Megachile Latreille has perhaps, the highest attraction for the pollens and nectar both of T. purpurea. Its 12 species have been recorded on this crop during all these years from all over our specified area. Excluding genus Coelioxys Latreille (it is a well known cleptoparasite of nests of genus Megachile and Anthophorines), members of this family can collect huge amount of pollen grains on their scopa which is prominently located at the ventral surface of the abdomens and bears quite long, dense bristles. More particularly, this plantpollinator relationship seems to be more intimate for the species incoming subgenus Eutricharaea Thomson. M. cephalotes and M. rugicauda can be ranked at the top with regard to population ratio. Megachilids can be seen entering in the flower of Tephrosia, staying in for a considerably good time span and slowly returning out in reverse pattern loaded with pollens. Other genera of Megachilidae viz., Pseudoheriades Peters, Eoanthidium, Icteranthidium and Trachusa have similar affection with the flowerings of T. purpurea. Smaller species such as those of Pseudoheriades Peters and, three genera of Apidae namely, Tetragonula Moure, Braunsapis Michener and a species of honey bee, Apis florea Fabricius, were collected in huge numbers on this crop. Their working span was quite longer too, in comparison to the bees of family Halictidae and Andrenidae. Species of genus Coelioxys Latreille are well known cleptoparasites and can be frequently seen tracking other bees. They were visitors to the flowers but exclusively for the nectar. They lack pollen collecting scopa hence are incapable of pollen collection. Circumstantially, Coelioxys lay their eggs on the provision deposits of host bees collected for their own off-springs. Minute bees belonging to genus Pseudoheriades had quite longer span on the flowerings. However, Icteranthidium sinapinum was recorded in considerable number until late in the evenings. Precisely, the taxa of this family were observed deeply indulged in the act of pollination on this wild crop. Apidae constitutes second largest group of bees which have been recorded with 07 genera including 18 species on the referred crop. Genus Thyreus Panzer includes cleptoparasitic bees. Just like species of genus Coelioxys Latreille of Megachilidae, they lacks pollen collecting apparatus therefore, they are incapable of collecting pollen grains. These were often seen tracking behind Amegilla species to their nests and lay their eggs on the provisioning deposits collected by the Amegilla females (also Batra, 1977). Among the permanent pollinators, genus Ceratina, Braunsapis, Tetragonula and Apis florea seem to have good affection for T. purpurea. Other occasional visitors include 03 species of genus Xylocopa, 04 species of Amegilla and two larger species of Apis i.e. A. dorsata and A. cerana. Especially individuals of genus Amegilla touched the flowers, sucked their nectar during its suspended and stable flight, and moved away. One can conclude from Table 1 that which of the species may be considered quite effective pollinator on Tephrosia purpurea. Further studies are definitely required to make comparison in efficiencies for the referred act in between non-Apis and Apis species as well as among both

187

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert groups themselves. However, except Apis florea, no other Apis was seen collecting pollen grains on this crop. The A. florea, on other hand was perhaps, accidentally carrying pollen grains. Parker et al. (1987) reported that honey bees have often been credited with pollination services that are actually performed by other bee species. Since the taxonomic revision of family Apidae (Michener, 2000 & 2007), number of genera in this family have been considerably increased. On T. purpurea out of the total of 18 species of Apidae all three native species of genus Apis were observed hanging on flowers on every sunny day as whole time visitors and among them the smallest A. florea were present in good number. Necessary investigations should be initiated in this direction with regard to efficiencies of pollinators (also Lederhouse et al., 1972; Green & Bohart, 1975; Parker, 1981; Kuhn & Ambrose, 1984; Currie et al., 1990; Arya et al., 1994). This has been established that the principal factors which determine the effectiveness of pollinators can be briefed as: they should be found in abundance, their flight periodicities should be the maximum on flowerings and their visiting rate (the number of flowers visited per minute by a bee) should be considerably enough (also Free, 1970; Ozbek, 1976; Jadav, 1981; Richards, 1993). Precisely, it may be concluded that conservation of Tephrosia purpurea would become a landmark for the protection of 54 species of bees recorded from western Rajasthan. This becomes more significant since this plant provides resources to the over wintering bees which would otherwise perish in the extreme colds of desert. Authors suggest that identical studies should be made by pollination and bee biologists to explore further possibilities of pollinator bees towards intensive and more effective pollination on wild and cultivated crops. Amidst the storm of expansion of urbanization; attempts should be initiated to conserve T. purpurea along with its habitats before we fail to find these bees forever in sandy areas of western Rajasthan.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Authors are thankful to the Head, Department of Zoology, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur for the provided laboratory facilities. Gratitude are further extended to the authorities of University Grants Commission, New Delhi for funding this project (No. 32-497 /2006 (SR) dated 28 Feb. 2007; sanctioned to first author).

REFERENCES Anonymous. 1969. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology. (Publications & Information Directorate, CSIR, Hillside Rd., New Delhi 110 012, India). Volume 7: page 250; year: 1969. Anonymous. 1999. Pollination efficiency of Apis dorsata F. and A. florea F. on carrot (Daucus carota L.). Indian Bee Journal. 61(1-4): 75-78. Arya, D. R., Sihag, R. C. and Yadav, P. R. 1994. Role of insect pollination in seed yield of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). Indian Bee Journal. 56(3-4): 179-182. Batra, S. W. T. 1968. Crop pollination and the flower relationships of the wild bees of Ludhiana, India (Hymenoptera, Apoidea). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 40: 167-177. Batra, S. W. T. 1977. Bees of India (Apoidea), their behaviour, management and a key to the genera. Oriental Insects. 11(3/4): 289-324. Batra, (1968, 1977), Burkill, I. H. 1906. Notes on the pollination of flowers in India. J. Asiatic Soc. Bengal. 2(10): 511-525. Chang, L.C., Gerhäuser, C., Song, L., Farnsworth, N.R., Pezzuto, J.M. and Kinghorn, A.D. 1997. Activity-Guided Isolation of Constituents of Tephrosia purpurea with the Potential to Induce the Phase II Enzyme, Quinone Reductase. J. Nat. Prod. 60(9): 869-873. Chang, L.C., Chávez, D. Song, L.L., Farnsworth, N.R., Pezzuto, J.M. and Kinghorn, A.D., 2000. Absolute Configuration of Novel Bioactive Flavonoids from Tephrosia purpurea. Org. Lett. 2(4): 515-518. Currie, R.W., Jay, S. C. and Wright, D. 1990. The effects of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) and leafcutter bees (Megachile rotundata F.) on out crossing between different cultivars of beans (Vicia faba L.) in caged plots. Journal of Apicultural Research. 29(2): 68-74. Dulta, P. C. and Verma, L. R. 1987. Role of insect pollinators on yield and quality of apple fruit. Indian Journal of Horticulture. 44(3/4): 274-279. Free, J. B. 1960. The pollination of fruit trees. Bee World. 41: 141-151, 169-186. Free, J. B. 1964. Comparison of the importance of insect and wind pollination of apple trees. Nature. 201: 726727. Free, J. B. 1970. Insect pollinators of crops. Academic Press, London & New York. 544 pp. Free, J. B. 1973. Bees and other insect pollinators of crops. Apiacta. 8(1): 19-27.

188

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Free,

J. B. 1975a. Pollination of Capsicum frutescens, Capsicum annum and Solanum melongena in Jamaica. Trop. Agric. Guilford. 52(4): 352-357. Free, J. B. 1975b. Observations on the pollination of papaya (Carica papaya L.) in Jamaica. Trop. Agric. Guilford. 52(3): 275-279. Free, J. B. 1980. Using bees to pollinate crops. Shell Public Health and Agricultural News SPAN). 23(1): 23-26. Free, J. B. 1993. Insect Pollination of Crops. Second Edition. Academic Press, San Diego, CA 92101. Free, J. B. 1998. Early man and the pollination of his food plants. Bee World. 79(3): 147-148. Free, J. B. and Ferguson, A. W. 1980. Foraging of bees on oilseed rape (Brassica napus) in relation to the stage of flowering of the crop and pest control. Journal of Agricultural Science. 94(1): 151-154. Free, J. B. and Williams, I. H. 1976a. Insect pollination of Anacardium occidentale L., Mangifera indica L., Blighia sapida Koenig and Persea americana Mill. Trop. Agric. Guilford. 53(2): 125-139. Free, J. B. and I. H. Williams, 1976b. Pollination as a factor limiting the yield of field beans (Vicia faba L.). Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge. 87(2): 395-399. Free, J. B., I. H. Williams, P. C. Longden and M. G. Johnson, 1975. Insect pollination of sugar-beet seed crops. Annals of Aplied Biology. 81(2): 127-134. Green, T.W. & Bohart, G.E. 1975. The pollination ecology of Astragalus cibarius and Astragalus utahensis (Leguminosae). American Journal of Botany. 62(4): 379-386. Gupta, R. K. 2003. The diversity of bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) in India. pp. 53-77. In: Gupta, R.K. (Ed.), Advancements in insect biodiversity. Agrobios (India). pp. x + 337. Gupta, R. K. and Yadav, S. 2001. Apoidean species composition on Crotalaria jucea L., Cajanus cajan (L.), Helianthus annus L. and Brassica compestris L. var. sarson Prain in eastern Rajasthan, India (Hymenoptera). Opus. zool. flumin. 198: 1-10. Hogendoorn, K., Bartholomaeus, F. and Keller, M. A. 2010. Chemical and sensory comparison of tomatoes pollinated by bees and by a pollination wand. Journal of Economic Entomology. 103(4): 1286-1292. Howard, A., Howard, G. L. C. and Khan, A. R., 1920. Studies in the pollination of Indian crops, 1. Memoirs of Department of Agriculture, India (Bot.). 10(5): 195-220. Jadav, L. D. 1981. Role of insects in the pollintion of onion (Allium cepa L.) in the Maharashtra state, India). Indian Bee Journal. 43(3): 61-63. Kuhn, E. D. and Ambrose, J. T. 1984. Pollination of ‘delicious’ apple by megachilid bees of the genus Osmia (Hym., Megachilidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 57(2): 169-180. Kumar, V. P., Shashidhara, S., Kumar, M. M. and Sridhara, B. Y. 2001. Hydroxyl Radical Scavenging and Protective Role of Tephrosia purpurea in Gentamicin-Induced Kidney Cell Damage. Pharmaceutical Biology. 39(5): 325-328. Lederhouse, R. C., Caron, D. M. and Morse, R. A. 1972. Distribution and behaviour of honey bees on onion. Environmental Entomology. 1(2): 127-129. Mattu, V.K., Mattu, N., Verma, L.R. and Lakhanpal, T.N. 1989. Pollen spectrum of honeys from Apis cerana colonies in Himachal Pradesh, India. pp. 146-153. In: Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Apiculture in Tropical Climates, Cairo, Egypt, 6-10 November, 1988/ hosted by the government of Egypt; convened by the International Bee Research Association, London: International Bee Research Association. McGregor, S. E. 1976. Insect Pollination of Cultivated Crops. U. S. Dep. Agric. Washington, D. C. Handbook. 496: 1-411. Michener, C. D. 2000 and 2007. The bees of the World. The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore & London, xiv+913 pp. (Revised, 2007). Mohammad, A. 1935. Pollination studies in Toria (Brassica napus L. var. dichotoma Prain) and sarson (B. compestris var. sarson Prain). Indian J. Agric. Sci. 5: 125-154. Ozbek, H. 1976. Pollinator bees on alfalfa in the Erzurum region of Turkey. Journal of Apicultural Research. 15(3/4): 145-148. Parker, F. D. 1981. A candidate red clover pollinator Osmia coerulescens (L.). Journal of Apicultural Research. 20(1): 62-65. Parker, F. D., Batra, S. W. T. and Tepedino, V. J. 1987. New pollinators for our crops. Agric. Zool. Rev. 2: 279-304. Rahoo, G. M. and Munshi, G. H. 1974. Insect complex in the pollination of sunflower, Helianthus annus L. Proc. Pakistan Sci. Conf. 25(3): 68. Rana, B. S., Gautam, D. R., Goyal, N. P. and Sharma, H. K. 1998. Effect of honey bee pollintion on yield parameters of apple in relation to pollenizer proportion. Indian Bee Journal. 60(1): 9-11. Richards, K. W. 1993. Non-Apis bees as crop pollinators. Rev. Suisse Zool. 100(4): 807-822. Sinha, B., Natu, A. A. and Nanavati, D. D. 2001. Prenylated flavonoids from Tephrosia purpurea seeds. Online Science direct; National Chemical Laboratory, Pune 411 008, India. Soni, K., Kumar, P. and Saraf, M., 2006. Antioxidant activity of fraction of Tephrosia purpurea Linn. Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences (online). Article date: July 1, 2006.

189

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

BEE VISITORS (APOIDEA) ON Zizyphus rotundifolia Lamk. IN WESTERN RAJASTHAN, INDIA RAJIV K. GUPTA, S. K. CHARAN, S. K. NAVAL, J. SAINI, S. K. RAO, S. L. SHARMA* AND A. RAJPUROHIT** Department of Zoology, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur-342001, Rajasthan, India. *Govt. R. R. College, Alwar. **L.M. College of Science & Technology, Jodhpur. e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: This first ever explored study conducted during year 2005 to 2009 resulted in the collection of 32 species of bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) incoming 17 genera on Zizyphus rotundifolia Lamk. (Zharberi) in western Rajasthan. The visiting genera and the number of their species identified on this crop were: Colletes Latreille (01 species), Halictus Latreille (02 spp.), Nomia Latreille (02 spp.), Pseudapis Kirby (01 spp.), Lipotriches Gerstaecker (01 spp.), Steganomous Ritsema (01 spp.: it is confined to eastern part of Rajasthan and neighbouring U.P., M.P.), Nomioides Schenck (02 spp.), Ceylalictus Strand (03 spp.), Megachile Latreille (04 spp.), Pseudoheriades Peters (02 spp.), Icteranthidium Michener (01 spp.), Ceratina Latreille (03 spp.), Braunsapis Michener (02 spp.), Amegilla Friese (01 spp.), Tetragonula Jurine (01 spp.), Apis Linnaeus (03 spp.), and the cleptoparasitic genus Coelioxys Latreille (02 species). Wasps identified as Mesa flavipennis Krombein were also found to collect pollen from its flowers. The study further presents bee species activity periodicities followed by a note on the observations made on the population density of various bee species recorded on the crop. KEY WORDS: Zizyphus rotundifolia, Apoidea, Hymenoptera, bee species composition, population density, western Rajasthan, India

INTRODUCTION This paper presents the study exploring the bees which visit Zizyphus rotundifolia Lamk. (Family Rhamnaceae) in western Rajasthan. The shrub is commonly called as Zharberi in India and is commercially cultivated all over the country. The shrub yields edible fruits and is known as a good drought resistant plant in Australia, Africa and Asia (Cherry, 1985; Clifford et al., 1997 & 1998). It easily survives under intensive droughts especially in the arid zones of western Rajasthan, being capable of accessing deep soil water reserves (Arndt et al., 2001). Its leaves are valued for fodder for goats and camels. The dried twigs are used in the preparation of tatas, which when wetted are used for cooling the rooms. Numerous studies concerning pollination of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) are available world over. However, it was rare to see similar studies on other crops. On the other hand in India pollination studies have been restricted exclusively on honey bees and other bees were almost completely ignored. One may find quite rare reports or works conerning pollination biology. They have been related more on the comments on listing of honey bees (and, a few other bees) on various crops (Anonymous, 1999; Burkill, 1906; Howard, et al., 1920). Some significant works that have further detailed this aspect need to be mentioned here are: Mohammad (1935) and Rahman (1940) concerning Sarson, Toria and cotton; Batra (1968 & 1977), Mattu et al. (1989) concerning general pollination behaviour; Rahoo & Munshi (1974), Rana, et al. (1998) etc. on honey bee related aspects on various crops. Free (1964 & 1970) made excellent presentation on studies on pollination of around 70 crops and, Dulta & Verma (1987) gave a good comparative description for various aspects on Apple crops. Gupta and Yadav (2001) recorded a total of 64 species of bees (Apoidea) on four cultivated crops. Hogendoorn et al. (2010) published their results for the pollination studies on Tomato.

190

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

MATERIAL AND METHODS The study was conducted during the span of years 2005 to 2009 in western Rajasthan. The collection of bees was continuously made from 07 selected farms and wild habitates located in the districts of Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bikaner and Jodhpur. Various farms of Bikaner Agriculture University, Central Arid Zone Research Institute and those of private cultivators were regularly visited for the collections. Bees were collected by sweeping an insect net across the flowers as the collector moved through the field. Collections were made on every one out of the three days during two months of blooming periods that normally ranged between Septembers to Octobers. The temperature of the area ranged between 350C to 400C during this tenure. Bee samples were collected from 8 or 9 A.M. up to 5 or 6 P.M. on every day of the field visit. However, at times first author made field visits at sunrise and at sunset to make observations for extended activities of bees, if any. Collected bees were instantly killed using Benzene fumes in a killing bottle. They were brought to the laboratory, remoisten and properly spread before each one was identified.

FIELD OBSERVATIONS A total of 1050 bees were collected on Zizyphus rotundifolia from various locations in the referred districts. These were identified belongs to 32 species grouped under 17 genera incoming 04 families of Apoidea (Colletidae, Halictidae, Megachilidae and Apidae). So far no bee has been recorded on this crop which belongs to family Andrenidae. On a normal sunny day most of the bees started their foraging activities around 7.30 to 9.00 A.M. i.e. when ample of sunshine was spread all over the fields. Their population attained its peak at around 1 P.M. and most of the bees begun to return to their nests around 2 to 4.00 P. M. onwards. Exceptions were recorded in case of minute bees which belong to genera Ceylalictus Strand, Nomioides Schenck and Tetragonula Jurine along with species of Apis L. Most of these continuously worked on flowers from sunrise to sunset. Table 1 illustrates the bee species identified, their activity periodicity, population density and the floral resource recorded on the flowerings in the field.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Present study is the first attempt to explore the pollinator bees on stiff and thorny Zizyphus rotundifolia. The lone representative of family Colletidae i.e. Colletes comberi Cockerell was rarely seen on this crop. On other hand 12 species of family Halictidae those belonging to genera Halictus Latreille, Nomia Latreille, Pseudapis Kirby, Lipotriches Gerstaecker, Steganomous Ritsema (only in eastern Rajasthan), Nomioides Schenck and Ceylalictus Strand constituted the bulk of population on the flowerings. Most of the Nomioides and Ceylalictus outnumbered any other bee species on the crop. They had enough affection for the nectar and pollen both therefore a good number of these minute bees were seen working on the flowers from sunrise to sunset (Table 1). Nine species belonging to five genera of family Megachilidae shared enough of pollen and nectar and, except Megachile rugicauda and Icteranthidium sinapinum all can be grouped under the category of small bees. Species of Coelioxys are well known cleptoparasites and were often seen tracking behind other bees and were rare visitors to the flowers for the nectar. Minute bees belonging to genus Pseudoheriades had quite longer span on the flowerings. However, Icteranthidium sinapinum was recorded in considerable number until late in the evenings. A wasp identified as Mesa flavipennis Krombein was also found to collect pollen on the flowers of Zizyphus rotundifolia. Gupta and Yadav (2001) recorded a total of 64 species of bees (Apoidea) visiting four cultivated crops in Eastern Rajasthan and adjacent U.P. Out of these, 36 species were collected on Crotalaria juncea, 33 species on Cajanus cajan, 25 on Helianthus annus and 20 species of bees were collected on Brassica compestris var. sarson. The study also worked out the crop rotation for various bee species collected on these crops.

191

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Honey bees have often been credited with pollination services that are actually performed by other bee species (Parker et al., 1987). Since the taxonomic revision of family Apidae (Michener, 2000 & 2007), number of genera in this family have been considerably increased. On Zizyphus rotundifolia a total of 10 species of Apidae were recorded. Species of small sized bee genera namely, Braunsapis and Ceratina had more affection towards pollen grains and rest seems to be exclusively nectar lovers. All three native species of genus Apis were interested in drinking nectar only although they were observed hanging on flowers on every sunny day as whole time visitors and among them the smallest A. florea were present in good number. This has been established that the principal factors which determine the effectiveness of pollinators can be briefed as: they should be found in abundance, their flight periodicities should be the maximum on flowerings and their visiting rate (the number of flowers visited per minute by a bee) should be considerably enough (also Free, 1970; Ozbek, 1976; Jadav, 1981; Richards, 1993 & 1995). One can conclude from table 01 that which of the species may be considered quite effective pollinator on Zizyphus rotundifolia. Further studies are required to make comparison in efficiencies for the referred act in between non-Apis and Apis species as well as among themselves. However, none of the Apis species was seen collecting pollen grains on this crop. The A. florea however, was perhaps, accidentally collecting pollens and other Apis species were eagerly interested in nectar. Several studies were made where majority of the estimates on crop yields were derived primarily for honey bee pollinated crops (Robinson et al., 1989; Southwick & Southwick, 1989, 1992). On the other hand very few estimates are available on the value of non-Apis pollination (Levin, 1983; Currie et al., 1990). Authors suggest that identical studies should be made by pollination and bee biologists to explore further possibilities of pollinator bees towards intensive and more effective pollination on wild and cultivated crops. Table 1. Showing Bees activity periodicity, population density and attracting resource SR No

Family

Species

Activity periodicity

Population density

Attracting Resource Nectar / Pollen

RV

+

?

P

8.30 AM – 3 PM 8.30 AM – 3 PM 8.30 AM – 4 PM 8.30 AM – 4 PM 8.30 AM – 4 PM 8.30 AM – 4 PM RV 7 AM – 6 PM

+ + ++ ++ + + + +++

? ? N N ? N ? N

P P P P P P P P

7 AM – 6 PM

+++

N

P

7 AM – 6 PM 7 AM – 6 PM

+++ +++

N N

P P

7 AM – 6 PM

+++

N

P

9 AM – 2 PM 9 AM – 2 PM 9 AM – 2 PM

+ + +

N N N

P P P

8.30 AM – 4 PM

+

N

P

RV

+

N

Colletidae 1

Colletes comberi Cockll. Halictidae

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Halictus lucidipennis Smith Halictus propinquus Vachal Nomia elliotii Smith Nomia aurata (Bingham) Pseudapis oxybeloides (Smith) Lipotriches fervida (Smith) Steganomous lieftincki Pauly Nomioides curvilineatus (Cameron) Nomioides minutissimus (Rossi) Ceylalictus cereus (Nurse) Ceylalictus punjabensis (Cameron) Ceylalictus variegatus (Olivier)

10 11 12 13 Megachilidae 14 15 16 17 18

Megachile rugicauda Smith Megachile nicevillii Cameron Megachile coelioxysides Bingham Megachile latimanus Say, 1823 Coelioxys capitatus Smith

192

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 19 20

Coelioxys coturnix Pérez, 1884 Pseudoheriades pellucidus Cockerell Pseudoheriades pentatuberculata (Gupta & Sharma) Icteranthidium sinapinum Cockerell

21

22

RV 8 AM – 3 PM

+ ++

8 AM – 3 PM

++

8.30 AM – 5 PM

+++

N P P

N

P

Apidae 23 24 25 26 27

Apis dorsata Fabricius 6 AM – 6 PM + N Apis indicus Fabricius 6 AM – 6 PM ++ N Apis florea Fabricius 6 AM – 6 PM +++ N P Ceratina binghami Cockerell 8.30 AM – 2 PM + P Ceratina smaragdula 8.30 AM – 2 PM + P (Fabricius) 28 Ceratina simillima Smith 8.30 AM – 2 PM ++ P 29 Braunsapis mixta (Cameron) 8 AM – 4 PM ++ N P 30 Braunsapis picitarsis (Smith) 8 AM – 4 PM ++ N P 31 Amegilla niveocincta (Smith) 9 AM – 6 PM + N 32 Tetragonula 8 AM – 6 PM +++ N iridipennis (Smith, 1854) Where RV – Rare visitor; N – Nectar; P – Pollen; ? Not sure of referred flower resource; + comparative population collected & observed.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Authors are thankful to the Head, Department of Zoology, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur for the provided laboratory facilities. Gratitude are further extended to the authorities of University Grants Commission, New Delhi for funding this project (No. 32-497 /2006 (SR) dated 28 Feb. 2007; sanctioned to first author).

REFERENCES Anonymous. 1999. Pollination efficiency of Apis dorsata F. and A. florea F. on carrot (Daucus carota L.). Indian Bee Journal. 61(1-4): 75-78. Arndt, S. K., Clifford, S. C., Wanek, W., Jones, H. G. and Popp, M. 2001. Physiological and morphological adaptations of the fruit tree Ziziphus rotundifolia in response to progressive drought stress. Tree Physiology. 21: 705-715. Batra, S. W. T. 1968. Crop pollination and the flower relationships of the wild bees of Ludhiana, India (Hymenoptera, Apoidea). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 40: 167-177. Batra, S. W. T. 1977. Bees of India (Apoidea), their behaviour, management and a key to the genera. Oriental Insects. 11(3/4): 289-324. Batra, (1968, 1977), Bezerra, E. L.S., Machado, I. C. and Mello, M.A.R. 2009. Pollination networks of oil-flowers: a tiny world within the smallest of all worlds. Journal of Animal Ecology. 78(5): 1096-1101. Burkill, I. H. 1906. Notes on the pollination of flowers in India. J. Asiatic Soc. Bengal. 2(10): 511525. Cherry, M. 1985. The needs of the people. Pp. 1-8. In G.E. Wickens, J.R. Goodin and D.V. Field (Eds.), Plants for Arid Lands. Unwin Hyman Ltd., London. Clifford, S.C., Arndt, S. K., Corlett, J. E., Joshi, S., Sankhla, N., Popp, M. and Jones, H. G. 1998. The role of solute accumulation, osmotic adjustment and changes in cell wall elasticity in drought tolerance in Ziziphus mauritiana Lamk. J. Exp. Bot. 49: 967-977. Clifford, S.C., Kadzere, I., Jones, H. G. and Jackson, J. E. 1997. Field comparisons of photosynthesis and leaf conductance in Ziziphus mauritiana and other fruit tree species in Zimbabwe. Trees. 11: 449-454.

193

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Currie, R.W., Jay, S. C. and Wright, D. 1990. The effects of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) and leafcutter bees (Megachile rotundata F.) on outcrossing between different cultivars of beans (Vicia faba L.) in caged plots. Journal of Apicultural Research. 29(2): 68-74. Dulta , P. C. and Verma, L. R. 1987. Role of insect pollinators on yield and quality of apple fruit. Indian Journal of Horticulture. 44(3/4): 274-279. Free, J. B. 1964. Comparison of the importance of insect and wind pollination of apple trees. Nature. 201: 726-727. Free, J. B. 1970. Insect pollinators of crops. Academic Press, London. UK. 544 pp. Gupta, R. K. and Yadav, S. 2001. Apoidean species composition on Crotalaria jucea L., Cajanus cajan (L.), Helianthus annus L. and Brassica compestris L. var. sarson Prain in eastern Rajasthan, India (Hymenoptera). Opus. zool. flumin. 198: 1-10. Hogendoorn, K., Bartholomaeus, F. and Keller, M. A. 2010. Chemical and sensory comparison of tomatoes pollinated by bees and by a pollination wand. Journal of Economic Entomology. 103(4): 1286-1292. Howard, A., Howard, G. L. C. and Khan, A. R., 1920. Studies in the pollination of Indian crops, 1. Memoirs of Department of Agriculture, India (Bot.). 10(5): 195-220. Jadav, L. D. 1981. Role of insects in the pollintion of onion (Allium cepa L.) in the Maharashtra state, India). Indian Bee Journal. 43(3): 61-63. Levin, M. D. 1983. Value of bee pollination in US Agriculture. Bull. Ent. Soc. Am. 29: 50-51. Mattu, V.K., Mattu, N., Verma, L.R. and Lakhanpal, T.N. 1989. Pollen spectrum of honeys from Apis cerana colonies in Himachal Pradesh, India. Pp. 146-153. In Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Apiculture in Tropical Climates, Cairo, Egypt, 6-10 November 1988 / hosted by the government of Egypt; convened by the International Bee Research Association, London: International Bee Research Association. Michener, C. D. 2000 and 2007. The bees of the World. The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore & London, xiv+913 pp. (Revised, 2007). Mohammad, A. 1935. Pollination studies in Toria (Brassica napus L. var. dichotoma Prain) and sarson (B. compestris var. sarson Prain). Indian J. Agric. Sci. 5: 125-154. Ozbek, H. 1976. Pollinator bees on alfalfa in the Erzurum region of Turkey. Journal of Apicultural Research 15(3/4): 145-148. Parker, F. D., Batra, S. W. T. and Tepedino, V. J. 1987. New pollinators for our crops. Agric. Zool. Rev. 2: 279-304. Rahman, A. K. 1940. Insect pollinators of Toria (Brassica napus L. var. dichotoma Prain) and sarson (B. compestris var. sarson Prain) at Lyallpur. Indian J. Agric. Sci. 10(3): 422-447. Rahoo, G. M. and Munshi, G. H. 1974. Insect complex in the pollination of sunflower, Helianthus annus L. Proc. Pakistan Sci. Conf. 25(3): 68. Rana, B. S., Gautam, D. R., Goyal, N. P. and Sharma, H. K. 1998. Effect of honey bee pollintion on yield parameters of apple in relation to pollenizer proportion. Indian Bee Journal. 60(1): 9-11. Richards, K. W. 1993. Non-Apis bees as crop pollinators. Rev. Suisse Zool. 100(4): 807-822. Richards, K. W. 1995. The alfalfa leafcutter bee, Megachile rotundata: a potential pollinator for some annual forage clovers. Journal of Apicultural Research. 34(3): 115-121. Robinson, W. S., Nowogrodski, R. and Morse, R. A. 1989. The value of honey bees as pollinators of US crops. Part I & II. American Bee Journal. 129(6): 411-423; 129(7): 477-487. Southwick, L. and E. E. Southwick, 1989. A comment on value of honey bees as pollinators of US crops. American Bee Journal. 129: 805-807. Southwick, E. E. and Southwick, L. 1992. Estimating the economic value of honey bees as agricultural pollinators in USA. Journal of Economic Entomology. 85(3): 621-633.

194

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

STUDIES ON DAMSELFLIES AND DRAGONFLIES (ODONATA: INSECTA) IN AND AROUND THAR DESERT AT OSIAN, JODHPUR, RAJASTHAN, INDIA GAURAV SHARMA AND S. N. DHADEECH Zoological Survey of India, Desert Regional Centre, Jodhpur-342005, Rajasthan, India. e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: The studies were conducted on Damselflies and Dragonflies in and around Thar Desert at Osian during 2008-09. A total of 17 species belongs to 3 families under 2 suborders of order Odonata were recorded during the study period. The family Libellulidae, represented by 13 species was the most dominant followed by Coenagrionidae (3 species) and Gomphidae (1 species). Ceriagrion coromandelianum (Fabricius), Brachythemis contaminata (Fabricius), Bradinopyga geminata (Rambur), Crocothemis servilia (Drury), Orthetrum glaucum (Brauer), Orthetrum sabina (Drury) were the dominant species of Odonata in the study site. The mass emergence of Pantala flavescens (Fabricius), a migratory species was recorded during 2009 at study site. KEY WORDS: Damselflies and Dragonflies, Osian, Rajasthan.

INTRODUCTION The Odonata comprising the dragonflies are among the most glittering jewels of the Entomology. Although, less known than butterflies or moths, they form a conspicuous feature of the average Indian landscape. The beauty of elegance of their flight, their gay colours, and their countless numbers, especially during the post-monsoon when the flighting season is in progress, force their presence on the tardiest observer. Odonata (Damsel and Dragonflies) includes some of the most ancient and beautiful insects ever roamed the earth, as well as some of the largest flying invertebrates ever to have lived. Odonata consists of three suborders Zygoptera (which include damselflies), Anisoptera (which includes dragonflies) and Anisozygoptera (a relict group represented by only two living species known, from Japan i.e. Epiophlebia superstes (Selys) and the Himalayas i.e. Epiophlebia laidlawi Tillyard, respectively). For some 255 million years, odonates with their four long independent membranous wings and long bodies have remained unchanged in their essential form and are dominant invertebrate predators in ecosystem. They are amphibious hemi-metabolous insects having the aquatic egg and larval (nymph) stages, while the adults are terrestrial, both larvae and adults are predator. The Odonates, thus form the integral part of aquatic as well as terrestrial ecosystems and are also the natural biological agents particularly the larvae, which are biological indicators of aquatic pollution. Perusal of literature reveals that no consolidated account is available on the Odonata fauna of Rajasthan, though Agarwal (1957) recorded 15 species, Bose and Mitra (1976) 13 species, Tyagi and Miller (1991) 23 species from Rajasthan, Prasad (1996) 31 species from Thar Desert of Gujarat and Rajasthan and Prasad (2004) recorded 11 species from Desert National Park, Rajasthan. The present study makes a modest attempt to explore the diversity of odonates from Thar Desert at Osian, Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The study site Osian lies between latitude 26°43'81" North and longitude 72°50'72" East is located in the heart of the Thar desert on the Jodhpur-Jaisalmer Highway. It boasts of a number of intricately carved Hindu and Jain temples dating back to the 6th century. The Majestic Sachiya Mata temple and the Surya temple are particularly noteworthy for their carvings and architectural 195

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert grandeur. The Vishnoi pilgrimage at Mukam (Jambha), the village of Kheechan, famous for its flocks of migratory Demoiselle cranes and the great pilgrimage centre of Ramdeora are conveniently located along the Osian-Jaislamer highway. The study sites is having sand dunes, typically desert vegetation, local inhabitants, small agricultural fields and desert fauna. The studies were conducted on Damselflies and Dragonflies in and around Thar Desert at Osian during 2008-09. In the field the observations were made and the representatives of odonates were collected by using aerial sweep net. The collected individuals were transferred into insect collection paper packs and were brought to the laboratory, where these were properly stretched, pinned, oven dried for 72 hours at 600C and preserved in insect collection boxes. Identification of adult individuals was carried out using identification keys provided by Fraser (1933, 1934 & 1936).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A total of 17 species belongs to 3 families under 2 suborders of order Odonata were recorded during the study period. Ceriagrion coromandelianum (Fabricius), Brachythemis contaminata (Fabricius), Bradinopyga geminata (Rambur), Crocothemis servilia (Drury), Orthetrum glaucum (Brauer), Orthetrum sabina (Drury) were the dominant species of Odonata in the study site. The mass emergence of Pantala flavescens (Fabricius), a migratory species was recorded during 2009 at study site.

Annotated checklist of Odonata of Thar Desert at Osian (Jodhpur, Rajasthan) Order: Odonata (A). Suborder: Zygoptera (1). Family: Coenagrionidae 1. Ceriagrion coromandelianum (Fabricius) 2. Ischnura aurora (Brauer) 3. Pseudagrion rubriceps Selys (B). Suborder: Anisoptera (2). Family: Gomphidae 4. Ictinogomphus rapax Rambur (3). Family: Libellulidae 5. Acisoma. panorpoides Rambur 6. Brachythemis contaminata (Fabricius) 7. Bradinopyga geminata (Rambur) 8. Crocothemis servilia (Drury) 9. Diplacodes trivialis (Rambur) 10. Orthetrum glaucum (Brauer) 11. Orthetrum pruinosum neglectum (Rambur) 12. Orthetrum sabina (Drury) 13. Orthetrum taeniolatum (Schn.) 14. Pantala flavescens (Fabricius) 15. Trithemis aurora (Burmeister) 16. Trithemis festiva (Rambur) 17. Trithemis pallidinervis (Kirby) On the basis of total number of species, family Libellulidae was the most dominant family of order Odonata, represented by 13 species, followed by Coenagrionidae (3 species) and Gomphidae (1 species). The dominance of family Libellulidae was reported by many earlier workers as Kumar and Mitra (1998); Prasad (2002); Kumar (2002); Vashishth et al. (2002); Kandibane et al. (2005); Emiliyamma (2005), Emiliyamma et al. (2005) and Sharma and Joshi (2007). Therefore, the present study reveals that study site is rich in Odonata fauna and provided

196

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert a suitable natural habitat for their existence and alternatively acts as natural biological control agent against pests and noxious insects.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors are grateful to the Director, Zoological Survey of India (Ministry of Environment and Forests), Kolkata and the Officer-in-Charge, Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Jodhpur for the necessary permission and facilities provided.

REFERENCES Agarwal, J.P. 1957. Contribution towards the Odonata fauna of Pilani. Proc. 44th Indian Sci. Congress. Kolkata. pp.309. Bose, B. and Mitra, T.R. 1976. The Odonata fauna of Rajasthan. Rec. zool. Surv. India, Kolkata. 71: 1-11. Emiliyamma, K.G. 2005. On the Odonata (Insecta) fauna of Kottayam district, Kerala, India. Zoos' Print Journal. 20(12): 2108-2110. Emiliyamma, K.G., Radhakrishnan, C. and Muhamed, J.P. 2005. Pictorial Handbook on Common Dragonflies and Damselflies of Kerala. Published Director, Zool. Surv. India, Kolkata. 67pp. Fraser, F.C. 1933. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Odonata, Vol. I. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London. 423pp. Fraser, F.C. 1934. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Odonata, Vol. II. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London. 398pp. Fraser, F.C. 1936. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Odonata, Vol. III. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London. 461pp. Kandibane, M., Raguraman, S. and Ganapathy, N. 2005. Relative abundance and diversity of Odonata in an irrigated rice field of Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Zoos’ Print Journal. 20(11): 2051-2052. Kumar, A. 2002. Odonata diversity in Jharkhand state with special reference to niche specialization in their larva forms, pp. 297-314. In Kumar, A. (editor). Current Trends in Odonatology. Daya Publishing House, Delhi (India). 377pp. Kumar, A. and Mitra, A. 1998. Odonata diversity at Sahastredhara (Sulphur springs), Dehra Dun, India, with notes on their habitat ecology. Fraseria. 5(1/2): 37-45. Prasad, M. 1996. Odonata in the Thar desert. pp. 145-149. In: Faunal diversity in the Thar desert: Gaps in research. Ed. A.K. Ghosh, Q.H. Baqri and I. Prakash. Scientific publishers, Jodhpur. 410pp. Prasad, M. 2002. Odonata diversity in Western Himalaya, India, pp. 221-254. In Kumar, A. (editor). Current Trends in Odonatology. 377pp. Daya Publishing House, Delhi (India). Prasad, M. 2004. Insecta: Odonata of Desert National Park. Fauna of Desert National Park, Rajasthan. 19: 51-58. Conservation Area Series, published by the Director, Zool. Surv. India, Kolkata. 135pp. Prasad, M. and Varshney, R.K. 1995. A checklist of the Odonata of India including data on larval studies. Oriental Insects. 29: 385-428. Sharma, G. and Joshi, P.C. 2007. Diversity of Odonata (Insecta) from Dholbaha dam (Distt.) Hoshiarpur) in Punjab Shivalik, India. Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology, Korea. 10(2): 177-180. Thakur, R.K. 1985. Field notes on the Odonata around lake Kailana, Jodhpur (Rajasthan). Bull. zool. surv. India. 7(1): 143-147. Tyagi, B.K. and Miller, P.L. 1991. A note on the Odonata collected in South-Western Rajasthan, India. Notul. Odonatol. 3: 134-135. Tsuda, S. 1991. A distributional list of world Odonata. Osaka. 362pp. Vashishth, N., Joshi, P.C. and Singh, A. 2002. Odonata community dynamics in Rajaji National Park, India. Fraseria. 7(1/2): 21-25.

197

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

STUDIES ON THE REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOUR OF Disparoneura quadrimaculata (Rambur) (ODONATA: INSECTA) AT GYAN SAROVER, MOUNT ABU, RAJASTHAN, INDIA GAURAV SHARMA Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Pali Road, Jodhpur-342005, Rajasthan. e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: The reproductive behaviour of Disparoneura quadrimaculata (Rambur) has been studied six times around Gyan Sarover, Mount Abu during 2008-09. Courtship is well marked and male demonstrate a circular territory with a radius of about 20-70cm. When the female entered into the territory, the male followed her. As soon as she alighted on some vegetation, the male hovered in the air remaining at a same place and observed her very carefully. Then suddenly it jumped on her and caught her wings by its legs. After that it tried to catch the female’s prothorax by its anal appendages. The pair in tandem flew to some nearby vegetation and perch. The before wheel tandem lasted for about 20-30 minutes. This was the time when intramale sperm translocation took place 3-4 times, at an interval of 2-3 minutes. After the completion of intramale sperm translocation, the courtship wheel was formed. The courtship wheel lasts for about 18-24 minutes performed by perching on vegetation. The pair in courtship wheel sometimes changed the perch in the same position due to disturbance by intruders. After breaking of the wheel the male lowered the female and the female also grasped some vegetation by her legs. After wheel tandem lasted for 5-10 minutes. Then female started ovipositing on aquatic vegetation accompanied by a male in tandem position. The females went down underwater till their thorax region was above water and were never found to be submerged totally for egg laying. The females changed their places during oviposition which was continued till 15-20 minutes. The duration of reproductive behaviour lasts for 50-80 minutes. KEY WORDS: Disparoneura quadrimaculata, Reproductive behaviour, Mount Abu.

INTRODUCTION Odonates (Damselflies and Dragonflies) demonstrate well developed complex behavioural patterns, of which the reproductive behaviour is a significant one. Reproductive behaviour of odonates has been studied extensively by several workers including Acharya (1961), Corbet (1962, 1980, 1999), Bick and Sulback (1966), Furtado (1972, 1974), Consiglio (1974), Sakagami et al. (1974), Jurzitza (1974), Ubukata (1975), Bick et al. (1976), Kumar and Prasad (1977), Hassan (1978), Rowe (1978), Doerksen (1980), Bick and Bick (1980), Kumar (1980), Utzeri et al. (1983), Miller et al. (1984), Banks and Thompson (1985), Srivastava and Babu (1985a&b), Waage (1988), Miller (1988), Alcock (1989), Cordero (1989), Meskin (1989), Prasad (1990, 1991), Srivastava et al. (1994), Copper et al. (1996), Mitra (1996) and Cordero et al. (1997) etc. In the present study some observations are being highlighted on various aspects of the reproductive behaviour of Disparoneura quadrimaculata (Rambur) recorded at hill stream, Gyan Sarovar, Mount Abu, Rajasthan.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The reproductive behaviour of Disparoneura quadrimaculata (Rambur) was studied at hill stream, Gyan Sarovar, which is located 24°33′0″N, 72°38′0″E / in Mount Abu, district Sirohi, Rajasthan in one of the oldest mountain ranges of India, the Aravalli range during September, 2008 to December, 2009. Field binocular (30X25 DCF) and stop watch have been used for taking observations. Identification of adult individuals was carried out using identification keys provided by Fraser (1933). 198

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The reproductive behaviour of Disparoneura quadrimaculata (Rambur) has been studied seven times at study site on dated 18.09.08, 21.09.08, 23.09.08, 12.10.09, 14.10.09 and 16.10.09. The conspicuous sexual dimorphism with a bright brown face of male, while much light brown in females made easy to keep a close watch on a species. The observations on different activities, their duration and variabilities in the reproductive behaviour of Disparoneura quadrimaculata were recorded as below. (a). Territoriality: The males of Disparoneura quadrimaculata arrived at the rendezvous during 9.40 to 10.50 a.m., while the females appeared from the surrounding vegetation late during 11.15 to 11.50 a.m. The males after arrival perched on nearby vegetation. The perch forms the centre of a circular territory with a radius of 1-2 meters, which was defended by the resident male from the intruding intra or some inter specific males. The resident male showed chase and an aggressive abdomen raising display or by wing vibration against the conspecific and heterospecific male intruders. (b). Before wheel tandem: As soon as the female arrived in the territory, the male started following her and after a short dual flight, got success to bind her in tandem link, catching hold her prothorax by its anal appendages. The pair in tandam flew to some nearby vegetation, where the male anchored the plant and the female hanged vertically. The pair in tandem changes perch 2-5 times to nearby vegetation. The before wheel tandem lasted for about 20-30 minutes. This was the time when intramale sperm translocation, from the gonopore to the vesicula spermalis took place 2-3 times of 21-48 seconds duration at an interval of 2-3 minutes. (c). Copulatory wheel position: After the completion of intramale sperm translocation, the male relaxed its abdomen and in tandem rest for 30-40 seconds, after this the male started bending its abdomen and also forced female to bend her abdomen to initiate process of wheel formation. The female then tried to interlock its vulvar region with the secondary copulatory apparatus of male by curling her abdomen forward to form the copulatory wheel. After 2-3 attempts, the spectacular courtship wheel was formed. The duration of the wheel position varied from 18-24 minutes. At the starting of the wheel position, an upward and downward motion of the male’s abdomen has been noticed. Whenever other conspecific males interfered during the wheel position, the male in courtship vibrated its wings vigorously to drive it away from the mating site. Sometimes the pair changed the perch. If the wheel breaks in the process, the pair in tandem formed the wheel again. (d). After wheel tandem: After breaking of the wheel, the male lowered the female and the female also grasped some vegetation by her legs. After a rest of 4-6 minutes, the post copulatory flight was observed over the aquatic vegetation to choose the suitable spot for oviposition and it lasted for 5-10 minutes. (e). Oviposition: The female of Disparoneura quadrimaculata oviposited endophytically among the aquatic plants. The eggs were laid in the tissue of leaf, petiole and stem. During oviposition the female hold the perch plant and the male, just stayed in the air, balancing upon the prothorax of the female. The surface oviposition process lasts for about 1-2 minutes. Then the female started ovipositing underwater and within 1-2 minutes, the female was underwater except its wings which remain partially exposed. After 1 minute the female was completely underwater and the 6th-10th abdominal segments of the male were also submerged. Finally, only the first four abdominal segments of male were above the water, and the upright tandem posture was maintained throughout. Soon after this, the male release the grip on female prothorax and hovers around the ovipositing site. The female remain underwater and oviposits endophytically. This underwater oviposition may be continued for 5-8 minutes and the total duration of oviposition process lasts for 1 5 - 2 0 min ut es. The female moves to the surface after oviposition and floats before emerging from the water. After a struggle for about, 2-3 minutes the head, thorax and forewings of the female may be out of the water and female continue to try to reach a suitable support to rest. After taking rest on vegetation for about, 3-4 minutes, the female took flight to

199

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert nearby vegetation during this entire process the male hovers around the female, to defend her from intruding intra or inter specific males. Darwin (1859) stated in the “Origin of Species”, that sexual selection, “depends, not on a struggle for existence, but on a struggle between the males for possession of females, the result is not death to the unsuccessful competitors, but few or no offspring”. In odonates many different reproductive tactics have evolved to optimize the number of opportunities to successfully reproduce with females and the territorial behaviour, copulation and oviposition are carried out within or near the territory (Conrad & Pritchard, 1992). Several variation of the ovipositing behaviour exists in odonates, but the male has become territorial of these oviposition sites respective to its species (Corbet, 1962). The phenomenon of male territoriality amongst Zygoptera, is exhibited well in the damselflies of family Coenagriidae (Srivastava and Babu, 1985a; Utzeri et al., 1983), Calopterygidae (Kumar and Prasad, 1977; Waage, 1988) and Protoneuridae (Srivastava and Babu, 1985b). Corbet (1980) observed that aggressive behaviour of mature male odonates at the rendezvous was directed predominantly towards conspecific males, but in Pseudageion rubriceps males demonstrate aggressive behaviour against both conspecific and heterospecific males. During present study in Disparoneura quadrimaculata the range of their territory is 1-2 meters is m or e a s t hat of Ceriagrion coromandelianum and Pseudageion rubriceps 30-80cm (Prasad, 1990) and in Pseudageion rubriceps 40-70cm (Mitra, 1996). The duration of wheel position was 48 minutes, which is quite same to the duration 3-8 minutes recorded for the same species (Prasad, 1990; Mitra, 1996) and the mating behaviour was similar to that of other zygopterans (Corbet, 1962; Rowe, 1978; Bick et al. 1976). The exploratory flight in tandem just after breaking of the wheel in Disparoneura quadrimaculata lasted for 7-12 minutes which is quite same in same species 7-14 minutes (Prasad, 1990; Mitra, 1996) and slight shorter than the duration in P. decorum (18-30 min) (Srivastava et al., 1994). The endophytic oviposition by the female and the upright tandem posture adopted by the male during oviposition was quite similar to that described by Furtado (1972), Sakagami et al. (1974), Srivastava & Babu (1985), Prasad (1990), Srivastava et al. (1994) and Mitra (1996) for same and other species of Zygoptera. The upright tandem posture adopted by the male during surface as well as underwater oviposition is similar to that described by Jacobs (1955), Eriksen (1960), Furtado (1972), Srivastava and Babu (1985a) and Mitra (1996) for same and other species. Hence, it reveals that the time period during reproductive activities observed for a particular event during present and previous studies may relatively changes with the inter or intraspecific interference, according to habitats or by various environmental factors.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author is grateful to Dr. Ramakrishna, Director, Zoological Survey of India (Ministry of Environment and Forests), Kolkata and Dr. Padma Bohra, Officer-in Charge, Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Jodhpur for the necessary permission and facilities provided. Also thanks to the authorities of the Rajasthan State Forest Department for their help and necessary arrangements at various places during the survey period.

REFERENCES Acharya, H.G. 1961. Strange behaviour of some dragonflies. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., Bombay. 58(3): 819-820. Alcock, J. 1989. The mating system of Libellula saturata Uhler (Anisoptera: Libellulidae). Odonatologica. 18: 89-93. Banks, M. and Thompson, D.J. 1985. Emergence, longevity and breeding area fidelity in Coenagrion puella (L.) (Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae). Odonalologica. 14: 279-286. Bick, G.H. and Bick, J.C. 1980. A bibliography of reproductive behaviour of Zygoptera of Canada and conterminous United States. Odonatologica. 9: 5-18.

200

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Bick, G.H. and Sulback, D. 1966. Reproductive behaviour of the damselfly, Hataerina americana (Fabricius) (Odonata: Calopterygidae). Anim. Behaviour. 14: 156-158. Bick, G.H., Bick, J.C. and Hornuff, L.E. 1976. Behaviour of Chromagrion conditum (Hagen) Adults (Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae). Odonatologica. 5(2): 129-141. Conrad, K.F. and Pritchard, G. 1992. An ecological classification of Odonata mating systems: the relative influence of natural, inter- and intra-sexual selection on males. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 45: 255-269. Consiglio, C. 1974. Some observations on the sexual behaviour of Platycyphe caligata (Selys) (Zygoptera : Chlorocyphidae). Odonatologica. 25(3): 257-259. Copper, G., Holland, P.W.H. and Miller, P.L. 1996. Captive breeding of Ischnura elegans (VanderLinden): observations on longevity, copulation and oviposition (Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae). Odonatologica. 25(3): 261-273. Corbet, P.S. 1962. A biology of dragonflies. Witherby, London. 247pp. Corbet, P.S. 1980. Biology of Odonata. Ann. Rev. Ent. 25: 189-217. Corbet, P.S. 1999. Dragonflies, Behaviour and ecology of Odonata. Cornell University Press. 829pp. Cordero, A. 1989. Reproductive behaviour of Ischnura graellsii (Rambur) (Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae). Odonatologica. 18: 237-244. Cordero, A., Santolamazza Carbone, S. and Utzeri, C. 1997. Male mating success in a natural population of Ischnura elegans (Vender-Linden) (Odonata: Coenagrionidae). Odonatologica. 26(4): 459-465. Darwin, C. 1859. The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (1st ed.). John Murray, Albemarle Street London. 544pp. Doerksen, G.P. 1980. Notes on the reproductive behaviour of Enallagma cyathigerum. Odonatologica. 9(4): 293-296. Eriksen, C.H. 1960. The oviposition of Enallagma exsulsans (Odonata: Agrionidae). Ann. ent. Soc. Amer. 53: 439. Fraser, F.C. 1933. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Odonata, Vol. I. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London. 423pp. Furtado, J.I. 1972. The reproductive behaviour of Ischnura senegalensis (Rambur), Pseudagrion microcephalum (Rambur) and P. perfuscatum Lieftinck (Odonata: Coenagrionidae). Malaysian J. Sci. 1(4): 57-69. Furtado, J.I. 1974. The reproductive behaviour of Copera marginipes (Rambur) and C. vittata acutimargo (Kruger) (Zygoptera: Platycnemididae). Odonatologica. 3(3): 167-177. Hassan, A.T. 1978. Reproductive behaviour of Acisoma panorpoides inflatum Selys (Anisoptera: Libellulidae). Odonatologica. 7: 237-245. Jacobs, M.E. 1955. Studies on territorialism and sexual selection in dragonflies. Ecology. 36: 566585. Jurzitza, G. 1974. A note on mating and oviposition behaviour of three Argentine Libellulidae. Odonatologica. 3: 265-266. Kumar, A. 1980. Studies on the life history of Indian dragonfly Pseudagrion rubriceps Selys (Coenagriidae: Odonata). Rec. zool. Surv. India. 75(1-4): 371-381. Kumar, A. and Prasad, M. 1977. Reproductive behaviour in Neurobasis chinensis chinensis (Linnaeus) (Zygoptera: Calopterygidae). Odonatologica. 6(3): 163-171. Meskin, I. 1989. Aspects of territorial behaviour in three species of Pseudagrion Selys (Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae). Odonatologica. 18: 253-261. Miller, A.K., Miller, P.L. and Siva-Jothy, M.T. 1984. Pre-copulation guarding and other aspects of reproductive behaviour in Sympetrum depressiusculum (Selys) at rice field in Southern France (Anisoptera: Libellulidae). Odonatologica. 13: 407-414.

201

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Miller, P.L. 1988. Similarities in the genitalia and reproductive behaviour of the male and female Tholymis tillarga (Fabr.), Parazyxomma flavicans (Martin), Brachythemis lacustris Kirby and B. leucosticta (Bur). (Anisoptera: Libellulidae). Odonatologica. 17: 59-64. Mitra, A. 1996. Reproductive ethobiology of Pseudagrion rubriceps Selys (Zygoptera: Pseudagriinae) at Asan Reservoir (Dehra Dun, India). Ann. For. 4(2): 139-144. Prasad, M. 1990. Reproductive behaviour of Ceriagrion coromandelianum (Fabricius) and Pseudagrion rubriceps Selys (Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae). Ann. Entomol. 8(2): 35-58. Prasad, M. 1991. On some aspects of reproductive behaviour in Brachythemis contaminata (Fabricius) (Anisoptera: Libellulidae). Ann. Entomol. 9(1): 1-3. Rowe, R.J. 1978. Ischnura aurora (Brauer) a dragonfly with unusual mating behaviour (Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae). Odonatologica. 7(4): 375-383. Sakagami, S.F., Ubukata, H., Iga, M. and Toda, M.J. 1974. Observations on the behaviour of some Odonata in the Bonin islands with considerations on the evolution of reproductive behaviour in Libellulidae. Journal of the Faculty of science, Hokkaido University, Series VI, Zoology. 19(3): 722-757. Srivastava, B.K. and Babu, B.S. 1985a. Reproductive behaviour of Ceriagrion coromandelianum (Zygoptera: Coenagriidae). Proc. First Indian Symp. Odonatol. pp.209-216. Srivastava, B.K. and Babu, B.S. 1985b. On some aspects of reproductive behaviour in Chloroneura quadrimauculata (Rambur) (Zygoptera: Protoneuridae). Odonatologica. 14(3): 219-226. Srivastava V.K., Srivastava, B.K. and Babu, B.S. 1994. The behaviour of reproduction and oviposition in Pseudagrion decorum (Rambur) (Zygoptera: Pseudagriinae) in central India. Advances in Oriental Odonatology (ed. V. K. Srivastava). pp.77-84. Ubukata, H. 1975. Life history and behaviour of a Cordulid Dragonfly, Cordulia aenea amurensis Selys. II-Reproductive period with special reference to territoriality. Journal of the Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Series VI, Zoology. 19(4): 812-833. Utzeri, C., Falchetti, E. and Carchini, G. 1983. The reproductive behaviour in Coenagrion lindeni (Selys) (Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae) in central Italy. Odonatologica. 12(3): 259-278. Waage, J.K. 1988. Reproductive behaviour of the damselfly Calopteryx dimidiata Burmeister (Zygoptera: Calopterygidae). Odonatologica. 17(4): 365-378.

202

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

STUDIES ON MAMMALS (MAMMALIA: VERTEBRATA) OF MOUNT ABU WILDLIFE SANCTUARY AND AROUND MOUNT ABU, RAJASTHAN, INDIA GAURAV SHARMA* AND PADMA BOHRA Desert Regional Center, Zoological Survey of India, Pali Road, Jodhpur-342 005, Rajasthan. e-mail: *[email protected] ABSTRACT: Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary is located 24°33′N and 72°38′E in one of the oldest mountain ranges of India, the Aravalli range. The extensive field surveys were conducted in the study site Mount Abu and Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary different localities i.e. Gomukh, Guru Shikhar, Gyan Sarovar, Sunset Point, Around Nakki Lake, Trevor point during daytime and night patrolling from 2008-10. 16 mammals species recorded in the field from the study site i.e. leopard (Panthera pardus), wild boar (Sus scorfa), pangolin (Manis crassicaudata), grey mongoose (Herpestes edwardsii), Indian hare (Lepus nigricollis), porcupine (Hystrix indica), sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), hedgehog (Hemiechinus micropus), sambhar (Cervus unicolor), jungle cat (Felis chaus), small Indian civet (Viverricula indica), wolf (Canis lupus), striped hyaena (Hyaena hyanea), jackal (Canis aureus), Indian fox (Vulpes bengalensis) and Hanuman langur (Semnopithecus entellus) KEY WORDS: Mammals, Mount Abu, Rajasthan.

INTRODUCTION Mount Abu is the highest peak in the Aravalli Range of Rajasthan state in western India, located in Sirohi district. The mountain forms a distinct rocky plateau 22km long by 9 km wide. It is referred to as 'an oasis in the desert', as its heights are home to rivers, lakes, waterfalls and evergreen forests. In the Puranas, the region has been referred to as Arbudaranya, ("forest of Arbhu") and 'Abu' is a dimunitive of this ancient name. Nakki Lake is popular visitor attraction of Mount Abu. Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary is located 24°33′N and 72°38′E / in one of the oldest mountain ranges of India, the Aravalli range. It was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1960. It spreads out into a plateau which is about 19 km in length and 6 km in breadth. In altitude, it varies from 300 meters at the foot to 1722 meters at Guru Shikhar (Highest peak of Rajasthan). The rocks are igneous and due to the weathering effect of wind and water, large cavities are common in them. It is very rich in floral bio-diversity starting from xenomorphic sub-tropical thorn forests in the foot hills to sub-tropical evergreen forests along water courses and valleys at higher altitudes. A variety of fauna, including highly rare, threatened and endangered species are found in this sanctuary. The past history of Mount Abu indicates the presence of lion (last recorded in 1872) and tiger (last reported in 1970). Presently the leopard (Panthera pardus) is the apex predator. The sanctuary provides an ideal habitat for the sloth bear (Melursus ursinus). During the present studies an attempts has been made to explore the existing mammalian diversity from the study site.

MATERIALS AND METHODS During the present study extensive field surveys were conducted in the study site Mount Abu and Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary different localities i.e. Gomukh, Guru Shikhar, Gyan Sarovar, Sunset Point, Around Nakki Lake, Trevor point during daytime and night patrolling from 2008-10.

203

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

RESULTS During present study recorded 16 mammals species in the field from different localities of Mount Abu and Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary i.e. leopard (Panthera pardus), wild boar (Sus scorfa), pangolin (Manis crassicaudata), grey mongoose (Herpestes edwardsii), Indian hare (Lepus nigricollis), porcupine (Hystrix indica), sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), hedgehog (Hemiechinus micropus), sambhar (Cervus unicolor), jungle cat (Felis chaus), small Indian civet (Viverricula indica), wolf (Canis lupus), striped hyaena (Hyaena hyanea), jackal (Canis aureus), Indian fox (Vulpes bengalensis) and Hanuman langur (Semnopithecus entellus) from 2008-10 and also help were taken from officers and staff of Rajasthan State Forest Department, Mount Abu (Table-1). Table-1. 16 Mammals species recorded from different localities of Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary and around Mount Abu, Rajasthan during 2008-10. S. No.

Species

Gomukh

Leopard (Panthera pardus) + Wild Boar (Sus scorfa) + Pangolin (Manis + crassicaudata) 4. Grey Mongoose (Herpestes + edwardsii) 5. Indian Hare (Lepus nigricollis) + 6. Porcupine (Hystrix indica) + 7. Sloth Bear (Melursus ursinus) + 8. Hedgehog (Hemiechinus + micropus) 9. Sambhar (Cervus unicolor) + 10. Jungle Cat (Felis chaus) + 11. Small Indian Civet + (Viverricula indica) 12. Wolf (Canis lupus) 13. Striped Hyaena (Hyaena + hyanea) 14. Jackal (Canis aureus) + 15. Indian Fox (Vulpes + bengalensis) 16. Hanuman langur + (Semnopithecus entellus) Where + = species present; - = species absent 1. 2. 3.

Gyan Sarovar

Nakki lake

Guru Shikhar

Anadara Trevor point point

Sunset point

+ + -

-

+ + -

-

+ + -

-

Waterfall on Abu road + + -

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

+ + + -

+ -

+ + + +

+ + -

+ + + +

+ -

+ -

+ -

-

-

+ -

+ + +

+ -

+ -

+ -

-

+ +

-

+ -

-

-

+ -

+

+ -

-

+ -

+ +

-

+

+

+

+

+

+

+

The Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary and area around Mount Abu is fully protected by Rajasthan State Forest Department, Mount Abu and in 2009 the area of Mount Abu is declared as Eco-Sensitive Site and therefore special permission from higher authorities required for doing any type of developmental works. This is right step by Government of India at right time to conserve valuable diversity of flora and fauna.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors are grateful to Dr. Ramakrishna, Director, Zoological Survey of India (Ministry of Environment & Forests), Kolkata for the necessary permission and facilities provided. Also thanks to the authorities of the Rajasthan State Forest Department, Mount Abu for their help and necessary arrangements at various places during the survey period.

REFERENCES Prater, S.H. 2005. The book of Indian Animals. Bombay Natural History Society. Oxford University Press, New Delhi. 324pp.

204

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

DIVERSITY OF RUTELINAE BEETLES (SCARABAEIDAE: COLEOPTERA: INSECTA) OF RAJASTHAN, INDIA RAM SEWAK Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Pali Road, Jodhpur-342 005, Rajasthan. e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: The Indian South-East Rajasthan consist of 16 districts of Rajasthan state. The present study is based on the collection of Pali, Sirohi, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Dunagarpur, Banswara, Pratapgarh, Bhilwara, Bundi, Kota, Jhalawar, Baran, Karauli, Dhaulpur, Bharatpur and Dausa. The members of the Rutelinae are plant feeder and their larvae are root feeder. They are very beautiful and brilliant in coloured, and mostly nocturnal in habit. They are considered as all injurious to vegetation and destroyed the roots of ground- nut, rice, millet, sugar and other agriculture crops. The 25 species belonging to 5 genera recorded with their number of species in descending order includes single species of genus Peltonotus Burmiester, 11 species of Aonomala Samouelle, 4 species Rhinyptia, Burmiester, single species of Pachyrrhinadoretus, Ohaus, 8 species of Adoretus Castlenau recorded from the South- East Rajasthan. The identification keys of tribes, genera and species of subfamily Rutelinae are followed by systematic account, synonym, locality and distribution tables. The database will be useful as a baseline work for the taxonomists and biodiversity workers of the Nation. KEY WORDS: Rutelinae, diversity, Rajasthan.

INTRODUCTION Rajasthan is the largest state of India, covering 3,42,239 sq. kms area and situated in 23o30” and 30o11”N latitude and 69o29”and 78o17”E longitude of north western India. The western part of the state is surrounded by Pakistan, northern part by Indian state Punjab & Haryana, eastern part by Uttar Pradesh, south-east by Madhya Pradesh and south-west by Gujarat. Rajasthan consists of 32 districts and geographically is divided into four region: The Western Desert (Thar), Aravali Hills, The Eastern Plane and The South Western Plateau region. The Aravali Hills spreads from north- east to south-west of Rajasthan, divided the state into western arid and eastern semi arid region. Coleoptera is the largest order of the class Insecta, which includes “Beetles and Weevils”. They show exceptionally diverse adaptation to wide range of environmental conditions and habitats and are economically important both destructive as well as beneficiary point of view. The name Rutelinae was first used by Macleay in 1819 for the characteristic of American genus Rutela and 1844 Burmeister had been established as a sub family Rutelinae under family Scarabaeidae. Lateron Ohaus had been revised the Adoretini and other tribes of the subfamily Rutelinae and also increased the number of species. The representative of the subfamily Rutelinae are resemble in habitat with the representatives of subfamily Dynastinae and Melolonthinae but differentiate from Dynastinae by presence of mobile and unsymmetrical claws and externally visible labrum but claws of Dynastinae are not mobile and labrum is reduced, the abdominal spiracles placed in two line while in Melolonthinae only in single line. The structure of the claws is the main distinguish character to separate the Rutelinae from the other groups. The posterior claws are smaller than the other and quite simple in form while longer one may be cleft at the tip, lobbed beneath or distorted in shape. The members of the subfamily Rutelinae (Scarabaeidae) are known as “Leaf Chafers” and they are nocturnal. Both adults and grubs are destructive. The adult feed on foliage leaves, flowers and fruits and grub feed upon the roots. Arrow (1917) published a fauna volume on Indian Rutelinae in the series “Fauna of British India”. Unfortunately, not a single species have been reported from Rajasthan. Casey (1915)

205

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert revised the Rutelinae fauna of America and Came (1958) Australia. Kuswaha (1960) published the species of Rutelinae of Allahbad region, Kapur (1961) species of Nepal, Frey (1971) described new species from Indo-China and Indian region, Pal (1973) recorded the species from Rajasthan, Yadav et al. (1973) collected Rhinyptia laeviceps Arrow from bajra crop, Mittal (1981) published the species from Haryana and surrounding area and Biswas and Chatterjee (1991) published the Rutelinae species of Orrisa. The present study is based on the collection of the Rutelinae collected from the seventeen districts of South- East Rajasthan by the different parties of Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Jodhpur from 1963 to 2009. The author also carried out the extensive and intensive survey of Rajasthan from 2006 to 2009, collected large number of specimens by utilizing the light trap method to collect them from the urban and rural localities. So far twenty five species belonging to seven genera of sub family Rutelinae under family Scarabaeidae have been identified. All these species have been recorded for the first time from Rajasthan. The classified list of these beetles provided according to their systematic position under tribes Peltonotini, Parastasiini, Anomalini. Adorrhinyptiini and Adoretini and distribution have also been provided.

SYSTEMATIC ACCOUNT OF RUTELINAE BEETLES Class: Insecta Order: Coleoptera Suborder: Polyphaga Superfamily: Scarabaeoidea Family: Scarabaeidae Subfamily: Rutelinae Classified List of Rutelinae Tribe I: Peltonotini (1). Genus: Peltonotus Burmiester 1. Peltonotus nasutus Arrow Tribe II: Anomalini (2). Genus: Aonomala Samouelle 2. Aonomala tenella (Blanchard) 3. Anomala dorsalis Fabricius 4. Anomala transversa (Burmiester) 5. Anomala bengalensis Blanchard 6. Anomala olivieri Sharp 7. Anomala rugosa Arrow 8. Anomala blancharddi Arrow 9. Anomala walkeri Arrow 10. Anomala erosa Arrow 11. Anomala galerucina Arrow 12. Anomala degenerata (Arrow) (3). Genus: Rhinyptia Burmiester 13. Rhinyptia indica Burmiester 206

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 14. Rhinyptia meridionalis Arrow 15. Rhinyptia laeviceps Arrow 16. Rhinyptia testaccea Nonfried Tribe III: Adoretini (4). Genus: Pchyrrhinaoretus Ohaus 17. Pchyrrhinadoretus rugipennis Ohaus (5). Genus: Adoretus Castlenau 18. Adoretus bicaudatus Arrow 19. Adoretus pallens Burmiester 20. Adoretus stoliczkae Ohaus 21. Adoretus kanarensis Arrow 22. Adoretus punjabensis Arrow 23. Adoretus bicolar Brenske 24. Adoretus lasiopypygus Burmiester 25. Adoretus versutus Harold Key to the tribes of Subfamily Rutelinae 1. Labrum horizontal, visible from above……….……….…………………………..Peltonotini - Labrum not visible from above …………..……………………………………….………………2 2.

Mandibles producedbeyond the clypeus…………………………….…… Parastasiini

- Mandibles entirely covered by the clypeus…………..……………………………………..…..3 3.

Antennae nine jointed, elytra with membranous margin………….………Anomalini

- Antennae not nine jointed, elytra nor membranous margin………………………………..4 4. Antennae ten jointed, elytra without membranous margin……………..Adorrhinyptiini - Labrum produced downwards…………………………………………………………..Adoretini

(1). Genus: Peltonotus Burmeister 1847. Peltonotus Burmeister, Handb. Ent., 5: 75. 1910. Peltonotus, Arrow, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. , 8 (5): 153. 1917. Peltonotus Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 27-28, 5 pls.I. Diagnostic characters: Ovate and loosely articulated. Head not sunk in prothorax and clypeus broadly transverse, convex and not separated, and antenna 10 jointed. Sides of the prothorx rounded and base not fitted to elytra. Scutellum long , acute and straight sided. Elytra not long and not covered the abdomen. Legs very hairy. Front tibia armed with three external teeth. Claws very slightly unequal. The auther recorded single species Peltonotus nasutus Arrow from Rajasthan.

1. Peltonotus nasutus Arrow 1910. Peltonotus nasutus, Arrow, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. , 8 (5): 155. 1917. Peltonotus nasutus Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 29, pl.I, fig. 10. 207

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Diagnostic characters: Head rugose and with less rectangular clypeus , and having slight tubercle in the middle at front margin. Prothorx minutely sparingly punctured, sides strongly rounded. Scutellum bearing few punctured. Elytra moderately punctured and forming longitudinal lines. Pygidium sparsely punctured. Front tibia slendered in male and having minute teeth and in female front tibia dialated from base to extremity and with strong external teeth. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Pali and Rajsamand. Elsewhere: Siam, Annam.

(2). Genus: Anomala Samouelle 1819. Anomala, Samouelle, The Entomologist’s Useful Companion. 191p. 1917. Anomala, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 126-130. Diagnostic characters: Variable in size. The clypeus is transverse, rounded or straight in front. The eyes are prominent or very large. The prothorax is slightly lobed and not excised in front of the scutllum. The legs are stout, long and slender, front tibia armed with one, two or thee teeth and bears a single spur at the base of tarsus. The middle and hind tibiae are long and short and each bears two terminal spurs. The tarsi are moderately long and claws always entire upon hind feet, the longer one of the front feet or front and middle feet. The apical tooth of front tibia is usually shorter and sharper in male than female. The eleven species of the genus Anomala have been recorded from south-east Rajasthan.

2. Anomala tenella (Blanchard) 1851. Singhala tenella, Blanchard, Cat. Coll. Ent. Mus. Paris, 198p. 1891. Singhala vidua, Heller, Duet. Ent. Ziets. 294p. 1917. Anomala tenella, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 133-134, fig. 30. Diagnostic characters: Small and convex, with very short elytra and without hairs. Head strongly closely punctured. Prothorax closely, evenly punctured and with rounded base. Front angles acute and hind angles almost obsolete. Scutellum very short, broad and well punctured. Elytral intervals bear five separate lines of discoidal punctures and fine scattered punctures Pygidium coarsely and rugosely punctured. Front tibia armed with two strong external teeth and large claw of front and middle feet cleft. Front tibia of male is broad with sharp external teeth, tarsus short and thick, last joint very large, and inner claw strongly bent. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Pali. Elsewhere: Sri Lanka.

3. Anomala dorsalis Fabricius 1775. Melolontha dorsalis, Fabricius, Syst. Ent. , 35p. 1844. Anomala dorsalis Burmiester, Handb. Ent. , 4: 1. 1917. Anomala dorsalis, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 136-137, fig. 32. Diagnostic characters: Moderately elongate, not very convex, nor very shining and scantly covered with short yellowish hairs beneath. The head is densely, scarsely and rugosely punctured. The prothorax is very minutely thinly punctured and sides strongly rounded. The front angles are not acute and hind angles very obtuse. The scutellum bears a few fine punctures. The elytra are strongly and irregularly punctured and have juxta-sutural line and four or five double rows of regular punctures. The pygidium is minutely and sparingly punctured. The front tibia is armed with two sharp teeth and a feeble upper one, and the longer claw of the front and middle feet is cleft. In male, the front tarsus is thickened and inner claw broad, moderately sharp and deeply cleft, and the pygidium is convex. But, the clypeus of the female is straight in front and strongly

208

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert reflexed, with the rounded angles, and the elytra have a slight, angular flange a little before middle of outer margin. The pygidium is flat and obliqe. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Sirohi and also found in Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya padesh, Mahashtra, Punjab, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttrakhand and West Bengal.

4. Anomala transversa (Burmiester) 1855. Phyllopertha transversa, Burmiester, Handb. Ent. ,4: 2. 1917. Anomala transversa, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 142-143, fig. 33. Diagnostic characters: Small, broad and convex. The head is strongly punctured and the clypeus is notched in the middle. The prothorax is coarsely, irregularly punctured and with a incomplete smooth middle longitudinal line, and the sides are strongly curved. The front angles are slightly acute and hind angles rounded. The scutellum is broad, blunt and coarsely punctured. The elytra are having longitudinal rows of large punctures. The pygidium is bear large scattered punctures. The front tibia is armed with two strong external teeth and hind tibia moderately short and the longer claws of front and middle feet are cleft. In male, front claw is longer and extremely broad. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Udaipur, Dugarpur and also found from Assam and Meghalaya. Elsewhere: Myanmar and Tonkin.

5. Anomala bengalensis Blanchard 1851. Anomala bengalensis, Blanchard, Cat. Coll. Ent. Mus. Paris, 182p. 1917. Anomala bengalensis, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 143, fig. 34. Diagnostic characters: Moderately elongate, massive and scantily clothed with hairs beneath. The head is punctate-rugose and the clypeus is broadly, transversely rectangular and its front margin strongly is reflexed. The prothorax is minutely punctured, sides strongly rounded, and the front angles are almost straight and the hind angles very obtuse. The scutellum is bears few fine punctures. The elytra are closely deeply punctured and forming longitudinal rows. The pygidium is punctured. The front tibia is tridentate and claws of front and middle tibia are large and cleft. In male, the teeth of front tibia are sharp and inner claws unequally cleft. In female, the apical tooth of the front tibia is very blunt and long, and inner claws equally divided. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Banswara, Jhalawar and also founded from Andhra Pradesh, Jharkand, Karnataka, Maharshtra and Tamil Nadu. Elsewhere: Myanmar.

6. Anomala olivieri Sharp 1903. Anomala olivieri, Sharp, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. , 12 (7): 471. 1917. Anomala olivieri, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 144. Diagnostic characters: Smooth, massive and moderately elongate and clothed with long tawny hairs upon and beneath. The head is punctate-rugose and front margin is strongly reflexed and sraight. The prothorax is subopaque, closely punctured and the sides are strongly curved. The front angles are acute and hind angles very obtuse. The scutellum is bears a few minute punctures. The elytra are shallowly coarsely punctured and the puctures forming the longitudinal rows. The pygidium is bears fine scattered punctures. The front tibia is tridentate and the uppermost tooth is very feeble and hind tibia is moderately long and sledered. The claws of the front and middle tibia are large and cleft. The apical tooth of front tibia is short and sharp and

209

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert front claw is very unequal cleft in the male. But the apical tooth of front tibia is long and clubbed and front claw is equal cleft in female. Distrbution: India: Rajasthan: Bundi, Dausa and Dungarpur.

7. Anomala rugosa Arrow 1899. Anomala rugosa, Arrow, Trans. Ent. Soc. London, 263p. 1917. Anomala rugosa, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 150-151, fig. 39 & 40. Diagnostic characters: Oval, compact and convex. The head is densely rugosely punctured and the clypeus is rounded at the sides and straight in front. The prothorax is not densely punctured and the sides are strongly rounded, and the front angles are blunt and hind angles rounded off. The scutellum is short and closely punctured. The elytra are striate and closely punctured, except the outer margin. The front tibia is armed with tree external teeth and the hind tibia is a little constricted before the end, and claws of front and middle tibia are longer and cleft. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Bharatpur, Dhaulpur and Kota and also founded from Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

8. Anomala blanchardi Arrow 1917. Anomala blanchardi Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 160, pl. II, fig. 29. Diagnostic Characters: Cylindrical, short, broad and moderately convex. The clypeus is smooth, lightly punctured and the frons is rugose. The prothorax is smooth, shining and closely punctured. The scutellum is punctured. The elytra are deeply and evenly punctate- striate.The front tibia is armed with two external teeth and the claws of front tibia are longer and only cleft. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jhalawar and Baran and Kota and also founded from Pondicherry.

9. Anomala walkeri Arrow 1899. Anomala walkeri, Arrow, Trans. Ent. Soc. London, 271p. 1917. Anomala walkeri, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 163, pl. II, fig. 33. Diagnostic Characters: Broad and convex. The head is small and the clypeus short, nearly straight in front and the frons is closely punctured. The prothorax is moderately, closely punctured and sides rounded. The front angles are slightly acuminate and hind angles obtuse. The scutellum has few punctures. The elytra are deeply striate- punctate and the second row of punctures is disrupted in anterior half. The pygidium is closely punctured. The front tibia is armed with two strong external teeth and hind tibia inflated in its upper half and strongly constricted posteriorly, and dialated at the apex. The clypeus of the male is smaller and eyes large than female. The front apical tooth is short and sharp and front claw is large and a little thickened in the male, but large and blunt in the female. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Karauli and Dausa. Elsewhere: Sri Lanka.

10. Anomala erosa Arrow 1912. Anomala ersa, Arrow, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. , 8 (10): 334. 1917. Anomala erosa, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 168-169, pl. II, fig. 41 &42. Diagnostic Characters: Small, oval, convex and smmoth. The head is densely punctured and front margin of the clypeus is strongly reflexed. The prothorax is closely pnctured and sides 210

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert strongly rounded. The front angles are slightly obtuse and hind angles rounded. The scutellum is punctured. The Elytra are deeply striate and the stria closely punctured. The pygidium is subrugosely punctured. The front tibia is tridentate and, claws of the front and middle tibia are longer and cleft. The inner front claw is broad and divergently cleft and last abdominal segment is externally short and visible at the sides in male, but broad and well developed in female. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Bharatpur and Dausa. Elsewhere: Myanmar.

11. Anomala galerucina Arrow 1917. Anomala galerucina Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 199, fig. 49. Diagnostic Characters: Long and narrow. The head is rugosely punctured and the clypeus is short and staright in front. The prothorax is strongly moderately punctured and the sides are scarcely curved and angulated in the middle. The front angles are very sharp and hind angles are right angles. The scutellum is short, wide and strongly punctured. The elytra are deeply striate and stria bears indistinct punctures. The 3rd, 5th and 7th intervals are more elevated and convex than other. The pygidium is strongly and closely punctured. The front tibia of the male is armed with two external teeth, placed close together and hind tibia inflated before the middle, and the claws minutely cleft. But in the female, front teeth are strongly oblique and the front and middle claws large and cleft. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Pratapgarh and Udaipur and also founded from Sikkim.

12. Anomala degenerata (Arrow) 1917. Anomala (Spilota) degenerate, Arrow, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. , 8 (8): 476. 1917. Anomala degenerata, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 254-255, pl. II, fig. 12 & 13. Diagnostic Characters: Broadly ovate. The clypeus and frons are densely punctaterugose. The prothorax is punctured and the sides are strongly punctured, and the lateral margins are feebly angulated before the middle. The front and hind angles are sharp. The scutellum is minutely punctured. The elytra are deeply striate and the striae closely punctured. The intervals are convex and the 5th interval is divided by an almost continous row of closely set punctures. The pygidium is moderately punctured. The front tibia is sharply bidentate and hind tibia moderately long, and the claws of front and middle tibia are long and cleft. In the male, the inner claw of front tibia is divided and sharply angulated. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Chittorgarh and Pratapgarh also founded from Tamil Nadu.

(3). Genus: Rhinyptia Burmiester 1844. Rhinyptia, Burmiester, Handb. Ent. 4 (1): 22. 1856. Rhinyptia, Lacordair, Gen. Col., 3: 324. 1917. Rhinyptia, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 268-269. Diagnostic Characters: Ovate, smooth and without hairy clothing above. The eyes are large and prominent. The clypeus is small, narrowing anteriorly to form the recurved rostrum. The antennae are nine jointed. The prothorax is generally rounded. The scutellum is punctured. The elytra are striate and punctured. The pygidium is punctured. The front tibia is armed with three strong external teeth and hind tibia and tarsi are long, with unequal cleft claws.

13. Rhinyptia indica Burmiester 1844. Rhinyptia indica, Burmiester, Handb. Ent. 4 (1): 228. 1892. Rhinyptia testacea, Nonfr. , Berl. Ent, Ziets. 36: 230. 211

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 1917. Rhinyptia indica, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 269-270, fig. 57. Diagnostic Characters: Elongate, parallel sided and moderately convex, clothed with thinly pale hairs beneath. The clypeus is small and its sides are strongly bisinuate, and covering the narrow strongly recurved rostrum. The clypeus and frons are densely rugose and the vertex is closely punctured. The prothorax is broad at the base, rounded at sides and closely punctured. The front angles are sharp and hind angles bluntly rounded. The scutellum is bears few fine punctures. The eyltra are strongly punctate-striate and with broad irregularly punctured intervals. The pygidium is strongly, moderately closely punctured. The front tibia is tridentate and the uppermost tooth is feeble and inner claw cleft. The front terminal tooth is long in male and blunt in female. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Bharatpur, Dhaulpur and Karauli and also founded from Karnataka, Maharshtra and Tamil Nadu.

14. Rhinyptia meridionalis Arrow 1911. Rhinyptia meridionalis, Arrow, Ann. Meg. Nat. Hist., 8(8): 356. 1917. Rhinyptia indica, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 271p. Diagnostic Characters: Elongate- oval, smooth and clothing with very scanty hairs. The clypeus is glossy and without punctures, and its sides are convergent to the point of flexure. The median carina is very sharp, and the rostrum is short, and with rounded front margin. The frons is closely punctured. The prothorax is broad, convex and moderately closely punctured, and the sides are rounded. The scutellum has bears few punctures. The elytra are regularly, moderately and strongly striate-punctate. The pygidium is deeply coarsely punctured. The front tibia is tridentate, uppermost tooth very obtusely feeble and claw cleft. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Chittorgarh and Bhilwara and also founded from Karnataka, Kerla and Tamil Nadu. Elsewhere: Sri Lanka.

15. Rhinyptia laeviceps Arrow 1917. Rhinyptia indica, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 272, Diagnostic Characters: Elongate-oval, smooth and clothing with thin hairs beneath. The head is extremely glossy, scanty and lightly punctured. The clypeus is triangular, sutures are distinct, sides converging from the base. The rostrum is long and rounded in the front. The frons is a little depressed between eyes. The prothorax is rather narrow and very feebly inconspicuously punctured and with lightly impress median groove, and the sides are lightly rounded. The front angles are nearly right angle and hind angles rounded. The scutellum is punctured. The elytra are very lightly punctate-striate and the 2nd, 4th and 5th intervals are wide and irregularly punctured. The pygidium is coarsely punctured. The front tibia is tridentate and terminal one is very slender and uppermost very feeble. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Pali and Sirohi. Elsewhere: Pakistan.

16. Rhinyptia testacea Nonfried Diagnostic Characters: Elongate-oval, smooth and clothing with thin hairs beneath. The head is extremely glossy, scanty and lightly punctured. The clypeus is triangular, sutures are distinct, sides converging from the base. The rostrum is not long and rounded. The frons is a little depressed between eyes. The prothorax is narrow and very punctured and with lightly impress median groove, and the sides are lightly rounded. The front angles are nearly right angle and hind angles rounded. The scutellum is punctured. The elytra are very lightly punctate-striate and the 3nd and 5th intervals are wide and irregularly punctured. The pygidium is coarsely punctured. The front tibia is tridentate and terminal one is very slender and uppermost very feeble. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Pali, Rajsamand and Udaipur.

(4). Genus: Pachyrrhinadoretus Ohaus 1960. Pchyrrhinadoretus, Ohaus, Duet. Ent. Ziets. 509p.

212

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 1917. Pachyrrhinadoretus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 285. Diagnostic Characters: Oval, convex, rather smooth and shining. The eyes are prominent. The clypeus is small, semicircular and with strongly rounded and reflexed margin. The antennae are ten jointed. The legs are stout, front tibia feebly tridentate and two upper teeth are separated by a sharp notch, and claws are very long and unequal, and the middle leg is minutely cleft at the apex. In the male, the pygidium is exposed.

17. Pachyrrhinaoretus rugipennis Ohaus 1912. Pachyrrhinadoretus rugipennis, Ohaus, Deut. Ent. Ziets. 511. 1917. Pachyrrhinadoretus rugipennis, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 286- 287, pl. 5, figs. 4- 10. Diagnostic characters: Orange yellow and with dark frons. Body elongate-oval and slightly depressed. The prothorax and elytra are dark except the outer margin. The head is closely, rugosely punctured and the clypeus is semicircular.

Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Karauli and Tonk. (5). Genus: Adoretus Castlenau 1840. Adoretus, Castlenau, Hist.Nat. Ins., 2: 142

1917. Adoretus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 295- 298. Diagnostic Characters: Generally elongate, rather depressed and covered with short hairs, scale or setae above and beneath. The head is broad or semicircular and with prominent eyes. The clypeus is large or small, generally more or less semicircular. The labrum is vertical and produced in the middle as along incurved rostrum. The antennae are normally ten jointed or some times nine jointed. The prothorax is short and scutellum small. The pygidium is clothed with erect hairs. The sides of the abdomen are generally evenly rounded, but some times specially modified into coincides. The front tibia is armed with three external teeth and tarsi moderately slender, and claws are very unequal.

18. Adoretus bicaudatus Arrow 1914. Adoretus biccaudatus Arrow, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 8 (13): 587. 1917. Adoretus biccaudatus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 310- 311, pl. 5, fig. 14,15 & 68. Diagnostic Characters: Small and narrowly elongate and densely, rugosely punctured beneath and above. The head is large, with broadly semicircular clypeus. The antennae are ten jointed and 4th – 6th joint are equal in length. The sides of the prothorax are moderately rounded. The front angles are slightly acute and hind angles very obtuse. The elytral epipleurae are not well developed. The sides of the abdomen are sharply carinate and sides of the propgidium is sharply elevated and united at the last spiracle. The continuous carina is forming coincides with outer edge of the elytra. The legs are short and thick, front tibia is armed with three short teeth, and the uppermost is separated from the second by a sharp notch. The larger claw is minutely cleft in the front and the middle claw minutely cleft and the shorter claw of the hind feet is less than half the length of the longer. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Bharatpur and Dhaulpur and also recorded from Orrisa , Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Elsewhere: Bangladesh and Sri Laka.

19. Adoretus pallens Blanchard 1851. Adoretus pallens, Blanchard, Cat. Coll. Ent. Mus. , Paris. 233p. 1917. Adoretus biccaudatus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 334. Diagnostic Characters: Narrow, convex and cylindrical. The surface of the body covered with minute pale setae and the sides fringed with long hairs. The clypeus broadely transversed.

213

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert The antennae are ten jointed and the 1st joint clubed. The front angles of the prothorax are acute and hind angles entirely rounded off. The scutellum is well punctured. The elytra are rugosely and indistinctly punctured. The front tibia is armed with three strong and the longer claw the front and the middle feet cleft. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Pali and Rajsamandl. Elsewhere: Myanmar.

20. Adoretus stoliczkae Ohaus 1914. Adoretus stoliczkae, Ohaus, Duet.Ent. Zeits. 490, fig. 24. 1917. Adoretus bicolar, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 336- 237. Diagnostic Characters: Body is oval, moderately convex and rather shining, and clothed with minute setae above. The head is not very large, the clypeus is broadly semicircular, granulated and closely clothed with the grey setae. The frons is strongly punctured and closely setose. The prothorax is coarsely, deeply, scantily and irregularly punctured, and thinly clothed with the fine setae. The sides are straight in front and rounded behind. The front angles are acute and the hind angles rounded off. The scutellum is rugosely punctured. The elytra are deeply, coarsely and confluently punctured, with indistinct costae. The pygidium is closely clothed with very fine grey hairs. The legs are slender, front tibia is armed with three sharp equidistant teeth. The longer front and middle claws minutely cleft, and shorter hind claw is more than half the length of the longer. In the male, the longer front and middle claws are unequally cleft, but equally cleft in the female. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Dausa nad Tonk and also recorded from Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharshtra.

21. Adoretus kanarensis Arrow 1917. Adoretus bicolar, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 337, pl. V figs. 27& 72. Diagnostic Characters: Elongate- oval and shining, covered with rather thinly scattered minute pale setae except the head and pygidium, where they are long and closer. The head is not very large and rugose. The clypeus is broadly rounded. The antennae are ten jointed and the 3rd – 5th joint progressively diminishing. The prothorax is coarsely punctured and sides rounded. The front angles are nearly right angles and the hind angles obtuse. The scutellum is rugose. The elytra are coarsely and confleuently punctured, well marked elevated costae. The pygidium has a bare apical area. The legs are slender, front tibia is armed with three strong equidistant teeth. The larger claw of the front and middle feet is cleft, and the shorter hind claw is more than half the length of the longer. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Banswara and Dungarpur and also recorded from Karnataka and Maharashtra.

22. Adoretus punjabensis Arrow 1917. Adoretus punjabensis, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 344, pl. IV figs. 34. Diagnostic Characters: Broad, elongate- oval, convex and punctured. The head is moderately large, closely granulated and semicircular clypeus. The antennae are ten jointed. The prothorax is closely rugose and with strongly rounded sides. The front angles are almost right angles and the hind angles obtuse. The elytra are closely punctured, some of the punctures formed double lines and the entire surface is microscopically rugulose. The pygidium is rugose and clothed with fine setae, arranged in two patches uniting in the middle, leaving bare patches at base and apex. The legs are stout and the front tibia is armed with three strong equidistant teeth. The claws very unequal, the longer front and middle ones is very minutely cleft, and the shorter hind claw is much less than half of the other. The eyes of the male are a little prominent than in the female. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Baran, Jhalawar and Kota and and also recorded Punjab, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orrisa, Sikkim and Tamil Nadu.

214

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

23. Adoretus bicolar Brenske 1893. Adoretus bicolar, Brenske, Ann. Soc. Ent. Belgium, 37:142. 1917. Adoretus bicolar, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 347- 346.pl. 5, fig. 35. Diagnostic Characters: Oval, moderately elongate and convex. The head is coarsely granulated and the clypeus is semicircular and with strongly reflexed margin. The antennae are ten jointed. The prothorax is densely, minutely punctured and the sides are strongly rounded. The front angles are acute and thr hind angles rounded off. The elytra are strongly and closely punctured, with distinct costae. The pygidium is clothed with erect setae. The front tibia is armed with three strong equidistant teeth. The larger claw of the front and middle feet is minutely cleft, and the shorter hind claw is about half as long as the longer. The clypeus of the male is smaller than the female. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Dausa, and Dhoupur and also recorded Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orrisa, Sikkim and Tamil Nadu.

24. Adoretus lasiopygus Burmiester 1855. Adoretus lasiopygus, Burmiester, Hand b. Ent., 530p. 1917. Adoretus lasiopygus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 349- 350.pl. 5, fig. 36. Diagnostic Characters: Elongate- oval. The clypeus is semicircular and frons are densely granulated. The antennae are ten jointed and 3-7 joints regularly diminishing in length. The prothorax is strongly and moderately closely punctured. The front angles are blunt and hind angles very obtuse. The elytra are densely and confluently punctured, with indistinct coastate. The pygidium is coriaceous and distinctly punctured. The front tibia is tridentate and the uppermost tooth is minute and the longer claw the front and the middle feet is cleft. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Baran, Jhalawar and Kota and also recorded from Assam, Sikkim,Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Elsewhere: Sri Lanka.

25. Adoretus versutus Harold 1869. Adoretus versutus, Harold, Col. Hefte, 5: 124 1897. Adoretus insularis Fairmare, Ann. Soc. Ent. Belgium, 91: 105. 1917. Adoretus vesutus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Rutelinae), 2: 350-351, pl.5, fig. 42. Diagnostic Characters: Moderately broad and covex. The clypeus is coarsely rugose , and the frons and vertex are coarsely punctured. The prothorax is coarsely but sparsely punctured, and thinly setose. The front angles are acute and the hind angles distinctly obtuse. The scutellum is strongly punctured. The pygidium is clothed long hairs. The front tibia armed with three strong acute teeth and the longer claw of each foot bears an angular lamina at the base. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Baran, Jhalwar and Kota and also recorded from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttrakhand and West Bengal. Elsewhere: Fiji Land, Java, Samoa and Sri Lanka.

DISCUSSION So far twenty five species belonging to five genera have been recorded from sixteen district of Rajasthan which are collected by the light trap method. The subfamily Rutelinae (Scarabaeidae) is divided into five tribes: Peltonotini, Parastasiini, Anomalini, Adorrhinyptiini and Adoretini on the basis of of antennal segments, visibility of labrum and position of mandible. The representatves of tribes Parastasiini and Adorrhinyptiini had not been found. Out of twenty five species, single species is belonging to tribe Peltonotini, fifteen to Anomalini and remaining nine to Adoretini. All these species are the pest of the crops both larvae and adults, they are leaf chafers and the grubs damages the roots.

215

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors are grateful to Dr. Ramakrishna, Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata and to Dr. Padma Bohra, Scientist-D and Officer-in-Charge, Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Jodhpur, Rajasthan for providing the necessary facilities to carry out the work.

REFERENCES Arrow, G.J. 1917. Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma Lamellicornia (Ratline, Desmonycinae and Euchirinae). Taylor and Francis, London. 2: 1-387, 5pls. Biswas, S. and Chatterjee, S.K. 1991. Insecta Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae. Zool. Surv. India, State Fauna Series: Fauna of Orissa. 1(3): 243-262. Carne, P.B. 1958. A review of the Australian Rutelinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Aust. J. Zool., 6(2): 162-240, 150figs., 2maps. Casey, T.L. 1915. A review of the American species of Ruteline, Dynastinae and Cetoniinae). Mem. Col., 6: 1-394. Frey, G. 1971a. New Rutelidae and Melolonthidae fro India and Indo-China (Coleoptera). Ent. Arb. Mus. G.Frey,Tutzing Muenchen. 22: 109-133. Frey, G. 1971b. Two new Anomala species (Coleoptera: Melolonthinae: Rutelinae). Ent. Arb. Mus. G.Frey,Tutzing Muenchen. 26: 275-276. Frey, G. 1971c. New Indian Rutelidae (Coleoptera). Ent. Arb. Mus. G.Frey,Tutzing Muenchen. 26: 314-315. Kuswaha, K.S. 1960. The Beetle fauna (Insecta Coleoptera) of soil in four small areas in Allahabad (U.P., India. Records of Indian Museum. 59: 171-180 Kapur, A.P. 1961. Zoological results Indian expidition(1958) in Nepal Insecta. Records of Indian Museum. 59(3): 286-333. Mittal, I.C. 1981. Scarabaeids of Haryana and surrounding areas. Bull. Ent., 22: 35-40. Pal, S.K. 1971. New records of Scarabaeid beetles damaging forest nursery seedling in Rajasthan desert. Indian Forester. 97(5): 290. Pal, S.K. and Sharma, V.P. 1973. Occurrence of Rhinyptia meridionalis v. puncticollis Arrow (Scarabaeidae: Coleoptera) as a pest on bajra in Western Rajasthan. J. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc., 70(3): 574-575. Yadava, C.P.S., Pandey, S.N., Bhardwaj, S.C. and Mishra, R.K. 1973. Record of Rhinyptia laeviceps Arrow (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae) as a pest of bajra Pennisetum typhoides.

216

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

STUDIES ON DUNG BEETLES (COPRINAE: SCARABAEIDAE: COLEOPTERA: INSECTA) IN AND AROUND JODHPUR (RAJASTHAN: INDIA) RAM SEWAK* AND GAURAV SHARMA** Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Pali Road, Jodhpur-342 005, Rajasthan. e-mail: *[email protected]; **[email protected] ABSTRACT: Scarabaeidae is the largest and well known family of the order Coleoptera. The members of this group are generally known as beetles, which are found everywhere in the world and have been subject of interest through the history. They worshiped by the ancient Egyptians and their images are found in the precious stones of both ancient and modern jewellery. During present communication the studies were conducted on dung beetles belongs to subfamily Coprinae under family Scarabaeidae of order Coleoptera in and around Jodhpur during 1999-2009. The larvae or white grubs of dung beetles causes millions of rupees damages annually by eating of the foliage leaves and some are economically important because of their significant roles in pasture ecosystem dynamics and environmental health. They process large amounts of animal dung into balls, and roll them into subterraneous chambers or tunnels where they are degraded, thereby increasing soil fertility. In doing so, the beetle destroyed the habitats of larvae of many pests of domestic animals including flies, which lay their eggs in the dung. Some beetle species are the intermediate hosts for the parasites of domestic and wild animals. A total of 38 species of dung beetles belongs to 10 genera of subfamily Coprinae under family Scarabaeidae of order Coleoptera were recorded from the study site during 1999-2009. In 38 species, 9 species belongs to genus Onthophagus; 6 species each in genera Scarabaeus and Copris; 3 species each in genera Gymnopleurus, Heliocopris and Catharsius; 4 species in genus Caccobius; 2 species in genus Onitis and 1 species each in genera Phalops and Oniticellus. KEY WORDS: Dung Beetles, Coprinae, Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

INTRODUCTION The order Coleoptera comprises beetles and weevils. The members of this order vary in size, structure, and adaptations to a wide range of habitats, and are cosmopolitan in distribution. They are economically important in terms of both beneficiary as well as deleterious impacts, which they have on ecosystem dynamics and environmental health hygiene including in agriculture and animal husbandry. Beetles belongs to subfamily Coprinae under family Scarabaeidae of order Coleoptera are popularly known as “dung beetles” or “dung rollers” because they feed largely on the dung of mammals. In recycling dung, these scavengers provide highly useful ecological service to both humans and livestock. Indeed, they play a very important role in pasture ecosystem dynamics, by processing huge amounts of animal dung into small balls every day, often rolling these into subterraneous tunnels, where some of the material degrades, thereby increasing soil fertility. In doing so, these beetles also destroy the habitats of larvae of many pests of domestic animals, including flies, which lay their eggs in the dung. Notably, they serve as intermediate hosts for numerous parasites of domestic as well as wild animals. During present communication the attempts were made to provide information on dung beetles belongs to subfamily Coprinae under family Scarabaeidae of order Coleoptera in and around Jodhpur.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The present study is based on the collection of dung beetles collected from in and around Jodhpur during 1999-2009. The beetles were collected from dung pads, dung heaps, digging of dung burrows and during night by light trap. The beetles were killed by using benzene in the field

217

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert and in the laboratory, specimens were stretched, pinned and preserved in fumigated insect collection boxes. A few specimens were kept in 70% alcohol mixed with small amounts of acetic acid and glycerine for diagnostic character study and dissection purposes. For the study of taxonomic characters of the beetles, a binocular microscope used to examine the structure of various parts of the body and the measurements were taken.

RESULTS Annotated checklist of Dung Beetles in and around Jodhpur, Rajasthan Class: Insecta Order: Coleoptera Suborder: Polyphaga Superfamily: Scarabaeoidea Family: Scarabaeidae Subfamily: Coprinae Tribe I: Scarabaeini Genus 1: Scarabaeus Linnaeus 1. Scarabaeus sacer Linnaeus 2. Scarabaeus gangaticus (Castelnau) 3. Scarabaeus brahminus (Castelnau) 4. Scarabaeus cristatus Fabricius 5. Scarabaeus andrewesi (Felsche) 6. Scarabaeus erichsoni (Harold) Genus 2: Gymnopleurus Illiger 7. Gymnopleurus cyaneus (Fabricius) 8. Gymnopleurus miliaris (Fabricius) 9. Gymnopleurus koenigi (Fabricius) Tribe II: Coprini Genus 3: Heliocopris Hope 10. Heliocopris gigas (Linnaeus) 11. Heliocopris tyrannus (Thomson) 12. Heliocopris dominus Bates Genus 4: Catharsius Hope 13. Catharsius platypus Sharp 14. Catharsius molossus (Linnaeus) 15. Catharsius birmanensis Lansberge Genus 5: Copris Geoffroy 16. Copris repertus Walker 17. Copris delicatus Arrow 18. Copris corpulentus Gillet 218

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 19. Copris numa Lansberge 20. Copris cribratus Gillet 21. Copris furciceps Felsche Genus 6: Phalops Erichson 22. Phalops divisus (Wiedmann) Genus 7: Caccobius Thomson 23. Caccobius torticornis Arrow 24. Caccobius meridionalis Boucomont 25. Caccobius indicus Harold 26. Caccobius pantherinus Arrow Genus 8: Onthophagus Latreille 27. Onthophagus variegatus (Fabricius) 28. Onthophagus fuscopunctatus (Fabricius) 29. Onthophagus troglodyta (Wiedemann) 30. Onthophagus catta (Fabricius) 31. Onthophagus bonasus (Fabricius) 32. Onthophagus seniculus (Fabricius) 33. Onthophagus kuluensis Bates 34. Onthophagus angus Gillet 35. Onthophagus tragus (Fabricius) Genes 9: Oniticellus Serville 36. Oniticellus cinctus (Fabricius) Genus 10: Onitis Fabricius 37. Onitis philemon Fabricius 38. Onitis brahma Lansberge

Systematic account of Dung Beetles Key to the tribes of Subfamily Coprinae 1. Middle coxae not widely separated; middle tibia with one terminal spur……. .Scarabaeini - Middle coxae widely separated, middle tibia with two terminal spurs…………………..2 2. Posterior legs extremely long, the tarsi filiform…………………………………...Sisyphini - Basal joint of the hind tarsus much longer than the second………………………………3 3. Posterior legs not extremely long, tarsi more or less flat and tapering ……………Coprini - Basal joint of the hind tarsus not much longer than the second…………………..Panelini During present study the dung beetles belongs to two tribes of subfamily Coprinae were recorded.

TRIBE– I: SCARABAEINI The body rather depressed and legs very slender, middle and hind tibiae narrow and dilated at the each end, bearing a single terminal spur and tarsi filiform. The clypeus produced 219

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert into two or more lobes at front margin and ocular lobes prominent. The male and female generally alike. The tribe consisting of 9 species belongs to 2 genera Scarabaeus and Gymnopleurus have been recorded from in and around Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

1. Scarabaeus sacer Linnaeus 1758. Scarabaeus sacer Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., 10: 347 1931. Scarabaeus sacer, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 40-41, pl. II, Fig. 7. 1963. Scarabaeus sacer, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 1: 145- 160. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir. Elsewhere: Arabia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Hungary, Persia, Romania, Russia, Spain, Tunis and Turkestan.

2. Scarabaeus gangeticus (Castelnau) 1840. Ateuchus gangeticus, Castelnau, Hist. Nat. Insect. Col., 2: 64. 1931. Scarabaeus gangeticus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 41-42, pl. II, Fig. 4. 1963. Scarabaeus gangeticus, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 1: 71-72. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh. Elsewhere: Arabia, East and West Africa, Rhodesia, Somalia, Transvaal and Uganda.

3. Scarabaeus brahminus (Castelnau) 1840. Ateuchus brahminus, Castelnau, Hist. Nat. Ins. Col. 2: 64. 1931. Scarabaeus brahminus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 42-43, Pl. II, Fig. 3. 1963. Scarabaeus brahminus, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 1: 68, Pl.IV, Fig.2. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Bihar, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Elsewhere: Bhutan and Pakistan.

4. Scarabaeus cristatus Fabricius 1775. Scarabaeus cristatus Fabricius, Syst. Nat., p. 27. 1931. Scarabaeus cristatus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 42-43, Pl. II, Fig. 5. 1963. Scarabaeus cristatus, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 1: 169. Distribution: India: Rajasthan. Elsewhere: Afghanistan, Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan.

5. Scarabaeus andrewesi (Felsche) 1907. Sebasteos andrewesi Felsche, Deut. Ent. Zeits, p. 275. 1931. Scarabaeus endrewesi, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 43-44, Pl. II, Fig. 1. 1963. Scarabaeus andrewesi, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 1:170-171. Pl.V, Fig. 1. 220

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Distribution: India: Rajasthan. Elsewhere: Afghanistan and Pakistan.

6. Scarabaeus erichsoni (Harold) 1867. Ateuchus erichsoni Harold, Col. Hefte. , 2: 94. 1931. Scarabaeus erichsoni, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 45-46, Pl. II, Fig. 6. 1963. Scarabaeus erichsoni, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 1: 173, Pl. VI, Fig. 1.

7. Gymnopleurus cyaneus (Fabricius) 1798. Copris cyaneus Fabricius, Ent. Syst. Suppl., p. 34. 1931. Gymnopleurus cyaneus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 49-50. Distribution: India: Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Elsewhere: Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

8. Gymnopleurus miliaris (Fabricius) 1725. Scarabaeus miliaris Fabricius, Syst. Ent. App., p. 817. 1931. Gymnopleurus miliaris, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 50-51. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh. Elsewhere: Sri Lanka.

9. Gymnopleurus koenigi (Fabricius) 1775. Scarabaeus koenigi Fabricius, Syst. Ent., p. 29. 1931. Gymnopleurus koenigi, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 51-52, Pl. III, Fig. 5. 1963. Gymnopleurus koenigi, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 1: 200-201, Fig. 90.

TRIBE– II: COPRINI Head and prothorax generally with horns or tubercle and carinae. Legs slendered, middle and hind coaxae far apart, more or less parallel. Middle and hind tibiae dilated towards extremity and middle tibia with two and hind with one terminal spurs. Middle and hind tarsi more or less flattened. Tribe Coprini consists of most commonly found genera and species of dung beetles, those are known with an ample of morphological variation in size and forms. Total of 29 species belonging eight genera, were recorded from Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

10. Heliocopris gigas (Linnaeus) 1764. Scarabaeus gigas Linnaeus, Mus. Lud. Ul.r, p. 16. 1931. Heliocopris gigas, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 86, Pl. IV, Fig. 1-4. 1963. Heliocopris gigas, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 1: 300-302, Pl. XII, Fig. 2. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh. Elsewhere: Africa, Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan.

221

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

11. Heliocopris tyrannus (Thomson) 1858. Copris tyrannus Thomson, Arch. Ent., 2: 49, Pl. II, Fig. 1. 1931. Heliocopris tyrannus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 87-88, Pl. VI, fig. 1 & 2. 1963. Heliocopris tyrannus, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 1: 304. Distribution: India: Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Elsewhere: Java, Malaysia, Sumatra and Tenasserim.

12. Heliocopris dominus Bates 1868. Heliocopris dominus Bates, Col. Hefte, 4: 88. 1931. Heliocopris dominus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 90-92, pl. V, fig. 1. 1963. Heliocopris dominus, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 1: 302-303, fig. 21. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya and Uttar Pradesh. Elsewhere: Myanmar.

13. Catharsius platypus Sharp 1875. Catharsius platypus Sharp, Col. Hefte, 13: 42. 1931. Catharsius platypus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 93-94, Pl. VIII, Fig. 1 & 2. 1963. Catharsius platypus, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 1: 313-314. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Uttar Pradesh. Elsewhere: Pakistan.

14. Catharsius molossus (Linnaeus) 1758. Scarabaeus molossus Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. ed., p. 347. 1931. Catharsius molossus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 94-95. 1963. Catharsius (s. str.) molossus, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 1: 307309. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Andaman & Nicobar Island, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharastra, Meghalaya, Orissa, Sikkim,Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Elsewhere: Sri Lanka.

15. Catharsius birmanensis Lansberge 1874. Catharsius birmanensis Lansberge, Col.Hefte, 12:11. 1931. Catharsius birmanensis, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 97-98, pl. VIII, fig. 4,5. 1963. Catharsius (s.str.) birmanensis, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 1: 311, pl. XV, fig. 1.

222

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Sikkim. Elsewhere: Bhutan and Myanmar.

16. Copris repertus Walker 1858. Copris repertus Walker, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 3 (2); 208. 1931. Copris repertus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 126-127, pl. X, figs. 8 & 9. 1963. Copris repertus, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 1: 351-352. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Arunachal pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. Elsewhere: China, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

17. Copris delicatus Arrow 1931. Copris delicatus Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 117-118. 1963. Copris delicatus, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 1: 347-348. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Assam and West Bengal.

18. Copris corpulentus Gillet 1910. Copris corpulentus Gillet, Notes. Leyden Mus., 32: 118. 1931. Copris corpulentus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 118-119. 1963. Copris (s. str.) corpulentus, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 1: 363364. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Manipur, Meghalaya Uttar Pradesh. Elsewhere: Laos, Myanmar and Tonkin.

19. Copris numa Lansberge 1886. Copris numa Lansberge, Tizds. Ent., 29: 19. 1931. Copris numa, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 121-122, pl. X, fig. 14. 1963. Copris numa, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 1: 364-365. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. Elsewhere: Borneo, Malaya Peninsula, Myanmar, Sumatra, Tenassrim.

20. Copris cribratus Gillet 1927. Copris cribratus Gillet, Ann. Soc. Ent. Belg., 67: 253. 1931. Copris cribratus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 129. 1963. Copris cribratus, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 1: 373-374.

223

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Meghalaya and Uttar Pradesh.

21. Copris furciceps Felsche 1910. Copris furciceps Felsche, Deutsche. Ent . Zeitscher, p. 348. 1931. Copris furciceps, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 130-131. 1963. Copris (Paracopris) furciceps, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 1: 372. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Meghalaya and Uttar Pradesh. Elsewhere: Myanmar.

22. Phalops divisus (Weidemann) 1823. Copris divisus Weidemann, Zool. Mag., 2(1): 12. 1931. Phalops divisus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 135-136, Pl. I, Fig. 2. 1963. Phalops divisus, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 1: 609-610. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. Elsewhere: Sri Lanka.

23. Caccobius torticornis Arrow 1931. Caccobius torticornis Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 144-145. 1963. Caccobius torticornis, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 2: 135-136. Distribution: India Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Uttrakhand.

24. Caccobius meridionalis Boucomont 1914. Caccobius meridionalis Boucomont, Ann. Mus. Civ. Geneva, 47: 239. 1931. Caccobius meridionalis, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 148-150, fig. 10. 1963. Caccobius (Caccophilus) meridionalis, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 2: 138. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Gujrat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

25. Caccobius indicus Harold 1867. Caccobius indicus Harold, Col. Hefte. 2:12 1931. Caccobius indicus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 152-153. 1963. Caccobius (Caccophilus) indicus, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 2: 137138. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Gujrat, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.

224

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

26. Caccobius pantherinus Arrow 1931. Caccobius pantherinus Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 154-155. 1963. Caccobius pantherinus, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 2: 126-127. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur. Elsewhere: Pakistan.

27. Onthophagus variegatus (Fabricius) 1798. Copris variegatus Fabricius, Ent. Syst. Suppl. 36. 1931. Onthophagus variegates, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 204-205, Fig. 20. 1963. Onthophagus variegates, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 2: 575-576. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Punjab. Elsewhere: Arabia, Ambyssinia, Angola, Egypt, East Africa, Pakistan, Purtgal, Somalia, Senegal, Sudan and Tanganyika.

28. Onthophagus fuscopunctatus (Fabricius) 1798. Copris fuscopunctatus Fabricius, Ent. Syst. Suppl. , 36p. 1931. Onthophagus fuscopunctatus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 206-207, fig. 21. 1963. Onthophagus fuscopunctatus, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 2: 362. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Tamil Nadu. Elsewhere: Sri Lanka.

29. Onthophagus troglodyta Wiedemann 1828. Onthophagus troglodyta Weidemann, Zool. Mag., 2 (1):20 1931. Onthophagus troglodyta, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 207- 208, Fig. 22. 1963. Onthophagus (s. str.) troglodyta, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 2: 565566, Fig.216 & 217. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Uttar Pradesh.

30. Onthophagus catta (Fabricius) 1787. Scarabaeus catta Fabricius, Mant. Inst. , 1: 12. 1931. Onthophagus catta, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 230-231. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Anrunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttrankhand, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Elsewhere: Africa, Arabia, Pakistan, Cambodia, Madagascar, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

31. Onthophagus bonasus (Fabricius) 1775. Onthophagus bonasus Fabricius, Syst. Ent. , 23.

225

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 1931. Onthophagus bonasus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 231-232, Pl. XIII, Fig. 5 & 6. 1963. Onthophagus (Digitonthophagus) bonasus, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 2: 296-297, Pl. XII, Fig. 5. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. Elsewhere: Afghanistan, Cambodia, Pakistan, Myanmar, Siam and Tonkin.

32. Onthophagus seniculus Fabricius 1781. Scarabaeus seniculus Fabricius, Spec. Ins. , 1: 23. 1931. Onthophagus seniculus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 235-236. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. Elsewhere: China and Indo-China, Malay Peninsula and Myanmar.

33. Onthophagus kuluensis Bates 1891. Onthophagus kuluensis Bates, Entom. Suppl., 34: 12. 1931. Onthophagus kuluensis, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 292-293. 1963. Onthophagus kuluensis, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 2: 409- 410. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttrankhand and Uttar Pradesh.

34. Onthophagus angus Gillet 1925. Onthophagus angus Gillet, Ann. Sci. Broux., 44:233. 1931. Onthophagus angus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3:286-297. 1963. Onthophagus (s. str.) angus, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 2: 267. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Gujarat, Karnataka and Orissa. Elsewhere: Java, Myanmar, South- China and Tonkin.

35. Onthophagus tragus Fabricius 1792. Scarabaeus tragus Fabricius, Ent. Syst. , 1: 56. 1931. Onthophagus tragus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 303-304. 1963. Onthophagus (Colobonthophagus) tragus, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 2: 557558. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Gujarat, Karnataka and Orissa. Elsewhere: Java, Myanmar, South China and Tonkin.

36. Oniticellus cinctus (Fabricius) 1775. Scarabaeus cinctus Fabricius, Syst. Ent. , 30. 1931. Oniticellus cinctus, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 379-380.

226

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 1963. Oniticellus (s. str.) cinctus, Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 2: 77. Distribution: India: Rajasthan: Jodhpur and also recorded from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Elsewhere: Annam, Bangladesh, Malaya Peninsula, Myanmar, Siam and South China.

37. Onitis philemon Fabricius 1801. Onitis philemon Fabricius, Syst. Eleut., 1 :30. 1931. Onitis philemon Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 393-394, pl. XI, figs. 3, 4. 1963. Onitis philemon Balthasar, Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaeark-tischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), 2: 41, pl. V, fig. 2. Distribution: India: Jodhpur and also recorded from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar, Pradesh and West Bengal. Elsewhere: Srilanka.

38. Onitis brahma Lansberge 1875. Onitis brahma Lansberge, Ann. Soc. Ent. Belgium, 18: 142. 1931. Onitis brahma, Arrow, Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae), 3: 399-400, Pl. XI, Fig. 15 & 16. Distribution: India: Jodhpur and also recorded from Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Elsewhere: Pakistan

DISCUSSION During present study 38 species of dung beetles belonging to 10 genera of subfamily Coprinae has been recorded, collected from the dung of cow, buffalo, camel, horse, donkey, bluebull, goat, sheep, blackbuck, chinkara, pig and feacal matter. The sub family Coprini divided into four tribes: Scarabaeini, Sisyphini, Coprini and Panelini. The representative of tribe Sisyphini and Panelini has not been recorded during present study. Out of these 38 species, 9 species are belonging to tribe Scarabaeini and remaining 29 to Coprini. The species belonging to genera Scarabaeus and Gymnopleurus having two or more clypeal lobes or teeth, middle and hind tibiae bearing one terminal spur and filiform tarsi. The species belonging to genera of tribe Coprini having cephalic horns, tubercles and carina, middle tibia with one and hind tibia with two terminal spurs and more or less flattened tarsi, and also having longitudinal elytral carina. The prothorax of genus Copris is bearing basal median groove, front tibia with three or four external teeth, middle and hind tibia are strongly dilated from base to extremity and each with two transverse carina at outer edge. The species of genus Caccobius and Oniticellus are very small in size and also having eight jointed antennae. The species of the genus Onthophagus are usually having stout legs, femur very thick, front tibia armed with four but occasionally with three external teeth and also bearing cephalic horns or carina. The species of the genus Onitis are easily recognized by absent of front tarsi.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors are grateful to Dr. Ramakrishna, Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata and Dr. Padma Bohra, Officer-in-Charge, Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Jodhpur, Rajasthan for providing the necessary permission and facilities to carry out the work.

REFERENCES Arrow, G.J. 1931. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae). Taylor and Francis, London. 3: 428pp. Balthasar, V. 1963. Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), Verlag der Tscheshoslowakischen

227

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Akademic der Wissenschften, Prague; 1: 1-39, pls. 1-24, figs. 1-137; 2: 1-627, pls. 1-16, figs. 1-226. Biswas, S. 1978. Studies on the Scrab beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) of North-East India: A new species and notes on other India speciea of subgenus Strandius, genus Onthophagus. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 75(3): 911-913. Biswas, S. 1978. Studies on the Scrab beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) of North-East India. Part II: Three new species and two new records from India. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 76: 339344. Biswas, S. and Chatterjee S.K. 1985. Insecta: Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae. Rec. zool. surv. india. 82(1-4): 147-177. Gorden, R.D. and Oppenheimer, J.R. 1975. Taxonomy and Ecology of two species of Indian Onthophagus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Oriental Insects. 9(4): 495-501. Sewak, R. 1985. On a collection of Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae) from Gujarat, India. Oikasay. 2(2): 33-35. Sewak, R. 1986. On a collection of Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae) from Rajasthan, India. Oikasay. 3(1): 11-15. Sewak, R. 1991. Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae) from five districts of western Uttar Pradesh. Oikasay. 8(1&2): 25-27. Sewak, R. 2004. Insecta: Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae (Dung beetles). Fauna of Gujarat Vol. II. State Fauna Series 8. Zoological Survey of India. 105-125. Sewak, R. 2004. Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae) of India with especial reference to Arunachal Pradesh Uttar Pradesh and Rajadsthan. In: Advancements in Insect Biodiversity Ed. Rajeev K. Gupta, Agrobios, Jodhpur. 249-297. Sewak, R. 2005. Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae) of Thar Desert of Rajasthan. Cahnging Faunal Ecology in the Thar Desert. Ed. Tyagi, B.K. & Baqri, Q.H. pp. 143-148. Sewak, R. 2006. Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae (Dung Beetles). Fauna of Arunachal Pradesh, State Fauna Series, Zoological Survey of India. 13(2): 191-224. Sewak, R. 2008. Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae) diversity in Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh with notes on their economic importance. In: Pest of Forest Importance and their management, Published by Scientific Publisher, Jodhpur. Eds. Tyagi, B. K. and Singh, V.B. 283-299. Sewak, R. 2008. Dung beetles (Coleoptera- Scarabaeidae- Coprinae) of the Thar Desert of Rajasthan and Gujarat. Faunal Ecology and Conservation of the Great Indian Desert. Eds. Sivaperuman et al. Pub. By Springer, Germany. Sewak, R. 2009. Insecta: Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae (Dung Beetles). Faunal Resources of Tal Chhapar Wild Life Sanctuary, Conservation Area Series, Zool. Surv. India. 38: 29-40. Sewak, R. 2009. Dung Beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae) of Thar Desert of Gujarat. Rec. zool. surv. india, Occ. Paper. 295: 1-48. Sewak, R. 2009. Dung Beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae:Coprinae) of Rajasthan. Rec. zool. surv. india, Occ. Paper. 296: 1-106. Sewak, R. and Sharma, G. 2009. Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Insecta: Arthropoda) of Rajasthan (abstract). Int. Conf. Nut. Arid Zones for People & the Env.: Issues & Agenda for 21st Century, CAZRI, Jodhpur. p. 98.

228

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

ROLE OF COMMON PROPERTY RESOURCES IN THE CONSERVATION OF FLORAL AND FAUNAL DIVERSITY IN THE THAR DESERT ANIL K. CHHANGANI* AND DEVENDRA MOHAN Department of Zoology, J.N.V. University, Jodhpur- 342 001, Rajasthan, India. e-mail: *[email protected] ABSTRACT: In the Thar Desert Common Property Resources (CPR) are represents different ecosystems in it and are excellent repositories of biodiversity, they are represented by Gauchars (village pastures), Orans (village forests), Parat (Wasteland), Agores (catchment areas of Nades, Talabs the rain water harvesting and storage bodies), River bed (Ground over which dry rivers flows) and others. These CPR‘s governed by the community and local Panchayat, These sites represents excellent animal and plant communities which constitute Thar's unique ecosystem. The forest land in Thar Desert is only 1.8% as against 5.6% of Common Property Resources. These CPR's are common pool of resources which support rural population and their needs for firewood, fodder, grain, water, herbal, gum, fencing and thatching, etc. Over 175 plant species recorded from different CPR’s which includes trees, shrubs, herbs and grasses. Faunal diversity includes 45 mammalian species, 41 reptiles species, 180 bird species and 80 fish species reported from in and around these CPR. Many of these floral and faunal species listed in the Schedule I to IV of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and IUCN “Red Data Book”. This indicates that CPR's are focal points of the floral and faunal diversity richness and abundance which contribute more to regional biodiversity and support a large section of the society. No doubt that the mammalian, avian, reptiles and fish faunal diversity along with some new exotic plant species has increased in the Thar Desert in the recent past, but some of the native Desert dwelling floral and faunal species have declined. In the last few years CPR’s are facing various abiotic and biotic pressures throughout the Thar Desert. Therefore, a status survey of CPR’s and appropriate conservation measures with proper regeneration and renovation, through community is urgently needed to stop further decline of Desert biodiversity. KEY WORDS: Floral diversity, Faunal Diversity, Common Property Resources (CPR), Conservation, Thar Desert, Community, Gauchars, Orans, Agores.

INTRODUCTION The Thar Desert covers an area of about 0.32 million sq. km., which is nearly 12% of the total geographical area of India. It spreads over the four states of Rajasthan (62%), Gujarat (20%), Haryana and Punjab (9%), and in the west merges with the fertile plains of the Indus, in Pakistan. The Thar Desert of Rajasthan comprises 13 districts stretching from Ganganagar district in North to Sirohi in South and Jaisalmer in its West. The Thar Desert is essentially a sand Desert, most of whose area consists of dry undulating plains of hardened sand. The remaining region is largely a mass of loose sand, forming shifting sand dunes. The Desert environment is inhospitable for plants, wild animals and human populations. Yet, the Thar Desert is the most populated Desert in the world. Population density here is 84 persons per sq. km. In spite of such a precarious situation the people of Thar have learnt to live with droughts by involving such mechanism like collection, conservation and judicious use of rain water; crop lands converted for furthering ground cover to augment fodder production as ‘Gauchars’ and lands with rich biodiversity dedicated to local deities and hero’s as ‘Orans’ and ‘Agores’ to conserve germ-plasma for posterity. This is evidenced by species richness, genetic variation and biological diversity, which exist in Thar. There are over 900 species of plants found in Thar most of which are endemic to this Desert, while a few exotic species like Prosopis juliflora is predominant in different habitats. Of

229

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert over 900 species, some 85 species of grasses are native to Thar Desert including ‘Sewan’ and ‘Dhaman’. The common plant species are Khejari (Prosopis cineraria), Ker (Capparis decidua), Kumbhat (Acacia senegal) and Thor (Euphorbia granulate), besides a variety of grasses. The gaucher-oran-agor trios are repositories of biological diversity. Similarly hundreds of kilometers River beds in the Thar Desert forms ideal habitat for the threatened faunal species like Caracal (Caracal caracal), Wolf (Canis lupus), Desert Cat (Felis sylvestris), Desert Fox (Vulpes vulpes pusilla), Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra), Chankara (Gazella g. bennettii), Nilgai, (Boselaphus tragocamelus), Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) and many other birds and reptiles. The Indira Gandhi Nahar originates from Harike Barrage from where the fish species from Punjab have intruded into the Desert and thus majority of the fishes of the canal are of Sub-Himalayan origin. Along the canal several water logged areas were developed in and around the west lands and other CPR’s. These are now called as escape reservoirs, which have created new geo-morphological conditions in the Thar Desert. These escape reservoirs are large enough to function as perennial water bodies, and supports substantial biomass of fish and great diversity of the other aquatic fauna. It is to be remembered that Rajasthan has traditionally been the holders of good livestock population since the rural economy is largely depend on livestock after agriculture. For example, the total livestock population of Rajasthan as per 1997 livestock census, it comes to 5,46,27,756. This includes an estimated population of 1,21,41,402 cattle, 9770490 buffalo, 14584819 sheep, 16971078 goats, 669443 camels, 185604 donkeys, 304820 pigs and 24016 horses, which is about seven present of India’s total livestock population and the animal husbandry contributes 19% of the State GDP (as per Government of India, Planning Commission Report, 2006). This livestock and variety of wild fauna population is largely sustained on the Common Property Resources. Keeping this in view listing of all plants and animals encountered in the different Common Property Resources of the study sites were attempted, new information’s gathered with the earlier records and presence confirmed.

MATERIAL AND METHODS Study Area The present studies of CPR’s were carried out in the Great Indian Thar Desert of Rajasthan in the districts of Ganganagar, Hanumangarh Bikaner, Nagour, Churu, Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jalore, Pali and parts of Sirohi. It is important to keep in mind that these districts in Rajasthan’s Thar Desert have traditionally been regions of successful livestock raising and that the rural agricultural economy includes a significant livestock component. Historically the State, despite its harsh climate, has supported this high cattle population by maintaining the availability of good pastures, at least until very recently. Common property resources including ‘Gauchars’ (village pastures), ‘Orans’ (village forests), ‘Agores’ (catchment of village water bodies like Nades and Talabs) ‘River bed’ (Stony, sandy ground over which dry rivers flows), etc. and such other community lands owned by the village. These common property resources are the main producers and maintain hotspots of biodiversity and supports both livestock and wild animals of the area. The same areas have become favorable habitats for resident and migratory avian fauna where food, water and suitable nesting and breeding sites are available. The CPR’s in the Thar Desert are very productive so far as their topography, physoigraphy and biota are concerned.

Methods The Common Property Resources vary considerably in their topography, physiography and biota. Keeping this in view, it was attempted to record animal taxa available in different Common Property Resources. For this, each of the CPR’s areas that were larger than 4 hectares was selected. A central point was identified randomly. Using the transect method, a 100 sq.m. area was covered for animals, within which 10 quadrates of 10 sq. m. each were examined for the availability of animal and plant species. Taxa were recorded as sighted in these plots. Attempts were made to list all the plants and animals encountered in all the types of CPR in the study area.

230

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert These were essentially unprotected areas. The population status of several species was worked out, based on direct observations, while some animals were not actually observed but their presence (like quills, bones, feathers, burrows, dens, shelter, etc.) was verified by the local people, especially by the Davasi, Kalbelias, Jogis, Van bavaris and Bheels and other knowledgeable old persons in the surveyed villages. Field surveys were carried out during the various field studies and projects by the authors in different seasons (pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon). The methodology adopted during these field surveys to cover different floral and faunal species is described below: Direct sighting and observation: Records of direct sightings have been maintained adlibitum with thrust on activity pattern, habitat usage, feeding and breeding behavior, interspecies relationship, etc. when encountered. 1.

2. 3. 4.

5.

Collection of indirect evidences: Animal droppings or other body parts (like quills, bones, scats, feathers, etc.) were collected for further identification. Observations and records of calls, burrows, dens, shelter, etc. attempted. Camera trap, still camera and video cameras were used to record presence and movement of faunal species and there activity pattern. The co-ordinates of each sighting were recorded with the help of Global Positioning System (GPS), Animal roosts were also recorded. Direct sightings on series of transects for faunal species and for birds in particular were recorded by point count method in the major vegetation zones as well as in different micro habitats like, water body, agro-ecosystems, Orans, Gauchars, Agores, wastelands, etc. Chance encounters were recorded after confirming identification based on Menon, (2003); Prater, (1965); Ali & Ripley, (1987); Grewal et al. (1995); Kazmierczak (2000) and Danial (2002). Fishes were collected using different types of gears like gill nets, drag net, long line, cast net and hand net. Small fishes were directly transferred to 10% formaldehyde solution while larger fishes were given an injection of 10% formaldehyde solution to prevent spoilage of visceral organs. For fish identification the works of Hamilton (1822), Day (1878), Misra (1961), Johal and Tandon (1979, 1980), Jayaram (1981), Datta Munshi and Srivastava (1988) and Talwar and Jhingran (1991) were consulted.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION Status of common property resources To sustain huge population of livestock especially cows and many wild herbivores the natural pastures and fodder species found in different Common Property Resources has played a major role in keeping the ecological balance. There are several such pastures in every district, which need evaluation for flora and fauna and their current capacity to support livestock and wildlife besides scope of intervention to augment their productivity. It is interesting to note that the forest land in Desert is only 1.8% as against 5.6% of Common Property Resources which suggest importance of these institutions for biodiversity. Every small and large village has its own village institutions, each village by and large, contained one or more of following important Common Property Resources: 1. Gaucher: Defined as gram Panchayat controlled grazing lands. 2. Oran: Defined as areas where tree cutting is banned by community consent and divine control, and where such restrain is actively observed. 3. Agore: Every small or large village has its own water source called Nadi or Talabs near by the village and store rain water for livestock and human consumption. The Catchment of these Nadi and Talabs is known as Agore.

231

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 4. Sand dunes: Defined as natural sand masses, either stationery, or stabilized, or shifting. Usually with good moisture. 5. River Bed: Some of the important rivers like Luni, KanwarSen, Ghaggar, Jojhari, Sukari, Jawai and Meithri, through most of the rivers are seasonal and flows during rainy season only. 6. Forest Enclosures: Defined as land under the present control of the Forest Department, for plantation. 7. Gravel Lands: Defined as low productive areas with little soil cover and moisture. 8. Wastelands: Defined as areas with a mixture of characteristics and with low productivity. The role of Gauchars in maintaining Thar’s economy was enormous till early fifties. From 1960 with the onset of intensive agriculture and tube well culture the decline of Gauchars set in. In the process some 400-year-old culture and tradition of Gauchars in the Desert started dyeing. A case of Jaisalmer district is unique. In Pali-Digga area of this district thousands of sq. km. of natural pasture of ‘Sewan’ Lasiurus sindicus grass is available which used to feed thousands of cows in drought as well as good rain years. Tharparkar, the best cow breed of this region survived because of natural Sewan pastures. It is now proven that the Sewan grass is perhaps the best fodder species. It contains 7-11% of protein with over 8 years of life after harvest. It was evidenced during the worst drought of 1986-87. Jaisalmer district supplied about 2 lack quintals of Sewan fodder harvested from Jaisalmer’s natural Sewan pasture to 10 districts of Rajasthan. In absence of scientific data our information is based on ‘bahis’, oral stories, anecdotes folktales and folklore, war tales, and biographies of warriors, local hero’s and deities. It has been estimated that most Orans are about 150-500 years old while some are in existence for 700-800 years. It appears that Orans came into being concurrently with the founding of a village. Most of the Orans are dedicated to deities, local heros and martyrs. Orans in Desert thus have been named after about 100 such revered dignitaries like Bheruji, Hanumanji, Shivji, Ramdeoji, Papbuji, Gogaji, Vankalmate, Karnimate, Jogmaya, Chamunda and Mamaji ka Oran. In most Orans a temple of a deity or local hero or ‘Than’ is present thus maintaining sanctity of the Oran till date. Unfortunately the quality and productivity of Orans have gone down considerably in the recent past yet their sanctity remains. An Oran is a repository of biological diversity of that area. It supports livestock of one to several villages inhabited around besides housing one or more water bodies. Table 1 is showing some of the major Orans with area of the Thar Desert of Rajasthan. Most of the Orans support 2 or more villages of the area, some 5 or more while we have found a few supporting as many as 30 villages. There are 2-3 Orans, which support as many as 100 villages around which speaks of the potentiality of these Orans till today. Interestingly nobody is allowed to cut trees, remove its produce or deshape any part of Oran or use it for personal purposes. But, the producer of Orans can be used for community purposes. Even defecation and urination is prohibited in Orans and Agores. In spite of such strict unwritten code of conduct the Orans and Agores are facing variety of threats for their survival. Minor forest produce such as fallen fruits are collected by local inhabitants. Due to faith and sanctity, Orans are free from encroachment and indiscriminate exploitation, but Agores are facing serious threat of encroachment and unwanted developmental activities by the local Panchayat. There is no formal regulatory authority that imposes any type of legal control over the people of the region; Orans are an oasis in the Desert ecosystem that helps in maintaining the fragile ecosystem of the Indian Thar Desert. Traditional approaches of biodiversity conservation should be recognized by the policy-makers. These practices must be integrated for better management of biodiversity in consultation with the local community (Dagla et al., 2007). Table 1. Major Orans with area of the Thar Desert in Rajasthan S. No. Name of Oran (Tehsil) Area in Bighas 1. Dhok Vevetara Mata (Chohatan) 17947.00 2. Unrod (Sheo) 10463.50 3. Indroi Mataji (Barmer) 6684.02 232

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34.

Girab (Sheo) Kusip (Siwana) Bothiya-Purohitaan (Barmer) Chuli (Barmer) Nai-Khadali (Guda-Malani) Lakhotali (Barmer) Ramaniya (Siwana) Bhadariya ji (Pokhran) Ramdeora (Pokaran) Eta (Pokaran) Janara (Pokaran) Gomat (Pokaran) Khelana (Pokaran) Parewar (Jaisalmer) Jemla (Pokaran) Khetalai (Pokaran) Bhensala (Pokaran) Beeramdevra (Pokaran) Nosar (Osiyan) Bhiyansar (Phalodi) Jakhan (Osiyan) Barsingho-ka-Bara (Phalodi) Tekara (Phalodi) Jalora (Phalodi) Punasar (Osiyan) Dechu (Shergarh) Palina (Phalodi) Tapu (Osiyan) Baori-Barsingha (Phalodi) Kolu-Pabuji (Phalodi) Veeratra (Choutan)

6650.10 4377.50 4165.30 2924.19 1711.08 1537.08 1394.06 42000 35171 33124 13871 11385 8681.12 7836.07 7553.16 6551.12 5326.02 5216.08 9394.1 6819.12 5980.15 55315.19 5468.8 4625.16 4048.5 3562.4 3018.16 2545.18 2541.19 15800 18000

Faunal diversity in the Common Property Resources Contrary to general belief, the Indian Desert fairly abounds in plant and animal life, though most of the animals, except birds and a few diurnal mammals (such as antelopes, gazelles, etc.), are not easily visible to the casual observer. We have to look into burrows, under stones, on plant leaves and within roots, in ponds, puddles and the large reservoirs and lakes, and night observations in order to see them. Almost all the major phyla of both the vertebrates and the invertebrates are found here, ranging from the tiny, microscopic protozoa to the blue bull. Though the fishes, amphibian, reptiles, birds and mammals are known taxonomically, the same cannot be said of the invertebrates. Consequently, some 50 per cent or more of the existing fauna still remains to be discovered and put on record. The Great Indian Thar Desert has harbored high populations and densities of certain animals like Blackbuck, Chinkara, Nilgai, Wild boar, Sandgrouse, Peacock and a number of other animals. In fact, it is worth investigating how such large populations were sustained on this famished land! The abundant population of wild animals in the Thar Desert may also have been due to the love and protection of the Thar Desert dwellers which has been a part of their daily life and religion to protect them, a feature is unique to Thar Desert in Rajasthan.

233

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Before the turn of this century, larger mammals like Lion (Panthera leo), Tiger (Panthra tigris) Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) and Caracal (Caracal caracal) were fairly common in the southern part of the Desert. Even up to the 1930s, very large herds of Blackbucks (Antilope cervicapra) and Wild boar (Sus scrofa) were found in western Rajasthan (Ghose et al., 1996). The Lion, Tiger and Cheetah are already lost from the Thar Desert and Leopards are found in very few areas of Jodhpur, Pali, Jalore and Sirohi districts However, at present their populations have dwindled to the point of extinction. The Blackbucks and Chinkara are now found only around certain villages with good CPR’s. For example, they are often seen in and around Bishnoi villages (religiously) but also, around Jat and Rajpurohit villages where full protection is given to them and these wild animals are allowed to graze in their crop fields. This suggest that bulk of animal taxa are present in these CPR outside sanctuaries, national parks and reserve forests this need full care and attention of the authorities. We identified 15 unprotected village sites in Barmer, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur districts with fairly large areas ranging from 2000 bighas to over 38500 bighas. Each of these sites supports two to five large threatened species of mammals, birds and reptiles with several species of plants. These sites represent excellent animal-plant communities which together support a large number of microorganisms, large vertebrates, small grasses and perennial trees, which constitute Thar’s ecosystem. The Thar Desert is one of the most remarkable habitats in the world for fauna, a variety of mammals are found in sandy, rocky, riparian and aquatic habitats. There are 12 species of rodents found in the Desert biome (Table 2). These rodent species are food for several mammals, birds and reptiles. The Desert cat (Felis sylvestris), Desert fox (Vulpes vulpes pusilla), Wolf (Canis lupus pallipes), Caracal (Caracal caracal), Wild boar (Sus scrofa), Chinkara (Gazella gazella bennettii), Blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) and Nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) are some of the prominent mammalian species found in this Desert. Varity of avian fauna recorded in the CPR’s including threatened, Peacock (Pavo cristatus), Great Indian bustard (Choriotes nigriceps), Long billed vulture (Gyps indicus), White rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis) and many other birds. The Thar Desert receives as many as 50 winter visitors, most spectacular amongst them being the ‘KURJAN’ or Demoiselle crane (Anthropoides virgo), lacs of which visit several parts of the Thar each year. Mammals: Herds of cattle, eg. Cow (Bos indicus) and Buffalo (Bus bubalus) and of Sheep (Oris orienes), Goat (Capra hircus) and Camel (Camelus domesticus), are the principal livestock which is reared and maintained by the cultivators as their subsidiary occupation. Other common mammals are: Desert Gerbil (Meriones hurrianae), House Rat (Rattua rattus rufescens) and Fivestripped Squirrel (Funambulus pennantii) as diurnal rodents; and Indian Gerbil (Tatera indica) and Indian Crested Porcupine (Hystrix indica) as the nocturnal rodents. The nocturnal lagomorphs, Hare (Lepus nigicollis) is widespread. Among the insectivores are: Little Shrew (Suncus stolickzkanus), Long-eared Hedgehog (Hemiechinus auritus) and Indian Hedgehog (Paraechinus micropus micropus). The common flying mammals include Fruit Bat (Pteropus giganteus) and Rattailed Bat (Rhinopoma hardwickii) living in the tunnels, deserted building, gardens, etc. The Pariah Dog (Canis familiaris) is the most common predator in the CPR. The former is found in virtually all the habitats. Other carnivores, e.g., Fox (Vulpes bengalensis), Wolf (Canis lupus), Jackal (Canis aureus) and Jungle Cat (Felis chaus) are also common. Common herbivores are: Chinkara (Ganzella gazelle bennettii), Blackbuck (Antelope cervicapra) and Nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus). A total of 45 observed mammalian species with the name of family are list in table 2, of which 11 species are listed in the schedule-I of Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Table 2. Recorded mammalian fauna in and around common property resource’s of the Thar Desert of Rajasthan S. No. Order Common Name Scientific Name 1. Primates Rhesus macaque Macaca mulatta 2. Primates Hanuman langur Semnopithecus entellus 3. Artiodactyla Wild boar Sus scrofa cristatus 4. Artiodactyla Nilgai, Blue bull Boselaphus tragocamelus

234

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

5. Artiodactyla Blackbuck *Antilope cervicapra 6. Artiodactyla Chinkara, Indian gazelle *Gazella gazella bennetti 7. Perissodactyla Asiatic wild ass *Equus hemionus khur 8. *Canis lupus pallipes Carnivora Indian wolf 9. Carnivora Asiatic jackal Canis aureus aureus 10. Carnivora Desert fox Vulpes vulpes pusilla 11. Carnivora Indian fox Vulpes bengalensis 12. Herpestes edwardsi ferrugineus Carnivora Indian gray mongoose 13. Carnivora Small Indian mongoose Herpestes auropunctatus pallipes 14. Carnivora Ruddy mongoose Herpestes smithi 15. Carnivora Sloth bear *Melursus arsines 16. Carnivora Striped hyaena Hyaena hyaena 17. Carnivora Desert cat *Felis silvestris 18. Carnivora Jungle cat *Felis chaus 19. Carnivora Caracal *Caracal caracal 20. Carnivora Ratel *Mellivora capensis 21. Viverricula indica Carnivora Small Indian civet 22. Carnivora Common palm civet Paradoxurus hermaphroditus 23. Carnivora Leopard *Panthera pardus 24. *Manis crassicaudata Pholidota Indian pengolin 25. Legomorpha Indian hare Lepus nigricolis ruficaudatus 26. Hystrix indica Rodentia Indian crested-porcupine 27. Rodentia Northern palm squirrel Funambulus pennantii 28. Rodentia Hairy footed gerbil Gerbillus gleadowi 29. Rodentia Indian desert gerbil Meriones hurrianae 30. Rodentia Indian gerbil Tatera indica 31. Rodentia Desert mouse Mus platythrix 32. Mus booduga Rodentia Indian field mouse 33. Rattus rattus Rodentia House rat 34. Mus musculus Rodentia House mouse 35. Rodentia Collared hedgehog Hemiechinus collaris 36. Rodentia Indian hedgehog Hemiechinus micropus 37. Rodentia House shrew Suncus murinus sindensis 38. Chiroptera Indian flying fox Pteropus g. giganteus 39. Chiroptera Rat-tailed bat Rhinopoma kinneari 40. Chiroptera Lesser rat-tailed bat R. hardwickei hardwickei 41. Chiroptera Tom bat Taphozous perforatus 42. Chiroptera Cutch sheath-tailed bat Taphozous kachensis 43. Chiroptera Indian false vampire Magaderma lyra lyra 44. Chiroptera Little Indian horseshoe bat Rhinolophus lipidus 45. Chiroptera Little pigmy pipistrelle Pipistrellus mimus 46. Chiroptera Greater yellow bat Scotophilus heathi * Listed in the schedule-I of Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 Birds: CPR’s of Thar Desert is rich in avian faunal diversity. The more common and familiar ones among the small to medium-sized species are: Blue rock pigeon (Columba livia), House sparrow (Passer domesticus), Common crow (Corvus splendens), Jungle crow (Corvus

235

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert macrorhynchos), Common babbler (Turdoides caudatus), Red-vented bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer), Tailor bird (Orthotomus sutorius), Maina (Acridotheres tristis), Rufus woodpecker (Celeus brachyurus), Parrot (Psittacula eupatria), Bee-eater (Merops orientalis) and Red-wattled lapwing (Vanellus indicus). Among larger common birds are: Peacock (Pavo cristatus), Long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus), White-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis), Red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvus), Cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus), Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus), Eurasian griffon (Gyps fulvus) and Himalayan griffon (Gyps himalayensis), and Kite (Milvus migrans). A few resident game birds like Great Indian busterd (Choriotis nigriceps), Gray partridge (Francolinus pondicerianus) and Common Sandgrouse (Pterocles exustus) are also found. Some aquatic birds visiting ponds and lakes are: spoonbill (Platalea lucorodia), Common teal (Anas crecca), Painted stroke (Ibis leucocephala), Little egret (Egretta garazetta) and Sarus cranes (Grus antigone). A total of 179 species of birds with the name of family are list in table 3, of which 6 species are listed in the schedule-I of Indian wildlife act 1972. Since three species of vultures Gyps indicus, Gyps bengalensis, and Sarcogyps calvus are listed in the threatened birds of world (Birdlife International, 2008), so the rare Red-headed vulture (Sarcogyps calvus) should also be listed in the schedule-I of Indian wildlife act 1972 for the batter conservation and management of the species. Table 3: Birds species recorded in and around the common property resources of the Thar Desert of Rajasthan S.No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37.

Family Podicipedidae Phalacrocoracidae ″ ″ ″ Ardeidae ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ Ciconiidae ″ ″ Threskiornithidae ″ ″ Phoenicopteridae ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ Accipitridae ″ ″ ″

Name Little grebe Large cormorant Indian shag Little cormorant Darter Gray heron Purple heron Pond heron Cattle egret Large egret Intermediate egret Little egret Night heron Painted stork Openbill stork Whitenecked stork White ibis Black ibis Spoonbill Flamingo Lesser whistling teal Brahminy duck Pintail Common teal Spotbilled duck Gadwall Mallard Wigeon Shoveller Common pochard Tufted duck Cotton teal Comb duck Black-sholdered kite Pariah kite Shikra Sparrow-hawk

Scientific Name Tachybaptus ruficollis Phalacrocorax carbo Phalacrocorax. fuscicollis Phalacrocorax. niger Anhinga melanogaster Ardea cinerea Ardea Purpurea Ardeola grayii Bubulcus ibis Casmerodins albus Egretta intermedia Egretta garzetta Nycticorax nycticorax Mycteria leucocephala Anastomus oscitans Ciconia episcopus Threskiornis melauocephalus Pseudbis papillosa Platalea leucorodia Phoenicopterus roseus Dendrocygna javanica Tadorna ferruginea Anas acuta Anas crecca Anas poecilorhyncha Anas strepera Anas platyrhynchos Anas penelope Anas clypeata Aythya ferina Aythya fuligula Nettapus coromandelianus Sairkidiornis melanotos Elanus caeruleus Milvus migrans govinda Accipiter badius Accipiter nisus

236

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96.

″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ Falconidae ″ Phasianidae ″ ″ ″ Gruidae ″ ″ Rallidae ″ ″ ″ ″ Otididae ″ Jacanidae ″ Recurvirostridae Charadriidae ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ Laridae ″ ″ Pteroclididae ″ Columbidae ″ ″ ″ ″ Psittacidae ″ ″ Cuculidae ″ ″ ″ ″ Strigidae

Desert buzzaed Longlegged buzzard Tawny eagle Steppy eagle Himalayan griffon Eurasian griffon Cinereous vulture Red headed vulture Long billed vulture White rumped vulture Egyptian vulture Pale-harrier Montagu's harrier Marsh harrier Short-toed eagle Redheaded merlin Kestrel Grey francolin Grey quail Rain quail Indian peafowl Common crane Sarus crane Demoisell crane Ruddy crake Whitebreasted waterhen Moorhen Purple moorhen Coot Great Indian busterd Hubara busterd Pheasant-tailed jacana Bronzewinged jacana Blackwinged stilt Redwattled lapwing Redshank Greenshank Wood sandpiper Common sandpiper Common snipe India river tern Little tern Indian skimmer Imperial sandgrouse Indian sandgrouse Green pigeon Blue rock pigeon Indian ring dove Red turtle dove Little brown dove Alexandrine parakeet Roseringed parakeet Blossomheaded parakeet Pied crested cuckoo Indian cuckoo Koel Sirkeer cuckoo Crow-phasant Barn owl

Buteo buteo Buteo rufinus Aquila rapax vindhiana Aquila rapax nepalensis Gyps himalayensis Gyps fulvus Aegypius monachus *Sarcogyps calvus *Gyps indicus *Gyps bengalensis Neophron percnopterus Circus macrourus Circus pygargus Circus aeruginosus Circaetus gallicus Falco chicquera F.tinnunculus Francolinus pondicerianus Coturnix coturnix C. coromandelica *Pavo cristatus Grus grus Grus antigone Anthropoides virgo Porzana fusca Amaurornis phoenicurus Gallinula chloropus Porphyrio porphyrio Fulica atra *Choriotis nigriceps *Chlamydotis undulate Hydrophasianus chirurgus Metopidius indicus Himantopus himantopus Vanellus indicus Tringa tetanus Tringa nebularia Tringa glareola Actitis hypoleucos Gallinago gallinago Sterna aurantia Sterna albifrons Rynchops albicollis Petrocles orientalis Petrocles exustus Treron pompadora Columba livia Streptopelia decaocto Streptopelia tranquebarica Streptopelia senegalensis Psittacula eupatria Psittacula krameri Psittacula cyanocephala Clamator jacobinus Clamator micropterus Eudynamys scolopacea Taccocua leschenaultia Centropus sinensis Tyto alba

237

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 97. 98. 99. 100. 101. 102. 103. 104. 105. 106. 107. 108. 109. 110. 111. 112. 113. 114. 115. 116. 117. 118. 119. 120. 121. 122. 123. 124. 125. 126. 127. 128. 129. 130. 131. 132. 133. 134. 135. 136. 137. 138. 139. 140. 141. 142. 143. 144. 145. 146. 147. 148. 149. 150. 151. 152. 153. 154. 155.

″ ″ ″ Caprimulgidae Apodidae ″ Alecdinidae ″ ″ Meropidae ″ ″ Coraciidae Upupidae Bucerotidae Picidae ″ ″ Alaudidae ″ ″ ″ Hirundinidae ″ ″ ″ Laniidae ″ ″ Oriolidae ″ Dicruridae ″ Sturnidae ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ Corvidae ″ ″ ″ Campephagidae ″ ″ ″ Pycnonotidae ″ Muscicapidae ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″ ″

Callared scops owl Great horned or eagle owl Spotted owlet Common Indian nightjar House swift Palm swift Lesser pied kingfisher Common kingfisher Whitebreasted kingfisher Bluetailed bee-eater Green bee-eater Bluechecked bee-eater Indian roller Hoopoe Grey hornbill Wryneck Rufous woodpecker Lesser goldenbackd woodpecker Redwinged bush lark Ashycrowned finch lark Rufoustailed finch lark Crested lark Dusky crag martin Swallow Wiretailed swallow Redrumped swallow Grey shrike Baybacked shrike Rofousbacked shrike Golden oriole Blackheaded oriole Black drongo Whitebellied drongo Brahminy myna Rosy pastor Starling Pied myna Common myna Bank myna Indian tree pie House crow Jungle crow Ravin Common wood shrike Large cuckoo-shrike Blackheaded cuckoo-shrike Scarlet minvet Whitcheeked bulbul Redvented bulbul Scimitar babbler Tawny-bellied babbler Yelloweyed babbler Common babbler Jungle babbler Large grey babbler Fantail flycatcher Tailor bird Indian great reed warbler Whitethroat

Otus bakkamoena Bubo bubo Athene brama Caprimulgus asiaticus Apus affinis Cypsiurus parvus Ceryle rudis Alcedo atthis Halcyon smyrnensis Merops philippinus Merops orientalis Merops supercilosus Coracias benghalensis Upupa epops Ocyceros birostris Jynx torquilla Celeus brachyurus Dinopium benghalense Mirafra erythroptera Eremopterix grisea Ammomanes phoenicurus Galerida cristata Hirundo concolor Hirundo rustica Hirundo smithii Hirundo daurica Lanius exubitor Lanius vittatus Lanius schach Oriolus oriolus Oriolus xanthornus Dicrurus adsimilis Dicrurus caerulescens Sturnus pagodarum Sturnus roseus Sturnus vulgaris Sturnus contra Acridotheres tristis Acridotheres ginginianus Dendrocitta vagabunda Corvus splendens Corvus macrorhynchos Corvus corex Tephrodornis pondicerianus Coracina novaehollandiae C. melanoptera Pericrocotus flammeus Pycnonotus leucogenys Pycnonotus cafer Pomatorhinus ochraceiceps Dumetia hyperythra Chrysomma sinense Turdoides caudatus Turdoides striatus Turdoides malcolmi Rhipidura aureola Orthotomus sutorius Acrocephalus stentoreus Sylvia communis

238

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 156. ″ Common chiff-chaff 157. ″ Bluethroat 158. ″ Black redstart 159. ″ Brown rock chat 160. ″ Collared bush chat 161. ″ Pied bush chat 162. ″ Desert wheatear 163. ″ Indian robin 164. Motacillidae Paddyfield pipit 165. ″ Twny pipit 166. ″ Yellow wagtail 167. ″ Yellowheaded wagtail 168. ″ Grey wagtail 169. ″ White wagtail 170. ″ Large pied wagtail 171. Nectariniidae Purple sunbird 172. Ploceidae Indian house sparrow 173. ″ Yellowthroated sparrow 174. ″ Baya 175. ″ Blackthroated weaver bird 176. ″ White throated munia 177. ″ Spotted munia 178. ″ Green munia 179. Emberizidae Greynecked bunting * Listed in the schedule-I of Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972

Phylloscopus collybita Erithacus svecicus Phoenicurus ochruros Cercomela fusca Saxicola torquata Saxicola caprata Oenanthe deserti Saxicoloides fulicata Anthus novaeseelandiae A.campestris Motacilla flava Motacilla citreola Motacilla cinerea Motacilla alba Motacilla maderaspatensis Nectarinia asiatica Passer domisticus indicus Petronia xanthocollis Ploceus philippinus Ploceus benghalensis Lonchura malabarica Lonchura punctulata Amandava Formosa Emberiza buchanani

Reptiles and Amphibians: A total 41 species of reptiles and amphibians listed with the name of family in table 4, of which four species are listed in the schedule-I of Indian wildlife act 1972. The more common reptiles are: Cobra (Naja naja), Viper (Echis carinata), Indian sand boa (Eryx johnii), Monitor (Varanus griseus); and lizards: Calotes (Calotes versicolor), House lizard (Hemidactylus flaviviridis) and others such as Agama minor and ‘Skink’ (Mabuya aurata). Amphibians are represented by 2 families and 4 species. Table 4: Recorded reptile and amphibian fauna in and around the common property resource’s of the Thar Desert in Rajasthan S. No. 1. 2. 3. 4.

Family Ranidae Ranidae Ranidae Bufonidae

5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.

Crocodylidae Betaguridae Betaguridae Testudinidae Gekkonidae Gekkonidae Gekkonidae Gekkonidae Agamidae Agamidae Agamidae Agamidae Chamaeleonidae Scincidae Lacertidae

Common Name Skittering frog, Skipper frog Indian common frog, Bull frog Indian cricket frog, Paddy-field frog Common Indian toad, Black-spined toad Marsh crocodile Indian softshell turtle Flap shell turtle Indian star tortoise Brook’s gecko Termite hill Bark gecko House gecko Common garden lizard Short tailed agama Toad-headed agama Spiny-tailed lizard Indian chamaeleon Common skink Indian fringe-toed sand lizard

20. 21.

Lacertidae Varanidae

Jorden’s snake-eye lizard Desert monitor

Scientific Name Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis Hoplobatrachus tigerinus Frajervarya limnocharia Duttaphrynus melanostictus *Crocodylus palustris *Aspideretes gangeticus *Lissemys punctata Geochelone elegans Hemidactylus brookii Hemidactylus triedrus Hemidactylus leschenaultii Hemidactylus flaviviridis Calotes versicolor Laudakia minor Psamnophilus dorsalia Uromastyx hardwickii Chamaeleon zeylanicus Mabuya carinata Acanthodactylus cantoris cantoris Ophisops jerdoni Varanus griseus

239

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 22. Varanidae Common Indian monitor 23. Typhlopidae Common blind snake 24. Typhlopidae Beaked blind snake 25. Boidae Indian sand boa 26. Boidae Russell's sand boa 27. Colubridae Dhaman 28. Colubridae Trinket snake 29. Colubridae Glossy-bellied racer 30. Colubridae Royal snake 31. Colubridae Rajatbansi 32. Colubridae Common wolf snake 33. Colubridae Checkered keelback 34. Colubridae Green keelback 35. Colubridae Green whip snake 36. Colubridae Indian cat snake 37. Colubridae Common Indian krait 38. Colubridae Indian cobra 39. Colubridae Black cobra 40. Viperidae Saw scaled viper 41. Viperidae Russell's viper * Listed in the schedule-I of Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972

*Varanus bengalensis Ramphotyphlops braminus Rhinotyphlops acutus Eryx johnii Eryx conicus Ptyas mucosus Elaphe Helena Argyrogena ventromaculatus Spalerosophis atriceps Spalerosophis diadema Lycodon aulicus Xenochrophis piscator Macropisthodon plumbicolor Ahaetulla nasuta Boiga trigonata Bungarus caeruleus Naja naja naja Naja naja oxiana Echis carinata Vipera russelli

Fishes: Eighty species belonging to 6 orders, 18 families and 38 genera were recorded in the 13 districts of the Thar Desert of Rajasthan (Table 5). The highest species richness was recorded from Jaisalmer district (43 species), followed by Pali (39), Jodhpur (31),Sri Ganganagar (25) and Hanumangarh (27). Forty species were dominating in north western districts, while 12 species were dominating in the Aravalli part of the Thar Desert i.e. Pali, Jalore and Sirohi districts. Table 5: Recorded fish fauna in and around the common property resource’s of the Thar Desert of Rajasthan Name of order

Name of family

Name of species

Osteoglossiformes

Notopteridae

Notopterus notopterus (Pallas)

Osteoglossiformes

Notopteridae

Notopterus chitala (Ham-Buch)

Clupeiformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes

Clupeidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae

Gudusia chapra (Ham-Buch.) Amblypharyngodon mola (Ham-Buch) Catla catla (Ham-Buch.) Chagunius chagunio (Ham-Buch.) Cirrhinus mrigala (Ham-Buch.) Cirrhinus reba (Ham-Buch.) Cyprinus carpio (Lin.) Ctenopharyngodon idella (Val.) Danio devario (Ham-Buch.) Danio acquipinnatus (Mc Clelland) Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (Val.) Labeo angra (Ham-Buch) Labeo bata (Ham-Buch) Labeo boga (Bloch) Labeo boggut (Sykes) Labeo calbasu (Ham-Buch) Labeo dero (Ham.-Buch) Labeo sindensis (Day) Labeo dussumieri (Val.) Labeo dyocheilus (Mc Clelland) Labeo fimbriatus (Bloch) Labeo gonius (Ham-Buch.)

240

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Cypriniformes Siluriformes Siluriformes Siluriformes Siluriformes Siluriformes Siluriformes Siluriformes Siluriformes Siluriformes Siluriformes Siluriformes Siluriformes Siluriformes Siluriformes Cyprinodontiformes Cyprinodontiformes Perciformes Perciformes Perciformes

Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cyprinidae Cobitidae Cobitidae Bagridae Bagridae Bagridae Bagridae Bagridae Bagridae Bagridae Siluridae Siluridae Sisoridae Sisoridae Sisoridae Clariidae Saccobranchidae Belonidae Poeciliidae Ambassidae Ambassidae Ambassidae

Labeo pangusia (Ham-Buch.) Labeo rohita (Ham-Buch.) Puntius conchonius (Ham- Buch.) Puntius dorsalis (Jerdon) Puntius sarana sarana (Ham- Buch) Puntius sophore (Ham-Buch.) Puntius ticto (Ham.-Buch) Puntius amphibious (Val.) Puntius chola (Ham) Puntius terio (Ham–Buch) Puntius vittatus (Day) Tor khudree (Sykes) Tor tor (Ham–Buch) Garra gotyla gotyla (Gray) Garra lamta (Ham–Buch) Garra mullya (Sykes) Oxygaster bacaila (Ham-Buch) Oxygaster gora (Ham) Nemacheilus denisoni (Van Hasselt) Nemacheilus botia (Ham-Buch) Mystus aor (Ham-Buch) Mystus seenghala (Sykes) Mystus bleekeri (Day) Mystus cavasius (Ham-Buch) Mystus tengara (Ham-Buch) Mystus vittatus (Bloch) Rita rita (Ham-Buch) Ompok bimaculatus (Bloch) Wallago attu (Schn) Erethistes pussilus (Muller & Troschel) Nangra nangra (Ham) Nangra viridescens (Ham-Buch) Clarias batrachus (Lin) Saccobranchus fossilis (Bloch) Xenentodon cancila (Ham-Buch) Gambusia affinis (Baird&Girard) Chanda nama (Ham-Buch) Chanda ranga (Ham-Buch) Chanda baculis (Ham-Buch)

Perciformes Perciformes Perciformes Perciformes Perciformes Perciformes Perciformes Perciformes Perciformes Perciformes Perciformes Perciformes Perciformes Perciformes Perciformes Perciformes

Nandidae Cichlidae Mugilidae Mugilidae Gobiidae Belontiidae Belontiidae Osphronemidae Mastacembelidae Mastacembelidae Mastacembelidae Channidae Channidae Channidae Channidae Channidae

Nandus nandus (Ham-Buch) Tilapia mossambica (Peters ) Liza parsia (Ham-Buch.) Mugil cephalus (Lin.) Glossogobius giuris (Ham- Buch) Colisa fasciatus (Schn) Colisa lalia (Ham-Buch) Osphronemus goramy (Lace ) Macrognathus aral (Bloch&Schn ) Mastacembelus armatus (Lacepede) Mastacembelus pancalus (Ham) Channa gachua (Ham) Channa marulius (Ham-Buch) Channa punctatus (Bloch) Channa orientalis (Bloch&Schn) Channa straitus (Bloch)

Invertebrates: Similarly verities of invertebrates like mollusks, arthropods, millipedes, centipedes and arachnids are commonly observed in different CPR. Among insects Ant (Dorilus 241

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert labiatus), Bettle (Buscephalus helicropis), House fly (Musca domestica) and Harvester termite (Anacanthotermes macrocephalus) are more familiar ones.

Floral diversity in the Common Property Resources The vegetation which is essentially xerophytic, sparse and of the open scrub type in the common property resources with many endemic plants such as Prosopis cineraria, Capparis decidua, Zizyphus nummularia, Haloxylon salicorni-cum, Leptadenia pyrotechnica, Crotalaria burhia, Glossonema varians, Blepharis sindica, Caralluma edulis, Tribulus terrestris, Lasiurus sindicus, Brachiaria ramose, Cymbopogon sp. And Cenchrus sp. In general the vegetation presents an ‘open’ appearance, since the trees, often stunted and rare and shrubs are widely spaced. The entire vegetation can be divided into two categories, viz., (1) permanent vegetation, occurring throughout the Thar Desert round the year and subsisting mainly on subterranean water; and (2) temporary vegetation, consisting of ephemerals coming up mainly in the short rainy season. Several plant species of the permanent vegetation are highly drought-resistant and thrive well in extreme climatic conditions due chiefly to several xerophytic adaptations and, in many cases, the virtual ‘absence’ of leaves. The main tree species are: Acacia senegal (Kumat), Acacia nilotica var. indica (=A. Arabica, Babul), Capparis deciduas (Ker), Euphorbia caducifolia (Thor), Maytenus emarginata (Kankero), Prosopis cineraria (Khejri), P. juliflora (Angreji Banwalia), Salvadora oleoides (Khara Jal), S. persica (Mitha Jal) and Tecomella undulate (Rohiro). Of these, Prosopis cineraria and Capparis deciduas are dominant in the plains and Euphorbia caducifolia and Acacia senegal on the hillocks. Prosopis juliflora an exotic species, is the most abundant tree and occurs in a variety of habitats, eg., plains, hillocks, in and around gardens, orchards, vegetable fields and on road sides. Other road side trees are Azadirachta indica (Neem), Ficus benghalensis (Bar) and F. religiosa (Peepal) and these trees are also fairly common in gardens, orchards and near human habitations. The main shrubby species are: Acacia jacquemontii (Bubanvati), Aerva persica (=A. tomentosa, Bui), Crotalaria burhia (Sinio), Leptadenia pyrotechnica (Khimp), Tephrosia purpurea (Biyani) and Zizyphus mauritiana (Bordi, Ber). The principal grasses are: Cenchrus ciliaria, C. setigerus, Dactyloctenium aegyptium, Eleusine compressa (Ghora dhob), Panicum antidotale and several species of Aristida (Lamp). The common ephemerals which make their appearance immediately after first shower of rain are: Cleome gynandra (Safed Bajra), Corchorus trilocularis (Bahuphali), Farsetia hamiltonii, Heliotropium paniculatum, Indigofera cordifolia, Portulaca oleracea (Luni), Vernonia cinerea and species of Blumea. The common ephemeral grasses are: Cenchrus biflorus (Bhurat), Melanocenchrus jacquemontii, Perotis hordciformis and species of Aristida. The hilltops carry species like Barleria acanthoides (Bajardanti), Corbichonia decumbens, Dipteracanthus patulus var. alba, Hibiscus ovalifolius, Lepidogathis bandraensis (Kantoalo), Seddera latifolia and Tephrosia uniflora. The common plants of the gravelly plain are: Cleome gracilis, Corchorus depressus, Fagonia cretica and some species of Indigofera. Some plants like Aerva persica (Bui), A. pseudotementosa, Calotropis procera (Akaro), Convolvulus microphyllus (Santari), Crotalaria burhia (Shinio) and Leptadenia pyrotechnica (Khimp), usually occur on loose sand. The important climbers are: Cocculus hirustus, C. pendulus (Pilwan), Coccinia grandis and Ephedra foliate. The characteristic plants growing on moist ground and on the margin of the tanks are Ammannia baccifera, Bergia ammannioides, Dentella repens and Heliotropium supinum. Several species of the common weeds, both indigenous and exotic, are found in the area. Those occurring commonly are: Amaranthus spinosus (Kantio-chandelo), Argemone maxicana, Chorchorus tridens, C. trilocularis, Convolvulus arvensis (Hiranpagi), Gnaphalium purpureaum, Justicia vahlu (Gungibunti), Malvastrum cormandelianum and Sisymbrium irio (Asalio).

Conservation and management of CPR’s It is important that the availability of fodder species in different Common Property Resources which play their role quietly in supporting livestock, wildlife and human needs. These Common Property Resources needs to be studied to strengthen their productivity. Very little is written on legal and administrative status of these CPR. In absence of legal and administrative

242

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert protection without punitive provisions for those who encroach, mutilate, deshape or make use of CPR’s for individual benefit, and they are decaying fast. The Agors of water body are frequently tempered and interrupted for variety of physical works by local residents and State-agencies. Hundreds of cases from Tehshil to State Revenue Board are fought concerning CPR’s protection and ownership but their legal status remains undefined and unassigned. In very simple term Agors are designated as revenue lands ownership of which lies with the State through Gram Panchayat which is supposed to monitor, guard and protect it. No data are available on its extent and total area lying under Agors in Thar. Gauchar is a revenue land, which finds place in State revenue records. It is designated as grazing land for livestock. This land is under the direct control of gram Panchayat, which cannot change or alter its character. However, District Collector (DM) can convert it in public interest for which DM has to provide equal land elsewhere in that village for grazing purposes to be named as Gaucher. In Government land records Orans have not been given their due status, though traditionally it is a revenue land. These are referred to as sacred lands dedicated to deities but without any defined legal status. However, the whole village through village Panchayat works for its upkeep, protection and management. Traditionally it cannot be used for any other purpose or allotted to any one for any other purpose except to revere it as sacred village forest. An Oran often houses a temple or THAN where people come for prayers and offerings. Since these CPR’s serve some critical needs of poor and landless, ecological rehabilitation of the AGO’s will serve a great social object and address the equity and gender issues. As Agors, Gauchars and Orans are interlinked and interdependent these cannot be handled in isolation. So a comprehensive approach is necessary for their conservation, management and sustainable use.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We wish to thanks of Dr. Padma Bohra, Scientist-D & Officer-in-Charge, and Dr. Gaurav Sharma, Scientist-C of Zoological Survey of India, Desert Regional Centre, Jodhpur, for giving me opportunity to participate in national seminar and write this paper in the proceeding. Thanks are due to Shri R.N. Mehrotra, State Forest Department officials and staff posted at Jodhpur. AKC is thankful to CSIR, New Delhi for Senior Research Associateship.

REFERENCES Ali, S. and Ripley, S.D. 1987. Compact Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, Bombay. Birdlife International 2008. Critically endangered birds: A global audit. Birdlife International, Cambridge, UK. Datta Munshi, J.S. and Srivastava, M.P. 1988. Natural history of fish and systematics of freshwater fishes of India. Published by Narendra Publishing House,Delhi, 403 pp. Danial, J.C. 2002. The book of Indian Reptiles and Amphibians. Published by BNHS and oxford university press, Mumbai. 238 pp. Day, F. 1878. The Fishes of India; A natural history of the fishes known to inhabit the seas and freshwaters of India, Burma and Ceylon. (Reprinted by Today and Tomorrow Book Agency, New Delhi). 778 pp. Ghose, A.K, Baqri, Q.H. and Prakash, I. 1996. Faunal diversity in the Thar Desert: Gaps in Research. Science Publishers, Jodhpur. 410 pp. Government of India 2006. Rajasthan Development Report. Planning Commission, Government of India, New Delhi (Academic Foundation). 306 pp. Grewal, Bikram, S. Monga and Wright, G. 1995. Birds of the Indian subcontinent. Odyssey, Hongkong. 193 pp. Harchand R. Dagla, Aarti Paliwal and N. S. Shekhawat 2007. Oran: A sacred way for biodiversity conservation in Indian Thar Desert. Current Science, 93(3): 279-280 Jayaram, K.C. 1981. Freshwater fishes of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma and Sri Lanka, A Handbook. Zool. Surv. India, Calcutta. 475 pp.

243

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Kazmierczak, K. 2000. A Field Guide To The Birds of India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and the Maldives. OBS, New Delhi. 452 pp. Johal, M.S. and Tandon, K.K. 1980. Monograph on the fishes of re-organised Punjab. Part.II. Pb. Fish. 4 (1): 39-70. Hamilton, F. 1822. An account of the fishes found in the river Ganges and its branches. Endinburg. 405 pp. Menon, Vivek. 2003. A Field Guide to Indian Mammals. Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Limited. 200 pp. Prater, S.H. 1965. The Book of Indian Animals. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay. 324 pp. Talwar, P.K. and Jhingran, A.G. 1991. Inland Fishes of India and adjacent countries, Oxford and IBH publishing house, New Delhi, Vol. I and II. 1097 pp.

244

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

DIVERSITY OF BUTTERFLIES (LEPIDOPTERA: INSECTA) FROM CHOHAL DAM (DISTT. HOSHIARPUR) IN PUNJAB SHIVALIK, INDIA GAURAV SHARMA1,4, RAJESH KUMAR2,5 AND P.C. JOSHI3,6 1

Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Pali Road, Jodhpur-342 005.

2

Central Muga Eri Res. & Training Institute, P.O. Lahdoigarh, Assam, India. Department of Zoology and Environmental Science, Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidayalaya, Haridwar-249 404, Uttarakhand, India.

3

e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] ABSTRACT: A detailed study on the butterfly species diversity was carried out at Chohal dam, in district Hoshiarpur, Punjab, India during 2002-04. The study area has a moist deciduous forest surrounding it. A total of 38 species belonging to 4 families of order Lepidoptera were recorded during the study period. The family Nymphalidae, represented by 17 species was the most dominant followed by Pieridae (10 species), Lycaenidae (8 species) and Papilionidae (3 species). Danaus chrysippus (Linn.) was the most dominant species of Butterfly in terms of number of individuals followed by Junonia lemonias Linn., Eurema hecabe (Linn.), Euchrysops cnejus (Fabr.), Euploea core (Cramer), Catopsilia pyranthe Linn. so on and least by Delias eucharis Drury. From the conservation point of view, the study area is undisturbed and rich in flora and fauna species. KEY WORDS: Butterfly, diversity, Chohal dam, Punjab Shivalik, India.

INTRODUCTION India having only 2.3 percent (3,287,263 Km2) of the total land mass of the world so far recorded around 89,500 animal species, comprises 7.28 percent of the total world animal species (Alfred et al., 1998). Approximately 17,200 species of butterfly throughout the world, of which 1,501 species of butterfly are known from India (Kunte, 2000). Butterflies are the most beautiful and attractive than most other insects and have fascinated human imagination and creativity. They are valuable pollinators when they move from plant to plant, gathering nectar and are the one of the important food chain components of the birds, reptiles, spiders and predatory insects. They are also good indicators of environmental quality as they are sensitive to changes in the environment. The largest Indian butterfly is Common Birdwing, Troides helena (Linn.) with a maximum expanse of 190mm and the smallest is Grass Jewel, Freyeria trochilus putli (Kollar) with a minimum expanse of 15mm (Wynter-Blyth, 1957). Perusal of literature reveals that the workers contributed and documented their work in this field were de Niceville (1886, 1890), Moore (1890-1903), Marshall & de Niceville (1882), Swinhoe (1893, 1905-1912), Bingham (1905, 1907), Evans (1932), Talbot (1939, 1947), WynterBlyth (1957), Cantlie (1962) and presently Gaonkar (1996), Gunathilagaraj et al. (1998, 2000), Gupta and Mondal (2005), Haribal (1998), Heppner (1998), Kumar et al. (2007 a&b), Kunte (2000), Mathew and Rahamathulla (1993), Lewis (1973), Sharma et al. (2006), Varshney (1993, 1994, 1997) etc. enriched this field. Although India has a rich butterfly fauna, but due to various reasons such as habitat destruction, fire, use of pesticides and weedicides and illegal collection for trade, many species have become very rare and some are on the verge of extinction. Therefore, the present study makes a modest attempt to explore the existing diversity of butterflies from Chohal dam. 245

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

MATERIAL AND METHODS (a). Study Area: Chohal dam is a man made wetland in district Hoshiarpur (Punjab: India), which is a part of Shivalik hills (9448.97 Km2) of Punjab state and lies between latitude 30°33'06.22" and longitude 74°51'36.32" East. Chohal dam is constructed as under water harvesting structure, for controlling the water, which used to cause heavy loss to the nearby villages. The Chohal dam exists throughout the year although the water level may vary, thus it forms a congenial habitat for large number of aquatic insects and fishes. The prevailing climatic condition in Chohal dam is typically sub-tropical and north Indian monsoon type with distinct summer and winter months. The temperature varies between 13°-46°C in summer, where as between 0°-33°C during winter. The south-west monsoon arrives during June and remains till October. The average annual rainfall varies between 400-600mm. The forest type around Chohal dam is moist deciduous. For carrying out the present studies the total reservoir and surroundings were divided into four sectors based on distribution and the types of vegetation and topography. In each sector five spots were selected according to the maximum availability of butterfly species. (b). Collection and taxonomic study of Butterfly: An extensive and regular (monthly) collection of butterfly was made during October, 2002 to September, 2004 using a sweep net. The collected individuals were transferred into insect collection paper packs and were brought to the laboratory, where these were properly stretched, pinned, oven dried for 72 hours at 600C and preserved in collection boxes. Identification of adult individuals was carried out using identification keys provided by de Niceville (1886, 1890), Moore (1890-1903), Marshall & de Niceville (1882), Swinhoe (1893, 1905-1912), Bingham (1905, 1907), Evans (1932), Talbot (1939, 1947), Wynter-Blyth (1957). All the specimens collected from study area deposited in the National Zoological Collection maintained by Northern Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Dehra Dun, India.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A total of 38 butterfly species belonging to 4 families of order Lepidoptera were recorded during the study period in four sectors of Chohal dam, sector-III recorded 28 butterfly species, sector-II 24 species, sector-I 23 species and sector-IV 22 species (Table-1). The family Nymphalidae, represented by 17 species was the most dominant followed by Pieridae (10 species), Lycaenidae (8 species) and Papilionidae (3 species). Danaus chrysippus (Linn.) (126), was the most dominant species of Butterfly in terms of number of individuals followed by Junonia lemonias Linn. (104), Eurema hecabe (Linn.) (92), Euchrysops cnejus (Fabr.) (89), Euploea core (Cramer) (76), Catopsilia pyranthe Linn. (68) so on and least by Delias eucharis Drury (12). Hypolimnas misippus (Linn.) is listed under Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. About 82 species of all types of flora/ plants species recorded in and around Dholbaha Dam. The association between butterflies and plants is highly specific. Unlike bees, butterflies feed entirely on nectar, which they obtain through their long proboscis from flower. Thus pollination, a crucial link in the survival of ecosystem, is one such factor that needs to be well understood to develop appropriate strategies for conservation of the biodiversity. Table-1. Taxonomic composition of 38 Butterfly species recorded in and around Chohal dam (in four sectors) during 2002-04. Sl. No. (A) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. (B).

L e pi d o pt e r a f a mi l y / s p e c i e s Family: Lycaenidae Castalius rosimon Fabr. Catochrysops strabo (Fabr.) Euchrysops cnejus (Fabr.) Freyeria putli (Kollar) Lampides boeticus Linnaeus Tarucus nara (Kollar) Zizeeria maha ossa (Swinhoe) Zizula gaika Treinen Family: Nymphalidae

Sector I

Sector II

Sector III

Sector IV

+ + + + + -

+ + + -

+ + + + +

+ + + + + -

246

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. (C) 26. 27. 28. (D) 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38.

Argyreus hyperbius Linn. Ariadne merione Cramer Cynthia cardui Linn. Danaus chrysippus (Linn.) Danaus genutia (Cramer) Euploea core (Cramer) Hypolimnas misippus (Linn.) Junonia atlites Linn. Junonia almana Linn. Junonia hierta Fabr. Junonia lemonias Linn. Junonia orithya Linn. Neptis hylas Linn. Precis iphita (Cramer) Melanitis leda (Drury) Mycalesis mineus (Linn.) Tirumala limniace exoticus Gmelin Family: Papilionidae Graphium sarpedon luctatius Fruhstorfer Papilio demoleus Linn. Papilio polytes Linn. Family: Pieridae Catopsilia crocale (Cramer) Catopsilia pyranthe Linn. Colias electo fieldi Menetries Eurema hecabe (Linn.) Delias eucharis Drury Ixias marianne (Cramer) Ixias pyrene Moore Leptosia nina nina (Fabr.) Pieris brassicae (Linnaeus) Pieris canidia Linn. Total Where + Species present; - Species absent

+ + + + + + + + + + -

+ + + + + + + + + + + -

+ + + + + + + + + + + + +

+ + + + + + + + + + -

+

+ + +

+ + -

+

+ + + + + + + 23

+ + + + + + + 24

+ + + + + + + + 28

+ + + + + + 22

Observing the alarming situation caused by the depletion of natural habitats of animals all over the globe, the Government of India took significant steps in establishing the Indian Board for Wildlife in 1952 followed by the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Further India also became one of the signatories to CITES, IUCN and World Wide Fund for nature. For the conservation of biodiversity the Government of India so far protected more than 4% of the country geographical area, covered 99 National Parks, 513 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 41 Conservation Reserves and 4 Community reserves (Anonymous, 2008) and forest cover was 20.64% of the country geographical area (Anonymous, 2003a). The Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India through various schemes encouraged researchers and organization to develop ‘butterfly gardens’ through relatively simple methods involving introduction of appropriate, naturally occurring host plants and recreating the natural habitats and this becoming increasingly popular in many states in India, especially Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The illegal export/collection by visitors of rare species those restricted to particular habitats and the collection by immature workers (School/college students) all over India will adversely affected country fauna. The major repositories of butterflies in India are Zoological Survey of India (Ministry of Environment and Forests), Kolkata; National Pusa Collection, Entomology Division, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi; Entomology Division, Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun; Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai; Zoology Department, Punjabi University, Patiala etc. from where the reference collection will be studied through permission. By the Government of India efforts in conservation of biodiversity/habitats and protection of threatened species under law, still there is need of public awareness/participation and interaction/collaborative work between researchers and to develop 247

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert standard common methodology for study to conserve these valuable creatures. From the conservation point of view, the study area is undisturbed and rich in flora and fauna species.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors are thankful to Dr. J.R.B. Alfred, the ex-Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, Dr. Arun Kumar, ex-Scientist-F & Officer-in-Charge, Zoological Survey of India, Northern Regional Centre, Dehra Dun and Prof. B.D. Joshi, Department of Zoology and Environmental Science, Gurukul Kangri University, Haridwar for the necessary permission and facilities provided. Financial assistance provided by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India, New Delhi and Punjab State Council of Science and Technology, Chandigarh for conducting this research work, is also gratefully acknowledged.

REFERENCES Alfred, J.R.B., Das, A.K. and Sanyal, A.K. (1998). Faunal Diversity in India. ENVIS Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata. 497pp. Anonymous (2003a). State of Forest Report-2003. Forest Survey of India (Ministry of Environment and Forests), Dehra Dun. 184pp. Anonymous (2003b). The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (53 of 1972) as amended by the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act, 2002. Universal Law Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd. 126pp. Anonymous (2008). Annual Report-2007-2008-Part-1. Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, New Delhi. 79pp Bingham, C.L. (1905). The fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Butterfly-Vol-I. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London. 511pp. Bingham, C.L. (1907). The fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Butterfly-Vol-II. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London. 453pp. Cantlie, K. (1962). The Lycaenidae portion (except the Arhopala group) of Brigadier Evan’s the identification of Indian Butterflies 1932 (India, Pakistan, Ceylon, Burma). The Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay, India. 156pp. de Niceville, L. (1886). The butterflies of India, Burma and Ceylon. Vol-II. Nymphalidae, Lemoniidae, Libythaeinae, Nemeobinae. The Calcutta Central press Co. Ltd. 332pp. de Niceville, L. (1890). The butterflies of India, Burma and Ceylon. Vol-III (Lycaenidae). The Calcutta Central press Co. Ltd. 503pp. Evans, W.H. (1932). The identification of Indian Butterflies. (2nd Edition). The Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India. 454pp. Gaonkar, H. (1996). Butterflies of the Western Ghats, India, including Sri Lanka: A biodiversity assessment of a threatened mountain system. 51pp. Gunathilagaraj, K., Perumal, T.N.A., Jayaram, K. and Kumar, M.G. (1998). Some South Indian Butterflies. Nilgiri Wildlife and Environment Association, Tamil Nadu, India. 274pp. Gunathilagaraj, K., Daniel, B.A., Molur, S. and Walker, S. (2000). Handbook on Protected Invertebrates of India- Part-I-Butterflies. Zoo Outreach Organisation, Coimbatore, India. 186pp. Gupta, I.J. and Mondal, D.K. (2005). Red Data Book-Butterflies of India-Part-II. Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata. 535pp. Haribal, M. (1998). The Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and their natural history. Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation, Gangtok, India. 217pp. Heppner, J.B. (1998). Classification of Lepidoptera Part 1. Introduction. Holarctic Lepid. (Gainsville), 5: 1-148. Kumar, R., Sharma, G., Ramamurthy, V.V. and Kumar, N. (2007a). Major lepidopterous insect pests of vegetables in North India. Indian Journal of Entomology. 69(2): 189-195. Kumar, R., Sharma, G., Ramamurthy, V.V. and Kumar, N. (2007b). Biosystematic studies of Junonia orithya Linnaeus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) from North India. Indian Journal of Entomology. 69(3): 224-229. 248

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Kunte, K. (2000). Butterflies of Peninsular India. Indian Academy of Sciences, Universities Press (India) Limited. 254pp. Lewis, H.L. (1973). Butterflies of the World. Follett Publishing Company, Chicago. 312pp. Marshall, G.F. L. and De Niceville, L. (1882). Butterflies of India, Burma and Ceylon. Vol-I. Nymphalidae (Danainae, Satyrinae, Elymniinae, Morphinae, Acraeinae). The Calcutta Central press Co. Ltd. 327pp. Mathew, G. and Rahamathulla, V.K. (1993). Studies on the butterflies of the Silent Valley National Park, Kerala, India, Entomon. 18(3&4): 185-192. Moore, F. (1890-1892). Lepidoptera Indica. Vol.I. Rhopalocera. Family Nymphalidae. Lovell Reeve & Co. Ltd., London. 317pp. Moore, F. (1893-1896). Lepidoptera Indica. Vol.II. Rhopalocera. Family Nymphalidae. Lovell Reeve & Co. Ltd., London. 274pp. Moore, F. (1896-1899). Lepidoptera Indica. Vol.III. Rhopalocera. Family Nymphalidae. Lovell Reeve & Co. Ltd., London. 253pp. Moore, F. (1899-1900). Lepidoptera Indica. Vol.IV. Rhopalocera. Family Papilionidae, Family Pieridae. Lovell Reeve & Co. Ltd., London. Moore, F. (1901-1903). Lepidoptera Indica. Vol.V. Rhopalocera. Family Nymphalidae, Family Riodinidae, Family Papilionidae. Lovell Reeve & Co. Ltd., London. Sharma, G., Sundararaj, R. and Karibasavaraja, L.R. (2006). Diversity and monthly abundance of butterflies (Lepidoptera: Insecta) in sandal dominated ecosystem of Karnataka. Hexapoda. 13(1&2): 28-37. Swinhoe, C. (1893). A list of the Lepidoptera of the Khasia hills. Trans. Ent. Soc. London. 3: 267330. Swinhoe, C. (1905-1910). Lepidoptera indica. Vol. VII. Rhopalocera family Papilionidae, family Lycaenidae. Lovell Reeve & Co. Ltd., London. 286pp. Swinhoe, C. (1910-1911). Lepidoptera indica. Vol. VIII. Rhopalocera family Lycaenidae. Lovell Reeve & Co. Ltd., London. 293pp. Swinhoe, C. (1911-1912). Lepidoptera indica. Vol. IX. Rhopalocera family Lycaenidae family Hesperiidae. Lovell Reeve & Co. Ltd., London. 278pp. Talbot, G. (1939). The fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Butterfly-Vol-I. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London. 600pp. Talbot, G. (1947). The fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Butterfly-Vol-II. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London. 506pp. Varshney, R.K. (1993). Index Rhopalocera Indica. Part III. Genera of butterflies from India and neighbouring countries [Lepidoptera: (A) Papilionidae, Pieridae and Danaidae]. Oriental Insects. 27: 347-372. Varshney, R.K. (1994). Index Rhopalocera Indica. Part III. Genera of butterflies from India and neighbouring countries [Lepidoptera: (B) Papilionidae, Pieridae and Danaidae]. Oriental Insects. 28: 151-198. Varshney, R.K. (1997). Index Rhopalocera Indica. Part III. Genera of butterflies from India and neighbouring countries [Lepidoptera: (C) Lycaenidae]. Oriental Insects. 31: 83-138. Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957). Butterflies of the Indian region. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay. 523pp.

249

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

EFFECT OF MAN-MONKEY CONFLICT ON FREE-RANGING LANGUR POPULATION IN AND AROUND JODHPUR, RAJASTHAN (INDIA) PRATEEK VIJAY*, GOUTAM SHARMA, CHENA RAM, DEVILAL AND L.S. RAJPUROHIT Animal Behaviour Unit, Department of Zoology, J.N.V. University, Jodhpur-342 001. e-mail: *[email protected] ABSTRACT: Human population growth and activities like deforestation, agriculture and urbanization lead to an ever-increasing encroachment on wildlife habitats. Reduction of wild animals’ natural habitats forces species unable to adapt to altered habitats into small marginal patches. Observations were scored who initiated the interaction (human or Hanuman langurs), the noted age classes and sex of the human and the langur, the density of people around the interacting individuals, the minimum distance between them, the interaction type, if food was present and if or how the langurs eventually obtained it, if the Hanuman langurs showed aggressive behaviour, and the visitors’ response to the interaction with the Hanuman langurs. Most (82.2%) of the observed interactions involved the presence of food; only in 17.8% of the interactions we observed langurs threatening or chasing the visitors. We also found some differences emerged between what the visitors reported in the interviews and what we observed. KEY WORDS: Man-Monkey conflict, Hanuman langur, urbanization.

INTRODUCTION Man-monkey association is as old as man’s own existence. Of nearly 225 living species of non-human primates, three Indian species have become urbanized. They are the rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta), the bonnet macaque (M. radiata) and the common/Hanuman langur (Semnopithecus entellus). Human population growth and activities like deforestation, agriculture and urbanization lead to an ever-increasing encroachment on wildlife habitats. Reduction of wild animals’ natural habitats forces species unable to adapt to altered habitats into small marginal patches. In contrast, species with a high degree of flexibility can adapt to living in, or near, areas inhabited by man, where in some cases they end up using easily accessible food resources, like human cultivations and garbage (primates, Box, 1991; coyotes, Ellins et al., 1983; birds and small mammals, Diamond, 1986 and Gabrey, 1997; hooded crows, Vuorisalo et al., 2003). Conflicts often occur when non-human primates raid crops (Forthman Quick, 1986; Siex and Struhsaker, 1999; Hill, 2000) or when humans provision groups of primates (for example, Semnopithecus entellus, Hrdy, 1977; Macaca sylvanus, O’Leary and Fa, 1993; M. radiata, Schlotterhausen, 1998; M. mulatta, Gupta, 2002). Moreover, increasingly more primates worldwide are creating problems by supplementing their natural diet with food stolen from people or with garbage found around forest reserves, picnic sites and suburban areas. In the latter cases, monkeys have reduced fear and sometimes become aggressive towards humans. In the Indian context the man-monkey relationship is remarkable. On one side people consume blood and flesh of monkeys as medicines, trap, kill and eat them as food, on the other side people keep them as pets, trained them to play , feed and protect them. Urbanized populations are provisioned frequently due to religious sentiment of people. So human attitude towards monkey differ from area to area and species to species. For example, many tribals living in the interior of the forest trap, kill and eat monkeys irrespective of the nature of species. Likewise, monkeys are not liked in the areas of massive agriculture, horticulture and other plantations since they said and damage the crops and orchards. In such areas they are

250

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert considered pests. (Roonwal and Mohnot, 1977). In yet another situation monkeys have become commensalisms and are competitors of human being in and around villages, towns and cities. These are “Urbanized monkeys”.

MATERIALS AND METHODS Study area The study was conducted in and around Jodhpur, India. The Jodhpur city (altitude 241m, 26°18’ N and 73°08’ E) is situated on the eastern edge of the Great Indian Desert. In its vicinity, a 26 km long diagonal ridge runs from the village Arna in the west to Daijar in the northeast passing through the Jodhpur fort. This ridge forms a plateau with an area of about 150 km2 reaching a maximum breath of 5-6 km (fig.1). The arena is covered with open scrub dominated by Euphorbia caducifolia and Anagysus pendula in the rocky and Prosopis juliflora, P. cineraria, Acacia senegal and Ziziphus numilaria on the plains. There are numerous irrigated fields and parks in the area. The langurs feed on about 240 natural and cultivated plant species. For religious reasons local people provision most of the groups with wheat/ millets flore preparations, vegetables fruits and nuts.

Study animal The Hanuman langur (Semnopithecus entellus) is the best studied and most adaptable South Asian Colobine. The species has a highly variable social organization. The two basic types of social groups are bisexual troops and all-male bands. The bisexual troops are matrilineal groups of adult females and offsprings with either one adult male (unimale bisexual troops) or more than one adult male (multimale troops). The percentage of unimale troops versus multimale troops and the corresponding number of extra troop band males, varies from site to site (Newton, 1988). The unimale bisexual troops are predominant around Jodhpur where besides temporary multimale situation during male band invasion, in 99% the reproductive social units are one-male bisexual troops or harems. The langurs feed on about 208 natural and cultivated plant species (Mohnot, 1974; Winkler, 1981). For religious reasons local people provision most of the langur groups with wheat preparations, vegetables, fruits and nuts. Some groups raid crops and orchards in the area (Mohnot, 1971), but because they are considered sacred, never been hunted. Apart from feral dogs, there are no natural predators. The animals are easy to observe since they are not shy and spend most of the daytime on the ground. The geographically isolated langurs population of about 2000 (Rajpurohit, 2010) in and around Jodhpur is organized in 49 groups (35 unimale bisexual troops and 13-14 all-male bands). Each troop occupies its own home range of about 0.5-1.5 km2. Females remain life long in their natal troop. Males emigrate or expelled usually as juveniles to unisexual all-male bands, whose home ranges can be as large as 20 km2. The present study conducted on 32 langurs of two focal groups (20 of one unimale troop and 12 animals of an all-male band).

OBSERVATION AND RESULTS Adult humans interacted more than the other age classes, while even though adult Hanuman langurs were involved in a greater percentage of interactions, also youngsters participated in many interactions. The finding that adult and young langur interact more than infants is not surprising, since infant langur are dependent on mothers, always are in close proximity to them, and therefore rarely approach human beings. Moreover, although visitors often tried to single out animals of all ages, it was much easier to get close to older, more dominant animals. For what concerns humans, on the other hand, we would have expected more interactions involving children, because of the natural attraction that children have towards animals. In contrast, our findings show that most of the interactions of Hanuman langur with children were mediated by adults that typically encouraged children to approach or feed the monkeys. In the majority of interactions, Hanuman langurs and visitors were within a meter or less of each other. This clearly indicates that Hanuman langurs are accustomed to proximity with 251

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert humans, and that they do not fear of them. Hanuman langurs have gradually learnt that proximity to human beings can be advantageous since they can receive food, or increase their chances of stealing it. Humans are indeed attracted to the monkeys, but do not seem to understand the meaning of their facial expressions, vocalizations and body postures. Visitors’ responses to interaction with the monkeys were mainly classified as positive or neutral. These neutral responses occurred mainly when the visitors handed, threw, or left food for the monkeys; in these cases it looked as if feeding the monkeys was something very natural.

DISCUSSION Any adaptation in primates inchiding man that may have arisen in response to true urbanization must have been acquired within the last 10-12 thousand years or so, when man started becoming urban as cities began to arise. The urbanization of the only known two fully urbanized non-human primates (i.e. rhesus and bonnet mecaques) took place in India. These two, and a third the Hanuman langur (also Indian) have become an intimate part of the Hindu culture of tolerance (Roonwal, 1977). It is obvions that, within a species urbanization did not occur just once, but several times (and step by step). As a small village become a town and a city, neighbouring groups gradually become adopted to live in urban conditions was acquired new habits and behavior patterns. This process was repeated for another city and for new population graups, and so on. Thus, for example primate urbanization in Jaipur cannot be more than 280 years old (the city was founded in 1728) and in Jodhpur it cannot be more than 500 years old (as Jodhpur city was founded in 1459 ad by Rao Jodha), whereas in ancient cities like Ayodhya and Varanasi, it could well have begun a thousand years ago or earlier. The so called urbanized non-human primates (i.e. rhesus and bonnet meaques and Hanuman langurs) are always a nuisance, and also damage crops and orchards. The Hindu belief in the sacredness of all life and the weaving of monkeys into ancient Hindu mythology and literature have helped to create a climate of tolerance. Man has of course, played a direct and important role. If he wishes, can easily exterminate macaques and langurs in cities. But he would rather allow them to wander the streets as if they own these, or suffer frequent loss of vegetables and fruits from his shops, or put gauze doors his kitchen to prevent monkeys getting in. However, all primates do not have the same capacity to become urbanized. This is clear in case of Hanuman langur. For centuries it has had the some opportunities as the rhesus and the bonnet macaques, but has never become fully urbanized as these two macaque species.

REFERENCES Box, H.O. (1991). Primate Responses to Environmental Change. Chapman and Hall, London. Cambridge. Diamond, J. (1986). Rapid evolution of urban birds. Nature. 324: 107-108. Ellins, R., Thompson, L. and Swanson, W.E. (1983). Effects of novelty and familiarity on illnessinduced aversions to food and place cues in coyotes (Canis latrans). J. Comp. Psychol. 97: 302-309. Forthman Quick, D.L. (1986). Activity budgets and the consumption of human food in two troops of baboons, Papio anubis, at Gilgil, Kenya. In: Else, J.G., Lee, P.C. (Eds.), Primate Ecology and Conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 221-228. Gabrey, S.W. (1997). Bird and small mammal abundance at four types of waste-management facilities in northeast Ohio. Landsc. Urban Plann. 37: 223-233. Gupta, A.K. (2002). Is Hindu religion responsible for man-monkey conflict? In: Caring for Primates. Abstracts of the XIXth Congress of the International Primatological Society, Beijing, China, p. 176. Hill, C.M., (2000). Conflict of interest between people and baboons: crop raiding in Uganda. Int. J. Primatol. 21(2): 299-315. Hrdy, S.B. (1977). The Langurs of Abu. Harvard University Press. Mohnot, S.M. (1971). Mammalia. 35(2): 175-198.

252

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Mohnot, S.M. (1974). Ecology and Behaviour of the Common Indian Langur, Presbytis entellus. Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Jodhpur, Jodhpur. O’Leary, H., Fa, J.E. (1993). Effects of tourists on barbary macaques at Gibraltar. Folia Primatol. 61: 77-91. Roonwal, M.L. and Mohnot, S.M. (1977). Primates of South Asia, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. Rajpurohit, L.S.; Sharma, G.;Devilal; Vijay, P. and Swami, B. and Chena Ram. (2010). Recent Survey of Population and its Composition in an around Jodhpur Rajasthan (India). Proc.97th Ind. Sci. Congr. Held at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala in January, 2010. p.72. Schlotterhausen, L. (1998). Poor creatures! They can’t find food in the forest: people’s views on monkeys in South India In: Abstracts of the XVIIth Congress of the International Primatological Society, Antananarivo, Madagascar. Sharma, G. (2007). Thesis: “Study on the Paternal Care in Hanuman Langur, (Semnopithecus entellus) J.N.V.University Jodhpur (Raj). Siex, K.S., Struhsaker, T.T. (1999). Colobus monkeys and coconuts: a study of perceived human– wildlife conflicts. J. Appl. Ecol. 36: 1009-1020. Vuorisalo, T., Andersson, H., Hugg, T., Lahtinen, R., Laaksonen, H. and Lehikoinen, E. (2003). Urban development from an avian perspective: causes of hooded crow (Corvus corone cornix) urbanisation in two Finnish cities. Landsc. Urban Plann. 62: 69-87. Winkler, P. (1981). Zur oko-ethologe freilehender Hanuman languren (Presbytis entellus entellus) Dufresen, 1797) in Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Indien. Ph.D. thesis, Goettingen, George-August Universitat.

253

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

BIOSYSTEMATICS OF Earias insulana Boisduval (LEPIDOPTERA: NOLIDAE) RAJESH KUMAR1,4, GAURAV SHARMA2,5, AND V.V. RAMAMURTHY3 1

Central Muga Eri Res. & Training Institute, CSB, P.O. Lahdoigarh, Assam. Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Jhalamand, Jodhpur-342005. 3 Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012. 4 5 e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] 2

ABSTRACT: The Earias insulana Boisduval (Lepidoptera: Nolidae) treated taxonomically and redescribed for proper identification. This species recorded as major pests of okra from North India. The details of description, taxonomic charchters, host range and biology were provided during present study. KEY WORDS: Earias insulana, Nolidae, biosystematics, North India.

INTRODUCTION The Earias insulana Boisduval belonging to the family Nolidae, are greenish in color. This species are recorded as major pests of major pest of okra (Fletcher, 1914; David, 2001). During the course of present studies, authors examined more than 200 specimens (males and females) collected from North India and deposited in National Pusa Collection, Division of Entomology, IARI, New Delhi. Besides re-examination of the wing venation, detailed structure of the male and female genitalia has been furnished to improve the diagnostic features of species. By and large, the previous work suffers from a serious drawback due to improper identification. The manuscript explains and illustrates the diagnostic features of species, which is useful for correct identification, wherever it found.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The specimens were collected from North India during 2006-07. The collected specimens were examined taxonomically and studied for diagnostic characters including genitalia. For genitalic study, abdomens were placed in 10% aqueous KOH and heated for 20 min at 90°C using a Dry Block Heizgerät– 28000, then placed for 5 min in glacial acetic acid to remove the debris. The genitalia were subsequently stored in 70% ethanol. For taking photographs, the genitalia were placed on a slide in glycerol and covered with a cover slip. Photographs of antennae, lateral view of the mouthparts, scales and genitalia were captured using Leica Application Suit ver. 2.8.2 software and a Leica DFC-290 camera attached to a Leica MZ16A stereozoom microscope. Morphological character terminology follows Hampson (1892) and venation nomenclature follows the Comstock- Needham system (Common, 1970). For external genitalia, the terminology follows Klots (1970) and Winter (2000). All line diagrams were made using a drawing tube attached to a Nikon SMZ10 stereoscopic zoom microscope and the plates prepared in Adobe Photoshop Element 2.0. Specimens in the field were photographed using a Sony DSC R1 10.3 megapixel digital camera. The collected specimens deposited in the National Pusa Collection (NPC), Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India.

TAXONOMIC ACCOUNT Earias Hübner (Lepidoptera: Nolidae) Earias Hübner, 1818. Verz. p.395 Aphusia Wlk. 1857. Cat. xii, p. 769 Digba Wlk., 1862. Journ. Linn. Soc. vi, p. 198

254

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Type sp.: Earias clorana L.

Earias insulana Boisduval Earias insulana Boisd., 1833, Faun. Madag., p.121 C.&S. no. 500 Earias smaragdinana Zell.,1852. Lep.Caffr., K.Vet-Akad. Handl., p.79. Earias siliquana Staint.,1867. Trans. Ent.Soc.(3)v, p.1. Earias gossypii Frauenfeld, 1867, Verh. Zool.bot.Ges.Wien., p.791. Earias tristrigosa Butl., P.Z.S., 1881, p.614; C.&S.no.503.

DESCRIPTION (Figs. 4-18): Alar expanse: Male/Female : 23 to 24 mm; Male and Female: Vertex, frons and thorax pea green; labial palpi upturned, the second joint reaching vertex of head, the third porrect and varying in length; antennae minutely ciliated in male, simple in female, reaching about 3/4th length of forewing; abdomen ocherous; forewing elongated, pea green, costa convex, termen irregular, tornus and anal margin convex, the last with three angled indistinct lines medial, post medial and sub marginal, cilia small, light green; hindwing semidiaphanous white, the outer margin slightly fuscous below, cilia ocherous in colour; legs small, ocherous, moderately hairy, foreleg with epiphysis and tibial spurs 0-2-4 (foreleg-midleg-hindleg).; Wing venation: Forewing with Sc arising from base of wing, ending at 3/4th of costa, R1 arising at middle of discal cell, R2 near upper angle of discal cell, R3, R4, and R5 small stalked, R4 to near apex, R5 to termen, M1 arising at the upper angle of discal cell, connate with R3+R4+R5. M2 near to M3 than M1, M3 and Cu1a connate, Cu1a arising from lower angle of cell, Cu1b arising near 3/4th of discal cell, 1A+2A straight; Hindwing with R1 running into Sc from base, joined with discal cell basally, Rs and M1 connate at upper angle of cell, M3 and Cu1a small stalked, arising from lower angle of cell, Cu1b arising near 3/4th of discal cell, CuP absent, 1A+2A and 3A straight; ♂ genitalia: Uncus small, bifurcate, well sclerotized; tuba analis well developed; gnathos lacking; tegumen arched, small, well sclerotized; vinculum V-shaped, large, moderately sclerotized; juxta small, slit-like; valvae symmetrical, small and broad, costa irregular, small, apically produced into small thumb-like protrusion, sacculus convex basally, cucullus rounded apically, with numerous setae arranged like a flower apically, with one strong spine venetrally, a thumb-like protrusion dorso-ventrally, harpe not well developed; aedeagus small, smaller than the length of valvae, broader apically, narrowed basally, coecum long, fingure-like; ductus ejaculatorius enter at side; vesica with a rodlike cornutus present; ♀ genitalia: Papillae anales large, less sclerotized, sparsely setose; anterior apophyses rod-like, thick, longer than posterior apophyses; posterior apophyses thin, small; ostium burase small, simple, side not sclerotized; ductus bursae long and thin, cup-shaped near ostium; corpus bursae sub-ovate in shape, moderately sclerotized; ductus seminalis entering near end of ductus bursae and top of corpus bursae; signum not present; Material examined: Delhi: Trans Yamuna 8.x.2006, 8.x.2007, IARI, New Delhi 17.xii.2006, 27.iv.2007; Haryana: Ballabhgarh 12.iv.2007, Palwal 14.iv.2007, Ferozepur 16.iv.2007, Jhirka 17.v.2007; Himachal Pradesh: Sarol 12.x.2006, Saho 12.x.2006, Bhanota 13.x.2006, Krishi Vigyan Kendra 13.viii.2007, Tira 14.viii.2007, Sujanpur 15.viii.2007; Jammu & Kashmir: Achabal 10.x.2006, Shangus 11.x.2006, Kulgam 12.x.2006, Dachnipora 13.x.2006, Sopore 14.x.2006, Gurez 15.x.2006, Bandipore 16.x.2006; Punjab: Phool 10.ix.2006, Rampura 10.x.2006, Abohar 11.x.2006, Fazilika 11.x.2006; Uttarakhand: FRI Dehradun 20.vi.2007, Rishikesh 27.vi.2006, Gurukul Kangri University Campus Haridwar 26.vi.2006, Pauri Garhwal 24.vi.2006, Srinagar Garhwal 23.vi.2006, Bharsar 221.vi.2006, Jakholi 15.vi.2006, Rudraprayag 28.vi.2006, Ranichauri 30.x.2006, Pantnagar 1-7.x.2006, Haldwani 3.x.2006, Kashipur 4.x.2006; Uttar Pradesh: AMU Aligarh 27.iv.2006, Loni 13.iv.2006, Barot 12.iv.2006, Jawli 13.iv.2006, Ramnagar 15.iv.2006, Bhojipura 16.iv.2006, Dhampur 17.iv.2006, Chandpur 18.iv.2006, Anupshahar 1.iv.2006, Syana 2.iv.2006.

255

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

Figs. 1-18. Earias insulana Boisduval- 1. Egg, 2. Larva, 3. Pupa, 4. Adult-Male, 5. Antenna, 6. Lateral view of mouth part, 7. Fore leg, 8. Middle leg, 9. Hind leg, 10. Fore wing, 11. Hind wing, 12, 14 & 16. Male genitalia, 13 & 17. Aedeagus, 15 & 18. Female genitalia.

256

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Distribution: Throughout India. Host range: Major pest of okra (Fletcher, 1914; David, 2001) Ecology / Biology ( Figs. 1-4): Egg: Eggs are laid on the surface of the pods. The larvae tunnel in the pods and pupate inside them, 278-287 eggs/♀ (Assem et al., 1973); Larva: 15-18 mm long, 4 instars, pupal period 8-12 days (Assem et al., 1973); Pupa: 12-14 mm long, pupal period 4.5-3.4 days (Assem et al., 1973); Adults: 11-13 mm long, smaller than E. vitella, head and thorax pea-green in colour and forewings are uniformly pale yellowish-green in colour often showing seasonal colour variation; Seasonal occurrence: September-February, most favourable conditions for rapid multiplication of the pest was warm but not excessively hot weather, cloudiness and frequent light rain; Nature and symptoms of damage: Freshly hatched larvae bore into tender shoots and tunnel downwards, these shoots wither, droop down and ultimately the growing points are killed, side shoots may arise giving the plants a bushy appearance. With the formation of buds, flowers and fruits, the caterpillars bore inside these and feed on inner tissues. They move from bud to bud and fruit to fruit thus causing damage to a number of fruiting bodies. The damaged buds and flowers wither and fall down without bearing any fruit whereas the affected fruits become deformed in shape and remain stunted in growth. Remarks: Boisduval (1833) described this species earlier; now in the present study all characters are described with illustrations of taxonomic characters and biology.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The financial support provided by the ICAR, New Delhi for “Network Project on Insect Biosystematics” is gratefully acknowledged.

REFERENCES Assem, M. A., Doss, S. A. and Saddik, S. 1973. Some biological processes of the spiny bollworm, Earias insulana Boisd. on okra (Lepidoptera:Arctiidae). Bulletin de la Societe Entomologique d'Egypte, 57: 347-352. Boisduval, J.B.A.de, 1833. Earias insulana. Faun. Madag., p.121 C. & S. no. 500. Common, I.F.B. 1970. Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). In: The Insect of Australia, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 866pp. David, B.V. 2001. Elements of economic entomology. Popular Book Depot. Chennai. 562+28pp. Fletcher, T.B. 1914. Some South Indian Insects. Government Press Madras, 564pp. Hampson, G.F. 1892. Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Moths, I. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London., 527pp. Klots, A.B. 1970. Taxonomists glossary of genitalia in insects. Munksgasard, Copenhagen Lepidoptera. Tuxen, pp. 115-139. Winter, W.D. 2000. Basic techniques for observing and studying moths and butterflies. Lepidopterists’ Society, New Haven, CT. 433pp.

257

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

EARLY STAGE INDOOR TRAY REARING OF MUGA SILKWORM (Antheraea assamensis Helfer)– A COMPARATIVE STUDY IN RESPECT OF LARVAL CHARACTERS HIMANGSHU BARMAN* AND BIREN RANA** *

Central Eri Muga Research & Training Institute, Central Silk Board, Lahdoigarh, Assam. **Central Silk Board, Imphal, Manipur, India. e-mail: *[email protected]

ABSTRACT: Hatched larvae from 25 dfls of Muga silkworm were simultaneously reared indoor on wooden tray device up to 2nd instar and outdoor providing Som and Soalu leafs as feed throughout one year representing all rearing seasons. Larval weight, larval duration and larval survival were studied in respect of indoor and outdoor rearing on Som-Soalu host plants. Hatched out larvae differ in weight according to seasons highest observed 0.007g per larva during Sept.Oct. rearing season and lowest being 0.005g per larva during March-April and Nov.-Dec. The larval weight of different instars does not depend upon initial larval weight and size and weight of eggs, depend upon environmental temperature. Larval weight, larval duration and larval survival were found different from each other in Som and Soalu leafs from their indoor and outdoor counterparts. Indoor rearing on detached twigs in wooden tray does not vary mark ably from outdoor rearing on trees. Climatic conditions are the most important factors to be considered in Muga silkworm cultivation regardless of indoor or outdoor rearing. KEY WORDS: Indoor, Outdoor, Rearing, Som, Soalu, Wooden tray, Larvae, Instars.

INTRODUCTION Muga silkworm culture is a traditional outdoor rearing practice adopted by people of North Eastern States mainly Assam. Muga silkworm Antheraea assamensis Helfer belongs to Lapidoptera of Saturniidae family and, geographically isolated only to NE region of India. Geographical isolation of this silkworm is indicative of its special requirements for geo-climatic conditions that prevail in this region i.e. high humid temperate climate and forest vegetation of primary and secondary host plants. Thus this species is phylogenetically less adaptive reaching its ecological isolation that is indicative of being on verse of extinction. Although Muga silkworm since time immemorable has been reared for Muga silk still it is purely an outdoor culture in host plant under natural conditions. Only cultural specificity is being managed and taken care by Muga re4arer.. Being exposed to natural environment Muga culture practice encounter lots of problems right from brushing of worms to spinning of cocoons. Outdoor silkworm larvae are invariably expose to nature’s vagaries such as seasonal climate change, rainfall, strong wind, soaring temperature, besides pests, predators and pathogens inflecting heavy loss particularly in early three instars. Prophylactic measures adopted for pest and disease in outdoor rearing became fruitless due to cross infestation by both pests and pathogens are common in open conditions. In an average in all seasons more than 50% larval loss has been reported by many scientists. Sengupta et al. (1992) reported that during summer more than 50% loss was due to abiotic factors and 80% of the total loss of muga silkworm occurred in second/third instar only. Several workers experimentally practiced indoor rearing of muga silkworm applying different types of rearing devices and, some of them reported effective over outdoor rearing. Singh and Barah (1994) conducted partial indoor rearing up to third stages with Som and Soalu twigs in bottle, iron tray and wooden and, reported larval mortality could be reduced marginally as compared to outdoor rearing. Cellular rearing technique developed by Thangavelu and Sahu (1986) for indoor rearing of muga silkworm was found suitable during different seasons for improvement in ERR on Soalu plant, but female cocoon weight and fecundity were found

258

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert significantly higher on ‘Som’ plant. Similarly Bhuyan et al. (1991) reported that indoor rearing in iron tray ( 3" x 4" x 4" ) with water and sand bed covered with slotted cover containing ‘Som’ twigs showed better ERR (58.8%) as compared to control (51.3%). So, keeping in view of the present constrains faced by muga silkworm cultivation in outdoor conditions, the present comparative studies were undertaken to evaluate wooden tray device in indoor rearing practice of A. assamensis Helfer.

MATERIAL AND METHODS For the experiments wooden trays of 5'' X 2" X 3" with wire mesh (2mm X 2mm size) at either sides with top covering of white cloth fitted with the tray, were taken as indoor rearing device. One Som plant and one Soalu plant of 7-8 years old with plastic net covers were selected from the outdoor garden at a site of complete sunlight for outdoor control rearing. At the same site another host plant stock of same age group were selected to supply leafs for indoor rearing as treatment. Prior to experiments prophylactic measures of disinfestations were given to both outdoor plants and indoor devices. Twenty five numbers dfls of Antheraea assamensis Helfer were taken from Silkworm Seed Technology Section of the institute. Eggs were kept in perforated brown paper envelop and incubated in B.O.D. incubator at 25°± 1°C. After 6 days of incubation eggs were placed in paper made black box and further incubated for one more day at same temperature. Next the eggs were taken on paper tray and exposed to sunlight. Within two hours the young larvae hatched out prominently making sound. Initial weight of emerged larvae at random was taken by electronic balance. The worms were brushed indoor on detached fresh twigs of Som and Soalu (300 nos. per tray) kept in wooden trays (T). Simultaneously same number of worms was brushed outdoor preselected Som and Soalu plants under net cover as control (C). In wooden tray device, perforated polythene sheets and wet foam-pads were used to keep the leaves fresh for longer time. Rearing beds were cleaned once and fresh leafs were given twice a day in the morning and evening hours. During moult, top polythene cover and wet foam pads were removed to keep the bed dry. Just after moult, larval weights were measured and recorded in each instars. Larval duration is counted as number of days required in each instar. After end of each instar, larval survivability was recorded as percentage of living worm. Data of larval weight, larval duration and larval survival of both the treatment and control were recorded in tabulated form and statistically analyzed. The experiments were conducted during five different seasons in one year. In reaching third instar, all larvae of treatment then transferred and brushed separately on individual pre-selected Som and Soalu trees under net cover in same outdoor garden plot that continued till harvesting.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Results of the experimental data are presented in Table-1 and 2. The rearing experiments were carried in different seasons through out the year, e.g. March-April; May-June; July-August; September- October and November-December. The data in the tables reveals distinct variations in larval weight, larval duration and larval survival in different rearing seasons irrespective of indoor (T) and outdoor (C) rearing. Interestingly, newly hatching out larvae also markedly differs in weight according to season. The heaviest hatching out larvae were found in rearing season of September-October, the weight being recorded at 0.007g and, average lowest weight i.e. 0.005g recorded in rearing seasons March-April and November-December. In the experiment, after first instar highest larval weight in indoor rearing (T) was recorded during March-April in both the cases of Som and Soalu i.e. 0.028 g and 0.033 g respectively. In case of outdoor rearing (C) highest larval weight after first instar was recorded in July-August (0.029g) in Som and, MarchApril (0.032g) in Soalu. Again, the larval weight after second instar was found highest in JulyAugust in both Som and Soalu leaf feeding tray rearing, being 0.147 g and 0.134 g respectively. Whereas in control (C) after second instar, the same was found 0.173g in Som and 0.170g in Soalu during July-August only. During March-April indoor reared larvae showed enhanced weight over control in both Som and Soalu leafs and also required shorter larval duration than

259

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert their outdoor counterparts. But their survival in indoor rearing condition is lower than outdoor control. In rearing season May-June, first instar larvae of indoor tray does not exhibit any difference in their weight and duration over outdoor rearing, but lower larval survival was recorded in Soalu. At the end of second instar, larval survival was found slightly lower in both Som and Soalu over control, whereas larval weight was higher in Som and lower in Soalu than their outdoor counterparts. In rearing season July-August larval weight in 1st and 2nd instar were lower in both Som and Soalu than their respective outdoor rearing. In case of larval survival in first instar also except Soalu, lower values were recorded over the control. Larval duration was recorded more or less same in all the cases. No significant difference was observed in larval weight and duration in the 1st instars during rearing period Sept.-Oct. But larval survival was higher in Som over control and lower in Soalu over control. At second instars stage, differences were recorded in all cases except larval duration. Indoor reared larvae exhibited lower value than outdoor except that larval survival was higher i.e. 68.0% in Som. During Nov.-Dec., irregular values in respect of larval weight, larval duration in Som and Soalu were recorded. However, higher survival of both first and second instars larvae was recorded over control counterparts of Som and Soalu. During this season, larval survival was all time higher being 97.0% in Som and 92.7% in Soalu at 1st instars and, 89.0% in Som and 84.0% in Soalu at 2nd instars. Data in both the Table-1 and Table-2 reveals differences in all cases according to food plants (Som & Soalu) of these two rearing conditions. Table-1. First instars Larval Weight (LW), Larval Duration (LD) and Larval Survival (LS) of indoor (T) and outdoor (C) rearing of Muga silkworm in different seasons of a year. Sl. Period of rearingRearing Weight types of single larva (in gram) of first instars No. SOM SOALU

1

March-April

2

May-June

3

July-Aug.

4

5

Sept.-Oct.

Nov.-Dec.

AVERAGE

Initial

Final

T

0.005

C

Larval duration (days) Larval survival (%) SOM SOALU

SOM

SOALU

5-7

4-6

84.3

79.7

Initial Final

0.028

Tissue growth 0.023

0.005

0.033

Tissue growth 0.028

0.005

0.028

0.023

0.005

0.032

0.027

5-8

4-7

89.3

88.7

T

0.006

0.025

0.019

0.006

0.024

0.018

4-6

4-6

85.3

88.3

C

0.006

0.025

0.019

0.006

0.024

0.018

4-6

4-6

87.3

82.0

T

0.006

0.028

0.022

0.006

0.027

0.021

3-5

3-5

79.0

87.5

C

0.006

0.029

0.023

0.006

0.030

0.024

3-5

3-5

79.5

78.0

T

0.007

0.025

0.018

0.007

0.029

0.022

3-4

3-4

79.0

71.0

C

0.007

0.025

0.018

0.007

0.030

0.023

3-4

3-4

77.0

78.0

T

0.005

0.025

0.020

0.005

0.023

0.018

5-7

5-7

97.0

92.7

C

0.005

0.024

0.019

0.005

0.025

0.020

6-9

6-8

88.3

90.3

0.0058

0.0262

0.0204

0.0058 0.0277

84.6

83.62

0.0219

Thus, it is found from above discussion that indoor rearing of Muga silkworm on detached twigs of Som and Soalu in wooden tray does not differ significantly from outdoor rearing in trees. The former type of rearing prominently exhibited seasonal variations like outdoor rearing. Both the outdoor (C) and indoor (T) rearing were subjected to seasonal climatic changes that mainly included temperature, humidity, leaf moisture, nutritional status of food pant leaves, disease-pest incidence as influencing factors. Das et al. (2004) reported that being multivoltine in nature; Antheraea assamensis Helfer experiences a wide range of temperature (12-37°C) and relative humidity (59-92%) during different climatic seasons of the year. Therefore, it can be inferred that climatic factors are the most influencing factors to be considered in Muga silkworm cultivation regardless of indoor or outdoor rearing. Although there is no significant difference in rearing performances, during unfavorable seasons like very hot climate, very cool and dry climate, indoor rearing may be adopted for Muga silkworm cultivation only by developing effectively indoor rearing

260

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert environment for optimum growth and development. Raja Ram and Sinha (2004) reported that indoor rearing of Muga silkworm on Soalu branches inside perforated polythene bag gave highest ERR during July-August (70.0%) followed by Sept.-Oct. (23.05%) and May-June (15.5%). Talukdar (1999) stated that maintenance of optimum temperature and relative humidity together with disinfestations of rearing room are pre-requisite for good crop harvest. Further, embryonic tissue growth also differs according to seasonal changes of climate as indicated by variation in weight of newly hatched out larvae in different crop seasons. Hazarika et al. (2004) reported that the size of the egg determines the size and weight of first instar larvae. According to Das et al. (2004) superior egg having 0.0078g weight with 2.8 mm diameter are laid during June and, worst one of 0.0069 weight having 2.0 mm diameter are laid during February. Thus low temperature condition prevailing during November-December and March-April produced hatched larvae of low weight and, high temperature during May to September produced hatched larvae of higher weight as found in our experiment (Table-1). Table-2. Second instars Larval Weight (LW), Larval Duration (LD) and Larval Survival (LS) of indoor (T) and outdoor (C) rearing of Muga silkworm in different seasons of a year. Sl. No.

Period of rearing

Rearing types

Weight of single larva (in gram) of second instars SOM

1

March-April

2

May-June

3

July-Aug.

4

Sept.-Oct.

5

Nov.-Dec.

T

Final

0.028

0.098

Tissue growth 0.070

Initial

Final

0.033

0.107

Tissue growth 0.074

Larval survival (%) SOM SOALU

5-7

84.3

4-6

79.7

C

0.028

0.095

0.067

0.032

0.104

0.072

5-8

4-7

89.3

88.7

T

0.025

0.088

0.063

0.024

0.075

0.051

3-6

3-6

58.3

47.0

C

0.025

0.083

0.058

0.024

0.077

0.053

3-6

3-6

58.7

51.7

T

0.028

0.147

0.119

0.027

0.134

0.107

4-6

4-6

73.0

79.5

C

0.029

0.173

0.144

0.030

0.170

0.140

4-6

4-6

73.0

68.5

T

0.025

0.107

0.082

0.029

0.128

0.099

3-5

3-5

68.0

62.0

C

0.025

0.132

0.107

0.030

0.139

0.109

3-5

3-5

63.0

67.0

T

0.025

0.126

0.101

0.023

0.093

0.070

3-6

3-8

89.0

84.0

0.024

0.123

0.099

0.025

0.120

0.095

4-8

5-7

78.0

79.7

0.0262

0.1172

0.091

0.0277 0.1147 0.087

73.46

69.789

C AVERAGE

Initial

SOALU

Larval duration (days) SOM SOALU

Since, heaviest larvae were recorded in March-April in first instar and, July-August in second instars in contrast to heaviest newly hatched out larvae during Sept.-Oct., it can be inferred that the larval weight in subsequent instar does not depend upon initial larval weight and hence the size and weight of eggs. Further, as the nutrient compositions in these two host plants differ, it can be very clearly presume the nutrition as the determining factor on larval weight, larval duration and larval survival. Several workers has been worked on indoor rearing of muga silkworm on Som and Soalu host plant and, reported different results, but all found different values in respect of larval weight, larval duration and larval survival in these two host plants. According to Thangavelu et al. (1983) cocoon weight, shell weight, filament length, reel ability and fecundity were higher on Som than Soalu under indoor rearing conditions. Hazarika et al (2004) on the other hand recorded longer larval period and lower cocoon weight but higher shell ratio in indoor wooden box rearing of muga silkworm on Som than outdoor rearing.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT It is great pleasure on part of us to acknowledge ever folding thanks to Dr. R. Chakravorty, then Director, CMERTI, Central Silk Board, Lahdoigarh for his encouragement on indoor rearing of Muga silkworm research and splendid help in successfully completing this work.

261

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

Fig. 1. Wooden tray device for indoor rearing if Muga silkworm

Fig. 2. Second instar Muga silkworm larvae reared on Soalu leafs in wooden tray

Fig. 4. Harvested cocoon from outdoor control

Fig. 5. Harvested cocoon from indoor wooden tray rearing

Fig. 3. Cocooning by ripen indoor larvae

Fig. 6. A Muga mother moth laying eggs

Fig. 7. Eggs of Muga silkworm

262

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

REFERENCES Bhuya, N., Borah, B. R., Barah, A. and Sengupta, A. K. 1990-91. Indoor rearing Muga silkworm under specialized conditions for mass rearing. Ann. Rep. RMRS, Boko. pp. 24-26. Das, K., Barah, A., Das. R. and Chakravorty, R. 2004. Oviposition behavior and egg characters of Muga silkworm Antheraea assamensis Helfer (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) during different seasons. National workshop on Muga silkworm: Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology to improve silk production. RRL, 18-19 Nov. pp. 117-122. Hazarika, L. K., Kataky, A. and Bhuyan, M. 2004. A note on Muga silkworm and indoor rearing of its counterpart. 1st Nat. Semi. On Muga silkworm Biochem., Molecular Biol. & Biotechnology to improve silk production. Org. by RRL, Jorhat, Assam; Nov. 18-19, Abstract, pp 35. Muga Silkworm : Biochemistry, Biotechnology and Molecular Biology. pp. 75-78. Raja Ram, S. and Sinha, B, R. R. P. 2004. Indoor rearing of Muga Silkworm. National Workshop on Potential & Strategies for Sustainable Development of Vanya Silk in the Himalayan States. Nov. 8-9 (2004); Pp 224-226. Org. by Directorate of Seri. Govt. of Uttaranchal, Premnagar Dehradun. Sengupta, A. K., Siddique, A. A., Barah, A. and Negi, B. K. 1992. Improved technologies for Muga silkworm rearing, a development perspective. Indian Silk, 31(5): 21-24. Singh, P. K. and Barah, A. 1994. Indoor rearing technique for early stage silkworm. Ann. Rep.; RMRS, Boko; p. 3. Talukdar, J. N. 1999. An indoor rearing technique bringing revolution to Muga silk industry. Sericulture in Assam (Seminar documentation). D. C. Mahanta (Ed), Khanapara, 3rd April, 1999. pp. 12-17. Thangavelu, K. and Sahu, A. K. 1986. Further studies on indoor rearing of Muga silkworm, Antheraea assama Ww. (Saturniidae: Lepidoptera). Sericologia, 26(2): 215-224.

263

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

RAINS, A HEAVEN FOR TURTLES IN PALI, RAJASTHAN, INDIA SHALINI GAUR Mahila P.G. Mahavidyalaya, J.N.Vyas University, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: Rajasthan is the land of unique climatic conditions. Physiographically state can be divided into six major units, namely the Western arid region, Semi-arid region, Aravalli region, Eastern plains, South-Eastern region and Chambal ravines. The average rainfall of the state varies in the arid western parts and the Aravallis, which provides shelter to the different species of Plants as well as animals. Due to deficit of water very rare aquatic species can be seen in the area. Most of them are terrestrial which stay on land. After the surprised flooding of arid parts of western Rajasthan, the good rains created many large lakes in different villages of district Pali. Basically these pits were made by the local people for the storage of water for their drinking and household purposes. Good population of fresh water turtles could be observed in small pits of the district The problem arises when a long dry period comes which is very common especially in Thar part of the state. Reptiles are highly affected by the scarce water because these animals are not blessed with any physiological process like dormancy to overcome this harsh condition. Due to poor watershed management the habitats of theses aquatic species are continuously being destructed naturally. Now it is necessary to take steps to conserve these aquatic reptile species of Rajasthan. The global trade in turtles and tortoises often has a large volume, relative to the size of the populations of these turtles and tortoises. Most turtles and tortoises in trade are regulated internationally by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), but the management of water and conservation of water bodies can be an another effective step towards the problem. Although the climatic change specially in Deserts is mostly bad for ecology of area and normal being of life but proper management. KEY WORDS: Turtles, rains, ecology, Rajasthan.

INTRODUCTION Pali district is situated in the western part of The state Rajasthan. It is around 72km in south east of Jodhpur. As the district lies in the Thar part of The Rajasthan high rate of evaporation, scorching heat erratic rain fall are the main climatic characteristics of the region. Some times people especially in villages, depend upon the stored rain water for their drinking purposes and other household purposes. In year 2007 due to good rains in the area, plenty of water bodies were cherished with good vegetation. A good population of fresh water turtle Lissemys punctata punctata (Lacepede) could be observed in almost all the water bodies in different villages and “Dhani” of district Pali. Litrature reviews the work of Annandale (1906), Das (1991& 1995). Minton (1966), Sharma (1996 & 2002), Tikader & Sharma (1985) and Whitaker & Andrews (1995). The present study depicts a preliminary survey of the district Nagaur to trace out the abundance of turtles in the water bodies of the area. Detailed analysis of the diurenal activities was also done. The present manuscript contains only an account of turtle abundance in the area.

MATERIALS AND METHODS To study the detailed ecology of the species exhaustive surveys were conducted in the foothills region and some pockets with good population of Starred tortoises were selected. Frequent surveys were conducted in each locality. Time of survey was in accordance with that of

264

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert the season as the activities of the tortoise depends upon the temperature, and other atmospheric conditions. The time for taking the observation in field was according to the appearance of the tortoises. Food and feeding methods, breeding season, diversity, modes of foraging, prey availability, microhabitat utilization, predator population and thermoregulation etc were recorded. In certain cases animals found dead in road and other accidents, were collected and preserved in 4% formaline. All the specimens were catogorised sub-order wise and identified by Fauna of Reptilia by Sharma (2002) and Smith (1935). After the proper sorting and identification of specimens Biometry (measurement of different parts of body), and meristic count were conducted for each specimen. In last the gut and stomach content study was conducted to see the food types and feeding habits.

RESULTS AND DISSCUSSION Total 47 Lissemys punctata punctata including Adults, sub-adults and juveniles could be observed in water bodies in district Pali in year 2007-2008, more turtles could be observed after the rainy season (Table-1). The black lines on the head and the plain and the strikingly patterned carapace are the characteristics of this species (Das, 1991). As regarding the diurnal activities those Turtles sighted outside of the water and other retreats were termed ‘active’ (Pandav and Choudhary, 1996). Activities were classified into four categories : basking (seeking heat in an open area in a still condition without moving any part of the body and noticed in the same condition for more than 5 minutes when undisturbed), resting (avoiding heat in a shaded area), foraging (actively searching for food) and playing (encounter each other by clashing head on or touching each other's body while running). When undisturbed and found at running condition, activities after running except last one was noted (i. e. if sighted playing, no activities after running was noted). The Fresh water turtles are very common in Gujarat and Rajsathan also but most of the studies reveled the population of this species in eastern part of the state (Bhupathy & Vijayan (1990) and in district Pali, by Sharma (2005). Present study has explored the new localities especially in the Desert part of Rajasthan.

Table-1. Number of individuals observed during the study period Month

Total number of Testudines sighted Adult

Sub-adult

Juvenile

Total

Year-2007 June

5

3

0

8

July

3

3

4

10

August

4

0

0

4

September

5

2

1

8

October

3

0

2

5

November

4

1

0

5

December

2

2

2

6

January

2

0

2

4

February

4

1

3

8

March

3

2

2

7

Year-2008

April

7

4

5

16

May

5

5

6

16

Total

47

23

27

97

265

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am thankful to Dr. Padma Bohra Officer in Charge, DRS, ZSI, Jodhpur, for providing all the necessary facilities regarding the work. I am also thankful to DST, New Delhi, for financial support regarding the work.

REFERENCES Annandale, N. 1906. Contributions to the Indian Herpetology N. 4. Notes on the Indian Tortoises. J & Proc. Asiat. Soc. Beng. 2: 203-206. Bhupathy S. and Vijayan V.S. 1990. The fresh water turtle fauna of Eastern Rajasthan. Journal of Bombay Natural Hist. Society. 88: 118-121. Das, I. 1991. Colour Guide To the Turtles and Tortoises of the Indian Subcontinent. Portishead: R&A Publishing Ltd. Das, I. 1995. Conservation Problems of Tropical Asia's Most-Threathened Turtles. In: Van Abbema, J. Proceedings: Conservation, Restoration, and Management of Tortoises and Turtles- an International Conference. New York: State Univ. of New York, Purchase. Minton, S. 1966. A contribution to the Herpetology of west Pakistan. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 134(2): 27-184. Pandav, B. and B. C. Choudhary. 1996. Diurnal and sexual activity patterns of water monitor (Varanus salvator) in the Bhitarkanika mangroves, Orissa, India. Hamadryad. 21: 4-12. Sharma, R.C. 1996. Herpetology of the Thar Desert In: Faunal diversity in the Thar Desert: Gaps in Research. Ed. by A.K. Ghosh, Q.H. Baqri and I. Prakash. 297-306. Scientific Publisher, Jodhpur. Sharma R. C. 2002. Fauna of India and the adjacent countries Reptlilia (Testudines and Crocodilians) (I). xvi + 1-196 pp. (Published Director, Zool. Surv. India, Kolkata). Sharma, S.K. 2005. Indian Flap shell Turtle, Lissemys punctata (Bonnaterre) of Jawai Dam. Cobra. 59: 13. Smith, M.A. 1931. The Fauna of British India including ceylon and Burma, Reptilia and Amphibia- Loricata, Testudines. Taylor and francis, Londons 1: XXViii + 185pp. Whitaker, R. and Andrews, H.V. 1995. Captive Breeding of Indian Turtles and Tortoises at the Centre for Herpetology/Madras Crocodile Bank. In: Van Abbema, J. Proceedings: Conservation, Restoration, and Management of Tortoises and Turtles- an International Conference. New York: State Univ. of New York, Purchase.

266

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

BIODIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTION OF AVIFAUNA IN THORN FOREST HABITATS OF WESTERN KACHCHH REGION, GUJARAT, INDIA NIKUNJ GAJERA1, MANOJ KUMAR PARDESHI2 AND V. VIJAY KUMAR3 Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology, Mundra Road, Bhuj (Kachchh)- 370 001, Gujarat. e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] ABSTRACT: The nature of the plants in an area, to a large extent, determines the animal life in that area. When the vegetation is altered, the animal life also changes. Thorn forest of the western Kachchh region is mainly composed of Acacias, Euphorbias and cacti plant species and and not well studied in terms of avifauna. So the present study investigates the diversity, richness and density of avifauna across four different types of thorn forest and also provide inventory of avifauna of these habitat types. Surveys were conducted by using point count and area search method. Total 125 transects were sampled and 216 species belonging to 13 orders, 49 families and 126 genera were recorded. Out of these total species, 150 were recorded from Acacia Forest, 149 from Euphorbia forest, 193 from Mixted Thorn Forest and 137 from Prosopis Forest. Mixted Thorn Forest had highest species richness, diversity and density while Prosopis dominant Forest was poor in all these aspects. Results of present study showed landscape exhibits the remarkable difference in terms of richness, diversity and density among four forest types. Furthermore, wetlands of the region are also important for many birds. KEY WORDS: Avifauna, diversity, thorn forest, western Kachchh.

INTRODUCTION The nature of the plants in an area, to a large extent, determines the animal life in that area. When the vegetation is altered, the animal life also changes. All the plants and animals in an area are interdependent and interrelated to each other in their physical environment, thus, forming an ecosystem. Avian community studies are effective tools for monitoring a forest ecosystem. Birds are widely recognized as good bio-indicators of the quality of the ecosystems (Gill, 1994) and health of the environment. They are responsive to change; their diversity and abundance can reflect ecological trends in other biodiversity (Furness & Greenwood, 1993). Because of their highly specific habitat requirements, birds become increasingly intolerant of even slight ecosystem disturbance (Schwartz & Schwartz, 1951). In regions with less than 70 cm of rainfall, the natural vegetation consists of thorny trees and bushes. In state of Gujarat, forest of Kachchh mainly consists of thorny plant species like Acacias, Euphorbias (Euphorbia-Salvadora composition) and cacti are the main plant species. These species forms major part of the forest ecosystem and give way to thorn forests and scrubs in arid areas. Thorn forest areas of Western Kachchh, one of the least studied areas of the state in terms of avian diversity and richness. Lack of adequate information on the biological resources poses a serious limitation in assessing the ecological value of the Western Kachchh and in turn its scientific management. Area is composed of three talukas, Abdasa, Lakhpat and Nakhatrana. The region has witnessed fast depletion of its forest cover and rich biodiversity in recent decades. Development in the area has fragmented the once continuous forest. In this area several studies of biodiversity status have been carried out, but they mainly cover biodiversity of protected area (GUIDE and GEER, 1998, and 2001), while studies on the avifauna component were lacking till recently. Keeping in the background of above fact, in similar lines an attempt has been made to understand the avian diversity in thorn forest of Western Kachchh region. The objectives of this

267

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert paper are to investigate the richness and diversity across four different types of thorn forest and to provide baseline inventory of avifauna of thorn forest of Western Kachchh region.

MATERIALS AND METHODS Study Area Kachchh district (45,652 km2) in western part of Gujarat state falls within one the driest region of country where water is a limiting factor. The average annual rainfall is about 334 mm that comes from the southwest monsoon. The entire region is marked by dryland conditions having an aridity index greater than 40%, long spells of hot and dry summers, cold winters and overall moisture deficiency where evapo-transpiration exceeds precipitation. Study area for the present study covering over about 5000 km2 area in western Kachchh region, encompasses parts of Lakhpat, Abdassa and Nakatrana talukas (Fig. 1). This zone is representative of Kachchh with all landscape elements like forests, agriculture, industries, mining areas, grassland, mangroves, salt pans, rocky barrens, wetlands and waste land.

Data Analyses Calculation of various indices like, Shannon Weiner diversity index (H’), Menhinick's richness index, (Magurran, 1988) were performed using “PAST” statistical software. The rarefaction analysis was performed using Biodiversity Pro statistical software (BioDiversity, 1997 NHM & SAMS, http://www.nhm.ac.uk/zoology/bdpro) to cope up the problem in comparing diversity among various land cover or habitat categories evaluated during present study.

OBSERVATIONS/ SAMPLING The study area was stratified into four categories i.e. Acacia Forest (AF), EuphorbiaSalvadora (ES), Mixed Thorn Habitat (MTH) and Prosopis Forest (PF). However wetlands falls in these thorn forests were also surveyed. After stratification, the entire area was divided into 5 x 5 km grids using Survey of India’s geo-referenced co-ordinate system. Those grid cells were further subdivided into 1x1 km smaller grids and total 125 transects were sampled (Fig. 1) in selected grids chosen randomly using random number table. Stratified random sampling was employed to lay down samples of 1.1 km in different habitats. All transects were laid diagonally to randomly picked 1x1 km grid.

Fig. 1. Location map of Study area with transects/sampling location. Bird survey was carried out/coundected using direct count methods which include: (1) Point Count method and (2) Area Search method. In former method all birds were recorded in four 268

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 25m radius plots at the distance of 300m as suggested by Bibby et al. (1992). Each plot was surveyed for 15 minutes. In case of area search method, survey was done using 300 m long and 3m wide belt between abovementioned points, which was mentioned as a time and area constrained survey technique by Dieni and Jones (2002). Observations were carried out with the aid of 8 x 40 binoculars and field characteristics were noted down on special ornithological data sheet that includes species and number of individuals. The birds were identified with the help of Ali and Ripley (1987), Ali (2002) and Grimett et al. (1999). Birds sighted during our survey were categorized as per their migratory status based on observations during present study and the previous records by Ali (2002). The birds were also grouped into trophic guilds based on description provided by Wills (1979), Karr et al. (1990), Anjos (2001) and field observations on bird’s activity.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Bird communities are good indicators for the monitoring of environmental changes. Habitat selectivity of species can be associated with the vegetation and forest structure (Jarvinan and Vaisanan, 1979). From all selected four habitats, a total of 216 species belonging to 13 orders, 49 families and 126 genera were recorded during the survey (Table 1). Out of these total species, 150 were recorded from AF, 149 from ES, 193 from MTH and 137 from PF. The distribution and abundance of many bird species mainly depends on the composition of the vegetation that comprises a major element of their habitat (Cody, 1985; Block & Brennam, 1993). Table 1. Check list of bird species recorded from different thorn forest habitats of the study area Sr. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Order/Family ANSERIFORMES Anatidae Anatidae Anatidae Anatidae Anatidae Anatidae Anatidae Dendrocygnidae Dendrocygnidae APODIFORMES Apodidae CICONIFORMES Accipitridae Accipitridae Accipitridae Accipitridae Accipitridae Accipitridae Accipitridae Accipitridae Accipitridae Accipitridae Accipitridae Accipitridae Accipitridae Accipitridae Accipitridae Accipitridae Accipitridae Accipitridae

Species Scientific name

Common English Name

Habitat status

MS

Sch.

FG

Anas acuta Anas clypeata Anas platyrhynchos Aythya ferina Aythya fuligula Dendrocygna javanica Sarkidiornis melanotos Anas poecilorhyncha Anas strepera

Northern Pintail Northern Shoveller Mallard Common Pochard Tufted Pochard Lesser Whistling-Duck Comb Duck Spot-billed Duck Gadwall

2,3,4 3 3 3 3 2,4 2,3 1,2,3,4 3

M M RM M M R R RM M

IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV

A A A A A A A A A

Apus affinis

House(Little) Swift

1,3,4

R

IV

I

Accipiter badius Aquila heliaca Aquila nipalensis Aquila pomarina Aquila rapax Butastur teesa Buteo buteo Circaetus gallicus Circus aeruginosus Circus macrourus Elanus caeruleus Gyps bengalensis Gyps indicus Haliaeetus leucogaster Haliaeetus leucoryphus Hieraaetus fasciatus Hieraaetus pennatus Milvus migrans

Shikra Imperial Eagle Steppe Eagle Lesser Spotted Eagle Tawny Eagle White-eyed Buzzard Long-legged Buzzard Short-toad snake Eagle Eurasian Marsh Harrier Pallid Harrier Black-shouldered Kite Indian White-backed Vulture Long-billed Vulture White-bellied Sea-Eagle Palla's Fish-Eagle Bonelli's Eagle Booted Eagle Black Kite

1,2,3,4 1,2,3 1,2,3 3 1,2,3 1 2 1,2,3 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,3 1,3 1,3,4 3 1,2,3,4 1 1,2,3

R R M M R R R R M M R R R R RM M R R

I IV IV IV IV I I IV II I IV I I II II IV IV IV

C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C

IUCN

CE VU

NT CE

VU

269

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85

Accipitridae Ardeidae Ardeidae Ardeidae Ardeidae Ardeidae Ardeidae Ardeidae Ardeidae Burhinidae Charadriidae Charadriidae Charadriidae Charadriidae Charadriidae Charadriidae Charadriidae Charadriidae Charadriidae Charadriidae Ciconidae Ciconidae Falconidae Falconidae Falconidae Glareolidae Laridae Laridae Laridae Laridae Laridae Laridae Laridae Pelecanidae Phalacrocoracidae Phalacrocoracidae Phalacrocoracidae Phoenicopteridae Phoenicopteridae Podicipedidae Podicipedidae Pteroclididae Pteroclididae Pteroclididae Scolopacidae Scolopacidae Scolopacidae Scolopacidae Threskiornithidae Threskiornithidae Threskiornithidae COLUMBIFORMES Columbidae Columbidae Columbidae Columbidae Columbidae Columbidae CORACIIFORMES

Spilornis cheela Ardea alba Ardea cinerea Ardea purpurea Ardeola grayii Bubulcus ibis Egretta garzetta Egretta gularis Mespphoyx intermedia Burhinus oedicnemus Calidris alpine Charadrius alexandrinus Charadrius subius Esacus magnirostris Himantopus himantopus Pluvialis squatarola Rostratula benghalensis Vanellus indicus Vanellus malabaricus Xalidris minuta Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus Mycteria leucocephala Falco jugger Falco naumanni Falco tinnunculus Cursorius coromandeicus Calidris alba Chlidonias leucopterus Larus brunnicephalus Larus fuscus Sterna acuticauda Sterna aurantia Sterna caspia Pelecanus onocrotalus Phalacrocorax carbo Phalacrocorax fuscicollis Phalacrocorax niger Phoenicopterus minor Phoenicopterus ruber Podiceps nigricolis Tachybaptus ruficollis Pterocles alchata Pterocles exustus Pterocles indicus Actitis hypoleucos Numenius phaeopus Tringa ochropus Tringa stagnatilis Platalea leucorodia Pseudibis papillosa Threskiornis melanocephalus

Crested Serpent Eagle Great Egret Grey Heron Purple Heron Indian Pond Heron Cattle Egret Little Egret Western Reef-Egret Intermediate Egret Eurasian Thick-knee Dunlin Kentish Plover Common Ring Plover Greater Sand-Plover Blackwinged Stilt Grey Plover Pinted Snip Red-wattled Lapwing Yellow-wattled Lapwing Little Stint Black Necked Stork Painted Stork Lagger Falcon Lesser Kestral Common Kestral Indian Courser Sanderling White winged Black Tern Brown Headed Gull Lesser black backed Gull Black-bellied Tern River Tern Caspian Tern Great White-Pelican Great Cormorant Indian Cormorant Little Cormorant Lesser Flamingo Greater Flemingo Black-Necked Grebe Little Grebe White-bellied Sandgrouse Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse Painted Sandgrouse Common Sandpiper Whimbrel Green Sandpiper Marsh Sandpiper Eurasian Spoonbill Black Ibis Black-headed Ibis

1,2,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 2,4 2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 2,3 2,4 1,2,3,4 3, 3 2,3,4 3 1,2,3,4 3 2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 3 2,4 1,2,3,4 2 2,3 1,2,3,4 1,2,3 3 3 3 3 3 1,2,3,4 1 2,3,4 3 2,4 1,2,3,4 2,3 1,2,4 3 1,2,3,4 2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 3 2,3, 3 3 2,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4

R RM RM RM R R R R R R M RM RM R R M R R R M R RM R R RM R RM RM RM M M R RM RM R R R RM RM M R M R R R M M M RM R RM

III IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV I IV I IV IV IV IV IV IV IV I IV IV IV IV IV IV I IV IV IV I IV IV IV IV IV IV I IV IV

C A A A A I A A A A A A A A A A A I I A A A C C C I P P P P P A P P A A A A A A A G G G A A A A A I A

Columba livia Streptopelia chinensis Streptopelia decaocto Streptopelia orientalis Streptopelia senegalensis Streptopelia tranquebarica

Rock Pigeon Spotted Dove Eurasian Collared Dove Oriental Turtle-Dove Laughing Dove Red-collared Dove

1,2,3,4 3 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4

R R R RM R R

IV IV IV IV IV IV

G G G G G G

NT NT VU

NT

NT NT

270

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140

Alcedinidae Cerylidae Coraciidae Dacelonidae Meropidae Meropidae Meropidae Meropidae CUCULIFORMES Centropodidae Cuculidae Cuculidae Cuculidae GALLIRORMES Phasianidae Phasianidae Phasianidae Phasianidae Phasianidae Phasianidae Phasianidae GRUIFORMES Gruidae Rallidae PASSERIFORMES Alaudidae Alaudidae Alaudidae Alaudidae Alaudidae Alaudidae Alaudidae Alaudidae Alaudidae Alaudidae Alaudidae Alaudidae Certhiidae Cisticolidae Cisticolidae Cisticolidae Cisticolidae Cisticolidae Cisticolidae Corvidae Corvidae Corvidae Corvidae Corvidae Corvidae Corvidae Corvidae Corvidae Corvidae Fringillidae Fringillidae Fringillidae Fringillidae Fringillidae

Alcedo Hercules Ceryle rudis Coracias benghalensis Halcyon smyrnensis Merops leschenaulti Merops orientalis Merops persicus Merops philippinus

Common Kingfisher Lesser Pied Kingfisher Indian Roller White-throated Kingfisher Chestnut-headed Bee-eater Green Bee-eater Blue-cheeked Bee-eater Blue-tailed Bee-eater

3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4

R R R R R R RM RM

IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV

P P I P I I I I

Centropus sinensis Cuculus canorus Eudynamys scolopacea Phaenicophaeus leschenaultii

Greater Coucal Pied creasted Cuckoo Asian Koel Sirkeer Cuckoo

1,2,3,4 1,3 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4

R R R R

IV IV IV IV

O I F O

Coturnix coromandelica Coturnix coturnix Francolinus francolinus Francolinus pictus Francolinus pondicerisnus Pavo cristatus Perdicula asiatica

Rain Quail Common Quail Black Francolin Painted Francolin Grey Francolin Indian Peafowl Jungle Bush Quail

1,2,3, 1,3 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 2,3

R R R R R R R

IV IV II II IV I IV

G G G G G G G

Grus grus Fulica atra

Common Crane Common Coot

3,4 1,2,3,4

M R

IV IV

O A

Alauda gulgula Ammomannes phoenicurus Calandrella brachydactyla Calandrella rufescens Eremopterix grisea Galerida cristata Galerida deva Galerida malabarica Mirafra affinis Mirafra cantillans Mirafra erythroptera Mirafra erythroptera Salpornis spilonotus Orthotomus sutorius Prinia buchanani Prinia hodgsonii Prinia inornata Prinia socialis Prinia sylvatica Aegithina nigrolutea Coracina macei Corvus splendens Dendrocitta vagabunda Dicrurus caerulescens Dicrurus macrocercus Pericrocotus cinnamomeus Rhipidura aureola Tephrodornis gularis Tephrodornis pondicerianus Emberiza buchanani Emberiza cia Emberiza melanocephala Emberiza striolata Melophus lathami

Oriental Skylark Rufous-tailed Lark Greater Short-Toed Lark Lesser Short-toed Lark Ashy-crowned Sparrow-Lark Crested Lark Sykes's Crested Lark Malabar Lark Jerdon's Bushlark Singing Bushlark Indian Bushlark Red-winged Bush-Lark Spotted Creeper Tailor Bird Rufous-fronted Prinia Grey-breasted Prinia Plain Prinia Ashy Prinia Jungle Prinia Marshall's Iora Large Cuckoo shrike House Crow Rufous Treepie White-bellied Drongo Black Drongo Small Minivet White-browed Fantail Large wood shrike Common Woodshrike Grey-necked Bunting Rock Bunting Ortolan Bunting House Bunting Crested Bunting

3 2,3 1,2,3 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,3 1 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1 1 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 3 1,2,3,4 1,3 1,2,3,4 3 1,2,3 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,3 1,2,3 1,2,3,4 1,3

R R M RM R R R RM RM R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R M M M R R

IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV V V IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV

G G G G G G G G G G G G I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I G G G G G

271

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199

Hirundinidae Hirundinidae Hirundinidae Hirundinidae Hirundinidae Hirundinidae Laniidae Laniidae Laniidae Laniidae Laniidae Laniidae Laniidae Muscicapidae Muscicapidae Muscicapidae Muscicapidae Muscicapidae Muscicapidae Muscicapidae Muscicapidae Muscicapidae Muscicapidae Muscicapidae Muscicapidae Muscicapidae Muscicapidae Muscicapidae Nectariniidae Nectariniidae Nectariniidae Nectariniidae Paridae Passeridae Passeridae Passeridae Passeridae Passeridae Passeridae Passeridae Passeridae Passeridae Passeridae Passeridae Pycnonotidae Pycnonotidae Sturnidae Sturnidae Sturnidae Sturnidae Sylviidae Sylviidae Sylviidae Sylviidae Sylviidae Sylviidae Sylviidae Sylviidae Sylviidae

Hirundo concolor Hirundo daurica Hirundo fluvicola Hirundo rupestris Hirundo rustica Hirundo smithii Lanius collurio Lanius cristatus Lanius isabellinus Lanius meridionalis Lanius schach Lanius schach canieps Lanius vittatus Cercomela fusca Cercotrichas galactotes Copsychus saularis Ficedula parva Muscicapa striata Oenanthe deserti Oenanthe isabellina Oenanthe picata Phoenicurus ochruros Saxicola caprata Saxicola jerdoni Saxicola torquata Saxicoloides fulicata Turdus naumanni Turdus obscurus Aethopyga siparaja Dicaeum agile Nectarinia asiatica Nectarinia zeylonica Parus nuchalis Anthus campestris Anthus rufulus Anthus similis jerdoni Anthus trivialis Dendronanthus indicus Lonchura malabarica Lonchura striata Motacilla alba Motacilla flava Passer domesticus Ploceus philippinus Pycnonotus cafer Pycnonotus leucotis Acridotheres ginginianus Acridotheres tristis Sturnus pagodarum Sturnus roseus Acrocephalus aedon Acrocephalus dumetorum Acrocephalus stentoreus Chaetornis striatus Chrysomma sinense Cisticola juncidis Hippolais caligata Phylloscopus inornatus Phylloscopus magnirostris

Dusky Crag-Martin Red-rump Swallow Streak-throated Swallow Eurasian Crag-Martin Barn Swallow Wire-tailed Swallow Red-backed Shrike Brown Shrike Rufous-tailed Shrike Southern Grey Shrike Long-tailed Shrike Rufous-backed Shrike Bay-backed Shrike Brown Rock Chat Rufous Chat Oriental Magpie Robin Red-throated Flycatcher Spotted Flycatcher Desert Wheatear Isabelline Wheatear Variable Wheatear Black Redstart Pied Bush chat Pied Chat Common Stonechat Indian Robin Dusky Thrush Eyebrowed Thrush Crimson sunbird Thick-billed Flowerpecker Purple Sunbird Purple-rumped Sunbird Pied Tit Tawny Pipit Paddyfield Pipit Brown Rock Pipit Tree Pipit Forest Wagtail Indian Silverbill White-rumped Munia White Wagtail Yellow Wagtail House Sparrow Baya Weaver Red-vented Bulbul White-eared Bulbul Bank Myna Common Myna Brahminy Starling Rosy Starling Thick-billed Warbler Blyth's Reed-Warbler Indian Great Reed-Warbler Bristled Grass-Warbler Yellow-eyed Babbler Streak Fantail Warbler Booted Warbler Desert Warbler Large-billed Leaf-Warbler

1,2,3 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 2,3 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,3,4 1,2,3,4 3,4 1,2,3 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 3 1,2,3,4 1,,3,4 1,2,3 3,4 1,2,3,4 3 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 4 3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3 1 1,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,3 1,2,3,4 3 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3 1,3 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,3 3 1 3 1,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,3

R R R R RM R R M RM R R R R R M R R RM RM RM M RM R R RM R RM RM R R R R R RM R M RM RM R R RM RM R R R R R R R M M RM RM M R R RM R M

IV IV IV IV IV IV IV III IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV II II IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV II IV IV II IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV IV III IV III IV IV IV IV IV III

I I I I I I C C C C C C C I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I N N N N I G G G G I G G I I G G I I I I O G I I I I I I I F I

VU

272

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216

Sylviidae Sylviidae Sylviidae Sylviidae Sylviidae Sylviidae Sylviidae Sylviidae Zosteropidae PICIFORMES Picidae PSITTACIFORMES Psittacidae Psittacidae STEIGIFORMES Caprimulgidae Caprimulgidae Strigidae Strigidae UPUPIFORMES Upupidae

Phylloscopus neglectus Phylloscopus trochilodes Sylvia communis Sylvia curruca Sylvia hortensis Turdoides caudatus Turdoides malcolmi Turdoides striatus Zosterops palpebrosus

Plain-leaf Warbler Greenish Leaf-Warbler Greater Whitethroat Lesser Whitethroat Orphean Warbler Common Babbler Large Grey Babbler Jungle Babbler Oriental White-eye

1,2,3,4 1,2,3 4 1,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4

R M R M M R R R RM

IV III IV III III IV IV IV IV

F I I I I G G G F

Dendrocopos mahrattensis

Yellow-fronted Pied Woodpecker

1

R

IV

I

Psittacula cyanocephala Psittacula krameri

Plum-headed Parakeet Rose-ringed Parakeet

3 1,2,3

R R

IV IV

F F

Caprimulgus asiaticus Caprimulgus europaeus Athene brama Bubo bubo

Indian Nightjar Eurasian Nightjar Spotted Owlet Eurasian Eagle Owl

3 4 1,2,3,4 2,3,4

R M R R

IV IV IV II

I I C C

Upupa epops

Common Hoopoe

1,2,3,4

RM

IV

I

Out of 216 species 37 were migrants, 44 were local migrants or resident migrants, 135 were resident, including 12 species of IUCN red-list (2004). During the study birds with diverse food habits were observed, viz., Insectivores (74 Spp.), Aquatic (42 Spp.) Granivores (45 Spp.), Carnivores (31 Spp.), Piscivores (10 Spp.), Frugivores (6 Spp.), Omnivores (4 Spp.) and Nectarivores (4 Spp.). Insectivores form the major groups while each of the frugivores, omnivores and nectarivores constitute about 2% of all species. Total 16% species were found rarely distributed in the region while 36% species were very common. Many bird species such as francolins, doves, bee-eaters, robins, larks, prinia, silver bill, bulbuls and warblers were recorded from all four habitats of thorn forest and obviously common in the study area. Overall Shannon diversity (H’) for thorn forest was 4.5 with mean H’ (±std. dev.) 3.14 (±0.56) and Menhinick species richness index was 1.23 with mean richness (±std. dev.) 2.18 (±0.58). The most dominant species recorded from thorn forest were Common Crane followed by Greater short-toed Lark, Plum-headed Parakeet, Rufous Treepie, Rosy Starling, House Sparrow, Lesser short-toed Lark, Grey-breasted Prinia, Baya Weaver and Indian Bushlark while least sighted species were Long-tailed Shrike, Lesser Kestral, Rufous Chat, Great Cormorant, Palla's Fish-Eagle, Dusky Thrush, Large-billed Leaf-Warbler, Variable Wheatear, Jungle Bush Quail and Eurasian Eagle Owl.

Acacia forest (AF) Total of 150 bird species were recorded form AF with mean (± std. dev) of 32 (±10) species and mean (±std. dev.) bird density for AF was 236 (±99) individuals/ha (Fig. 3). The AF Shannon diversity (H’) was 4.18 with mean H’ (±std. dev.) 3.15 (±0.37) and Menhinick species richness index for AF was 1.90 with mean richness (±std. dev.) 2.13 (±0.45) (fig. 4). Some of the species such as pied tit, yellow fronted pied woodpecker, spotted creeper were reported only from AF and were rare in the study area. Pied tit has already been acclaimed as critically endangered as per IUCN’s red data list (IUCN-2004), which has been reported only from Acacia senegal forest habitats near Rawleshvar and Mata-na-madh villages. Most dominant species recorded from AF was Rosy Starling while Shikra was very rarely seen.

273

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

Fig. 2. Rarefaction curve showing species richness in four habitats.

Euphorbia-Salvadora habitats (ES) Total 149 bird species were recorded from ES with mean (± std. dev) of 36 (±9) species and Mean (±std. dev.) bird density for ES was 244 (±110) individuals/ha (Fig. 3). The ES Shannon diversity (H’) was 4.41 with mean H’ (±std. dev.) 3.28 (±0.40) and the Menhinick species richness for ES was 1.89 with mean richness (±std. dev.) 2.34 (±0.54) (Fig. 4). Greater short-toed Larks very common while Laughing Dove was least recorded from this habitat.

Mixed thorn habitats (MTH) In this habitat total 193 bird species recorded which was higher then any other habitats. The mean (± std. dev.) of 38 (±11) bird species and Mean (±std. dev.) bird density for MTH was 285 (±144) individuals/ha (fig. 3). The MTH Shannon diversity (H’) was 4.29 with mean H’ (±std. dev.) 3.29 (±0.36) and the Menhinick species richness for MTH was 1.66 with mean richness (±std. dev.) 2.34 (±0.59) (Fig. 4). Like ES, this habitat had also dominance of Greater short-toed Lark while White-bellied Sea-Eagle was rare.

Fig. 3. Habitat wise numbers of species and Density

274

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

Fig. 4. Habitat wise species richness index and Diversity

Prosopis dominant forest (PF) In this habitat total 137 bird species recorded which was minimum then any other habitats with mean (± std. dev) of 27 (±10) bird species and mean (±std. dev.) bird density for PF was 189 (±90) individuals/ha (fig. 3). The PF Shannon diversity (H’) was 4.16 with mean H’ (±std. dev.) 2.79 (±0.88) and the Menhinick species richness for PF was 1.91 with mean richness (±std. dev.) 1.91 (±0.60) (Fig. 4). Baya Weaver was most dominant in this habitat while Plain-leaf Warbler was occasionally seen. Results of present study showed all four habitats exhibit the remarkable difference in terms of richness, diversity and density. Furthermore, wetlands of the region are also important for many birds. More than 1000 individuals of pelican were recorded from Godhatad and Sandhro dams and more than 90% of them were sub-adults. These two dams as mentioned above form the important wetlands for migratory water birds in this region. Western part of Kachchh is the only migratory route for birds in Gujarat, therefore, richness and abundance of migratory birds is higher in this region. Rarefaction analysis showed that, maximum species of the birds were recorded from MTH while least species were recorded from PF. The spread of P. juliflora gradually displace native scrubland plant species, leads to monoculture stands (Ekanayake 2005) which leads degradation of habitat quality. Many studies indicate that worldwide habitat loss and fragmentation lead to a decline in bird species richness (Turner, 1996; Brooks et al., 1999). Kachchh district is mostly under the grip of Prosopis, where it has naturalized and a recent estimate states that 339 plants/km2 does exist in the district (Gavali et. al. 2003). From the present study it is proved that, MTH because the forests with high structural complexity offer bird diverse microhabitats for foraging, nesting opportunities and reduced predation (Parrish 1995; Whelan 2001). and wetlands are very important for avifauna in all aspects and need to conserve.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The present work is outcome of the project “Regional Environmental Assessment (REA)” funded by Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC). Authors are thankful to GMDC for funding support and also to the Gujarat State Forest Department (GSFD) for permission to work in various forest areas of western Kachchh region.

REFERENCES Ali, S. & Ripley, S.D. (Eds.).1987. Compact Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan, Together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka .Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 737 pp+104plates. Ali, S. (Eds.). 2002. The Book of Indian Birds. 13th Edition, Oxford University Press, New York, lvii+326 pp. 275

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Anjos, L. 2001. Bird communities in five Atlantic forest fragments in southern Brazil. Ornitologia Neotropical. 12: 11-27. Bibby, C.J., Burgess, N. D. & Hill. D.A. (Eds.).1992. Bird census techniques. Academic Press, London, 257 pp. Block, W.M. and Brennan, L.A. 1993. The habitat concept in ornithology. Current Orninthology. 11: 35-91. Brooks, T.M., Pimm, S.L., Oyugi, J.O., 1999. Time lag between deforestation and bird extinction in tropical forest fragments. Conservation Biology. 13: 1140–1150. Cody, M.L. (Eds.). 1985. Habitat selection in birds. Academic Press, New York. 558 pp. Dieni, J.S. and Jones, S.L. 2002. A field test of the area search method for measuring breeding birds populations. Journal of Field Ornithology. 73: 253-257 Ekanayake, S. P., Bambaradeniya, C. N. B., Perera, W. P. N., Perera, M. S. J., odrigo, R. K., Samarawickrema, V. A. M. P. K. and Peiris, T. N. 2005. A Biodiversity Status Profile of Lunama - Kalametiya Wetland Sanctuary. Occ. Pap. 8. IUCN, Sri Lanka., iv+43pp Furness, R.W. & Greenwood, J.J.D.1993. Birds as a Monitor of Environmental Change. Chapman and Hall, London, 365 pp. Gavali, D.J., Lakhmapurkar, J.J., Wangikar, U.K. & Newsletter, D.S. 2003. The impact of Prosopis juliflora invasion on biodiversity and livelihood on the Banni grassland of Kachchh, Gujarat. Gujarat Ecology Society, Vadodara, India. Gill, F.B. 1994. Ornithology. 2nd edition, New York. 720 pp. Grimmett, R., Inskipp, C. & Inskipp T. (Eds.). 1999. Pocket Guide to the Birds of Indian Subcontinent. Oxford University Press, New Delhi. 384pp. GUIDE & GEER 1998. An ecological overview of Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary and adjoining denotified areas. Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology, Bhuj and Gujarat Ecological Education and Research Foundation, Gandhinagar. 61pp. GUIDE & GEER 2001. Ecological status of Narayan Sarovar Wildlife Sanctuary with a management perspective. Final Report. Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) Foundation, Gandhinagar and Gujarat Institute of Desert Ecology, Bhuj. IUCN 2004. 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge University Press, UK. xxiv + 191pp. Jarvinen, O. and Vaisanen R.A. 1979. Changes in Bird Population as Crteria of Environmental changes. Holarictic Ecology. 2: 75-80. Karr, J.R., Robinson, S.K., Blake, J.G. and Bierregaard Jr, R.O. 1990. Birds of Four Neotropical Forests. In: Four Neotropical Rainforest (Eds. Fentry, A. H.). Yale University Press, New Haven; London. pp. 237-269. Magurran, A.E. 1988. Ecological Diversity and its measurement. Chapman and Hall. London. 168 pp. Parrish, J. D. 1995. Effects of needle architecture on warbler habitat selection in a coastal spruce forest. Ecology. 76: 1813–1820. Schwartz, C.W. & Schwartz, E.R. 1951. An ecological reconnaissance of the pheasants of Hawaii. Auk. 68: 281-314. Turner, I.M. 1996. Species loss in fragments of tropical rain forest: a review of the evidence. Journal of Applied Ecology. 33: 200–209. Whelan, C.J. 2001. Foliage structure influences foraging of insectivorous forest birds: an experimental study. Ecology. 82(1): 219–231. Willis, E.O. 1979. The composition of avian communities in remanescent woodlots in southern. Brazil. Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia. 33(1): 1-25.

276

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

INVASION OF GARDEN AVIAN SPECIES IN THE THAR DESERT HIMMAT SINGH Desert Medicine Research Centre, New Pali Road, Jodhpur, Rajasthan. e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: In recent past the diversity of the Thar have changed a lot, more then 350 species of birds have been recorded, human interventions, irrigation and developmental activities and a quest for making desert a conducive place to live have altered avian diversity of this unique and only desert of India. A study was conducted in and around Jodhpur district (25.6o–27.1oE to 71.9o-74.1oN) during 1999 to 2008 showed tremendous change in ecosystem which was found to be result of man made fragmentations have changed overall climatic condition of Jodhpur. A trend of increase in biodiversity in overall basis of the birds, from 123 species of almost 42 families (Bohra & Goyal, 1992) 158 species (Changani, 2002) to 278 species of 63 families in 2008 is considerably high. Introduction of IG canal water supply more is increased as a result lush green trees, and gardens have increased including road side plantations and artificial campuses with well maintained green parks have attracted several avian species to abode in this part of desert. Several dense forest species have been recorded in Jodhpur for the first time yellow footed green pigeon (Rahmani, 1996), Green Munia (Rahmani, 1997, Changani, 2002), Indian Pitta (Singh, 2004), Sikeer Malkoha (Singh, 2005) the introduction of artificial environment and continuous water in the lakes of Jodhpur have increased the bird species from 123 to 278, in a decade the number of garden species have increased from 41 to 105 were as families have increased from 21 to 32, the residential campuses have contributed a lot for congregation of garden species to this part. It appears that the perennial supply of water to this district of western Rajasthan have attracted several forest dwelling species from the Aravallis and Udaipur region of southern Rajasthan where these birds are fare in number. It is perplexing to note that increasing diversity of area with fragmentation shows ecological loss of uniqueness of single ecological zone. Considerable decline in frequency of sighting of crested larks is recorded due to habitat loss, This alteration in landuse is creating pressure on the breeding biology of local birds, invasion of several mesic birds have shared the niche of the existing species. The native fauna needs a lot attention for conserving the uniqueness of the Great Indian Thar Desert will also be replaced in near future which will be a great loss to the unique habitat of the only desert of India . KEY WORDS: Biodiversity, Fragmentation, Urbanization, Desert.

INTRODUCTION Jodhpur, one of the largest districts of Rajasthan state and was once considered as capital of erstwhile state of western Marwar and was founded by Rao Jodha in 1459. It is centrally situated in western region of the state of Rajasthan. Jodhpur have geographical area of about 22850 sq.kms. and contributes a considerable part of the Thar desert (11.6%). The district stretches between 26.17′-26.29′ N & 73°02′-73.03′ E. Being a part of Great Indian Desert its ecological conditions are almost alike i.e. low rainfall (360 mm annually), high wind velocity and high temperature variation throughout the year (5oC to 50oC). The population of Jodhpur is more then 28.81 lacs (Census of India, 2001). Jodhpur is growing in terms of area of development urbanization, resources, business, tourism and construction.

277

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Ecologically Jodhpur have mixture of rocky and sandy plains. Vegetation is sparsely distributed Prosopis cineraria, Salvadora oleoides, S. persica, Acacia senegal and Dactyloctenium aegyptium among trees, Capparis decidua, Calligonum polygonoides, Ziziphus nummularia, Euphorbia caducifolia, Calotropis procera among the shrubs and Eragrostis spp. Aristida adscensionis, Cenchrus biflorus, Cyperus spp., Eleusine spp., Panicum spp., Lasiurus scindicus, Aeluropus lagopoides, are among the grasses. Trees like Azadirachta indica, Mangifera indica and Ficus religosa, F. bengalensis, Delonix regia, Mangifera indica, Karanj Pongamia pinnata and Dalbergia sisoo are planted. In addition to this Prosopis juliflora has invaded to each possible places since it was introduced. In the recent past after introduction of IG canal (Indira Gandhi Canal) there is increase in fresh water supply for the residents as a result of which there is increase in environmental conduciveness for both humans and Animal species. Present communication shows a trend of change in avian species composition from 1992 to 2008. Increase in anthropogenic activities have changed ecological profile of this district a lot recent study on the avian diversity have revealed that the uniqueness of the desert is being greatly compromised due to invasion of species of mesic environment as a result of which pressure on native avian fauna have increased.

METHODOLOGY Observations were made with 8 x 40 and 10 x 50 binoculars and 20x telescope. Gardens, official campuses, resorts, road side plantation, scrub-lands, barren lands and wetlands were included in the study. Data were collected from year 2001 to 2008 the observations were taken throughout the year in different seasons, for present communication part of data is used. Published data from Bohra and Goyal (1992) were used for reference of 1992 species composition. The identification of birds were done using standard (Ali & Ripley 1983; Grimmett et al., 1998). The data were collected in periodical manner at same time i.e. between 6 to 9 am in the morning to avoid any bias and repeated twice in a month. The collected data of a month were pooled for one month. Secondary published recent and past studies were also used for analysis of change in diversity pattern. Margalef’s Richness Index (MRI) (Margalef, 1958) formula:

or

α diversity

was calculated using

(S-1)2 Margalef’s Richness Index (MRI) = --------------InN Where ‘S’ is number of species and N is the total number of individuals in a study site.

RESULTS Several biologists have recorded bird species in the Thar Desert. More than 300 species, different researchers have contributed in updating and documenting avian fauna of desert, Hume (1873, 1878), Barnes (1886, 1891), Adams (1899), Whistler (1938), Ali (1975), Roberts (1991, 1992), Bohra and Goyal (1992), Rahmani (1996a, 1997), Tiwari, (1997) Grimmett et al. (1998), Changani (2002), Sivaperuman et al. (2005), Idris et al. (2009), Singh (2004, 2005 & 2009). These studies included the extension of the Thar from India to Pakistan. 364 species of birds have been reported in a faunal survey by ZSI in 2005 (Sivaperuman et al., 2005). Avian species richness in Jodhpur was about 123 species of 42 families were recorded from Machia Safari Park area (Bohra & Goyal, 1992) and almost 100-125 species but in fair diversity (Prakash, 1988), species number have increased considerably (about 126% increase) during one and a half decades in Jodhpur 278 species of 63 families (Table 1) with α diversity of 7504.59 which is highest among the study years. Species composition of Jodhpur is still lower then overall species the Thar desert about 364 of 63 families (Idris et al., 2009).

278

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert There is a considerable increase in the species of garden and thicket loving birds in Jodhpur (41 species of 21 families to 105 species of 32 families, about 156%) which is directly proportional to the increase in residential areas and artificially developed garden complexes (Table 2). There is also increase in species number of wetland species may be due to introduction IG canal water to the perennial water body i.e. Kaylana lake and due to local protection of village ponds by villagers. The increase of species number of raptorial and scavenging birds (10 species to 20 species) is also directly proportional to the increase in number of prey and habitats. Avian species of plains and scrublands showed very less increase in species count. The increase in number of chats and certain larks were seen in winters near gardens and thickets whereas there was shift observed in distribution of these species towards the peripheral areas of Jodhpur (Table 2). There was no correlation found between rainfall and increasing diversity of avian species in this region.

DISCUSSION In the past avian species of like Larks, Peafowl, Wheatear, Partridges, Sandgrouses, and Coursors, were abundant in Jodhpur. Rare species like Great Indian bustard, Lesser florican and Houbara were also once were found in fare number in this area (Prakash & Ghosh 1964). The scenario have changed recently due to increase in size of urban area from 10km2 to more than 25km2 which resulted merger of peripheral villages in Jodhpur. Introduction of artificially maintained campuses gardens have attracted several mesic avian species from Aravallis, Udaipur-Banswara zones and from Gangetic plain areas. Species like yellow-footed green pigeon (Teron phoenicoptera), Indian pitta (Pitta nipalensis; Singh 2004), Sirkeer malkoha (Phaenicopheaus leschenaultia; Singh 2005) and Green munia (Amandava formosa; Rahmani, 1997; Chhangani, 2002) Grey hornbill (Ocyceros birostris) and several other winter migrating warblers and fly catchers were sited in Jodhpur (Checklist 1). Jodhpur being low rainfall zone water should be a limiting factor, diversity pattern should correlate with rains, but no correlation between species diversity with annual rainfalls shows that there are other causes responsible for increase in diversity then rainfall, may be due to increased water supply of Indira Gandhi Canal (IG Canal) in this area (Fig. 2). The ambiance have changed as water is available in excess then required throughout the year, the excess water is then utilized by inhabitants for maintaining gardens. The Development Authorities, other Govt. and private sectors are using excess water for road side plantations and for developing green areas. Studies have shown that change in desert scenario has occurred due to IG canal water introduction (Rahmani, 1997; Idris et al., 2009). It is perplexing to note that increase in diversity is not a good sign ecologically if it is associated with fragmentations and creation of new habitats (Prakash & Singh, 2001; Singh, 2009). Urbanization is progressing very fast, several villages are now merged in main city. It is evident that density of birds increases from the surrounding areas due to introduction of Urban habitat and as it grows bigger in time its avian composition changes with change in vegetation of its gardens and road side plantations (Graber & Graber 1963, Macarthur 1961,1972, Hooper et al., 1975). Plantation of trees like Neem (Azadirachta indica), Gulmohar (Delonix regia), Mango (Mangifera indica), Karanj (Pongamia pinnata) Sheesham (Dalbergia sisoo ) and Prosopis juliflora have increased considerably instead of native flora like Prosopis cineraria , Salvadora persica, Ziziphus nummularia, Capparis decidua etc. loss of native flora is also a concern for native breeding birds who are dependent on seeds and fruiting of these vegetation. The change have also been observed in fauna other then avian during these day in Jodhpur, Leopard (Panthera pardus) of dense forest appeared twice in this area (Basni , Peelwa villages Jodhpur, State Forest Dept. Report), recently Python (Python molurus) was caught from heart of the city, Chameleon (Chemeleo zeylanicus) is being regularly sited. Before establishment of irrigation in northwestern desert, 80% of rodent fauna throughout the desert was constituted by the Gerbils Gerbillus gleadowi, Tatera indica, Meriones hurrianae. Now Bandicota bengalensis and Millardia meltada have invaded the crops and replacing the gerbils (Prakash, 2001).

279

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Although overall increase in biodiversity is recorded yet considerable decline in frequency of sighting of larks, chats, coursers and other scrubland birds was observed. Due to alteration in landuse pattern there habitats have greatly been destroyed now little continuous patches of scrublands are available for ground loving birds. The modification of environment has created pressure on breeding biology of local birds. Frequency of sighting of common desert loving birds have reduced considerably and sighting of common birds of mesic environment in these areas shows that process of species replacement is initiated. Endemic avifauna like Stoliczka’s bush chat (Saxicola macrorhyncha), Cream-coloured courser (Cursorius cursor) and white naped tit (Parus xanthogenys) are very rarely seen today. Three species of Otidae the great Indian bustard, Lesser florican and Haubara bustard (local migrant) not seen at all around Jodhpur. The habitats of larks have largely been destroyed, and there has been a considerable decrease in the frequency of sighting of the crested lark Galerida cristata, Rufous-tailed finch lark (Ammomanes phoenicurus), Short-toed lark (Calandrella cinerea), Horned lark (Eremophila alpestris) and Eastern calandra lark (Melanocorypha bimaculata), once these were common in the scrubs of Jodhpur. Invasion of several mesic birds have shared the niche of the existing species and replacing them as these species have been provided conduciveness by anthropogenic developmental activities on the other hand there is a destruction of habitats for native species. The native fauna needs a lot attention for conserving the uniqueness of the Great Indian Thar Desert will also be replaced in near future which will be a great loss to the unique habitat of the only desert of India. The impact of urbanization and irrigation on endemic fauna has not been studied so far it is not the issue of diversity increase but as result of this the shifting of grassland birds due to loss of ecological niche. The biological invasion due to fast changing scenario of Jodhpur can undergo irreversible loss of native biodiversity if expansion of the city and uncontrolled anthropogenic activities are not checked.

Table 1. Family-wise species distribution from year 1992-2008. S.No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

Family Podicipedidae Pelecanidae Phalacrocoracidae Anhingidae Ardeidae Ciconiidae Threskiornithidae Phoenicopteridae Anatidae Accipitridae Pandionidae Falconidae Phasianidae Gruidae Rallidae Jacanidae Rostratulidae Charadriidae Scolopacidae Recurvirostridae Bruhinidae Glareolidae Laridae

1992* 4 1 0 0 1 0 2 1 1 0 1 1 0 5 1 2 0 2 5 1 0 1 0

1999-2001 2 3 3 1 8 3 4 2 18 11 1 3 2 3 4 2 1 7 14 2 1 1 7

2005-2006 2 2 3 1 10 3 4 2 18 17 1 3 4 3 4 2 1 8 14 2 2 2 7

2008 2 3 4 1 10 3 4 2 20 20 1 4 4 3 5 2 1 8 17 2 3 3 8 280

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63

Rynchopidae 2 Pteroclididae 0 Columbidae 1 Pisttacidae 2 Cuculidae 1 Tytonidae 5 Strigidae 0 Caprimulgidae 0 Apodidae 1 Alcedindae 2 Meropidae 2 Coraciidae 5 Upupidae 9 Bucerotidae 10 Capitonidae 0 Picidae 0 Pittidae 1 Alaudidae 4 Hirundinidae 2 Motacillidae 1 Campehagidae 0 Pycnonotidae 2 Irenidae 1 Laniidae 7 Turnidae 2 Timillidae 3 Sylviinae 0 Rhipidurinae 10 Paridae 0 Nactariniidae 2 Zosteropidae 0 Emberizinae 1 Fringillidae 9 Estrildidae 5 Passerinae 0 Ploceinae 0 Sturnidae 0 Oriolidae 3 Dicruridae 0 Corvidae 1 Total families 42 Total Species 123 *Data obtained from Bohra & Goyal, 1992 for reference

0 2 5 2 3 0 4 1 1 3 3 1 1 0 2 1 1 7 0 6 1 2 1 3 12 2 7 0 1 1 0 2 0 1 4 1 5 1 1 2 56 193

0 3 5 2 6 0 4 1 2 3 4 1 1 0 2 4 1 8 4 7 2 2 2 3 13 5 7 1 1 1 0 2 0 3 4 2 6 1 1 3 58 232

1 3 7 3 6 1 5 3 2 3 4 2 1 1 3 4 1 11 5 10 2 2 2 4 14 5 15 2 1 1 1 2 1 3 4 2 6 1 1 3 63 278

281

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

Table 2. Grouped habitat wise avian families (1992-2008). GROUPS GARDEN & OTHER BIRDS

SCRUBLAND BIRDS LARKS & CHATS RAPTORS WETLAND BIRDS

Total Families Total Species α diversity (MRI)

1992 21 41 5 11 2 14 1 10 13 47

1999-2001 27 62 4 8 2 19 3 15 20 89

2005-2006 28 81 5 16 2 21 3 21 20 93

42 123 NA

56 193 4164.7

58 232 5257.18

% increase 52.4 156.1 0 63.6 0 78.6 200 150 61.5 123.4

2008 32 105 5 18 2 25 3 25 21 105

63 278 7504.59

50 126

120 1992

1999-2001

2005-2006

LARKS & CHATS

RAPTORS

2008

100 No. of Species

80 60 40 20 0 GARDEN AND OTHER BIRDS

SCRUBLAND BIRDS

WETLAND

Groups

Fig. 1. Habitat wise grouping and change in species from year 1992-2008.

700

300

600

Rainfall in mm

200

400 150 300 100

200

No. of Species

250

500

50

100 0

0 1992 1993

1994 1995 1996

1997 1998

1999 2000 2001 Years

2002 2003

2004 2005 2006

Rainfall

2007 2008 Species

Fig. 2. Rainfall pattern and diversity of birds from year 1992-2008. 282

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Table 3. A checklist of Birds in and around Jodhpur compiled in 2008 (A abundant, C common O occasional, R rare, M migrant, + & - No. likely to increase or decrease resp. S.No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56

Family Podicipedidae Pelecanidae

Phalacrocoracidae

Anhingidae Ardeidae

Ciconiidae

Threskiornithidae

Phoenicopteridae Anatidae

Accipitridae

Common name Great Crested Grebe Little Grebe Dalmatian Pelican Grey back Pelican Spot-billed Pelican Cormorant Little Cormorant Indian Shag Pygmy Cormorant Oriental Darter Cattle egret Grey Heron Large Egret Little Egret Little Green Heron Night Heron Pond Heron Purple Heron Little Bittern Median egret Open billed stork Painted stork White necked stork Black Ibis Glossy Ibis Spoon Bill White Ibis Greater Flamingo Lesser Flamingo Bar-headed Goose Brahminy Duck Common Pochard Common Teal Eurasian Wigeon Gadwall Gargany Teal Grey Teal Lesser whistling teal Mallard Shoveller Spot Bill Tufted Duck White eyed Pochard Cotton Teal Grey lag Geese Northern Pintail Duck Comb Duck Marbled Teal Common Shelduck Black Vulture Black Shoulder Kite Bonellis Hawk Eagle Cinereous Vulture Griffon Vulture Himalyan Griffon Indian Long Billed Vulture

Scientific Name Podiceps cristatus Podiceps ruficollis Pelicanus crispus Pelicanus onocrotalus Pelicanus philipensis Phalacrocorax carbo Phalacrocorax niger Phalacrocorax fuscicollis Phalacrocorax pygmeus Anhinga melanogaster Bubucus ibis Ardea cinerea Ardea alba Egretta garzetta Butorides striatus Nycticorax nycticorax Ardea grayii Ardea purpurea Ixobrychus minutus Mesophoyx intermidia Mycteria oscitans Mycteria leucocephalus Ciconia episcopus Pesudibis papillosa Plegadis falcinellus Platalea leucordia Threskiornis aethiopica Phoenicopterus ruber Phoenicopterus minor Anser indicus Tadorna ferruginea Anas ferina Anas cercca Anas penelope Anas strepera Anas querquedula Anas gibberifrons Dendrocygna javanica Anas platyrhynchos Anas clypeata Anas poecilorhyncha Aythya fuligulanyroca Aythya nyroca Nettapus coromandelianus Anser anser Anse acuta Sarkidiornis melanotos Marmaronetta angustirostris Tadorna tadorna Sarcogyps calvus Elanus caerulens Hieraaetus fasiatus Gyps fulvus Aeggypius monachus Gyps himalayensis Gyps indicus

Status RM C CM O+ O+ C C R R C C O O O R O C O C C O O O R O+ C+ C RM+ RM+ OM+ RM CM O CM CM RM RM CM RM CM+ C+ CM RM R M M M R R R R R RM RM RM O-

283

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115

Pandionidae Falconidae

Phasianidae

Gruidae Gruidae Rallidae

Jacanidae Rostratulidae Charadriidae

Scolopacidae

Recurvirostridae

Marsh Harrier Pale Harrier Pariah Kite Scavenger Vulture Shikra Short toed eagle Sporrow Hawk Steppy Eagle White-backed Vulture Crested serpent eagle Greater Spotted eagle Eastern Imperial eagle Common buzzard Ospery Kestrel Lagger falcon Redheaded Falcon Peregrine Flacon Grey Partridge Grey Quail Indian Peafowl Rain Quail Common Crane Demoiselle Crane Sarus Crane White-breasted Waterhen Coot Indian Moorhen Purple Moorhen Baillon's Crake Bronzewinged Jacana Pheasant tailed Jacana Painted Snipe Kentish Plover Little Ringed Plover Redwatteled Lapwing Sociable Lapwing Curlew Yellow wattle Lapwing Europian Golden Plover Lesser Sand Plover Black Tailed Godwit Spotted Green Shank Common Sandpiper Fantailed Snipe Green Sandpiper Little Stint Marsh Sandpiper Ruff Spotted Red Shank Temminick's Stint Common Red Shank Green Shank Terek sandpiper Wood Sand piper Dunlin Jack snipe Blarr Tailed Godwit Black winged Plover

Circus aeruginosus Circus macrourus Melivs migrans Neophron percnopterous Accipiter badius Circus gallicus Accipiter nisus Rapax nipalensis Gyps bengalensis Spilonis cheela Aquila clanga Aquila heliaca Buteo buteo Pandion haliaetus Falco tinnunculus Biarmicus jugger Falco chicquera Falco peregrinus Francolinus francolinus Corturnix corturnix Pavo cristatus Cortunix coromandelianus Grus grus Anthropoides virgo Grus antigone Amuorornis phoenicurus Fulica atra Gallinula chloropus Porphyrio porphyrio Porzana pusilla Metopidius indicus Hydrophasianus chirurgus Rostratula bengalensis Chardrius mongolus Charadrus dubius Vanellus indicus Vanellus gregarious Numenius arquata Vanellus leucurus Pluvialis apricaria Charadrus mongolus Limosa limosa Tringa nebularia Tringa hypoleucos Gallinago gallinago Tringa ochropus Calionis minuta Tringa stragnatilis Philomachus pugnax Tringa erthyropus Calidris temminickii Tringa totanus Tringa guttifer Xenus cinereus Tringa glareola Calidris alpina Lymnocryptes minimus Limosa lapponica Himantopus himatopus

R R C+ C C+ R R R OR OOR R OM R RM RM C O A C R C+ R C CM C R R O O CM RM OM A R R O M M OM M C RM RM CM M C OM RM M M M M M M OM C

284

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138

Bruhinidae

Glareolidae

Laridae

Pteroclididae

Rynchopidae Columbidae

139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160

Pisttacidae

Cuculidae

Tytonidae Strigidae

Caprimulgidae

Apodidae

161

Apodidae

162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172

Alcedindae

Meropidae

Coraciidae Upupidae Bucerotidae

Pied Avocet Beach Stone plover Stone Cerlew Great Stone Plover Cream colored courser Indian Coursor Small Pratincole Brown Headed Gull Gull-billed Tern Herring Gull Indian River Tern Little Tern Pallas's Gull Whiskered Tern Black Headed Gull Imperial Sandgrouse Spotted Sandgrouse Indian Sandgrouse Indian Skimmer Blue Rock Pigeon Little Brown Dove Red Turtle Dove Ring Dove Yellow Footed Green Pigeon Oriental Turtle Dove Spotted Dove Alexandrine parakeet Rose Ringed Parakeet Plum-headed Parakeet Common Cuckoo Brain fever Bird Crow Pheasant Koel Pied crested Cuckoo Sireer Malkoha Barn Owl Eurasian Eagle Owl Short Eared Owl Spotted Owlet Tawny Wood Owl Mottled Wood Owl Long-tailed Nightjar Franklin's Nightjar Common Nightjar House Swift White Rumped Needleswift Common Kingfisher Lesser Pied Kingfisher White breasted Kingfisher Blue Cheeked Bee-eater Blue tailed Bee Eater Cestnut headed Bee-eater Green Bee-eater Indian Roller Euraisian Roller Hoopoe Grey Hornbill

Recurvirostra avosetta Burhinus magnirostris Burhinus oedicnemus Esacus recurvirostris Cursorius cursor Cursorius coromandelicus Glareola pratincola Larus brunicephalus Gelochelidon nilotica Larus argentatus Sterna aurantia Sterna albifons Larus icthyaetus Chidonias hybridus Larus ridibundus Pterocles orientalis Pterocles senegallus Pterocles exustus Rynchops albicollis Columba livia Streptopelia senegalensis Streptopelia tranquebarica Streptopelia decaota

CM CM CM C RM R RM M RM RM C C CM M RM MR C R A C R C

Teron phoenicoptera

R+

Streptopelia orientalis Streptopelia chinensis Pisttacula eupatria Pisttacula krameri Psittacula cyanocephala Cuculus micropterus Hieococcyx various Centropus sinensis Eudynamus scolopacea Clamator jcobinus Phaenicopheaus leschenaultii Tyto alba Bubo bubo Asio fiammeus Athene brama Strix aluco Strix ocellata Carimulus macurus Carimulus affinis Carimulus asiaticus Apus affinis

R C R A R R R C A RM R C R R C R R O+ O+ O+ C

Zoonavena sylvatica

C

Alcedo attis Cryel rudius Halcyon smyrnensis Merops supersilosus Merops philippinus Merops leschnulti Merops orientalis Coracias bengalensis Coracias garrulus Upupa epops Ocyceros birostris

OR C C R R C CM M OR

285

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 173 174 175

Capitonidae

176

Picidae

177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228

Pittidae Alaudidae

Hirundinidae

Motacillidae

Campehagidae Pycnonotidae Irenidae Laniidae

Turdinae

Blue Throated Barbet Crimson breasted Barbet Crimson throated Barbet Yellow-fronted Pied Woodpecker Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker Lesser Flame-backed Woodpecker Wryneck Indian Pitta Singing Bush Lark Greater Hoopoe Lark Eastern Skylark Ashy-crowned Finch Lark Crested Lark Eastern Calandra Lark Horned Lark Rufous tailed Finch Lark Short-toed Lark Sykes's Crested Lark Eurasian Sky lark Dusky Crag Martin Plain Sand Martin Wire-tailed Swallow Streaked-throated Swallow Common Swallow Brown Rock Pipit Grey Wagtail Large Pied Wagtail Tawny Pipit Yellow Wagtail Yellow headed Wagtail Masked wagtail Citrine Wagtail Water Pipit Peddy field Pipit Common Wood Shrike Grey Minivet Redvented Bulbul White Cheeked Bulbul Common Iora Marsall's Iora Grey Shrike Rufousbacked Shrike Pale brown Shrike Bay backed Shrike Black Redstart Bluethroat Brown Rock Chat Desert Wheatear Indian Robin Isabelline Chat Pied Bush Chat Pied wheatear Red-winged Bush Chat Rufous Chat Rufous-tailed Chat Stolizka's Bush Chat

Megalaima asiatica Megalaima haemecephala Megalaima rubicapilla

R O O

Picodides mahrathensis

R

Dendrocopos canicapillus

R

Dinopium bengalensis

R

Jynx torquilla Pitta nipalensis Eremopterix grisea Alaemon alaudipes Alpauda gulgula Eremopterix grisea Galerida cristata Melanocorypha bimaculata Eremophila alpestris Ammomanes phoenicurus Calandrella cinerea Galerida deva Alauda arvnsis Hurindo concolor Riparia paludicola Hirundo smithii Hirundo fluvicola Hirundo rustica Anthus similes Motacilla cinerea Motacilla maderespatensis Anthus campestris Motacilla falva Motacilla melanogrisea Motacilla alba Motacilla citreola Anthus spinoletta Anthus rufulus Tephrodornis pondicerianus Pericrocotus cinamomeus Pyconotus lecogenys Pycnonotus cafer Aegithina tiphia Aegeithina nigolutea Lanius excubitor Lanius schach lanius collurio Lanius vittatus Phoenicurus ochruros Erithacus svecicus Cercomela fusca Oenanthe deserti Saxicoloides fulicata Oenanthe isabellina Saxicola caprata Oenanthe pleschanka Mirafera erythroptera Erythropygia galactotes Oenanthe xanthoprymna Saxicola macrorhyrncha

R R R R R C R C R O CR C C C C C C R CM R+ R OM OM M M M R O+ R A+ C+ R R O+ O+ R O O O O O+ C+ R+ R M O O R R-

286

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278

Timillidae

Sylviinae

Rhipidurinae Paridae Nactariniidae Zosteropidae Emberizinae Fringillidae Estrildidae

Passerinae

Ploceinae Sturnidae

Oriolidae Dicruridae Corvidae

Variable Wheatear Common Stone Chat Common Babbler Jungle Babbler Large Grey Babbler Straited Babbler Streaked-Wern Warbler Ashy wern warbler European Chiff-chaff Indian Great Reed Warbler Lesser White throat Orphean Warbler Plain Wren-warbler Tailor Bird Graceful Prinia Plain Prinia Franklin's Prinia Booted Warbler Blyth's Reed warbler Plain leaf warbler Desert Warbler Greater White throat White browed Fantailed Fly-catcher Grey Headed Flycatcher White Naped Tit Purple Sunbird Oreiental White Eye Grey necked Bunting Striolated Bunting Common Rose Finch Spotted munia Green Munia White throated Munia House Sparrow Sind sparrow Spanish sparrow Yellow Throated Sparrow Baya weaver Streaked Weaver Bank Myna Brahminy Starling Common Myna Jungle Myna Rosy Starling Common Starling Golden Oriole Black Drongo House Crow Indian Tree Pie Raven

Oenanthe picata Saxicola tarquata Turdoides maicolmi Turdoides striatus Turdoides caudatus Turdoides earlei Napothera brevicaudata Prinia socialis Phylloscops collybita Acrocephalus stentoreus Sylvia curruca Sylivia hortensis Prinia subflava Orthotomus sutorius Prinia gracilis Prinia inornata Prinia hogsonii Hilppolais caligata Acrocephalus dumetorum Phylloscops neglectus Sylivia nana Sylvia communis

O+ O A+ VR A+ R R C CM R OM O C+ C+ OM OM OM OM OM OM OM OM

Rhipidura aureola

R+

Culicicapa ceylonensis Parus xanthogenys Nectarinia asiatica Zosterops palpebrosus Emberiza buchanani Emberiza Striolata Carpodacus erythrinus lonchura punctulata Amandava formosa Lonchura malabarica Passsar domesticus Passer pyrrhonotus Passer hispaniolensis Petronia xanthcollis Ploceus philippinus Ploceus manyar Acridotheres ginginianus Sturnus pagodarum Acridotheres tristis Acridothrese fuscus Sturnus roseus Sturnus vulgaris Oriolus oriolus Dicrurus adsimilis Crovus splendens Dendroclitta vagabunda Crovus corax

R+ R A R RM RM R R R C+ A R RM R C+ R C+ C A R AM RM R+ O+ A R R+

REFERENCES Adam, A. 1899. Western Rajasthan State, Taylor and Francis, London. Ali, S. 1975. On some birds of Indian desert 423-431 in R. K. Gupta and I . Prakash, eds. Environmental Analysis of the Thar Desert English Book Depot, Dehradun.Pp 423-431. Ali, S. and Ripley, S.D. 1983. Compact handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

287

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Barnes, H. E.1886. Birds nesting in Rajputana. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 1: 38-62. Barnes, H. E. 1891. Nesting in western India. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 6: 1-25. Bohra, H. C. and Goyal, S. P. 1992 Checklist of Birds of Machia Safari Desert Park Jodhpur (Rajasthan) Pao, Vol 30 Nos. 1&2, pp. 87-97. Changani, A. K. 2002, Avifauna in and around Jodhpur city, Rajasthan, Newsletter for bird watchers, 42(2): 24-26. Graber, R. and Graber J. W. 1963. A comparative study of bird populations in Illinois, 1906-l 909 and 1956-1958. Bull. Ill. Nat. Hist. Surv. 28: 383-528. Grimmet R., Inskipp C and Inskipp T. 1998. Birds of the Indian subcontinent. Christopher Helm. London. Hooper R. G., Smith E. F., Crawford, H. S. Mc Ginnes S. and Walker V. J. 1975. Nesting bird populations in a new town. Wildl. Sot. Bull. 3: 111-l 18. Hume, A. O. 1878. The Birds of a Drought. Ibid, 7: 52-68. Hume,A. O. 1873. Contribution to the ornithology of India: Sindh II Stray Feathers, 1: 44-290. M. Idris, Singh P and Johari S 2009 Impact Assessment of the Indira Gandhi Canal on the Avifauna of the Thar Desert, In: Sivaperuman C. , Baqri, Q. H. Ramaswamy G. and Naseema M.(eds) Faunal Ecology and Conservation of the Great Indian Desert. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 119-134. Macarthur, R. H, and Macarthur, J. W. 1961. On bird species diversity. Ecology, 42: 594-598. Macarthur, R. H. 1972. Geographical ecology: patterns in the distribution of species. Harper and Row, New York. Margalef, F. R. 1958. Information theory in ecology. Gen. syst., 3: 36-71. Prakash, I. 2001, Biological Invasion and loss of Endemic Biodiversity in the the Thar desert, Resonance, 3: 76-85. Prakash I 1986 Faunal Diversity of The Thar Desert Scientific Publisher, Jodhpur. pp. 1-114. Prakash I.1981a Wildlife Conservation in Thar. Arid Land Newslett USA, 14: 2-8. Prakash, I 1988 (ed) Desert Ecology. Scientific Publisher, Jodhpur. Prakash, I and Ghosh P. K. 1964 The Great Indian Bustard breeding in Rajasthan. Ibid, 3: 2. Prakash, I. Singh H. 2001. Composition and species diversity of small mammals in the hilly tracts of Southeastern Rajasthan. Tropical Ecology., 42(1): 25-33. Rahmani A. R. 1996a. Changing avifauna of The Thar Desert In: A. K. Ghosh, Q. H. Baqri and I. Prakash (eds) Faunal Diversity of the Thar Desert. Scientific Publisher. pp. 307-324. Rahmani, A. R. 1997. Wildlife in the Thar. W.W. F. New Delhi, 1-100. Rahmani, A. R. and Soni R. G. 1997. Avifaunal changes in the Indian Thar desert J. Arid Env., 36: 687-703. Roberts T. J. 1991–1992 The Birds of Pakistan. 2 Vol. Oxford University Press, Karachi. Sharma S. K. 2001, Impact of Indira Gandhi Canal on the desert avifauna of Rajasthan. Report submitted to the ministry of Environmental and forest, GOI New Delhi. 459pp. Singh H. 2005 “Sighting of Sirkeer Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus leschenaultii) in the Thar Desert”. Zoo print. pp. 1903. Singh H. 2009 Changing Avian Diversity in Jodhpur, Western Rajasthan, In: Sivaperuman C. , Baqri, Q. H. Ramaswamy G. and Naseema M.(eds) Faunal Ecology and Conservation of the Great Indian Desert. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 99-112. Singh, H. 2004. Indian Pitta Pitta brachyura in the Thar Desert. Journal of Bombay Natural History Society. Sivaperuman C. Sanjeev Kumar and Rathore N. S. 2004, Avifauna of Desert Regional station, Zoological Survey India. Campus, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, Zoo’s Print Journal. 19(12): 17181719. Tiwari, J. K. 1997. Status distribution survey of white- nape tit in Rajasthan and Gujarat (Mimeo 1-298). Whistler H. 1938, The Ornithological survey of Jodhpur State J. Bombay. Nat. Hist. Soc. 40: 213-235.

288

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

HUMAN IMPACTS ON THE AVIAN DIVERSITY AT ABHEDA VEENA CHOURASIA Department of Zoology, Government P.G. College, Kota. Correspondence Address: 893, Basant Vihar, Kota- 324009, Rajasthan. e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: Biodiversity is the number of different species and their relative frequencies. During the past few centuries, with the increase in human population diversity has come under tremendous pressure. In the same way human activities have affected the avian diversity of Abheda pond at Kota; Rajasthan. It harbors over one hundred thirty avian species-both resident and migratory. The pond has luxuriant vegetation along its banks making it an ideal habitat for all types of birds. During present study 90 resident, 33 migratory and 9 local migrants birds species were recorded, out of which 38 species were categorized as very rare, 54 rare, 26 common and 14 were very common. These numbers are less than previous reporting. The main causes behind the decline in the number of birds are water pollution, poaching and other anthropogenic activities. Recently Abheda Mahal and the garden have been renovated and developed as a tourist spot. The activities of the tourists and the pilgrims of Karni Mata Mandir have also disturbed the ecology of Abheda. Declaration of Abheda as ‘Protected Area’ may solve many human generated problems. At the same time involvement of local people in the conservation programmes may help in the protection of the habitat of birds, so that it may not be lost forever. KEY WORDS: Avian diversity, Ecosystem stress, Wetlands of Hadoti.

INTRODUCTION The skyrocketing human population has exploited their surrounding for resources they need to survive. The indicators and principles for biodiversity managements are: ecosystem integrity, ecosystem health, sustainability and resilience. Birds have long been used to provide early warnings of environmental problems. They are the best biodiversity indicators, as they are very sensitive to the changes in the ecosystem, are high in the food chain and easy to survey. The present study is undertaken to prepare a checklist of the birds at Abheda and to find their abundance status. It also aims to determine the effect of increasing anthropogenic activity on the avian biodiversity and develop recommendations to save it.

METHODOLOGY Study Area Abheda pond was constructed by Prince Dheerdeh of Bundi State to attract wildlife, later in 18th century a three storeyed palace was built at its bank. It is located near Nanta village, 7 KM south-west of Kota city, surrounded by lush green vegetation. The pond is 10 feet deep with an approximate area of 25 hectares; out of which nearly 15 hectares remain submerged in water throughout the year. It supports various aquatic and marshland flora including submerged, emergent free floating and amphibious plants. There is a garden on its northern side with famous Karni Mata temple with a rich variety of trees, shrubs and grasses, making it an ideal habitat for all the types of birds. It also serve as a halt for migratory birds going to nearby water bodies like Udpuria, Palaikala, Dobra, Ummedganj, Alniya,Raontha,Chambal River and its canals.

Methods The avian diversity at Ahera pond was studied by Hadoti Naturalist Society (HNS) during 1994-2000. The avian diversity was again surveyed by the author in 2005-09. The birds were

289

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert identified with the help of the guide ‘The Book of Indian Birds’ using 10 X 50 binoculars for specific details. The richness and abundance of the birds was measured by ‘point count’ method. The results of the study were compared with the previous studies. According to the observed number, the birds were categorized into very common, common, rare and very rare.

OBSERVATIONS There was a decline in the number of birds, yet there is no major change in the species diversity. The birds observed during the study and their status is given in the Table-1.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION In the present study 132 species of birds were recorded belonging to 43 families. Anatids were largest in number followed by the members of family Ardeidae and Rallidae. Birds of family Accipitidae locally move to other place to utilize the resources available there. Some of the birds which were not seen, but recorded in the earlier studies were Sarus crane, Blue tailed bee-eater, White throated munia, King vulture, Greenshank and Yellow throated sparrow. The main causes of decline in the number of birds may be ascribed to water pollution, illegal poaching of birds, fishing and other anthropogenic activities. People from adjoining village use the pond for washing and bathing (Fig. 1).

A

B

C

290

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

D

E

F

G

Fig. 1. A. Abhera Pond & Palace; B. Water Pollution; C. Illegal Fishing; D & E. Religious Feast; F. Washing & Bathing; G. Thick Growth of Vegetation The pond has thick growth of Nympheae, which reduces the availability of space for swimmer birds and also the stem of it is collected by the natives to be sold in the market. The famous Nanta Devi Temple in the garden is also a cause of disturbance to birds, as the pilgrims organize religious feast (kachchi rasoi) and make use of fire. Whistling Teals, Patridges and Quails are declining in number due to rampant hunting. The Abheda palace has been developed as picnic and tourist spot, which had adversely affected the ecology of the place. The water of Abheda is static and is becoming polluted affecting the local birds. Table 1. Avian Fauna of Abheda Pond Species 1. Family PODICIPEDIDAE 1. Tachybaptus ruficollis 2. Family PELECANIDAE 2. Pelecanus onocrtlalus 3. Family PHALACROCORACIDAE 3. Phalacrocrax niger 4. Phalacrocrax carbo 4. Family ANHINGIDAE 5. Anhinga melanogaster 5. Family ARDEIDAE 6. Bubulcus ibis 7. Egretta garzetta 8. Egretta intermedia 9. Ardea purpurea 10. Ardea cinerea 11. Ardeola grayii 12. Nycticorax nycticorax 6. Family CICONIIDAE 13. Mycteria leucocephala 14. Anastomus oscitans 15. Ciconia ciconia

Common Name Grebes Little Grebe Pelicans Rosy or White Pelican Cormorants Little Cormorant Great Cormorant Darters Darter or Snake Bird Herons and Egrets Cattle Egret Little Egret Median Egret Purple Heron Grey Heron Paddy Bird or Pond Heron Night Heron Stroks Painted Stork Open Bill Stork White Stork

Abundance Status

Residential Status

B

RM

C

M

B C

R R

B

M

A A A C C B C

R R R R R R R

B C D

R R R

291

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Species 7. Family THRESKIOMITHIDAE 16. Threskiornis aethiopica 17. Plegadis falcinellus 18. Pseudibis papillosa 19. Platalea leucocorodia 8. Family PHOENICOPTERIDAE 20. Phoenicopterus roseus 9. Family ANATIDAE 21. Anser anser 22. Anser indicus 23. Tadorna ferruginea

10. 11.

12. 13.

14. 15.

16.

24. Sarkidiornis melanotos 25. Dendrocygna javanica 26. Anas crecca 27. Anas acuta 28. Anas poecilorhyncha 29. Anas penelope 30. Anas clypeata 31. Anas querquedula 32. Rhodonessa ruffina 33 Aythya ferina 34. Aythya fuligula 35. Nettapus coromandelianus Family PANDIONIDAE 36 Pandion haliaetus Family ACCIPITRIDAE 37. Elanus caeruleus 38. Pernis ptilorhyncus 39. Accipiter badius 40. Aquila vindhiana 41. Circus aeruginosus 42. Neophron percnopterus 43. Gyps indicus 44. Gyps bengalensis Family PHASIANIDAE 45. Perdicula asiatica Family RALLIDAE 46. Gallinula chloropus 47. Porphyrio porphyrio 48. Fulica atra 49. Gallus gallus 50. Pavo cristatus Family JACANIDAE 51. Metopidicus indicus Family CHARADRIIDAE 52. Vanellus indicus 53. Burhinus oedicnemus 54. Esacus magnirostris 55. Charadrius dubius Family SCOLOPACIDAE 56. 57. 58. 59. 60.

Tringa stagnatilis Tringa glareola Tringa hypoleucos Philomachus pugnax Rostratula benghalensis

Common Name Ibises and Spoonbills White Ibis Glossy Ibis Black Ibis Spoonbill Flamingos Greater Flamingo Geese and Ducks Greylag Goose Bar-headed Goose Ruddy Shellduck or Brahminy Duck Nakta or Combduck Lesser Whistling Teal Common Teal Pintail Spot Bill Wigeon Shoveler Garganey Red-crested Pochard Common Pochard Tufted Pochard Cotton Teal Ospreys Osprey Hawks Black-winged Kite Oriental Honey Buzzard Shikra Twany Eagle Marsh-harrier White Scavanger Vulture Indian Longbilled Vulture Indian Whitebacked Vulture Pheasants Jungle Bush Quail Moorhens and Coots Indian Moorhen Purple Moorhen Common Coot Red Jungle Fowl Peafowl Jacanas Bronzewinged Jacana Plovers and Lapwings Redwattled Lapwing Stone Curlew Stone Plover Little Ringed Plover Sandpipers, Stints, Snipes, Godwits & Curlews Marsh Sandpiper Wood Sandpiper Common Sandpiper Ruff (& Reev) Painted Snipe

Abundance Status

Residential Status

C C C C

R R R R

C

M

D D C

M M M

C B B C C D D C D B C C

M R M M R M M M M M M M

D

M

D D D D D D B C

R R R R RM RM RM RM

C

R

B B A D B

R R M R R

B

R

B D C C

R R R R

C C C C C

R M M M R

292

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Species 61. Tringa totanus 17. Family RECURVIROSTRIDAE 62. Himantopus himantopus 63. Recurvirostra avosetta 18. Family LARIDAE 64. Larus brunnicephalus 65. Larus ridibundus 66. Sterna aurantia 67. Sterna albifrons 68. Childonias hybridus 69. Rynchops albicollis 19. Family CULUMBIDAE 71. Streptopelia chinensis 72. Streptopelia tranquebarica 73. Streptopelia senegalensis 74. Treron phoenicoptera 20. Family PSITTACIDAE 75. Psittacula krameri 76. Psittacula eupatria 77. Psittacula cyanocephala 21. Family CUCULIDAE

22. 23.

24.

25. 26. 27. 28. 29.

30. 31.

32.

33.

78. Cuculus micropterus 79. Surniculus lugubris 80. Centropus sinensis 81. Eudynamys scolopacea Family TYTONIDAE 82. Tyto alba Family STRIGIDAE 83. Glaucidium radiatum 84. Athene brama Family ALCEDINIDAE 85. Ceryle rudis 86. Alcedo atthis 87. Halcyon smyrnensis Family MEROPIDAE 88. Merops orientalis CORCACIIDAE 89. Coracias beghalensis UPUPIDAE 90. Upupa epops BUCEROTIDAE 91. Tokus birostris Family PICIDAE 92. Chrysocolaptes festivus 93. Picus chlorolophus Family PITTIDAE 94. Pitta brachyura Family ALAUDIDAE 95. Mirafra assamica 96. Galerida cristata Family HIRUNDINIDAE 97. Hirundo smithii 98. Hirundo rustica 99. Hirundo fluvicola Family ORIOLIDAE 100. Oriolus oriolus

Common Name Redshank Stilts and Avocets Black-winged Stilt Avocet Gulls and Terns Brown-headed Gull Black-headed Gull River Tern Little Tern Indian Whiskered Tern Indian Skimmer Pigeons and Doves Spotted Dove Red Turtle Dove Little Brown Dove Common Green Pigeon Parrots Rose Ringed Parakeet Alexdendria Blossomheaded Parakeet Cuckoos, Roadrunners and Anis Cuckoo Indian Drongo Crow-Pheasant or Coucal Koel Barn Owls Barn Owls Typical Owl Barred Jungle Owlet Spotted Owlet Kingfishers Pied Kingfisher Small Blue Kingfisher Whitebreasted Kingfisher Bee-eaters Little Green Bee Eater Rollers Roller or Blue Jay Hoopoe Hoopoe Hornbills Indian Grey Hornbill Woodpeckers Blackbacked Woodpecker Small Yellownaped Woodpecker Pittas Indian Pitta Larks Bush Lark Crested Lark Swallows Wire-tailed Swallow Swallow Indian Cliff Swallow Orioles and Figbirds Golden Oriole

Abundance Status C

Residential Status M

A D

R RM

C C C C D D

M M M M M M

B B C D

R R R R

B D C

R R R

A A C B

R R R R

D

R

C C

R R

C D D

R R R

D

R

C

R

D

R

C

R

D D

R R

C

RM

C C

M M

D B B

R R R

D

RM

293

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Species 34. Family DICRURIDAE 101. Dicrurus adsimilis 35. Family STURNIDAE 102. Sturnus pogodarum 103. Sturnus contra 104. Acridotheres tristis 105. Acridotheres ginginianus

Common Name Drongos Black Drongo or King Crow Starlings andMyna Brahminy Myna or Black-headed Myna Pied Myna Indian Myna Bank Myna

Abundance Status

Residential Status

C

R

A

R

A A A

R R R

C D D

R R R

36. Family CORVIDAE 106. Corvus splendens 107. Corvus macrorhynchos 108. Dendrocitta vagabunda 37. Family CAMPEPHAGIDAE

Jays and Crows House Crow Jungle Crow Tree-pie Shrikes

109. Lanius excubitor 110. Tephrodornis pondicerianus 38. Family PYCNONOTIDAE 111. Pycononatus cafer 39. Family MUSCICAPIDAE Sub-family Timailnae 112. Turdoides caudatus 113. Turdoides striatus 114. Turdoides malcolmi Sub-family Muscicapinae 115. Terpsiphone paradisi Sub-family Sylviinae 116. Prinia sylvatica 117. Acrocephalus stentoreus 118. Orthotomus sutorius Sub-family Turdinae 119.Copsychus saularis 120. Saxicoloides fulicatus 40. Family PARIDAE 121. Parus major 41. Family MOTACILLIDAE 122. Motacilla indica 123. Motacilla flava 124. Motacilla cinerea 42. Family NECTARINIIDAE 125. Nectarinia minima 126. Nectarinia asiatica 43. Super-Family PLOCEIDAE Sub-family Passerinae 127. Passer domesticus 128. Passer hispanialensis Sub-family Ploceinae 129. Ploceus philippinus Sub-family Estrildinae 130. Estrilda amandava 131. Lanchura malacca 132. Melophus lathami Abundance Status: A= Very Common, B= Common, Migrant, RM= Resident Migrant.

Grey Shrike Common Wood Shrike Bulbuls Red Vented Bulbul Kinglets & Thrushes

C D

R R

A

R

Common Babbler Jungle Babbler Large Grey Babbler

C C D

R R R

Paradise Flycatcher

D

RM

Jungle Wren-Warbler Indian Great Reed Warbler Tailor Bird

C D D

R R R

Magpie Robin Indian Robin Chickadees & Titmice Grey Tit Pipits and Wagtails Forest Wagtail Yellow Wagtail Grey Wagtail Sunbird Small Sunbird Purple Sunbird Weavers and Whydahs

B B

R R

C

R

C D D

M M M

A B

R R

House Sparrow Spanish Sparrow

A B

R M

Baya Weaver

B

R

Red Munia or Avadavat C R Blackheaded Munia C R Crested Bunting C R C = Rare, D= Very Rare, Residential Status: R= Resident, M=

Conservation measurements are being taken by Nature clubs, Forest Department and other such societies. The steps which can be taken to conserve the biodiversity are- involvement of 294

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert local people in the conservation programmes, creating awareness towards conservation, organization of bird-watching programmes and encouraging children and local people to identify more number of birds. Strong vigilance against poaching and declaration of Abheda as ‘Protected Area’ is also recommended. If these conservation strategies are adopted along with education and awareness programmes, there is no doubt that the avian diversity of Abhera will be conserved.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The author is thankful to Dr. Jatinder Kaur, member HNS and A.H. Zaidi, Nature photographer and member HNS.

REFERENCES Ali, S. (1996). The Book of Indian Birds. 12th edition BNHS, Oxford University Press, Mumbai. Ali, S. and Ripley, S. D. (1983). Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan, Oxford University Press, New Delhi. Kaur, J. (2009) Proposal for setting up of ‘Ummedganj Pakshi Vihar Conservation Reserve’ in Kota. Detailed project submitted to ‘Pakshi Vihar Committee’, Kota. Manakadan, R. and Pittie, A. (2001). Standardized common and scientific names of the Birds of the Indian subcontinent, Buceros. 6(1): 1-37. Pittie, A. and A. Robertson (1993). Nomenclature of birds of Indian subcontinent- A review of some changes taking place. Ornithological Society of India, Banglore. Vyas, R. (1998). Chambal River Expedition, Wildlife Report, Unpublished.

295

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN INDOOR REARING OF MUGA SILKWORM, Antheraea assamensis Helfer (LEPIDOPTERA: SATURNIIDAE) HIMANGSHU BARMAN* AND RAJESH KUMAR Central Muga Eri Res. & Training Institute, Central Silk Board, Lahdoigarh, Assam. email: *[email protected] ABSTRACT: Muga (Antheraea assamensis Helfer) is a purely traditional, outdoor rearing practice by farmers of Assam and its neighboring states. Environmental factors affecting the muga indoor rearing i.e. temperature and humidity, host plant quality; disease and insects have been discussed in the manuscript. KEY WORDS: Antheraea assamensis, environmental factors, disease, insect pests.

INTRODUCTION Muga (Antheraea assamensis Helfer) is a purely traditional, outdoor rearing practice by farmers of Assam and its neighboring states. Success of muga culture entirely depends on environmental stimuli as a result of which several seasonal crops with dissimilar crop yield are exhibited i.e. Jurua (Dec.-Jan.), Chatua (Feb.-March), Jethua (April-May), Aherua (June-July), Bhodia (Aug.-Sept.) and Kotia (Oct.-Nov.). This lepidopteran insect has been surviving under varied environmental stimuli throughout the year. Although muga silkworm can survive such changed stimuli their survival percentage is quite different in each season. Being exposed to natural environment the outdoor muga culture practice encounter lots of problems right from brushing to spinning of cocoons. Outdoor silkworm larvae are invariably exposed to nature’s vagaries such as seasonal climate change, rainfall, strong wind, and soaring temperature besides a good number of pests and predators; and also disease pathogens inflecting heavy loss particularly at early three instars. Being very sensitive to drugs and pesticides their use in curative measure is not possible to manage the pathogens and pests. Only prophylactic measures are adopted for their management that too becomes fruitless as cross infestation and infection by pests and pathogens respectively are ease in open conditions. Once indoor rearing will become operational most of these problems cannot affect muga industry. Thus, it has been seriously taken the indoor rearing of muga silkworm into consideration in country’s silk industry. If once it becomes possible, sericulture industry of India will get new momentum just jumping in boost of muga silk production. Suitable indoor rearing practices of muga will definitely solve so many shortcomings of effective muga silkworm rearing now incurring by the industry. Since long back attempts has been made by several scientists to develop suitable devices for indoor rearing of muga silkworm. But unfortunately none of them got fully successful in their attempts. Still suitable tools and package of practices of this type of rearing are not coming into force at hand of farmers and government agencies. Reasons behind failure of all previous sincere efforts to develop suitable indoor rearing practice of muga silkworm culture may be discussed under following heads.

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AFFECTING THE MUGA INDOOR REARING Temperature and humidity: In natural conditions, environmental factors primarily atmospheric temperature and RH determine the fait of muga silkworm culture. Having specific selectivity to environment, Antheraea assamensis has geographically isolated only in north eastern region of India. As multivoltine this silkworm experiences a wide range of temperature (12-37°C) and RH (59-92%) during different climatic seasons throughout the year and their response to temperature and RH are reflected in wide differential cocoon yield. Temperature range 296

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert between 25 to 30°C is suitable for muga silkworm rearing. Above 30°C temperature and very low temperature hamper growth and enhance the mortality (Mathur et al., 2003). Similarly very high RH and low RH hamper growth and development. Relative humidity between 69 to 83% is congenial for healthy growth and development of muga silkworm. So, a cost effective rearing house to maintain optimum temperature and RH throughout all crop seasons is still not developed that can be affordable by farmers. However, such a rearing house is possible by applying different modern electric devices, but the economy factor is not satisfactory and affordable by farmers. Acclimatization: In indoor rearing house the inside temperature always shows a temperature difference of 4-5°C than its outdoor counterpart. At the time of transfer to outdoor on tree at 3rd/4th/5th instar (whatsoever it may be) the larvae experience a sudden change in temperature raise which they perceive a negative stimuli to their normal physiological body activities including feeding. Another important factor is the sunlight. While in indoor conditions the larvae never experience sunlight burning by their skins. After moult their skins are very soft and are very much susceptible for any short of injury. Transferring to outdoor tree their skins perceive drastic high sunlight intensity in comparison to zero intensity in indoor environment. To avoid all these difficulties complete indoor rearing until spinning is also not possible due to acquit shortage of leaf food as detached leaf retain required moisture only for short period. Therefore, acclimatization of transferring larvae is very important so that the larvae cannot get negative reaction in outdoor environment.

HOST PLANT QUALITY Leaf water content: A major hindrance in success of indoor rearing of muga silkworm culture is rapid continuous depletion of water content in detached leaf of food plant. Water requirement of larval body is achieved along with leaf food. Sufficient water content in leaf food essentially augments for effective digestion of feed. Depletion in leaf water content also results in low rate of food ingestion. Thus the nutrition status of larvae on detach food plant twigs is always low than outdoor tree feeding. Frequent replacement of twigs with fresh ones makes the worm weak and injured as during each time replacement fresh manual brushing is required. Once this problem is solved conveniently, 80% success may assume in muga indoor rearing (Figs. 1-2).

LOCOMOTION OF LARVAE Antheraea assamensis Helfer is a semi-domesticated silkworm. Still after passing generation after generation through more than 2000 years in human care this silkworm has been exhibiting their wild nature. During rearing in outdoor conditions on tree they perform different types of locomotion covering entire tree. Presently practiced indoor rearing devices do not facilitate such movement. Such type of confinement in very limited area is not conducive for normal development and growth of muga silkworm in indoor rearing practices. It is felt indoor rearing devices should be designed in such a manner so that maximum movement of the larvae is possible. Diseases: Like outdoor rearing of muga silkworm indoor rearing also encounter 25 to 30% loss due to bacterial flacherie. These disease pathogens (Bacillus spp) transmit by air and stress conditions like unfavorable temperature and humidity, abnormal nutrition promote the disease incidence as the pathogen may multiply in the gut to large number. In indoor rearing of mugaworm, larvae show irregularities in size and feeding behavior after third moult. Second and third instar larvae are more prone to flacherie infection. Infected larvae become smaller in size due to stunted growth by malnutrition and also exhibit irregularities in moulting. If a suitable rearing house is not come into force in indoor rearing of muga that help in maintaining optimum temperature and RH, it is quite difficult to manage flacherie. Moreover, irregular and low rate of feeding due to leaf moisture loss by detached leaf used further help the pathogen to intensify its infection. Through supplemented food and leaf moisture retaining technique may enhance the nutritive value and leaf feeding rate.

297

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Insect Pests: Although pest infestation incidence is remarkably low under indoor rearing condition, certain insect pest particularly Apanteles sp. (Fig. 3) has been found to infest indoor muga crop. Apanteles sp. is a predator on several Lepidopteron insect including Antheraea assamensis Helfer. Muga crop in indoor is usually infested by Apanteles sp. at second and third instar and, infested larvae become stunted, weak and less locomotive, but still remain feeding leaf until predator’s larvae come out of their body and form cocoons in group over it. Based on the above study, it is recommended that the muga silkworm (A. assamensis Helfer) indoor rearing needs to develop for monitoring the insect pests and diseases; improvement in host plant quality; and maintaining the temperature & humidity. These environmental factors are required for enhancement of muga indoor rearing.

1

2

3 Figs. 1. Muga indoor rearing cages, 2. IInd instar of muga silkworm feeding on leaves in indoor rearing condition, 3. IInd instar parasitized by Apenteles sp. in indoor rearing condition

298

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT It is great pleasure on part of us to acknowledge ever folding thanks to Dr. R. Chakravorty, then Director, CMERTI, Central Silk Board, M/O Textiles, Govt. of India, Lahdoigarh for his encouragement on indoor rearing of Muga silkworm research and splendid help in successfully completing this work.

REFERENCES Bhuya, N., Borah, B. R., Barah, A. and Sengupta, A. K. 1990-91. Indoor rearing Muga silkworm under specialized conditions for mass rearing. Ann. Rep. RMRS, Boko. pp. 24-26. Das, K., Barah, A., Das. R. and Chakravorty, R. 2004. Oviposition behavior and egg characters of Muga silkworm Antheraea assamensis Helfer (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) during different seasons. National workshop on Muga silkworm: Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology to improve silk production. RRL, 18-19 Nov. pp. 117-122. Hazarika, L. K., Kataky, A. and Bhuyan, M. 2004. A note on Muga silkworm and indoor rearing of its counterpart. 1st Nat. Semi. On Muga silkworm Biochem., Molecular Biol. & Biotechnology to improve silk production. Org. by RRL, Jorhat, Assam; Nov. 18-19, Abstract, pp 35. Muga Silkworm: Biochemistry, Biotechnology and Molecular Biology. pp. 75-78. Raja Ram, S. and Sinha, B., R. R. P. 2004. Indoor rearing of Muga Silkworm. National Workshop on Potential & Strategies for Sustainable Development of Vanya Silk in the Himalayan States. Nov. 8-9 (2004); pp. 224-226. Org. by Directorate of Seri. Govt. of Uttaranchal, Premnagar Dehradun. Sengupta, A. K., Siddique, A. A., Barah, A. and Negi, B. K. 1992: Improved technologies for Muga silkworm rearing, a development perspective. Indian Silk, 31(5): 21-24. Singh, P. K. and Barah, A. 1994. Indoor rearing technique for early stage silkworm. Ann. Rep.; RMRS, Boko; p. 3. Talukdar, J. N. 1999. An indoor rearing technique bringing revolution to Muga silk industry. Sericulture in Assam (Seminar documentation). D. C. Mahanta (Ed), Khanapara, 3rd April, 1999. pp. 12-17. Thangavelu, K. and Sahu, A. K. 1986. Further studies on indoor rearing of Muga silkworm, Antheraea assama Ww. (Saturniidae: Lepidoptera). Sericologia, 26(2): 215-224.

299

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

PRESENT STATUS OF WILD MAMMALS IN DESERT NATIONAL PARK SANCTUARY, RAJASTHAN B. R. JAIPAL1, G. R. JAKHER2 AND SUMIT DOOKIA3 1

Department of Zoology, J.N.V. University, Jodhpur-342 001, Rajasthan. 2 M. G. S. University, Bikaner, Rajasthan. 3 Ecology and Rural Development Society, 1-A-43, Kudi Housing Board, Jodhpur-342 005, Rajasthan. e-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT: The Desert National Park Sanctuary with an area of 3,162 sq. km. is very important from the biodiversity point of view. The main purpose for declaring this area as protected area was to give protection and shelter of endangered flora and fauna. The present study is to assess the status of wild mammals residing the area. Total 92 species of mammals found in Rajasthan, of which only 21 species are listed so far from the Thar Desert of Rajasthan. Among them almost all big mammals are listed in various schedules of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. This sanctuary holds highest numbers of Desert Fox (Vulpes v. pusilla), Desert Cat (Felis silvestris ornata), Chinkara (Gazella g. bennetti) and Mongoose species (Genus Herpestes) in India. The present paper is based on various surveys conducted since 2006 in different seasons and State Forest Department’s Census data. The population of Chinkara is around 2000 and seams stable since declaration of this park in 1981, whereas another important endangered mammal Desert Cat once recorded up to 446 in 2001 winter, is continually declining. The conservation of entire biodiversity of this park is essential for survival of various endangered species and mankind. KEY WORDS: Thar Desert, Desert National Park, Wild mammals, Desert Cat, Desert Fox.

INTRODUCTION The biodiversity is vast array of all species of plants, animals and microorganisms inhabiting the earth either in the aquatic or the terrestrial habitats. The biodiversity therefore means variety of ecosystems, their species richness and the genetic variation within those species. Biodiversity is essential for proper functioning of food chain and survival of mankind. It is unfortunate that today man is the greatest enemy of biodiversity which is well reflected by rise to human population proportionate of biodiversity at global level. The Indian desert covers an area of about 32 million sq. km., which is nearly 12 % of the total geographical area of the entire country, of which about 62 % part of this hot desert is located in the state of Rajasthan. The Desert National Park Sanctuary with an area of 3,162 sq. km. is very important from the biodiversity point of view. The main purpose for declaring this area as protected area was to give protection and shelter of endangered Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) and various other wild mammals. The mammalian fauna of the Thar Desert is highly diverse, at least 68 species which constitute about 18% of the total Indian mammalian fauna (Sharma and Mehra, 2009). This area is holding well adapted peculiar fauna and flora found in the arid conditions. In the last two decades, the Thar Desert of Rajasthan has seen many changes including a many fold increase of both the human and animal population. Animal husbandry has been popular economy of the inhabitants due to the difficult farming conditions. The human population growth rate from 1991-2001 is highest in Jaisalmer, i.e. more then 47% as compare to the entire state. This directly led toward the pressure on pristine and fragile ecosystem. At present there 10

300

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert times more animals per person in Rajasthan then the national average, and overgrazing is also a factor affecting climate and drought conditions. The increase of human and livestock population in the desert has lead to deterioration in the ecosystem resulting in the degradation of soil fertility. For the monitoring of wild mammals, six animals were selected, i.e. Chinkara, Bluebull, Desert Fox, Indian Fox, Desert Cat and Mongoose.

MATERIAL AND METHODS The attempts were made both qualitative and quantitative for collection of data. The encounter rate was estimated for all large mammals by Line Transects, whereas time based water hole counting was also done for population monitoring. The data on the wild mammals was carried out by using fixed length Line Transects (2 km straight permanent lines) for counting animals on both side of transects (Buckland et al., 2001) and for estimating encounter rate of target species the following formula applied:

n D= 2 LW Where D is for Encounter rate, n is of number of individuals encountered, L for length of transect, W for width or perpendicular sighting distance from the observer and 2 for both side of the transects. 301

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert The long term population census data from 2001 to 2009 was also procured from State Forest Department for trend estimation of target animals.

RESULTS

No. of individual encountered

The present study reveals that the population of various animals is either constant or declining. The Chinkara (Gazella g. bennetti) population is ranging from 2000 to 3000 annually since 2001 to 2009, but the long term data suggest that it is declined from 2002 to 2007 and after 2007 it starts increasing (Fig. 2). The reason could be associated with the fluctuation in rain fall and habitat quality. The degraded habitat is also affects its health and group size. The Chinkara population is decreasing in almost its entire range (Dookia, 2009) which is a matter of concern as the Thar Desert of Rajasthan is the largest strong hold of the world population.

3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 2001

2002

2003

2004

Year 2005

2007

2008

2009

Fig. 2. Population trend of Chinkara in DNP-Sanctuary, Rajasthan. The population of Desert Fox (Vulpes v. pusilla) is showing increasing trend since 2001 and highest number was encountered in 2008 (n = 399) during water whole census program. After 2008 a sharp decline was also noticed in the population, which was directly related with the infectious diseases “Sarcoptic mange”. During a month long survey (June 2009) in and around DNP-Sanctuary area, total 9 dead and more the 20 severely infected adults foxes were found in the road transects (Anonymous, 2009). The Indian Fox (Vulpes bengalensis) is endemic fox of Indian Subcontinent and found in patches into desert. A sizeable population of around 150 is counted during routine forest department census. The Desert Cat or Asiatic Steppe Wildcat (Felis sylestris ornata) is a close cousin of domestic cat and severely competing with it for protection of its gene pool. The genetically pure population of Desert Cat is very rare and its confirmation without DNA analysis is very difficult (Kankane 2000). Whereas, wild behaviour and distance from human settlement was the only field corrector for confirming the presence of Desert Cat in any area. The number of Desert cat was declined after 2002 and it is below 20 in the Desert National Park, according to the State Forest Dept. The presence of Bluebull (Boselaphus tragocamelus) in the extreme desert is very interesting and as it was very rare in the past (Prakash, 1994). It is highly benefited with the increase in agriculture practices and also invasion of Indira Gandhi Nahar Priyojana (IGNP), which transferred a vast desert landscape into cluster of year round available agriculture fields. Their numbers have been never crossed figure of 300 individuals, but also it is not a true desert adapted animal.

302

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

d e r e t n u o c n e

450 400

s l a u id iv d in f o . o N

350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2007

2008

Y ear

Fig. 3. Population trend of threatened mammals in DNP-Sanctuary, Rajasthan. During the present study, emphases on both Mongoose species (Herpestes edwardsi and H. auropunctatus pallipes) were also given to assess the trend. Though their number are not as high as other animals, but during a long term monitoring protocol process it will help us to assess any changes in the population.

DISCUSSION The Desert National Park-Sanctuary is the largest protected area of the Rajasthan and also very important for conservation of flora and fauna. It was declared in 1981 as Sanctuary and also proposed to be granted as a status of National Park in few years, but that status is still pending to get notified as National Park. Whereas the conglomeration of various scheduled animals as per Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, shows its importance and also breeding unit for various other important birds and mammals.

No of individuals encountered

The fluctuation in the population of almost all animals shows the disturbance in the habitat and adversity of the climatological conditions. The monitoring protocol for any protected areas needs to include different animal species and a long term follow up for assessment purpose. The present study was an attempt for such type of studies (Fig. 4). 3200 2800 2400 2000 1600 1200 800 400 0 2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2007

2008

2009

C e n s u s Y e a rs C h in k a ra

B lu e b u ll

D e s e rt C a t

D e s e rt F o x

In d ia n F o x

M ongoose

Fig. 4. Status of wild mammals in Desert National Park-Sanctuary, Rajasthan. 303

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

The sharp decline in the animal populations from 2008-2009 is very alarming, and their declining numbers have start alarming the managers and conservation activist. The attempt should made to control all the wild diseases in the domestic animals residing around the sanctuary, as well as vaccination programs are prerequisite for it.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors are thankful to the State Forest Department for granting necessary permission and providing census data, whereas SD is thankful to the Ruffords Small Grant Foundation, UK (www.ruffordsmallgrantfoundation.org) for supporting the Chinkara Conservation Project.

REFERENCES Anonymous (2009). Sarcoptic Mange infection in Desert Fox (Vulpus v. pussilla) population in Desert National Park-Sanctuary, Rajasthan, India. A report submitted to Ecology and Rural Development Society, Rajasthan. 21pp. Buckland, S. T., Anderson D. R., Burnham K. P., Laake J. L., Borchers D.L. and Thomas L. (2001). Introduction to Distance Sampling: Estimating Abundance of Biological Populations. Oxford University Press. 432pp. Dookia, S. (2009). Conservation of Indian Gazelle or Chinkara through community support in Thar Desert of Rajasthan, India. Submitted to The Ruffords Small Grant Foundation, UK. 20 pp. Kankane, P. L. (2000). Status survey of chinkara and desert cat in Rajasthan. Rec. Zool. Surv. India. (Published by: Director, ZSI, Calcutta). Occ. Paper No. 179: 1-71. Prakash, I. (1994). Biodiversity conservation in the Thar Desert. Indian Forester. 120(10): 873879.

304

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

STATUS OF STRIPED HYAENA (Hyaena hyaena Linn.) IN KUMBHALGARH WILDLIFE SANCTUARY IN ARAVALLI HILLS OF RAJASTHAN GOUTAM SHARMA AND CHENA RAM* Animal Behaviour unit, Department of Zoology, J.N.V. University, Jodhpur e-mail: *[email protected] ABSTRACT: The Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS) lies between 7302’E and 25025040’N which covers an area of 585 km square. The area is also known for its rich contents of biodiversity many endemic species are found. Although having these enormous biological resources, this region has a very poor conservative approach. In our survey two months (January and February) of winter-2010 in the study area, we encountered and observed eleven different sightings of Hyanea. There were in duos, packs of 3-4 individuals and solitary animal. All of them are either at foothills or in between the valley of two hills. The striped Hyanea is one of the largest carnivores in India. No accurate numbers of the Hyanea population are available in this region. Striped hyaena (Hyaena hyaena Linn.) is regarded rare and kept under schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act-1972. The numbers of this predator has been declining steadily due to habitat destruction and consequently, the distributional ranges of these species have been reduced. They are in need of complete protection. Striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) is classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN. Hyaena does not only feed on carrion, but it also prey on sheep, goats and calves. It also eats vegetables and fruits. KEY WORDS: Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary, Hyaena, Sighting.

INTRODUCTION The arid zone ecosystems in India of great conservation interest because of their unique faunal assemblages, which are under serious threat from degradation of habitat due to a variety of anthropogenic pressures (Kumar & Shahabuddin, 2005; Hocking & Mattick, 1993; Khan & Frost, 2004). However, such ecosystems occupy 11.8% of the Indian subcontinent (Shankarnarayan et al., 1987) and extend into west Asia. Despite tremendous anthropogenic pressures, these regions still support a rich and varied large mammalian fauna. The order Carnivora has attracted scientific attention due to its unique inter-specific diversity with respect to variations in behavioral and ecological adaptations. Because of their tendency to come into conflict with humans, large home range requirements and a diet of meat which often includes livestock. Several studies of large predatory carnivores in the Indian subcontinent. The diverse topography of the area and the Precambrian remnant in the form of the Aravalli hill range harbor a dry deciduous forest dominated by Anogeissus pendula, Anoigeissus latifolia, Boswellia serratta, Butea monosperma and Acacia senegal. Large carnivores are generally considered to be among animals that are threatened most by human impacts. Densities of striped hyenas appear to vary greatly across their range and factors driving this variation are poorly understood because of paucity of rigorous studies. Measuring densities of hyenas under ecologically different conditions would thus help to assess the factors that determine hyena distribution and abundance as well as their ability to survive in human dominated landscapes under severe anthropogenic pressures. This comparative study will be conducted across two landscapes in this region of India that varied in terms of basic ecology, human impacts as well as management status.

305

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

MATERIAL AND METHODS The selected study area of 165 km2 was located within the Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary which covers a total area of 610 km2 extending from 73º15'E on the west, to 73º45'E on the east. It is bounded by 25º00' N and 25º30' N latitudes in the north and south. The average annual rainfall received by the region is 73 cm mainly from the South west monsoon. Annual temperatures can vary from 2ºC in January to 46ºC in June. The diverse topography of the area and the Precambrian remnant in the form of the Aravalli hill range harbor a dry deciduous forest dominated by Anogeissus pendula, Anoigeissus latifolia, Boswellia serratta, Butea monosperma and Acacia senegal. The area hosts two felid species namely Panthera pardus and Felis chaus; two canid species comprising of Canis aureus and Canis lupus; one primate species viz. Semnopithecus entellus; four ungulate species namely, Boselaphus tragocamelus, Gazella bennetti, Tetracerus quadricornis and Cervus unicolor Melursus ursinus is also found in the region. Legally Kumbhalgarh is a wildlife sanctuary, where theoretically the habitat is protected from human pressures except for regulated and managed grazing. It is administered by the Rajasthan Forest Department as a wildlife reserve for conservation and wildlife tourism purposes. The wildlife sanctuary is surrounded by several human settlements, highly dependent upon the forest for grazing livestock and to collect forest products like fodder, firewood, honey and Diospyros melonoxylon and Madhuca longifolia fruits. Quite often such multiple use of the reserve exceeds legal limits or restrictions. The number of particular species individuals and their sightings at a distance from the point were recorded. A 10 x 50 mm prismatic field binocular was used for direct observation of the animals in the field. Scanning and Ad Libitum methods (Altmann, 1974) were used. The study site covered an area of 307 km2 of the Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary in southern Rajasthan while the second site covered 218 km2 of a rural human-dominated landscape around the Esrana Forest Range in south-western Rajasthan. Dens of hyaena was identified with the help of local people especially the shepherds being victims as their goats and sheep are killed/dragged by hyaena and or wolves.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION During survey in winter 2009-10 in the study area, we have observed hyenas on thirty four incidences, eighteen of solitary animal, seven duo and nine packs of 3 animals each. Hyenas do kill and eat sheep and goats killing sometimes more than they can eat. They attck on shepherds or their families are not uncommon. All of them are either at foothills or in between the valley of two hills. We had also heard night crying of hyaena during late evenings. The striped hyaena is one of the largest carnivores in India. No accurate number of the hyaena population are available in this region. The prior hypotheses were: Hyaena densities were likely to be (1) positively correlated to livestock densities because of their value as a food source; (2) positively correlated to the proportion of steeper terrain that provided hiding and breeding refugia and (3) positively correlated to land use regimes that regulated excessive human pressures under protected area status. These hypotheses were tested by estimating hyena densities at the site, Photographic capture-recapture sampling methodology was applied to estimate abundances and densities of hyenas in the study area, based on the ability to distinguish individual hyenas from their unique stripe patterns from camera trap images. Secondary data on livestock numbers and the presence of livestock in hyena diet derived from scat studies was used to elucidate the impact of livestock on hyena abundance. Hyena densities were higher in Kumbhalgarh, supporting the hypotheses that these densities were higher in this area because of greater availability of hilly terrain and a greater degree of protection offered by the protected area status that prevailed at Kumbhalgarh. From a wildlife management perspective, this study proved that striped hyena numbers and densities could be rigorously monitored for conservation purposes using photographic capture recapture sampling.

306

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert This animal is on the list of Red Data Book of IUCN. Hyaena does not only feed on carrion, but it also prey on sheep, goats and calves. It also eats vegetables and fruits. There has been an intense human pressure on the hyaena in recent years. The wildlife in general and the carnivores in particular have suffered greatly with the introduction of motor vehicles and firearms in the last century as well as from habitat destruction. Rajpurohit (1988) have reported an attack on human being by a mad hyaena which was later killed by local people in the same area. Similar case reported in present study.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors are grateful to Prof. S.M. Mohnot, Executive Director, The School of Desert Sciences, Jodhpur for regular encouragements. Thanks to Head, Department of Zoology, J.N.V. University, Jodhpur for providing the logistic support. Dr. Anil Kumar Chhangani of CSIR, New Delhi.

REFERENCES Altmann, J. 1974. Observational study of behavioru: sampling methods. Behaviour, 49: 337-349. Rajpurohit, L.S. 1988. Note of the attack of Hyaena (Hyaena hyaena) near village Osian, Jodhpur (Rajasthan). Cheetal, 31(3&4): 27-29. Hocking, D. and Mattick, A. 1993. Dynamic carrying capacity analysis as tool for conceptualizing and planning range management improvements, with a case study from India. Pastoral Development Network. Paper 34c, London, ODI. Khan, T.I. and Frost, S. 2004. Floral biodiversity: a question of survival in the Indian Thar desert. The Environmentalist, 21: 231-236. Kumar, R. and Shahbuddin, G. 2005. Effects of biomass extraction on vegetation structure, diversity and composition of forests in Sariska Tiger Reserve, India. Environmental Conservation, 32: 248-259. Shankarnarayan K.A., Harsh, L.N. and Kathju, S. 1987. Agroforestry in the arid zones of India. Agroforestry Systems, 5: 69-88.

307

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

IMPACT OF HIGH INTENSITY OF PROVISIONING FEEDING ON BEHAVIOUR OF DIFFERENT HANUMAN LANGUR (Semnopithecus entellus) TROOPS AROUND JODHPUR (RAJASTHAN) DEVILAL, BHARTI SWAMI, GOUTAM SHARMA, CHENA RAM AND L.S. RAJPUROHIT Animal Behaviour Unit, Department of Zoology, J.N.V. University, Jodhpur-342 001. e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: During present study observed different patterns of behaviour in different Hanuman langur (Semnopithecus entellus) groups depending on the intensity of provisioning and examined the effects of artificial feeding and between two troops which having minimum and maximum provisioning by local peoples. Results are based on focal animal sampling and ad libitum sampling of 17 adult females in the group Kailana II (low provisioning) and Mandore troops of the langur population of Jodhpur. The behaviour of their aggressiveness was observed. In Mandore troop which having high provisioning and more interacting with human population were more aggressive and play more agnostic interaction within and between two troops compare to low provisioned troops. The study observed that highly provisioned troop has high-intensity aggression (68.9%) and aggressiveness. In Mandore total 85 incidents were observed when troop members play a major role in aggressiveness. Studies on the nature of changing the aggressiveness with the intensity of provisioning and human interaction are essential for a basic understanding the behavioral strategies that individual displays when faced with changing food rapidly. KEY WORDS: Semnopithecus entellus, behaviour, provisioning, high intensity, Jodhpur.

INTRODUCTION Provisioning is a form of animal display that appears to show wild animals in context in a way that the zoo animal cannot. It enables direct observation of wild animals without seeming to denature them in the way that decontextualized zoo display does. However, provisioning can have a great effect on the behaviour of animals, something that has been widely documented among primates. A study of provisioned Hanuman langur in Jodhpur found that provisioning led to increased levels of aggression. Studies in higher provisioning troops (B-7) and many others have also found high levels of aggression such as threats, chases and attacks occurred up to six times more frequently during feeding periods than in non-feeding periods. Similarly, during present study of these focal troops that compared social interaction during natural foraging with provisioned feeding found that provisioning was marked by much higher levels of aggression. Aggressive behaviour has come to be recognized as in Jodhpur city troops and higher provisioned troops. Provisioning because of its compression effect on the troop, increases the influence of dominance rank on feeding behaviour. Studies of unprovisioned troops have discovered nonagonistic and symmetrical patterns of social behaviour that present a stark contrast to the aggressive, hierarchical behaviour reported for provisioned troops. Provisioning affects not only the social behaviour of the monkeys but also their ranging behaviour. During study period observed frequency of aggressiveness in focal troops. One troop of Mandore having high provisioning (B-7) and one less provisioned (B-20) have been selected. The observation shows that high provisioned troop show more aggressiveness comparatively less provisioned. Short-term behavioural changes in response to changing conditions of food availability and distribution have been investigated in only a few species of primates, both in captivity and in the wild. Although most studies have documented the nature of feeding competition and aggression

308

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert that develops within groups faced with either low availability or clumped distribution of food, they have not typically focused on the mechanisms by which social tensions are subsequently reduced. Little is known about the nature of such behavioural interactions in free-ranging primates faced with variability in food distribution and abundance. A particularly interesting situation is that of a number of Asian and African cercopithecine groups that are occasionally provisioned or have adapted to scavenging from neighbouring human habitations. Provisioning of free-living primate groups usually leads to a significant increase in competition among individuals for the newly available resources. Changing patterns of social interactions and aggressiveness between troop members have been studied in two groups under two different conditions of foraging.

MATERIAL AND METHOD Study Animal The Hanuman langur, (Semnopithecus entellus Dufresne, 1797) is the most adaptable and widespread south Asian colobine non-human primate of the Indian subcontinent. The species has been the subject of investigation because of its unique behaviour pattern including infanticide (Sugiyama, 1965; Mohnot, 1971a; Hrdy, 1974; Roonwal and Mohnot, 1977; Makwana, 1979; Sommer and Mohnot, 1985; Agoramoorthy and Mohnot, 1988; Rajpurohit, et.al., 2003). These langurs live in a wide range of habitats from the Himalayas (v 3600m altitude) and peninsular forests to semiarid woodlands, in villages and towns and in cultivated lands (Roonwal and Mohnot, 1977; Vogel, 1977). These animals are known for their remarkable adaptability, the species also has a highly variable social organization. The two basic types of social groups are bisexual troops and all-male bands. Troops are matrilineal groups of adult females and offsprings with either one adult male (unimale bisexual troop or harems) or more than one adult male (multi-male troops).

Study area Jodhpur is located in Rajasthan (altitude about 241m MSL the tour station, 260.180 N and 730.080 E) at the eastern edge of the Great Indian Desert. The town stands on a hilly sand stone plateau, which covers approximately 150 km2. The plateau is inhabited by a geographically isolated population about 2000 Hanuman langurs (Rajpurohit et al., 2006). The langurs feed on the vegetation which is xerophytes open scrub and some groups raid crops and they are not shy and spent most of the day time on the ground (Mohnot, 1971; Sommer, 1985; Rajpurohit, 1987; Winkler, 1988; Srivastava, 1989). Additionally most langurs are highly fed by local people for religious reasons. The size of natural and provisioned fed groups varies considerable between groups (Winkler, 1988). The reproductive units are varied between 35-40 one male troops (average size 38.5 members ranges 7-120). (Mohnot, 1974; Winkler, 1988; Rajpurohit, 1987; Rajpurohit et al., 2006). Each troops occupies it own home range of about 0.5 -1.5 km2., the home range of bands are often not well defined because they can regularly move over areas over of up to 10-15 km2. The climate is dry with maximum temperature of up to 50o C during May and June and minimum temperature around 0o C during December and January. Jodhpur receives 90% of its scanty rain fall (annual average 360 mm) during the manson (July to September). The group spent approximately 68% of the observation time in foraging on its natural diet; during the remaining period the group gathered for provisioned food from tourists visiting the garden. Provisioning was marked by a sharp increase in aggression and feeding supplants within the group. Dominant females directed contact aggression specifically towards higher-ranked subordinates, while subordinate females increased non-contact aggression towards their dominant counterparts. Social tensions increase markedly when langurs move from natural foraging to competing for provisioned food.

309

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

OBSERVATION AND RESULTS The present analysis include foraging, scavenging, allogrooming, affiliation, total aggression, non-contact aggression, contact aggression, aggressive approach, retreat and feeding supplant. Foraging has been defined as the feeding by the study individuals on any component of their natural diet; this includes leaves, flowers and fruits of different food plants and/or insects have been used here. The foods offered by tourists during direct interactions and their scavenging on the remains left behind by these visitors are also part of foraging. Total aggression is also a composite behaviour, constituted by agonistic interactions of two kinds. Contact aggression, involving actual physical contact between the adversaries, includes the more severe acts of bite hard, chase, hold down, pinch, pull roughly, push, and slap. Non-contact aggression, in contrast, consists of agonistic interactions at a distance that do not involve any physical contact; these include the relatively milder acts of aggressive scream, bared-teeth display. Aggressive approach refers to an approach made by an individual towards another, that is followed by the former displaying any of the acts of non-contact and contact aggression listed above. Retreat, on the other hand, consists of the moving away or fleeing of an individual from another in response to an act of non-contact and contact aggression shown by the latter. Feeding supplant consists of the replacement of a feeding individual by another at a feeding site, which may or may not be accompanied by snatching of the food by the supplanting individual. The study group regularly moved between two kinds of habitats within their home range. One was a relatively more forested area where they foraged on their natural diet of leaves, flowers, fruits and/or insects. The other was a more open area in the vicinity of the forest and garden, where they either interacted with feeders or tourists and directly obtained provisioned food from them, or scavenged on remains left behind by the visitors. Although social interactions of all kinds regularly occurred in both these areas, the ones displayed in the former area have been considered in this analysis to be associated with natural foraging and those in the latter area with scavenging by the study group when provisioned with typically human food. There was a marked increase in social tension in the study groups during periods of provisioning which was usually manifested as enhanced aggression among the adult females of the troop. Thus, the overall rates of total aggression and its two components – non-contact aggression and contact aggression– as well as aggressive approach and feeding supplant increased significantly during this period from those exhibited during natural foraging.

DISCUSSION One form of such variation consists of short-term behavioral changes that may allow individuals to overcome rigid constraints imposed by the prevailing social structure, and thus, effectively compete with each other under changing conditions of resource availability. Provisioning of wild primate groups usually leads to changes in behavioural strategies, both at the level of individual activity and that of social interactions. Although individual behavioural patterns and food choices in naturally foraging and provisioned groups have been investigated (Altmann and Muruthi, 1988), observations on the nature of changing social relationships within such groups have remained surprisingly neglected. Such studies are, however, essential for a basic understanding of the behavioural strategies that individual displays when faced with rapidly changing food regimes and the mechanisms that facilitate the promotion of social harmony in the midst of rising intra-group competition for food. The free-ranging group of Hanuman langur investigated here regularly alternated between bouts of natural foraging and visits to a site where they were provisioned with human food. The clumped distribution of the provisioned food around their human sources was likely to be directly responsible for the observed significant increase in intragroup aggression, aggressive approaches and feeding supplants during these periods over that during natural foraging. Bonnet macaques are generalist feeders (Krishnamani, 1994). Opportunities for monopolization of food are, therefore, rare during natural foraging and strong competition may not occur under these circumstances. The provisioned food, in contrast, was markedly clumped in distribution, not only in time, but also in space within a small area habituated by large numbers of tourists or feeders. Thus, access to both the tourists and the food 310

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert items themselves, appeared to be largely indefensible under these conditions; limited contest competition could, however, occur once an individual was able to gain access to a particular item. The exact extent to which the elevated levels of feeding competition, observed during scavenging regimes, depend on the temporal and spatial availability, size and nutritional quality of the food provided, nevertheless, needs to be investigated further. Potentially expensive acts of aggression over provisioned food appeared to be demonstrated more by high-ranked females. Thus, challenges during contest competition would most likely come not only from individuals of higher rank, but from those most closely ranked in the dominance hierarchy as well. Another mechanism that may yield a similar pattern of interactions is that low-ranking, subordinate females may avoid costly conflicts by physically occupying positions away from high-ranking individuals, thus giving rise to specific group spatial structures during feeding competition (Barton and Whiten, 1993). Moreover, females across the rank hierarchy enjoyed comparable scavenging success when provisioned, in contrast to what has earlier been observed in olive baboons (Barton and Whiten, 1993). Finally, the hypothesis that aggression may be preferentially directed towards certain individuals during enhanced feeding competition and may not simply be an emergent property of individual positional choices comes from the observation that, when provisioned, subordinate females displayed enhanced aggression towards their dominant adversaries and significantly reciprocated the aggression that they received. Feeding competition during provisioning was marked by a significant increase in contact aggression directed by high-ranked females towards each other. Although potentially very costly, contact aggression becomes necessary when individuals physically compete for choice food items. The intensity of competition over provisioned food was manifest also in the appearance of agonistic acts directed by subordinate females towards their dominant counterparts a feature rather unusual for adult female Hanuman langur in most troops. Such females, however, could obviously not afford costly aggressive encounters; enhanced aggression with the dominance hierarchy, therefore, principally consisted of non-contact aggressive acts. It has been suggested that stable linear hierarchies in female primates are a result of conflict competition for food. Interestingly, however, the dominance hierarchy in this particular troop of bonnet macaques became comparatively unstable under conditions of provisioning. While, during natural foraging, there existed a significant negative correlation between aggression received by individual females from their dominant adversaries and the aggression that they showed towards them, this completely changed when the same individuals were provisioned. A strong competitive advantage due to positions of high rank in the dominance hierarchy, nevertheless, did reveal itself as greater success enjoyed by dominant females during feeding supplants. Although, overall, there were no significant differences in feeding rates across the dominance hierarchy, there could be other behavioural measures reflecting the advantage of being a high-ranked female, which have not been considered in this study. These could include, amongst others, differences in total feeding time, daily food intake or even dietary diversity (Post et al., 1980) such parameters need to be investigated further among the troop from a regime of natural foraging to that of provisioning. Individuals were able to opportunistically spend only short periods of time at the provisioning site and even this was marked by high rates of scavenging as well as intense conflict over food. Individuals could now perhaps devote little time to such energy- and time-intensive interactions as allogrooming. There was a significant effect of habitat type on aggression rates during the study period. Aggression was higher than expected in the mandore troop with garden habitat and having more provisioning feeding and lower aggression than observed expected in the Kailana-II having law provisioning.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors are grateful to S.M. Mohnot Emeritus Professor of Zoology and Chairman, Primate Research Center, Jodhpur for constant encouragement and to Prof. Devendra Mohan, Head, Department of Zoology, J.N.V. University, Jodhpur for providing facilities and logistic support during this study. Thanks are due to UGC, New Delhi (SRFship to DL) and for financial

311

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert support under major project (No. F.30-200/2004 (SR) dt.10 Nov 2004 and No. F.34-400/2008(SR) dt. 2 Jan., 2009).

REFERENCES Agoramoorthy, G. and Mohnot, S.M. 1988. Infanticide and juvenilicide in Hanuman langur (Presbytis entellus) around Jodhpur, India. Hum.Evol. 3: 279-296. Altmann, J. and Muruthi, P. 1988. Differences in daily life between semi-provisioned and wild feeding baboons. Am. J. Primatol. 15: 213–221. Barton, R.A. and Whiten, A. 1993. Feeding competition among female olive baboons, Papio anubis Animal Behaviour. 46(4): 777-789. Cheney, D. L. and Seyfarth, R. M. 1990. How Monkeys See the World, University of Chicago. Press, Chicago. Hrdy, S.B. 1974. Male-male competition and infanticide among the langurs (Presbytis Taiwanese entellus) of Abu, Rajasthan. Folia Primatol, 22: 19-58. Krishnamani, R. 1994. Diet composition of the bonnet macaque Macaca radiata in a tropical dry evergreen forest of southern India. Trop. Biodiversity, 2: 285-302. Makwana, S.C. 1979. Infanticide and social change in two groups of Hanuman langur, Semnopithecus entellus at Jodhpur. Primates. 20(2): 293-300. Mohnot, S.M. 1971. Some aspects of social change and infant-killing in Hanuman langur, Presbytis entellus (Primates: Cercopithecidae) in western India. Mammalia. 35(2): 175– 198. Mohnot, S.M. 1974. Ecology and Behaviour of the Common Indian Langur, Presbytis entellus. Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Jodhpur, Jodhpur. Post, D.G., Hausfater, G. and McCuskey, S.A. 1980. Feeding behaviour of yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus): relationship to age, gender and dominance rank Folia Primatologica 34: 170-195. Rajpurohit, L.S. 1987. Male social organization in Hanuman langurs (Presbytis entellus). Ph.D. thesis, Univ. of Jodhpur, Jodhpur. Rajpurohit, L.S., Chhangani, A.K., Rajpurohit, R.S. and Mohnot, S.M. 2003. Folia Primatol. 74: 85-87. Rajpurohit, L.S, Chhangani, A.K. and Mohnot, S.M. 2006. Proceeding of the Nat. Acad. Sci. India. 76B(2): 141-147. Roonwal, L. and Mohnot, S.M. 1977. Primates of south Asia: Ecology, sociobiology and Behaviour. XVIII + 421 pp. Cambridge, Mass Harvard Univ. Press. Smuts, B., Cheney, D. L., Seyfarth, R. M., Wrangham, R. W. and Struhsaker, T. T. 1987 (eds), Primate Societies, University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Cambridge, Mass. Sommer, V. 1985. Weibliche and Mannliched reproduction strategien der Hanuman Languren (Presbytis entellus) von Jodhpur, Rajasthan Indien: Dissertation. Gottingen: Georg August University. Sommer, V. and Mohnot, S.M. 1985. New observation on infanticides among Hanuman langur, Presbytis entellus near Jodhpur, Rajasthan (India). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 16: 245-248. Srivastava, A. 1989. Feeding ecology and behaviour of Hanuman langurs, Presbytis entellus. Ph.D. thesis. University of Jodhpur. Sugiyama, Y. 1965. Behavioural development ad social structure in two troops of Hanuman langurs (Presbytis entellus). Primates. 6: 213-247. Vogel, C. 1977. Ecology and Sociology of Presbytis entellus. In: Use of non-human primates in Biochemical Research (Ed. By Prasad, Anand Kumar), Indian Nat. Sci. Acad., New Delhi. pp. 24-45. Winkler, P. 1988. Feeding behaviour of a food-enhanced troop of Hanuman langurs, Presbytis entellus in Jodhpur-India. In: The Ecology and Behaviour of food enhanced primate groups. N.Y. (eds. John E.F. & Charles H. Southwick) Alan R. Liss. pp. 3-24.

312

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

SPECIES DIVERSITY OF ODONATA FAUNA (ODONATA: INSECTA) OF DALPAT SAGAR LAKE OF JAGDALPUR, DISTRICT-BASTAR (C.G.) INDIA B. SURI BABU1,4, V.K. SRIVASTAVA2, MANPREET KAUR SINGH3 AND R. K. AGRAWAL3 1

Regional Forensic Science Laboratory building, Jagdalpur-494001 (C.G), India. 2 Department of Zoology, C.M.P college, Allahabad -211006 (U.P), India. 3 Department of Biotechnology, Govt. Science College, Raipur- 492010 (C.G), India. e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: A study on the species diversity of Odonata fauna of Dalpat Sagar Lake of Jagdalpur town, District-Bastar, State-Chhattisgarh located at 19°05' (N) latitude and 82°01' (E) longitude at about 566 m above mean sea level has been carried out during the year 2008-2009. The rainfed lake covers an area of 40 hectares with catchments area of 300 hectares, which gets most of its water from south-west monsoon from July to September. Four families of order Odonata represented from this lake of which family Coenagrionidae is founded to be dominant represented by 15 species and which is followed by family Lestidae 02 species, family Gomphidae 01 species, family Aeshnidae 02 species, family Libellulidae 13 species. A total of number 33 species belonging to 22 genera were recorded from this lake. Brief biological notes of each species were also provided. KEY WORDS: Odonata, dragonfly, damselfly, species diversity, Dalpat Sagar lake, aquatic weeds.

INTRODUCTION Insects of order odonata are amphibious hemimetabolous having aquatic egg and larval stages, while the adults are terrestrial. Being predators both at larval and adult stages, they play a significant role in the food chain of forest ecosystem (Vashishth et al., 2002). These insects are extensively used in controlling causative agents of malaria, filaria and insect pests in different ecosystems (Kumar, 2002). In addition to this, their value as indicators of quality of the biotope is being increasingly recognized (Subramanian, 2002). A notable contribution of the faunal diversity of odonata of wetland ecosystems were made by Mitra and Kumar (1999), Prasad & Kulkarni (2002) Sharma & Joshi (2007), Kumar & Sharma (2008), Kulkarni & Talmale (2008) and Patankar et al. (2008). A brief species diversity of odonates of Sagar lake, Sagar (M.P) had been reported by (Srivastava & Suri Babu, 1998; Suri Babu & Srivastava, 2001). However no species diversity of odonates of wetlands of Chhattisgarh State have been reported, except Biswas and Suri Babu (2008) who reported some dragonflies from Dalpat Sagar, Jagdalpur therefore, the present study makes a first attempt to explore the species diversity of odonates from Dalpat Sagar lake; Jagdalpur, District Bastar, Chhattisgarh State, India.

MATERIAL AND METHODS The collection of odonates both larva and adults were made with the help of insect nets on monthly basis in and around Dalpat Sagar lake during the year 2008-09. The identification of adults were facilitated with the help of the works of Fraser (1933, 1934 & 1936) and the final instar larvae that of Kumar and Khanna (1983) where required the identification of adults were checked by with the specimens of earlier collection made by first author in the year 1996 & 2002 of Bastar division and identified by experts of Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, wide identification report No. 23 dt.18.10.1996 and 56/2002, dt. 09.01.2002. Field notes on the habitats, habits and phonology were also recorded. 313

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

Description of study area Dalpat Sagar Lake Dalpat sagar lake is a man made lake situated in the town Jagdalpur of district Bastar, Chhattisgarh State, India at 19005’ N and 82001’ E at about 566 m mean sea level. The rainfed eutrophic lake is surrounded by a number of houses and a metal road on southern, western and eastern sides, while the northern side bund by fields of paddy cultivation and a metal road. There is a weir on the north east corner of the lake which regulates the out flow and water level of the lake. The lake covers an area of 40 hectares with catchment area of 300 hectares. The lake starts filling by the on set of south-west monsoon and becomes full toward the end of monsoon. In the lake, water exist throughout the year although the water level may very, thus forms a congenial habitat for a good number of aquatic insects and fishes. The lake gets polluted due to bathing, washing of cloths, wallowing of cattle and other domestic uses of surrounding population. The common grasses and vegetation like Scripus littoralies, Cyperus indicus, Lanta camera, Euphorbia sp. and Ipomoea aquatica growing on the bank of the lake. The aquatic macrophytes like Hydrilla verticillata, Potamogeton natans, P. pectinatus, P. crispus and Vallisneria spiralis are the common rooted submerged plants and Eichhornia crassipus, Nymphaea stellata, Salvinia cuculata and Trapa bispinosa are the main floating vegetation. The water is found slightly alkaline with PH range 7.5 to 9. The prevailing climatic condition in the lake is typical sub-tropical with distinct summer, monsoon and winter seasons. In the year 2008 and 2009 minimum and maximum ambient air temperature and total rainfall of Jagdalpur town were 3.4°- 41.2°c, 1592mm and 3.841.4°c, 1076.9mm respectively.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A total number of 33 species belonging to 22 genera were recorded during the present study.

SYSTEMATIC ACCOUNT Order

ODONATA

Suborder

ZYGOPTERA

Super family COENAGRIONOIDEA

1.

Family

COENAGRIONIDAE

Sub family

PSEUDAGRIONINAE

Ceriagrion coromandelianum (Fabricius)

Breeds in the weeds in the littoral zone throughout the year, Larval found among the roots of aquatic weeds. This is a multivoltine species with one summer, one monsoon and one winter brood. 2. Ceriagrion fallax cerinomelas Lieftinck Rare damselfly found on wing on the aquatic weeds during the post monsoon. 3. Ceriagrion rubiae Laidlaw. Rare damselfly found on the aquatic weeds in the littoral zone during post monsoon and again in the early summer. 4. Pseudagrion decorum (Rambur) Breeding observed on the aquatic weeds throughout the year. It is a multivoltine species with three broods in a year. Larvae are found among aquatic weeds. 5. Pseudagrion microcephalum (Rambur) Abundant during post monsoon period. Breeds on the aquatic weeds on littoral zone of the lake. 6. Pseudagrion r. rubriceps Selys

314

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Breeding observed in the weir of the lake, abundant during post monsoon, it is a bivoltine species with one monsoon and one winter brood. Sub family COENAGRIONINAE 7. Cercion malayanum (Selys) Non-guarded under water oviposition were recorded on aquatic weeds in post monsoon period. Larval inhabit the littoral aquatic vegetation. Subfamily ISCHNURINAE 8. Aciagrion occidentale Laidlaw 9.

Tandems were observed on the leaves of Nymphaea stellate plants during post monsoon. Enallagma parvum Selys

Adults perch on the grass and weeds on the banks of lake and in paddy fields. Bivoltine species with one monsoon and one winter broods. 10. Ischnura aurora aurora (Brauer) One of the most beautiful damselfly found throughout the year; but abundant in post monsoon period. 11. Ischnura r. rufostigma Selys Rare species observed breeding in early summer i.e. in March, April. 12.

Ischnura senegalensis (Rambur)

Found throughout the year. Multivoltine species with one monsoon, one winter and one summer brood. Larval found attached to the submerged aquatic weeds. 13.

Rhodischnura nursei (Morton)

One of the most beautiful small damselfly found between grasses and aquatic weeds. Small number in tandem were observed in the early summer. Sub family: AGRIOCNEMIDINAE 14.

Agriocnemis lacteola Selys Rare species found during post monsoon period amoung the grasses on the bank of the

lake. 15.

Agriocnemis pygmaea (Rambur)

A small damselfly found throughout the year with multivoltine life cycle with one summer, one monsoon and one winter broods. Super family LESTOIDEA

16.

Family

LESTIDAE

Sub family

LESTINAE

Lestes malabarica Fraser

Tandems and oviposition observed during September to November in small temporary monsoon ponds formed on the banks of the lake, where larvae were also collected from the bottom of these ponds. 17.

Lestes viridulus Rambur

315

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Abundant observed on wing during the post monsoon in the surroundings of the lake. Sub order

paddy

fields

of

the

ANISOPTERA

Super family AESHNOIDEA

18.

Family

GOMPHIDAE

Sub family

LINDENIINAE

Ictinogomphus rapax (Rambur)

It is a very swift flier. Emergence was observed in the night on the anchored boats and floating leaves of aquatic weeds from May to August and breeding observed from August to November. Larval occur in the fine sediment of the littoral zone of the lake. It is a univoltine species.

19.

Family

AESHNIDAE

Subfamily

AESHNINAE

Anax guttatus (Burmeister)

Flight period extends from July to October and again in March and April. Non-guarded oviposition was recorded on the aquatic weeds in August, Sepatember and again in March – Aprial. This is a bivoltine species. 20.

Gynacantha dravida Lieftinck Breeds in the aquatic weeds of litteral zone. Emergence observed in the month of March &

April. Super family LIBELLULOIDEA

21.

Family

LIBELLULIDAE

Sub family

LIBELLULINAE

Orthetrum pruinosum neglectum (Rambur)

One of the most common dragonflies found breeding in the weir of the lake and seasonal monsoon ponds formed on the surroundings of the lake. 22.

Orthetrum s. sabina (Drury)

It is on the wing almost the year, except during severe winters. Larval found among aquatic vegetation in the littoral zone of the lake. 23.

Potamarcha congener (Rambur) Abundant after post monsoon period. Larval are sluggish and bottom weed dwellers.

24.

Acisoma p. panorpoides Rambur

Very common small dragonfly breeds in the aquatic weeds of litteral zone of lake and temporary monsoon ponds near the lake. 25.

Brachythemis contaminata (Fabricius)

A very common dragonfly found breeding in the lake, surrounding seasonal monsoon ponds and paddy fields of the lake. 26.

Crocothemis s. servilia (Drury) A very common bivoltine species with one monsoon and one winter brood.

27.

Diplacodes trivialis (Rambur)

316

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert One of the common dragonflies, found perch on the metal roads on the bank of the lake throughout the year. 28.

Neurothemis fulvia (Drury) Very weak flyers; abundant during August to November months.

29.

Neurothemis in. intermedia (Rambur) Very weak flyers, maltivoltine with one summer, one monsoon and one winter brood in the lake. Subfamily TRITHEMISTINAE

30.

Trithemis aurora (Burm.) A very common dragonfly, breeds on the floating aquatic weeds of the lake throughout the year.

31.

Trithemis pallidinervis (Kirby) Breeds in the weir of lake and seasonal monsoon ponds formed around the lake. Sub family TRAMEINAE

32.

Pantala flavescens (Fabr.) Big swarms were observed in the pre and post monsoon period. This is a migratory species. Breeding takes place in lake, surrounding seasonal monsoon ponds and paddey fields.

33.

Tholymis tillarga (Fabr.) Adults are on wing from August to November. Larval occur among the aquatic weeds of lake.

Kumar & Mitra (1998) reported 50 species of odonates from Sahstradhara (Sulphur springs) Dehra Dun. Kumar & Sharma (2003) reported 43 species spreading to 29 genera under seven families from the surrounding of Asan reservoir, Dehra Dun, India. Sharma & Joshi (2007) reported 30 species of odonates belonging to 7 families from Dholbaha Dam, Punjab, India. Kulkarni & Talmale (2008) reported 16 species from Ujani Wetland, districts Solapur and Pune, 13 species from Nathsagar Wetland, district Aurangabad and Ahmednagar of Maharastra State, India. Odonata fauna of Dalpat Sagar lake Jagdalpur (C.G.) exhibit diversity and richness; with 33 species, out of 499 odonata taxa recognized from India which constitutes a share of 6.61% of the diversity richness of Indian Odonates. According to Fraser (1931) the species diversity of odonates happens to have a direct ratio or relationship to the measure of rainfall or abundance of water supplies. Kulkarni & Talmale (2008) were of the opinion that availability of water alone does not suffice to support faunal diversity in odonates. The authors agree with this view as not only water but aquatic macrophytes are required for the oviposition of all zygopteran species and for the dragonflies of family Aeshnidae of sub-order Anisoptera and for the shelter, development and emergence of all species of odonata larvae.

ACKOWLEDGEMENTS We are extremely grateful to the Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata for the identification of earlier collection of adult odonates. We also thank Dr. R.J. Andrew, Hislop College, Nagpur (M.S), Dr. Gaurav Sharma, ZSI, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, Mrs. K.G. Emiliyamma of ZSI, Kozhikode, Kerala for literature and encouragement. Thanks are due to Mr. Sundarraj P., I.P.S. Supdt. of Police, Bastar district (C.G) for facilities and encouragement.

317

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

REFERENCES Biswas, M and B. Suri Babu (2008) A note on the mortality of odonates due to spiders. Fraseria (N.S.), 7: 25-27. Fraser, F.C. 1931. Additions to the survey of the odonata (Dragonfly) fauna of Western India, with description of nine new species. Rec. Indian Mus., 33: 443-474. Fraser, F.C. 1933. The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Odonata Vol. I, Taylor & Francis Ltd., London. 1- 423. Fraser, F.C. 1934. The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Odonata Vol. II, Taylor & Francis Ltd., London. 1- 398. Fraser, F.C. 1936. The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Odonata Vol. III, Taylor & Francis Ltd., London. 1- 461. Kulkarni, P.P and M. Prasad (2002) Insecta : odonata, Zool. Surv. India. Wetland Ecosystem Series No. 3 : Fauna of Ujani. pp. 91-104. Kumar, A. (2002). Odonata diversity in Jharkhand State with special reference to niche specialization in their larval forms pp.297-314. In Kumar, A. (editor) Current Trends in odonatology Daya Publishing House, Delhi, India. 377pp. Kulkarni, P.P and S.S.Talmale (2008) Odonata from five conservation areas and two wet lands of Maharashtra, India. Fraseria (N.S.) 7: 55-60. Kumar, A and A. Mitra (1998) odonata diversity at Sahastredhara (Sulphur springs). Dehra Dun, India, with notes on their habitat ecology. Fraseria. 5(1/2): 37-45. Kumar, A and G. Sharma (2003) Insecta : odonata. Zool. Surv. India. Fauna of Asan Wetland, wetland Ecosystem Series. 5: 11-13. Kumar, A. & V, Khanna (1983) A review of the taxonomy and ecology of Odonata larvae from India. Oriental Insects. 17: 127-157. Mitra, T.R, 1995. Fauna of Indravati Tiger Reserve : Insecta : odonata. Zool. Surv. India. Fauna Cons. Areas. 6: 31-144. Prasad, M. (1966). Studies on the odonata fauna of Bastar, Madhya Pradesh, India. Rec. Zool. Surv. India . 95(3/4): 165-213. Sharma, G and P. Joshi (2007). Diversity of odonata (Insecta) from Dholbaha Dam (Distt. Hoshiarpur) in Punjab Shivalik, India. J. Asia – Pacific Entomol. 10(2): 177-180. Srivastava, V.K and B. Suri Babu (1997) Annotations on the damselfly collection from Sagar, central India. Fraseria (NS). 4(1/2): 13-15. Subramaniam, K.A (2002). Nature watch when dragonfly. Resonance, Journal of science Education. 7(10): 69-78. Suri Babu, B and V.K. Srivastava. (2001). Annotations on the dragonfly fauna of Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, central India (Odonata : Anisoptera), opusc. Zool. Flumin. 193: 1-7. Vashishth, N., Joshi P.C. and A. Singh (2002). Odonata community dynamics in Rajaji National Park, India. Fraseria. 7(1/2): 21-25.

318

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

STATUS, DIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION OF DAMSELFLIES AND DRAGONFLIES (ODONATA: INSECTA) OF RAJASTHAN AND THEIR ROLE AS BIOLOGICAL CONTROL AGENT GAURAV SHARMA* AND RAM SEWAK Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Pali Road, Jodhpur-342 005, Rajasthan. e-mail: *[email protected] ABSTRACT: The Odonates specimens preserved in National Pusa Collection, Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi and National Zoological Collection, Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Jodhpur were studied during 2006-10. Also extensive collections of Odonates from Rajasthan were made during 2008-10. The study reveals that so far 48 species belongs to 8 families under 2 suborders of order Odonata were recorded from Rajasthan, in which 5 species are new records from state. The Libellulidae was the most dominant family represented by 31 species, followed by Coenagrionidae (9 species), Aeshnidae and Gomphidae (each 2 species) and Calopterygidae, Lestidae, Platycnemididae and Protoneuridae each having 1 species. KEY WORDS: Odonata diversity, New records, Rajasthan, India.

INTRODUCTION Many characteristics distinguish Odonata from other groups of insects– small antennae, extremely large eyes (filling most of the head), two pairs of transparent membranous wings with many small veins, a long slender abdomen, an aquatic larval stage (nymph) with posterior tracheal gills, and a prehensile labium (extendible jaws underneath the head). The adults catch other insects on the wing, seizing them with their forwardly directed legs and chewing them with their powerful jaws. Each compound eye is composed of nearly 28,000 invdividual units (Ommatidia). More than 80% of their brain is devoted to analyzing visual information. Dragonflies often clean the eyes and antennae with the forelegs, much as a cat washes its face and use the hind legs to clean the end of the abdomen. Both larvae and adults are predator and thus form the integral part of aquatic as well as terrestrial ecosystems. Now a days they are extensively used in controlling causative agents of malaria, filaria and of insect pests in different ecosystems on the global basis (Kumar, 2002). The greatest numbers of species are found at sites that offer a wide variety of microhabitats; though, dragonflies tend to be much more sensitive to pollution than are damselflies. Many ecological factors affect the distribution of larvae. The acidity of the water, the amount and type of aquatic vegetation, the temperature, and whether the water is stationary or flowing, all affect the distribution of Odonata larvae. Some species can tolerate a broad range of conditions while others are very sensitive to their environment. Approximately 6,000 species and subspecies belonging to 630 genera in 28 families of Odonata are known from all over the world (Tsuda, 1991), out of which 499 species and subspecies of Odonata under 139 genera belonging to 17 families are reported from India (Prasad and Varshney, 1995). They are among the dominant invertebrate predators in ecosystems. Being predators both at larval and adult stages, they play a significant role in the food chain of forest ecosystem (Vashishth et al., 2002). Perusal of literature reveals that no consolidated account is available on the Odonata fauna of Rajasthan, though Agarwal (1957) recorded 15 species, Bose and Mitra (1976) 13 species, Tyagi and Miller (1991) 23 species from Rajasthan, Prasad (1996) 31 species from Thar Desert of Gujarat and Rajasthan and Prasad (2004) recorded 11 species from Desert National Park, Rajasthan. Therefore, the present study makes a modest attempt to explore the existing diversity of odonates from Rajasthan. 319

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

MATERIALS AND METHODS The reference collection of odonates belongs to Rajasthan collected by survey parties preserved in National Pusa Collection, Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi and National Zoological Collection, Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Jodhpur were studied and unidentified specimens identified during September, 2006 to June, 2010. Also an extensive collection of odonates were made in Rajasthan by using aerial sweep net during 2008-10. The collected individuals were transferred into insect collection paper packs and were brought to the laboratory, where these were properly stretched, pinned, oven dried for 72 hours at 600C and preserved in insect collection boxes. Identification of adult individuals was carried out using identification keys provided by Fraser (1933, 1934 & 1936).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION (a). Species diversity: The studies on Odonata fauna of Rajasthan reveals that so far 48 species belongs to 8 families under 2 suborders were recorded, in which 5 species are new records from Rajasthan state i.e. Disparoneura quadrimaculata (Rambur), Neurothemis tullia (Drury), Orthetrum triangulare (Selys), Tramea virginia (Rambur) and Trithemis kirbyi Selys (Table-1). The four species Disparoneura quadrimaculata (Rambur), Neurothemis tullia (Drury), Orthetrum triangulare (Selys) and Trithemis kirbyi Selys recorded first time from Gyan Sarover, Mount Abu and Tramea virginia (Rambur) from Pichhola lake, Udaipur. The study reveals that Ceriagrion coromandelianum (Fabricius), Brachythemis contaminata (Fabricius), Bradinopyga geminata (Rambur), Crocothemis servilia (Drury), Ischnura aurora (Brauer), Pseudagrion rubriceps Selys, Orthetrum glaucum (Brauer), Orthetrum pruinosum neglectum (Rambur), Orthetrum sabina (Drury), Pantala flavescens (Fabricius) and Trithemis aurora (Burmeister) were the dominant species of Odonata of Rajasthan. The mass emergence of Pantala flavescens (Fabricius), a migratory species was recorded during 2008 (May and July at Jodhpur, September at Mount Abu and December at Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary). Table-1. Annotated checklist of Odonata fauna of Rajasthan S.No. (A).

(B).

Suborder Zygoptera

Family Coenagrionidae

Anisoptera

Platycnemididae Protoneuridae Lestidae Calopterygidae Gomphidae Aeshnidae Libellulidae

Species Agriocnemis pygmea (Rambur) Ceriagrion cerinorubellum (Brauer) Ceriagrion coromandelianum (Fabricius) Enallagma parvum Selys Ischnura aurora (Brauer) Ischnura senegalensis (Rambur) Pseudagrion decorum (Rambur) Pseudagrion rubriceps Selys Rhodischnura nursei (Morton) Copera marginipes (Rambur) *Disparoneura quadrimaculata (Rambur) Lestes viridulus Rambur Neurobasis chinensis (Linnaeus) Ictinogomphus rapax Rambur Paragomphus lineatus (Selys) Anax guttatus (Burmeister) Hemianax ephippiger (Burmeister) Acisoma. panorpoides Rambur Brachydiplax sobrina (Rambur) Brachythemis contaminata (Fabricius) Bradinopyga geminata (Rambur) Crocothemis servilia (Drury) Diplacodes lefebvrei (Rambur)

320

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

Total 2 8 Where * indicates New records from Rajasthan

Diplacodes nebulosa (Fabricius) Diplacodes trivialis (Rambur) Hydrobasileus croceus Brauer Neurothemis fulvia (Drury) Neurothemis intermedia (Rambur) *Neurothemis tullia (Drury) Orthetrum glaucum (Brauer) Orthetrum luzonicum (Brauer) Orthetrum pruinosum neglectum (Rambur) Orthetrum sabina (Drury) Orthetrum taeniolatum (Schn.) *Orthetrum triangulare (Selys) Palpopleura sexmaculata (Fabricius) Pantala flavescens (Fabricius) Rhyothemis variegata Linnaeus Selysiothemis nigra (Vander Linden) Tetrathemis platyptera Selys Tholymis tillarga (Fabricius) Tramea basilaris burmeisteri Kirby *Tramea virginia (Rambur) Trithemis aurora (Burmeister) Trithemis festiva (Rambur) *Trithemis kirbyi Selys Trithemis pallidinervis (Kirby) Zyxomma petiolatum Rambur 48

On the basis of total number of species, family Libellulidae was the most dominant family of order Odonata, represented by 31 species, followed by Coenagrionidae (9 species), Aeshnidae and Gomphidae (each 2 species), Calopterygidae, Lestidae, Platycnemididae and Protoneuridae each having 1 species. The dominance of family Libellulidae was reported by many earlier workers as Kumar and Mitra (1998) recorded 42 species from Sahstradhara, Dehradun, out of which 18 species represented family Libellulidae; Prasad (2002) recorded 162 species from Western Himalaya, out of which 42 species represented family Libellulidae; Kumar (2002) recorded 109 species in Jharkhand state, out of which 40 species represented family Libellulidae; Vashishth et al. (2002) recorded 17 species in Rajaji National Park, out of which 9 species represented family Libellulidae; Kandibane et al. (2005) recorded 12 species of odonates in an irrigated rice field of Madurai, out of which 7 species represented family Libellulidae; Emiliyamma (2005) recorded 31 species of odonates in the Kottayam district, out of which 18 species represented family Libellulidae; Emiliyamma et al. (2005) recorded 137 species of odonates from Kerala, out of which 56 species represented family Libellulidae and Sharma and Joshi (2007) recorded 30 species of odonates in Dholbaha Dam, Punjab, out of which 18 species represented family Libellulidae. The adults of dragonfly and damselfly preferred tillering stage of the diversified ecosystem as they create a favourable microclimate for the abundance of dragonfly and damselfly species. This is in consonance with the view of MacArthor (1965) who stated that the adjustment in species abundance is more in diversified ecosystem. Therefore, the present study reveals that Rajasthan state is rich in Odonata fauna and provided a suitable natural habitat for their existence and alternatively acts as natural biological control agent against pests and noxious insects.

321

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

(b). Role as Biological Control Agent: Odonates found near any inland wetlands. They lead a bimodal life: adults are aerial whereas larvae are purely aquatic. Larval odonates form a high proportion of biomass in freshwaters, and thus, occupy an important position in the energy flow pathway of the freshwater ecosystems. As dominant members of the benthic and littoral fauna, they are considered as promising organisms for bio-monitoring the organic pollution. Larval odonates devour mosquito larvae as well as other harmful organisms and prove themselves a friend of mankind. The complex flora allows for a greater diversity of faunal components and more complex food webs (Boyd, 1971). The Odonate population is steadily on decline due to rapid industrialization, urbanization as well as the related disappearance of natural habitats. So, it is high time to take effective measures to stop the disappearance of Odonata habitat, to increase

322

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert their population and conservation of these elegant flies. Needless to say, the dragonflies and damselflies have their own role in ecobalance. Thakur (1985) studied feeding behaviour of odonates at Kailana lake, Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Bohra (2002) studied on the food and feeding habits of trophically distinct aquatic odonate larvae of Udhuwa lake in santal pargana, Jharkhand and recorded food preference of damselflies larvae on rhizophora, cladocera, aquatic insects, rotifers, copepoda and algae. Roy (2002) studied on seasonal variations in the energy contents, productivity in terms of g/m2/month/year, food and feeding biology and foraging ratio of three species Mesogomphus lineatus Selys, Cordulegaster sp. and Ischnura sp. at Bhagalpur, Bihar. Khaliq (2002) carried out studies in Poonch and Bagh districts on potential of 11 species of dragonflies as bio-control agents of insect pests of rice, feeding on yellow and white stem borers, hairy caterpillar, rice skippers, white-backed plant hoppers, white and green leafhoppers, rice bugs, cicadellid leafhoppers and grasshoppers respectively and got excellent results of natural pest control as compared to other agricultural fields. Lawton, 1970, Benke, 1976, Roy, 1984, Kumar, 1996 reveals that odonates larvae are top carnivores and play a significant role in limiting the numbers of organisms present at the lower trophic levels of the food chain. These larvae are feeding on various zooplanktons, aquatic insects, fish spawns, fish fry and fingerlings and are secondary and tertiary consumers. In the absence of these top carnivores, no balanced ecosystems could continue to persist. Therefore, the ecosystems can be manipulated and monitored with the help of organisms occupying at the apex of the food chain. According to Lotka (1924) and Volterra (1925) a predator population is prerequisite in keeping the ecosystem in a state of balance. (c). Need for Conservation: Around 499 species and subspecies of odonates recorded from India, that forms about 10% of the world odonate fauna. This rich diversity is fast disappearing due to destruction of their breeding and resting habitats. Epiophlebia laidlawi Tillyard was reported from Darjeeling, India, the only representative of suborder Anisozygoptera, having only two species worldwide i.e Epiophlebia laidlawi Tillyard from Himalayas and Epiophlebia superstes Selys from Japan, these species having mixed characters of damselflies and dragonflies. These endemic species are more important to science, which need proper protection. Identifying the priority species that require immediate attention is the first step in conservation action. Species prioritization of the dragonflies and damselflies of India is a prerequisite for Odonata conservation. In India only Epiophlebia laidlawi Tillyard is protected in Schedule I, Part IV under Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and worldwide four species of Odonates i.e. Cephalaeschna acutifrons (Vulnerable) Acanthaeshna victoria (Vulnerable), Burmagomphus sivalikensis (Critically endangered) and Epiophlebia laidlawi (Vulnerable) are listed in the IUCN Red Data Book, 1996. In Rajasthan habitats of odonates species as Anax guttatus (Burmeister), Disparoneura quadrimaculata (Rambur), Neurobasis chinensis (Linnaeus), Neurothemis tullia (Drury), Orthetrum triangulare (Selys), Rhyothemis variegata Linnaeus, Trithemis kirbyi Selys and Tramea virginia (Rambur) etc. needs conservation. Odonates conservation cannot be treated separately since the national programmes such as formation of National Parks take care of invertebrates also. But many of the odonates extent range area that does not come under any of the national programmes have to be focused. Many locally endemic odonates species will be lost because of their susceptibility to habitat loss.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors are grateful to Dr. Ramakrishna, Director, Zoological Survey of India (Ministry of Environment and Forests), Kolkata and Dr. Padma Bohra, Officer-in-Charge, Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Jodhpur for the necessary permission and facilities provided. Special thanks to Dr. V.V. Ramamurthy (Principal Scientist), National Pusa Collection, Division of Entomology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi for permission to examine the reference collection of odonates.

REFERENCES Agarwal, J.P. 1957. Contribution towards the Odonata fauna of Pilani. Proc. 44th Indian Sci. Congress. Kolkata. pp.309.

323

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Benke, A.C. 1976. Dragonfly production and prey turn over. Ecology. 57: 915-927. Bohra, C. 2002. Analytical studies on the food and feeding habits of Trophically distinct aquatic odonate larvae of Udhuwa lake in santal pargana, Jharkhand, India. pp. 207-220. In Kumar, A. (editor). Current Trends in Odonatology. Daya Publishing House, Delhi (India). 377pp. Bose, B. and Mitra, T.R. 1976. The Odonata fauna of Rajasthan. Rec. zool. Surv. India, Kolkata. 71: 1-11. Boyd, C.E. 1971. The limnological role of aquatic macrophytes and their relationship with reservoir management. Reser. Fisch. Limn. Spl. Pub. 8: 153-165. Emiliyamma, K.G. 2005. On the Odonata (Insecta) fauna of Kottayam district, Kerala, India. Zoos' Print Journal. 20(12): 2108-2110. Emiliyamma, K.G., C. Radhakrishnan and J.P. Muhamed. 2005. Pictorial Handbook on- Common Dragonflies and Damselflies of Kerala. Published Director, Zool. Surv. India, Kolkata. 67pp. Fraser, F.C. 1933. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Odonata, Vol. I. 423pp. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London. Fraser, F.C. 1934. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Odonata, Vol. II. 398pp. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London. Fraser, F.C. 1936. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Odonata, Vol. III. 461pp. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London. Kandibane, M., S. Raguraman and N. Ganapathy. 2005. Relative abundance and diversity of Odonata in an irrigated rice field of Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Zoos’ Print Journal. 20(11): 2051-2052. Khaliq, A. 2002. Potential of dragonflies as bio-control agents of insect pests of rice, pp. 1-26. In Kumar, A. (editor). Current Trends in Odonatology. Daya Publishing House, Delhi (India). 377pp. Kumar, A. 1996. Comparative studies on stomach content and forage ratio of zygopteran and anisopteran larvae in a fish pond of Santal Pargana, Bihar. Proc. Nat. Aca. Sci. 66: 315-325. Kumar, A. 2002. Odonata diversity in Jharkhand state with special reference to niche specialization in their larva forms, pp. 297-314. In Kumar, A. (editor). Current Trends in Odonatology. Daya Publishing House, Delhi (India). 377pp. Kumar, A. and A. Mitra. 1998. Odonata diversity at Sahastredhara (Sulphur springs), Dehra Dun, India, with notes on their habitat ecology. Fraseria. 5(1/2): 37-45. Lawton, J.H. 1970. Feeding and food energy assimilation in larvae of the damselfly Pyrhosoma nymphula (Sulz.) (Odonata: Zygoptera). J. Anim. Ecol. 39: 669-689. Lotka, A.J. 1924. Elements of Physical biology. Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore. Reprinted by Dover, Publ., New York. 460pp. MacArthor, R.H. 1965. Patterns of species diversity. Biol. Review. 40: 510-533. Prasad, M. 1996. Odonata in the Thar desert. pp. 145-149. In: Faunal diversity in the Thar desert: Gaps in research. Ed. A.K. Ghosh, Q.H. Baqri and I. Prakash. Scientific publishers, Jodhpur. 410pp. Prasad, M. 2002. Odonata diversity in Western Himalaya, India, pp. 221-254. In Kumar, A. (editor). Current Trends in Odonatology. 377pp. Daya Publishing House, Delhi (India). Prasad, M. 2004. Insecta: Odonata of Desert National Park. Fauna of Desert National Park, Rajasthan. 19: 51-58. Conservation Area Series, published by the Director, Zool. Surv. India, Kolkata. 135pp. Prasad, M. and R.K. Varshney. 1995. A checklist of the Odonata of India including data on larval studies. Oriental Insects. 29: 385-428. Roy, S.P. 1984. Studies on gut content analysis of odonate nymphs in a fresh water fish pond at Bhagalpur, Bihar. Entomon. 1: 25-29. Sharma. G and Joshi, P.C. 2007. Diversity of Odonata (Insecta) from Dholbaha dam (Distt.) Hoshiarpur) in Punjab Shivalik, India. Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology, Korea. 10(2): 177-180. Thakur, R.K. 1985. Field notes on the Odonata around lake Kailana, Jodhpur (Rajasthan). Bull. zool. surv. India. 7(1): 143-147. Tyagi, B.K. and Miller, P.L. 1991. A note on the Odonata collected in South-Western Rajasthan, India. Notul. Odonatol. 3: 134-135. Tsuda, S. 1991. A distributional list of world Odonata. 362pp. Osaka. Vashishth, N., P.C. Joshi and A. Singh 2002. Odonata community dynamics in Rajaji National Park, India. Fraseria. 7(1/2): 21-25. Volterra, V.S. 1925. Variations and fluctuations of the number of individuals in animal species living together. In Animal Ecology (Ed. R.N. Chapman), McGraw-Hill Book Co. Inc., New York. pp. 409-448.

324

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

FREQUENCY OF VIABLE MUTATIONS AND THEIR SPECTRUM IN TWO VARIETIES OF Trigonella foenum graecum L. UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THREE RADIOMIMETIC AGENTS DHEERAJ VASU*, MONIKA KUMARI AND ZIA-UL-HASAN Department of Botany, Saifia Science College, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. e-mail: *[email protected] ABSTRACT: The present investigations were undertaken to evaluate the viable mutation frequencies and their spectrum in two varieties of Trigonella foenum graecum L. under the influence of three radiomimetic agents i.e., EMS, MMS and MES with references to induce the genetic variability specially for morphological and yield traits. Result revealed highest viable mutation frequency with 0.3% EMS treatment in desi methi and highest number of viable mutation spectrum with 0.3% MMS treatment in both varieties but the viable mutation frequency and their spectrum were found broader in variety desi methi as comparison to kasuri methi. KEY WORDS: Mutation, mutagen, EMS, MMS, MES, Viable mutation frequency and spectrum.

Introduction Among plant breeding programmes, used in crop improvements radiation mutation breeding has been very useful in inducing variability in crops. Radiomimetic agents like, EMS (Ethyl Methane Sulphonate), MMS (Methyl Methane Sulphonate) and MES (Methyl Ethane Sulphonate) are found equally effective like to ionizing radiation. Radiomimetic agents sometimes more effective and efficient mutagens with low concentration to cause variability in crops. Irradiated populations showed significantly greater multi-factorial variability in yield than the untreated populations (Gregory, 1957). Higher frequencies of viable mutations are obtained in treatments with chemical mutagens than radiation mutagenesis (Blixt et al., 1958). In Emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum var. khapli; 2n = 28) high frequency of chlorophyll and morphological mutations by EMS was observed by Swaminathan et al. (1962) whereas, Rapoport (1963) reported nitroso compounds as most effective as compare to other chemical mutagens. Comparative study of EMS, hydroxylamine and their combination treatments on emmer wheat was also showed the higher frequencies of viable mutations by radiomimetic agents i.e. EMS. According to Kharkwal (2001) in case of Cicer arietinum L. radiomimetic mutagens have been found to be relatively more efficient than others in generating variability. Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) is a multi-purpose annual autogamous crop grown as spice, fodder and also for vegetable crops as leafy vegetable belongs to family Fabaceae (Bentham and Hooker (1862-1883). The seeds and leaves are rich source of vitamin A, vitamin C, protein, carbohydrates and minerals especially organic iron, phosphorus and calcium etc. The seeds of fenugreek contain alkaloid, Colin, bitter material, fatty acid, diastase which are excellent remedies for dysiorexia and weakness resulting from emaciation. It improves the appetite, increase the number of red blood cells. Very recently, it is uses as flavouring media in bakery and become very popular (Makai et al., 2004). Fournier (1972), Paris et al. (1975), Sauvaire et al. (1976), Jain et al. (1987) and Abdul-Barry et al. (2000) has confirmed the antidiabetic actions of Fenugreek. Seeds of Trigonella foenum-graecum L. are used in the indigenous system of medicine (Chopra et al., 1966). Therefore the objectives of the present study was to evaluate the influence of three radiomimetic agents to induce mutagenesis in two varieties of Trigonella foenum graecum L.

325

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

Material and methods Material used Seeds of two varieties of Trigonella foenum-graecum L. viz. Desi methi and Kasuri methi were procured from Jawahar Lal Agriculture farm Eintkhedi, Berasia Road, Bhopal (M.P.). Three mutagens EMS, MMS and MES which are radiomimetic agents, were used in present investigation.

Method used Fully mature and healthy seeds of uniform size free from mould and mechanical injury were selected for different concentration of mutagenic treatment. To determine the effective range of mutagens pilot experiment were conducted in preceding year with the two varieties, Desi methi and Kasuri methi by way of employing wide dose range. Period of presoaking the seeds making them vulnerable to the action of different mutagens was also ascertained through preliminary experiments. Three concentrations of each mutagen i.e. 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.3% are selected on the basis of preliminary experiment, LD-50 dose. These radiomimetic agents have bi-functional alkyl reactive groups that react with DNA, causes extensive cross linkage of DNA, chromosome breakage, chromosome mutations and gene mutation.

RESULTS The results of present investigation revealed that, highest viable mutation frequency was recorded with 0.3% EMS in desi methi while lowest was found with 0.1% EMS treatment (Table1). Highest viable mutation spectrum among the various progenies of variety Desi methi was observed with 0.3% MMS treatment and lowest with 0.1% EMS treatment (Table-3). Viable mutation frequencies and spectrum with respect to various populations of variety Kasuri methi which clearly indicate that highest number of viable mutations occurred with 0.3% EMS treatment and lowest with 0.1% EMS treatment (Table-2). In this variety highest viable mutation spectrum was observed with 0.3% MMS and lowest with 0.1% EMS treatment (Table-4). The induced viable mutation spectrum was broader in variety Desi methi in comparison to Kasuri methi. In both varieties mutation affected almost all parts of plants. A comparison of three radiomimetic agents, EMS induced more mutation than MMS and MES. The Descriptions of viable mutations in M2 generation of both varieties i.e. Desi methi and Kasuri methi induced by radiomimetic agents EMS, MMS and MES is given in Table 1-4. Dwarf mutant selected in M2 population under the stress of all the three radiomimetic agents, were varied in their heights and capsule size on an average, the height of dwarf mutants reduced three times in comparison of control in both varieties except under 0.1% EMS in Kasuri methi. Few tall mutants also produced with each treatment involving different concentration of EMS, MMS and MES in both varieties (Table-3 and 4). These mutants differ among themselves in respect, number of pods per plant, pod size and number of seeds per pod. Three cotyledonary leaves or cotyledons were observed in seeds produced by M1 plants which were raised from the seeds treated with 0.1% EMS and 0.3% MMS in variety Desi methi. Leaves which developed later were of normal type. Pods and seeds were also normal in these mutants. In variety Kasuri methi this mutant observed under 0.2%, 0.3% MES treatment only. In all the treatments of radiomimetic agents EMS, MMS and MES, in M2 population, unifoliate leaves mutant observed. In higher doses frequency of three mutants were more (Table3). In variety Kasuri methi this mutant was observed under 0.2%, 0.3% EMS, MMS and 0.2%, 0.3% in MES. Trifoliate leaves mutant selected in M2 generation of all the treatments of radiomimetic agents in comparison of bifoliate leaves in control. In these mutant leaf fall was early before the maturity of pods in variety Kasuri methi this mutant selected under 0.2%, 0.3% EMS, 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.3% MMS and 0.2%, 0.3% MES. In all the treatments of three radiomimetic

326

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert agents, multi-foliate types of mutants observed except in 0.1% MES. These plants have very low yield, because the late flowering in comparison of control in the both varieties. Yellow coloured pod were observed in all the treatments of EMS, MMS and MES except under 0.1% EMS, but their frequency of occurrence was very low in both varieties. In variety Desi methi increase pod mutant were observed under 0.3% EMS, 0.2% MMS and 0.3% MES, while in variety Kasuri methi observed under 0.3% EMS, MMS and MES. This mutant gave increase number of seeds per pod also. Early ripening in few mutants was observed in M2 generation among of both varieties Desi methi and Kasuri methi except 0.1% MES in Kasuri methi. In M2 population, late ripening mutant observed under 0.3% EMS, 0.3% MMS and 0.2%, 0.3% MES in variety Desi methi under Kasuri methi 0.3% EMS, 0.3% MMS and 0.2%, 0.3% MES, there mutant 7 to 10 days late maturity. In M2 population of both varieties small seed mutant were observed under 0.3% EMS, 0.2%, 0.3% MMS and 0.3% MES in variety Desi methi and 0.3%, EMS, 0.2%, 0.3% MMS and 0.3% MES in variety Kasuri methi. In these mutants were of normal size but seeds were smaller, lighter weight in comparison of those of the control. Brown colour seed mutants observed in control contradistinction to yellow colour in controls in M2 generation of both varieties Desi methi and Kasuri methi, under 0.2% and 0.3% EMS, MMS and MES. These seeds were of normal normal in shape, size and weight and develop from normal type of pods. Under the treatment of EMS and MES, robust seed mutant were observed In M2 generation of both varieties Desi methi and Kasuri methi in comparison of control, but the pods in which such seeds developed were of normal size. These seeds were also heavier in weight than those of the control.

Table 1. Frequency of viable mutations in M2 generation of Trigonella foenum-graecum L. (Desi methi) with the treatments of Radiomimetic agents EMS (Ethyl Methane Sulphonate), MMS (Methyl Methane Sulphonate) and MES (Methyl Ethane Sulphonate). Viable Mutations S. No.

Radiomimetic agents

Doses (%)

Number of M2 progenies

Number of M2 plants

1.

—

Control

97

0.1

Frequency Number of M2 families segregating

Number of M2 mutations

1924

—

76

1352

0.2

65

4.

0.3

5.

% of segregating families

% of mutants in M2 population

—

—

—

14

142

18.42

10.50

1290

21

182

32.30

14.10

60

1050

28

281

46.66

26.76

0.1

70

1210

16

168

22.85

13.88

0.2

65

1030

20

187

30.76

18.15

7.

0.3

55

940

24

184

43.63

19.57

8.

0.1

74

1370

15

178

20.27

12.99

0.2

65

1190

22

180

33.84

15.13

0.3

60

1041

26

191

43.33

18.34

2. 3.

6.

9. 10.

EMS

MMS

MES

.

327

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Table 2. Frequency of viable mutations in M2 generation in Trigonella foenum-graecum L. (Kasuri methi) with the treatment of Radiomimetic agents EMS (Ethyl Methane Sulphonate), MMS (Methyl Methane Sulphonate) and MES (Methyl Ethane Sulphonate). Viable Mutations S. No.

Radiomimetic agents

Doses (%)

Number of M1 progenies

Number of M2 plants

1.

—

Control

95

0.1 0.2

4. 5.

2. 3.

6

EMS

Number of M2 mutations

1898

—

—

—

% of mutants in M2 population —

75

1292

13

152

17.33

11.76

65

1282

20

165

30.76

12.87

0.3

58

1038

26

198

44.83

19.07

0.1

62

1021

15

167

24.19

16.35

% of segregating families

0.2

57

989

19

197

33.33

19.91

7.

0.3

50

978

22

201

44.00

20.55

8.

0.1

78

1198

14

172

17.94

14.35

0.2

64

1090

20

181

31.25

16.60

0.3

62

1013

24

189

38.70

18.65

9.

MMS

Frequency Number of M2 families segregating

MES

10.

Table 3. Spectrum and Frequency of viable Morphological mutations induced by radiomimetic agents EMS (Ethyl Methane Sulphonate), MMS (Methyl Methane Sulphonate) and MES (Methyl Ethane Sulphonate) in M2 generation of Trigonella foenum-graecum L. (Desi methi). S. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

Morphological Viable Mutants Dwarf Tall Three cotyledonary leaves Uni-foliate leaves Bi-foliate leaves Multi-foliate leaves Yellow coloured pod Increase number of pod Early ripening Late ripening Small seeds Robust seeds Brown coloured seed

EMS

MMS

MES

0.1 %

0.2 %

0.3 %

0.1 %

0.2 %

0.3 %

0.1 %

0.2 %

0.3 %

02/15.38 01/7.69

06/13.95 08/18.60

14/10.93 19/14.84

05/15.15 02/6.06

09/13.04 04/5.79

21/12.13 20/11.56

03/15.78 06/31.57

05/10.63 07/14.89

13/9.21 24/17.02

02/15.38

00/0.00

00/0.00

00/0.00

00/0.00

02/1.15

00/0.00

00/0.00

00/0.00

01/7.69

04/9.30

19/14.84

02/6.06

06/8.69

18/10.40

00/0.00

02/4.25

11/7.80

03/23.07

07/16.27

23/17.96

04/12.12

09/13.04

17/9.82

00/0.00

03/6.38

09/6.38

01/7.69

06/13.95

09/7.03

03/9.09

13/18.84

20/11.56

00/0.00

04/8.51

08/5.67

00/0.00

02/4.65

03/2.34

11/33.33

04/5.79

17/10.40

08/42.10

07/14.89

21/14.89

00/00

00/0.00

04/3.12

00/0.00

03/4.34

00/0.00

00/0.00

00/0.00

04/2.83

03/23.07 00/0.00 00/0.00 00/0.00

07/16.27 00/0.00 00/0.00 00/0.00

19/14.84 05/3.90 04/3.12 05/3.90

06/18.18 00/0.00 00/0.00 00/0.00

13/18.84 00/00 03/4.34 00/00

23/13.29 09/5.20 17/9.82 00/0.00

02/10.52 00/0.00 00/0.00 00/0.00

10/21.27 03/6.38 00/0.00 00/0.00

19/13.477 13/9.21 09/6.38 02/1.41

00/0.00

03/6.97

04/3.12

00/0.00

05/7.24

09/5.20

00/0.00

06/12.76

08/5.67

13

43

128

33

69

173

19

47

141

328

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Table 4. Spectrum and Frequency of viable Morphological mutations induced by Radiomimetic agents EMS, MMS and MES in M2 generation of Trigonella foenum-graecum L. (Kasuri methi). S. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

Morphological Viable mutants Dwarf Tall Three cotyledonary leaf Uni-foliate leaf Bi-foliate leaf Multi-foliate leaf Yellow colour pod Increase number of pod Early ripening Late ripening Small seeds Robust seeds Brown coloured seeds

EMS

MMS

MES

0.1 % 00/00 01/20.00

0.2 % 05/14.28 04/11.42

0.3 % 17/13.28 13/10.15

0.1 % 02/9.09 00/00

0.2 % 08/13.55 05/8.47

0.3 % 20/12.90 17/10.96

0.1 % 02/15.38 03/23.07

0.2 % 05/12.19 04/9.75

0.3 % 16/11.34 20/14.18

00/00

00/00

00/00

00/00

00/00

00/00

00/00

02/4.87

03/2.12

00/00 00/00

03/8.57 04/11.42

17/13.28 19/14.84

01/4.54 03/13.63

05/8.47 08/13.55

12/7.74 16/10.32

00/00 00/00

03/7.31 02/4.87

09/6.38 10/7.09

01/20.00

05/14.28

08/6.25

02/9.09

09/15.25

18/11.61

00/00

05/12.19

09/6.38

00/00

03/8.57

09/7.03

09/40.09

04/6.77

15/9.67

08/61.53

09/21.95

19/13.47

00/00

00/00

05/3.90

00/00

00/00

04/2.58

00/00

00/00

06/4.25

03/60.00 00/00 00/00 00/00

08/22.8 00/00 00/00 00/00

20/15.62 06/4.68 04/3.12 05/3.90

05/22.72 00/00 00/00 00/00

12/20.33 00/00 02/3.38 00/00

21/13.54 07/4.51 15/9.67 00/00

00/00 00/00 00/00 00/00

08/19.51 03/7.31 00/00 00/00

18/12.76 12/8.51 08/5.67 03/2.12

00/00

03/8.57

05/3.90

00/00

06/10.16

10/6.45

00

00/00

08/5.67

05

35

128

22

59

155

13

41

141

DISCUSSION It was also found that the spectrum of mutations is dependent upon the nature of mutagen employed and material used for study. Differential spectrum of viable mutations as observed in the present experiments had been reported by several workers Swaminathan (1969) in cereals; Sethi and Gill (1971) in barley; Bandhopadhyay and Bose (1979) in blackgram. Sharma (1965) compared the effects of different radiations and chemical mutagen on Peas and found that each of the mutagens induced particular mutations in a relatively large number which were produced rarely by other mutagens. He also observed NMU induced wider spectrum of mutations as compared to other physical and chemical mutagens. Nilan (1967) has reviewed various reports on alterations in mutation spectrum induced by specific mutagens or treatment conditions and treatment procedures may cause some changes in relative proportions of different types of mutations in higher plants a precise control over the spectrum is yet to be achieved. Similar results on chlorophyll mutations were reported by Matsumura and Mabuchi (1964) in Rice and wheat; Basu and Basu (1969) in Rice; Bogyo (1973) in (Hordeum vulgare) barley; Sahai (1974) in Phaseolus aureus; Hasegawa and Inoue (1981) in barley; Singh and Lal (1998) in urdbean; Michael and Grant (2000) in Nicotiana glauco Grahm; Solanki and Sharma (2001) in macrosperma lentil (Lens culinaris Medik); Kar and Savin (2002) in sesame; Cheema and Atta (2003) in Rice; Wani and Anis (2004) in Cicer arietinum; Tariq et al. (2005) in Vicia faba L. and Mensah (2007) in sesame. Chopra and Swaminathan (1967) studied the comparative effect of EMS, hydroxylamine and their combination treatments on emmer wheat and observed that chlorophyll and viable mutation frequency in M2 was higher under EMS treatment. Khan (1988) studied the effect of gamma rays and EMS in single and combination treatments in mungbean on seeds germination, seeding growth, survival, pollen and seeds fertility, recovery index (RI) in M1 and frequency and spectrum of chlorophyll mutations in M2. The percentage of germination, growth of seedling and survival decreased with an increase in the dose of mutagens used. Combination treatments caused more drastic effects than the single 329

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert treatment. Plant height increases with the treatment of PSB (Kumari et al., 2009). According to Vasu and Hasan (2009) readiomimetic agents induce plant height & number of pods per plant in Trigonella. Since radiation, chemical mutagens & radiomimetic agents were all effective in crop improvements but the results of experiment shows that higher doses of EMS & MMS were induce genetic variability especially on morphological traits.

REFERENCES Abdul-Barry, J.A., Abdul-Hassan, J.A., Javed, A.M. and Al-Hakien, M.H.H. (2000). Hypoglycaemic effect of aqueous extract of the leaves of Trigonella foenum-graecum L. in healthy volunteers. East. Medi. Health Journal. 6(1): 1-4. Bandhopadhyay, B. and Bose, S. (1979). Induced morphological variants in Phaseoalus aurens. Sci. Cul. 45: 284-286. Basu, A.K. and Basu, A.K. (1969). Radiation induced chlorophyll mutations in rice. Indian J. of Genetics and Plant Breeding. 29(3): 353-362. Bentham, G. and Hooker, J.D. (1862 -1883) “Genera Plantarum”, 3 vols. London. Oxford and IBM publishing Co. Pvt. LTD. pp.823. Blixt, S., Ehrenberg, L. and Gelin, O. (1958). Quantitative studies of induced mutations in Peas I. Methodological investigations. Agri. Hort. Genet. 16: 238-250. Bogyo, T.P. (1973). Differential effect of Sodium azide (SA) on the frequency of radiation induced chromosome aberrations the frequency of radiation induced chlorophyll mutation in Hordeum vulgare. Radiat. Bot. 13: 315-322. Cheema, A.A. and Atta, B.M. (2003). Radio sensitivity studies in Basmati Rice. Pak. J. Bot. 35(2): 197-207. Chopra, R.N., Nayar, S.L. and Chopra, I.C. (1966). “Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants” CSIR, New Delhi. pp.248. Chopra, V.L. and Swaminathan, M.S. (1967). Mutagenic efficiency of individual and combined treatments of Ethylmethane sulphonate and hydroxylamine in Emmer wheat. Indian J. Genet. Plant Breed. 26: 59-62. Fournier, P. (1972). Trigonelle. Les quatre flores de la France. No. 05. Gregory, W.C. (1957). Progress in establishing the effectiveness of radiation in breeding Peanuts. Radiation in plant breeding. Proc. Rath. Oct. Ridge. Regional Symp. 36-48. Hasegawa, H. and Inoue, M. (1981). Influence of temperature during and after sodium azide treatment on M1 damage and M2 chlorophyll mutation on barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). Envri. Exp. Bot. 24: 3-7. Jain, S.C., Lohiya, N.K. and Kapoor, A. (1987). Trigonella foenum-graecum Linn. A hypoglycaemic Agents. Ind. J. of Pharmaceutical Science. 18: 113-114. Kar, U.C. and Savin, D. (2002). Induced fascinated stem mutant in Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.). Ann. Agric. Res. New Series. 23(3): 509-510. Khan, I.A. (1988). Mutation breeding in mung bean in recent advance in genetics and cytogenetics, Premeter pub. House, Hyderabad. 91-102. Kharkwal, M.C. (2001). Induced mutations in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Evaluation of micro mutations. Indian J. Genet. Plant Breed. 61(2): 115-124. Kumari, M.,Vasu, D., Hasan, Z. and Dhurwe, U.K. (2009). Effects of PSB (Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria) morphological on characters of Lens culinaris Medic. . 1(2): 5-7. Marki, A. and Bianu, M. (1970). Gamma rays and EMS induced mutations in flax (Linum usitatissimum). Genetika. 6: 24-28. Matsumura, S. and Mabuchi, T. (1964). Relation of radiation effects to dose rates of gamma rays or X-radiation in rice and wheat. Jap. J. Genetics. 39: 120-130.

330

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Mensah, J.K., Obadoni, B.O., Akomeah, P.A., Ikhajiagbe, B. and Ajibolv, J. (2007). The effects of sodium azide and colchicines treatments on morphological and yield traits of Sesame seed (Sesamum indicum L.). African J. of Biotechnology. 6(5): 534-538. Michael, M. and Grant, H. (2000). Nitrosomethyl urea induces nuclear and cytoplasmic chlorophyll mutations in Nicotiana glauca Grahm. Annals of Botany. 86: 293-298. Nilan, R.A. (1967). Nature of induced mutation in higher plants. Induced mutation and their utilization. Erwin-Bour Gedachtnievorlesunger IV Akedemic Vorlag Berlin, 5-20. Paris, N., Sauvaire, Y. and Baccou, I.C. (1975). Procede d extraction de vegeteaux pour la production de sapogenines steroidique et de sousproduits utilizable industriellement. Brevet francais No. 75. Rapoport, I.A. (1963). Overcoming the universial mutational barrier with mutation in the Xchromosome more than 100/. Doklady Acad. Sci. USSR. 148: 1696-1699. Sahai, S. (1974). Cytogenetics, mutational and seed protein analysis of some pulse materials. Ph.D. thesis IARI, New Delhi. Sauvaire, Y., Baccou, I.C. and Besancon, P. (1976). Nutritional value of the proteins of a leguminous seed fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.). Nutrition reports International. 14. No.5. Sethi, G.S. and Gill, K.S. (1971). Stalked ovary: A new mutant in barley induced by EMS. Curr. Sci. 20: 557. Sharma, B. (1965). Comparative study of physical and chemical mutagens on the basis of variations appearing in second generation. Isvatia Timiserev. Agric. Acad. Moscow. 4: 127140. Singh, V.P. and Lal, J.P. (1998). Mutagenic effects of gamma rays and EMS on frequency of chlorophyll and macromutations in urdbean (Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper) Ind. J. Genet. 59: 203-210. Solanki, I.S. and Sharma, B. (2001). Frequency and spectrum of chlorophyll mutations in macrosperma lentil (Lens culinaris Medik). Indian J. of Genetics and Plant Breeding. 61: 283-286. Swaminathan, M.S., Chopra, V.L. and Bhaskaran, S. (1962). Chromosome aberrations frequency and spectrum of mutations induced by EMS in barley and wheat. Indian Journal of Genetics. 22: 192-207. Swaminathan, M.S. (1969). Mutation breeding. Proc. III. International Congress Genetics. 3: 327347. Tariq, A.B., Khan, A.H. and Parveen, S. (2005). Spectrum and frequency of chlorophyll mutations induced by gamma rays and EMS in Vicia faba L. Soci. for Plants Research India. 18(122): 143-145. Vasu, D. and Hasan, Zia Ul. (2009). Effect of radiomimetic agents on two varieties of Trigonella with emphasis on plant height and pod numbers. 1(1): 98-104. Wani, A.R. and Anis. (2004). Spectrum and frequency of chlorophyll mutations induced by gamma rays and EMS in Cicer arietinum L. J. Cytol. Genet. 5: 143-147.

331

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

FEEDING BEHAVIOUR AND HABITAT PREFERENCE OF INDIAN GAZELLE (Gazella bennettii Sykes) IN THE THAR DESERT OF RAJASTHAN (INDIA) H. S. GEHLOT* AND G. R. JAKHAR Department of Zoology, J.N.Vyas University, Jodhpur-342 001, Rajasthan. e-mail: *[email protected] ABSTRACT: Indian gazelle is a browser as well as grazer. The foraging pattern shift was experienced in chinkara with the changing seasons and availability of preferred food plants. Food habits of Chinkara obtained from different study sites in different seasons were compared by correlating the percentage time spent on different plant species in different seasons. Food habits of Indian gazelle (Gazella bennettii) were examined from August, 2003 to July, 2005 via scan focal sampling around Jodhpur, Rajasthan. The food plants and feeding habits of Indian gazelle revealed that a total of 39 wild plants and five crop species preferred in the Thar Desert. KEY WORDS: Rajasthan , Thar desert, Indian gazelle, habitat, food plants.

INTRODUCTION The Great Indian Thar Desert or Thar, as it is commonly called, is spread over 2,25,680 sq. km area between 22°30’ N and 32°05’N and from 68°05’ E and 75°45’E. Rajasthan has two unique habitats, which do not occur anywhere else in India, The Thar Desert and the oldest Archaen mountain range, the Aravallis because of these typical land formations, the zoogeography of this zone assume great importance (Prakash, 1998). The Thar provides home to a variety of wildlife of all categories, particularly the mammals, reptiles, insects and resident and migratory birds. The numbers of large mammals here has declined precipitously over the year due to indiscriminate hunting and gradual degradation of the habitat. The existence of two ungulate species viz. the Chinkara or Indian gazelle (Gazella bennettii Sykes) the Blackbuck or Indian antelope (Antelope cervicapra Linnaeus) in different parts of the desert in western Rajasthan indicate that these animals are well adapted for survival in arid and semi-arid regions. An animal’s utilization of the habitat is defined by its need for food and the constraints involved, both extrinsic and intrinsic (Krebs and Davis, 1984). The Indian gazelle or Chinkara (Gazella bennettii) inhabits the arid and semi-arid regions of India. Though their distribution is widespread, its density is low in most areas (Rahmani, 1990).

Study area The intensive study site of Jajiwal Dhora village is 25 km north east of Jodhpur near Jaipur-Jodhpur highway. It lies between N 26°19.908' to E 73°22.978’. This area does not belong to closed area, but has fairly good numbers of Chinkara. The site falls under the arid zone where annual rainfall varies between 200 to 400 mm and mainly occurs during the months of July to September. Rainfall is mainly restricted to monsoon season and a few showers in winter, however during 2003-2005 the winter showers were meagre while erratic rains occurred during late April and early May. The maximum Temperature ranged from 24-29°C in January to 45°C in June. During monsoon season, large area of this study site is put under cultivation for crops of Bajra (Pennisetum typhoides), Moth (Phaseolus aconitifolia), Gaur (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba), Mung (Vigna radiata) and Til (Sesamum indicum). The natural vegetations dominated by Sinia (Crotalaria burhia), Kankera (Maytenus emarginata), Jar-beri (Ziziyphus nummularia) and Ker (Capparis deciduas) with some plants of Hingota (Balanites aegyptiaca) but Khejri (Prosopis cineraria) trees are widely scattered over the whole study area. Apart from ungulates like Indian gazelle (Gazella bennettii) and Bluebull (Bosephalus tragocamelus), Indian Fox (Vulpes bengalensis) and Desert fox

332

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert (Vulpes vulpes) are also found in this area. Stray dogs take a heavy toll of the chinkara especially the fawns of gazelle.

MATERIAL AND METHODS A 10X30X50 mm prismatic field binocular was used through out the study for direct observations of the animals in the field. Using the binoculars, cameras and movie camera and Scan and focal sampling methods were followed for recorded this type of behaviour. The focal animals were selected from focal herd and monitored for their movements and activities including their feeding, social interaction, reproductive behaviour, mating and habitat utilization.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION Correlating the percentage time spent on different plant species in different seasons compared food habits of chinkara obtained from study site. Several studies have been carried out on the food and feeding habits of this ungulate. According to Ghosh et.al. (1987a), Bohra et. al. (1992), Baharav (1981), Soni (1983), Sharma (1977), Goyal et. al. (1986), Grettenberger and Newby (1986), Mohamed et. al. (1991) and Loggers (1991) Gazelle is a browser as well as grazer. Same observation was recorded during study period, the chinkara was more browsers during summer and winter when grasses dried up and did not provide enough nutrients as well as water contents. Once the dried grass became nutritionally poor, the animal also shifted feeding on fallen leaf litter of preferred plants like Prosopis cineraria, Ziziphus mauritiana, Maytenus emarginata, Acacia senegal, Tecomella undulata and Salvadora persica (Table 01). During summer, the gazelles were found browsing on shrub species like Crotalaria burhia, Leptadenia pyrotechnica, Ziziphus nummularia and small bushes of Prosopis cineraria and grazing on grasses like Dactyloctenium aegyptium, Cynodon dactylon, Desmostachya bipinnata and During lean period especially in summer, chinkara scraped loose soil with fore feet to expose the roots of Dipterrygium glaucum and Ziziphus nummularia for moisture laden root bark to quench thrust (Table 1). Table 1. Preferred wild plants at study site S.N.

Botanical Name

Preferred Plant parts

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Prosopis cineraria Crotalaria burhia Capparis decidua Maytenus emarginata Ziziphus nummularia Acacia nilotica Balanites aegyptiaca Calotropis procera Tecomella undulata Acacia senegal Cocculus pendulus Leptadenia pyrotechnica Lycium barbarium Aerva persica Cenchrus cillaris Cenchrus biflorus Prosopis juliflora Cynodon dactylon Desmostachya bipinnata Mollugo spp. Dactyloctenium aegyptium Eleusine compressa Spopobolus marginatus Tribulus terrestris

25

Ziziphus mauritiana

Leaves, pods and flower Soft twigs, pods and flower Soft twigs, pods and flower Soft twigs, pods and flower Leaves, Soft twigs, pods Fallen Leaves and pods Soft twigs and Fruit Green and dry Leaves Fallen leaves and flower Leaves and flower Soft twigs, pods and leaves Soft twigs Leaves and Soft twigs Leaves and Soft twigs Leaves and Soft twigs Leaves and Soft twigs Fallen leaves and pods Leaves and Soft twigs Leaves, Soft twigs Leaves, Leaves, Soft twigs Leaves, Soft twigs Leaves, Soft twigs Leaves, Soft twigs, pods and flower Leaves, Soft twigs, pods and flower

Summer Season ++++ +++ ++++ +++ ++ + +++ + + + +++ ++ ++++ + + + + -

Monsoon Season + + ++ ++ + + ++ + + + ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ +

Winter Season ++ +++ + ++ +++ + +++ + + + +++ + ++ + + + + -

+++

-

++

333

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Leaves, Soft twigs, pods and + flower 27 Datura stramomium Leaves, Soft twigs, pods and + flower 28 Cucumis melo Leaves, Soft twigs ++ 29 Citrullus lanatus Leaves, Soft twigs + + 30 Citrullus colocynthis Leaves, Soft twigs + 31 Cucumis callosus Leaves, Soft twigs + 32 Fagonia cretica Leaves, Soft twigs + + 33 Colligonum polygonoides Leaves, Soft twigs + 34 Dipterrygium glaucum Roots + 35 Cyperus rotundus Roots + 36 Mimosa hamata Flowers and pods + + 37 Clerodendrum phlonoidis Leaves + + 38 Digitaria cillaris Soft twigs + 39 Salvadora persica Leaves, pods + + (+ Showing the preferred plant parts in particular season) (++++ Very high, +++ High, ++ Medium, + Low, - No) 26

Digera muricata

In winter, the gazelles were found grazing on sprouted wild grasses mainly Fagonia cretica, Cynodon dactylon and browsing on young Crotalaria burhia, Ziziphus nummularia and Maytenus emarginata plants. Chinkara individuals were mostly found under Tecomella undulata tree in early morning to eat fallen flowers. Crotalaria burhia was most preferred food plant for chinkara during winter season and Ziziphus nummularia was second preferred food plant. Chinkara was found feeding on mulch of harvested crops in Recently Harvested Crop Fields during early winter. During monsoon a wide diversity of shrubs and grasses was available as forage and Chinkara became both browser and grazer. During this season they spent more time in harvest crop fields (HCF), fallow land and scrub land and grazed on grasses like Tribulus terrestris, Eleusine compressa, Digera muricata, Mollugo spp., Cenchrus spp. and many more unidentified grass species (Table 01). Mostly they preferred sprouting pulse crops like Phaseolus aconitifolia (Moth), Vigna radiata (Mung) and Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (Gaur) in both the study sites. They were also found feeding on young Bajra and Jower plants. However, chinkara did not notice to prefer Sesamum indicum (Til) as food (Table 2). Table 2. Preferred feeding different growth stages of kharif crops at study site Kharif Crops

By feeding Sowing

Growth phase

Flowering phase

Fruiting phase

Harvesting phase

Mung +++ +++ +++ Moth +++ +++ +++ Gaur ++++ +++ ++ Bajra ++++ + Jower +++ + (+ Show the crop raiding at particular phase) (++++ Very high, +++ high, ++ Medium, + Low, - Not)

By trampling, moving, and resting)

++ + + ++ ++

On the basis of time spent in different habitats it was found that Recently Harvested Crop Field and Harvest Crop Field were utilized maximum by Chinkara during winter and summer seasons. The Chinkara preferred habitats supported with Crotalaria burhia and Ziziphus nummularia bushes along with Balanites aegyptiaca and Capparis decidua. The preferred habitats of chinkara are wastelands; broken up by dry streams, scattered bushes and jungles (Roberts, 1977), they even inhabit sandy areas. The chinkara is more adapted to browsing. The feeding types and patterns varied from season to season, depending upon the availability of food. During monsoon Chinkara also became grazer whereas in winter and summer it became browser to fulfill the requirement of water by the

334

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert feeding on green leaves and twings of various bushes. The Indian gazelles were seen dispersed during feeding time. During summer, dispersion was greater and individuals of a mix herd were found in separately or in small group of 2-3 animals. The adult male was noted mostly alone while feeding. The chinkara grazing was the highest (35.16%) during monsoon season, followed by winter (33.9%) and summer (23.32%) among other activities. During summer, the chinkara emerged very early in morning from bed sites to graze/browse but in winter this process was taken place with the sunrise (Fig.1). Rao and Prasad (1982) also described the feeding activities as 25% of the day time but Mungall (1978) recorded 40% time for forazing of the total activities but Ranjitsingh (1982) noted 36% time for grazing as a day activity. These workers also observed variations in feeding time and duration during different seasons.

Fig. 01: Seasonal time utilization (in percentage) on feeding activity by Chinkara

36%

38%

Winter 26%

Summer Monsoon

Earlier works in different areas also studied the food preference of Indian gazelle. Soni (1983) reported that the Indian gazelle mostly feed on the leaves, flowers and fruits of Crotalaria burhia, Ziziphus nummularia, Prosopis cineraria and some other xerophytic plants species, including Calotropis prosera. Sharma (1977) also reported the abundance of Crotolaria burhia in association with Ziziphus nummularia, Mytenus emarginata and Lycium barbarium in different habitats of gazelle in this arid region. Further, he reported food preference of gazelle towards Capparis decidua, Fagonia cretia, Tephrosia purpurea, Tecomella undulata and Prosopis cineraria mainly during summer season when other preferred food plants deteriorated. Ghosh et al. (1987a) and Goyal et al. 1988) reported that Indian gazelle consumed more fruits, pods, flowers and fallen leaves of preferred plants during summer season.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors are grateful to Dr. H.C. Bohra, Sr. Scientist, CAZRI, Jodhpur, Dr. S. P. Goyal, Dr. Y. V. Jhala and Qamar Qureshi, Scientist, WII, Dehradun for providing the relevant literature and giving suggestions and Sh. R. N. Mehrotra, PCWLW of Rajasthan for constant help in carryout the field works.

REFERENCES Baharav, D. (1981). Food habits of the mountain gazelle in semi-arid habitats of eastern lower Galilee, Israel. Journal of Arid Environments. 4: 63-69.

335

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Bhandari. (1990). Flora of the Indian Desert. Printed by MPS Repros. Jodhpur. Bohra, H. C., Goyal S. P., Ghosh, P. K. and Prakash, I. (1992). Studies on ethology and ecophysiology of Antelopes of the Indian Desert. Annals of Arid Zone Vol. 31(2): 83-96. Dabadghao, P. M. & Shankarnarayan, K. A. (1973). The Grass Cover of India. ICAR, New Delhi. Ghosh, P. K., Goyal, S. P. and Bohra H. C. (1987). Competition for resource utilization between wild and domestic ungulates in the Rajasthan desert. Tiger paper. 14(1): 2-7. Goyal, S. P.; Bohra, H. C. and Ghosh, P. K. (1986). Food preferences of the Indian antelope (Antelope cervicapra) and the Gazelle (Gazella dorcas) in a desert environment. Myforest. 22(3): 153-158. Goyal, S. P.; Bohra, H. C.; Ghosh, P. K. and Prakash. I. (1988). Role of Prosopis cineraria pods in the diet of two Indian desert antelopes. Journal of Arid Environments. 14: 285-290. Grettenberger, J. F. and Nweby, J. E. (1986). The status and ecology of the Dama Gazelle in the Air and Tenere National Nature Reserve, Niger. Biol. Conserv. 38: 207-216. Gupta, R. K. 1975. Plant Life in the Thar, pp 202-236. In Environmental Analysis of the Thar Desert. (eds. R. K. Gupta & I. Prakash). English Book Depot, Dehra Dun. Krebs, J.R. and Davis, N.B. (1984). Behavioural ecology. Blackwell Scientific Publications. Loggers, C. (1991). Forage availability versus seasonal diets, as determined by faecal analysis, of Dorcas gazella in Morocco. Mammalia. t. 55 nº 2 : 255-267. Mohamed, S. A., Abbas, J. and Saleh, M. (1991). Natural diet of the Arabian Rheem gazelle, Gazella subgutturosa marica. J. Arid Environments. 20: 371-374. Mungall, E.C. (1978). The Indian Blackbuck: A Texas view. Kleberg studies in Natural Resources. The Texas Agr. Expt. Station Nevelle, P. Clarks, Director, the Texas A and M. University System: College Station Texas. 184 pp. Prakash. (1998). North migration of centain deccanean elements in deccan heritage ((Ed. D. Balasubramanian) Indian national science Academy New Delhi, 27-34. Rahmani, A. R. (1990). Distribution of the Indian Gazelle or Chinkara Gazella bennetti (Sykes) in India. Mammalia, t. 54, nº 4: 605-619. Ranjitsingh, M.K. (1982). Thesis on Ecology and behaviour of Indian Blackbuck, Ph.D Thesis, Saurasthra University, Gujarat. 290pp. Rao, Ramana, J.V. and Prasad, N.L.N.S. (1982). Management and husbandry of blackbuck, FAO RAPA publication No 53 pp. Roberts, T. J. (1977). The Mammals of Pakistan. Ernest Benn. Ltd., London. 361 pp. Sharma, I. K. (1977). Ecological study of habitat, feeding and survival of the Indian Gazelle Gazella gazella (Pallas). J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 72(2): 347-350. Soni, V. C. (1983). Daily cycle of activity of the Dorcas Gazelle in the Thar Desert, India. Cheetal. 24(3): 9-11.

336

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

NEW RECORD OF INDIAN CHAMAELEON, Chamaeleo zeylanicus Laurenti, 1768 (CHAMAELEONIDAE: REPTILIA: CHORDATA) FROM MOUNT ABU WILDLIFE SANCTUARY (DISTRICT SIROHI) RAJASTHAN, INDIA LAXMAN LAL PARMAR1 AND GAURAV SHARMA2,3 1

Deputy Conservator of Forests Office, Rajasthan State Forest Department, Mount Abu-307 501, Rajasthan, India. 2 Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Jodhpur-342 005, Rajasthan, India. e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: The study was conducted in Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary (Dist. Sirohi, Rajasthan) and the lizard, Indian Chamaeleon (Chamaeleo zeylanicus Laurenti, 1768) was recorded in the months of Aug.-Sept., from 2006 to 2009. KEY WORDS: Chamaeleon, Mount Abu, New Record.

INTRODUCTION The study area Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary is located 24°33′0″N, 72°38′0″E / , covering an area of 326.1 Km2 in one of the oldest mountain ranges of India, “the Aravalli range” and recently the study area and around declared as Eco Sensitive Zone on 25th June, 2009. In altitude, it varies from 300 meters at the foot to 1722 meters at Guru Shikhar, the highest peak in Rajasthan. It is very rich in floral diversity starting from xenomorphic sub-tropical thorn forests in the foot hills to sub-tropical evergreen forests along water courses and valleys at higher altitudes. A variety of fauna, including highly rare, threatened and endangered species are found in this sanctuary.

MATERIAL AND METHODS The study was conducted in Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary (Dist. Sirohi, Rajasthan) from 2006 to 2009. The study was conducted in different localities of Mount Abu i.e. Gomukh, Trevor Point, Sunset Point, on the road, forest area, Nakki Lake, Anadara point, Guru Shikhar, Gyan Sarovar etc.

RESULTS The study was conducted in Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary (Dist. Sirohi, Rajasthan) and the lizard, Indian Chamaeleon (Chamaeleo zeylanicus Laurenti, 1768) was recorded in the months of Aug.-Sept., from 2006 to 2009. The first time this species was recorded incidentally on the Abu road track in Aug., 2006 by the first author and after that it was observed time to time in the study area. This lizard species is new record from this area before that it was recorded from Dasuri Nal (Dist. Pali, Rajasthan), Kachchh (Gujarat), Peninsular India, Sri Lanka and other parts of South Asia. DISTRIBUTION: Mount Abu (Dist. Sirohi, Rajasthan-New record), Dasuri Nal (Dist. Pali, Rajasthan), Kachchh (Gujarat), Peninsular India, Sri Lanka and other parts of South Asia. HABITS AND HABITAT: Insectivorous, Strictly arboreal and diurnal. DIAGNOSIS: The Indian Chamaeleon (Chamaeleo zeylanicus Laurenti, 1768) is a rare reptile restricted to the scrub jungles and forests and usually in the shades of green or brown or with bands, insectivorous, strictly arboreal and diurnal in habit. This species has a long tongue

337

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert and can be 'shot out' to a distance almost equal to the body length in order to catch insects, with marked speed and most accuracy. The eyes are large, covered by a thick granular lid pierced with a small central opening just like a transverse slit for the pupil and have the power of independent movement and can revolve in all the directions like a search light. The skull of this green coloured species is strongly ossified, anterodorsal crest is most prominent, which bends slightly on the posterior direction and form an army cap like structure called as Casque. No tympanum or external ear present. Body is compressed, neck very short. Head and body covered with the uniform flat granules or tubercles. The feet are shaped into bifid claspers, limbs long, raising the body. The digits are arranged in bundles of 2 and 3; in the hand, the inner bundle is formed of three, the outer of two digits; it is the reverse in the foot. The arboreal habit is facilitated by the highly prehensile tail at least as long as the head and body and the standard tail length is around 200mm. They move slowly with a bobbing or swaying movement and locally known as “Hala-Dula and Hal-Halvovia”. They can change colour rapidly and the primary purpose of colour change is for communication with other chameleons and for controlling body temperature by changing to dark colours to absorb heat. Male is with a spur like tarsal process. This species is under threat due to restricted habitats. STATUS: Endangered in India on account of the habitat loss.

REFERENCES Barry, A.T. 1936. The Common Chamaeleon (Chamaeleon zeylanicus) in Gujarat. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 38: 201-202. Gaur, S. 2004. Discovery of the Indian Chamaeleon, Chamaeleo zeylanicus Laurenti in Aravalli Foot Hills of Rajasthan, India. Tiger paper (FAO). 31(3): 1-3. Gray, J. E. 1865. Revision of the genera and species of Chamaeleonidae, with the descripiton of some new species. Proc. zool. Soc. London. 1864: 465-479. Sharma, R.C. 2002. The Fauna of India and the adjacent countries– Reptilia (Sauria) vol. II. Published by Director, Z.S.I., Kolkata. 430pp. Tikader, B.K. and Sharma, R.C. 1992. Handbook: Indian Lizards, Published by Director, Zool. Surv. India, Kolkata. 250pp.

338

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

STUDIES ON THE DIVERSITY OF DAMSELFLIES AND DRAGONFLIES (ODONATA: INSECTA: ARTHROPODA) IN AND AROUND MOUNT ABU WILDLIFE SANCTUARY AND ON THE REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOUR OF SELECTED SPECIES GAURAV SHARMA Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Jodhpur-342 005, Rajasthan. e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: The studies on Damselflies and Dragonflies (Odonata) fauna in and around Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajasthan was conducted during 2008-10. The common species of Odonata identified at study site and not to be collected and around 31 species of order Odonata were identified. Also the swarm of dragonfly, Pantala flavescens (Fabricius), a migratory species is recorded at study site. The reproductive behaviour of four species i.e. Ceriagrion coromandelianum (Fabricius), Pseudagrion rubriceps Selys, Orthetrum sabina (Drury) and Brachythemis contaminata (Fabricius) has been studied. KEY WORDS: Damselflies, Dragonflies, Diversity, Reproductive behaviour, Mount Abu, Rajasthan.

Introduction The present day Odonata are among the largest living insects. They are amphibious hemimatabolan insects having the aquatic egg and larval (nymph) stages, while the adults are terrestrial. For some 255 million years, odonates with their four long independent membranous wings and long bodies have remained unchanged in their essential form and are dominant invertebrate predators in ecosystem. The Odonata nymphs are an important link in the aquatic food chain, both as predators and as food for larger fish. The distribution of various groups and species of Odonata is highly variable. Some genera and species are widespread while others are highly local in their distribution. Some families are restricted to cool streams or rivers, others to ponds or still clear waters, and some to marshy places. The presence of dragonflies and damselflies may be taken as an indication of good ecosystem quality. Approximately 6,000 species and subspecies belonging to 630 genera in 28 families of Odonata are known from all over the world (Tsuda, 1991), out of which 499 species and subspecies of Odonata under 139 genera belonging to 17 families are reported from India (Prasad and Varshney, 1995). Perusal of literature reveals that no consolidated account is available on the Odonata fauna of Mount Abu and Rajasthan, though Agarwal (1957), Bose and Mitra (1976), Prasad and Thakur (1981), Thakur (1985), Tyagi and Miller (1991), Prasad (1996) and Prasad (2004) recorded odonates species from selected localities of Rajasthan. Therefore, the present study made a modest attempt to explore the Odonata fauna of Mount Abu and also studies on reproductive behaviour of selected species.

Materials and Methods The field observations and collection of odonates were made by using aerial sweep net at different localities i.e. Gomukh, Gyan Sarovar, Nakki lake, Guru Shikhar, Anadara point, Trevor point, Sunset point, Waterfall on Abu road and forest area of Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary of Mount Abu, Rajasthan during 2008-10. The collected individuals were transferred into insect collection paper packs and were brought to the laboratory, where these were properly stretched, 339

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert pinned, oven dried for 72 hours at 600C and preserved in collection boxes. Identification of adult individuals of odonates was carried out using identification keys provided by Fraser (1933, 1934 & 1936). The common species of Odonata identified at study site and not to be collected. All the specimens collected from study area deposited in the National Zoological collections maintained by Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Jodhpur, India.

Results and Discussion About 54 examples of Odonata collected at different localities i.e. Gomukh, Gyan Sarovar, Nakki lake, Guru Shikhar, Anadara point, Trevor point, Sunset point, Waterfall on Abu road and forest area of Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary. The studies on Odonata fauna of Mount Abu, Rajasthan reveals that so far 31 species belongs to 5 families of order Odonata were recorded. The maximum number of Odonata species recorded from Gyan Sarovar (20) followed by Gomukh (15), Nakki lake (14), Waterfall on Abu road (10), Trevor point (5) and Guru Shikhar, Anadara point and Sunset point each having 4 species. Annotated checklist of 31 species of Odonata recorded from Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajasthan is as: Order: Odonata (A). Suborder: Zygoptera (1). Family: Coenagrionidae 1. Ceriagrion cerinorubellum (Brauer) 2. Ceriagrion coromandelianum (Fabricius) 3. Ischnura aurora (Brauer) 4. Ischnura senegalensis (Rambur) 5. Pseudagrion rubriceps Selys 6. Rhodischnura nursei (Morton) (2). Family: Protoneuridae 7. Disparoneura quadrimaculata (Rambur) (B). Suborder: Anisoptera (3). Family: Gomphidae 8. Paragomphus lineatus (Selys) 9. Ictinogomphus rapax Rambur (4). Family: Aeshnidae 10. Anax immaculifrons Rambur 11. Anax parthenope (Selys) (5). Family: Libellulidae 12. Acisoma panorpoides Rambur 13. Brachythemis contaminata (Fabricius) 14. Bradinopyga geminata (Rambur) 15. Crocothemis servilia (Drury) 340

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 16. Diplacodes trivialis (Rambur) 17. Neurothemis tullia (Drury) 18. Orthetrum glaucum (Brauer) 19. Orthetrum pruinosum neglectum (Rambur) 20. Orthetrum sabina (Drury) 21. Orthetrum taeniolatum (Schn.) 22. Orthetrum triangulare (Selys) 23. Palpopleura sexmaculata (Fabricius) 24. Pantala flavescens (Fabricius) 25. Rhyothemis variegata Linnaeus 26. Tholymis tillarga (Fabricius) 27. Tramea virginia (Rambur) 28. Trithemis aurora (Burmeister) 29. Trithemis festiva (Rambur) 30. Trithemis kirbyi Selys 31. Trithemis pallidinervis (Kirby) The study reveals that Ceriagrion coromandelianum (Fabricius), Pseudagrion rubriceps Selys, Ischnura aurora (Brauer), Orthetrum pruinosum neglectum (Rambur), Orthetrum sabina (Drury), Brachythemis contaminata (Fabricius), Crocothemis servilia (Drury), Trithemis aurora (Burmeister) and Pantala flavescens (Fabricius) were the dominant species of Odonata. Also the swarm of dragonfly, Pantala flavescens (Fabricius), a migratory species is recorded at Gomukh, Gyan Sarovar, Nakki lake, Guru Shikhar, Anadara point and Waterfall on Abu road study sites localities. The reproductive behaviour of four species i.e. Ceriagrion coromandelianum (Fabricius), Pseudagrion rubriceps Selys, Orthetrum sabina (Drury) and Brachythemis contaminata (Fabricius) were studied. Courtship is well marked and male demonstrate a circular territory and defended it from the intruding intra or some inter specific male by chasing it away or by warning signals like wing vibration or abdomen raising. As female entered into the territory, the male starts following her and forms a tandem link, catching hold of her prothorax by his anal appendages. The before wheel tandem takes place and during this period intramale sperm translocation from the gonopore to the vesicular spermalis took place 2-3 times. The courtship wheel duration vary species to species and is performed of perching on vegetation near the stream. In Ceriagrion coromandelianum (Fabricius), Pseudagrion rubriceps Selys the oviposition is endophytic among the aquatic vegetation and the female in tandem climbs down underwater and uses her ovipositor to deposit eggs in the submerged vegetation. In Orthetrum sabina (Drury) and Brachythemis contaminata (Fabricius) the oviposition is exophytic and the female laid eggs on surface of water by dripping the tip of abdomen. During oviposition the male hovers around the female, to defend her from intruding intra or inter specific males.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The author is grateful to Dr. Ramakrishna, Director, ZSI, Kolkata for encouragement of study and thanks are also due to Dr. Padma Bohra, Scientist-D & Officer-in-Charge, DRC, ZSI, 341

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Jodhpur, Rajasthan for providing the necessary facilities to carry out the work. Also thanks to the authorities of the Rajasthan State Forest Department for their help and necessary arrangements made during the study period.

REFERENCES Anne, E.M. 1988. Ecological Diversity and measurement. University press, Cambridge. 179pp. Emiliyamma, K.G., C. Radhakrishnan and J.P. Muhamed. 2005. Pictorial Handbook on- Common Dragonflies and Damselflies of Kerala, (Published Director, Zool. Surv. India, Kolkata). 67pp. Emiliyamma, K.G. 2005. On the Odonata (Insecta) fauna of Kottayam district, Kerala, India. Zoos' Print Journal. 20(12): 2108-2110. Fraser, F.C. 1933. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Odonata, Vol. I. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London. 423pp. Fraser, F.C. 1934. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Odonata, Vol. II. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London. 398pp. Fraser, F.C. 1936. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma, Odonata, Vol. III. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London. 461pp. Gunathilagaraj, K., R.P. Soundarajan, N. Chitra and M. Swamiappan. 1999. Odonata in the rice fields of Coimbatore. Zoos' Print Journal. 14(6): 43-44. Hurd, L.E., M.V. Mellinger, I.L. Wolf and S.J. Mc Naughton. 1971. Stability and diversity in three tropic levels in terrestrial successional ecosystem. Science. 173: 1134-1136. Kandibane, M., S. Raguraman and N. Ganapathy. 2005. Relative abundance and diversity of Odonata in an irrigated rice field of Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Zoos’ Print Journal. 20(11): 2051-2052. Kumar, A. 2002. Odonata diversity in Jharkhand state with special reference to niche specialization in their larva forms, pp. 297-314. In Kumar, A. (editor). Current Trends in Odonatology. Daya Publishing House, Delhi (India). 377pp. Mac Arthor, R.H. 1965. Pattern of species diversity. Biological Review. 40: 510-533. Prasad, M. 1987. A note on the Odonata from South India. Fraseria. 12: 50. Prasad, M. 2002. Odonata diversity in Western Himalaya, India, pp. 221-254. In Kumar, A. (editor). Current Trends in Odonatology. Daya Publishing House, Delhi (India). 377pp. Prasad, M. and R.K. Varshney. 1995. A checklist of the Odonata of India including data on larval studies. Oriental Insects. 29: 385-428. Sharma. G and P.C. Joshi. 2007. Diversity of Odonata (Insecta) from Dholbaha dam (Distt.) Hoshiarpur) in Punjab Shivalik, India. Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology, Korea. 10(2): 177-180. Shelton, M.D. and C.R. Edwards. 1983. Effects of weeds on the diversity and abundance of insects in soybeans. Environmental Entomology. 12: 296-299. Subramanian, K.A. 2002. Nature watch when dragons fly. Resonance, Journal of Science Education. 7(10): 69-78. Tsuda, S. 1991. A distributional list of world Odonata. Osaka. 362pp. Vashishth, N., P.C. Joshi and A. Singh. 2002. Odonata community dynamics in Rajaji National Park, India. Fraseria. 7: 21-25.

342

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

DIVERSITY AND SPECIES COMPOSITION OF DUNG BEETLES (COLEOPTERA: INSECTA) OF RAJASTHAN RAM SEWAK* AND GAURAV SHARMA** Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Pali Road, Jodhpur-342005. e-mail: *[email protected]; **[email protected] ABSTRACT: The present study is based on the collection of different groups of fauna including dung beetles made by the different survey parties of Zoological Survey of India, Desert Regional Centre, Jodhpur from the 33 districts of Rajasthan from 1963 to 2008. The collection is made from dung pad, dung heap, digging of dung burrows and also by utilizing the light trap method to collect them from urban and rural localities. So far one hundred two species belonging to fourteen genera of sub family Coprinae under family Scarabaeidae of order Coleoptera has been identified. Out of these, 7 species of Scarabaeus Linnaeus, 5 species of Gymnopleurus Illiger, 4 species of Heliocopris Burmeister, 6 species of Catharsius Hope, 12 species of Copris Geoffroy, 3 species of Phalops Erichson, 9 species of Cacccobius Thomson, 40 species of Onthophagus Latreille, 3 species of Oniticellus Serville, 9 species of Onitis Fabricius and 1 species of each Disphysema Harold, Liatongus Reitter, Drepanocerus Kirby and Chironitis Lansberge are belonging to tribe Scarabaeini and Coprini. The study recorded 66 species as new records from Rajasthan. The identification key to the tribes of sub family, systematic accounts of all species supported with their complete distribution, localities and distribution tables are also provided. KEY WORDS: Dung beetles, species composition, Rajasthan.

INTRODUCTION Rajasthan is the largest state of India, covering 3, 42, 239 sq. Km area and situated in 23o30” and 30o 11”N latitude and 69o 29”and 78o 17”E longitude of north western India. Rajasthan consists of 33 districts and geographically is divided into four region i.e. the Western Desert (Thar), the Aravalli Hills, the Eastern Plane and the South Western Plateau region. Coleoptera is the largest order of the class Insecta, which includes “Beetles and Weevils”. They show exceptionally diverse adaptation to wide range of environmental conditions and habitats and are economically important both destructive as well as beneficiary point of view. The members of the subfamily Coprinae (Scarabaeidae) are commonly known as “Dung Beetles or Dung Rollers” and found in every part of the world. They are scavenger in nature and feed upon the dung of herbivorous mammals, human feacal matter and some of them are also feed upon carrion, decaying fungi and vegetable substances and they are economically very important due to their role in pasture ecosystem, where they annually breakdown tones of animal dung and remove it from the soil surface to clean the environment and also incorporate much of it into the soil to increase the soil fertility, at the same time they destroy the habitats of parasites of many pest flies (Horn Flies), which they lay eggs in the dung, causes disease in domestic as well as wild animals. Some species of them are also serving as intermediate host for parasites of domestic animals.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE Arrow (1931) published a fauna volume on Indian Coprinae in the series “Fauna of British India”. Unfortunately, not a single species have been reported from Rajasthan. Balthasar (1963) also published the monographs on Scarabaeidae of Palaeartic and Oriental Region. Biswas (1978a & b), Biswas and Chatterjee (1985), Biswas etal (1997), Chatterjee and Biswas (1995, 2000, 2003, 2004) studied the Scarabaeidae fauna of Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim, Manipur North-East India. Sewak (1985 & 1986, 1991, 2004 a & b, 2005, 2006) worked out the Coprinae fauna of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.

343

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

METHODOLOGY The present study is based on the collection of the dung beetles collected from the 33 districts of Rajasthan by the different parties of Zoological Survey of India, Desert Regional Centre, Jodhpur from 1963 to 2008. The first author also carried out the extensive and intensive survey of Rajasthan from 1984 to 2008, collected large number of specimens from dung pad, dung heap, digging of dung burrows and also by utilizing the light trap method to collect them from urban and rural localities. So far one hundred two species belonging to fourteen genera of sub family Coprinae under family Scarabaeidae have been identified. Of these, sixty-six species have been recorded for the first time from Rajasthan. The classified list of these dung beetles provided according to their systematic position under tribe Scarabaeini and Coprini. The surveyed localities and distribution tables have also been provided. SYSTEMATIC ACCOUNT Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Coleoptera Suborder: Polyphaga Superfamily: Scarabaeoidea Family: Scarabaeidae Subfamily: Coprinae Tribe I: Scarabaeini Genus 1: Scarabaeus Linnaeus 1. Scarabaeus sacer Linnaeus * 2. Scarabaeus gangaticus (Castelnau) 3. Scarabaeus brahminus (Castelnau) 4. Scarabaeus cristatus Fabricius 5. Scarabaeus andrewesi (Felsche) 6. Scarabaeus devotus (Redtenbacher) * 7. Scarabaeus erichsoni (Harold) Genus 2: Gymnopleurus Illiger 8. Gymnopleurus cyaneus (Fabricius) 9. Gymnopleurus miliaris (Fabricius) * 10. Gymnopleurus koenigi (Fabricius) 11. Gymnopleurus bicallosus Felsche ** 12. Gymnopleurus dejeani Castelnau * Tribe II: Coprini Genus 3: Heliocopris Hope 13 . Heliocopris gigas (Linnaeus) 14 . Heliocopris tyrannus (Thomson) 15 . Heliocopris bucephalus Fabricius * 16 . Heliocopris dominus Bates Genus 4: Catharsius Hope 17 . Catharsius platypus Sharp 18 . Catharsius molossus (Linnaeus) * 19 . Catharsius sagax (Quenstedt) 20 . Catharsius birmanensis Lansberge * 21 . Catharsius pithecius (Fabricius) 22 . Catharsius inermis (Castelnau) ** Genus 5: Copris Geoffroy 23 . Copris indicus Gillet * 24 . Copris iris Sharp ** 25 . Copris repertus Walker 26 . Copris delicatus Arrow 27 . Copris corpulentus Gillet 344

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 28 . Copris numa Lansberge 29 . Copris imitans Felsche * 30 . Copris punctulatus Wiedemann * 31 . Copris andrewesi Watson * 32 . Copris cribratus Gillet 33 . Copris furciceps Felsche 34 . Copris signatus Walker * Genus 6: Phalops Erichson 35 . Phalops cyanescens (D’Orbigny) * 36 . Phalops divisus (Wiedmann) 37 . Phalops olivaceus Lansberge Genus 7: Disphysema Harold 38. Disphysema candezei Harold * Genus 8: Caccobius Thomson 39. Caccobius torticornis Arrow * 40. Caccobius unicornis (Fabricius) * 41. Caccobius meridionalis Boucomont 42. Caccobius ultor Sharp * 43. Caccobius vulcanus (Fabricius) * 44. Caccobius indicus Harold 45. Caccobius himalayanus (Jekel) * 46. Caccobius pantherinus Arrow * 47. Caccobius denticollis Harold Genus 9: Onthophagus Latreille 48. Onthophagus gulo Arrow * 49. Onthophagus vigilans Boucomont * 50. Onthophagus oculatus Arrow * 51. Onthophagus crassicollis Boucomont * 52. Onthophagus imperator Castelnau * 53. Onthophagus gladiator Arrow * 54. Onthophagus digitatus Arrow * 55. Onthophagus tarandus Fabricius * 56. Onthophagus dynastoides Arrow * 57. Onthophagus variegatus (Fabricius) * 58. Onthophagus fuscopunctatus (Fabricius) * 59. Onthophagus troglodyta (Wiedemann) * 60. Onthophagus orientalis Harold * 61. Onthophagus catta (Fabricius) 62. Onthophagus bonasus (Fabricius) 63. Onthophagus seniculus (Fabricius) 64. Onthophagus ramosus (Wiedemann) * 65. Onthophagus atropolitus D’Orbigny * 66. Onthophagus occipitalis Lansberge * 67. Onthophagus furcicollis Arrow * 68. Onthophagus concolar Sharp * 69. Onthophagus bengalensis Harold * 70. Onthophagus nasalis Arrow * 71. Onthophagus ephippioderus Arrow * 72. Onthophagus mirandus Arrow * 73. Onthophagus kuluensis Bates 74. Onthophagus armatus Blanchard * 75. Onthophagus semicinctus D’Orbigny * 76. Onthophagus angus Gillet * 77. Onthophagus tragus (Fabricius) 78. Onthophagus sagittarius (Fabricius) * 345

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 79. Onthophagus difficilis Walker * 80. Onthophagus hamaticeps Arrow * 81. Onthophagus politus (Fabricius) * 82. Onthophagus ensifer Boucomont 83. Onthophagus frugivorus Arrow * 84. Onthophagus carinensis Boucomont ** 85. Onthophagus centricornis (Fabricius) * 86. Onthophagus cervus (Fabricius) * 87. Onthophagus falsus Gillet * Genus 10: Liatongus Reitter 88. Liatongus martialis (Harold) * Genes 11: Oniticellus Serville 89. Oniticellus pallipes (Fabricius) * 90. Oniticellus spinipes Roth * 91. Oniticellus cinctus (Fabricius) * Genus 12: Drepanocerus Kirby 92. Drepanocerus exsul (Sharp) * Genus 13: Onitis Fabricius 93. Onitis siva Gillet 94. Onitis lama Lansberge * 95. Onitis falcatus (Wulfen) 96. Onitis philemon Fabricius 97. Onitis singhalensis Lansberge * 98. Onitis subopacus (Arrow) * 99. Onitis virens Lansberge * 100. Onitis castaneus Redtenbacher 101. Onitis brahma Lansberge Genus 14: Chironitis Lansberge 102. Chironitis indicus Lansberge *Reported for the first time from Rajasthan, India. **Reported for the first time from India.

KEY TO THE TRIBES OF SUBFAMILY COPRINAE 1. Middle coxae not widely separated; middle tibia with one terminal spur.....................Scarabaeini - Middle coxae widely separated, middle tibia with two terminal spur……………………………………2 2. Posterior legs extremely long, the tarsi filiform…………………………………………………..Sisyphini - Basal joint of the hind tarsus much longer than the second…………………………………………….….3 3. Posterior legs not extremely long, tarsi more or less flat and tapering…………………………..Coprini - Basal joint of the hind tarsus not much longer than the second..........................................Panelini KEY TO GENERA OF TRIBE SCARABAEINI 1. Front tarsi absent, elytra not excised behind the shoulder….………………..Scarabaeus Linnaeus -Front tarsi present, elytra excised behind the shoulder………………………...…Gymnopleurus Illiger KEY TO SPECIES OF GENUS Scarabaeus 1. Scutellum absent, upper surface opaque, head with a pair of tubercles, and prothorax unevenly punctured…….…………..…..sacer Linnaeus* -Head without tubercles and prothorax not punctured………………………………………….…………..2 2. Prothorax irregularly granular and upper surface opaque….…gangeticus (Castelnau) - Prothorax not granular……….……………………………………………….3 3. Upper surface shinning, prothorax sparingly punctured and head with a feeble median tooth………….brahminus (Castelnau) 346

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert - Fore head with a sharp median tooth……………………………………….4 4. Prothorax closely punctured and with smooth area at basal part, front tibia without teeth at inner edge…………………cristatus Fabricius - Prothorax not closely punctured and without smooth area………………….5 5. Prothorax moderately and uniformly punctured, front tibia toothed along its anterior edge………………….andrewesi (Felsche) - Scutellum present, front tibia with very uppermost small external teeth………6 6. Upper suface entirely dull, prothorax evenly granular and head densely and confluently pitted...…...devotus (Redtenbacher)* -Prothorax flatter, broader and without smooth basal area……………erichsoni (Harold) KEY TO SPECIES OF GENUS Gymnopleurus 1. Clypeus quadridented and upper surface without hairy clothing……………cyaneus (Fabricius) - Upper surface clothed with hairy clothing…………………………….…..…….2 2. Upper surface clothed with minute gray setae along with a few shining denuded patches……………miliaris ( Fabricius)* - Clypeus not quadrident……………………….………………………………....3 3. Clypeus bidented, upper surface clothed with pale setae, elytra strongly costate ..…………………………………..koenigi (Fabricius) - Upper surface without hairy clothing and elytra not strongly costate …………….4 4. Prothorax with a large transverse pit and granulate………..bicallosus Felsche** - Upper surface granulose and without punctures …………………dejeani Castlenau KEY TO GENERA OF TRIBE COPRINI 1. Prothorax with one, elytra with two lateral carina, and first joint of antennal club shining …...……..…Heliocopris Hope. - First joint of antennal club not shining.…………………..….…………..2 2. Antennal club joints long and entirely pubescent……………..Catharsius Hope - Elytra with one lateral carina………………….…..……………….…………...3 3. Prothorax with a strong deep basal median groove……………….Copris Geoffroy - Prothorax without a strong deep basal median groove…..………………..4 4. Middle and hind tarsi broadly dilated………………………….…Phalops Erichson - Middle and hind tarsi not broadly dilated……………………………………5 5. Wing less, elytra very much narrowed at the shoulder……………….Disphysema Harold - Winged, elytra not much narrowed at the shoulder…………………………….6 6. Terminal margin of the front tibia of the at right angle to the inner margin and front angles of prothorax hollowed beneath……………….Caccobius Thomson - Both these character not usually neither present…………………………………7 7. Middle and hind tibiae dilating from base to extremity……………Onthophagus Latreille - Middle and hind tibiae not greatly dilating from base to extremity…………………8 8. Scutellum present, elytra not fringed before the hind margin…………Liatongus Reitter - Elytra fringed before the hind margin……………………………………………..9 9. Sides of the abdomen exposed above ……………………………....Oniticellus Serveille - Sides of the abdomen not exposed above………………………………………….10 10. Clypeus bidented and scutellum distinct…………………………Drepanocerus Kirby - Prothorax with two basal impression near the middle…………………………….11 11. Scutellum very minute and front tarsi absent in male and female……Onitis Fabricius - Scutellum not very minute and front tarsi present in female………......Chironitis Lansberge KEY TO THE SPECIES OF THE GENUS Heliocopris 1. Elytra closely sculptured and not shining, prothorax not entirely granulate, male with two or four cephalic horns……………gigas (Linnaeus) - Male without cephalic horns…………………………….……………….2 2. Prothorax entirely granulate……………………….. ……………….…tyrannus (Thomson) - Elytra not closely sculptured and shining ……………………………………...3 3. Clypeus not distinctly truncated in front, rounded at the sides, male with single cephalic horn ……………………….…bucephalus Fabricius * - Clypeus truncate in front angulate at the side. Male with 347

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert two or four horns……………………………………………..…..dominus Bates KEY TO THE SPECIES OF GENUS Catharsius 1. Prothorax with distict hind angles…………………………….………….platypus Sharp - Prothorax without distict hind angles…….…………………………….…………..2 2. Head with a small smoth area adjoining each eye……………………….molossus (Linnaeus)* - Head without a small smoth area adjoining each eye……………………………3 3. Prothorcic declivity straight and with sharp front angles………...sagax (Quenstedt) - Elytra not entirely opaque…………………………………..…………….4 4. Middle and hind tarsi very broad……………………….birmanensis Lansberge* - Prothorax with lateral prominence on each side of declivity…………………5 5. Head very transverse, prothorax of male with two tubercles and granulate….pithecius (Fabricius) - Prothorax granular at the sides only and mesosternal line straight……inermis (Castelnau)** KEY TO THE SPECIES OF GENUS Copris 1. Very shining and the front angles of prothorax are very blunt……indicus Gillet* - Prothorax very unequally and scarcely punctured……………………….2 2. Prothorax without a longitudinal groove…………………………..iris Sharp** - Prothorax with a longitudinal groove………………………………………..3 3. Prothorax with sharp front angles and elytra feebly striate …….repertus Walker - Clypeus smooth or with only few punctures on each sides…. ………………4 4. Prothorax with deep median groove and elytra deeply striate……delicatus Arrow - Prothorax smooth and elytra not deeply striate …………………………………5 5. Prothorax with punctured median groove and elytra lightly striate……corpulentus Gillete - Prothorax not entirely nor evenly punctured……………………………………….6 6. Clypeus feebly notched and elytra deeply striate………………….numa Lansberge - Elytral intervals convex and punctured………………………………………….7 7. Clypeal margin reflexed and elytral intervals with minute scattered punctures…………………….……...imitans Felsche* - Clypeal margin strongly reflexed…………………….………………………8 8. Elytra strongly striate and intervals closely punctured…………………….punctulatus Wiedemann* - Prothorax without a median groove and intervals not closely punctured…………..9 9. Prothorax strongly and densely punctured, elytra deeply sulcate………..andrewesi Gillet* - Clypeal margin strongly bidentate……………………………………….10 10. Prothorax and elytra strongly punctured…………………..……cribratus Gillet - Clypeus shining, smooth and not punctured…………………………………..11 11. Prothorax, elytra and metasternal shield well punctured…………. furciceps Felsche - Metasternal shield unpunctured………………………………….signatus Walker* KEY TO SPECIES OF GENUS Caccobius 1. Clypeus strongly bilobed…………………………………….torticornis Arrow * - Clypeus not strongly bilobed…………………..…………………………2 2. Clypeus slightly bilobed, male with horn and metasternum without punctures in the middle……………………………unicornis (Fabricius) * - metasternum punctured in the middle and elytra not shining………….………3 3. Elytra brown, variegated and prothorex with median groove……….…meridionalis Boucomont - Elytra not brown and metasternum grooved in the middle…………………………4 4. Elytra entirely black, and prothorex strongly and closely punctured………….ulter (Sharp)* - Prothorax not closely punctured……………………………………………..5 5. Elytra with orange epical patch and prothoracic lamina present in male……..…vulcanus (Fabricius)* - Elytra without orange epical patch……………………………..…………………6 6. Prothoracic carina and cephalic horns absent…………………………….indicus Harold - Prothorax and elytra minutely granular…………………………………………7 7. Entirely opaque……………………………………………..………himalayanus (Jekel)* - Very smooth and without setae above……………………….……………..8 8. Clypeus entirely and elytra yellow and spotted…………….pantherinus Arrow* 348

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert - Elytra usually black and with pale apical margin……………………....denticollis Harold KEY TO THE SPECIES OF THE GENUS Oniticellus 1. Head with carina and prothorax sparingly punctured………pallips (Fabricius)* - Head without carina……………………………………………….2 2. Dorsal surface opaque…………………………..…………spinipes Roth* -Dorsal surface very smooth and shining………………… .….cinctus (Fabricius)*

DISCUSSION So far one hundred two species belonging to fourteen genera have been studied, collected from the dung of cow, buffalo, camel, horse, donkey, blue-bill, goat, sheep, sambhar, blackbuck, cheetal, hyna, pig and human feacal matter. The sub family Coprini divided into four tribes: Scarabaeini, Sisyphini, Coprini and Panelini. The representative of tribe Sisyphini and Panelini have not been found from Rajasthan. Out of these species, twelve are belonging to tribe Scarabaeini and remaining ninety to Coprini.The species belonging to genera Scarabaeus and Gymnopleurus having two or more clypeal lobes or teeth, middle and hind tibiae bearing one terminal spur and filiform tarsi. The species belonging to genera of tribe Coprini having cephalic horns, tubercles and carina, middle tibia with one and hind tibia with two terminal spurs and more or less flattened tarsi, and also having longitudinal elytral carina. The prothorax of genus Copris is bearing basal median groove, front tibia with three or four external teeth, middle and hind tibia are strongly dilated from base to extremity and each with two transverse carina at outer edge. The species of genus Caccobius, Oniticellus and Drepanoceru are very small in size and also having eight jointed antennae. The species of the genus Liatongus bearing cephalic horn and elytra with posterior fringe or bristals but scale like hairs or bristals are presented in Drepanocerus. The middle and hind tarsi of the species of the genus Phalops are broadly dilated and the species of Disphyseme are wingless. The species of the genus Onthophagus are usually having stout legs, femur very thick, front tibia armed with four but occasionally with three external teeth and also bearing cephalic horns or carina. The species of the genus Onitis and Chironitis are easily differentiated by precense of front tarsi only in female of Chironitis but two basal impression present in both.

349

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

SUMMARY Total one hundred two species belonging to fourteen genera of sub family Coprinae under the family Scarabaeidae were recorded from all thirty-two districts of Rajasthan state. Out of these, sixty-six have been recorded from the first time from Rajastan and four species Gymnopleurus bicallosus Felsche, Catharsius inermis Castelnau, Copris iris Sharp, Onthophagus carinensis Boucomont have been recorded for the first time from India.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors are grateful to Dr. Ramakrishna, Director, ZSI, Kolkata for encouragement of study and Dr. Padma Bohra, Scientist-D & Officer-in-Charge, ZSI, DRC, Jodhpur, Rajasthan for providing the necessary facilities to carry out the work and necessary permission.

REFERENCES Arrow, G. J. 1931. Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia: Coprinae). Taylor and Francis, London, 3: 428, Pls. I- XIII. Balthasar,V.1963. Monographie der Scarabaeidae und Aphodiidae der Palaearktischen und Orientalischen Region (Coleoptera: Lamellicornia), Verlag der Tscheshoslowakischen Akademic der Wissenschften, Prague; 1: 1-39, pls. 1- 24, Figs. 1- 137; 2: 1-627, pls. 1- 16, Figs. 1- 226. Biswas, S. 1978a. Studies on the Scarab beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) of North- East India: A new species and notes on other India speciea of subgenus Strandius, genus Onthophagus. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 75(3): 911-913. Biswas, S. 1978b. Studies on the Scarab beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) of North- East India. Part II: Three new species and two new record from India, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc., 76: 339-344. Biswas, S. & Chatterjee, S.K.1985. Insecta: Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae. Records of Zoological Survey of India, 82(1- 4): 147-177. Biswas, S. & Chatterjee, S.K. 1995. Insecta: Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae. Zoological Survey of India, Zoological Survey of India, State Fauna Series, 3(3A): Fauna of West Bengal. State Fauna Series, 3(3A): 363-447. Biswas, S., Mukhopadhyaya, P., Saha, S.K., Basu, R.C., Chatterjee, S.K., Chakraborty, S.K., Biswas, D.N, Halder, S.K., Ghosh, S.K. and Chakraborty, S., 1997. Insecta: Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae. Zoological Survey of India, Zoological Survey of India. Fauna of Delhi, State Fauna Series, 3(3A): 325353. Chatterjee, S.K & Biswas, S., 2000. Insecta: Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae. Zoological Survey of India, Fauna of Tripura, State Fauna Series, 7(3): 87-98. Chatterjee, S.K & Biswas, S., 2000. Insecta: Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae. Zoological Survey of India, Fauna of Meghalaya, State Fauna Series, 4(5): 513-526. Chatterjee, S.K & Biswas, 2003. Insecta: Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae. Zoological Survey of India, Fauna of Sikkim, State Fauna Series, 9(3): 57-65. Chatterjee, S.K & Biswas, 2004. Insecta: Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae. Zoological Survey of India, Fauna of Manipur, State Fauna Series,10: 371-384. Sewak, R. 1985. On a collection of Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae) from Gujarat, India. Oikasay, 2(2): 33-35. Sewak, R. 1986. On a collection of Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae) from Rajasthan, India. Oikasay, 3(1): 11-15. Sewak, R. 1991. Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae) from five districts of western Uttar Pradesh. Oikasay, 8(1&2): 25-27. Sewak, R. 2004 a. Insecta: Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae (Dung beetles). Zoological Survey of India, State Fauna Series 8: Fauna of Gujarat, 2: 105-125. Sewak, R. 2004 b. Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae) of India with especial reference to Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajadsthan. In Advancements in Insect Biodiversity Ed. Rajeeve K. Gupta, Agrobios, Jodhpur. pp.249-297 Sewak, R. 2005. Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae) of Thar Desert of Rajasthan. Changing Faunal Ecology in the Thar Desert . Ed. B.K. Tyagi & Q.H.Baqri, pp.143-148. Sewak, R. 2006. Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Coprinae (Dung Beetles) Zoological Survey of India, Fauna of Arunachal Pradesh, State Fauna Series, 13(2): 191-224.

350

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

CHANGING SCENARIO OF MALARIA IN THE THAR DESERT, INDIA S.P. YADAV*, H. SINGH, P.K. ANAND AND S. YADAV Desert Medicine Research Centre, New Pali Road, Jodhpur-342 005, Rajasthan. e-mail: *[email protected] ABSTRACT: Desert part of Rajasthan was known more or less as malarial free zone before eighties. Developmental activities, urbanization, population growth, immigration of people, irrigation canal net working, quarry-mining, cropping pattern, poor sanitation and changing environment reversed the malarial situation in the area. Several epidemics were occurred in past and lost the human lives also. Desert Malaria is the serious public health problem presently. "The National Health Policy 2002" of India and the "Roll Back Malaria" policy makers have set up an ambitious goal of reducing malaria mortality and morbidity by 25% by 2007, and by 50% by 2010. To achieve these goals and control desert malaria, it is one of the important factors to fully aware about the practicing of the preventive measures and health seeking behaviour of the people. Keeping all these into account present study was under taken to know the knowledge, attitude, practices and beliefs about the disease and its control in desert and to know the association between disease and socio-economic status of the household. For this cross-sectional study, questionnaire method was used for collecting the data from house to house survey in 16 villages of Ramgarch PHC of Jaisalmer district. Socio-economic status of study subject was assessed by using the revised Prasad classification. Malaria was known as 'hitav' (Fever with shivering) in local dialect i.e. Marwari (local language of desert people in Marwar region). Majority (62.3%) of the people knew the sign and symptoms of the malaria and it was transmitted by the mosquito. More than three fourth (79.3%) people were treating malaria with home remedy which was followed traditionally in the family. If not cured they were using community or village folk medicine and at last to the modern medicine such as allopathic. Knowledge about causation of malaria was higher in high socio-economic strata of people as compared to low socio-economic strata. Use of bed nets as a preventive measure against mosquito bites was also higher in wealthier people as compared to the poorest. There is need to give bed nets on the free of cost/subsidised cost to the poor people and health education for desert malaria control. KEY WORDS: Malaria, Thar Desert.

INTRODUCTION Malaria is the threat of public health globally and more than 40% population is at risk. Out of it more than 300-500 million people turn as acute cases each year and about 1.5 to 2.7 million people die every year1-2. World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and World Bank (WB) have joined forces in worldwide malaria control efforts, (Roll Back Malaria (RBM), with the aim of reducing malaria morbidity and mortality by 25% by the year 2007 and 50% by the year 20103-4. The desert part of Rajasthan was known either malarial free or the less malarial zone before 1980s due to several desert specific factors such as high temperature, low humidity, less rain fall and scarcity of water. Developmental activities, urbanization, population growth, immigration of people, irrigation canal net working, quarry-mining, cropping pattern, poor sanitation and changing environment reversed the malarial situation in the area. Several epidemics were occurred in past and lost the human lives also. Desert Malaria is the serious public health problem presently. "The National Health Policy 2002" of India and the "Roll Back Malaria" policy makers have set up an ambitious goal of reducing malaria morbidity and mortality by 25% by 2007, and by 50% by 2010. To achieve these goals and control desert malaria, it is one of the important factors to fully aware about the practicing of the preventive measures and health seeking behaviour of the people. Keeping all these into account present study was under taken to

351

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert know the knowledge, attitude, practices and beliefs about the disease and its control in desert and to know the association between disease and socio-economic status of the household.

MATERIAL AND METHODS Description with introductory salient features of study area The Thar Desert spreads across the state of Rajasthan and parts of Gujarat in western India covering about 2,59,000 sq km. At present, the Thar Desert of Rajasthan, comprising 12 districts, is spread over a 28,600 km2 area, which is 12% of the mainland of the country and 62% of the total area of the state. It harbours a population of 13.4 million, with an average density of 64 persons per sq. km, making the Thar Desert region as one of the most populated deserts in the world. The climate is characterized by extremes of temperature, varying between 4oC in winter and around 50oC in summer. The rainfall is poor and erratic, ranging from 400 mm in the eastern part of the desert to less than 100 mm in the western fringe. For this cross-sectional community-based study, Jaisalmer district was selected out of 12 desert districts in Rajasthan state as it was perceived to meet many criteria such as API is highest among all the above 12 districts in last five years. In India, Jaisalmer district is biggest in area and having a very thin population density i.e. 9 person per sq. km which is 7.11 times less than the average density of population of the desert part of Rajasthan. Water supply to the villages for irrigation and drinking purposes through distributaries of Indira Gandhi Nahar Pariyojana (IGNP) is on going project.

Survey networks Ramgargh PHC was having highest API among all the 18 PHCs within the district of Jaisalmer. Based on this criteria, Ramgargh PHC was selected for the study area. All the 65 villages of PHC divided into two category i.e. Command Villages (CVs) and Non Command Villages (NCVs). CVs were defined as villages where the water was available for the irrigation and drinking purposes last 20 years through IGNP and NCVs were defined where the irrigation and drinking water was yet to reach. Using systematic random sampling method 8 villages from each category of villages were selected namely Seowa, Raghwa, Raimala, Sultana, Nagga, Bada, Mokal and Lanera from the CVs and Habur, Kakab, Hamira, Tibansar, Chandane ki Dhani, Markh ka Ganv, Mohammad Khan ki Dhani and Tanot were selected from the NCVs. Thus, the total 16 study villages of both the groups lie between 26.55oN latitude and 70.57oE latitude and form the part of north-western of Indo Pak border. 30 households were selected randomly from the each selected village for this study. A total of 480 (240CVs+240NCVs) households were surveyed from both the groups of the villages.

Data collection, management and analysis The data was collected on the pre-coded and pre-tested schedules. The questionnaires were prepared in English but it was communicated to the informant in Hindi or local dialect i.e. Marwari (dialect of people in Thar Desert). Focus Group Discussions were also held in the selected villages by the investigators with the informants. All the guide lines for FGDs were followed to control quality of data. Recall memory method was used for collecting the information from the respondents by carrying out door to door survey. Information such as number of fever cases, collection of blood slide, examination of blood slide and status of slide in the selected households of the fever cases for the examination of malaria parasite was obtained from health records of PHC. Pre-tested schedules were used for the data collections on socio-demographic, socioeconomic, socio-cultural and health practices, migration and human behaviour by door to door survey. FGDs were also held on some events such as marriage, birth day and so on in the study villages. Collected data from the field was computed, analysed and interpretated.

Ethical considerations This study was approved by the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) and Ethical Committee (EC) of the centre. In each village before starting the study, rapports were established with the community leaders, head of the household, village official such as Teacher, Ward panch,

352

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Sarpanch, Patwari and the informants. The aims and objectives of the study were explained to them for their cooperation and participation in the study without any doubt.

RESULTS The trends of malaria incidence are shown in Fig. 1 from 1960 to 2005 in India. It gives the clear picture of malaria chronologically and tells that malaria control programme was approaching eradication in 1960s (< 100,000 cases) to resurgence in the mid-1970s ( 6.4 million cases) and stabilizing trend to ~2 million cases in the 1990s. P. falciparum proportion has steadily risen to ~50% in the recent years, and the remaining incidence is of P. vivax and a small proportion of P. malariae. Malaria data of 17 years (1986-2002) of Jaisalmer district shows minimum (0.43) API in 1987 and the maximum (55.57) in 1994. Pf % was minimum (0.66%) in 1986 and maximum (68.66%) in 1994. Loss of human life due to disease was 56 in the year 1994, 15 in the year 1995, 13 in 2001, 2 in 1997, 1 in each in 1996 and 2002 respectively and no death was occurred in the rest years (Table 1).

(www.ajtmh.org/cgi/content/full/source: National Vector Borne Disease Control Program data); Pf= P. falciparum, SPR= slide positivity rate, ABER= annual blood examination rate Fig. 1. Trends of malaria incidence in India from 1960 to 2005 Table 1. Malaria incidence in Jaisalmer district (1986-2002). Year 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

Popu. 231000 231000 241000 241000 241000 344000 344000 344000 344000 345000 345000 378000 378938

B.S.E. 14300 18321 17907 19608 29647 21579 35516 36233 87379 90020 74835 66971 66271

+ve 152 100 335 557 2007 301 3695 3131 19115 15540 5350 3351 1886

Pf 1 16 15 128 419 79 1567 1602 13125 4865 913 646 396

Pf% 0.66 16.00 4.48 22.98 20.88 26.25 42.41 51.17 68.66 31.33 17.06 19.37 20.99

ABER 6.19 7.93 7.43 8.14 12.30 6.27 10.32 10.53 25.40 26.09 21.69 17.71 17.48

API 0,66 0.43 1.39 2.31 8.33 0.88 10.74 9.10 55.57 45.04 15.50 8.86 4.97

SPR 1.06 0,55 1.87 2.84 6.77 1.39 10.40 0.64 21.88 17.26 7.10 5.00 2.84

SfR 0.01 0.09 0.08 0.65 1.41 0.37 4.41 4.42 15.02 5.41 1.20 19.27 20.9

DEATHS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 56 15 1 0 2

353

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert 1999 378938 73254 2511 645 25.68 19.33 6.62 3.42 25.68 0 2000 378938 68032 1505 265 17.40 17.95 3.97 2.21 17.47 0 2001 378938 129593 14948 2582 17.20 34.19 39.44 11.53 17.27 13 2002 507999 88317 6500 405 6.20 17.38 12.79 7.35 6.23 1 Where BSC= Blood Slide Collected, BSE= Blood Slide Examined, Pf= P. falciparum, BER= Annual Blood slide Examination Rate, API= Annual Parasite Index, SPR=Slide Posivitivity Rate, SfR= slide P. falciparum rate.

Average API during the period of 2005 to 2009 of NCVs was 2.3 and in CVs it was 8.7. If both the category of villages were compared in term of API, it is found that API of CVs was 3.8 times higher as compared to NCVs (Table 2). Majority of the respondents in the non-command villages (73.7%) and command villages (72.0%) were in the age group of 20-49 years of age. Literacy rate was higher in the command villages (62.1%) as compared to the non-command villages (38.7%). Similarly household income per month was also higher in the villages of command area (Rs. > 5000/= per month in 58.7% households) as compared to the villages of the non-command villages (Rs. > 5000/= per month in 37.5% households). Other socio demographic parameters such as sex, religion and cost, were comparable (Table 3). Table 2. Incidence of malaria in two different categories of villages from 2005-09. 2005 2006 2007 NCV CV NCV CV NCV CV 1483 1399 1497 1404 1518 1412 Popn. 6.2 5.8 6.2 5.9 6.3 5.9 F. Size 203 415 250 519 320 596 BSC 140 365 175 410 208 462 BSE 23 96 35 110 39 142 + ve cases 10 53 19 72 26 103 Pf case 43.5 55.2 54.3 65.5 66.7 72.5 % Pf 9.4 26.1 11.7 29.2 13.7 32.7 ABER 1.6 6.9 2.3 7.8 2.6 10.1 API 16.4 26.3 20.0 26.8 18.8 30.7 SPR 7.1 14.5 10.9 17.6 12.5 22.3 SfR 0 0 0 0 0 0 Death Where NCV=Non Command Villages, CV= Command Villages

Parameters

2008 NCV CV 1534 1423 6.4 5.9 400 697 295 539 30 121 16 68 53.3 56.2 19.2 37.9 2.0 8.5 10.2 22.4 5.4 12.6 0 0

2009 NCV 1552 6.5 471 382 46 22 47.8 24.6 3.0 12.0 5.8 0

CV 1434 6.0 801 678 145 80 55.2 47.3 10.1 21.4 11.8 0

Total NCV CV 7584 7072 6.3 5.9 1644 3028 1200 2454 173 614 93 376 53.8 61.2 15.8 34.7 2.3 8.7 14.4 25.0 7.8 15.3 0 0

Table 3. Socio-demographic characteristics in two different categories of villages. Characteristics

NCV

CV

Total

N

%

N

%

N

%

50

28

11.7

22

9.2

50

50

Male

154

64.2

167

69.6

321

66.9

Female

86

35.8

73

30.4

159

33.1

Hindu

170

70.8

174

72.5

344

71.7

Other than Hindu

70

29.2

66

27.5

136

28.3

Sex

Religion

354

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Caste GC

23

13.5

25

14.4

48

OBC

76

44.7

68

39.1

142

14 41.3

SC & ST

73

42.9

81

46.6

154

44.8

Illiterate

147

61.3

91

37.9

238

49.6

Literate

47

19.6

68

28.3

115

24

Education

Primary

28

11.7

46

19.2

74

15.4

Middle and above

18

7.5

35

14.6

53

11

Agriculture

75

31.3

87

36.3

162

33.8

Animal keeping

62

25.8

65

27.1

127

26.5

Occupation

Labour

43

17.9

37

15.4

80

16.7

Artisans job

28

11.7

24

10.0

52

10.8

Service

10

4.2

15

6.3

25

5.2

9.2

12

5.0

34

7.1

Others 22 Household Income per month (Rs.) 10000

28

11.7

46

19.2

74

15.4

This is an indication of the importance of canal water and its related factors such as mismanagement of water were the responsible factors in contributing malaria transmission in the villages of canal area. Distribution pattern of malaria cases among different age groups of inhabitants of two different ecological zones of study population is shown in Table 4. Data indicate clearly that among infants (< 1 yr) malaria was 5 times higher in the CVs from the villages of Non Command area. In the 1–5 yr age group, 30.5% of total cases were present among CVs, while only 11.6% of cases were observed in NCVs. In the 5–15 yr age group, 26.2% of cases were reported among CVs, while only 5.6% of cases were present among NCVs. In the age group of >15 yr, malaria cases between CVs (19.8%) and NCVs (4.6%) was observed. The pre-school (42.1%) and school going (31.7%) children were found to be more vulnerable to malaria (Table 4). Table 4. Distribution of malaria cases according to age in two different categories of villages. Age Group (Yrs)

NCV IN (%)

CV IN (%)

Total IN (%)

0-1 1-5

2 (0.3)

12 (1.5)

14 (1.8)

91 (11.6)

240 (30.5)

331 (42.1)

5-15

44 (5.6)

206 (26.2)

250 (31.7)

>15

36 (4.6)

156 (19.8)

192 (24.4)

Total

173 (22.0)

614 (78.0)

787 (100.0)

Awareness regarding causation of malaria as the malaria parasite was less in the villages of both the groups i.e. NCVs - 4.6% and CVs - 35.8%. Multiple causes (39.6%), Changing environment (26.7%) and impure water (16.3%) were the dominant cause of malaria among the respondents of the non-command villages (Table 5). High fever with chills or sweating on alternate day, fever with giddiness, vomiting & rashes on the face as the sign and symptoms of the malaria were stated by the respondents (Table 6). Table 7 enumerates details of different preventive 355

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert measures being adopted by the two different groups of population. An interesting observation was that adoption of modern preventive measures such as use of mosquito nets, good night vapourisers, odomos cream, etc was more common among CVs, while use of traditional or ad-hoc preventive measures such as use of oils, smoke of cow-dung, etc was more common among NCVs. Awareness about the Anopheles mosquitoes as a carrier of malaria parasite was the more than 4 times higher among the respondents of command villages (41.7%) as compare to non-command villages (10.0%). Application of oil on the skin or use smoke from cow dung cakes around bed during the sleeping hours in the night and uses of repellent to keep away malaria mosquitoes such as good-night, Odomas etc. was 2.9% in the NCVs where as it was 37.9% in the CVs (Table 8). Attitude of respondents towards disease was dreadful, 55.0% respondents stated that malaria can take the human life and 81.3% at same time expressed their feelings that present drugs can cure the disease. Relationship between malaria patients and the health workers was excepted as cordial by 66.7% (Table 9).

Table 5. Knowledge about causation of malaria in two different categories of villages. Causation

NCV

Malaria parasite Personal hygiene Impure water and eatable items Changing environment Mosquito Don’t know Total

No. 11 15 39 64 78 32 240

% 4.6 6.3 16.3 26.7 32.4 13.3 100.0

No. 86 13 43 52 37 9 240

CV % 35.8 5.4 17.9 21.7 15.4 3.8 100.0

Table 6. Knowledge about signs and symptoms of malaria in two different categories of villages. Signs and Symptoms

NCV No. 65

% 27.1

CV No. 129

% 53.8

Fever with giddiness, vomiting & rashes on the face Multiple signs and symptoms

98

40.8

77

32.1

61

25.4

30

12.5

Others

16

6.7

4

1.7

Total

240

100.0

240

100.0

High fever with chills or sweating on alternate day

Table 7. Preventive measures and used by the two different categories of villages. Preventive measures Mosquito net

NCV No. 21

% 8.7

CV No. 102

% 42.5

Odomos cream Oils Tortoise coils Goodnight Vaporizer Smoke of cow-dung Smoke of foliage Nothing Total

10 30 7 4 50 77 41 240

4.2 12.5 2.9 1.7 20.8 32.1 17.1 100.0

28 16 30 13 25 17 9 240

11.7 6.7 12.5 5.3 10.4 7.1 3.8 100.0

356

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Table 8. Knowledge about biology of malaria vectors and preventive measures of malaria in two different categories of villages. Knowledge about biology of malaria vectors and preventive measures

NCV (n=240)

Anopheles mosquitoes carry malaria parasite You can identify male/female mosquitoes Feeding time of malaria mosquitoes is before dawn or after the dusk period You know Anopheles mosquito rest in cool and dark place You know Anopheles mosquitoes lay eggs in the water You know Anopheles takes 5-6 day to complete lifecycle You know mosquito- meshes on windows and doors can prevent the entry of mosquitoes in the house You know that the bed net can prevent the mosquitoes bite in the open field You know ‘tanka’, earthen pots, cess pits and stagnant water are the main sources of mosquitoes breeding You know by covering ‘tanks’ etc. and by proper drainage, the mosquito breeding can be prevented in the house You apply any oil on skin during night or use smoke from cow dung cakes around bed You use any kind of repellent to keep away malaria mosquitoes i.e. good-night, Odomas etc.

CV (n=240)

No.

%

No.

%

24

10.0

100

41.7

8

3.3

32

13.3

18

7.5

63

26.3

12

5.0

75

31.3

10

4.2

42

17.5

15

6.3

50

20.8

25

10.4

121

50.4

30

12.5

153

63.8

37

15.4

167

69.6

42

17.5

130

54.2

5

2.1

35

14.6

2

0.8

56

23.3

Table 9. Attitude towards malaria and its control in two different categories of villages Attitude towards disease and its control

NCV (n=240) % 9.2

CV (n=240) No. % 110 45.8

Malaria can take human life

No. 22

Present drug can cure the patients

45

18.8

150

62.5

Malaria control programme will improve the disease condition Health deportment is not taking good care of malaria patients in the village You like to contribute to improve exiting health services in the village Present malaria control activities are not of much help to malaria patient You go and get chloroquine tablets from PHC/RH/Sub- centre & etc. if no body came and delivered regularly at your place You like to be treated discreetly at the nearest PHC/RH/Sub centre Health workers are cordial in dealing with malaria patients

27

11.3

77

32.1

165

67.9

128

53.3

30

12.5

139

57.9

180

75.0

165

68.8

12

5.0

37

15.4

83

34.6

207

86.3

70

29.2

90

37.5

357

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

DISCUSSION The determinants of the study clearly determine changing the scenario of malaria in desert part of Rajasthan. Eco-system of Thar Desert is changing also due to human developmental activities along with global worming and changing in climate. Indria Gandhi Nahar Pariyojana (IGNP) is one of the examples. IGNP is bringing the grass changes in the cropping pattern, life stile of people and in environment as a whole of the region. Irrigation facilities are available over an area of 6770 km² in Jaisalmer district through IGNP. A. stephensi, the confirmed malaria vector found in the un- irrigated villages (>95%), and it breeds predominantly in the Both ‘tanka’ and ‘beri’, the well-like structures made for storing drinking water fetched from distant places or superficially charged from the runoff water of the monsoon rains, are considered integral components of rural communities in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan State in north-western India. This species found although in the irrigated villages also. Another vector of malaria, A. culicifacies, vector of the Indian mainland, came along with canal and found in both ecological zones. The major ecological changes associated with irrigation in the Thar Desert are understood to be playing an important role in accentuating the transmission of malaria by improving vector breeding conditions and survival in an otherwise hostile arid environment. The study further indicates that socio cultural factors are responsible for giving the environment for the transmission of malaria by their living style, social behaviours, beliefs and practices, social customs, level of education, type of occupation and economic status. These factors were influencing the degree of transmission of malaria in both the groups of villages. Surroundings of living area, practices of water storage in the containers, covering practices of water containers through lids, frequency of changing potable water in the containers, use of proper lid on water storage tanks locally referred as tanka (cement tank used for water storage), and proper sanitation, were significantly different in the study population groups. Misconceptions about malaria have been reported in research publications from all over the world. Links between malaria and supernatural forces are found almost similar. For example, in the Gambia and in Kenya, malaria, especially in children, is often perceived as the result of the child being possessed by an evil spirit or devil. Few studies in the desert part of Rajasthan7, 11 also found healthy subjects considered changing environment (26.4%), impure water and eatable items (17.4%) as well as personal hygiene (4.9%) responsible for causing malaria. As a result low socioeconomic community was taking double time to avail health facility between the occurrence of the malaria and diagnosis and treatment as compared to high socioeconomic community. Brown12 suggested that malaria eradication programmes in Surdinia and Sri Lanka were based on a mental model of the vicious cycle which characterises people who are sick because they are poor and they become poorer because they are sick’. Banguero13 studied the association of socioeconomic factors with malaria in Colombia in which 217 households (cases) were investigated by comparing a similar number of households as controls (in which no cases were reported in the same period). It was shown that the prevalence and incidence of malaria were associated with the low income of the family. Mata14 pointed out that poor housing and deficient personal hygiene are due to poverty and low education level and also found that poor housing and outdoor activities after dark are of great significance as socio cultural determinants of malaria transmission. In contrast, Banguero13 found no relationship between the degree of completion of the house (roof, walls, windows and doors) and malaria incidence, nor did he find any association between the education level and the disease incidence. The lower susceptibility in infants could be attributed to two reasons. Firstly, the social custom of keeping the infants well clothed and covered by sheet which did not allow the mosquitoes to bite. Secondly, infants born to immune mothers were at least partially protected by maternal antibodies and foetal haemoglobin during the first 3–5 months from the malarial parasite. Similarly, the population, over 15 yrs of age exposed continuously to malaria will develop considerable degree of resistance and awareness about the disease and use preventive measures against mosquito bites, thereby decreasing the susceptibility in adults. Das et al.15, made almost similar observations in one study in rural western Uttar Pradesh.

358

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert The human behaviour with regard to the etiology, treatment and prevention of malaria not only fosters the spread of the disease but also results in continuity of the disease within the community. People seek medical care depending upon the individual perceptions of illness. The concept of illness behaviour under which individual perceptions of ill health are analysed has been reviewed by many workers16-24. In Mechanic’s18 terms, illness behaviour is the way in which given symptoms may be differentially perceived, evaluated and acted (or not acted) upon by different kinds of persons15-18. It appears that although most of the studies about beliefs and values of the people and the continuance of malaria are not conceptually focused on the illness behaviour and malaria transmission, such studies seem to provide much wider perspectives which not only possess some practical significance but also some research interest. As regards the beliefs of the people in relation to the causation malaria, there are two typical examples, one from India25 and another from Surinam26. The former study concerning tribal populations in 18 villages in Orissa state identified the perceptions about causation, prevention and treatment of malaria. In general, the tribes believed that diseases are caused primarily by the spirits of the dead, anger of the local deities and black magic. People in these villages could not distinguish malaria from other types of fever and regarded malaria as a mild and self-limiting disease. Malaria fever, they believed, is the result of climatic factors. Mosquito bites, were not viewed as harmful to health and treatment were not taken for malaria. The refusal of household spraying in many parts of the world has been recorded either as due to ignorance of mosquito control or to rigid folk social beliefs that vary by degrees. Dhillon and Kar25 identified some reasons for the refusal of household spraying in Orissa. One of the reasons is that spraying produces a bad smell in rooms in which they live. In addition, spraying causes inconvenience and waste of time in shifting household goods. Since the people are not aware of its benefits, spraying is considered useless in these villages. Barnes and Jenkins26 investigated the reasons for refusal of household spraying as: (i) fear of the loss of domestic animals (cats, dogs and chickens); (ii) fear that the insecticides would cause personal harms to the householders and their families; (iii) fear that the insecticides would destroy or weaken the protective power of the Gods; (iv) jealousy between kinship groups for jobs with malaria eradication programme; (v) enviable position of the employees of the malaria eradication programme and promiscuous behaviour of the malaria eradication programme workmen with local women, leading to troubles in several households; (vi) use of unpleasant insecticides; (vii) dislike of modern medicines; and (viii) resistance to giving blood smears. In Oghalu’s27 study in Nigeria it was found that although more than half (55.9%) of the respondents used insecticides, the rest of the respondents did not use them because of the bad smell, lack of money to buy it and fear that it could poison their food and domestic animals. In Terai villages in Nepal, inhabitants mud-plaster their houses every day, or on any Pooja (worship) day in the family-a practice which is resorted to as soon as the spray teams left the house. In some houses, the housewives rubbed-off the sprayed surface immediately after spray teams left the houses28. In the Terai villages, as seems to be the case in Orissa and Surinam, people fear that household spraying increases household rats, mice, and bedbugs and hence many houses remained unsprayed because of the refusal of the people. Also, a study carried out in Baygada and Teypore areas in Orissa in India during 1973-74 showed that 48 to 60% of sprayed houses had been mudplastered within 2 to 6 days29. Bad odour, fear of water and food being poisoned in homes, fear of killing domestic animals like pets, discolouration of walls, inconvenience caused by removing furniture and other belongings, the dirtiness of the house after spraying and the perceived ineffectiveness of spraying are the reasons for refusal of household spraying in this area. Refusal to permit household spraying, for whatever cultural reasons, would inevitably increase the density of mosquitoes, which in turn would lead to increase in the frequency of mosquito bites, in the longevity of mosquitoes and in the spread of malaria disease. There is a need for such studies to be undertaken by others for quantification and stratification of malaria throughout the country in different eco types of areas, villages and communities. The concept of preventive malaria control should percolate as a top down approach to Panchayats and communities should be the major players from the very beginning. Moreover, the strategies being followed presently for malaria control seem to be grossly inadequate and need a thorough revamp. 359

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Transmission control should rely on the bioenvironmental interventions for long-term gains in malaria control. Also, the few good epidemiological data that we have, and centres from where these emanate, must be put to the best use. IEC component must be established on local area need so that malaria control programme can benefit maximally.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Authors are very thankful to Dr. Bela Shah, Director-in-Charge, Desert Medicine Research Centre, Jodhpur for her kind valuable suggestions as well as time to time guidance during study period and permission to publish the work.

REFERENCES WHO. 1996. The World Health Report: Fighting Disease, Fostering Development. Report of the Director General. World Health Organization Geneva. Sharma, V. P. 1996. Re-emergence of malaria in India. Ind. J. Medic. Res. 103: 26-45. Tyagi, B. K., Chaudhary, R. C., Yadav, S. P. 1995. Epidemic Malaria in Thar Desert, India. The Lancet, 635-636. World Bank. 2001. Malaria on the rise, children most vulnerable: World Bank, WHO, UNICEF and UNDP call for much more action in the fight against malaria, News release, 302. AFR. Tyagi, B.K. and Yadav, S. P. 2001. Bionomics of malaria vectors in two physiographically different areas of the epidemic-prone Thar Desert, north-western Rajasthan (India). J. Arid. Envir., 47: 161-172. Tyagi, B. K. and Chaudhary, R. C. 1997. Outbreak of falciparum malaria in the Thar Desert (India), with particular emphasis on physiographic changes brought about by extensive canalization and their impact on vector density and dissemination. J. Arid. Envir., 36 (3): 541-555. Yadav, S. P., Tyagi, B. K., Ramnath, T. 1999. Knowledge, attitude and practice towards malaria in rural communities of the epidemic-prone Thar Desert, Northwestern India. J. Com. Dis., 31: 127-136. Tyagi, B. K. and Yadav, S. P. 1996. Malariological and sociological significance of ‘tanka’ and ‘beri’ in the Thar Desert, Western Rajasthan, India. J. Arid Envir., 33(4): 497-501. Mwenesi H., Harpham T., Snow, R. W. 1995. Child malaria treatment practices among mothers in Kenya. Soc. Sci. Med., 40: 1271-1277. Yadav, S. P., Mathur, M. L. 2005. Knowledge and practices about malaria among the sandstone quarry workers in Jodhpur district, Rajasthan. Ann. Arid Zone, 44(1): 65-70. Yadav, S. P., Sharma, R. C., Joshi, V. 2005. Study of social determinants of malaria in desert part of Rajasthan, India. J. Vect. Borne Dis., 42(4): 141-146. Brown, J. P. 1986. Socio-economic and demographic effects of malaria eradication: a comparison of Sri Lanka and Sardinia. Soc. Sci. Med., 28: 847-859. Banguero, H. 1984. Socio-economic factors associated with malaria in Colombia. Soc. Sci. Med., 19(10): 1099-1104. Mata, L. 1982. Socio-cultural factors in the control and prevention of parasitic diseases. Re. Infect. Dis., 4(4): 871-879. Das, R., Khan, Z., Amir, A. 2004. Epidemiological assessment of the trend of malaria in rural western, U.P. Ind. J. Com. Med., 29: 134-135. Zborowski, M. 1952. Cultural components in response to pain. J. Soc. Issues, 8: 16-30. Apple, D. 1960. How layman define illness. J. Hlth Soc. Behaviour, 1: 219-225. Mechanic, D. 1961. The concept of illness behaviour. J. Chronic Dis., 15: 189-194. Mechanic, D. and Volkart, E. 1961. Stress, illness behaviour and the sick role. Am. Soc. Rev., 26: 51-58. Baumann, B. 1961. Diversities in conceptions of health and physical fitness. J. Human Behaviour, 33: 44-53.

360

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Mechanic, D. 1964. The influence of mothers on their children’s health attitudes and behaviour. Pediatr., 33: 444-453. Yadav, S. P., Kalundha, R. K. and Sharma, R. C. 2007. Socio cultural factors and malaria in the desert part of Rajasthan, India. J. Vect. Borne Dis., 44: 205-212. Segall, A. 1976. The risk role concept: understanding illness behaviour. J. Hlth Human Behaviour, 1: 162-168. Notoatmodjo, S. 1983. Illness behaviour study in Pasar Kemis-District West Java, Indonesia. South East Asian J. Tro.p Pub. Hlth, 14: 69-73. Dhillon, H. S. and Kar, S. B. 1965. Malaria eradication: an investigation of cultural patterns and beliefs among tribal populations in India. J. Hlth Education, 1: 31-40. Barnes, S. T. and Jenkins C. D. 1972. Changing personal and social behaviour experiences of health workers in a tribal society. Soc. Sci. Med., 6: 1-15. Oghalu, A. I. 1980. The problem of non-participation of the local population in malaria control programme. J. Inst. Hlth Education, 18(1): 7-9. Dixit, K. A. 1966. Problems of Nepal malaria eradication organization. J. Japan Med. Assoc., 4: 162-172. Arora, D. D. and Salu, B. 1976. Extent and frequency of mud plastering in tribal units of Orissa state. NMEP News, 16-26.

361

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

Plasmodium falciparum IN THE CHANGING CLIMATE OF JODHPUR ARUNA SWAROOP MATHUR AND BARNALI MAJUMDAR Department of Zoology, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur-342001, Rajasthan, India. ABSTRACT: To detect the changes in trends and distribution of falciparum malaria in Jodhpur, a study was carried during July 2008 to October 2008 in monsoon season. Mild infection of Plasmodium falciparum was 29.81% in males and 12.84% in females. Moderate infection of P. falciparum was 9.17% in males and 7.80% in females. High infection of P. falciparum was 4.59% in males and 6.90% in females. Trophozoite stage of P. falciparum was 38.53% in males and 23.39% in females. Trophozoite with gametocyte stage of P. falciparum was 2.75% in males and 2.75% in females. Gametocyte stage of P. falciparum was 2.29% in males and 1.38% in females. Destruction of red blood cells causes hemolysis resulted in anaemia and reduction of haemoglobin concentration level. Anaemia was present in 54.09% patients with 24.59% being mild anaemia having haemoglobin concentration within the range of 8.2 g/dl to 11 g/dl. Moderate anaemia was present in 11.47% patients having haemoglobin concentration within the range of 5.2 g/dl to 7.9 g/dl. Severe anaemia was present in 18.03% patients having haemoglobin concentration within the range of 1.8 g/dl to 4.7 g/dl. The average maximum temperature was 35.12°C and the average minimum temperture was 25.35°C. The average maximum relative humidity was 68.75% and average minimum relative humidity was 47.25%. The average rainfall was 75.85 mm. The average windspeed was 5.40 km/hr and average sunshine was 237.57 Hrs. The temperature and relative humidity was conductive for the falciparum malaria transmission during this period. Common drugs used were chloroquinephosphate, quinine-sulphate, artesunate, sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine, artemether-lumefantrine, sulphadoxine–pyrimethamine, mefloquine and paracetamol. KEY WORDS: P. falciparum, stages, anaemia, climate, drugs.

INTRODUCTION The climatic factors are the key determinants for the existence, development, survival of the pathogenic protozoan Plasmodium falciparum and its vector female Anopheles mosquitoes. Temperature, rainfall, humidity, windspeed and daylight influences the life-cycle of the P.falciparum. Increasing global temperature widens the geographic distribution of malaria in temperate climates. The global climate may warm by 1.4°C to 5.8°C and the prediction may increase upto 7% and global sea level may rise from 0.09 to 0.88m by the year 2100.In Jodhpur monsoon season shows low to medium rainfall and thunder storms are common. The rainfall is scanty, uncertain, variable and occurs with a relatively high intensity.

MATERIALS AND METHODS A number of epidemiological surveys were carried out in areas of M.G.Hospital, M.D.M hospital, Umaid Hospital, Goyal hospital, Air force hospital, M.Hospital and various disease diagnostic centres of Jodhpur. During the investigation period the age, sex, locality,educational status and other epidemiological observations were recorded.The climatic parameters were recorded from the Meterological Department RS/RW observatory, Jodhpur.

RESULTS The infection percentage during monsoon season was 1.85%. Males were 1.15% infected and females were 0.70% infected. The infection percentage peaks in the month of September (2.40%). Majority of the cases belonging to 21-30 years of age-group. In different stages of P.falciparum Trophozoite (ring form) were 61.93% (males 38.53% and females 23.39%), 362

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Trophozoite (ring form) with gametocyte were 05.50% (males 02.75% and females 02.75%) and gametocyte were 03.67% (males 2.29% and females 01.38%) (Graph-1). In degree of infection mild infection were 42.67% (males 29.81% and females were 12.84%), moderate infection were 16.97% (males 09.17% and females 7.80%) and high infection were 11.47% (males 04.59% and females 06.90%) (Graph-2). Females (6.90%) represents the higher infection rate during monsoon season. Mixed Plasmodium species (P.falciparum and P.vivax) co-exists as 35.32% (males 23.86% and females 11.47%). Reinfected cases were 04.13%(males 03.67% and females 0.46%) (Table-1). Anaemia was present in 54.09% patients with 24.59% being mild anaemia having haemoglobin concentration within the range of 8.2 g/dl to 11 g/dl. Moderate anaemia was present in 11.47% patients having haemoglobin concentration within the range of 5.2 g/dl to 7.9 g/dl. Severe anaemia was present in 18.03% patients having haemoglobin concentration within the range of 1.8 g/dl to 4.7 g/dl (Table-2, Pie chart-1). During monsoon season the average maximum temperature was 35.12°C and the average minimum temperture was 25.35°C. The average maximum relative humidity was 68.75% and average minimum relative humidity was 47.25%. The average rainfall was 75.85 mm. The average windspeed was 5.40 km/hr and the average sunshine was found to be 237.57Hrs. (Table-3). The temperature and relative humidity was conductive for the falciparum malaria transmission during this period. Common drugs used were chloroquine – phosphate, quinine-sulphate, paracetamol, artesunate, sulphadoxine pyrimethamine, mefloquine, sulphadoxine– pyrimethamine and artemether- lumefantrine. Table 1. Prevalence of P.falciparum in Jodhpur (Rajasthan): Stages of infection, degree of infection, mixed infection, reinfection and method of diagnosis Status Trophozoite(Ring Stage) Trophozoite(ring stage) with Gametoccyte Gametoccyte Mild Moderate High Mixed infection with P.vivax Reinfection Smear Card Q.B.C. Strip

Male 38.53% 2.75%

Female 23.39% 2.75%

02.29% 29.81% 09.17% 04.59% 23.86% 03.67% 23.4% 17.43% 20.18% 01.83%

01.38% 12.84% 07.80% 06.90% 11.47% 0.46% 13.76% 9.17% 13.76% -

Table 2. Prevalence of anaemia due to P.falciparum in Jodhpur (Raj.) during year 2007-08 Anaemia Mild anaemia Moderate anaemia Severe anaemia

Percentage 24.59% 11.47% 18.03%

Haemoglobin concentration Range 8.2-11 g/dl 5.2-7.9 g/dl 1.8-4.7 g/dl

Table 3. Average climatic conditions in Monsoon season in Jodhpur (Raj.) during year 2007-08 Month July August September October Average

Temperature (0C) 0 Max. ( C) Min. (0C) 35.6 27.4 32.4 25.7 35.5 25.5 37 22.8 35.12 25.35

Relative Humidity (%) Max. (%) Min. (%) 72 50 81 64 73 47 49 28 68.75 47.25

Rainfall (mm) 66.4 212.1 24.9 75.85

Wind Speed (Km/ Hr) 8.1 5.8 5.2 2.5 5.4

Sunshine (Hour) 213 183.4 252.9 301 237.57

363

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

364

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

Pie chart : 1 Prevalence of anaemia due to P.falciparum during year 2007 to 2008.

18.03

Mild Anaemia 24.59

Moderate Anaemia Severe Anaemia 11.47

DISCUSSION During the study it was found that in monsoon season maximum incidence of falciparum malaria was found when the average maximum temperature was 35.12°C and the average minimum temperature was 25.35°C. The average maximum relative humidity was 68.75% and average minimum relative humidity was 47.25%. The average rainfall was 75.85 mm. The average windspeed was 5.40 km/hr and the average sunshine was found to be 237.57Hrs. Sachs and Gallop (2001) suggested that the ecological conditions allows reproduction and development of vectors determines the intensity and distribution of the disease. Gilles and Warrell (2002) showed that severity of anaemia correlates with parasitaemia. Our study shows that destruction of red blood cells causes hemolysis resulted in anaemia and reduction of haemoglobin concentration level. Anaemia was present in 54.09% patients. Severe anaemia was 18.03% and the haemoglobin concentration level showed a remarkable reduction and hemolysis as well. Mishra (2003) concluded that the males were more exposed to the risk of acquiring malaria and 20-40 years of age-group have maximum malaria positive patients which correlates with our finding that 1.15% males and 0.70% females were infected and 21-30 years of age-group were 2.13% infected. Our study shows that in monsoon season trophozoite with gametocyte were 2.75% in males and 2.75% in females whereas gametocytes were 2.29% in males and 1.38% in females whereas in other study conducted by Talman et al. (2004) concluded that though gametocytes are inevitable stages for transmission and provide a potential target to fight malaria, they have received less attention than the pathogenic asexual stages. Snounou et al. (2004) suggested mixed species infection might be beneficial both to parasite and human being. Our study demonostrated that mixed species infection were 23.86% in males and 11.47% in females. During the investigation period it was found that 01.83% dipstick tests and 26.60% card tests were performed but according to W.H.O.(2008) the dipstick test forms a vital part in areas where good quality microscopy cannot be maintained and Gerstl et al. (2010) also advised that both RDT’s were highly sensitive.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank with gratitude to my supervisior Dr.(Mrs.) Aruna Swaroop Mathur, Associate Professor, Department of Zoology, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur whose constant 365

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert guidance and valuable comments greatly encouraged to carry out the study. I would also like to thank all doctors and laboratory technician for providing opportunities and support to carry out the investigation.

REFERENCES Gerstl, S., Dunkley, S., Mukhtar, A., De Smet, M., Baker, S. and Maikere, J. (2010). Assessment of two malaria rapid diagnostic tests in children under five years of age, with follow-up of false-positive pLDH test results, in a hyperendemic falciparum malaria area, Sierra Leone. Malar. J., 9: 28. Gilles, H. M. and Warrell, D. A. (2002). Essential Malariology. Fourth Edition, Arnold, London. Mishra, G. (2003). Hospital based study of malariain Ratanagiri District,Maharashtra. J.Vect. Borne Dis. 40: 109-111. Sachs, J. and Gallop, J.L. (2001). The economic burden of malaria.The supplement to the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 64: 85-96. Snounou, G. and White, N. J. (2004). The co-existence of Plasmodium: sidelights from falciparum and vivax malaria in Thailand. Trends in Parasitology, 20(9): 440-447. Talman, A. M., Domarle, O., McKenzie, E. F., Ariey, F. and Robert. V. (2004). Gametocytogenesis : the puberty of Plasmodium falciparum. Malar J., 3: 24. World Health Organization (2008). Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Test performance: Results of W.H.O. Product testing of malaria R.D.T.’s. Roud 1.

366

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

NEMATODES IN AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM w.r.t. LAKES OF UDAIPUR, RAJASTHAN PADMA BOHRA* AND RAZIA SULTANA Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Jhalamand, Pali Road, Jodhpur-342 001. e-mail: *[email protected] ABSTRACT: Nematodes are invertebrate roundworms that inhabit marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments. They comprise the phylum Nematoda (or Nemata) which includes parasites of plants and animals, including humans as well as species that feed on bacteria, fungi, algae, and on the other nematodes. Two out of every five multicellular animals on the planet are nematodes. Nematodes adaptations to fresh water environment are reflected in many ways. Besides having a strong protective cuticle (often annulated) and hypodermis maintaining a high turgor pressure, most of the fresh-water nematodes are around 0.5-2 mm long having slender, spindle-shaped bodies with enhanced swimming abilities. In general, fresh water habitats are dominated by the Orders Enoplida, Chromadorida, Monhysterida, Araeolaimida and Rhabditida. Analysis of nematode communities in aquatic environments reveals that the incidence and prevalence of species in the community reflect the nature and quality of the environments. Not surprisingly, the types of species present (and resultant community structure) differ in marine, brackish, and fresh environment. The degree and nature of change in the community structure of aquatic nematodes may be serve as excellent indicator of water quality pollutant level. KEY WORDS: Nematodes, Aquatic Ecosystem, Lakes, Udaipur, Rajasthan.

INTRODUCTION Nematodes represent the most abundant metazoans in soils and sediments (Yeates, 1981). They can reach densities in freshwater habitats of up to 11.4 million/m2 (Michields & Traunspurger, 2005). Due to these high densities, statistically valid sampling can be achieved more easily than with macrofauna even with small, easily processed samples. A total of about 14,000 free-living, invertebrate and plant associated nematode species are known, described and accepted (Platt & Warwick, 1983, 1988, Andrassy, 1992; Hugot et al, 2001; Warwick et al; 1998). This total excludes parasites of vertebrates. About 42% of species described are terrestrial, 39% are marine, 12% are entomophilic and 5% are freshwater. The review of Nematology literature reveals that our knowledge on freshwater nematodes is meager. Only some stray references are available in Indian Nematology Literature. In Rajasthan state Khera (1968- 75) described nematodes from still and running waters in and around Jodhpur district. Keeping this point in view, study was conductd on nematodes community in lakes of Udaipur district. Udaipur city is surrounded by Seven lake units. Pichola lake is the main lake; other lakes like Fathsagar and Swaroopsagar are interconnected with Pichola lakes. Jaisamand is about 50 km and udaisagar is 30 km from Udaipur.

MATERIALS AND METHODS Water samples from lakes were collected with the help of Water sampler (2 litre) and sediments samples were collected with the help of Grab’s sampler. Samples were processed by Cobb’s decanting and modified Bearmen’s Funnel techniques. Nematodes were fixed and killed in 4% formaldehyde and mounted on glass slide in anhydrous glycerine. 367

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

RESULTS Identified 65 nematode species belonging to 44 genera, 24 family under 6 orders Tylenchida, Dorylaimida, Mononchida, Rhabditida, Araeolaimida and Enoplida.

SYSTEMATIC ACCOUNT Order Tylenchida Thorne, 1949 Family Tylenchidae Orley, 1880 Boleodorus thylactus Thorne, 1941 Family Anguinidae Nicoll, 1935 (1936) Diptenchus indicus Khan, Chawla & Seshadri, 1969 Family Hoplolaimidae Filipjev, 1934 (Wieser, 1953) Helicotylechus conicephalus Siddiqi, 1972 Helicotylechus crenacauda Sher, 1966 Helicotylenchus densibulatus** Siddiqi, 1972 Helicotylenchus erytherinae (Zimmerman, 1904) Golden, 1956 10♀♀ Helicotylenchus multicinctus (Cobb, 1893) Golden, 1956 Helicotylechus labiodiscinus Sher, 1966 Helicotylechus willmottae** Siddiqi, 1972 Family: Pratylenchidae Thorne, 1949 (Siddiqi, 1963) Pratylenchus brachyurus (Godfrey, 1929) Filipjev & Schuurmans Stekhoven, 1941 Pratylenchus goodeyi Sher & Allen, 1953 Hirschmanniella oryzae (van Breda de Haan, 1902) Luc & Goodey, 1963 Family: Telotylenchidae Siddiqi, 1960 Bitylenchus clavicauda (Seinhorst, 1968) Siddiqi, 1986 Bitylenchus dubius (Bütschli, 1873) Filipjev, 1934 Bitylenchus goffarti (Sturhan, 1966) Jairajpuri, 1982 Tylenchorhynchus nudus Allen, 1955 Mulkorhynchus phaseoli (Sethi & Swarup, 1968) Jairajpuri, 1988 Family: Criconematidae Taylor, 1936 Hemicriconemoides brachyurus (Loos, 1949) Chitwood & Birchfield, 1957 Hemicriconemoides coccophilus (Loss, 1949) Chitwood & Birchfield, 1957 Order Dorylaimida Pearse, 1942 Family Dorylaimidae de Man, 1876 Amphidorylaimus infecundus** (Cobb in Thorne and Swanger, 1936) Andrássy, 1960 Laimydorus multialaeus (Khera, 1970) Baqri, 1985 Mesodorylaimus subtiloides** (Paetzold, 1958) Andrássy, 1959 Prothornenema capitatum Baqri & Bohra, 2003 Thornenema mauritianum (Williams, 1959) Baqri & Jairajpuri, 1969 Family: Aporcelaimidae Heyns, 1965 Aporcelaimellus heynsi Baqri & Jairajpuri, 1968 Aporcelaimellus adoxus** Tjepkema, Ferris & Ferris, 1971 Tubixaba parva Pretorius, Kruger and Heyns, 1987 Family Qudsianematidae Jairajpuri, 1965 Discolaimus texanus Cobb, 1913 Discolaimium conura Thorne, 1939 Discolaimoides bulbiferous (Cobb, 1906) Heyns, 1963 Ecumenicus monhystera (De Man, 1880) Thorne, 1974 Eudorylaimus chauhani (Baqri & Khera, 1975) Andrássy, 1986 Labronema confuses (Jana & Baqri, 1983) Andrássy, 1991 Moshajia cultrisryla Siddiqi, 1982 Family: Nordiidae Jairajpuri & Siddiqi, 1964

368

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Kochinema caudatum Baqri & Bohra, 2003 Kochinema farodai Baqri & Bohra, 2001 Family: Actinolaimidae Thorne, 1939 Neoactinolaimus rajasthanenesis Bohra & Sultana, 2008 Family Belondiridae Thorne, 1939 Belondira microdora Ahmad, Dhanachand and Jairajpuri, 1982 Dorylaimellus (B.) discocephalus Siddiqi, 1964 Dorylaimellus (D.) indicus Siddiqi, 1964 Family Longidoridae Thorne, 1935 Paralongidorus rex Andrássy, 1986 Family Leptonchidae Thorne, 1935 Proleptonchus paucipapillatus (Meyl, 1956) Goseco, Ferris & Ferris, 1974 Tyleptus affinis Monterio, 1970 Family Mydonomidae Thorne, 1964 Dorylaimoides (A.) constrictus Baqri & Jairajpuri, 1969 Order Mononchida Jairajpuri, 1969 Family Mononchidae Chitwood, 1937 Mononchus aquaticus Coetzee, 1968 Family Mylonchulidae Jairajpuri, 1969 Mylonchulus brachyurus (Bütschli, 1873) Altherr, 1954 Mylonchulus bulbiferous** Jensen & Mulvey, 1968 Mylonchulus dentatus Jairajpuri, 1970 Mylonchulus hawaiensis (Cassidy, 1931) Andrássy, 1958 Mylonchulus sigmaturus (Cobb, 1917) Altherr, 1953 Family Anatonchidae Jairajpuri, 1969 Mulveyellus monhystera** (Cobb, 1917) Siddiqi, 1984 Order Rhabditida Örley, 1880 (Chitwood, 1933) Family Cephalobidae Filipjev, 1934 Heterocephalobus pulcher (Loof, 1964) Andrássy, 1967 Chiloplacus sclerovaginatus Sumenkova & Razzhivln, 1968 Zeldia punctata (Thorne, 1925) Thorne, 1937Acrobeles Acrobeloides tricornis (Thorne, 1925) Thorne, 1937

DISCUSSION The analysis of results reveals that the records of terrestrial nematodes in freshwater environments are almost all plant parasites associated with aquatic plants. Sometime some genera recorded from freshwater seem to be accidently transported to freshwater habitat. A few genera occur frequently enough to be considered genuine inhabitants. For example genus Hirschmanniella is a genuine inhabitant from the overwhelmingly terrestrial family Pratylenchidae. The genus comprises about 35 species almost all associated with aquatic plants. One species is a major economic pest of rice Hirschmanniella oryzae; and another species can cause damage to aquatic plants (Gerber & Smart, 1987). Similarly the genus Xiphinema is another large relatively thin nematode commonly associated with aquatic plants, but the genus as whole is most common in fully terrestrial plants. Other examples are Criconema, Hemicycliophora, Helicotylenchus, Dolichodorus, Aphelenchoides, etc.

Hemicriconemoides,

Pratylenchus,

The same trend is observed in order Dorylaimida. The genera Dorylaimus, Mesodorylaimus, Eccumenicus, Eudorylaimus, Labronema, Neoactinolaimus, Longidorella, Belondira, Dorylaimellus, Proleptonchoides, Tylcptus, Dorylaimoides, Mononchus, Mylonchulus, etc. The species of these genera are abundantly found in terrestrial habitat. Amongst free living nematodes of orders Enoplida, Araeolaimida, Monohysterida, Rhabditida are also equally abundant in freshwater habitat. 369

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert In freshwater Ecosystem (rivers, lakes, streams, pools, springs); members of the orders Tylenchida and Dorylaimida exhibit considerable diversity. The nematodes are aquatic animals. This may be the reason many genera and species are found in both freshwater and soil, it being difficult, if not impossible, to define them as terrestrial or freshwater forms; nevertheless, there are some other genera and species that are predominantly or exclusively collected from freshwater habitats. Overall then, the genera seem to fall into three groups: (i) those found very frequently, which seem best able to adapt to aquatic environment (e.g. Aphelenchoides and Meloidogyne) (ii) those found less frequently and presumably adapt less well (e.g. Dolichodorus and Xiphinema) and (iii)those which only appear infrequently perhaps accidently (e.g. Anguina and Basiria). Into which group a particular genus will fall does seem related to either body form, size, site of attack on the plant or the level of activity. Perhaps there is a physiological feature associated with ability to attack freshwater plants, or an ecological characteristic associated with oppurunity to attack the plants which has yet to be discovered. The nematodes found in freshwater are all ecological generalists. The monohysterids, Plectus and Rhabditis are microbivorous, the dorylaimids are known to be highly omnivorous (Yeates et al., 1993). The rhabditids have highly developd forms of quieserce, food storage and dispersal (Bird & Bird, 1991). The monohysterids and Plectus seem to have considerable physiological plasticity. The dorylaimids are very ubiquitous in freshwater and terrestrial habitat, and so have had many oppurtunities to colonize freshwater habitats not readily colonized by other taxa. They must also have very great abilities for quiescence from their abundance in completely dry desert lakes (i.e.lakes that remain dry but are filled with water once every few years). Lakes especially seem very variable in the number of nematode species present in lakes, the distribution and abundance of nematodes within a sediment diversity and sediment is strongly influenced by depth (Tranuspurger, 1996; Eyualem et al., 2006), but there is no clear evidence for any relationship between nematode diversity and sediment depth or water depth. There does not seem to be any unequivocal evidence for any of the proposed global latitudinal gradients of nematode diversity (Procter, 1990); Varhove et al., 1999, Lambshead et al., 2000, 2002); Gobin and Warwick, 2006; Brand et al., 2007. In general substrates disturbed by human or any other activity have fewer nematode species than natural situations. This is true in terrestrial (soil) ecosystems also.

CONCLUSION It is difficult to predict a universally valid community response to anthropogenic pollution. Bacterivores nematodes belonging to Order Rhabditida often originating from terrestrial habitat may be good indicators of organic enrichment (pollution). Those nematodes require less dissolved oxygen, have a high reproductive turn over exhibit, resistant stages and can withstand very high levels of pollution, both organic such as rotten material and faces in which they thrive) and inorganic.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author is grateful to Dr. Ramakrishna, Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata for the necessary permission and facilities provided. Also thanks to the authorities of the Rajasthan State Forest Department for their help and necessary arrangements at various places during the survey period.

REFERENCES Andrassy, I. 1992. A short census of free-living nematodes. Fundamental and Applied Nematology, 15: 187-188. Bird, A. F. and Bird, J. 1991. The structure of Nematodes. Academic Press, San Diego, California.

370

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Eyualem, A. Traunspurger, W. and Michiels, I.C. 2006. Dynamics of freshwater nematodes; abundance; biomass and diversity. Gerber, K. and Smart, G. C. Jr. 1987. Effect of Hirschmanniella caudacrena on the submerged aquatic plants Ceratophyllum demersum and Hydrilla verticillata. Journal of Nematology. 19: 447-453. Hugot, J.P., Bujard, P. and Morand, S. 2001. Biodiversity in helminth and nematodes as a field of study: An overview. Nematology, 3: 199-208. Khera, S. 1968. Nematodes from the banks of still and running water. V. Teratocephalus annulatus n.sp. (Family Teratocephalidae, Andrassy, 1958) with an amendation of the generic diagnosis. Indian Journal of Helminthology, 19: 97-102. Khera, S. 1969. Nematodes from the banks of still running waters. VI. Rhabditida from sewer. Journal of Helminthology, 43: 347-363. Khera, S. 1969. Nematodes from the banks of still running waters. IV. Description of a new subgenus of Rhabditis and new species from India (Subfamily Rhabditina). Journal of Zoological Society of India, (1968). 20: 38-41. Khera, S. 1971. Nematodes from the banks of still running waters. XI. Subfamily Rhabditinae. Indian Journal of Nematology, 1: 237-243. Khera, S. 1973. Nematodes from the banks of still running waters. XII. Order Araeolaimida. Proc. Zool. Soc. Calcutta, 25(1972): 49-58. Khera, S. 1975. On some nematodes belonging to the Orders Chromadorida and Enoplida from India. Rec. zool. Surv. India, 68(1970) : 273-286. Lambshead, P.J.D., Tietjen, J; Ferrero, T. and Jensen, P. 2000. Latitudinal diversity gradient in the deep sea with special reference to North Atlantic nematodes. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 194: 159-167. Lambshead, P.J.D.; Brown, C.J., Ferriro, T.J., Mitchell, N.J., Smith, C.R; Hawkins, L.E. and Tietjen, I. 2002. Latitudinal diversity patterns of deep-sea marine nematodes and organic fluxes; a test from the central equatorial Pacific. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 236: 129135. Platt, H.M. and Warwick, R.M. 1983. Free-living marine nematodes. Part-I. British Enoplids. Pictorial key to world genera and notes for identification of British species. Synopses of the British Fauna New Series, 28: 1-307. Platt, H.M. and Warwick, R.M. 1988. Free-living marine nematodes. Part 2. British Chromodorids. Pictorial Key to world genera and notes for identification of British species. Synopses of the British Fauna New Series, 38: 1-502. Procter, D.I.C. 1990. Global overview of the functional roles of soil-living nematodes in terrestrial communities and ecosystems. Journal of Nematology, 22: 1-7. Traunspurger, W. 1996. Distribution of benthic nematodes in the littoral of an Oligotrophic lake (Konigsee, National Park Berchtesgaden, FRG), Archives of Hydrobiology, 135: 393-412. Vanhove, S., Arntz, w. and Vincx, M. 1999. Comparative study of the nematode communities on the southeastern Weddell Sea Shelf and slope (Antarctica). Marine Ecology Progress Series, 181: 237-256. Warwick, R.M., Platt, H.M. and Somerfield, P.S. 1998. Free-living marine nematodes Part 3. Monohysterids. Pictorial Key to world genera and notes for the identification of British species. Synopses of the British Fauna New Series. 53: 1-296. Yeates, G. W., Bongers, T., De Goede, R. G. M., Freckman, D. W. and Georgieva, S. S. 1993. Feeding habits in soil nematode families and genera- an outline for soil ecologist. Journal of Nematology, 25: 315-331.

371

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

DOMINANCY OF BACTERIOPHAGOUS NEMATODES IN SANDY SOIL PADMA BOHRA* AND RAZIA SULTANA Desert Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Jhalamand, Pali Road, Jodhpur-342 001. e-mail: *[email protected] ABSTRACT: Biodiversity of our planet is incessantly threatened due to adverse humandevelopment policies that have resulted in wiping off some habitats and altering the others. Nematodes constitute one of the most numerous and spacious animal taxa of earth’s biodiversity, occurring in a wide spectrum of ecological habitats and demonstrating critical role in the decomposition of organic matter and mineralization of nutrients. Due to their high species richness, abundance, short generation time, pervasiveness and tolerance, they offer excellent biological tools to monitor changes in environment and can serve useful model systems to study interactions between biodiversity and ecosystem functions (Moens et al., 2004). Rhabditids nematodes are bacteriophagous in nature. The genera belonging to family Cephalobidae under the order Rhabditida were reported by the several scientists from sandy soil. In every sample that were collected from Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Shriganganagar, Hanumangarh reveals more than 50% genera of nematodes belong to the family Cephalobidae. The common genera observed from study area are Cephalobus, Eucephalobus, Acrobeles, Acrobeloides, Chiloplacus, Zeldia. KEY WORDS: Bacteriophagous Nematodes, Dominancy.

INTRODUCTION Human society is entirely dependent on variety of ecosystem services (Wall, 2004). Nematodes play a major role in component processes of most ecosystem services, such as the provision of food, fibre, clean water and air, pest and disease regulation. In soil food webs, nematodes are involved in the transformation of organic matter into minerals and organic nutrients which can be used by plants, as well as in influencing plant growth and crop productivity (Ingham et. al., 1985; Ferris et. al., 1998, 2004). Study was conducted in the western part of the state which includes 13 districts of Great Indian Thar Desert. Soil samples were collected from Jodhpur, Jalore, Bikaner, Barrmer, Jaisalmer, Churu, Jhunjhnu and other districts of Thar Desert.

MATERIALS AND METHODS Soil samples were processed by Cobb’s Decanting and Sieving technique modified by Bohra and Baqri (2004). Nematodes extracted were killed and fixed in hot 4% formalin and mounted in anhydrous glycerine.

RESULTS In all 131 species were identified belonging to 65 genera of 34 families of orders Tylenchida (34 spp.); Aphelenchida (1 sp.); Dorylaimida (28 spp.); Monochida (7 spp.); Monhysterida (7 spp.); Araeolaimida (11 spp.); Chromidorida (3 spp.) and Enoplida (12 spp.). Species identified are being listed below according to their systematic position.

Systematic Account Order Tylenchida Thorne, 1949 Family Tylenchidae Örley, 1880 Filenchus vulgaris (Brzeski, 1963) Lownsbery & Lownsbery, 1985 372

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Tylenchus madarpurensis* Sultan et al, 1991 Tylenchus neoandrassyi* Geraert & Raski, 1987 Family Hoplolaimidae Filipjev, 1934 (Wieser, 1953) Hoplolaimus indicus Sher, 1963 Helicotylenchus crenacauda Sher, 1966 Helicotylenchus dihystera (Cobb, 1893) Sher, 1961 Helicotylenchus dihysteroides Siddiqi, 1972 Family Rotylenchulidae Husain & Khan, 1967 (Husain, 1976) Rotylenchulus reniformis Linford & Oliveira, 1940 Family Telotylenchidae Siddiqi, 1960 Tylenchorhynchus mashhoodi Siddiqi & Bitylenchus goffarti (Sturhan, 1966) Jairajpuri, 1982 Order Aphelenchida Siddiqi, 1980 Family Aphelenchidae Fuchs, 1937 Aphelenchus avenae Bastian, 1865 Order Dorylaimida Pearse, 1942 Family Dorylaimidae de Man, 1876 Thornenema mauritianum (Williams, 1959) Baqri & Jairajpuri, 1969 Prothornenema capitatum Baqri & Bohra, 2003 Laimydorus serpentines* (Thorne & Swanger, 1936) Siddiqi, 1969 Family Aporcelaimidae Heyns, 1965 Torumanawa shinensis*** Bohra & Sultana, 2008 Family Qudsinematidae Jairajpuri, 1965 Ecumenicus monhystera (De Man, 1880) Thorne, 1974 Eudorylaimus chauhani (Baqri & Khera, 1975) Andrássy, 1986 Discolaimus major Thorne, 1939 Discolaimoides bulbiferus (Cobb, 1906) Heyns, 1963 Discolaimoides arcuicaudatus* (Fursteberg et Heyns, 1965) Das, Khan & Loof, 1969 Latocephalus lotus**Siddiqi, 2003 Latocephalus laetans* Siddiqi, 2003 Moshajia cultristyla Siddiqi, 1982 Moshajia idiofora Siddiqi, 1982 Family Nordiidae Jairajpuri & Siddiqi, 1964 Kochinema conicaudatum Baqri & Bohra, 2003 Family Carcharolaimidae Thorne, 1967 Carcharolaimus masoodi Jairajpuri, 1968 Neoactinolaimus rajasthanenesis*** Bohra & Padma, 2008 Family Longidoridae Thorne, 1935 Longidorus globulicauda* Dalmasso, 1969 Paralongidorus citri (Siddiqi, 1969) Siddiqi, Hooper & Khan, 1963 Xiphinema radicicola Goodey, 1963 Xiphinema basiri Siddiqi, 1959 Xiphinema insigne Loos, 1949 Family Belondiridae Thorne, 1939 Dorylaimellus (B.) discocephalus Siddiqi, 1964 Family Tylencholaimidae Filipjev, 1934 Tylencholaimus pusillus Loof and Jairajpuri, 1968 Tylencholaimus nanus* Thorne, 1939 Tylencholaimus notrus Jairajpuri & Ahmad, 1990 Family Leptonchidae Thorne, 1935 Leptonchus granulosus Cobb, 1920 Family Nygolaimidae Thorne, 1935 Nygolaimus anneckei Heyns, 1969 Nygolaimus harishi Ahmad & Jairajpuri, 1980 Order Mononchida Jairajpuri, 1969 373

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Family Mononchidae Chitwood, 1937 Mononchus aquaticus Coetzee, 1968 Family Mylonchulidae Jairajpuri, 1969 Mylonchulus amurus Khan & Jairajpuri, 1979 Mylonchulus hawaiiensis (Cassidy, 1931) Andrássy, 1958 Mylonchulus minor (Cobb, 1893) Andrássy, 1958 Mylonchulus lacustris (N.A. Cobb in M. V. Cobb, 1915) Andrássy, 1958 Family Bathyodontidae Clark, 1961 Bathyodontus cylindricus Fielding, 1950 Family Mononchulidae De Coninck, 1965 Oionchus obtusus Cobb, 1913 Order Triplonchida Cobb, 1920 Family Triplaonchidae Thorne, 1935 Paratrichodorus (A.) porosus (Allen, 1957) Siddiqi, 1974 Order Rhabditida Örley, 1880 (Chitwood, 1933) Family Cephalobidae Filipjev, 1934 Acrobeles*** sp.n. Acrobeles complexus* Thorne, 1925 Acrobeles cylindricus* Loof, 1964 Acrobeles dimorphus* Heyns & Hogewind, 1969 Acrobeles ensicaudatus Thorne & Allen, 1965 Acrobeles kotingotingus** Yeates, 1967 Acrobeles marianne (Andrássy, 1968) Andrássy, 1985 Acrobeles oasiensis Boström, 1985 Acrobeles sheasbyi Heyns & Hogewind, 1969 Acrobeles timmi Chaturvedi & Khera, 1979 Acrobeles welwitschiae* (Rashid, Heyns & Coomans, 1990) Shahina & De Ley, 1997 Acrobeloides enoplus Steiner, 1938 Acrobeloides tricornis (Thorne, 1925) Thorne, 1937 Acrobeloides tricornis* (Thorne, 1925) Thorne, 1937 Cephalobus bodenheimeri (Stainer, 1936) Andrássy, 1984 Cephalobus cubaensis* Steiner, 1935 Cephalobus litoralis (Akhtar, 1962) Andrássy, 1984 Cephalobus parvus Thorne, 1937 Cephalobus pinguimucronatus Andrássy, 1968 Cephalobus quadrilineatus Eroshenko, 1968 Cephalobus quinilineatus (Shavrov, 1968) Anderson & Hooper, 1970 Cervidellus serricephalus (Thorne, 1925) Thorne, 1937 Chiloplacus jodhpurensis Rathore & Nama, 1992 Chiloplacus kralli Bagaturija, 1973 Chiloplacus magnus Rashid & Heyns, 1990 Chiloplacus obtusus Baranovskaja & Haque, 1968 Chiloplacus quadricarinatus (Thorne, 1925) Thorne, 1937 Chiloplacus scelerovaginatus* Sumenkova & Razzhivln, 1968 Chiloplacus trilineatus Steiner, 1940 Eucephalobus oxyuroides* Steiner, 1936 Heterocephalobus bisimilis (Thorne, 1925) Andrássy, 1967 Stegellata georgica** Bagaturija, 1973 Zeldia acuta Allen & Noffsinger, 1972 Zeldia feria* Allan & Noffsinger, 1972 Zeldia minor *Allen & Noffsinger, 1972 Zeldia odontocephala* Steiner, 1938 Zeldia punctata (Thorne, 1925) Thorne, 1937 Family Panagrolaimidae Thorne, 1937 Procephalobus halophilus (Meyl, 1954) Andrássy, 1984 374

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Procephalobus brunettiae* Marinari, 1957 Panagrolaimus chaleographi Fuchs, 1930 Panagrolaimus paradoxus (Kreis, 1963) Andrássy, 1984 Panagrolaimus dendroctoni (Fuchs, 1932) Rühm, 1956 Panagrolaimus multidentatus (Ivanova, 1958) Goodey, 1963 Panagrolaimus hygrophilus Bassen, 1940 Panagrolaimus obesus Thorne, 1937 Tricephalobus steineri* (Andrássy, 1952) Rühm, 1956 Family Rhabditidae Örley, 1880 Bursilia***sp.n. Protorhabditis tristis** (Hirschmann, 1952) Dougherty, 1955 Mesorhabditis mitoki (Sudhaus, 1978) Andrássy, 1983 Mesorhabditis anisomorpha (Sudhaus, 1978) Andrássy, 1983 Cruznema*** sp.n. Teratorhabditis andrassyi Tahseen & Jairajpuri, 1988 Distolabrellus veechi** Anderson, 1983 Diploscapter cylindricus* Rahm, 1929 Diploscapter coronatus* (Cobb, 1893) Cobb, 1913 Acrobeles complexus* Thorne, 1925 Acrobeles cylindricus* Loof, 1964 Acrobeles dimorphus* Heyns & Hogewind, 1969 Acrobeles ensicaudatus Thorne & Allen, 1965 Acrobeles kotingotingus** Yeates, 1967 Acrobeles marianne (Andrássy, 1968) Andrássy, 1985 Acrobeles oasiensis Boström, 1985 Acrobeles sheasbyi Heyns & Hogewind, 1969 Acrobeles timmi Chaturvedi & Khera, 1979 Acrobeles welwitschiae* (Rashid, Heyns & Coomans, 1990) Shahina & De Ley, 1997 Acrobeloides enoplus Steiner, 1938 Acrobeloides tricornis (Thorne, 1925) Thorne, 1937 Acrobeloides tricornis* (Thorne, 1925) Thorne, 1937 Cephalobus bodenheimeri (Stainer, 1936) Andrássy, 1984 Cephalobus cubaensis* Steiner, 1935 Cephalobus litoralis (Akhtar, 1962) Andrássy, 1984 Cephalobus parvus Thorne, 1937 Cephalobus pinguimucronatus Andrássy, 1968 Cephalobus quadrilineatus Eroshenko, 1968 Cephalobus quinilineatus (Shavrov, 1968) Anderson & Hooper, 1970 Cervidellus serricephalus (Thorne, 1925) Thorne, 1937 Chiloplacus jodhpurensis Rathore & Nama, 1992 Chiloplacus kralli Bagaturija, 1973 Chiloplacus magnus Rashid & Heyns, 1990 Chiloplacus obtusus Baranovskaja & Haque, 1968 Chiloplacus quadricarinatus (Thorne, 1925) Thorne, 1937 Chiloplacus scelerovaginatus* Sumenkova & Razzhivln, 1968 Chiloplacus trilineatus Steiner, 1940 Eucephalobus oxyuroides* Steiner, 1936 Heterocephalobus bisimilis (Thorne, 1925) Andrássy, 1967 Stegellata georgica** Bagaturija, 1973 Zeldia acuta Allen & Noffsinger, 1972 Zeldia feria* Allan & Noffsinger, 1972 Zeldia minor *Allen & Noffsinger, 1972 Zeldia odontocephala* Steiner, 1938 Zeldia punctata (Thorne, 1925) Thorne, 1937 Family Panagrolaimidae Thorne, 1937 375

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Procephalobus halophilus (Meyl, 1954) Andrássy, 1984 Procephalobus brunettiae* Marinari, 1957 Panagrolaimus chaleographi Fuchs, 1930 Panagrolaimus paradoxus (Kreis, 1963) Andrássy, 1984 Panagrolaimus dendroctoni (Fuchs, 1932) Rühm, 1956 Panagrolaimus multidentatus (Ivanova, 1958) Goodey, 1963 Panagrolaimus hygrophilus Bassen, 1940 Panagrolaimus obesus Thorne, 1937 Tricephalobus steineri* (Andrássy, 1952) Rühm, 1956 Family Rhabditidae Örley, 1880 Family Rhabditidae Örley, 1880 Bursilia***sp.n. Protorhabditis tristis** (Hirschmann, 1952) Dougherty, 1955 Mesorhabditis mitoki (Sudhaus, 1978) Andrássy, 1983 Mesorhabditis anisomorpha (Sudhaus, 1978) Andrássy, 1983 Cruznema*** sp.n. Teratorhabditis andrassyi Tahseen & Jairajpuri, 1988 Distolabrellus veechi** Anderson, 1983 Diploscapter cylindricus* Rahm, 1929 Diploscapter coronatus* (Cobb, 1893) Cobb, 1913 Family Diplogastridae Micoletzky, 1922 Butlerius okai Rahm, 1938 Family Neodiplogastridae Paramonov, 1952 Mononchoides longicaudatus (Khera, 1965) Andrássy, 1984 Order Monhysterida Schuurmans Stekhoven & De Coninck, 1933 Family Monhysteridae de Man, 1876 Monhystera Africana* Andrássy, 1964 Order Araeolaimida De Coninck & Schuurmans Stekhoven, 1933 Family Plectidae Örley, 1880 Plectus parvus* Bastian, 1865 Plectus minimus* Cobb, 1893 Family Cylindrolaimidae Micoletzky, 1922 Cylindrolaimus monhystera Schneider, 1937 Cylindrolaimus obtusus Cobb, 1916 Family Leptolaimidae Örley, 1880 Chronogaster brasiliensis* Meyl, 1957 Chronogaster daoi Loof, 1964 Chronogaster typica* (De Man, 1921) De Coninck, 1935 Family Rhabdolaimidae Chitwood, 1951 Rhabdolaimus terristris** De Man, 1880 Rhabdolaimus aquaticus* De Man, 1880 Rhabdolaimus brachyuris Meyl, 1954 Rhabdolaimus*** sp.n. Order Chromadorida Chitwood, 1933 Family Cyatholaimidae Filipjev, 1918 Achromadora micoletzkyi* (Stefanski, 1915) Van Der Linde, 1938 Achromadora ruricola (De Man, 1880) Micoletzky, 1925 Achromadora*** sp.n. Order Enoplida Baired, 1853 (Chitwood, 1933) Family Prismatolaimidae Micoletzky, 1922 Prismatolaimus parvus Milne, 1963 Prismatolaimus leptolaimus Prismatolaimu sp.n. Family Tripylidae Örley, 1880 Trichistoma pellucidum** 376

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Trichistoma sp.n. Tripylina sp.n. Tobrilia*** sp.n. Tobrilus longus (Leidy, 1852) Andrássy, 1959 Tobrilus stefanskii* Micoletzky, 1922 Tobrilus paludicola (Micoletzky, 1925) Andrássy, 1959 Family Ironidae de Man, 1876 Ironus longicaudatus de Man, 1884 Ironus tenuicaudatus* de Man, 1876

DISCUSSION It is evident from result that bacteriophagous nematodes under order Rhabitida of family Cephalobinae dominate over other group of nematodes. The bacterial- feeding soil nematodes may excrete material assimilated, but in excess of their needs in forms that are available to other organisms. A familier example of mineralization of digested (i. e. simplified) organic molecules is the participation of most organisms in carbon cycle. In liberating energy from ingested materials, nematodes have been calculated to release, across the cuticle, about 40% of the ingested carbon in the form of CO2 (Klekowski et al., 1972; Ferris et al., 1995). The CO2 returns to the atmosphere and is available to plants to be once again fixed into complex molecules through the process of photosynthesis. But, the ingested molecules from which the respired carbon is derived may also contain other elements in excess of the needs of the nematodes for maintenance, growth and reproduction. Such excess minerals are presumably excreted in mineral form rather than defaected. The best studied example is the excretion of excess nitrogen in the form of ammonium, which is then available for uptake by plants or for bacterial transformation to either nitrates or to atmospheric nitrogen.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author is grateful to Dr. Ramakrishna, Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata for the necessary permission and facilities provided. Also thanks to the authorities of the Rajasthan State Forest Department for their help and necessary arrangements at various places during the survey period.

REFERENCES Wall, D. H. 2004. Sustaing Biodiversity and Ecosystem Series in Soils and Sediments. Island Press, Washington. Ingham, R. E., Trofymow, J. A., Ingham, E. R. and Coleman, D. C. 1985. Interaction of bacteria, fungi and their nematode grazersin nutrient cycling and plant growth. Ecological Monographs, 55: 119-140. Ferris, H., Venette, R. C., Van der Meulen, H. R. and Lau, S. S. 1998. Nitrogen mineralization by bacterial- feeding nematodes: Verification and measurements. Plant and Soil, 203: 159171. Ferris, H., Venette, R. C., and Scow, K. M. 2004. Soil management to enhance bacteriovore and fungivore nematode populations and their nitrogen mineralization function. Applied Soil Ecology, 24: 19-35. Ferris, H., Lau, S. and Venette, R. 1995. Population energetic of bacterial- feeding nematodes; respiration and metabolic rates based on Carbon dioxide production. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 27: 319-330. Klekowski, R. Z., Wasilewska, L. and Paplinska, E. 1972. Oxygen consumption of soil- inhabiting nematodes. Nematologica, 18: 391-403.

377

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

COMMUNITY ANALYSIS OF PHYTONEMATODES ASSOCIATED WITH VARIOUS CROPS IN JODHPUR, RAJASTHAN PUKHRAJ KADELA AND NARESH VYAS* Zoological Survey of India, Desert Regional Center, Jhalamand, Pali Road, Jodhpur-342 005. *Department of Zoology, Jai Narayan Vyas University, Jodhpur- 342 001. e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: The present study is an effort to trace out the community study, population dynamics and effect of different ecological factors upon the nematode population. Stunt nematode (Tylenchorhynchus) was observed in high number in 44 out of 66 locations surveyed. This nematodes population were highest in vegetable crops followed by pulse and cereal crops. Heavy infected fields showed patchy and small brownish yellow lesions on the pegs, pods and stalks. Plant remains stunted, chlorosis of leaves and root system was found poorly developed. In order Tylenchida among all genera, the Tylenchorhynchus was most frequent with highest absolute frequeny (AF) and relative fequency (RF) viz., 72.73% and 8.89% respectively. The other frequent genera included Helicotylenchus (AF=48.49%, RF=5.93%), Meloidogyne (AF=31.82%, RF=3.89%), Hoplolaimus (AF=30.31%, RF=3.71%), Pratylenchus (AF=19.70%, RF=2.40%), Rest all the genera in the order Tylenchida were less frequent in the population. KEY WORDS: Phytonematodes, Crops, Community analysis.

INTRODUCTION Rajasthan is the land of diversity which persists all sorts of ecological characteristics. A variety of species of invertebrates and vertebrates exists in different ecological niches of the state. The Nematodes are thread like, round worm. This group is highly diversified, among the lower invertebrates, perhaps the most numerous animals on the earth. Most of the Plant-parasitic nematode or phytophagous nematods belong to the order Tylenchida, Dorylaimida and Triplonchida. The phytophagous nematodes are generally found in soil and roots of plants. The Tylenchida are the largest and economically the most important group of phytophagous or plantparasitic nematodes several Tylenchida, particularly the families Pratylenchidae, Meloidogynidae and Heteroderidae, have great economic importance as parasites of agricultural crops Gujarat and Rajasthan have been done by Bohra & Baqri (2005), and Bohra et al. (2005). Most of the Tylenchida are ectoparasites that live in soil and feed on roots. Other has developed a closer association with the roots by becoming migratory or sedentary endoparasites. Nematodes move slowly in soil or plant tissue. Rajasthan has got a specific type of ecological conditions and this gives more emphasis on the study on the nematode study in this area. The present study is an effort to trace out the community study, population dynamics and effect of different ecological factors upon the nematode population.

MATERIALS AND METHODS To study the ecology of nematodes in association with environment and climatic factors frequent surveys were conducted in proposed areas in accordance with the season and weather conditions survey of around 15 days were conducted in different parts of Jodhpur district to collect the soil samples from various crops. To study the different tropic groups of nematodes in various crops. Soil samples were processed in laboratory by Cobb’s (1918), modified sieving and decantation technique. The population of nematodes in each sample was counted in counting dish and using stereoscopic

378

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert binocular and mean was taken for community analysis determining absolute frequency (AF), relative density (RD), prominence value (PV) and relative prominence value (Norton 1978).

Parameters used in quantitative estimation Calculations were done according to Norton (1978) as follows Frequency: That is how often a species occurs among samples absolute frequency is expressed as percentage. Absolute frequency: No. of samples containing a species X 100 No. of samples Relative frequency: frequency of species X100 Sum frequency of all species Density: Density is a quantities measure of entities in a sample or a mean in the group of Sample per unit of soil. Relative density: No. of individuals of a species X 100 Total of all individuals of a sample Prominence value: Beal’s combined the density and frequency about population and suggested this formula for calculating prominence value. PV: Density/Frequency

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The plant parasitic nematodes are very important because they attack all types of plants and cause 12-15% loss in agricultural and horticultural Crops. The present study is an effort to trace out the community study (Ali et al. (2006) and Baird & Bernard (1984), population dynamics and effect of different ecological factors upon the nematode population. In Jodhpur drainage system is not so developed, no flowing streams are there in the district. Owing to poor rainfall surface water resource is not adequate whereas ground water is often deep and brakish. Mostly rainfed crops like bajra, kharif pulses, guar etc. are own during the kharif season. Rabi crops like wheat, and mustard are grown only where irrigation water is available. In present study maximum samples were collected from vegetable and pulse crops. Maximum root-knot nematodes (Meleoidogyne) could be seen from Tomato and Brinjal crop, similar studies has been done by Kamra et al. (2001). The rhizosphere of all groups of vegetable crops supported very high density of saprozoic nematodes in all the localities under survey and can be considered as the prominent in the community. The saprozoic nematodes includes Dorylaimids. Similar studies were done by Bhatt & Rohds (1970), Mukhopadhyay & Dasgupta, (1983), Mukhopadhyay & Roy, (2006) and Ali et al. (2008). I n pr e s ent w or k e c ol o gi ca l st u di e s w er e c o n d u ct e d f or t h e pl ant p ar a sit ic ne m at o de s or Phyt o ne m at o de s of or der Ty le nc hi d a an d D or yl ai mi d a in an d ar o un d J o d h p u r . O ut of t w o or der s i.e ., D or y la im i da an d T yl en chi d a, t ot al t hir t y o ne ( Ta bl e- 1) g en er a w er e i d ent if ie d r e pr e se nt in g f if t ee n g en er a o f Ph yt on em at o d es ( Lo n g id or u s, P ar al on g i do r us, X ip h i n em a, T r ic h od or u s, Pr a tyl e nc h u s, Boleodorus, Tylenchorynchus, Telotylenchus, Hoplolaimus, Helicotylenchus, Rotylenchulus, Heterodera, Meloidogyne, Belondira and Tylenchulus). The frequency of trophic groups in the total samples collected from the various crops fields of Jodhpur and around areas was in descending order i.e. predators (26%), omnivores (22%), fungivores (20%) and herbivores (32%). Among various trophic groups, the predators and omnivorous were found to be most frequent followed by remaining trophic groups. The quantitative studies of soil Nematodes have been done by Yadav et al. (1969), Spaull (1973), Saha, et al. (2001), Kadela (2005), Rathour et al. (2006), Bohra (2006), and Vyas et al. (2008). In order Tylenchida among all genera, the Tylenchorhynchus was most frequent with highest Absolute Frequeny (AF) and Relative Frequency (RF) viz., 72.73% and 8.89% respectively. The other frequent genera included Helicotylenchus (AF=48.49%,RF=5.93%), Meloidogyne (AF=31.82%,RF=3.89%), Hoplolaimus (AF=30.31%, F=3.71%), Pratylenchus (AF=19.70%, RF=2.40%), Telotylenchus (AF=16.67%, RF=2.04%), Rest all 379

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert the genera in the order Tylenchida were less frequent in the population. Stunt nematode (Tylenchorhynchus) was mostly found in vegetable and pulse crops. This nematode population was observed in high number in 44 out of 66 locations surveyed. Population was highest in vegetable crops followed by pulse and Cereal crops. Heavy infected fields showed patchy and small brownish yellow lesions on the pegs, pods and stalks. Plant remain stunded, chlorosis of leaves and root system was found poorly developed. In terms of genric diversity of nematodes. Four trophic groups of nematodes could be extracted from in and around Jodhpur and a total thirty one genera were identified representing fifteen genera of herbivorus (Longidorus, Paralongidorus, Xiphinema, Trichodorus, Pratylenchus, Boleodorus, Tylenchorynchus, Telotylenchus, Hoplolaimus, Helicotylenchus, Rotylenchulus, Heterodera, Meloidogyne, Belondira and Tylenchulus). Tylenchorhynchus (Stunt nematodes) occurred in 44 out of 66 locations being high dominant number in Tomato field (801/100gm. Soil). It was also present in high numbers in Bhindi (508), Moth (428), Bajra (401), Janwar (400), Rose (318), Wheat (318) and Richka grass (310). In community analysis of the nematodes frequency of trophic groups in the total samples collected from the agriculture fields in and around Jodhpur as herbivores (32%) predators (26%), omnivores (22%), and fungivores (20%). Out of all trophic groups, the Predators and Omnivorous were found to be most frequent followed by remaining trophic groups. In present study the field where crops were grown in a rotation, more nematode population could be find around the new emerging roots. More nematodes could be found from rainfed agriculture fields. Distribution and spreading of roots is also correlated with the distribution of the nematodes in soil. Table 1. Community Analysis of Phytonematodes associated with various crops in Jodhpur, Rajasthan Nematodes

AF%

RF%

AD

RD%

PV

RPV

(No. of samples = 66, size of sample = 100 gm.) Phytonemtodes : Longidorus Paralongidorus Xiphenema Belondira Trichodorus Boleodorus Tylenchorynchus Telotylenchus Pratylenchus Hoplolaimus Helicotylenchus Rotylenchulus Heterodera Meloidogyne Tylenchulus

13.64 19.70 24.25 7.58 10.61 6.07 72.73 16.67 19.70 30.31 48.49 6.07 12.13 31.82 6.07

1.67 2.40 2.97 0.93 1.30 0.75 8.89 2.04 2.40 3.71 5.93 0.75 1.49 3.89 0.75

2.82 7.04 9.25 1.05 2.70 1.44 113.64 7.04 7.41 14.00 40.81 0.96 4.14 52.61 5.79

0.54 1.33 1.75 0.20 0.51 0.28 21.39 1.33 1.40 2.64 7.68 0.19 0.78 9.90 1.09

10.42 31.25 45.56 2.90 2.70 3.55 969.15 28.75 32.89 77.08 284.18 2.37 14.42 296.77 14.27

0.35 1.02 1.49 0.09 0.09 0.12 31.63 0.94 1.08 2.52 9.28 0.08 0.48 9.69 0.47

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors are thankful to the Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata and Dr. Padma Bohra, Officer-in-Charge, ZSI, Desert Regional Centre, Jodhpur for providing research facilities and to the Ministry of Enviornment and Forest, New Delhi, AICOPTAX project for financial assistance.

REFERENCES Ali, S. S and Sharma, S. B. (2002). Distribution and importance of plant-parasitic nematodes associated with the Chickpea in Rajasthan state. Indian Journal of Pulses Research. 15: 57-65. Ali, S. S, Parvez, R., Shaheen, A. and Ahmad, R. (2006). Community analysis of plant-parasitic nematodes associated with Pulse Crops in Hamirpua district (Uttat Pardesh). 36(1): 99102. 380

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Anonymous (1971). “Estimated crop losses due to Plant-parasitic nematodes in the United States.” Spec. publ. Soc. Nematol. U.S.A., No. 1: 7pp. Baird, S. M. & Bernard, E. C. (1984). Nematode population and community dynamics in soybeanwheat cropping and tillage regimes. Journal of Nematology. 16: 379-386. Baqri & Bohra (2005). Study on plant and soil nematodes associated with crops of economic importance in Gujarat. Zoological Survey of India occasional paper no. 240. Bhatt, B. D. and Rohds. R. A. (1970). The influence of the environmental factors on the respiration of plant parasitic nematodes. J. Nematol. 2: 227-225. Bohra, P. and Baqri, Q. H. (2005). Plant and Soil nematodes from Ranthambhore National Park Rajasthan, India. Zoos’ print Journal. 21(1): 2126. Bohra, P., Baqri, Q. H. and Dwivedi, A. A. (2005). Diversity of Phytophagous nematodes associated with economically important crops in Gujrat, India. Indian J. of Nematology. 35: 130-133. Bohra, P. (2006). Nematodes from Rajasthan (India) qualitative and quantitative studies of plant and soil inhabiting nematodes associated with cereal crops in Alwar district. 18th National Congress of Parasitology of Advances in Parasitology Research of Tropical Diseases. November 22-24, 2006 organised by Indian Institute of Chemical Biology and Indian Society of Parasitology. Bohra, P. and Baqri, Q. H. (2008). Addition to the fauna of plant and soil nematodes of Gujarat, india. Rec. zool. Surv. India. 108(4): 5-15. Bohra, P. (2008). Qualitative and quantitative studies of plant and soil inhabiting nematodes associated with crops of economic importance in Rajasthan. Rec. Zool. Surv., India, Occasional paper. 278: 1-80. Cobb, N. A. (1918). Estimating the nema population of the soil. U. S. Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Technical Circular of US Department of Agriculture. 1: 48p. Geraert, E. (1967). Results of a study on the oecology of plant-parasitic and free-living soil nematodes. Annales de la Societé Royale Zoologique et Malacologique de Belggique. 97: 5964. Kadela, P. (2005). Composition of Nematodes fauna in flood water village Kawas, Barmer, Rajasthan. Journal of Eco-Physiology. 8: 159-160. Kamra, A., Pankaj, Sharma, H. K. and Mishra, S. D (2001) Community analysis of plan-parasitinematodes in Yamuna Khadar region of Delhi. Indian Journal of Nematology. 31: 72-74. Mukherjee, B. & Dasgupta, M. K. (1983). Community analysis of nematodes associated with Banana plantation in the Hooghly District, West-Bengal, India. Nematologia Mediterranea. 12: 43-48. Mukherjee, B and Dasgupta. M.K. (1983). Community analysis of Nematodes associated with Banana plantations in the Hooghly District, West Bengal, India. Nematologica Mediterranea. 11: 43-48. Mukherjee, B., R. C. Nath and Dasgupta. M. K. (2000). Plant parasitic nematode communities in rubber nurseries and plantation in Tripura. Indian Journal of Nematology. 30: 170-174. Mukhopadhyay, A. K. and Roy K. (2006). Community analysis of major plant-parasitic nematodes associated with vegetable crops in Estern and Northeastern India. International Jounal of Nematology. 16(2): 194-199. Norton, D. C. (1978). Ecology of plant parasitic nematodes. A Wiley Interscience Publication. John Wiley & Sons. New Yourk. p. 68. Rathour, K. S., Pandey, J. and Ganguly, S. (2006). Community structure of plant Parasitic Nematodos in Champawat District of Uttatanchal, India. Indian J.Nematol. 36: 89-93. Saha, M., Lal, M. and Singh, M. (2001). Nematode Communities associated withLitchiat Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pardesh, India. Indian J. Nematol. 31(1):154-155. Spaull, V. W. (1973). Qualitative and Quantitative distribution of soil nematodes of Signy Island, South Orkney Islands. Br. Antarct. Surv. Bull., Nos. 33&34: 177-184. Vyas, N., Kadela, P., Nama, P. and Deepika, Y. (2008). Community analysis of plant-parasitic nematodes in and around IGNP Region of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. J. Exp. Zool India. 11(2): 415-417. Yeates, G. W. (1979). Soil nematodes in Terrestrial Ecosystems Journal of nematology. 11: 3. Yadav, B.S. Verma, A.C., Mathur, V. N. and Verma, M. K. (1969). Nematode associated with cereals and vegetables grown in Rajasthan. All India Nematology Symposium. IARI, New Delhi, pp. 22.

381

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert

ECOLOGICAL STUDY OF SOIL NEMATODES ASSOCIATED WITH FOREST AREA UDAIPUR, RAJASTHAN PUKHRAJ KADELA Desert Regional Center, Zoological Survey of India, Jhalamand, Pali Road, Jodhpur-342 005. e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: Soil-inhabiting nematodes can also be classified according to their feeding habits. This classification is particularly useful to ecologists in understanding the positions of nematodes in soil food webs. Analysis of soil samples collected from moist soil forest areas reveals the presence of 45 genera under 22 families of 8 orders. Trophic groups were studied that show herbivores (22%); Bacterivores (25%); Fungivores (03%); Omniovores (23%) and predator (27%). Amongst various trophic groups, the predator and Bacterivores were found to be most frequent followed by remaining trophic groups. KEY WORDS: Soil Nematodes, ecological study, Udaipur, Rajasthan.

INTRODUCTION Soil-inhabiting nematodes can also be classified according to their feeding habits. This classification is particularly useful to ecologists in understanding the positions of nematodes in soil food webs (Ruess, 2003). Several important feeding groups of nematodes commonly occur in moist soil (Banage, 1963) Zullini, and Pagani, (1989). The composition of the soil nematode community depends on the vegetation present, as well as on soil type, season, soil moisture level, amount of soil organic matter, and many other factors. Because they are responsive to so many different factors, it is believed that nematodes may be useful bioindicators of the condition of the soil environment. To study the detailed ecology of nematodes in association with environment and climatic factors frequent surveys were conducted in proposed areas in accordance with the season and weather conditions and its around areas (Norton,1978). Analysis of soil samples collected from moist soil forest areas reveals the presence of 45 genera under 22 families of 8 orders. Trophic groups were studied that show herbivores (22%); Bacterivores (25%); Fungivores (03%); Omniovores (23%) and predator (27%). Amongst various trophic groups, the predator and Bacterivores were found to be most frequent followed by remaining trophic groups.

MATERIALS AND METHODS To study the ecology of nematodes in association with environment and climatic factors. Nematodes were extracted from the samples by modified Cobb’s sieving and decantation techniaue. Isolated nematodes were identified up to generic level and population count was made by using counting dish to get tropic diversity. Later nematodes were kept for dehydration to do taxonomic study up to generic level.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION To study the detailed ecology of nematodes in association with environment and climatic factors frequent surveys were conducted in proposed areas in accordance with the season and weather conditions and its around areas (Yeates, (2003). To study the different tropic groups of nematodes in both type of forest soil. Forty five genera and five nematodes tropic groupswere identified according to their morphological structure and feeding habitsof herbivores nematodes, Bacterivores, Fungivores, Omniovores and predator. To study the diversity of soil nematodes in forest areas. Present study is also an effort to trace out the nnematodes associated with forest area has been done by Baniyamuddine et al. (2007), Boag & Yeates (1998) , Johnson et al. (1973) and Siddiqui (1983). A total Fourty five genera were identified from forest soil, listed at 45 genera. This classification is particularly useful to ecologists in understanding the positions of nematodes 382

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert in soil food webs. Analysis of soil samples collected from moist soil forest areas reveals the presence of 45 genera under 22 families of 8 orders. Trophic groups were studied that show herbivores (22%); Bacterivores (25%); Fungivores (03%); Omniovores (23%) and predator (27%). The mostly predatory nematodes are also soil inhabiting and economically important because they feed on bacteria, fungi, micro-arthropods and other nematodes. They generally are considered more important because some of them can be used as agent in the biological control of plantparasitic nematodes (Rama & Dasgupta 1998). Amongst various trophic groups, the predator and bacterivores were found to be most frequent followed by remaining trophic groups and some other factors may also be responsible for the densities of nematode population among these are fecundity, frtility, duration of life cycle longevity and substrate availability (Norton, 1978). Plant-parasitic Nematodes or Herbivores: Hoplolaimus Daday, 1905 Helicotylenchus Steiner, 1945 Tylechorhynchus Cobb, 1913 Pratylenchus Filipjev, 1936 Hemicriconemoides Chitwood & Birchfield, 1957 Trichodorus Cobb, 1913 Longidorus Micoletzky, 1922 Paralongodorus Siddiqi, Hooper and Khan, 1963 Xiphenema Cobb, 1913 Bacterivores Nematodes: Chromogaster Cobb, 1913 Mesorhabdities Osche, 1952 (Dougherty, 1953) Acrobeles Linstow, 1877 Diplogaster Schultzein Carus, 1857 Acrobeloides Cobb, 1924 Chiloplacus Hexalineatus Alr & Josur, 1969 Zeldia Thorne, 1937 Prismatolaimus Deman, 1880 Plactus Bastian, 1865 Cylendrolaimus Deman, 1880 Predator Nematodes: Tobrilus Andrassy, 1959 Butleirius Goodey, 1929 Mylonchulus Cobb, 1916 Mononchus Bastian, 1865 Ironus Bastian, 1865 Triphyla Bastian, 1865 Eutobrillus Tsalolikhin, 1981 Actinolaimus Cobb, 1913 Nygolaimus Cobb, 1913 Discolaimus Cobb, 1913 Discolaimoides Heyns, 1963

383

Proceedings: Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity and Challenges in Thar Desert Omnivorus nematodes: Dorylaimus Dujardin,1845 Mesodorylaimus Andrassy, 1959 Eudorylaimus Andrassy, 1959 Kochinema Heyns, 1963 Ecumenicus Thorne, 1974 Dorylaimellus Cobb, 1913 Laimydorus Siddiqi, 1969 Aporcelaimus Thornen & Swanger, 1936 Poronemella Siddiqi, 1969 Fungivorus Nematodes: Leptonchus Cobb, 1920

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author is thankful to the Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata and Dr. Padma Bohra, Officer-in-Charge, ZSI, Desert Regional Centre, Jodhpur for providing research facilities and to the Ministry of Enviornment and Forest, New Delhi, AICOPTAX project for financial assistance.

REFERENCES Banage, W. B. (1963). The ecological importance of free living soil nematodes with special reference to those of masorland soil. J. Animal Ecol. 32: 133-140. Baniyamuddin, M., Tomar, V. V. and Ahmad, W. (2007). Functional Diversity of Soil inhabiting nematodes in natural forests of Arunachal Pardesh, India. Nematol. Medit. 35: 109-121. Boag, B. and Yeates, G. W. (1998). Soil nematode biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems. Biodiversity and Conservation. 7: 617-630. Johnson, S. R., Ferris, V. R. and Ferris, J. M. (1972). Nematode community structure in forest woodlots. 1. Relationships based on similarity coefficients of nematode species. Journal of Nematology. 4: 175-183. Johnson, S. R., Ferris, J. M. and Ferris, V. R. (1973). Nematode community structure of forest woodlots II. Ordination of nematode communities. Journal of Nematology. 5:95-107. Norton, D. C. (1978). Ecology of plant parasitic nematodes. A Wiley Interscience Publication. John Wiley & Sons. New Yourk. p. 68. Rama, K. and Dasgupta, M. K. (1998). Population Ecology and community structure of plantParasitic nematodes associated with ginger in West Bengal. Indian J. Nematol. 28(1): 1014. Ruess, L. (2003). Nematode soil faunal analysis of decomposition pathways in different ecosystems. Nematology. 5: 179-181. Sultana, R., Bohra, P. and Kadela, P. (2008). Significance of nematode fauna in aquatic ecosystem. 11th International Conference on Wetland Systems for Water Pollution Control. pp.1029-1031. Siddiqi, M. R. (1983). Phylogenetic relationships of the soil nematode orders Dorylaimida, Mononchida, Triplonchida and Alaimida, with a revised classification of the subclass Enoplida. Pak. J. Nematol. 1: 79-110. Yeates, G. W. (2003). Nematodes as soil indicators: functional and biodiversity aspects. Biology and Fertility of Soils. 37: 199-210. Zullini, A. and Pagani, M. (1989). The Ecological meaning of relative egg size in soil and Freshwater nematodes. Nematologica. 35: 90-96.

384