editor’s musings -...

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Editor’s musings

WELCOME

Firstly, I welcome you all to the first issue of Puthumazha(The first rain), a quarterly magazine published by thenature club of Central University of Kerala that is function-ing from the Department of Animal Science.

The first rain is always special to most of us. It isindeed special to almost all the creatures on the earth. Toname few, orchids are waiting for the first rain to initiateflowering, many insects and other terrestrial invertebratesare waiting for it to conclude their "seasonal sleep" ordormancy, migratory birds wait for it to prepare for a returnflight to their winter home. These days it is not infrequent inour nation that the communities of different castes andreligion worship the lord of rain in one way or other for atimely normal rain! The Indian Meteorological Departmentforecasted a normal rainfall for India in 2013 with asignificant deficit rainfall in Kerala. But, against theprediction, we have got a more than normal rainfall thisyear!

At certain point of time, I was thinking who isreally waiting for the first rain. Being an agriculturally-oriented country, certainly, the farming sector and thefarmers of India are in need of rain. But, now we learnt tocultivate crops without rain or irrigated water with droughttolerant cultivars. We developed seeds and cultivars that cangrow in silt and flood water! Behind every modern technol-ogy there is a good mission, which is always to overcomebiotic an abiotic stress that we experience today or that weforesee in recent future. But, unfortunately, we startedapplying these technologies upon our whims and fancies.Imagine if tea is growing in the outskirts of Ernakulam cityat an altitude of 20 m above sea level! What is wrong in it?We have cultivars of tea that can grow in low elevations,provided the soil is acidic! But, we have to replace thecenturies old lowland rain-fed rice fields in that region.Where will all those creatures that depended the wetlands goif rice is not cultivated there? They may either get extinct orflourish to become pests of other existing crops or for thesubstitute crops! I think we have challenged almost all thenatural processes and functions through our moderntechnology. We thought all our traditional knowledge can be

replaced by the modern techniques. We started disrespectingthe nature. The erratic rainfall and destabilized climatemight have warned most of us that we should not takeeverything on the earth granted for misuse or abuse. Thismonsoon brought cheers to many of us. But, we also readthat many cash crops have been damaged and agriculturistsare trying to get the compensation. One example is theginger and banana cultivation. They are now growing in ourold rain-fed rice fields. Our ginger and banana farmerfriends would have thought that the normal rain would notcome back!

Through this magazine, it is aimed to publish avariety of the write-ups related to nature and its processescontributed by our students and staff members that includethe alumni. Due to the time constraints and some practicaldifficulties to reach all of you, this issue is prepared withsome solicited articles only. But, a proper system is now inplace that allows all of you to submit your write-ups andphotographs. A call for articles is included in this issue ofPuthumazha that gives you an outline and scope of thismagazine. Since, it is being published from the Departmentof Animal Science, the magazine will also function as aninterface to highlight the achievements of the present andpast members of the community of the department. In thisvery first issue of the Puthumazha, two traditional culturalforest types of the southern Western Ghats are highlighted,the soppinabetta forests and the sacred groves. Dr. TatjanaGood, one of our former guest faculty from Australia writesin the guest column. Like the recent superb monsoon that wehave experienced and enjoyed, I hope you all would belonging for every upcoming issues of Puthumazha. We onthis side of fence would try our level best to publish thesubsequent issues of Puthumazha in time. I hope thediversity of write-ups in this edition will keep you enter-tained and informed. I look forward to your comments andsuggestions that can improve the magazine. I also take thisopportunity to thank the Hon. Vice Chancellor, the Registrar,the Finance Officer and the Deputy Registrar (Acad/Admin)for their support. Happy reading!

Palatty Allesh Sinu/ Editor

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GUEST COLUMN

Greetings all

It is a great pleasure to beinvited to write the guest columnfor CUK’s Nature Club magazine.It is always a daunting task to get anew project off the ground and myheartiest congratulations to Dr.Sinu and his colleagues for doingso.

I had the opportunity ofspending a semester at CUK,Riverside Campus in Nileshwar in2012 through a Fulbright NehruVisiting Lecturer Fellowship.During this time I gained somevaluable insight into the enormouspotential faculty and students ofCUK have to promote biodiversityconservation regionally andlocally. There are so many projectsjust waiting to be tackled bymotivated, young and talentedstudents as yourself!

I was particularly encouraged tosee the amount of effort Mr. Suniland colleagues from the local NGO(Neythal) was putting into beachpatrol, egg collection, maintenanceof a turtle hatchery andenvironmental education. Manymore projects of this kind areneeded, targeting the varioussectors of society: localgovernment officials, regionalNGOs, schools and the communityat large.

My teaching philosophyfocuses on active student

involvement and engagement.Research overwhelminglydemonstrates that students learnmore effectively when they’redoing activities than when they’rebeing lectured to. Therefore, Iorganized several field trips toillustrate the practical applicationof the information and skillslearned in class. One such trip tookus to Kavayi Lake, south ofNileswar, where we visited awetland and talked to a fishermanabout musselfarming.

After talkingabout theoverexploitationof the oceans, wetook a trip toMangalore portwhere the studentsconductedinterviews withfishermen, shipowners andrestaurant ownersto understand thesocio-economicsof the situation.Similar outingscan be organizedby the NatureClub.

Towards theend of thesemester weorganized a beachclean-up. After gaining someunderstanding of the devastatingeffects of garbage on marinewildlife, especially plastic, wepicked up everything that was notnatural on a beach in Nileshwar,documenting each item as we wentalong. There was A LOT of stuff:We collected 1441 items over thecourse of 60min on a 300m stretchof beach. Of those 1441 items, 272(19%) were sandals/shoes!!! Beachclean-ups are conducted around theworld on a yearly basis (usually on

or around Earth Day) and is anactivity that could easily beorganized by a few motivatedindividuals in Nileshwar.

Of course, a lot of the wastegets washed up on the beach comesfrom elsewhere, so what we findon the beach in Nileshwar may notbe an exact representation of itemsused by the residents of Nileshwar.However, we ALL use the itemswe have found and are thuscontributing to the problem. The

Nileshwar municipality needs totake the problem of waste moreseriously and find ways to reducethe amount produced, findalternative to plastics and consideradding waste bins on the beach thatare emptied regularly. But forgovernment officials to bemotivated into action, we need tohelp them understand theproblem(s) and to point them in theright direction. University &regional municipality partnershipsshould be pursued and memoranda

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of understanding established.One of my students (Pooja

Ashok) was interested inunderstanding the level ofenvironmental literacy in NorthernKerala. Environmental literacycan be defined as a process thatcreates awareness andunderstanding of the relationshipbetween humans and their naturalenvironments which then leads toenvironmentally responsiblebehaviour. She interviewed peopleto gage their knowledge ofenvironmental knowledge withquestions predominantly targetinglocal or regional environmentalissues. Overall, it was found thatenvironmental knowledge waspoor, despite relatively high levelsof education. She concluded that aliterate individual does notnecessarily mean anenvironmentally literate individual.Environmental knowledge isstrongly dependent on how aperson is affected or interacts withhis/her environment. With moreand more people today beingdisconnected from nature, less ofthem are affected by theenvironment directly. This may bethe reason why people do notretain environmentally importantinformation despite reading thenewspapers and watching TV.Getting people interested andinvolved in nature is key here;leading nature walks, going birdwatching, having a movie night atthe university to watchdocumentaries on the environment,starting a local environmental radioor TV show… the opportunitiesare endless.

Good luck!

With my very best wishesTatjana C Good, PhD


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FIELD TRAVELOGUE

WHISPERS OF THE BLUE VALLEY....Bhagyasree(MSc Plant Science)

When I was a kid I long to hear storiesevery day. My father was working inwayanad as a surveyor found indifficult to quench my thirst forstories. Whenever returned to home,me and my sister kept disturbing himfor stories. Finally when exhausted ofstories my father started creating hisown stories. Most often I became themain character in all these stories. Inall stories there would be a monkeyresembling my character and storieswould end like this “thus I feltsympathy for the little monkey andbrought her home and gave to my wifefor her company” in short he wastrying to tell that I was a monkey fromwayanadan forest and he gifted to mymother..... I am coming to my point.That was the first moment when myfather left an indelible imprint on mymind. Thus forest picture wereemanated remained in my heart eventoday. Now I know, that was his gift oftelling stories which lit my childhoodimagination.I grew up unknowingly soaked myselfin the monsoon in Kerala, listening tothe croaking of frogs, rain dropletsfalling on the dry leaves, the gush ofthe streams, and the dancing rain dropin the collocasia leaf, paper boats inthe muddy rain water.... I grew up and

all these became memories... I had lostall these wonder full experiences and Iuprooted myself from these beautifulimages and planted in to a heap ofbooks which needs for my survival.Sitting in the air conditioned classrooms, many times I long to hear thewind brushing the dry leaves and thedrumming of the rain on the lushleaves, the occasional hoot of that owlhiding on a mysterious tree topsomewhere. I thought all that becamea dream... I dived in to those pastememories many times. In many classesI wake up from dream and sadlyrealize that still I am in the helicalladder of DNA.... But still there was arain tree in my mind shedding raindrops after a heavy rain.... Yes, finallyI got a chance to back to my dreams,back to my home; back to nature... itcame in front of me as a summerproject. How can I resist the call ofthe wild? My mind is opened withhappiness like thunder and lightningthat could have opened up the skies....at first it seems only small ecologicalstudy in pollination, the greatecosystem service. But later on I feltthat was a great opportunity tounderstand nature and our ownexistence and also help me to knowmyself. That was a journey to theperfection....In the train , Sitting near to thewindow I fondly recall the ambient

sounds of a “kaavu” from where I startmy all journey. Previous day I wentthere and sought blessings from godand all my ancestors. All my journeysstart from that sacred grove where Iwondered in my childhood seeingthousands of bats habiting on a bigbanyan tree. My innocence believedthat is the tree of bats. Ignorant mindcreate stories about it... but now I amin front of that tree with a prayer... toknow and became knowledge. I takeon the roll of a quiet observer as Iwatch life in its various hues unfoldbefore my eyes in the narrowcompartments of a train.The roar of the Palghat mountains thatevery passer –by is blessed to hear.The summer is horrible..... Thewhistling wind in palghat passwhispered in my ears. That Echoresonates in the mountains..... I waitedto reach my destination by enjoyingthe dancing of palm trees....

NILGIRISEvening 6’o clock I reached atJohnson’s square at kotagiri town. Myyoung charming guide ManjuVasudevan Sharma welcomes me witha mesmerizing smile.It is not easy to sum up in a fewwords, the sights of nilgiri. It’s not thetouristy images I am talking about; butthe several others that lie beneath.Images that can’t perhaps be captured


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by the camera’s eye, but which leavean imprint on the mind... the bluevalley invites me... come expressyourself....Nilgiris, a juncture where the Easternand Western Ghats converge is anecosystem which brings togetherbiodiversity in all its richness –indigenous communities, flora &fauna and unique livelihood optionswhich have all co-existed for the past

centuries. The nilgiri biospherereserve declared in 1986 by UNESCOunder its man and biosphere programwas the first biosphere in India and isnamed after the pristine nilgiris. Thereserve spans an area of over5000sq.km and is home to manyunique species of plants, animals andculture. The diverse landscape frommountain grass lands to dry thornyforest has an altitudinal range from2600msl to 20msl. The ancientmountains of the nilgiri have specialgeological features and a range ofclimatic conditions. Rain shadowareas of the eastern slopes to monsoonmagic areas of the western slopes.The hill stations, village hide ways,rhythm of the tribal girls, dense forestand beautiful animals. These wastecanvas of experiences is what madenilgiri in to a stand- alone destination.

Keystone Foundation is a non-profitorganization based in Kotagiri andworks on issues of conservation,culture, environmental governance,livelihoods and enterprisedevelopment with indigenous peoplein the mountainous and adjoiningregions of the Nilgiri BiosphereReserve. I start my first day as anintern in keystone. There I engaged inmany statistical works based on wild

honey collection. Andalso I interact withtribal peoples indifferent communitiesin nilgiris and try tounderstand their lifestyle and socio-economical problemswhich they face. I gotmany chances toparticipate in theecologicalconservationalawareness programsconducted bykeystone foundation.The fact is,conservingbiodiversity is

especially crucial in countries wherepeople’s livelihoods are directlydependent on natural resources suchas forests, fisheries and wildlife. AndIndia is a country where 80% of thetotal population depends upon thenatural resources directly.Alternate days we went to manyestates for setting the trap nest. As apart of our project we need to set trapnests in the agricultural sites. Threetrap nest we set in three different sites.Two of them in coffee and rest inbeans field in hasanoor. Trap nestshave the potential to increaserecognized biodiversity through thediscovery of new species and to beused in conservation and restoration.Trap nests have recently beensuggested as a valuable tool inenvironmental assessment of variousecosystems. Artificial nests can beconstructed with bundles of reeds or

bamboo. These bundles of reeds straptogether and placed in a shelteredlocation horizontal to the ground.Thus we successfully set three traps inthree different sites.

Kothimukku I stayed in a trust which is funded bya foundation based on London. Theyare working in tribal villages to givingawareness about the climate changeand global warming. One day I wentwith them to visit a tribal village,kothimukku as a part of anenvironmental awareness program.That was an amazing trip. Just beforereaching the village we were forced toget down from the bus because ofbreak problem. But that was a boon tous. More than five kilometers wecovered by walk. The sights wereunbelievable. We walk through thegorge and the evergreen forest toreach the village. That was an oasis inthe desert of tea and silver oak.Sometimes the fear covered us as thesmell of elephants and sometimes thedense forest is bound to hear a heavywhooshing sound up from somewherein the waste black canopy of trees.Under our feet, the fungus, lichens,mosses and the Ferns, ancientinhabitants of the planet we live on.They grow below these densecanopies, nearby the clear streams, onrocks and on tree barks and on theblack fertile leaf litter.... Yes these arethe incredible biodiversity that theblue hill hosts. The water streamsglows like silver anklets when thebeam of light touches its surface. Iwondered and recollect the wordsonce I read in a book. “Our liquidplanet glows like a soft blue sapphirein the hard - edged darkness of space.There is nothing else like it in thesolar system. It is because of water -John Tod”. Yes... It is only because ofwater our earth became earth. Iwondered and stand still in front ofthat great truth......


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TRIBALSNilgiri is home range for 6 primitivetribal groups. They are Todas, Kotas,Kurumbas, Irulas, Paniyas andKattunayakas. Most of them are eitherpastoral or have been hunter gatherers.The Kurumbas, one of the mainindigenous communities, possesstremendous skills to collect honeyfrom the Giant Indian Rock Bees, Apisdorsata. This practice of honeyhunting has continued over centuriesbut with a symbiosis which hasallowed the honey hunters and thebees to co-exist. This honey was usedas an item of barter with othercommunities for grains, milk,implements and other needs....The thodas are not only the earliestinhabitants of the upper nilgiri plateaubut are also the most ancient andunusual communities of the nilgirihillsof Tamilnadu. They are pastoralpeople and to a certain extent,nomadic. Most thodas possess largeherds of buffaloes and milk productsare their main source of living. Muchof their ceremonial life is centered onthe dairies and of the buffalo theytraditionally herd. The thoda womenembroider with factory made needles.The threads used by them aretraditionally black and red only.However, instead of black, sometimesdark blue thread is used. The threadsso used are in wool. The fabric is acoarsely woven white cloth. Thepattern/design/motif is inspired bynature, and those elements existing indaily life. Thoda embroidery has nowbeen granted the GI status. It has beena long process as it started in 2008.And I got a golden opportunity toattend the GI status awardingceremony conducted in ooty. That wasan unforgettable moment in which Iam wearing the traditional red, blackand white “puthukuli” and behavinglike a thoda tribal girl...

Thadisilatty, HasanoorWe started our journey to Hasanoor ,where we plan to do our rest of

ecological studies. My eyes ready tobe absorbed by the kaleidoscope ofcolors and sights. Our jeep whirlsaround the hair-pin curves in the hillsscented with spices. We spend threedays there in thadisilatti village near tohasanoor, sathyamangalam forest.Within three days we completed restof our works.We start our observation at morning6’oclock.The day was cloudy andwindy. We select 6 flowers each ineach hour and recorded the visitations.I was surprised by pollinators whiletaking observations. Sometimesunexpected guests would come to visither. Sometimes she is disturbed bypollen and nectar robbers. She hostseverybody by giving her reward. Bees,flies, ants and beetles came to visither.There are four major honey beespecies found there as the pollinatorsof brasicca plant. They are Apisflorea,Apis cerana Apis dorsata (rockbee) and Trigona spp.(stingless bees).“If the bee disappeared off the surfaceof the globe, then man would onlyhave four years of the life left” AlbertEinstein once remarked. Pollinatorsprovide an essential ecosystem servicethat results in the out-crossing andsexual reproduction of many plants.They benefit society by increasingfood security and improvinglivelihoods and by the role they playin conserving biological diversity inagricultural and natural ecosystems.But at present all these pollinators areunder threat of population decline,primarily due to loss of habitat, whichmay have an “impact” on speciessurvival and associated flora of theregion.In between these observations we setpan traps in the fields. Blue andyellow pans filled with soap solution.We placed the pan traps in differentplaces in a site. Till evening we kept itthere and after completing theobservation of pollinators we carefullytransferred the insects in the pan trapto alcohol. Marked the bottles with

place and site accordingly. Also wecollect the pollinated stigmas and itkept in FAA solution for estimatingthe pollination efficiency by anilineblue fluorescence method.

ConclusionIt was an amazing experience with thetribal people. I can’t help wonderingby seeing them... Never have theyentered in to their fields with footwear.They consider their agro lands sacredand they worshiped that black fertilesoil. They made food for us, bringwater from the streams, they gaveshelter to sleep, helped us wheneverwe need, and sometimes they enquiredwith curiosity “amma... poochivanthirukka?” We enjoyed a lot withthem by harvesting beans. Rajammaakka, shivakami, uma, rajeswary,guna, and my favorite dog friendgovind ... how to thank them ? Thelast moment with them was heartbreaking...... My thoughts weredisrupted by someone pulling at myjacket. It was a young child with acurious face. The innocent voicealmost drowned in the roar of thewind......his voice was not very sure.But his innocent eyes demanded a hugfrom me... I hugged him and kissed...and a few more children gatheredaround me each and every eyedemanded my presence.... I promisedI will be back soon. First time in mylife I feel that I am worth.....I came to nilgiri when my keralafacing the ever hottest summer in themillennium with fears of the greentrees in Palghat catching fire anddrinking water crisis. But nilgirismade me cool and peaceful. Nilgiris isthe place where the sky meats earthwith immense love and care. It is theplace where we can see the union of“panchabhootha” .the blue sky, theWater, the air, the soil or prudvi ,thefire or energy,all blended together tocreate a land of wonder, the nilgiris.All the sights I absorbed from thisjourney will always remain forevergreen and truly I am dying to go backto those days......


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My colleagues said......“You have a poetic mind”Am so proud..........I looked around for inspiration....First from nature as “wordsworth”I climbed up avalanches mountainsThey lost its grace by the inhuman attitude of men.Then, I approach to hillsBut, they get into the lorry and Drop down to the field and beingsilent.Next I went in search of flowery valleyI shocked to see that...They changed into beautiful scenery, a painting of a master painter.I looked for rivers and lakes with terrible thirst-They are waveless...Dry banks told me all about them.They are trapped in the plastic bottles...I wandered.... No inspiration to write.Much tired and get in to a five star hotelA blue swimming pool was thereIt murmured somethingI went nearIts shivering voice tries to say in my earsThe pathetic condition of the glorious ocean in a feeble voice....A charming foreign lady in her swimming suit jumped into thepool...Its voice shattered and disappeared.I look moody and melancholicThink to become a “ rishi”But where is a solitary place? Forest?Where is a “bodhi” tree to give enlightenment?Much disappointed and went to a planetariumWhere I saw a “Magical mirror forest”I sat before it with closed eyes and an aching heartTo write a poem with a piece of paper and a pen......

Bhagyasree


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World Environment day

some thoughts

Let us give up at leastone of our bad habitsthat can harm thenature andenvironment everyWorld EnvironmentDay to secureresources for our owncoming generationsand for othercreatures

When I was thinking about amatching celebrated day for the WorldEnvironment Day (WED) the first onecame to my mind is World Aids Day(WAD). I do not know why that hascome to my mind! WED these daysgets equal attention that WAD getsfrom all parts of our society. Thesimilarity of these days is that weremember the aggrieved people andthe nature only on those celebrateddays! The dissimilarity is WED has nogreen ribbon brooch like the redribbon brooch of WAD! I do not knowwhy no one has proposed a greenbrooch for the volunteers of WED. Wesee almost all our leading celebrities,politicians, diplomats, media, socialnetwork sites, religious leaders andcommunities, what else, almost all theentities and the individuals announcetheir solidarity in protecting the natureand its environment.

International agencies, UnitedNations Environment Program(UNEP) and the World HealthOrganization (WHO) realized that thecritical gap in the proper awareness inour society is the major reason whynature damages and AIDS plaguesalmost all parts of the world in equalpace. So, I think WED is not a day tocelebrate but to mourn on the fate ofour Mother Nature and our planet. It isthe day to pronounce our solidarity torespect the Mother Nature, to admireon its processes, services and functionsto human kind, and to act upon toprotect it. Deforestation,fragmentation, CO

2 emission, land use

change are the major viruses of ourMother Nature and environment thatdevastate our forests and pollute ourplanet. We should not shy away fromthe truth that our planet is not only

belongs to us, but to all the creaturesthat are created on it. When we createour own dwell, let us not forget givingspace for all our wild and remoterelatives to thrive! What struck merecently is the first speech of PopeFrancis 1 amidst of his inaugural holymass. He focused only on two things inthe speech: work to protect God’screation and the world’s poor. Hecalled on the crowd to take up thevocation of being a protector. It meansrespecting each of God’s creatures andrespecting the environment in whichwe live.I was going through some major andminor initiatives that the Keraliteswere doing for the WED-2012. TheThiruvanthapuram Division of theRailway board of India initiated aprogram to plant saplings along therailway lines of Kerala. The students ofKochi planted 4 lakh seedlings of 15plant species in the city with the helpof Social forestry program of the State.Rubber board of India announced thatrubber plantations are helping inconserving biodiversity and tosequester global CO

2 to defend the

popular belief that plantations are banefor biodiversity. What happened to2013 WED celebrations? Not muchresponse! Why? We have got a goodrain this time? Mere planting ofseedlings is not ensuring our missionto protect our nature. That solves onlya part of the rehabilitation program.Let us give up at least one of our badhabits that can harm the nature andenvironment to secure resources forour own coming generations and forother creatures. Think-Eat-Save wasthe slogan of UNEP for WED-2013. Ithas a strong message for all of us totake home and act upon.

-EditorPuthumazha (The First Rain)

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World Food dayOne in every eight peoplein the world starves!World Food day is being celebrated 16October every year to commemorate theinstitution of Food and AgriculturalOrganization of the United Nations in 1945.“Sustainable Food Systems for Food Securityand Nutrition” is the slogan of World FoodDay in 2013. It seems that it is the logicalcontinuation of the slogan of WorldEnvironment Day 2013, “Think, Eat andSave”. It is therefore, very clear that the worldis under the threat of malnutrition and foodscarcity. When we give due attention inproducing quality food, it is surprising that weare also wasting food that is good enough tocater the demand of poverty-affected part ofthe world! The statistics says that one in everyeight people in the world starves! How can wesafeguard the sustainable food systems? It ispossible only through sustainable productionand sustainable exploitation. See an exampleof the change in the attitude of our tribal

communities on harvesting non-timber forestproducts (NTFPs). Amla and honey are themajor components of the NTFPs of India.Recent booming industry of Ayurveda hasdemanded multiple times more quantity ofamla that forced the forest dwellers to cutbranches and sometimes the whole tree itselfto harvest more amla. This unsustainableharvesting practice has affected the naturalpropagation of amla in forests. Honey harvestusually depends on the rock bee hives. Since,the harvesting pressure is more and in anunsustainable way, their population has alsobeen dwindled. The loss of honey beestranslates into less productivity of many of ourcash crops, including coffee, cardamom andmany ecologically important wild plants. Letus say yes to all environmentally-safe venturesthat aim to produce enough quantity of foodgrains, but before that pledge, I do not wastefood anymore! Can you?


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National Science day

celebrations 2013India lacks in self-confidence that the Western Hemisphere has lot onIndia. The 300 year old British rule has destroyed India’s self confidence!

On 28 February 2013, the Universityhas celebrated National Science Day ina befitting manner. Dr. L. Divya was theconvener of the National Science daycelebrations in the University. The dayin India is being celebrated tocommemorate the breakthroughdiscovery of Raman effect by Sir C.V.Raman. The event was inaugurated byDr. George V. Thomas, Director, CPCRI-Kasaragod. In his address he said thatthe innovations are also coming fromfarmers. CPCRI celebrates the day asfarm innovator’s day, he said.

Prof. (Dr.) George K. Thomas,IISER-Trivandrum delivered the firstlecture in the event. He gave a beautifulnarration about the personal andprofessional life of Sir. C.V. Raman inhis lecture. Citing a Science (2012)article (India rising Science 335: 904-910), he said that India is lacking in self-confidence that the Western hemisphere

has a lot on India! According to him, the300 year old British rule has destroyedIndia’s self confidence.

Dr. Vijayakumaran Nair fromVSSR delivered a talk on Space sciencein India: Opportunities and Challenges.He said that the beauty of Dr.s VikramSarabhai and Homi Bhaba is that theywork with the indigenous instruments.He shared his own research on climatechange in the talk. He said that whencarbon dioxide warms earth’satmosphere, the aerosols cool it. He saidthat geo-engineering is a promisingbranch of engineering to tackle the issueof global rise of temperature. It workson a concept that the particles can scatterthe radiation.

Prof. (Dr.) G.M. Nair, CU-Kerala gave a talk on problems andprospects of GM crops and food security.The ethical side of genetic engineeringis that when an organism is genetically

modified it would make sure that theprocess will neither harm the organismper se nor the other organisms in theenvironment. The agenda of modernagricultural biotechnology is to addressthe issues our crops face today fromabiotic and biotic stresses eventually toattain the food security.

The inaugural function in thetransit campus of CU-Kerala waspresided by Prof. (Dr.) Jacob Chacko,Dean SMPS, CU-Kerala. Dr. G.M. Nairwelcomed the gathering. Dr.s T.P. Abbas,Sr. Germina, Santhosh Kanade, RanjithKumavath and Swapna Nair gavefelicitation addresses. Dr. L. Divya,convener of the program proposed voteof thanks. In the valedictory function, Dr.Rajendran Pilankatta welcomed thegathering. Dr. P.A. Sinu summed up theprogram. Dr. Vincent Mathew gave avaledictory address and Dr. Tony Graceproposed vote of thanks.


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Symposium oninsect taxonomy

The department of Animal Sciencehas organized a series of lectures ontaxonomy in March-April 2013. Dr. P.A. Sinu was the convener of theprogram. Five eminent taxonomistsshared their views on the classical andmolecular taxonomy in the symposium.Prof. (Dr.) T.C. Narendran (ZSI-Kozhikode) said that there are ten“pests” for the taxonomists. Thecommonest among them is the onewho teases taxonomy and taxonomistsin public, but seeks a taxonomist’s helpfor his own research! A minor pest isthe one who dumps specimens totaxonomists to get a list of speciesnames for his own use, but “forgets” toacknowledge the taxonomist in thepublication. Prof (Dr.). C.A.Viraktamath (GKVK-Bangalore), Dr.K.D. Prathapan (KAU-Trivandrum),Dr. Priyadarshanan Dharmarajan(ATREE-Bangalore) and Dr. VikasKumar (ZSI-Kolkata) were the otherspeakers. Dr. Viraktamath wasconcerned about the dearth ofprofessional taxonomists who caninstill the seed of taxonomy in theyoung minds. In most colleges andUniversities faculty not trained intaxonomy are forced to deal thesubject that can simply kill thetaxonomy flavor in the young minds.Dr. Vikas Kumar, a molecularsystematist of ZSI Kolkata said that hemisses the thrill that he used to get

from practicing classical taxonomywhen he switched to moleculartaxonomy. But, he admits that he findsanother kind of enthusiasm when heunfolds the mystery of speciesevolution through his phylogenystudies. Dr. Prathapan told thatmolecular tools are at help to solvejunctures where two species areclosely-looking but, having only someminor variation in a taxonomiccharacter. He looked at the taxonomyby finding relationships between theflea beetle (chrysomelidae) diversityand its plant hosts. Dr. Priyadarshanantold that we are all folk-taxonomists by

our birth as we recognize our parentsand we distinguish the species that arebeneficial or harmful. Taxonomy issomething beyond science. It is an art,an art of discovering new species. Sinuwhile summing up the symposiumasked the audience “can we imagine alabel similar to barcode as areplacement to our beautiful name,Homo sapiens? Taxonomists are trulyblessed by god as they are giving aname to a new species created by god(or evolved as per Charles Darwin)and finding its relationship with theother fellow species.


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Can we imagine a barcode as a replacement to ourbeautiful name, Homo sapiens?

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Research Highlights



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India is home formany traditionalmanaged culturallandscapes.Sacred forest andSoppinabetta arethe two popularexamples ofcultural forests ofSouth India.Sacred forest(=kavu,devarukadu) ispopular amongsouth Indians.But, thesoppinabettaforest is popularamong southCanara andMalnad region ofKarnataka. Theresearchhighlights of thisissue ofPuthumazhaunravel thetraditional forestmanagement bythe local peopleand the richbiodiversityharbors in thesetwo forest types.


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It was simply an accident that Ireached Sringeri way back in 2000 asa Research Associate of ATREE-Bangalore to study the insect diversityof soppinabetta forests! When I wasteaching in Maharaja’s College,Ernakulam, my MSc teacher inquiredam I interested in joining in aresearch project that will be based atSringeri? I did not have that luxurythat time to googleit to find out whereSringeri locates. But, one thing I knewthat it is a place where SaintShankaracharya has instituted one ofhis four mats (=monastery). I mighthave mistaken Sringeri as Bhadrinaththat is the temple instituted by thesaint in North in Himalayas. Mytraveler mind elated like anything andwithout a second thought I informedmy interest to join the project. Onlywhen Dr. Priyan asked me to book aticket in an overnight Sugama bus toSringeri from Bangalore, I realizedthat it is a place somewhere in SouthIndia. The ridiculed boy then startedhis research journey in field biology inWestern Ghats.

I was not at all disappointedwith the landscape of Sringeri when Isaw that through the bus window. Ireached there in a cool misty morning

on 5 February 2001. At my help, Dr.Priyan brought a field assistant lateMr. Ketha Gowda, a soliga tribal fromBRT Wildlife Sancturay. In fact Kethawas my first research guide in field.He knew better than I what an edgeeffect is, what a buffer zone means,what is the difference betweentunneller, roller and burrower dungbeetles! He taught me how to sort thedung beetles from a dung pat bysoaking that in bucket full of water. Hewas also my first plant taxonomyteacher. He helped me in identifyingplants with their vernacular names. Iowe Ketha a lot for my Kannadaproficiency that I have picked up in amonth time. I have completed my pre-doctoral, doctoral and post-doctoralresearch on different aspect of acommunity-managed forest system,

soppinabetta forest. This is the 14th

year I am having a live researchproject based at Sringeri. I owe a lotto the people, landscape andadministrators of the Municipality andthe temple for facilitating my research.I am so happy that my 2 PhD studentsare continuing the research that I haveinitiated with my first NationalGeographic grant in 2006. I am goingto narrate my research that is based onSoppinabetta forest through thisarticle.

What isSoppinabetta forest?Success of conservation strategiesrelies on the inclusion of localcitizens, farmers, and institutions,prompting biodiversity specialists todevelop strategies for an inclusiveconservation approach, balancing theneeds of citizens with the conservationof biodiversity and ecosystems. This isthe current thought about conservationprogram worldwide. Soppinabettaforest fits in this definition ofconservation paradigm. Soppinabettaforests (SBF) are minor forests thatare provisionally leased to betel nut(Areca catechu) farmers of centralWestern Ghats more than a century

Soppinabetta forest: a natural heritage site

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back for the sustainable harvest offorest products. In the colonial period,in order to reduce pressure on allreserve forests, farmers were givenpart of these forests for their daily use.The two major agricultural land usesthat require organic resources forsustainable crop yield are multistoriedplantations of cardamom-coffee-betelnut and small rain-fed rice paddyfields. To fertilize local farms, theproperty right allows farmers tocollect leaf litter and green foliagesfor compost preparation. This forestuse is greatly respected by the localfarmers. They realized that farmingwill be impossible and no more cost-effective, once the forest right is liftedfrom them. Farmers have translatedthe forest products in terms of itsvalues and found that they owe theseforests a lot for the profit that they aremaking these many years. What is themanagement?Farmers were provisionally allotted aproportional area of secondary wetsemi-evergreen forests that iscalculated on the basis of the amountof cultivated land. Most farmers havemanaged these forests without large-scale logging and felling. Farmers usesoppinabetta forest in two major ways.Traditionally, farmers collect leaf litterduring the dry season (December–May) and green foliages during therainy season (June–November). Thetraditional practice of green foliagecollection was cutting down smalltrees and branches of large trees, buttoday, green foliage is collected bycutting the understorey shrubs andsaplings of SBFs and degraded lands.Leaf litter (=dargu) is collected in

jallu (baskets made out of Bamboo)that can hold approximately 25 kg offield collected leaf litter. Green foliage(=soppu) is collected in bundles that islocally referred to as hore; one horegreen foliage weighs approximately 40kg. To transport the compost (=gobru)another locally made basket (=butti) isused that carries approximately 30 kgof compost. My socio-economic studyshowed that each farmer collects anaverage of 31.09 (range=0–125)metric tons of leaf litter, and 19.11metric tons (range=0–120) of greenfoliage per year. A farmer produces anaverage of 103.04 metric tons(range=0–480) of green compost in ayear. In rice fields a butti full ofcompost is spread in equal distancejust before the onset of monsoon.

After few days of rain the groundalong with the leached compost isploughed to mix the compost in thesoil. I think this is one fine example oforganic farming. Unfortunately, issueslike the land use change have plaguedthe agricultural systems in Sringeri aswell. Land transformations are nowwidespread. Food grain producinglands are replaced by the cash crops.Most of my research therefore is tofind out the impact of these landtransformations on biodiversity atmultiple taxa level (insects,amphibians, birds, small mammals,plants), the biotic interactions and thesocioeconomic condition of thepeople.

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In my study 55 species of orchids areidentified that includes epiphytic (41species) and ground (14 species)orchids. This is about 30% of orchidsreported from the Western Ghatsbiodiversity hotspot. Nearly 25% ofthe trees and lianas sampled haveorchids associated to it. Sarcanthuspauciflorus was the most dominantepiphytic orchid species ofsoppinabetta forests. The study alsounravels several new populations of adata deficient mycoheterotrophic(=saprophytic) orchid, Aphyllorchismontana.

Top: Some spectacular wild epiphyticorchids recorded in Soppinabettaforests of Sringeri. Legend: a)Aerides crispum Lindl., b)Aerides ringens (Lindl.) C.E.C.Fisch,c) Trias stocksii Benth. exHook.f., d)Porpax reticulate Lindl., e)Eria exilis Hook.f., f) Oberonia tenuisLindl., g) Cleisostoma tenuifolium (L.)Gareay, h) Dendrobium ovatum(L.)Kraenzl., i) Luisia macrantha Blatt.&McCann., j) Cottonia peduncularis(Lindl.) Reichb.f., k) Cymbidiumaloifolium (L.) Sw., l) Robiquetiajosephiana Manilal & Sathish

Top: Aphyllorchis Montana– asaprophytic data-deficient orchidseen abundantly in Soppinabettaforests

Suggested Further Reading:1. Sinu, P.A., Kent, S.,Chandrashekara, K. (2012). Forestresource use and perception of farmerson conservation of a usufruct forest(Soppinabetta) of Western Ghats,India. Land Use Policy 29: 702-709.2. Sinu, P.A., Kuriakose, G.,Chandrashekara, K. (2012). Epiphyticorchid diversity in farmer-managedSoppinabetta forests of WesternGhats: Implications for conservation.Current Science 101: 1337-1346.3. Sinu, P.A., Sinu, N.,Chandrashekara, K. (2012) Ecologyand population structure of aterrestrial mycoheterotrophic orchid,Aphyllorchis montana Rchb.f.(Orchidaceae) in Soppinabettaforests of the Western Ghats, India.Journal of Threatened Taxa 4: 2915-2919.4. Sinu, P.A., Shivanna, K.R.,Kuriakose, G. (2012) Frugivorous birddiversity and their post-feedingbehaviour in fruiting Syzygium cumini(Myrtaceae) in fragmented forests ofcentral Western Ghats, India. CurrentScience 103: 1146-1148.5. Sinu, P.A. (2012). Seed predators ofan old-world tropical deciduous tree(Terminalia bellirica: Combretaceae)in wet habitats of the Western Ghats,India. Current Science 103: 309-315.

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Orchids of soppinabetta forests

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17Puthumazha (The First Rain)

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Sacred froests, popularly known as kavu, devaru kadu etc.are the traditional repositories of natural forests protected by

the local people as the abode of local deities and gods.Conservation biologists and practitioners feel that they shouldbe protected scientifically as the value of traditional believes

among present young generation is getting reduced. Theforests are now being abused by a part of our society. It isconsidered that more than 100,000 sacred forests exist in

India; most of them seen in South Inida. Asha and Parvathywrite about the biodiversity value and traditional believes of

sacred forests of Kerala in the following pages.

Sacred foresta community conserved site of India

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Research Highlights

Why only few dung beetles insacred forests?

By G. Asha* (MSc Animal Science;*presently Integrated MPhil/PhDstudent)

I have taken up dung beetles as probe

taxa to check how they respond to thechanges in land use. But, when I wasprogressing my sampling, I found arather poor population and communityof dung beetles in the sacred forestpatches when compared to nearbyhome gardens. First, I thought, it islocality-specific problem. But, aftersampling a dozen pairs of sacredforest-home gardens, I confirmed thatit is the pattern that pertains to all thesacred forests of village and urbanareas. When I want to discuss myfindings, I found that dung beetles areexcellent indicators of habitat quality,forest fragmentation, grazing pressure,poaching, wildlife loss etc. Then I washappy with my findings. Because,when I checked the grazing statuswithin sacred forests, it is bareminimum in all sacred forests. Peopledo not allow any of their livestock

Dung beetles are exceptionally good indicators of manyecosystem processes and changes

entering in the sacred forests in theirvicinity just for the belief that it istaboo entering in a sacred forest!Dung beetles need resource that isonly dung, which is their home andfood. If they are absent in a villageforest it means that dung is absent inthose forests. It is OK that dung

beetles are low in sacred forests thatindicate that they have still notbecome a public open toilet or agrazing land of villagers! I am happythat the sacred forests of my vicinity isnot exploited like many others in otherparts of the state!

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IRINGOLE KAVUa Pilgrimage, Amusement and also Knowledge…

By Parvathy Surendran (MSc AnimalScience student)

Love and respect towards nature

has been an ancient Indian tradition.Sacred groves are one of the finestexamples of this traditional in situconservation practices. In this article Iwould like to introduce one of thefamous sacred grove of my nativeplace namely Iringol Kavu. It is one ofthe famous Kavu in Kerala,particularly in Ernakulam District.People like to spend a long time insidethis kavu for its extra ordinary feelthat one gets from visiting the kavu.For this reason it has now become animportant tourist and pilgrimageplace.

Iringole Kavu., of Ernakulamdistrict is one among the largest sacredgroves of kerala. It is a miniatureforest located between Kuruppampadyand Perumbavoor on Aluva-MunnarRoad. It contains more than 20 acresof the forest and the temple is locatedin the centre of the grove. The templeadministrators have given maximumcare to protect the sacred grove fromencroachers and other developmentalactivities.

Like every sacred forest there areseveral myths and beliefs pertain toIringole kavu too. One important

among is that Kamsan imprisonedDevaki and Vasudevan due to the fearthat their eighth son Sreekrishna whois to be born soon would be histerminator from the earth. In fear andfury Kamsan decided to kill their allsons. Vasudevan planned to save hiseighth son from the danger at any cost.The parents shifted baby Sreekrishnato Dhwaraka soon after he was bornand placed another girl baby (anincarnation of the goddess Yoga-Nidraor Maya) in the cradle. Kamsandecided to kill the girl baby too; yetrealizing she was not the eight son ofVasudevan. He lifted the babyfuriously above his head, butmiraculously the baby became asupernatural power and remained inthe atmosphere as ‘IRRINNOLE’.Later this area was named asIRINGOLE. It is believed that thegods and goddesses live in the forestin the forms of trees and other plants.And later it is developed into abeautiful thick forest.

It is also believed that LordHanuman has performed “thapasya” inthis place and it is believed that theexistence of many monkeys in Iringolekavu is due to it. But the grove haslost them in the last few years due tothe high human disturbances.Reportedly, the monkeys are lostbecause they became a menace for the

farmers live around the forest.Traditional history also says that SageThrinab maharshi made a parnashalain this forest for teaching veda. It isbelieved that the ancient well in thegrove is a relic of the old parnashala.

The thick luxuriant forestcontributes rich flora including manyimportant medicinal plants. Recentreports say that there are about morethan 200 species of rare medicinalplants existing there. Authorities of thegroves don’t allow cutting the trees oreven they don’t take the fallen trees.They all enriches in to the soil. Faunalpopulation mainly comprises of birds.There are about 64 species of birdsliving here. But there are no dangerousanimals and no snake reported fromhere and the grove is also known as asnake-less forest. Grove is also wellknown for spiders and ants.antmimicking spiders also reported fromhere. Millipedes such as pill millipedeis also plenty in the forest.

There also exists one ancient‘Mana’ just near to the grove withmany archeologically importantancient sculptures. This thick luxuriantgrove is one among the touristattractive place of Ernakulam district.The peoples visiting the groves saythat they visit this place frequently topump their energy up and to get freshair!

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A journey through the diversity of life

The department of Animal Science has arranged a one day study tour to the Zoological Survey of India, WesternGhats regional station at Kozhikode. Both integrated MPhil/PhD and MSc students were participated in the studytour. The students were welcomed by the station Joint director-in-charge, Dr. P.M. Sureshan. The scientists, Dr.s.Rajmohana, Jaffer Palot and Mr. Kishore interacted with the students and gave a thorough class on insect taxonomy,diversity of insects in tropical forest and fresh water systems. The relevance of natural history museums in thetaxonomic expedition is also narrated to the students. The ongoing research and the experts in different groups ofanimals available in the station are also introduced to the students.

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21Puthumazha (The First Rain)

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Dr. M. Rajmohana (Scientist, Zoological Survey of India) is interacting with the students ofCU-Kerala at Zoological Survey of India, Western Ghats Regional Station, Kozhikode


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Prof. (Dr.) T.C. Narendran: a doyen of insecttaxonomy speaks in the Symposium of Insecttaxonomy organized by the Department ofAnimal Science, CU-Kerala in April 2013.

Prof. (Dr.) T.C. Narendran FASc passed away on31 December 2013 due to heart attack at his ageof 69. After retiring from University of Calicut asa Professor, he moved to Zoological Survey ofIndia at Kozhikode to pursue his research. He isan author of about 200 research publications.Ignoring his health issues, he kindly accepted ourinvitation to deliver a lecture in the Symposiumof insect taxonomy at Central University ofKerala in April 2013 and interacted with thestudents energetically. I would say thatNarendran sir was a rare species that got extincton 31 December 2013 by producing 100s of newspecies! He will be remembered forever.

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Sruthi M V(M.Sc.) received

KSCSTE doctoralfellowship; she is

planning to do PhD withDr. L Divya

Prashanth Bhallulaya(M.Sc.) received

KSCSTE doctoralfellowship; he is planning

to do PhD with Dr. P ASinu. He is presently withKerala State Biodiversity

Board as field officer

Rabina Raj and Hima(M.Sc.) received

KSCSTE doctoralfellowship; they are yetto decide on their place

of research

Meetings attended

Beyline Maxwell & Asha G(Integrated MPhil/PhD) attendedthe refresh course on Animaltaxonomy at University ofAgricultural Sciences, Bangalore(October 2013)

Shibil V K & Prabitha Mohan(PhD) attended the refresher courseon Chemical Ecology at NCBS-Bangalore (Feb 2014)

P A Sinu attended INTECOL 2013at Excel, London

H P Gurushankara gave lectures inIISc Chikballapur campus,University of Mysore Hassancampus

P A Sinu gave lectures in therefresher course conducted by theASC-Calicut University (December2013), INSPIRE camp for highersecondary students (SH College,Thevara, Ernakulam; January2014), National Seminarsconducted by Nehru Arts andScience College (March 2013), SirSyed College (January 2014), andKerala University (July 2013)

L Divya gave lecture in KeralaScience Congress (February 2013)

Grants and funds received

P A Sinu received 1) DST YoungScientist grant, 2) UGC Start-upgrant and 3) National GeographicSociety grants

L Divya received DST WomenScientist Grant

H P Gurushankara received 1) DSTYoung Scientist grant, and 2) UGCStart-up research grant

Deepthi M(M.Sc. 2010-2012 batch)

received KSCSTEdoctoral fellowship; she

has joined Dr. TonyGrace (Department ofGenomics, CU-Kerala)

for her PhD

Thushara V V(MSc and current

Integrated MPhil/PhDstudent) cleared CSIR-

NET exam

V S Arunkumar(MSc) received KSCSTEdoctoral fellowship; he isyet to decide on his place

of research

Vineesh Sebastian(CU-Kerala DET PhDstudent) cleared CSIR

NET exam

Shibil V K(PhD student) receivedRajiv Gandhi Doctoral

fellowship; he joined Dr.P A Sinu for his PhD

Rajesh T P andManoj K

(MSc) joined asproject fellows inDST-sponsored

research project to Dr.P A Sinu

Achievement of the student and faculty community ofDepartment of Animal SciencePhD fellowship/ Research Fellowship

LAURELS


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Support is sincerely acknowledge to:Organizations

Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi

Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi

University Grants Commission, New Delhi

National Geographic Society, Washington DC

Kerala State Council for Science Technology andEnvironment, Trivandrum

Keystone Foundation, Kotagiri

Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology andEnvironment, Bengaluru

Krushikoota, Sringeri

Zoological Survey of India, Western GhatsRegional Station, Kozhikode

Kerala Forest Department, Trivandrum

Central University of Kerala

PersonsProf. (Dr.) Jancy James, Founder Vice-chancellor, CU-Kerala

Prof. (Dr.) Oommen V. Oommen, Chairman, Kerala StateBiodiversity Board, Trivandrum

Prof. (Dr.) G.M. NairDr. Tatjana C. Good

(Late) Dr. T.C. Narendran

Dr. C.A. ViraktamathDr. Renee M. Borges

Dr. K.D. Prathapan

Dr. Priyadarsanan DharmarajanDr. Vikas Kumar

Dr. Manju Vasudevan Sharma

Dr. K.P. MohanakumarDr. M.K. Thakur

Dr. T.K. Rajendra

Dr. B. JayarajDr. Thamilmani. S.

Dr. Sheeja Sekhar

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