Wildlife managers ignore previous knowledge at great risk: the case of Rivaldo, the iconic wild Asian Elephant Elephas maximus L. of the Sigur Region, Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, India

Management of wildlife depends mostly on scientific data; ignoring this can lead to unintended consequences. We take the case study of the wild male Asian Elephant Rivaldo of the Sigur Region, who was translocated out of his range. Rivaldo returned to his home range within a few days, which could have been expected if scientific publications had been consulted. We suggest that a simple checklist of relevant publications can help park managers to decide on a proper management procedure. We also used a simple Bayesian framework to visually show how the probability of predicting a management outcome is increased by prior knowledge. The expensive and risky effort to relocate the elephant could have been avoided altogether if prior knowledge had been taken into consideration.

Assessment of Dynamic Land System in Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve Using MODIS Derived Temporal Data Sets during 2001 to 2018

The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR) is one of the largest protected ecologically sensitive areas in India. This study examined the land use/land cover (LULC) changes in NBR for past 18 years from 2001 to 2018 to figure out the LULC changed within a protected area using datasets in 2001, 2010, and 2018 with the help of pertinent geospatial techniques. MODIS Land Cover Type Product (MCD12Q1) accuracy was quantitatively analyzed based on ground truth data and Google Earth imagery. Validation of data were assessed using and overall 635 locations for its accuracy assessment. The obtained kappa coefficient of 0.75, denotes the classification has moderate accuracy. The results showed that in the past 18 years, woody savannas and grasslands were reduced by 299.47 sq.km and 155.32 sq.km respectively. The areas of croplands and cropland/natural vegetation mosaics were also increased by 34.84 sq.km and 54.41 sq.km, respectively. These results showed anthropogenic influences through agricultural practices within the NBR buffer zones. The mixed forests were increased by 266.01 sq.km. One of the significant changes was seen in closed shrublands, which were absent in 2018, that covered 1.50 sq.km in 2001. In addition, A gradual decrease in the area were noticed in woody savannas. From the outcomes, it is recommended that the LULC classes that cover minimal area may be unstable, so measures should be taken for their conservation. The study proved the usefulness of MODIS land cover type data in monitoring large areas periodically for quick decision-making.

Ecosystem Changes in Shola Forest-Grassland Mosaic of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBR)

The Shola grasslands are tropical montane forests found in the high altitudes of Western Ghats separated by rolling grasslands. These unique ecosystems act as the home for many of the floral and faunal endemic species and also serve as the water reservoir for the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. The grassland let the rainwater to flow through the sholas into the stream and provide water to the region throughout the year. The region once covered with tropical montane forest and grassland was transformed into a land of plantation over the centuries. As the grasslands are easy to clear off, tea estates, coffee estates and timber plantations were established by the British and later by the Indian forest department to satisfy the various need of the growing economy. Majority of this region are being replaced by the invasive tree species and agricultural plantations. This led to the loss of major proportion of the shola forest and grassland. Many developmental works have been carried out in the region and these developmental activities results in the gradual disappearance of the ecosystem. These ecosystem need to be conserved and hence, identifying the knowledge gap and application of current state of knowledge is necessary.

Plant parasitic nematode communities associated with the crop banana (Musa spp.) at Attappady Tribal hill area, India

Attappady is a region of immense biological importance comes under the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve area of India at Palakkad district. Biodiversity study of this hill area has great importance in conservative science. Except a national range study for nematode fauna of banana (Musa spp.) in Indian banana fields, a detailed survey of this agriculturally and environmentally important area has not reported till now. The diversity analysis of plant parasitic nematodes was done with samples taken from rhizosphere soil and roots of banana at this area. Comparing with the reported nationwide study the present study newly reported the presence of Aphelenchus spp., Dorylaimoides spp., Hoplolaimus spp., Rotylenchulus spp., Tylenchorynchus spp. and Tylenchus spp. from the crop banana other than the already reported one’s such as Helicotylenchus spp., Meloidogyne spp., Pratylenchus spp. and Radopholus spp. The analysis of nematode genera in different banana cultivars such as Musa × paradisiaca L. (AAB) ‘Nendran’, Musa acuminata Colla (AAA) ‘Robusta’, Musa acuminata Colla (AA) ‘Kadali’ and Musa × paradisiaca L. (Mysore AAB) ‘Poovan’ revealed differences in the reaction to attack between genotypes, and that the cultivar ‘Nendran’ was the most susceptible one to plant parasitic nematodes.

APPLICATION OF REMOTE SENSING AND GOOGLE EARTH ENGINE FOR MONITORING ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION IN THE NILGIRI BIOSPHERE RESERVE AND ITS ECOSYSTEM OF WESTERN GHATS, INDIA

Biosphere Reserves are archetypal parts of natural and cultural landscapes encompassing over large area of different ecosystem, it represents bio-geographic zones of an region. Globally, the areas of biosphere reserve is shrinking and exploiting due to the extreme climatic condition, natural calamities and anthropogenic activities, which leads to environmental and land degradation. In this paper Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve (NBSR) area has been selected and it represents a biodiversity-rich ecosystem in the Western Ghats and includes two of the ten biogeographical provinces of India. Amongst the most insubstantial ecosystems in the world, the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve is bearing the substance of climate change evident in increasingly unpredictable rainfall and higher temperatures during recent years. The region was mostly unscathed till two centuries ago, but has witnessed large-scale destruction ever since. In this scenario, a need of application of remote sensing and advance machine learning techniques to monitor environmental degradation and its ecosystem in NBSR is more essential. The objective of the present study is to develop satellite image classification techniques that can reliably to map forest cover and land use, and provide the basis for long-term monitoring. Advanced image classification techniques on the cloud-based platform Google Earth Engine (GEE) for mapping vegetation and land use types, and analyse their spatial distributions. To restore degraded ecosystems to their natural conditions through proper management and conservation practices. In order to understand the nature of environmental degradation and its ecosystem in Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve; following thematic criteria’s were grouped in to four major indicators such as Terrain Indicator (TI), Environmental Indicator (EI), Hydro-Meteorological Indicator (HMI) and Socio-Economic Indicator (SEI). The utilisation of remote sensing product of huge datasets and various data product in analysis and advanced machine learning algorithm through Google earth engine are indispensable. After extraction of all the thematic layers by using multi criteria decision and fuzzy linear member based weight and ranks were assigned and overlay in GIS environment at a common pixel size of 30 m. Based on the analysis the resultant layer has been classified into five environmental degraded classes i.e., very high, high, moderate, slight and no degradation. This study is help to identify the degradation and long term monitoring and suggest the appropriate conservation, management and policies, it is a time to implement and protect the Nilgiri biosphere reserves without hindering present stage of natural environment in a sustainable manner.

A new report on mixed species association between Nilgiri Langurs Semnopithecus johnii and Tufted Grey Langurs S. priam (Primates: Cercopithecidae) in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, Western Ghats, India

Phylogenetic conservatism or rapid anthropogenic habitat modifications could increase the incidences of interspecific associations of Hanuman and Nilgiri langurs (Family: Cercopithecidae, subfamily: Colobinae) in the southern Western Ghats. Opportunistic surveys were conducted at the Silent Valley National Park, Kerala and around Devimalai Ghats, Tamil Nadu for Tufted Grey-Nilgiri Langur association. Based on the observations from Researchers, field assistants, forest staff, and local people, the data in terms of the time of the sighting, number of individuals, phenotypes of individuals, and the time the interaction lasted, were recorded. The study reports data on a troop of Nilgiri Langurs (N=13) around O Valley tea estate at Devimalai Ghat, Gudalur, Tamil Nadu with some hybrid looking individuals and a Tufted female Grey Langur amongst them. A total of six and two uni-male troops of Nilgiri Langurs and grey langurs respectively with Tufted female Grey Langurs, and aberrant coat colored infants observed at the Neelikkal section of Silent Valley National Park are also reported. The study reasonably speculates that there could be more such locations in the southern western ghats and emphasizes the need for more systematic surveys to understand and explore the ecology, behavior, molecular, and other likely factors contributing to the conservation of vulnerable Nilgiri langur (Semnopithecus johnii) populations.