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Use of Xylazine Hydrochloride-Ketamine Hydrochloride for Immobilization of India Fox (Vulpes Bengalensis) In Field Situations
No full textReports on doses of anesthetic agents for safe and effective immobilization of most wild species occurring in India are very limited. Further, the anesthetic agents available in India for field immobilizations are limited to xylazine hydrochloride and ketamine hydrochloride. A safe and effective dosage of xylazine–ketamine for Indian fox (Vulpes bengalensis) is reported, based on 37 wild Indian fox immobilizations between April 2006 and May 2007. Foxes captured for a radiotelemetry and health monitoring study were immobilized with a mixture of xylazine (2.27 ± 0.44 mg/kg) and ketamine (13.39 ± 2.26 mg/kg). Induction and recovery was smooth and uneventful in all foxes. The duration of anesthesia was sufficient for the fitting of radiotransmitters, morphometric measurements, and blood sampling. No life-threatening adverse effects of immobilization were documented for at least 1 mo postimmobilization. The results suggest that field immobilization of Indian foxes with 2 mg/kg xylazine and 13 mg/kg ketamine is effective and safe
Policy and Governance for Sustaining Livelihoods and Natural Resources in Small Farms - A Case Study in Karnataka
No full textSustainable management of natural resources in small scale agriculture is a less debated issue, especially
its governance aspects. Focusing on selected villages where a policy towards sustainable agriculture has
been introduced in Karnataka - a state showing signs of agrarian distress; the paper discusses the governance aspects in natural resources management for small scale farming. Based on focused group discussions with farmers, officials and voluntary workers, the study indicates benefits for small farmers and less developed districts from the emerging policy trend towards sustainable agriculture. We also elicit governance factors responsible for outcomes of such policies. Inclusive design and participatory governance emerge crucial along with efficacy of government officials and completeness in
implementation
Rhododendrons Beyond just beautiful flowers
Get PDFThe alarm went off, as always, at 4 a.m. The first thing I did was to head for the door to check out the day’s weather so I could plan my schedule, which would inevitably be determined by the nature of the clouds.
In Sikkim, a small region in the Eastern Himalaya, everyone’s life had to be adjusted to unpredictable weather. In my case, I quickly discovered that at
high-altitudes, a field researcher had to take advantage of every sunny day, particularly if she was studying
plant-pollinator interaction involving Rhododendrons, possibly the most exquisite flowers on the plane
The scientific value of the largest remaining old-growth red pine forests in North America
No full textOld growth red pine forests (Pinus resinosa) cover less than 1% of their original range in North America and are essential for maintaining biodiversity at stand and landscape scales. Despite this, the largest remaining old-growth red pine forest in the world, the Wolf Lake Forest Reserve, is currently threatened by mining claims in Northern Ontario and has been receiving considerable media and public attention in recent months. We provide a timely review of how large old growth red pine forests maintain biodiversity at several taxonomic levels (with a focus on trees and plants) through heterogeneous partitioning of limiting resources such as light and nitrogen, formation of complex habitats through increased accumulation of coarse woody debris, and the maintenance of natural disturbance-driven succession. These processes shape the overstory community, allowing for the regeneration of pines, coexistence of early-mid successional shade intolerant species and cross-ecotonal establishment of late successional tree species in response to regional warming over the past three decades. Using Wolf Lake as a case study, we review legislation and policy complexities around this issue and provide scientific arguments for the preservation of this forest. We invoke recent insights into the ecological role of refugia, the development of criteria for assessing endangered ecosystems, and the challenges of conservation in the face of climate change and disturbance regimes. These forests are ecologically important and provide a scientifically irreplaceable system for assessing baseline ecosystem function, processes and services. As the largest remaining old-growth red pine forest in the world, Wolf Lake Forest Reserve deserves intensive study, monitoring and full protection from future development
Distribution and ecology of the genus Murdannia Royle (Commelinaceae) in South India
Get PDFThe genus Murdannia Royle (Commelinaceae) represents 21 authorised species in South India. The distribution and ecology of the genus in South India has been analysed. The analysis showed that the habitat preference as laterite substrate (43%), grassland (29%), marshes (14%) and rocky substratum (9% each) and streamsides (5%).
The altitudinal preference indicates that 38% of Murdannia species found in 700 – 1000m MSL, 28% in 1-70 m MSL, 19% in 40 – 700 m MSL and 5% each in 1000 – 1200 m
MSL, 1 – 1000 m MSL and 70 – 1000 m MSL. The population density of the species indicates that 62% Murdannia species belongs to rare category, 24% belongs to common
category and 14% belongs to vulnerable category. Among this, 81% of species prefers exposed conditions and 19% prefers shade. It is concluded that the speciation and
diversification of the genus Murdannia in South India strongly correlates with altitude and climatic conditions
Bioefficacy of Metarhizium anisopliae isolates against teak skeletoniser Paliga machoeralis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae).
No full textPaliga machoeralis is the most malicious pest of teak responsible for epidemic defoliation of trees in plantations and natural forests. Metarhizium spp. have been a long standing model for biological control reported to have great potential for the management of over 200 insect species. The present study was conducted to evaluate the virulence of M. anisopliae isolates against P. machoeralis in the laboratory. Bioassay of 25 isolates of M. anisopliae was carried out using inoculum concentrations ranging from 103-108 conidia ml-1. The dose-mortality and time-dose-mortality responses for these isolates were determined. Median lethal dose concentration (LC50) values of isolates ranged from 0.11 × 105 to 3417.65 × 105 conidia ml-1. Among the 25 isolates, MIS2, MIS7, MIS1 and MIS3 were found to be more effective with lower LC50 values. MIS2 was the most effective isolate with lowest LC50 (0.11 × 105 conidia ml-1) followed by MIS7 (0.15 × 105 conidia ml-1). Lowest median lethal time (LT50) of 3.4 days was also recorded for MIS2 followed by MIS7 (3.7 days), MIS1 (4.3 days) and MIS3 (4.9 days) at spore load of 10 7 conidia ml-1. With respect to LC50 and LT50, MIS2 proved to be superior over other isolates. The results indicate prospects of isolates MIS2 and MIS7 in developing biopesticide formulation for management of teak skeletoniser
Climate vulnerability and adaptation of water provisioning in developing countries: approaches to disciplinary and research-practice integration
No full textDeveloping countries are faced with the dual challenge of
adapting to climate change even as current water needs remain unmet. We review the literature specifically on water provisioning in this context to see what insights can be derived for achieving better integration across disciplinary and research-practice divides. We identify several disconnects in the climate-vulnerability literature: scale mismatches, missing linkages, multiple stressors and concerns, concepts emerging from different intellectual traditions, and inattention to stakeholder priorities. Recent work attempts to overcome some of these challenges. At the conceptual level, the coupled
human–environment systems (CHES) framework forces
analysts to address scale mismatches and multiple stressors, although given its breadth, applications of CHES still tend to follow disciplinary divides. At the methodological level, participatory/mediated modelling forces attention to stakeholder priorities while historical/comparative methods provide an empirical assessment of long-term adaptation not just short-term reactive strategies. In conclusion, we suggest ways of further integrating the strengths of these approaches in
the context of water provisioning in developing countries
Developing predictive insight into changing water systems: use-inspired hydrologic science for the Anthropocene
Get PDFGlobally, many different kinds of water resources management issues call for policy- and infrastructure-based responses. Yet responsible decision-making about water resources management raises a fundamental challenge for hydrologists: making predictions about water resources on decadal - to century-long timescales. Obtaining insight into hydrologic futures over 100 yr timescales forces researchers to address internal and exogenous changes in the properties of hydrologic systems. To do this, new hydrologic research must identify, describe and model feedbacks between water
and other changing, coupled environmental subsystems.
These models must be constrained to yield useful insights, despite the many likely sources of uncertainty in their predictions. Chief among these uncertainties are the impacts of the increasing role of human intervention in the global water cycle – a defining challenge for hydrology in the Anthropocene. Here we present a research agenda that proposes a suite of strategies to address these challenges from the perspectives of hydrologic science research. The research agenda focuses on the development of co-evolutionary hydrologic modeling to explore coupling across systems, and to address the implications of this coupling on the long-time behavior
of the coupled systems. Three research directions supportthe development of these models: hydrologic reconstruction, comparative hydrology and model-data learning. These strategies focus on understanding hydrologic processes and feedbacks over long timescales, across many locations, and through strategic coupling of observational and model data in specific systems. We highlight the value of use-inspired and team-based science that is motivated by real-world hydrologic problems but targets improvements in fundamental understanding to support decision-making and management.
Fully realizing the potential of this approach will ultimately require detailed integration of social science and physical science understanding of water systems, and is a priority for the developing field of sociohydrology
Village Commons, Livelihoods and Governance: An Assessment of Karnataka’s Experience
No full textOver the past several decades, researchers have argued that common property land resources (CPLRs) are important because of the high dependence of rural households on them, the particularly high dependence of the poor among them. CPLRs act as sources of fuelwood and fodder and other products that are critical to rural livelihoods and as safety nets during times of agricultural stress. Moreover, they also are sources of other environmental services to the local and global economy. Some of the pioneering studies on CPLR dependence and effects of CPLR loss have come from Jodha’s work across several states in India (Jodha 1990 , 1987 , 1986 ). These have been followed by more studies at state or regional scales (Iyengar 1989 ; Nadkarni 1990 ; Beck and Nesmith 2001 ; Beck and Ghosh 2000 ) and more recently again at the national scale using data from the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) (Chopra and Dasgupta 2008 ; Menon and Vadivelu 2006 ). Most of these studies focus on the question of economic dependence, within the framework of
poverty alleviation, arguing that if CPLRs turn out to be economically important for the poor, then they should be maintained as such
A warning to tropical mountains
Get PDFNatural vegetation in different parts of the world, whether it is on the high mountains, tropical rain forests or deserts, has evolved in a particular climate with specific precipitation and temperature characteristics. There have been major changes in climate at timescales of tens of thousands of years in some regions due to glaciation and
deglaciation cycles. However, climate characteristics often remain relatively stable for over several thousands of years, enabling distinctive vegetation types to evolve and maintain itself. Major changes in climate over shorter periods of time can thus have major impacts on the vegetation and all other biodiversity that exist in specific biomes or regions