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Research
ATREE is participating in a research programme that examines
the relationship between livelihoods and land health in forested
landscapes that have undergone land-use change. What is
exciting about this research is that it is committed to long term
ecological and socio-economic study across cultures, institution
types and governance styles, and it will combine village-level
data snapshots with a zoom-out view of the issue in comparable
sites across the world. This research is the Sentinel Landscapes
Framework Assessment. It was conceptualized by the Center for
International Forestry Research (CIFOR).
A sentinel landscape is a geographic area that is bound by a
common issue in which a broad range of biophysical, social,
economic and political data are monitored over a long period
of time. In this case, the sentinel landscapes being studied are
spread across the tropical belt: Borneo–Sumatra, the humid
tropics of Central Africa, Mekong, Nicaragua–Honduras, West
Africa, and Western Ghats in peninsular India. All six sites are
biodiversity hotspots-areas of high biodiversity under threat
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because of human activity. All six sites
are a mix of agricultural and forested
landscapes, or closely associated with
forests.
India, with its poverty and vast rural
populace, needs policies that are
informed by an understanding of
the land and how people use it. This
research will show how the land that
has been subject to use-change,
degradation and urbanization has
evolved, and the resulting curve
that socio-economic or livelihood
parameters have followed. It will also
look at how human practices, policies
and behaviour, especially related to
household income, affect the ecology
of the site over time. This kind of
long-term data and monitoring are
essential for addressing development
and resource sustainability. They
will also give scientists a much needed
perspective on the links
between biophysical processes-for
instance, those resulting from shifting
cultivation, or pesticide use, or cropping
patterns-to human reactions and an
understanding of the impacts of those
reactions on ecosystems.
The Sentinel Landscapes study is
a global experiment and its design
requires adherence to rigorous
methodology, collaborative effort
and communication across the
sites being studied. The baseline
sampling methodology used by
this programme consists of Land
Degradation Surveillance Framework
and village level baselines and
household surveys. ATREE is
conducting the village and household
level surveys. The team has identified
representative sites that fulfill the site
selection requirements in Kodagu,
Chamarajnagar, Nilgiris and Wayanad.
To make sure that methodology
protocols percolate to field staff,
ATREE held a four-day orientation
workshop on data collection methods
in June. The training was supported
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by International Forestry Resources
and Institutions (IFRI) and conducted
by Rahul Chaturvedi and Pratiti
Priyadarshini of Foundation for
Ecological Security (FES). Ten staff
participated.
The Sentinel landscape programme
has been funded by Consultative
Group on International Agricultural
Research (CGIAR), through the Center
for International Forestry Research
(CIFOR), to study sustainable
management of forests across 12
global sites, including the one in the
Western Ghats. It is led by Centre
de Coopération Internationale
en Recherche Agronomique pour
le Développement (CIRAD) and
its partners. The Western Ghats
component is a collaborative effort
between ATREE, World Agroforestry
Centre and CIRAD.
Siddappa Setty, Forests and Governance
programme
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Why do the blackbucks stray?
Historically, blackbuck ranged
extensively in the grasslands of
Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts
of southern Tamil Nadu. In recent
times, land acquisition for various
developmental activities and
urbanization has shrunk their
distribution to a small hill, 16km
east of Tirunelveli. This isolated hill,
covered with dense, thorny scrub,
has been declared the Vallanadu
Blackbuck Sanctuary, and is one of
the five reserves for the endangered
blackbuck in Tamil Nadu. However,
blackbucks are animals of plains and
flatlands and so they frequently drift
from the sanctuary into the preferred
open flat outside the reserve. Here,
they come in conflict with quarries,
industries, and residential layouts that
are encroaching on the grasslands
rapidly.
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In pursuit of Bulbophyllum penicillium
After Sir George King and Robert
Pantling's monumental work, 'The
Orchids of the Sikkim-Himalayas',
published in the year 1898, there have
been several publications on orchids
by various authors. A number of
research works shared descriptions and
study details of a particular species,
Bulbophyllum penicillium, C. S. P Parish
& Rchb.f. However, no photographs
were made available by any of the other
authors, which probably meant that
this plant was not located by anyone in
the wild.
Sir George King and Robert Pantling had
mentioned August and September as its
blooming time. The same was noted by
all the other authors who wrote about
this species. After a lot of effort I located
a few plants from the region. I visited the
plant several times during the months of
June, July and August thinking it would
bloom in those months. However, no
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flowers appeared. Then I realized that
the blooming time mentioned by Sir
George King and Robert Pantling could
be wrong and the researchers who
followed may have been repeating the
mistake. So, I decided to observe the
plant throughout the year and visit the
sites every ten days.
After a long wait, the racemes started
appearing in the month of November,
and finally it bloomed after the winter,
in the first week of March. Later, I got
another confirmation from Meghalaya;
there too the species bloomed in the
month of March, thus leading me to
conclude that a mistake had cropped
up in the monumental work of King and
Pantling. The most interesting fact is
that a number of eminent researchers
restated the 'mistake' by mentioning the
flowering time as August-September in
their publications. This incident proves
the need to study each and every species
in their natural habitat before bringing
out publications.
http://naresh.org.in/blog/bulbophyllum-penicillium-c-s-p-parishrchb-f/
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ATREE's Agasthyamalai Communitybased
Conservation Centre (ACCC)
was invited by the Tamil Nadu Forest
Department to provide inputs for the
management plan of the Vallanadu
Blackbuck Sanctuary and also see how
water resources can be augmented
to sustain the blackbuck population
inside the sanctuary. ATREE did detailed
surveys on herbivore and carnivore
distribution, mapped existing water
structures and enumerated available
water sources around the sanctuary. We
recorded presence of several mammal
species, including the pangolin, Madras
hedgehog, fox, spotted deer, sambar
and blackbuck, besides a large resident
population of feral cattle, goats and
small packs of free ranging dogs.
Blackbucks were recorded moving
around in the vast stretches of open
fallows adjoining the sanctuary, in
search of forage and water.
Water is scarce here due to poor
rainfall, and there are no perennial
sources in the reserve. ATREE has
suggested maintaining existing water
structures, of which there are plenty,
instead of developing new ones in an
arid area where the creation of artificial
water troughs and ponds could lead
to a drastic change in the native flora
and fauna. Developments around
the sanctuary may be in violation of
environmental rules and regulations:
there is a fireworks storage unit, quarry
and a residential layout adjacent to
the sanctuary boundary. Apart from an
unsuitable habitat competition with
feral cattle for fodder, water and space
makes the blackbuck population inside
the reserve very vulnerable.
The Agasthyamalai Community-based
Conservation Centre suggests that the
Forest Department work closely with
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the landowners and pastoralists who
use the fallow for grazing hundreds of
livestock, to develop a working model
that facilitates use of the land by both
blackbucks and livestock. Though there
is hope, the rapid land-use change and
the high stakes involved with such
changes leaves us with mixed feelings.
M. B. Prashanth and M. Mathivanan,
Tirunelveli
Funding and research
partnerships: Norwegian
Ambassador at ATREE
ATREE received a grant of Rs. 14
crores from the Royal Norwegian
Embassy (RNE) for work on climate
change, biodiversity conservation, and
environmental governance and policies.
His Excellency, Eivind S. Homme visited
the ATREE Bangalore office on April 29
to formally inaugurate the RNE-ATREE
partnership. He was accompanied
by Ms. Signe G. Gilen, Counsellor
and Head of Cooperation, RNE, New
Delhi; Ms. Marianne Jensen, Science
and Technology Counsellor, RNE; and
Advisor, Suresh Mathevan.
The ambassador congratulated ATREE
on its ability to attract young talent
to study environmental sciences
and pursue it as a career option. An
accompanying group of researchers
from the Norwegian University of Life
Sciences (UMB), Norwegian Institute
for Nature Research – NINA, and
Natural History Museum, University of
Oslo spent time with ATREE scientists
to explore options for collaboration.
The cooperation is expected to
strengthen ATREE's doctoral programme,
which seeks to build human resources
in Sustainability Science. It will also
enable faculty and student exchanges
between Norwegian research institutes
and ATREE.
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Outreach
Helping farmers rethink water
The Adapting to Climate Change in
Urbanizing Watersheds (ACCUWa)
project seeks to understand how
multiple stressors like climate change,
population growth and urbanization
will impact water users. The research
is being conducted in consultation
with a range of stakeholders, including
farmers. The research team wanted to
share preliminary findings as well as
involve the communities in ongoing
participatory research. So, in its second
year of research, it launched the
'Arkavathy Water Literacy Campaign'.
The water literacy team shares scientific
information and useful knowledge
about policies and institutions with
rural communities. The potential of
such an exchange might be illustrated
in this example: The Arkavathy River
has dried up. When asked why the river
has gone dry, we found that farmers
typically blamed the lack of rain.
However, rainfall data over the years
do not support this. By presenting
the data, the water literacy team was
able to challenge the perception of
'no rain=dry river'. More importantly,
the team was then able to direct the
discussion to other potential reasons
for the drying of the river, which have not
been acknowledged: like ground water
extraction, eucalyptus plantations and
unplanned urbanization, and to also
talk about possible solutions.
Campaign team members, Janardhana
Kesaragadde and G. Manjunatha
have made presentations in dozens
of small farmer meetings in the
Tippagondanahalli (TG Halli) catchment
of the Arkavathy basin, where they also
recruited participants into the team's
participatory hydrologic monitoring
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efforts. They have also made water
literacy presentations in several colleges
in the catchment to recruit young
volunteers for conducting stream and
land use surveys, and a comprehensive
well census. Through their efforts,
the team obtained permission to
install Community Automatic Weather
Stations (AWS) at Hadonahalli and
SM Golahalli villages in collaboration
with the local Gram Panchayats. These
weather stations were inaugurated with
much fanfare and music by the group
Bhoomi Tayo Balaga. Devanahalli MLA,
Mr. Pillamunishamappa, who
inaugurated the Hadonahalli AWS,
called for more such efforts that could
help farmers understand what is
happening to their water.
As part of this outreach effort,
ACCUWa project Principal Investigator,
Dr. Sharad Lele, Senior Fellow,
ATREE appeared in an interview on
Doordarshan TV (Kannada channel)
on 11 May 2014.
The outreach activities are beginning
to generate interest. Several farmers
have come forward to install soil
moisture sensors on their land and are
becoming involved in the groundwater
monitoring effort.
Veena Srinivasan, Land, Water,
Livelihoods programme
Orienting research to inform
policy on ecosystem services
ATREE organized a workshop, sponsored
by the South Asian Network for
Development and Environmental
Economics (SANDEE), to identify
knowledge gaps on ecosystem services
in the South Asian context, on 14
and 15 April. The multi-disciplinary
group of thirty participants was from
India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, USA and
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Singapore, representing the Ministry
of Environment and Forests, India;
SANDEE; College of Natural Resources,
Royal University of Bhutan; Wetlands
International; ICIMOD; GTZ; Azim Premji
University; NCBS; NIAS; WWF; and, the
Institute of Economic Growth.
Ecosystem services-that is, services
derived from nature- are not seriously
recognized in official discourse.
National strategies on climate change
and water are yet to incorporate the
latest thinking and concepts related to
ecosystem services. Land-use change
is still not perceived as a threat to
biodiversity and ecosystem health.
Emerging challenges, such as the
crisis in agriculture and water sectors,
with implications for inter-region
water sharing, and the rapid change
in coastal landscapes decreasing
our resilience to climatic changes,
could benefit from an articulation of
the scientific underpinning so that
ecosystem services may be managed
for sustainable development.
The participants tried to identify policy
gaps in the economics of ecosystem
services, evolve a research agenda
for the next five years to address
these gaps, and explore possibilities
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for interdisciplinary research. They
deliberated on what specific ecosystem
services (and disservices) researchers
should focus on based on policy
priorities/demand; the political,
economic and scientific questions
that need to be addressed to better
manage these specific services,
the methodological challenges
in examining the contributions of
these services to human welfare,
and identified services that might be
more practically examined by multidisciplinary
teams.
Fellowships for Environmental
Communication
The Forum of Environmental
Journalists in India (FEJI), whose aim
is to train, motivate and sensitize
journalists to cover environment
and development issues in daily
reporting, approached ATREE for a
media fellowship programme on
environmental reporting late last year.
ATREE has been keen to put itself in
a place where it can add depth to
development reporting as part and
parcel of environmental reporting. This
was a good opportunity.
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Three journalists were selected:
Ananda Banerjee of Live Mint, New
Delhi, who elected to write on less
charismatic species; Atul Kumar,
Hindustan (HT Hindi), New Delhi, who
would pursue issues on groundwater;
and Amit Upadhye, Deccan Chronicle,
Bangalore, who would research and
report on the status of wetlands. The
plan was for the journalists to spend
the first quarter of 2014 travelling,
studying and writing on the selected
themes and their complexities
in conservation today. Several
articles that have resulted from this
partnership have been published and
are accessible on the FEJI website, or
the Press page in the ATREE website:
wolves of the wasteland, dholes, lakes
in Bangalore, Vembanad Lake, and on
groundwater use and agriculture and
water and pollution.
On top of the earth
The Eastern Himalayan region has
been identified as one of 32 global
biodiversity 'hotspots'. Despite the
region being relatively well explored,
forest canopies here have remained an
unexplored domain.
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To fill this gap, ATREE and Makaibari
Tea Estate organized a two-day training
workshop to popularize tree climbing
in the region. The workshop was
organized at Makaibari Tea Estate on
20-21 May 2014. The objective was to
train community forest rangers, nature
guides and tourism entrepreneurs in
tree climbing and to popularize tree/
canopy climbing so that these skills
might be used for monitoring or for
organizing adventure activities for
tourists. Fifteen individuals, including
researchers, community rangers, nature
guides, community-based tourism
entrepreneurs and people from
Darjeeling and Sikkim participated.
The training was organized by
Soubadra Devy, pioneer of canopy
research in India, and coordinated
by the ATREE Eastern Himalayas
Programme office and Mr. Rajah
Banerjee, owner of Makaibari TE.
The training was imparted by Chia
from ATREE, Tamil Nadu and research
scholar Urbashi Pradhan, both trained
in tree climbing. Speaking on the
occasion, Dr. Sarala Khaling, Regional
Director, ATREE Eastern Himalaya
office, and Dr. Soubadra Devy said
that this initiative was part of a 'citizen
naturalist' programme. They explained
that the objective was not just to
provide training in tree climbing, but
to make folks aware of the immense
biodiversity and natural wealth of the
region.
Participants showed great interest
in tree climbing and have requested
ATREE to organize more focused,
longer duration climbing workshops
in the future. ATREE is hopeful that
such training will lead to more
people becoming interested in tree
climbing, biodiversity conservation
and spreading awareness about the
environment in their communities.
Urbashi Pradhan, PhD, 2009 batch
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Vembanad Fish Count 2014
The seventh edition of the Vembanad
Fish Count yielded 57 species-an
increase from last year's count of 42.
However, experts at ATREE suggest
that an increase in species numbers
does not necessarily point to an
improvement in ecosystem health.
Though there has been an overall
increase in species numbers, for
example from 60 to 67 over 2008 to
2011, 28 fish species encountered in
the 1980s seem to have disappeared.
86% of these missing species are
marine migrants, leading researchers
to surmise that the Thaneermukkom
barrage, and the presence of invasive
species might be responsible for this
selective decline. A comparison of data
from 1985-89 shows migratory species
dominating at 56%, now reversed with
resident species dominant at 69%
of the composition. This has direct
impacts on the livelihoods of the
fishers, since the migrant species had a
higher fishery value than the resident
freshwater species.
This year's catch has forty two finfish,
twelve crustaceans and three mollusc
species. Two rare species were found:
Angailla bicolor (an eel species)
and Channa diplogramma (Malabar
snakehead). The survey also reported
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many juvenile of pearl spot (Etroplus
suratensis), although the current
harvesting of pearl spot and freshwater
prawns was seen to be unsustainable,
and an increase in yellow cat fish
(Horabagrus brachysoma) and other
indigenous species. The survey team
surmised that the increase in pearl
spot and other species might be due to
timely operation of Thannermukkom
Barrage. But fisherfolk reiterated their
concern over the manipulation of the
Barrage: they suggested that if the
barrage could be opened earlier in
the year (in March instead of July), the
sea's flushing action would improve
ecological parameters of the lake,
its biodiversity and productivity of
the system. But then what are the
implications for rice cultivation in this
Kuttanad bowl below sea level?
This time's count was held on 29 and
30 May at Alappuzha. The first day
was devoted to orientation for fish
sampling and census and collecting
water quality data. Volunteers were
equipped with field guide to fishes
of Vembanad, checklists and water
quality monitoring kits. Hundred
and ten volunteers consisting
of local residents, fisher-folk,
environmentalists, ATREEans, college
and school students from within Kerala
and outside participated.
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The Vembanad fish count is a
regular calendar event for the ATREE
Community Environmental Resource
Centre (CERC) and its supporting
partners, Kerala University of Fisheries
and Ocean studies (KUFOS), Kochi,
Vembanad Nature Club, Federation
of Lake Protection Forums around
Vembanad Lake, RARS Kumarakom,
Conservation Research Group, Kerala,
St. Albert's College, Kochi, Kerala State
Biodiversity Board, and CGH group. Prof
Madhusoodana Kurup, Vice Chancellor,
KUFOS summed up the reasons for
the decline in fishery production in
Vembanad Lake in a valedictory after
the count. The captains from each
cruise presented their findings and
insights from the fish count. Building
up a long term data base of even
subtle changes in the ecosystem will
help in the management of this unique
ecosystem.
Jojo T. D., Community Environmental
Resource Centre, Vembanad
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'Raise your voice, not the sea
level'
'Raise your voice, not the sea level' was
the slogan for 41st World Environment
Day celebrated at Vembanad on 5 June
2014. ATREE initiated the environment
day celebrations by planting mangrove
saplings on the banks of Vembanad
Lake in Varanam Panchayat.
Jojo T. D., Community Environmental
Resource Centre, Vembanad
Jalapaadom teacher orientation
workshop
The teacher-training workshop of
the Jalapaadom programme for
the academic year 2014-2015
was held at ATREE, Alappuzha on
24 June 2014. The teachers were
introduced to the India Biodiversity
Portal (IBP), thanks to Dr. R. Prabhakar
(chief architect of the IBP, which is
an open, collaborative platform for
biodiversity information of India) and
his colleague, Dr. Thomas Vattakkaven.
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Dr. Vattekkaven introduced the portal
and demonstrated how teachers and
children could upload information on
biodiversity siting on the portal. The
CERC team, distributed field guides
of plants, reptiles, amphibians, birds
and butterflies to aid identification of
common species.
The teachers, along with the CERC team,
identified eight schools that would
participate in the intensive Bioblitz
programme. This year's workshops
would be on research methodologies;
paper and plastic reuse; also a
nature camp in SELECTED wildlife
sanctuaries/reserve forests in Kerala,
besides the routine programmes for
Jalapaadom in schools.
Thirty-one teachers from twentyfive
schools and three colleges of
Alappuzha and Kottayam districts
participated in the workshop.
Jojo T. D., Community Environmental
Resource Centre, Vembanad
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New
Recognitions
ATREE President, Professor Kamal
Bawa was honoured by the University
of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada on April
10, when he received an Honorary
Doctor of Science Degree from
the University, and delivered the
convocation address to graduates in
science and engineering.
Sharachchandra Lele has been elected
President of the Indian Society for
Ecological Economics (INSEE) for
the years 2014-16. Sharad is also a
founder-member of INSEE and has
served on its Executive Committee for
six years in various capacities. Sharad
Lele was also on the Syllabus Drafting
Committee for Environmental Studies,
Nalanda University.
Jagdish Krishnaswamy, Senior Fellow,
ATREE and Seema Purushothaman,
ATREE Adjunct faculty, have been
elected Executive Committee
Members, INSEE.
Nitin Rai, Fellow and Convenor,
Academy for Conservation Science
and Sustainability Studies has been
invited to serve on International Union
of Forest Research Organizations-
lUFRO's Global Forest Expert Panel on
Forests and Food Security.
Student achievements
Vikram Aditya, PhD batch of 2011 has
been selected for the Conservation
Leadership Programme award for
work on 'Effect of landscape change
on mammals in Eastern Ghats, India'.
As part of this grant, he attended the
CLP Conservation Management and
Leadership Training Workshop at
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the Barrier Lake Field Station of the
University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
in June-July for two weeks.
Rahul Muralidharan, PhD batch of
2013, has been selected as a Duke
Global Fellow in Marine Conservation
for 2014. Rahul will work on
interdisciplinary fundamentals of
marine conservation biology and
policy when he attends the Duke
University Marine Laboratory's 2014
summer session in July-August.
Madhuri Ramesh, batch of 2011, got a
Rufford small grant for her PhD work on
'Marine turtle conservation in Odisha,
India: to demarcate or diversify?'
Ronita Mukherjee, also of the 2011
batch, is partially funded by a Rufford
grant for her work on 'Assessing the
scope for pollinator-friendly agriculture
in the peri-urban landscape of
Bangalore, India'. She also attended
the Winter School in Environment
and Resource Economics, Kathmandu,
Nepal, 4-13 March 2014.
Grants
DST will fund T. Ganesh and N. A.
Aravind for their project, 'Tracking
migrant harriers across space and time:
understanding migration patterns and
identifying key habitats'.
People
Chandrima Ningombam has joined as
Senior Research Fellow on the project
on 'Biotechnological interventions for
utilization and conservation of forest
resources' funded by DBT, GoI. Dr Zahoor
Pir, Niarah Bhatt and Arif Hussain have
been taken on as consultants on the
Dal lake project in Srinagar. Parvathy
Menon, Dhavamani and Rahul S. Varier
join the IDRC team in Coimbatore as
Research Assistants; with Malavika
Gopinath as consultant to the team
in Bangalore;
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and John, Vivek M. and Vijayalakshmi in Coimbatore. Shahid
Saiyed is consultant on the RAMBLE
project, Bangalore. Badush A. joins as
Research Assistant in Alappuzha. The
new Sentinel Landscape project has
five consultants: Kishan B., Harisha K.,
Arshiya Bose, Hari Prakash J. R. and
Megha Rao. Srinidhi, with CEFIPRA,
Bangalore.
Publications
Book chapters
George, A. M. and Jojo T. D. 2014.
Integrated approach for sustainable
tourism in Vembanad Lake: a way
forward. In: Environment and Tourism
and Development: International
Perspectives (ed B. Vijayakumar).
pp305-310. Trivandrum: Kerala
Institute for Tourism and Travel Studies.
Shivanna, K. R. 2014. Reproductive
assurance through autogamy in some
annual weed species. In: Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences,
India Section B: Biological Sciences
84(3):681–687.
Peer reviewed articles
Aravind, N. A., R. R. Sarma, M. Munsi
and S. Sen. 2014. In search of Corilla
anax (Corillidae), rare and endemic land
mollusc of the Western Ghats. Tentacle
22: 7-9.
Das, S., B. Behera and A. Mishra. 2014.
Factors affecting household perception
of wetland biodiversity conservation
in West Bengal, India. International
Journal of Ecological Economics and
Statistics 34 (3).
David, P., R. Manakandan, T. Ganesh.
2015. Frugivory and seed dispersal
by birds and mammals in the coastal
tropical dry evergreen forests of
southern India: a review. Tropical
Ecology 56(1): 41-55.
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Gopal, D. and H. Nagendra. 2014.
Vegetation in Bangalore's slums:
boosting livelihoods, well-being and
social capital. Sustainability 6: 2459-
2473.
Gururaja, K. V., K. P. Dinesh, H. Priti
and G. Ravikanth. 2014. Mud-packing
frog: a novel breeding behaviour and
parental care in a stream dwelling new
species of Nyctibatrachus (Amphibia,
Anura, Nyctibatrachidae). Zootaxa
3796 (1): 033–061.
Ismail, S. A., J. Ghazoul, G. Ravikanth,
C. G. Kushalappa, R. Uma Shaanker,
and C. J. Kettle. 2014. Fragmentation
genetics of Vateria indica: implications
for management of forest genetic
resources of an endemic Dipterocarp.
Conservation Genetics doi: 10.1007/
s10592-013-0559-7
Ismail, S. A., J. Ghazoul, G. Ravikanth,
C. G. Kushalappa, R. Uma Shaanker, and
C. J. Kettle. 2014. Forest trees in human
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modified landscapes: ecological and
genetic drivers of recruitment failure
in Dysoxylum malabaricum (Meliaceae).
PLoS ONE 9(2): e89437
Kannan, R., C. M. Shackleton and
R. Uma Shaanker. 2014. Invasive
alien species as drivers in socioecological
systems: local adaptations
towards use of Lantana in Southern
India. Environment, Development and
Sustainability 16:649–669.
N. Sapna Bai, O. K. Remadevi, T. O.
Sasidharan, M. Balachander and
P. Dharmarajan. 2012. Cuticle
degrading enzyme production by some
isolates of the entomopathogenic
fungus, Metarhizium anisopliae
(Metsch.). Journal of Bio-Science 20:
25-32. (Note: Though this paper was
submitted in 2012 and shows that
year as the year of publication, it was
published in 2014.)
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Nagendra, H., and E. Ostrom. 2014.
Applying the social-ecological system
framework to the diagnosis of urban
lake commons in Bangalore, India.
Ecology and Society 19(2): 67.
Savitha M., Jojo T. D. and G. Kuriakose.
2014. Interspecific interaction between
Cryptocoryne sp. and Etroplus suratensis
B. (Pearl Spot) in the estuarine ecosystem
of Vembanad Lake in central Kerala.
Heartian Journal of Pure and Applied
Sciences 3(1): 90-98.
Senthilkumar, U., R. K. Choudhary,
M. Sanjappa, D. Narasimhan, R. Uma
Shaanker and G. Ravikanth. 2014.
Livelihood and revenue: role of rattans
among mongoloid tribes and settlers
of Andaman and Nicobar islands, India.
Ethnobotany Research and Applications
12:141-154.
Smitha, S. G., T. O. Sasidharan, O. K.
Remadevi and J. Bhattachaya. 2013.
Microsporidian infection in wild and
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captive-bred populations of butterflies
in South India. Biosystematica 6(2): 39-45.
Ticktin, T., R. Ganesan, P. Mallegowda
and S. Setty. 2014. Disentangling,
again, the drivers of population
decline for two harvested species: a
response to Prasad et al. 2014. Journal
of Applied Ecology doi: 10.1111/1365-
2664.12249.
Popular press
Jesudasan, A. and T. Ganesh.
Investment trick. Down to Earth.
31 May 2014.
Harisha, R. P. Crunchy, juicy devil's
backbone. Down to Earth. June 2014.
Priti Gururaj. Relic forest, tadpoles and
foot-flagging frogs. Sanctuary. June
2014.
Reports
Five-year assessment of the CEPF
investment in the Western Ghats
region of the Western Ghats and Sri
Lanka biodiversity hotspot: a special
report. Report available at http://www.
atree.org/publications/reports
Papers presented
Gururaj, P. Poster presentation, 'Effects
of habitat fragmentation on stream
dwelling frogs from Central Western
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Ghats'. Michigan Complexity Mini
Conference (MCMC), University of
Michigan. 9 May 2014.
Lele, S. What does it mean to 'adapt' to
CC? Some thoughts from an ongoing
study in southern India. International
workshop on 'How (well) are we
adapting to the water-related impacts
of climate change?' Organized by
Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate
Change, University of Waterloo.
Waterloo, Canada. 19-20 June 2014.
Talks
Ravikanth, G. 'Why conserve genetic
resources' and 'DNA barcoding'. At
workshop on Himalayan Biodiversity
and Bio-resources: Mapping, Utilization
and Conservation. Department of
Botany, University of Kashmir, Srinagar.
8-10 May 2014.
Ravikanth, G. New genomic resources
to understand genetic diversity and
promote crop improvement of jackfruit
(Artocarpus heterophyllus), breadfruit
(A. altilis), and other under-utilized
Artocarpus crops. International
symposium on 'Jackfruit and breadfruit
of the tropics'. 15-16 May 2014.
University of Agricultural Sciences,
Bangalore.
Lele, S. Climate change and water:
Preliminary insights from urbanizing
basins in India. International
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Development Research Centre (IDRC).
23 June 2014, Ottawa, Canada
Invited lectures
Lele, S. Understanding Indian forestry
in the context of Godavarman, Forest
Rights Act and REDD+. Department
of Environmental Science, Bangalore
University. 4 April 2014.
Lele, S. Forests, environment and
people: from human rights to democratic
governance. Tata Institute for Social
Sciences, training programme for
Indian Forest Service probationers. 2
May 2014.
Lele, S. 'Participation, resource rights
and governance' and 'Interdisciplinary
analysis of the environment'. Thor
Heyerdahl Summer School on the
Green Economy, University of Life
Sciences (Noragric), Norway. 25-26
June 2014.
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Governing Board
Dr. Kamaljit S. Bawa (Chairman)
Dr. K. N. Ganeshaiah
Dr. R. Uma Shaanker
Mr. Darshan Shankar
Ms. Rohini Nilekani
Dr. Surinder M. Sehgal
Ms. Seema Paul
Ms. Pheroza J. Godrej
Dr. K. S. Jagadish
Mr. A. N. Singh
Dr. S. Natesh
Dr. Ganesan Balachander( ex-officio)
Dr. Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan
( faculty)
Executive Committee
Dr. Ganesan Balachander ( Chair)
Dr. Ankila Hiremath ( Faculty representative)
Dr. Abi Tamim Vanak ( Faculty representative)
Dr. Sharachchandra Lele ( ex officio)
Dr. Jagdish Krishnaswamy ( ex officio)
Dr. Nitin Rai ( ex officio) |
Advisory Board
Pl note: * will also serve on the Faculty Advisory Committee
* Dr. Vijay Raghavan, Director, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru
Dr. Raghavendra Gadagkar, INSA SN Bose Research Professor and JC Bose National Fellow, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Bengaluru
* Dr. Amita Baviskar, Associate Professor, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi
* Dr. Navroz K. Dubash, Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi
* Dr. Gita Sen, Professor, Centre for Public Policy, Indian Institute of Management, Bengaluru
Mr. Raj Khoshoo, Senior Vice President, Siemens PLM, CA, USA
Ms. Kalpana Sharma, independent journalist, Mumbai
Dr. Ravi Chopra, Director, People's Science Institute, Dehradun, Uttarakhand
* Dr. S. P. Singh, Former Vice Chancellor, Advisor, State Planning Commission, Government of Uttarakhand, Dehradun, Uttarakhand
Dr. Ramesh Singh, Director, Learning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Office of the Director of Programs, Open Society Institute, New York
Convenors and Programme Leaders
Dr. Jagdish Krishnaswamy,
Ecosystem Services and Human Well-being and Convenor, Suri Sehgal Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation
Dr. Sharachchandra Lele,
Forests and Governance and Convenor, Centre for Environment and Development
Dr. Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan and Dr. Ankila Hiremath,
Ecosystems and Global Change
Dr. Shrinivas Badiger
Land Water and Livelihoods
Academy
Dr. Nitin Rai,
Convenor, Academy for Conservation Science and Sustainability Studies
This newsletter has been put together from reports by ATREE folk. Design and lay out is by Salil Sakhalkar. Editing by Samuel Thomas, Ganesan Balachander and Meetu Desai. |
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