Informatics Publishing Limited

A. J. T. Johnsingh , S. P. Goyal

Abstract

The tiger, which evolved \in China and entered the Indian subcontinent through the Assam gateway tens of thousands of years ago, thrived well in the forested habitats of India feeding on cervids, bovids and wild pig. The first threat to the survival of tiger came with the arrival of the British, who brought in matchlocks and rifles, as well as health care, enabling people to conquer diseases. The resulting rapid increase in human population led to the clearing of vast tracts of forests. However, the British also took several measures to protect forests, such as enactment of Forest Act of 1878, which highlighted the urgent need for saving forests and wildlife. It was under the British rule that wildlife sanctuaries were first established. The darkest period in the history of conservation in India was between 1940 and 1970, when large-scale developmental projects, and increased and unabated killing, led to enormous destruction of wildlife. Nevertheless, these developments eventually led to the total ban on tiger hunting, promulgation of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 and the birth of Project Tiger in 1973. It is true that but for Project Tiger, the tiger would have come close to extinction in India; its present status in the country (ca.2000 animals), according to our estimate, is comparable to the assessment made when Project Tiger was born. Saving the tiger would need, on a priority basis, the establishment of an effective Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, with national a. international support, to break the spine of the wildlife trade. Above all, no one can deny the fact that the future of the tiger and the associated species can be ensured only when, by promoting voluntary resettlements of people from protected areas, we make at least one per cent of the country's landmass, covering the prime tiger habitats, inviolate within a prescribed period. We should make a beginning in the first six ranked Tiger Conservation Units (TCUs) which have better chances of saving tiger for posterity with a greater emphasis on the first three ranked TCUs. Securing one percent of the landscape inviolate will be a challenging and an expensive task, but the long-lasting ecological and conservation benefits would be enormous.

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G. S. Rawat , S. P. Goyal , A. J. T. Johnsingh

Abstract

Two grasslands (Chaurs) in the core area of Corbett Tiger Reserve were studied to compare the species composition, frequency and distribution of grasses, herbs and weeds. The studyrevealcd that less frequently burnt Chaurs of first site i.e. Dhikala had high frequency of weeds and tree saplings. On the other hand. the low lying wet grasslands showed a different species composition. The frequency of grasses was significantly lower in the areas of seasonal inundation compared to elevated grasslands of Dhikala Chaur (t = 2.899. p = <0.025). Since elevated and low lying grasslands represent different ecological conditions. these would require different management practices. Weeds in low lying wet areas can be eradicated by planting native tall grasses and weeds rather than attempts of burning.

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R. K. Negi ¹, Bheem Dutt Joshi ², J. A. Johnson ², S. P. Goyal ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Zoology, University of Delhi, Delhi 110 007, IN
2 Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun 248 001, IN

Abstract

The great discrepancy in sequence divergence of congeneric (0.4-0.6%) and conspecific (3%) individuals makes it difficult to identify species using DNA. A 650 base pair fragment of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene from the fish Pethia conchonius was analysed using 30 samples. All the samples were identified as P. conchonius and two other congeneric species showing <2% sequence divergence with 29 samples out of 30 used, of P. conchonius. Two of the P. conchonius samples clustered with Puntius terio. Using different computational methods, we identified the sequence that was tagged as Puntius chola in the NCBI database as the P. conchonius sequence.

Keywords

Character Attribute, Puntius, Sequence Divergence.

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Kundan Kumar ¹, Manoj Kumar ¹, Jaywant Kumar Singh ¹, S. P. Goyal ¹, Surjeet Singh ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Plant Pathology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, IN

Abstract

Mushrooms are edible fungi. Milky mushroom (Calocybe indica) fits well under summer months conditions because of its ability to grow at temperature above 30°C. The green mould due to Trichoderma harzianum is of common occurrence in milky mushroom cultivation and causing losses from 63-65%. The disease characterized by initially white to grayish mycelium appear on substrate and on casing surface that resembles with the mushroom mycelial and later on mycelium mat turns to dark green color due to heavy spoliation of causal agent which is a peculiar symptom of the disease. The green mould incidence recorded varies from 0 to 26 % and maximum being in the Sonipat district (26.0 %), and no disease was recorded in Fatehabad district. The average disease incidence in Haryana recorded during 2014 was 14.8 per cent and approx similar pattern of disease prevalence (13.8 per cent) was observed during 2015.

Keywords

Green Mould, Milky Mushroom, Nutritive, Trichoderma harzianum.

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Kundan Kumar ¹, Manoj Kumar ¹, Jaywant Kumar Singh ¹, S. P. Goyal ¹, Surjeet Singh ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Plant Pathology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, IN

Abstract

The milky mushroom is gaining popularity among the traditional button mushroom growers in the India as alternate crop during summer months, but green mould disease caused by T. harzianum is becoming a limiting factor for its popularization among the mushroom growers. Physiology of both pathogen (T. harzianum) and milky mushroom (C. indica) was standardized and found that though C. indica can grow at wide range of temperatures and pH but optimum growth was observed at 30±1°C and pH 6.0. Similarly the optimum growth of T. harzianum was observed and found that it was at temperature 25±1°C and pH 6.5. The effect of temperature and pH on interaction of C. indica with T. harzianum also was observed and found that minimum inhibition of C.indica by T. harzianum was observed at temperature 30±1°C and pH 6.0.

Keywords

Calocybe indica, pH, Temperature, Trichoderma harzianum.

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