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Rapid climate change threatens plant communities. While many studies address the impact of climate change on plants and mechanisms of their resilience to climate stressors, the role of the plant microbiome in aiding plants' adaptation to climate change has been less investigated. We argue here that fungal endophytes, an important constituent of the plant microbiome, may be key to the ability of plants to adapt to climatic stressors. The rapid adaptive response of endophytes coupled with their ability to ‘transfer’ resistance to their hosts may fast-track plants' adaptation to climate change. We briefly review the importance of Class 3 fungal endophytes of terrestrial plants and discuss how they may accelerate adaptations to climate change in crops and natural plant communities and call for efforts directed at improving the understanding of fungal endophyte-facilitated plant health. Such information could aid in devising improved strategies for mitigating climate change effects on plant communities.

Many invasive alien species (IAS) are used by local communities for a variety of subsistence and income generating purposes. This frequently poses a conflict of interest for their removal due to forest conservation and biodiversity concerns. However, if local use can simultaneously check or control specific IAS, the conflict can be avoided and both development and forest conservation perspectives accommodated in the short to medium term. We examine this for Lantana camara invasion in southern India through assessment of the demand for and impacts of harvesting on this globally problematic IAS. We interviewed local artisans regarding their knowledge and quantities of Lantana used, along with forest surveys to estimate Lantana densities and size classes in harvested and unharvested sites, and lastly we undertook controlled cutting in moist and dry deciduous forests in both the wet and dry seasons to examine rate of regrowth and mortality. Over the entire study area the abundance of Lantana far outweighed local demand, but at small scales around villages, density and size classes were significantly reduced through harvesting. The controlled cutting experiment showed marked seasonal differences, with the most severe cutting intensity resulting in significant mortality when Lantana plants were cut in the wet season, but with limited effect when cut in the dry season. We conclude that promoting local use of IAS may be a feasible approach in controlling them and thereby limiting their impacts in forests.

Climate change has the potential to have significant influence on distribution of many species and alter ecosystems. With the current estimates of rate of projected environmental change for the 21st century, urgent adaptation and mitigation measures are required to slow down the impact of climate change on biodiversity. A number of studies have shown that recent human-induced environmental changes have already triggered species range shifts, changes in phenology and species extinctions. However, accurate projections of species responses to future climate change are more difficult to ascertain. In recent years, a number of modeling tools are being used to predict the consequences of climate change on the distribution of species and also identify possible ecological niche of a species under different climate change scenarios. In this paper, using the distribution data of the species, we have attempted to (a) identify the current geographical distribution of five species of the family Myristicaceae and predict the possible sites of occurrence of these species in the Western Ghats, India using the niche modeling tools and (b) predict the impact of climate change on the potential distribution of these species for two scenarios (A1B and A2A). All the five species selected for the study are distributed in the Western Ghats with higher densities in the Central Western Ghats. The model predicted an overall increase in the suitable habitats for the non-swampy species. However, there is a shift in the habitat range of these species in response to climate change. Gymnocranthera canarica and Myristica fatua , which are obligate swampy species, tend to be affected in changing climate. For both these species, the overall habitat is reduced due to climate change. These species already have restricted habitat and therefore climate change could pose a serious threat for their future survival. Predicting how species distribution will change in the wake of future global climate change is important to develop effective conservation strategies for these species, which inhabit fragile ecosystems.

It is well established that non-timber forest products make significant contributions to rural incomes throughout most of the developing world. NTFP use frequently raises concerns about the sustainability of, or ecological impacts associated with, NTFP harvesting, as well as local contextual factors which may limit or reduce the impacts. Here we test the conceptual model first advanced by Uma Shaanker et al. (2004) relating to the factors that may limit or exacerbate the ecological impacts associated with NTFP harvesting. These were the extent of local dependence on NTFPs, the degree of marketing and the level of local ecological knowledge. Data were collected via household questionnaires and ecological surveys of woody plants from eight villages throughout South Africa. We found no significant relationships between measures of ecological impact with local ecological knowledge or market proximity and engagement. There was a strong positive relationship between ecological impacts and NTFP dependency as indexed through mean annual direct-use value for NTFPs. This indicates that the higher the dependency and demand for NTFPs, the greater is the possibility of high impacts to the local environment. However, other contextual drivers not included in the original Uma Shaanker et al. (2004) model may also play a role, particularly the strength of local resource governance institutions.

Tropical agro-forest landscapes are potentially valuable reserves of forest genetic resources for forestry and restoration of degraded forests. The Dipterocarpaceae is a dominant Southeast Asian family of tree species of global significance for the tropical timber industry. Very little information exists about how effective human modified landscapes are for conserving genetic diversity in dipterocarp species. This study provides a baseline for understanding how fragmented agro-forest landscapes in India sustain forest genetic resources in an endemic dipterocarp tree. We compare genetic diversity and fine-scale spatial genetic structure (FSGS) in the threatened tree species Vateria indica within an isolated and a continuous forest site in the Western Ghats, South India. We place these results in the context of dipterocarps from both the Seychelles and Borneo. Parentage analysis of 694 progeny using twelve nuclear microsatellite markers is applied to estimate pollen and seed dispersal. Using a nursery trial we evaluate effects of inbreeding on growth performance. Our results show that levels of FSGS, and gene dispersal are comparable between a small isolated and a large continuous site of V. indica. Realized long-distance pollen flow into the isolated patch appears to help maintaining genetic diversity. The nursery experiment suggests that selection favours outbred progeny. Individuals of V. indica in close proximity appear less related to each other than in another highly fragmented and endangered dipterocarp species from the Seychelles, but more related than in three dipterocarp species studied in continuous forest in Borneo. We discuss the wider implications of our findings in the context of conservation and restoration of dipterocarp forest genetic resources in fragmented populations.

1Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Royal Enclave, Srirampura, Jakkur Post, Bangalore 560 064, India 2School of Ecology and Conservation, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK Campus, Bangalore 560 065, India 3Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK Campus, Bangalore 560 065, India 4Department of Forest Biology and Tree Improvement, College of Forestry, University of Agricultural Sciences, SIRSI campus, Dharwad 581 401, India

This study sought to reconstruct the history of Lantana invasion and spread in India by considering two questions; (a) from where, by who, and when were Lantana species introduced into India? and (b) given its long history in the country, is it still spreading or more or less stable? We critically evaluated the archival and historical information on plant imports by the European powers into India during the period before and after British colonization. We then reconstructed the path of spread by analyzing the spatio-temporal patterns of occurrence and distribution of Lantana in India at both the national and local scale using a GIS platform. The spread of Lantana across the globe started as early as the 1690s. The European colonial powers moved the plants from Latin America to Europe and to their colonial countries in the early 1800s. Lantana species were introduced in India from 1807 onwards and thereafter the colonial powers moved this plant across the country. Following its introduction into India, the spread of Lantana across the country, either through subsequent multiple introductions from Europe to different British cantonments, or through moving the plants between cantonments within India, were reasonably rapid spanning only a few decades. In the absence of a rigorous control program, the spread of Lantana has gone on unabated and thereby impacting both wildlife and biodiversity.

Tropical trees often display long-distance pollen dispersal, even in highly fragmented landscapes. Understanding how patterns of spatial isolation influence pollen dispersal and interact with background patterns of fine-scale spatial genetic structure (FSGS) is critical for evaluating the genetic consequences of habitat fragmentation. In the endangered tropical timber tree Dysoxylum malabaricum (Meliaceae), we apply eleven microsatellite markers with paternity and parentage analysis to directly estimate historic gene flow and contemporary pollen dispersal across a large area (216 km(2)) in a highly fragmented agro-forest landscape. A comparison of genetic diversity and genetic structure in adult and juvenile life stages indicates an increase in differentiation and FSGS over time. Paternity analysis and parentage analysis demonstrate high genetic connectivity across the landscape by pollen dispersal. A comparison between mother trees in forest patches with low and high densities of adult trees shows that the frequency of short-distance mating increases, as does average kinship among mates in low-density stands. This indicates that there are potentially negative genetic consequences of low population density associated with forest fragmentation. Single isolated trees, in contrast, frequently receive heterogeneous pollen from distances exceeding 5 km. We discuss the processes leading to the observed patterns of pollen dispersal and the implications of this for conservation management of D. malabaricum and tropical trees more generally.

Taxillus tomentosus is a mistletoe of significant management concern in southern India. This mistletoe affects the productivity of several nontimber forest products, most significantly Amla (Phyllanthus emblica and Phyllanthus indofischeri), whose fruits provide an important source of income for indigenous forest communities. Management interventions are required to secure the continued viability of Amla and thereby its role in livelihoods. To enhance the scientific basis for management, we characterized the distribution of T. tomentosus at three scales, examined potential mechanisms underlying this distribution, and compared both with those documented in other habitats. Mistletoes were aggregated at all three scales: on individual trees, within forest plots of 500 m2, and at scales of 3-4 km. Seed deposition patterns provide an initial distribution 'template' that largely determines patterns at tree and plot scales. This initial pattern is subsequently altered as variation in host suitability and mistletoe mortality from forest fires influence establishment success and postestablishment survival. Local prevalence of infection contributed most to infection spread, and areas of high infection prevalence are highlighted as appropriate foci for management intervention. Although novel underlying mechanisms and variation in the scale of aggregation have been identified, mistletoe distribution in a tropical forest appears to be shaped by similar forces as those documented previously in temperate systems.

Aims Nothapodytes nimmoniana (Family Icacinaceae) is a deciduous tree species distributed in Asia facing severe population decline. Wood chips from the tree are a source of camptothecin, a globally soughtafter alkaloid with cancer-treating properties, and are harvested unsustainably in natural forests. We studied the pollination ecology of the species and asked if there are constraints in pollination and fruiting success in its natural populations. We also discuss the potential effects of wood extraction on pollinators and reproductive success in the population. Methods The study was carried out during the flowering season in two populations with varying exploitation levels, both located in the Protected Area Network in the Western Ghats of Karnataka State. We assessed floral resource availability and measured pollinator diversity and activity in the canopy from the perspective of the biology of the species. We quantified pollinator abundance and percent fruit set as a function of population density. Important Findings Flowers belong to the fly pollination syndrome and are open to visits by generalists such as Apis dorsata and Trigona iridipennis. Fruiting success did not vary between exploited and unexploited sites, but there was a significant difference in pollinator assemblage. In a lean male flowering year, fruit set was low, suggesting pollen limitation in the population. No fruiting was recorded in the second year at the site where trees were felled soon after the flowering period. We argue that when male floral resources are altered in exploited populations, pollinators of generalist nature may show a shift in foraging pattern. Also, generalist plants may be as susceptible to pollination loss as are specialist plants. The need for outcrossing in the species would probably exacerbate this vulnerability.

Sustainable harvesting of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and associated livelihood security can be affected by forest disturbances additional to harvesting. Amla (Phyllanthus emblica and Phyllanthus indofischeri) is a locally and nationally significant NTFP in India, exploited for its fruit. We examined the infection of these two species by a hemiparasitic mistletoe and investigated two alternative management approaches. Forest surveys, mistletoe removal experiments and seed deposition surveys were employed to assess the prevalence of mistletoe infection, characteristics of infection in relation to resource value and the appropriateness of local versus institutional management approaches. The results suggest mistletoe infection is widespread in the study site, affecting over half of the Amla population, and in particular those reproductive trees important for population persistence. Infection characteristics and resource values differ between the two Phyllanthus species, having significant implications for Amla collectors. Institutional perspectives on the management of this species conflict with local practice. Cutting of branches by collectors has previously been considered destructive, but may in fact have management benefits in terms of increased productivity through re-sprouts and reduced risk of mistletoe infection. However, neither mistletoe removal by hand, nor branch cutting appear to offer a viable control strategy in isolation. A multifarious strategy including new approaches to management is needed to safeguard the role of this resource in local livelihoods.

Santalum album L. is an economically important tropical tree species. Owing to extensive logging, changes in land-use patterns and poor natural regeneration, the natural sandal populations are rapidly dwindling. It is feared that such threats could easily undermine the genetic diversity of sandal populations. Effective measures to prevent such loss are prerequisite. We have developed baseline data on the levels of genetic diversity and its distribution on a geographic scale for sandal in India. Based on Geographic Information System, distribution map of sandal was developed and found that the populations were geographically more concentrated in the Deccan plateau. It was found that, for past 53 years, there was a monotonic decrease in the extraction of sandal in the state of Karnataka, India. Using allozyme markers, the genetic diversity of 19 sandal populations in peninsular India were determined and over all observed heterzygosity (Ho) was found to be 31%. The percent Ho was positively correlated with the density of the sandal populations (r = 0.44) and with increasing longitude it was found to be negatively correlated (r = −0.51). The dendrogram analysis indicated a clear clustering of sandal populations based on their geographic occurrence. The Deccan plateau populations were found to be genetically the most diverse and seemed to represent the ‘hot-spot’ of sandal genetic resources in peninsular India. Our results have important implications for the conservation strategies for sandal populations in peninsular India and can be applied for the conservation of other taxa as well.

Although conservation and management of tropical ecosystems requires that we understand the threats to these areas, there are no standardized methods to quantify threats to ecosystems. We used a geographic information system-based protocol with several physical and socioeconomic attributes to assess the threats to a protected area, a wildlife sanctuary in southern India. Physical attributes included threats from major and minor roads and the accessibility of an area (given as inverse of the slope of the area), and socioeconomic attributes included the number of human settlements and human, cattle, and sheep populations. We divided the sanctuary into 30-ha grids, and for each grid we computed three threat categories: (1) settlement-associated threat from humans, cattle, and sheep; (2) development-associated threat resulting from major and minor roads; and (3) accessibility-related threat caused by the steepness of the terrain. Combining all three threats, we derived a composite threat index for each grid and mapped five levels of threats in the sanctuary. We collected data on human activities, tree species richness, and diversity in the transects laid in areas corresponding to these five threat levels. Although the threat levels of the transects were strongly correlated with the human-related disturbance activities, the composite threat indices of the transects were negatively correlated with tree species richness, indicating that the threat values we derived served as a good surrogate of the actual threat experienced by the sanctuary. With appropriate modifications, the protocol developed here can be applied to other ecosystems as well. Resumen: La conservacion y manejo de ecosistemas tropicales requiere que entendamos las amenazas a esas areas. Sin embargo, no hay metodos estandarizados para cuantificar las amenazas a los ecosistemas. Utilizamos un protocolo basado en SIG con varios atributos fisicos y socioeconomicos para evaluar las amenazas a un area protegida, un santuario de vida silvestre en el sur de India. Los atributos fisicos incluyeron amenazas de caminos mayores y menores y accesibilidad de un area (como el inverso de la pendiente del area), y los atributos socioeconomicos incluyeron el numero de asentamientos humanos y las poblaciones humanas, de ganado y ovejas. Dividimos al santuario en parcelas de 30 ha, y en cada parcela computamos tres categorias de amenaza: (1) amenaza de humanos, ganado y ovejas asociada con asentamientos, (2) amenaza asociada con desarrollo debido a caminos mayores y menores y (3) amenaza relacionada con accesibilidad debido a la pendiente del terreno. Combinando las tres amenazas, derivamos un indice compuesto de amenaza para cada parcela y mapeamos cinco niveles de amenaza en el santuario. Recolectamos datos sobre actividades humanas, riqueza y diversidad de especies de aves en los transectos ubicados en areas correspondientes a estos cinco niveles de amenaza. Aunque los niveles de amenaza en los transectos estuvieron fuertemente correlacionados con actividades de perturbacion humana, los indices compuestos de amenaza estuvieron correlacionados negativamente con la riqueza de especies de arboles lo que indica que los valores de amenaza que derivamos fueron buen sustituto de la amenazas que hay en el santuario. Con las modificaciones apropiadas, el protocolo desarrollado puede ser aplicado en otros ecosistemas.

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) constitute the single largest determinant of livelihoods for scores of forest fringe communities and poor people in the tropics. In India over 50 million people are believed to be directly dependent upon NTFPs for their subsistence. However, such human dependence on NTFPs for livelihood gains (win) has most frequently been at a certain ecological cost (lose). If livelihoods are to be maintained, the existing ‘win-lose’ settings have to be steered to a ‘win-win’ mode, otherwise, there could be severe erosion of the biological resources and loss of livelihoods (‘lose-lose’). Examining the dependence of forest fringe communities on NTFPs at three sites in south India with contrasting human and ecological settings, three key factors (extent of dependence on NTFPs, indigenous ecological knowledge and market organization) are likely to constrain reaching the win-win situation. How these factors shape the ecological cost of harvesting NTFPs at the three sites is examined. Within the parameter space of these factors, it is possible to predict outcomes and associations that will conform to win-win or win-lose situations. Empirical data derived from the three study sites demonstrate the causality of the observed associations. The key for long-term livelihood gains lies in reducing the ecological cost. Certain interventions and recommendations that could optimize the balance between livelihood gains and ecological cost are proposed.

The five papers in this Special Section illustrate that pollination processes are often disrupted by changing plant distributions. They further demonstrate that plant pollination and seed production outcomes are highly complex due to multidimensional spatial effects and numerous interactive biological responses of both plants and pollinators at individual and population scales. Nevertheless, these studies also lend support to some emerging generalities that (through modeling) begin to provide a coherent framework by which further research, and ultimately management planning, could proceed.

Correspondance: Molecular Ecology Resources Primer Development Consortium, E-mail: editorial.office@molecol.com; International audience; This article documents the addition of 396 microsatellite marker loci to the Molecular Ecology Resources Database. Loci were developed for the following species: Anthocidaris crassispina, Aphis glycines, Argyrosomus regius, Astrocaryum sciophilum, Dasypus novemcinctus, Delomys sublineatus, Dermatemys mawii, Fundulus heteroclitus,Homalaspis plana, Jumellea rossii, Khaya senegalensis, Mugil cephalus, Neoceratitis cyanescens, Phalacrocorax aristotelis, Phytophthora infestans, Piper cordulatum, Pterocarpus indicus, Rana dalmatina, Rosa pulverulenta, Saxifraga oppositifolia, Scomber colias, Semecarpus kathalekanensis, Stichopus monotuberculatus, Striga hermonthica, Tarentola boettgeri and Thermophis baileyi. These loci were cross-tested on the following species: Aphis gossypii, Sooretamys angouya, Euryoryzomys russatus, Fundulus notatus, Fundulus olivaceus, Fundulus catenatus, Fundulus majalis, Jumellea fragrans, Jumellea triquetra Jumellea recta, Jumellea stenophylla, Liza richardsonii, Piper marginatum, Piper aequale, Piper darienensis, Piper dilatatum, Rana temporaria, Rana iberica, Rana pyrenaica, Semecarpus anacardium, Semecarpus auriculata, Semecarpus travancorica, Spondias acuminata, Holigarna grahamii, Holigarna beddomii, Mangifera indica, Anacardium occidentale, Tarentola delalandii, Tarentola caboverdianus and Thermophis zhaoermii

Conservation Genetics Resources, 5 (2), ISSN:1877-7252, ISSN:1877-7260

Multiple actors are typically involved in forest management, namely communities, managers and researchers. In such cases, suboptimal management outcomes may, in addition to other factors, be symptomatic of a divergence in perspectives among these actors driven by fundamental differences in ecological knowledge. We examine the degree of congruence between the understandings of actors surrounding key issues of management concern in three case studies from tropical, subtropical and boreal forests. We identify commonly encountered points of divergence in ecological knowledge relating to key management processes and issues. We use these to formulate seven hypotheses about differences in the bodies of knowledge that frequently underlie communication and learning failures in forest management contexts where multiple actors are involved and outcomes are judged to be suboptimal. Finally, we present a set of propositions to acknowledge and narrow these differences. A more complete recognition of the full triangulation between all actors involved, and of the influence that fundamental differences in ecological knowledge can exert, may help lead to a more fruitful integration between local knowledge and practice, manager knowledge and practice, and contemporary science in forest management.

Ideally, the estimates of biological diversity of a community of species in a habitat should refer to the biological variation among the species and not merely to their numbers and frequencies. However, the current estimates of biodiversity incorporate only the latter two components but not the biological differences among the species. Ganeshaiah et al. [(1997) Current Science 73: 128–133] have proposed an estimate called the Avalanche Index (AI) that can incorporate the biological heterogeneity among the species in a habitat. This estimate, besides being methodologically simple, can incorporate any quantifiable differences among the species, information on species richness and their frequencies in the habitat. In this paper we have estimated AI for tree vegetation in 14 forest types across different ecosystems of the world and have compared these estimates with other indices being currently used. Through this we have attempted to analyse the relative utility of AI in discriminating the habitats based on their biological heterogeneity by capturing their intra-community biological variation. We discuss the merits and demerits of the AI as a comprehensive estimate of biological diversity.

The Indian monsoons are a major seasonal climatic event over the Indian subcontinent, heralding the arrival of the wet season. Many features of life, biological and cultural, are intimately synchronized to this seasonality. In this paper, we show that the Indian monsoons might have played an important role in shaping the fruiting time and hence dispersal phenology of plant species in the subcontinent.

Sustainable extraction of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) has recently gained considerable attention as a means to enhance rural incomes and conserve tropical forests. However, there is little information on the amounts of products collected per unit area and the impact of extraction on forest structure and composition. In this paper we estimate the quantities of selected products gathered by the Soligas, the indigenous people in the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple (BRT) sanctuary in Karnataka, India, and examine the effect of extraction on forest structure and composition. Two sites, distant (DS) and proximal (PS), were identified based on the proximity to a Soliga settlement. The frequency of different size classes indicates that regeneration overall is poor in the area. The two sites show differences in species richness, basal area, and tree mortality. Furthermore, non-timber forest product species show a greater deficit of small size classes than the timber forest species, suggesting that regeneration is affected by collection of seeds and fruits from non-timber forest product species. Regeneration, however, may also be affected by other anthropogenic pressures such as fire, grazing and competition with weeds.

Fruit and seed abortion in plants have been traditionally attributed to limiting factors such as resources or to chemically mediated dominance hierarchy among the developing sinks. These hypotheses however do not satisfactorily explain the observed patterns of seed and fruit abortion and have also not withstood the test of critical experimentation. In this paper, we propose an alternative model based on the process of self organization used in physics to explain the flow of liquids etc. As proposed here, the model assumes one simple rule, that the probability of any given sink getting a resource molecule is a function of (a) the sink-drawing ability of each unit of the tissue and (b) the amount of resource molecules already moved to that sink. Accordingly, any resource molecule moving to a sink, autocatalytically increases the probability of the latter getting further resources. We show that starting from a set of identical sinks, all with equal sink-drawing ability, the differential development of sinks and thence their abortion might occur purely as a consequence of the autocatalytic or feedback movement of the resource molecules to the developing sinks. We also show that, such a process can lead to abortion even under resource-abundant conditions, though resource limitation aggravates the extent of abortion. Further, the extent of abortion is shown to be highly dependent on the sink-drawing ability of the species. We offer the test of this prediction in two ways: (a) in Derris indica the extent of abortion increases with the sink drawing ability of the fertilized ovules and (b) treatments involving growth regulators that increase the sink-drawing ability result in increased abortion of seeds and fruits. Based on these, we argue that self organization could be the basic process regulating resource flow to sinks and factors such as resource limitation and chemical inhibition might be additionally aggravating the asymmetry among the developing sinks.

The styles of flowers may represent an arena for pollen competition in the race to fertilize ovules. Accordingly, selection should favour a longer 'race' to better discriminate among variable pollen by increasing style length. Sampling across a taxonomically diverse range of wild and outcrossed species, we found that the distribution of style lengths within plants were skewed towards longer styles, as predicted. In self-pollinated domesticated species, where discrimination among pollen is less important, we found no such pattern. We conclude that style length is under directional selection towards longer styles as a mechanism for mate choice among pollen of variable quality.

In view of the recent debate on the future of invasion biology, we argue that species could be regarded as invasive only when after adaptation in non-native habitats they reach yet another fitness maximum. We suggest that invasion biologists need to unambiguously clarify what constitutes being “invasive” to refute those who call for an end to invasion biology.

Biological diversity and its constituent chemical diversity have served as one of the richest sources of bioprospecting leading to the discovery of some of the most important bioactive molecules for mankind. Despite this excellent record, in the recent past, however, bioprospecting of biological resources has met with little success; there has been a perceptible decline in the discovery of novel bioactive compounds. Several arguments have been proposed to explain the current poor success in bioprospecting. Among them, it has been argued that to bioprospect more biodiversity may not necessarily be productive, considering that chemical and functional diversity might not scale with biological diversity. In this paper, we offer a critique on the current perception of biodiversity and chemodiversity and ask to what extent it is relevant in the context of bioprospecting. First, using simple models, we analyze the relation among biodiversity, chemodiversity and functional redundancies in chemical plans of plants and argue that the biological space for exploration might still be wide open. Second, in the context of future bioprospecting, we argue that brute-force high throughput screening approaches alone are insufficient and cost ineffective in realizing bioprospecting success. Therefore, intelligent or non-random approaches to bioprospecting need to be adopted. We review here few examples of such approaches and show how these could be further developed and used in the future to accelerate the pace of discovery.

"Many forest communities possess considerable knowledge of the natural resources they use. Such knowledge can potentially inform scientific approaches to management, either as a source of baseline data to fill information gaps that cannot otherwise be addressed or to provide alternative management approaches from which scientists and managers might learn. In general, however, little attention has been given to the relevance of quantitative forms of such knowledge for resource management. Much discussion has focused on the integration of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) into management, but less attention has been paid to identifying specific areas where it is most useful and where it may be most problematic. We contrasted scientific data with information from TEK in the context of a threat to the sustainable harvesting of a nontimber forest product (NTFP) of livelihood importance in southern India, specifically, a fruit tree infected by mistletoe. The efficiency of deriving information from NTFP harvesters compared to scientific field studies was assessed. We further evaluated the potential of TEK to provide novel solutions to the management problem in question, the degree to which TEK could provide quantitative information, and the biases that might be associated with information derived from TEK. TEK complemented previously gathered ecological data by providing concordant and additional information, but also contradicted some results obtained using a scientific approach. TEK also gave a longer-term perspective with regard to NTFP harvesting patterns. Combining information on historical and current harvesting trends for the NTFP with official data suggests that current assessments of sustainability may be inaccurate and that the use of diverse information sources may provide an effective approach to assessing the status of harvested resources."

Given the increasing anthropogenic pressures on forests, the various protected areas--national parks, sanctuaries, and biosphere reserves--serve as the last footholds for conserving biological diversity. However, because protected areas are often targeted for the conservation of selected species, particularly charismatic animals, concerns have been raised about their effectiveness in conserving nontarget taxa and their genetic resources. In this paper, we evaluate whether protected areas can serve as refugia for genetic resources of economically important plants that are threatened due to extraction pressures. We examine the population structure and genetic diversity of an economically important rattan, Calamus thwaitesii, in the core, buffer and peripheral regions of three protected areas in the central Western Ghats, southern India. Our results indicate that in all the three protected areas, the core and buffer regions maintain a better population structure, as well as higher genetic diversity, than the peripheral regions of the protected area. Thus, despite the escalating pressures of extraction, the protected areas are effective in conserving the genetic resources of rattan. These results underscore the importance of protected areas in conservation of nontarget species and emphasize the need to further strengthen the protected-area network to offer refugia for economically important plant species.

Plant distributions are changing at unprecedented rates, primarily due to habitat clearance and the spread of alien invasive species. Landscape pattern and local density can affect plant sexual processes, particularly those mediated by biotic vectors, by acting on the composition and behavior of pollinators and seed dispersers. Ecologists are now grappling with the likely effects of these altered processes on future forest composition as existing plant reproductive mutualisms break down or adjust to new spatial circumstances. Here, we introduce five papers that address pollinator responses and pollination outcomes in a variety of human-dominated landscapes and emphasize the need to better understand the dynamic nature of plant-pollinator interactions.

Flowering plants show wide variation in the proportion of fertilized ovules that mature into seeds within individual fruits (9-11, 20, 39, 42, 44, 50, 74, 76, 77, 123). In most species a variable number of seeds die at different stages in their development (9, 11, 17, 33, 39, 44, 50, 65, 74, 76, 77). Thus, as in the case of many birds and some mammals (45, 49, 55, 56, 86, 88), the final brood size is considerably lower than the initial. The reduction in brood size or in the seediness of fruits has been viewed as a manifestation of genetic load (74, 80, 103, 124), resource depletion (50), predation or pathogen infestation (5, 6, 37, 42, 44, 50, 74), or maternal regulation of offspring quality (11, 21, 39, 50, 59-62, 71, 80, 107). Almost all of these explanations view brood reduction as a maternal adaptation to increase its own Darwinian fitness. However, developing fruits provide a perfect arena for the expression of

The paper traces shifts in the reproductive behaviour as influenced by the selective pressures of crop domestication, in the genus Eleusine, from the wild species. E. africana to its domesticated form E. coracana. Among other changes we consider temporal features of flowering, nature of anthesis and dehiscence, the stigma to lemma length ratio determining the extent of stigma protrusion and the pollen grain to ovule ratio as important in changing the breeding behaviours. These changes are viewed as evolutionary responses of plants to their respective ecological niches.

Even since Linnaeus, naturalists and taxonomists have been systematically describing species new to science. Besides indicating gaps in taxonomic effort, understanding the temporal patterns of species discovery could help in identifying drivers that determine discovery. In this study we report the patterns of discovery of eight taxa — birds, butterflies, frogs, tiger beetles, grasses, asters, ferns and orchids — in the Western Ghats, a megadiversity centre in India. Our results indicate that the discovery curves for birds and butterflies have been saturated while those for frogs and grasses continue to increase. Within each taxon, the major drivers of discovery were commonness of the species and their size. The average years taken for discovery across taxa were directly related to the per cent endemicity and species richness of the taxa. We discuss the trajectories of discovery with respect to rarity or endemicity of the species and life history features, and the implications these might have for strategizing the discovery process in India.

Impact of extraction of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) was analyzed in a thorn scrub forest in Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple (BRT) wildlife sanctuary, India. Six species are most commonly extracted from BRT scrub for subsistence and income generation by an aboriginal tribe, the Soliga. Although the forest has been provided protection from indiscriminate felling since 1978 under a wildlife sanctuary cover, changes in vegetation structure are still occurring as a consequence of anthropogenic pressure in the form of extraction of fuelwood and other NTFPs. The results indicate that large woody species are being replaced by small woody species. The population structure also is becoming increasingly skewed to the smaller size classes due to extraction-bound mortality of the individuals, particularly those>7 cm dbh and above. The data suggest that the scrub community itself may be a manifestation of long persisting anthropogenic pressure in the form of extraction of a variety of forest products, and it currently represents a downward transition from a deciduous forest to a shrub thicket.

We examined the response of forest tree species with different dispersal modes to anthropogenic pressure in a dry deciduous forest of South India. The species and their populations were sampled in two forest stands, one in proximity to a Soliga settlement (greater disturbance) and the other distant to the settlement (lower disturbance). Our results suggest that the populations of animal dispersed species than those of wind or passively dispersed species are more vulnerable to human disturbance. In fact wind dispersed species seem to be facilitated by human disturbances. The proximal site had a higher representation of understory plants and seedling belonging to wind dispersed species than that of animal dispersed species. We discuss the results in the context of the role of dispersal mode in shaping species response, and vegetation composition of forest to anthropogenic pressures.