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Snails of the genus Cremnoconchus - the only freshwater members of the gastropod family Littorinidae - are endemic to the spray zones of numerous waterfalls in the Western Ghats of India. Cremnoconchus consists of nine described and possibly numerous undescribed species as many of these appear to be restricted to specific waterfalls. This is the first attempt at resolving the relationships between the various species in this genus and establishing its monophyly in the family. Further, we also undertake species delimitation analysis to characterize cryptic diversity in this group. Phylogenetic analyses based on nuclear and mitochondrial genes support the monophyly of Cremnoconchus within the family. A fossil-calibrated Bayesian time tree suggests that this freshwater lineage diverged from its marine counterparts around 90.40 million years ago. The separation of Cremnoconchus from its marine ancestors might have been facilitated by the break-up of Gondwana or fluctuating sea levels during this period. Species delimitation analysis retrieved 12 potentially undescribed species in this group. These species formed two distinct clades in the phylogeny, one largely confined to the northern Western Ghats and the other to the central Western Ghats. Species belonging to the northern and central Western Ghats seem to have separated around 56.11 mya, i.e. after the northern Western Ghats were formed. Additionally, spatial isolation due to the patchiness of suitable habitats (waterfalls) and low mobility might have facilitated their diversification.

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.

As elsewhere, invertebrate taxa have received little attention in conservation planning in India. The Western Ghats has been designated as a global biodiversity hotspot, one of only two such designations in India. We have assembled a database for land snail records in the region, incorporating both published records and the results of our own surveys over the last three years. Of the 269 species so far recorded, 75% are endemic to the region. Many species have very restricted ranges within the region. There is a decline in diversitv and local endemism from south to north. The southernmost division (8~·12°N) has much the richest recorded fauna (210 species), and the level of local endemism The latter is much lower in the central and northern divisions. There is thus considerable faunal turnover within the region. The overall level of endemism is higher than that recorded for other taxa, and our data have already been used to identify three local hotspots within the region. These results are discussed in terms of present climate and habitats, and in terms of environmental history. Comparisons are made with studies on other continents, and the impact of human activity by destruction and fragmentation of habitats is considered.

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.

Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary (BRT WLS) is located in the middle of the bridge between Eastern and Western Ghats. There are about 245 birds in the Sanctuary. The present study was aimed to determine birds in various macrohabitats in BRT WLS. Birds were monitored and censused during different seasons for 18 months using transects that were laid in different vegetation types. Twenty-eight species were newly recorded in the Sanctuary out of which 15 are water birds.