Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of R.D. Singh Bandral Vs Union of India & Others dated 17/04/2023. The matter related to protecting the flora and fauna of the Kailash Kund-Seoz Dhar region by declaring the same as protected area and not to allow construction of the …
Increasing instances of theft of plant species from Asian countries led delegates at a recent symposium of botanists in New Delhi to stress the need to recognise the importance of taxonomy - the science of classifying organisms. The UNESCO-sponsored meet was organised by Botany 2000-Asia, a network of Asian botanists. …
FEW OF the Fulani pastoralists in Nigeria have been inside a school and fewer still can read, but they have a very rich knowledge of the value of plants, especially browsable plants which can provide cattle food during the dry season. Researchers at the International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA) …
BATS. THE very mention of the word conjures up chilling images of bloodsucking creatures that attack humans insidiously at night. Much maligned in fiction -- who will ever forget the evil Count Dracula? -- these animals have been extensively exterminated over the years. Estimates presented by the Chiropteran (bats belong …
THE "arms race" between plants that produce defence mechanisms to ward of foragers such as deer and animals who attempt to evolve mechanisms to counter these defences, have long intrigued evolutionary biologists. Scientists say the moose (Alces alces), a large herbivorous mammal found in temperate regions, appears to be leading …
Leaf fall and reproductive phenology of Avicennia marina assessed during 1982-83 using litter fall collections from twenty-five sites in Australia, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand revealed major trends with latitude. Flowering shifted from NovemberDecember in northern tropical sites, to May-June in southern temperate sites. Periods between flowering and fruiting …
Porpax Lindi. is a small genus found only in the mainland of Asia. It differs from its close relative Eria Lindl. in having the sepals joined into a tube and having a very short pseudobulb which is wider than long. While on an exploration to Silent Valley a curious population …
Deciding between a friend and foe can become challenging. In plants, this dilemma takes a worse dimension because both the friend and foe are the same sometimes. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Chemical Ecology in Germany demonstrated how tobacco plants resolve this conflict with a novel change in …
BIOLOGY Yellow pigment clue to evolution Bilirubin, responsible for the yellowish tinge in the skin, eyes and nails of jaundice patients, has for the first time been identified in plants. The pigment was discovered in Strelitzia reginae Aiton, commonly know as the Bird of Paradise plant. It is indigenous to …
WITH the first sunrays in the morning, mouse-ear cress raises its leaves and then lets them droop as the sun sets. Just like honeybees know when to set out to collect nectar. Most organisms have a built-in clock that regulates their biological functions on a roughly 12-hour schedule. Though researchers …
Mother earth is a unique planet unparalleled by its wide variety of flora and fauna. It is distinctive in the sense that it is the only planet where human life knowingly exists. It has gifted human beings with the richness of minerals and natural resources besides the biodiversity, forests and …
