Forest Biodiversity, Vol. II

Contents: Foreword. Preface. Soil biodiversity: 1. Ecosystem resurgence in relation to soils due to fire in the ever green and dry deciduous forests in Kerala, India/M. Balagopalam and P. Rugmini. 2. Leaf litter decomposition in a Semi Arid ecosystem, nutrient release and chemical composition of soil properties/M. Ilangovan and Kailash Paliwal. 3. Litter decomposition pattern of three erythrina species (E. Variegata, E. Subumbrans and E. Suberosa) in the Semi Arid ecosystem/I. Devanan and K. Muthuchelian. 4. Influence of soil types and sowing depth on seed germination of Mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla)/R. Karthiyayini and N.R. Ponnammal. 5. Decline in soil productivity associated with plantation forest ecosystem in Kerala/T. Geetha and M. Balagopalan. 6. Effect of abiotic factors on soil respiration in a semi arid ecosystem/M. Illangovan and Kailash Paliwal. 7. A study on the biodiversity of plant community and soil bacteria in the semi arid pasture lands of Kovilpatti infested with Prosopis juliflora/M. Ramamoorthy and I.S. Krishnasamy. 8. Improvement of seedling establishment and clonal propagation capacity of Karanja (Pongamia Pinnata Pierre.) for successful plantation in different stress soils through microbial application/A.K. Misra and A. Sahoo. Biodiversity in non plant systems: 9. Diversity of birds in the tropical forests of Kerala/E.A. Jayson and C. Sivaperuman. 10. Insect 'Philately' a means of communication of butterfly diversity and its conservation/M. Swamiappan. Biodiversity in medicinal plants: 11. Biodiversity and conservation of medicinal plants/J. Suresh and R. Selvi. 12. A study on medicinal plants and possible threats for their survival in Kaptipada forest range/K.K. Behera, K.C. Samal and N.M. Mishra. 13. Distribution and ecology of an endemic medicinal plant, Gaultheria fragrantissima Wallich in Nilgiris/S. Paulsamy, K.K. Vijayakumar, M. Murugesan and P. Senthilkumar. 14. Genetic diversity among one-parent families of neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) as revealed by morphological and molecular markers/S. Ganesh Ram and C. Surendran. 15. Important factors influencing the distribution of medicinal flora around Bhubaneswar City/K.C. Samal and K.K. Behera. 16. Conservation of medicinal plants for their sustainability: challenges and strategies for improvement/D. Kannan and M. Aravindakshan. 17. In Vitro studies on a medicinal plant marsdenia tirunelvelica/C. Kalidass and L. Louis Jesudass. 18. Survey of ethno medicinal and aromatic plants in Marudhamali forest/M. Senthilkumar, P. Gurumoorthi and K. Janardhanan. 19. Ethnomedicinal uses of certain plants by Korku tribals in Madhya Pradesh/Shakun Mishra, S.S. Chauhan, R.K. Shrivastava, Mujaffar Shaikh and Viajay Soni. 20. Studies on the potentiate/protective effect of curcumin on Allium cepa root meristem/I. Ragunathan, K.M. Rajasekaran and N. Panneerselvam. Traditional knowledge and intellectual property dimensions: 21. Deccan Indian medicinal plants -- traditional knowledge, trade threats and ex situ conservation/M.N.V. Prasad, N.L. Raju, K. Padmalatha and K. Jayaram. 22. Biological resources and biotechnology: socio-legal implications of intellectual property rights/M.R. Sreenivasa Murthy and K. Syamala. Floral and fruit biodiversity: 23. Biodiversity of Cashew in India/K. Nilakantapillai, S. Jeeva, V. Ambethgar and M.S. Aneesarani. 24. Conservation, bioprospecting and productization of flowering plants/S. Seeni. 25. Floristic diversity of Tirunelveli Plants, Tamil Nadu/S. Maria Victoria Rani and D. Vanila. 26. Plantlet regeneration from synthetic seeds of coelogyne stricta an endemic orchid/S. Basker and V. Narmatha Bai. 27. Effect of fruit size on seed germination in Aegle marmelos/N.R. Ponnammal and R. Karthiyayini. Fungal biodiversity: 28. VAM fungal diversity of forest tree species in dry deciduous forests of Dharwad/H.C. Lakshman. 29. Survey of VAM Fungi in some rare, endangered, endemic and threatened tree species/V.S. Bheemreddy and H.C. Lakshman. 30. Angiosperm diversity in Riparian zones of some Basin wetlands in Arunachal Pradesh/D. Balasubramanian, A. Arunachalam and K. Arunachalam. 31. Seasonal fluctuation of VAM in two varieties of Ricinus cammunis/R.F. Inchal and H.C. Lakshman. 32. Interaction between VAM, azotobacter and phosphate solubilizing microorganism on Jatropha curcas/S.G. Hiremath, H.C. Lakshman and V.S. Bheemareddy. 33. Isolation and identification of cyclosporine producing fungi from Western Ghats/M. Marudhu Ramachandran, K. Balakrishnan and T. Raghuraman. 34. Biocontrol by Glomus mosseae VC1 and Pseudomonas fluorescens MKU3 against fusarium oxysporum in cluster bean/N. Lakshmanan and P. Gunasekaran. 35. Influence of Azospirillum brasilense on seedling growth, quality, dry matter production and photosynthetic efficiency of selected tree legumes/K. Muthuchelian and A. Saravanan Ganthi. Morphology, physiology and taxonomy: 36. Morpho-physiology and biology of invasive alien species of weeds: a major threat to biodiversity/Pratibha Katiyar and M.I. Khan. 37. Numerical phenetic taxonomy of certain members in leguminosae/D. Balasubramanian, V. Ganesan and A. Arunachalam. 38. Leaf composition in different muga food plant and quality of silk fibre/Manjit Gogoi and M. Islam. 39. Twin seedlings in Hopea utilis/S. Siva Subramanian, L. Louis Jesudass and V.S. Manickam. 40. In vitro plantlets formation through cotyledonary node and epicotyl explants in wrightia tinctoria Roxb./M. Baskaran, S. Rathinavel and K.K. Natarajan.

"Biodiversity is the basis of human survival, and economic development as it provides a large number of goods, and services, that sustain our lives. It is the combination, of life forms, and their interactions, with one another, and with the rest of the environment, that has made earth, a unique place for human habitation. In the developing world, biodiversity provides the assurance of food, countless raw materials such as fibre for clothing, materials for shelter, fertilizer, fuel, medicines and other necessities. In addition, biodiversity maintains the ecological balance necessary for planetary and human survival. Besides law enforcing forces and regulations of the governments, it is always better to involve the people in a "Participatory Mode" including tribal people, farmers, ecologists, illiterate villagers for the conservation and protection of biodiversity wealth of our great nation. On the eve of the twenty first century, the challenge for the global community is not to save biodiversity for its own sake, but to ensure that biodiversity is managed and used sustainably and equitably for the human development.

Being brought out in two volumes, they examine the various aspects of forest biodiversity with special focus on the species composition, species diversity, dominance, reproductive biology and a crystal clear paper on the exploitation, conservation and management of biodiversity resources. The reader could get a vast knowledge on the basic aspects of the importance of biodiversity and its conservation. Exclusive papers are presented in these volumes with particular reference to medicinal plants and its conservation. The chapters dealing with medicinal plants includes the distribution pattern of the endemic medicinal plants, genetic diversity among the medicinal plants, threats to the valuable traditional plant community and traditional knowledge systems on the medicinal plants. VAM fungal association on shrubs and trees and its crucial role in the recycling of nutrients in the forest biodiversity has been dealt exuberantly. Some of the papers give a detailed account of the diversity of birds and animals. The role of sacred groves in the conservation of forest biodiversity and the sustainable use of NTFP from the forests gives the readers an excellent platform to gain knowledge on the above two. Finally, with regards to the management of forest biodiversity, exclusive papers on the topics of PBR, IPR, socio-economic aspects and policy options for the conservation of forest biodiversity are elaborately discussed.

The emerging field of biodiversity is filled with full of challenges, opportunities and provides great potential for the upcoming aspiring students, scholars and researchers."