International Journal of Bio-Technology and Research (IJBTR) ISSN 2249-6858 Vol. 3, Issue 1, Mar 2013, 101-104 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd.

EVALUATION OF HALOPHILIC NATURE OF SOIL AND WATER FROM TAL BLACK BUCK SANCTUARY, CHURU, ,

PAYAL MEHTANI, CHARU SHARMA, SREEMOYEE CHATTERJEE & PRADEEP BHATNAGAR Department of Biotechnology, The IIS University, , India

ABSTRACT

Located on the fringe of the Great Indian Thar Desert is nestled a unique refuge of the most elegant Antelope encountered in India “The Black buck”. The Tal Chhapar sanctuary lies in the Tehsil of , situated in the north-eastern part of Rajasthan and is the only sanctuary in India which houses a good population of blackbucks in an almost tree-less, saline and flat-land of 719 ha. The word “Tal” means plane land. The rain water flows through shallow low lying areas and collect in the small seasonal water ponds. The current study aims at studying the physicochemical properties of the soil and waters of Tal Chhapar Black Buck Sanctuary. There are majorly two ponds namely, Maharaja Ganga Singh Pond and Dr. Salim Ali Pond. The pH of both the ponds was found to be alkaline (pH 8-10) and salinity ranged between 140-500 mg/lt. The soil of Tal Chhapar was also found to be alkaline with pH 8-9 and salinity 175-180 mg/l.

KEYWORDS: Antilope cervicapra , Conductivity, Dr. Salim Ali Pond, Maharaja Ganga Singh Pon, Salinity

INTRODUCTION

Tal Chhapar (Figure 1) (coordinates 27°47 ′53 ″N 74°26 ′06 ″E) is a famous sanctuary that lies in the Sujangarh Tehsil of Churu District accessible from both and Jaipur. It lies on Nokha- Sujangarh state Highway and is situated at a distance of 85 KM from Churu & about 132 km from Bikaner. Tal Chhapar wildlife sanctuary is a unique sanctuary having a good population of Black buck in a small area of 719 ha [1] . It is a shelter for more than 1763 [1] black bucks (black buck census 2006-07) and migratory birds and is the major attraction for wild life enthusiasts. This is a natural home of Blackbucks and one can easily encounter 500-700 animals in a single herd. It is the only sanctuary in India in which houses a good population of blackbucks in an almost tree-less, saline and flat-land. The sanctuary is governed by the Government of Rajasthan and has recently been included in the tourism map of Rajasthan Tourism.

Figure 1: Main Entrance of Tal Chhapar Black Buck Sanctuary 102 Payal Mehtani, Charu Sharma, Sreemoyee Chatterjee & Pradeep Bhatnagar

The sanctuary is named after Chhapar village which is located at 27.82°N 74.4°E with a population of 17,909 [2] in the Churu district. Tal Chhapar is a flat saline depression locally known as "Tal" that has a unique ecosystem in the heart of the Thar Desert, perched at a height of 302 meters (990 feet) [1] above sea level. The rain water flows through shallow low lying areas and collect in the small seasonal water ponds.

Tal Chhapar nestles a unique refuge of the most elegant Antelope encountered in India, "the Black buck". The blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra ) (Figure 3, 4) is an antelope species native to the Indian Subcontinent that has been classified as endangered (Near Threatened version 3.1)by IUCN since 2003 [3] , as the blackbuck range has decreased sharply during the 20th century.

Figure 3: Male Black Buck in Tal Chapper Figure 4: Female Black Buck in Tal Chhapar

Tal Chhapar sanctuary, with almost flat tract and interspersed shallow low lying areas, has open grassland with scattered Acacia and Prosopis trees which give it an appearance of a typical Savanna.

It is a small sanctuary that earlier used to be the private hunting reserve of the Maharaja of Bikaner. He introduced the Black Buck to this reserve and now it is also known as Black Buck Park. Black bucks are the most elegant antelopes found in India and are also revered as a sacred animal by the Bishnoi community.

The Geology of the zone is obscured by the wind blown over-burden. Some small hillocks and exposed rocks of slate and quartzite are found in the western side of the sanctuary. Area between hillocks and the sanctuary constitutes the watershed area of the sanctuary. The whole sanctuary used to be flooded by water during the heavy rains but with salt mining going on in the watershed, hardly any rain water falling on the hillocks reach the sanctuary.

The Tal Chhapar sanctuary can be visited from September to March. The forest of this region falls under major group ‘Tropical Forest’ as per classifications of Indian forests by Champion & Seth. The forest of sanctuary area again falls under Group “Topical Thorn Forest” & Sub group 6B/C “Desert Thorn Forests”. The sanctuary area is mostly covered by grasses with a very few trees. It lies on the way of the passage of many migratory birds such as harriers. During September, the Tal Chhapar wild life sanctuary comes alive with the chirping of various migratory birds. Birds commonly seen in the sanctuary are harriers, Eastern Imperial Eagle, Tawny Eagle, Short-toed Eagle, sparrow, and Little Green Bee- eaters, Black Ibis and Demoiselle Cranes, which stay there till March. on the other hand, skylark, crested lark, Ring Dove, brown dove and blue jay are seen throughout the year. Desert fox and desert cat can also be spotted along with typical avifauna such as partridge and sand grouse.

In the Tal Chhapar Sanctuary, a special type of grass is found. This grass is called Mothiya locally. The word "Mothiya" comes come from the word "Moti" or from the English word for Pearl. The shape of the seed of this grass is like very fine round shaped pearls. Mothiya has a very sweet taste. People enjoy eating it, but it is found in very small Evaluation of Halophilic Nature of Soil and Water from Tal Chhapar Black Buck Sanctuary, Churu, Rajasthan, India 103 quantities. Production is only a few kilograms every season. Mothiya is also food for Black bucks and other birds which dig it from earth with their starks.

During monsoon (July to September), the zone has a dry climate with large variation in temperature wind blows South – West during summer. In May and June winds become very hot and that is called “Loo” Maximum temperature reaches up to 48°C in June & minimum temperature falls up to 10°C in month of December – January. The Tal Chhapar Zone comes under the principal arid zone of the country. Rainfall in this region is highly erratic. There is large variation in mean annual rainfall in this region. Normal rainfall in this region is about 300 mm.In the sanctuary there are Kacha tracks which are used for inspection, patrolling & viewing the fauna of the sanctuary.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

Soil and water samples were collected from two ponds of Tal Chhapar Black Buck Sanctuary, Churu, namely, Dr. Salim Ali Pond (Figure 4) and Maharaja Ganga Singh Pond (Figure 5). Soil samples of Tal Chhapar (Figure 6) were also taken for analysis.

Figure 4: Dr. Salim Ali Pond Figure 5: Maharaja Ganga Singh Pond

Figure 6: Tal Chhapar Black Buck Sanctuary

Soil sample was collected (approx 15 cm beneath the ground) in sterile petriplates from four corners and center of the sampling site. These were mixed to constitute one sample from a particular site. The petriplates were sealed with parafilm and kept on ice. Water samples were collected from corners and center of the sampling site. These were mixed to constitute one sample. The samples were poured in reagent bottles and kept on ice. For soil analysis, 1gm of soil sample was weighed and added to 100 ml glass beaker containing 50 ml distilled water and kept on shaker at room temperature for 24 hours. Suspension was filtered using whatman filter paper and the filtrate was used for analysis. For water analysis, samples were stirred properly and used directly. 104 Payal Mehtani, Charu Sharma, Sreemoyee Chatterjee & Pradeep Bhatnagar

Physico chemical characters of the samples like pH, salinity and conductivity were analyzed with the help of Microprocessor water and soil analysis Kit Model 1160E.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Tal Chhapar Black Buck Sanctuary one of the famous sanctuaries of Rajasthan and is one of the favorite destinations of wild life enthusiasts. The present study aimed at elucidating the physico-chemical characters of water and soil of this fervent destination. The results show that the pH of the water of the two ponds of Tal Chhapar (Maharaja Ganga Singh Pond and Dr. Salim Ali Pond) is alkaline (pH 8-9) (Table.1). Moreover, the salinity of Maharaja Ganga Singh Pond was approximately three times higher than Dr. Salim Ali Pond. Soil of Tal Chhapar was also found to be alkaline and saline in nature (Table.2).

Table 1: Physico-Chemical Analysis of Water Samples of the Two Ponds. Each Value is an Average of Three Parallel Replicates. ± Indicates Standard Deviation among the Replicates

Sample Name pH Conductivity (µs/cm) Salinity (mg/l) Maharaja Ganga Singh Pond 8.77 956±6.245 478±3.123 Dr. Salim Ali Pond 8.56 282±3.00 141±1.50

Table 2: Physico-Chemical Analysis of Soil Samples. Each Value is an Average of Three Parallel Replicates. ± Indicates Standard Deviation among the Replicates

Sample Name pH Conductivity (µs/cm) Salinity (mg/l) Maharaja Ganga Singh Pond 8.44 300±4.359 150±2.179 Tal Chhapar 8.86 345±5.567 172.5±2.78 Dr. Salim Ali Pond 8.29 205±3.605 102.5±1.80

CONCLUSIONS

The results obtained show that the soils and waters of Tal Chhapar are saline in nature. The data collected in the present study can be used in study of diversity of microbial species that will be predominantly halophilic and alkaliphilic in nature.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The financial assistance from University Grants Commission (UGC), India in the form of Minor Research Project is highly acknowledged. In addition, we would like to acknowledge the management of The IIS University, Jaipur, India for providing the necessary infrastructural facilities.

REFERENCES

1. http://rajasthantourism.gov.in/Attractions/EcoTourismZones/TalChaparSanctuary.aspx

2. List of towns: Census of India 2001 Rajasthan, 1-8.

3. Mallon, D.P. 2008. Antilope cervicapra , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature.

4. Champion H.C . and Seth S.K.. 1968. A revised survey of the forest types of India by, Manager of publications, .

5. http://www.rajasthanwildlife.rajasthan.gov.in/wild-life/Tal-Chapper-Sanctuary.htm