Urbanski, Reish, Wagner Bio 110 Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve 11-04-09
A biosphere reserve is a place designed to protect the region. These Reserves are designed to help promote education a research. These reserves can be considered a “living laboratory” (UNESCO) for scientists and researchers. They are places of cooperation where the community, researchers, scientists, etc. all work together get an idea on the human impact on these regions. (NRDC) All of the biosphere reserves across the world create a network called the
World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR).
(UNESCO)
In order to become a reserve, someone has to
submit a sample of the environmental area to the
Progamme on Man and Biosphere (MAB). This
program was established by The United Nations
Figure 1 Map of Biosphere (CPREEC) Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO). To meet the requirements of this program, each reserve has to have three zones, a core area, buffer zone, and transition, or cooperation zone. (NRDC)
The core areas are used for the study and education of the most undisturbed ecosystems.
The buffer zones are areas of cooperative studies, where people work with the environment. The transition or cooperation zones contain towns, small farms, and local communities where people work at better maintaining the environment. (NRDC)
The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve is located in southern India in the Western Ghats
Mountain systems, which include the Malabar rain forest. It consists of a wide range of ecosystems and various species of plants and animals. The Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, Wyanaad Wildlife Sanctuary, Bandipur National Park, Nagarhole National Park, Mukurthi
National Park and Silent Valley are all protected areas within the reserve. (CPREEC) This reserve is probably home to the largest populations of tiger and elephants in southern India.
Several groups inhabit the area and use many of the natural resources. (MAB) The range of plant life in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve is extremely diverse and widespread. It contains about
3,300 different species, 132 of which are endemic to the Reserve (CPREEC). Some examples of
species that are entirely restricted to the Reserve include the
species; Adenoon, Calacanthus, Baeolepis, Frerea, Jarodina,
Wagatea, and Poeciloneuron. The plant life of the Nilgiri
Biosphere Reserve can be divided into seven different regions
Figure 3: Eugenia Plant, Wikipedia within its borders (Negi, 190-191), ranging from forest types such as the Mukurti National Park and its high altitude grasslands and shola ecosystem, as well as the Mudumalai Sanctuary in the lower regions with dry zones to semi tropical forests
(Keystone Foundation). More specifically they are; the hill-top typical evergreen forest, The hill valley swamp, the Nilgiri sub-tropical hill forest, the sub-tropical hill savannah forest, the montane wet temperate forest, the montane wet scrub, and finally the montane wet grassland.
Some examples of the plants that can be found each of these regions in the biosphere are
Calophyllum elatum, Eugenia, Turpinia, Dalbergia latifolia, Cinnamomum, Berberis tinctoria, and Bothriochloa pertusa (Negi, 190-191). In addition to the plant life which grows naturally in the region, Nilgiri is known for its tea leaves as well as Nilgiri oils, also known as Eucalyptus. Although it was not a native plant to
India, the eucalyptus was brought in to be used as a fuel tree in
1843. But since that time, it has been found that the tree grows
Figure 2: Cinnamomum camphora remarkably well in the higher altitude of 5,000 ft – 8,300 ft. The active ingredients in the eucalyptus plants are Cineole (62%) and Pinene (24%), which are then used in for medicinal purposes such as an analgesic, expectorant, decongestant, antiseptic, anti-neuralgic properties, as well as being used to increase blood circulation. In clinical situations the Nilgiri oil has been used by the Medical Department of the Government of Madras for the treatment of upper respiratory tract infections and in their opinion has been found to be satisfactory (The Himalaya
Drug Company). Plants which have a useful purpose to humans tend to thrive due to the human desire to make use of them, however, there are many different species and types of plants that get overlooked or deemed as unimportant simply because they may not benefit the local human population. Nevertheless these plants are important, which was demonstrated in an experiment which showed how certain species of plants only attract a certain type of bees (Tropical Ecology, 85).
What the results of this study point to is that if fragile ecosystems are interfered with and not allowed to follow their natural path, Figure 4: Eucalyptus flowers, (EucalyptusLexicon1.jpg) there could be more ramifications than people expected. Say for example that the species of plant should become extinct, and then the species of bees that use it as a food source will also drop in numbers, which would cause an overall decline in the pollination of the plants in the area. This also demonstrates that there is a more fragile balance between plants, animals, and people.
The animals of the Nilgiri Biosphere also are called Fauna. There are about one hundred species of mammals, three hundred- fifty species of birds, between sixty and eighty species of reptiles, thirty- nine species of fish, thirty- one amphibians, about three hundred sixteen species of butterflies, and an innumerable amount of invertebrates (Indian etzone). The two animals most generally associated with Nilgiri are the gray langur and the Nilgiri tahr. There are a handful of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries that currently exist in this area to help population control, although most of these parks were once hunting preserves. In these places sambars and tigers are generally kept and maintained at high levels. But the managers are beginning to order the old trees to be removed, the problem with this is that these trees are where birds like the hornbills and woodpeckers make their nests. So this tree removal is throwing things a bit out of balance (Conservation of India's living Resources through Biosphere Reserves).
Some common primates found include the grey langur and the bonnet macaque. The grey langur, whose genus’s name is semnopithecus, it is also known by over twenty different names though the most common names are that of the gray langur, the hanuman langur, the sacred langur, and the nilgiri langur. The name hanuman comes from the monkey-god named hanuman, which was sacred to the Hindu religion; this is also where the name sacred comes
from. These monkeys are generally large in size but their size can vary
by location. Their body color overall is generally a grayish color with a
black face, tail, paws and ears. Their tails are almost always larger than
their body’s. In the wild a male may live to be eight-teen years of age
where as females can live past they’re thirty’s. the langur is generally
Figure 5: Nilgiri Lemur found all over the place from forests to residential areas, to market (Nilgiri Langur.jpg) places in Nilgiri. Although they are rarely found in dense or ever green forests or at a range higher than 4000m (13123.4 ft) above sea level. Also these primates are vegetarian but not exclusively, they eat things such as leaves, to fruits and vegtables, to bamboo, to termit mounds, to even human foods, but their diet changes upon season. Their predators consist of leopards, wild dogs, and tigers (Primate Fact sheets).
The Nilgiri tahr, whose genus is hamitragus hylocrius is the largest of three species of
tahr and it is only slightly larger than the Himalayan
tahr. these animals have short haired coats where as
the Himalayan tahr’s have a slightly longer haired
coat. Females and immature males are over all
Figure 6: Nilgiri Tahr (Nilgiri Tahr.jpg) generally yellowish, brown to grey color with a paler under parts. Significant markings of these animals for the younger males and females are dark dorsal strips, or a dark line of fur down the center of their back. When males begin to age they begin to darken in color from their once grayish color to a now deep chocolate or even blackish brown color. This changing in color begins when the male is about two years of age and takes about four years to complete. As they go through that they also begin to darken or become black in color in the areas of just their shoulders, neck, and legs, except for the exception of the white spot that grows on the anterior surface of the front of their knees. Once males are mature they form a silver saddle patch on their back. Both sexes have relatively short curving horns, and are found in grasslands in the biosphere. These animals are active from dawn till late evening and are usually grazing all day long and when it gets late they head to cliffs and rest in the shade where its safe. The predators of the nilgiri tahr are the leopard, wild dogs, and even humans
(Ultimate Ungulate).
Some carnivores include the predators of most other animals in the biosphere that are the tiger, leopard, and dhole or wild dog. Another animal like the tiger and leopard that is frequently sighted is the sloth bear. Some others are animals like the striped hyena, the golden jackal, and the Asian elephant, which has a population of about several hundred in the area. Also there were numbers of ungulates, or animals with hooves, like the guar, the sambar deer, the chital, Indian munjac, the Indian spotted chevrotain, and the wild boar. Common rodents in the area are animals like the Indian giant squirrel and the red giant squirrel. And the bird life in Nilgiri is very rich, there are small birds such as the Malabar trogan, and the Malabar grey hornbill, also woodpeckers. There are also birds of prey like the crested hawk-eye, and the crested serpent eagle. Nilgiri is also the place that holds an isolated southern population of striped tit-babbler.
And then the most common reptile in this area is the moniter lizard also known as varanus bengalensis (Jungle Retreat).
The Nilgiri biosphere reserve, which covers approximately 5520 sq. km is home to several indigenous communities, probably in excess of 10 different ethnic groups. As mentioned before, the region has a wide variety of forestation and wildlife, however, it also is home to a mix of the plantation industry, agriculture and tourism as well. Each of these sections of human interaction occupy a different niche of the region from varying altitudes of the mountain region
(Keystone Foundation). Among two of the main agricultural products produced in Nilgiri are the
Nilgiri tea leaves, which are grown in the Blue
Mountains at an elevation between 1,000 meters to
2,500 meters. The tea leaves are grown year round
in this region due to the fact that this area
experiences two monsoons per year (Indian Holiday
Figure 7: Black Nilgiri Tea Leaves (Nilgiritea.jpg) pvt Ltd), meaning that as a crop it is highly profitable. In fact it is such a large part of the Gross Domestic Product of India that it makes up 31% of the global tea market. In India alone, since its independence, has experienced a growth in the production of tea by 250% where as the area of farming land has increased by 40%. This expansion has come to directly employ 1.1 million workers, and financially benefit another 10 million through income (TeaAuction.com Ltd). Another widely known and used natural resource in Nilgiri is the Nilgiri Oils which are also widely marketed worldwide (The Himalaya
Drug Company). However, one resource that is all too frequently taken for granted today is water, and it is becoming more and more scarce in the region. The reason for this decline is due to the reduction in sholas and grasslands in the area, which then causes the watershed to change in the catching and recycling of water. There are also other human interferences which impact different regions of the biosphere in varying manners. Some examples of human changes to the natural region are intensive felling, which has caused a decline of 28.96 sq. km of deforestation increasing the difficulties of life for animals such as the Nilgiri wood pidgeon, Nilgiri pipet, and
Nilgiri langur, which are all endemic to the biosphere. Another problem currently inflicting the biosphere is the issue of monoculture. Due to people planting crops such as the tea plants, eucalyptus, coffee and food crops, as well as the extensive use of fertilizers, the soil quality has experienced a significant decline in quality resulting in landslides during heavy rains. In addition to these impacts, some of the other major factors contributing to the decline of the region include grazing, forest fires, development and construction, horticulture and agriculture, and finally tourism (C.P.R. Environmental Education Centre).
There are many different research projects going on in Nilgiri. Some of these projects include ways to provide income for the locals. These projects include forest and grassland management, habitat improvement, animal husbandry, apiculture and aquaculture, education and health, and various others. (MAB) All of these research projects are done in cooperation with the locals and the scientist in the area.
Tourism is very popular in the Nilgiri region. In 2000, about 200,000 people visited the region. (MAB) In order to accommodate these people, there have been a vast number of hotels, clubs, resorts, and environmental gardens have been built in the Transition Zone of the reserve.
These areas help to attract tourists. The tourism has also caused a bad effect on the environment, including pollution and garbage disposal problems. (CPREEC)
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