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for this protocol was reported to amplify 2. Narayanan, N., Baisakh, N., Vera Cruz, C. laboratory facilities. This research was funded a 687-bp region (from base pair 1055 to M., Gnanamanickam, S. S., Datta, K. and by a grant from Bayer CropScience, Belgium. 1741) of the total Pot2 element for the Datta, S. K., Crop Sci., 2002, 42, 2072–2079. specific detection of only the non-rice 3. Viji, G., Gnanamanickam, S. S. and Levy, strains of M. grisea5. The results of the PCR M., Mycol. Res., 2000, 104, 161–167. Received 12 July 2004; revised accepted 17 4. Tai, T. H. and Tanksley, S. D., Mol. assay were quite reproducible for amplifica- November 2004 Biol. Rep., 1990, 8, 297–303. tion of the 687-bp fragment in Setaria- 5. Harmon, P. F., Dunkle, L. D. and Latin, R., infecting M. grisea, suggesting that this Plant Dis., 2003, 87, 1072–1076. V. KARTHIKEYAN amplified region of the genome is common 6. Kachroo, P., Leong, S. A. and Chattoo, B. SAMUEL S. GNANAMANICKAM* to M. grisea isolates that infect perennial B., Mol. Gen. Genet., 1994, 245, 339–345. ryegrass and foxtail millet. This specific Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany, detection procedure is also rapid and can University of Madras, be concluded within 3–4 h. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. We thank the Associate Director, Regional Agricultural Res- Guindy Campus, earch Station, Pattambi, for use of blast Chennai 600 025, 1. Babujee, L. and Gnanamanickam, S. S., nursery space and Director, CAS in Botany, *For correspondence. Curr. Sci., 2000, 78, 248–257. University of Madras, Chennai for granting e-mail: [email protected]

Seedling mortality in two vulnerable in the sacred groves of , South India

Sacred groves form a significant component within 20-km radius of Ponnampet were from groves (n = 13 groves for , of the traditional conservation movement visited and 15 groves with area ranging and n = 11 groves for ). The in many parts of the tropical world1. The from 0.37 to 11.28 ha were selected for the seeds/ of the were collected Western Ghats, one of the two mega-diver- study. The latitude and longitude of the during the respective fruiting phenologies sity centers in India, is dotted with sacred sacred groves were recorded using a global (for during January– groves, with the highest concentrations positioning system (GPS) and digitized February while for Artocarpus hirsutus located in the central Western Ghats2. using GIS software (MAPINFO)8. Based during May–June). Immediately after collec- Sacred groves are believed to serve as the on the GPS data, inter-grove distance was tion, seeds/fruits were washed, weighed and last refugia for a number of taxa, particu- estimated for each grove. a number of seed/ parameters (such larly for rare, endangered and threatened The study was conducted on two econo- as seed abortion, seed predation, etc.) were species3,4. Of late due to encroachments mically important and vulnerable tree spe- determined. and land-use changes, the sacred groves cies. Artocarpus hirsutus Lam. () Sufficient care was taken to avoid sam- have been increasingly threatened and is a dominant canopy tree, vulnerable glob- pling errors, including over- or under-repre- fragmented4. During the last century alone, ally9 and endemic to the Western Ghats10. sentation for samples across the grove area. the total area under the groves in Kodagu The fruits are yellow, ovoid, covered with The seeds were sown separately in poly- district in the central Western Ghats de- spines, containing numerous white seeds, thene bags filled with soil mixture, and creased by 42%. Besides, more than 46% 0.5–0.75 inches long with viability period allowed to germinate under shade in green- of the sacred groves in the district are less of three weeks11. Because of its edible house conditions. Aborted seeds that were than 0.4 ha in area. The increased frag- fruit collection and extensive harvesting rudimentary and scleretorized were not mentation of the groves could undermine of highly prized timber, A. hirsutus has considered. The germination percentage the utility of these groves in serving as a been threatened in the Western Ghats. was calculated as the ratio of number of refugium for the rare, endangered and Canarium strictum Roxb. () is seeds germinated to the total number of threatened (RET) species. Here we exam- reportedly vulnerable in Karnataka9 and sown seeds. The ratio of the number of dead ine the effects of grove area on the seedling is known for its medicinal resin6. Fruits seedlings (two months after germination mortality of two economically important are ovoid or ellipsoid, often-trigonous drupe for Artocarpus and three months for Cana- and vulnerable tree species. with 1–3 celled, 1–3 seeded stone11. C. rium) to the total number of germinated The study was conducted in the sacred srictum is being mainly threatened for its seeds was computed for each grove and groves of Ponnampet range (12°N, 75°E), valuable resin extracted by partially referred to as per cent seedling mortality. Kodagu district in the central Western burning the trees. The species is distrib- We found a significant decline in per cent Ghats of India (Figure 1). The groves are uted sparsely in the evergreen forests of seedling mortality with increase in area set against a matrix of coffee plantation the Western Ghats and Eastern Himalaya of the grove (P < 0.05 in both the species; and agricultural landscape6,7. The vegetation in India10. Both species are pollinated by Figure 2 a and b). For Artocarpus, the per of the groves is predominantly evergreen, small insects and are animal-dispersed. cent seedling mortality ranged from as with a small proportion of semi-evergreen Seeds or fruits of both species were high as 100% in the small groves to none and deciduous patches. The sacred groves collected from randomly chosen trees in the large groves. On the other hand, for

350 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 88, NO. 3, 10 FEBRUARY 2005 SCIENTIFIC CORRESPONDENCE

Figure 1. Distribution map of study sites (sacred groves) in Kodagu district, central Western Ghats, India.

Canarium the mortality ranged from a y = –21.942ln(x ) + 50.286 100 7 about 60% in the smaller groves to about n = 12, r = 0.62 P < 0.05 10% in the larger groves. Per cent seed 80 germination increased nonlinearly with grove area though not significantly (for 60 Artocarpus y = 9.59ln(x) + 41.014, R2 = 27 0.070 and for Canarium y = 3.72ln(x) + 40 2 17 11.37, R = 0.111). 13 20 43 Thus, in both species, seedling fitness 19 decreased with increased fragmentation

Per cent seedling mortality 0 4 2 37 5 16 84 of sacred groves. Seedling mortality was 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 not correlated to other seed features such as seed weight or seed predation. There Size of the groves (ha) was no significant differences in the den- sities of adult trees of both species across b y = –17.182ln(x ) + 59.548 70 the size of the groves; however it likely 20 n = 10, r = 0.69 P < 0.05 60 5 that the smaller groves harbour fewer in- dividuals compared to the larger groves. 50 4 27 Thus the observed increase in per cent 40 seedling mortality with decrease in grove 12 45 30 size could be due to the closed mating 8 20 27 among the fewer individuals in the small 19 groves compared to the large. The average 10 distance separating the selected groves is Per cent seedling mortality 0 8 about 6.5 km, a distance that might con- 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 strain pollinator movements such as small Size of the grove (ha) insects (e.g. moths in Artocarpus and flies in Canarium). Thus the increased mortality Figure 2. Per cent mortality of seedling (a) Artocarpus hirsutus and (b) Canarium strictum in the smaller groves could reflect the con- across grove area. Data points from 1.411 ha grove for Artocarpus and 2.711 ha grove for Ca- narium are not included in the regression analysis, since only single seedling was recovered from sequences of inbreeding and the accumu- these groves. Numbers next to datapoint indicate number of seedlings used for analysis from that lation of developmental lethals. While the grove. consequences of fragmentation on seed-

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 88, NO. 3, 10 FEBRUARY 2005 351 SCIENTIFIC CORRESPONDENCE ling fitness are well known and have been 7. Tambat, B. S., Channamallikarjuna, V., of the Forestry College, Ponnampet, in provi- reported by several earlier workers12–15, our Rajanikanth, G., Ravikanth, G., Kushala- ding accommodation is appreciated. Graduate results are significant as they hold strong ppa, C. G., Ganeshaiah, K. N. and Uma students, Satish, Ullas, Jagdish, Reddy, Yathish implications for the conservation of vul- Shaanker, R., In Tropical Ecosystem: and Raghvendra helped with fieldwork. nerable species in the sacred groves3,6,7. Structure, Diversity and Human Welfare (eds Ganeshaiah, K N., Uma Shaanker, R. Received 30 August 2004; accepted 19 Septe- The study underscores the importance of and Bawa, K. S.), Oxford and IBH, New mber 2004 protecting the sacred groves from frag- Delhi, 2001, pp. 314–318. mentation if they have to serve as refugia for 8. MAPINFO, MapInfo Professionals Ver- 1 BHAUSAHEB TAMBAT the vulnerable species. sion 4.1.2. 1985–1997, MapInfo Corpo- 2 G. RAJANIKANTH ration, USA, 1997. 1,5 9. Red-listed Medicinal of , G. RAVIKANTH 1,3,5, 1. Hughes, A. and Chandran, M. D. S., In FRLHT, , 2000. R. UMA SHAANKER * 2,3,5 Conserving the Sacred for Biodiversity 10. Rai, S. N. (ed.), Nursery and Planting K. N. GANESHAIAH 4,5 Management (ed. Ramakrishnan, P. S.), Techniques of Forest Trees in Tropical C. G. KUSHALAPPA Oxford and IBH, New Delhi, 1998, pp. South , Punarvasu Publications, Dhar- 69–85. wad, 1999. 1Department of Crop Physiology and 2. Malhotra, K. C., In Conserving the Sacred 11. Gamble, J. S., Flora of the Presidency of 2Department of Genetics and Plant for Biodiversity Management (ed. Rama- Madras, Adlard & Sons, London, 1935. Breeding, krishnan, P. S.), Oxford and IBH, New 12. Ouborg, N. J. and Treuren, R. V., J. Ecol., Delhi, 1998, pp. 423–438. 1995, 83, 369–380. University of Agricultural Sciences, 3. Gadgil, M. and Vartak, V. D., J. Bombay 13. Bruna, E. M., Nature, 1999, 402, 139. GKVK, Natl. Hist. Soc., 1975, 72, 312–320. 14. Cunningham, S. A., Conserv. Biol., 2000, Bangalore 560 065, India 3 4. Kushalappa, C. G. and Kushalappa, K. 14, 758–768. Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for A., Report, College of Forestry, Ponnam- 15. Bruna, E. M. and Kress, W. J., Conserv. Advanced Scientific Research, pet, 1996. Biol., 2002, 16, 1256–1266. Bangalore 560 065, India 5. Kushalappa, C. G. and Bhagwat, S. A., 4Department of Forest Biology, In Forest Genetic Resources: Status, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. The work was sup- Forestry College, Threats and Conservation Strategies (eds ported in part by the Forest Genetic Resources Ponnampet 571 216, India Uma Shaanker, R., Ganeshaiah, K. N. programme of the International Plant Genetic 5Ashoka Trust for Research in and Bawa, K. S.), Oxford and IBH, New Resources Institute, Rome and and Delhi, 2001, pp. 21–29. the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Ecology and the Environment, 6. Tambat, B., M Sc thesis submitted to Uni- the Environment, Bangalore. We thank the Bangalore 560 024, India versity of Agricultural Sciences, Banga- Karnataka Forest Department for permission *For correspondence. lore, 2001. to work in the Kodagu forest. The assistance e-mail: [email protected]

Seed-like structure in dinosaurian coprolite of Lameta Formation (Upper Cretaceous) at Pisdura, Maharashtra, India

Lameta Formation (Late Cretaceous) at few small plant structures of uncertain the lateral position in the seed (Figures Pisdura, Maharashtra has yielded a large affinities and some softer parts of pteri- 2 b, c and 3 b); cellular details of the em- number of dinosaurian coprolites (faecal dophytic and gymnospermous origin6,8. bryo could not be resolved due to its mass) (Figure 1). These coprolites gener- In this context the recovery of a large mono- poor preservation. The seed could not be ally occur in different shapes and sizes. cotyledonous seed-like structure embedded generically assigned to an extant taxon Depending on their external morphology, in the coprolite (Type-A) is noteworthy. due to the lack of more recognizable fea- the coprolites have been categorized under The coprolite measures about 6 cm long tures. However, in extant palms, seeds can four main types (A, B, Ba and C)1. Type- and 4.5 cm broad, greyish in colour, ovoid be distinguished on the basis of the posi- A coprolites contain exclusively large in shape containing two silicified seed- tion of the embryo; in arecoid, borassoid, amount of vegetal parts and their asso- like structures (Figure 2 b) measuring cocosoid, and coryphoid groups, it is basal ciation with titanosaurid skeletal remains 2.0 cm in length and 1.5 cm in width. or apical; in the lepidocaryoid group it is in the same bed suggests that the titano- However, the complete seed partially ventral, while in the phoenicoid group the saurs sauropods were the producers. Among embedded in the coprolite is slightly embryo is always lateral in position9–12. the remaining categories not much is known smaller, measures 0.9 cm in width (Fig- Based on the shape, size, presence of sin- about their producers, though some may ures 2 a and 3 a); light grey in colour; gle cotyledon and lateral position of the belong to chelonians2–7. Plant-bearing cop- ovoid in shape (as seen in the sectional embryo, the seeds indicate close resem- rolites are significant from the viewpoint view; Figures 2 b and 3 b). It is enclosed blance to the phoenicoid group of Areca- of understanding feeding habits of these in a thin endocarp (about 0.5 mm thick) ceae. animals and their palaeoecology. (Figure 2 a and d). Endosperm cells are Records of Upper Cretaceous seeds/ Records of megafloral remains in the compact and seem to be ruminated (Fig- fruits referable to Arecaceae as Palmo- coprolites are poorly known, except for a ure 2 e). A degenerated embryo occupies carpon arecoides, the fruits characterized

352 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 88, NO. 3, 10 FEBRUARY 2005