THE AMAZING LIFE IN THE INDIAN DESERT BY ISHWAR PRAKASH CENTRAL ARID ZONE RESEARCH INSTITUTE JODHPUR Printed June, 1977 Reprinted from Tbe Illustrated Weekly of India AnDual1975 CAZRI Monogra,pp No. 6 , I Publtshed by the Director, Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur, and printed by B. R. Chowdhri, Press Manager at Hl!ryana Agricultural University Press, Hissar CONTENTS A Sorcerer's magic wand 2 The greenery is transient 3 Burst of colour 4 Grasses galore 5 Destruction of priceless teak 8 Exciting "night life" 8 Injectors of death 9 Desert symphony 11 The hallowed National Bird 12 The spectacular bustard 12 Flamingo city 13 Trigger-happy man 15 Sad fate of the lord of the jungle 16 17 Desert antelopes THE AMAZING LIFE IN THE INDIAN DESERT The Indian Desert is not an endless stretch of sand-dunes bereft of life or vegetation. During certain seasons it blooms with a colourful range of trees and grasses and abounds in an amazing variety of bird and animal life. This rich natural region must be saved from the over­ powering encroachment of man. To most of us, the word "desert" conjures up the vision of a vast, tree-less, undulating, buff expanse of sand, crisscrossed by caravans of heavily-robed nomads on camel-back. Perhaps the vision includes a lonely cactus plant here and the s~ull of some animal there and, perhaps a few mini-groves of date-palm, nourished by an artesian well, beckoning the tired traveller to rest awhile before riding off again to the horizon beyond. This vision is a projection of the reality of the Saharan or the Arabian deserts. The Great Indian Desert, or the Thar Desert, does not conform to this popUlarly held general pattern in many details. For example, no oasis waves its palm fronds in welcome of the weary travel­ lers here, nor any native cactus breaks the monotony of the sandy $pan. The desert is, however, very much with us and we may indeed be grateful that it is there. The arid wastes of today will perforce be reclaimed in the near future to feed our growing human family-for good or for evil, only time will tell. Our desert is our future land-bank which will allow us to draw on its resources of food and fibre for atleast some time to come. However, this will be achieved at a price-the total breakdown of the desert's natu­ ral ecology. Our pressing socio-political exigencies will perhaps care little for such a destruction of one of Nature's wondrous handicrafts. And that will be a great tragedy. Biogeographically, the majority of the plants and animals found in the Indian desert exhibit 'western' affinities. Climatologically also, the Great Basin, extending from Sahara to the Thar, is considered to be a continuous unit. Geographically, the Indian desert holds a rather de­ batable position as it exhibits an admixture of peninsular, extra-pen­ insular and Indogangetic features. Geologically, the desert has resisted orogeniC forces and has been subjected to marine transgressions, parti- cularly in Jodhpur, Bikaner, Kutch and J abalpur regions. The area became dry during the Miocene and the Pliocene when the sea gradually receded. Dr. D. N. Wadi a had concluded that the Indian desert began to dry up after the last glaciation period. Archaeologically, it was the seat of the Mohanjodaro-Harappa-Ghaggar civilizations. Historically, the region was dominated by Princely States and had borne the brunt of a successive series of invasions by Moslem chieftains and emperors. A SORCERER'S MAGIC WAND The hot, arid and semi-arid region in northern India extends from Punjab and Haryana to Gujarat, through Rajasthan, and to the western parts of Madhya Pradesh. Thjs desert is not a continuous stretch of sand but is interspersed with hills and the dominating Aravalli ranges are a distinct land-mark of this tract. A few large lakes and small 'nadis' and a number of ephemeral and perennial streams, occurring in the desert, constitute about the whole of the invaluable surface water resources of the region. While animal life in the desert depends to a large extent on these sources of surface water, plant life too derives sustenance from these sources in no small measure. The Thorny scrub land is spread over the sandy plains from southern Haryana, Punjab and western Rajasthan to northern Gujarat. At sever~l places the native vegetation has been replaced by agricultural crops, particularly in regions where irrigation facilities are available. The unpredictable bounty of the thrifty rain-gods has led to a take-over of the land mostly by annual species of plants but certain perennial grasses, shrubs and trees have persistently resisted total domination by the an­ nuals. Wit4 the first shower of the season, the forbidden sea of sand assumes a gay cloak of. the most magnificent greenery. The sweet patter of the long-awaited rain drops breaks the slumber of the dormant seeds lying buried in the sand and the desert is transformed almost overnight into a garden as if by the touch of a sorcerer's magic wand. This annual transformation of the desert scene from one of drab life­ lessness to one of lush greenery is fortunately, a characteristic feature of the Indian desert. In most other deserts 'of the world, the monsoon fails to bring in its wake such a vivid transformation of the landscape. The monsoon vegetation in our desert comprise the annuals such as a few sedges ar:d the perennial grasses. The extent of their colonization and the dominance they attain over a particular tra'ct is mainly determined by their relative adaptabili­ ties tor the envnonment. Their seeds germinate with the first shower and develop a shal~ow root system so that moisture can be quickly uti- 2 . hsed from the top soil. They have a rather short life cycle and flowers appear within 25 to 35 days of germination. The cocktail of the mild fragrance of these flowers fill the desert air -in August when honey bees and butterflies flutter around in search of nectar. By the end of monsoon, during September-October, the annuals shed their seeds which are flung far and wide by various natural agencies. The seeds of desert plants are capable of withstanding extreme soil temperatures, about 60°C, by lying burried under the top soil during the summer and retaining their viability till the showers come to make them sprout. THE GREENERY IS TRANSIENT The lush monsoon vegetation of the desert may seem an inexhau­ stible source of foraging material for the very large number of domestic livestock that are reared within the desert's bounds. Unfortunately, most of the green annuals are not only inedible or unpalatable to lives­ tock, they colonise so thoroughly and compete so severely with the peren­ nial species and highly nutritive grasses that the latter are deprived of all chances of survival and regeneration. This deterioration of the perennials is furthered by factors such as overgrazing by cattle and des­ truction by rodents. If a balance sheet is prepared of the annual pro­ ductivity of desert livestock (milk, wool and lambs) a rather gloomy picture emerges. The conception rate of cows is poor, their milk pro­ ductivity is extremely low and the quality and quantity of wool produced by the sheep is too poor by Australian and New Zealand standards. The desert scene starts changing soon after the monsoon. The air temperature rises and the vegetation experiences a second summer during the month of October. Soon the greenery fades and the desert starts looking brown. As winter approaches, bare sandy patches appear. The sand on the crests of dunes, sometimes, starts blowing. With the advent of spring emerges a fresh crop of sprouts but these are quickly grazed over by the wandering herds of hungry cattle and the all-destructive hordes of rodents and the desert soon conforms to its popular image of an area of bare, rolling sand dunes, undulating sandy plains, dry shrubs, a few thorny trees and the seductive mirage. The wind grows strong during May and June, with the afternoons often darkened by the howling andhi and the world seems lost under a blanket of dust. The full fury of the elements is now let loose on man and beast alike. In the extreme west, in Jaisalmer district, which is the driest (2 inches annual rainfall) zone in the country, there is hardly any tree to meet the tired eyes of a traveller. Even the 'king' among desert trees, the Khejri (Prosopis cineraria) grows here only near wells. The Mandla basin situated in the south-west of Ramgarh, only a few kilometres away 3 from the Pakistan border, however, presents an extraordinary situation. This region is dominated by tall, longitudinal sand dunes. In the interdu­ nal gaps in this basin, there exists a beautiful, un-utilized climax­ 'forest' of Khejri and Jal (Salvadora oleoides). The trees are not only very healthy 'but are larger in girth than those growing in higher rainfall zones. In this basin, the depth of the underground water table ranges from 100 to 330 feet and, therefore, the roots of the trees exploit 'perched' water which is in abundance in the gulleys between the lofty dunes. This forest, thriving under the harshest of conditions, is a fine example of Nature's ingenuity in meeting the chal­ lenge of life. BURST OF COLOUR The dune slopes throughout the desert are dominated by the shrub commonly known as Phog (Calligonum polygonoides). It is a favourite fodder for camel and a useful fuel for the desert dwellers.