Study predicts more new species of frogs and grasses likely to be found in Western Ghats than butterflies and birds

A recent study carried out as a collaborative initiative between ATREE and UAS (University of Agricultural Sciences), Bangalore shows that the Western Ghats is more likely to have unidentified species of frogs and grasses rather than birds and butterflies.

Reporting their findings the investigators write, "Our study closely scrutinized the patterns of discovery of eight taxa – birds, butterflies, frogs, tiger beetles, grasses, asters, ferns and orchids – in the Western Ghats, a megadiversity centre in India. We found that the discovery curves for birds and butterflies have been saturated while those for frogs and grasses continue to increase".

Lead investigator in this study was Senior Research Associate from ATREE, N.A. Aravind.


Reference:
Patterns of species discovery in the Western Ghats, a megadiversity hot spot in India. N A Aravind. 1, B Tambat 2, G Ravikanth 1, K N Ganeshaiah 1,3,4 and R Uma Shaanker 1,2,4*. J. Biosci. 32(4), June 2007.

1. Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), # 659 5th A Main, Hebbal, Bangalore 560 024, India
2. Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore 560 065, India
3. Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore 560 065, India
4. Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scienti. c Research, Jakkur, Bangalore 560 064, India

*Corresponding author (Fax, 91- 80-23530070; Email, rus@vsnl.com)