Cheppudira G. Kushalappa

The Role of Informal Protected Areas in Maintaining Biodiversity in the Western Ghats of India

Although it is widely believed that an important function of protected areas is to conserve species that are unable to survive elsewhere, there are very few empirical studies in which a comparison is made between biodiversity of protected areas and that of the cultivated landscape surrounding them. We examined the diversity of trees, birds, and macrofungi at 58 sites in three land-use types in a tree-covered landscape in Kodagu district in the Western Ghats of India. Ten forest reserve sites in the formal protected area, and 25 sacred groves and 23 coffee plantations in the neighboring cultivated landscape were sampled. A total of 215 tree, 86 bird, and 163 macrofungus species were recorded. The forest reserve had a large number of trees that were restricted in their distribution, and the sacred groves had a large number of macrofungi. We observed that deciduous trees and non-forest-dwelling birds increased, and evergreen trees and forest-dwelling birds decreased with increasing intensity of land management. We found that trees having non-timber uses and macrofungi useful to the local people, as well as those with medicinal properties, were abundant in sacred groves. We found no significant differences in the distribution of endemic and threatened birds across the three land-use types. Although endemic trees were more abundant in the forest reserve than in sacred groves, threatened trees were more abundant in sacred groves than in the forest reserve. We attribute the high diversity in sacred groves to the native tree cover in shade coffee plantations. We conclude that informal protected areas are as important as formal ones for biodiversity conservation in Kodagu. We recommend that a conservation strategy that recognizes informal protection traditions is essential for successful biodiversity conservation in regions where formal reserves are surrounded by a matrix of cultivated land.

Biodiversity conservation in agricultural landscapes: challenges and opportunities of coffee agroforests in the Western Ghats, India

The new approaches advocated by the conservation community to integrate conservation and livelihood development now explicitly address landscape mosaics composed of agricultural and forested land rather than only protected areas and largely intact forests. We refer specifically to a call by Harvey et al. (2008) to develop a new approach based on six strategies to integrate biodiversity conservation with sustainable livelihoods in Mesoamerican landscape mosaics. We examined the applicability of this proposal to the coffee agroforests of the Western Ghats, India. Of the six strategies, only one directly addresses livelihood conditions. Their approach has a clear emphasis on conservation and, as currently formulated risks repeating the failures of past integrated conservation and development projects. It fails to place the aspirations of farmers at the core of the agenda. Thus, although we acknowledge and share the broad vision and many of the ideas proposed by this approach, we urge more balanced priority setting by emphasizing people as much as biodiversity through a careful consideration of local livelihood needs and aspirations.

Interactive effects among ecosystem services and management practices on crop production: Pollination in coffee agroforestry systems

Crop productivity is improved by ecosystem services, including pollination, but this should be set in the context of trade-offs among multiple management practices. We investigated the impact of pollination services on coffee production, considering variation in fertilization, irrigation, shade cover, and environmental variables such as rainfall (which stimulates coffee flowering across all plantations), soil pH, and nitrogen availability. After accounting for management interventions, bee abundance improved coffee production (number of berries harvested). Some management interventions, such as irrigation, used once to trigger asynchronous flowering, dramatically increased bee abundance at coffee trees. Others, such as the extent and type of tree cover, revealed interacting effects on pollination and, ultimately, crop production. The effects of management interventions, notably irrigation and addition of lime, had, however, far more substantial positive effects on coffee production than tree cover. These results suggest that pollination services matter, but managing the asynchrony of flowering was a more effective tool for securing good pollination than maintaining high shade tree densities as pollinator habitat. Complex interactions across farm and landscape scales, including both management practices and environmental conditions, shape pollination outcomes. Effective production systems therefore require the integrated consideration of management practices in the context of the surrounding habitat structure. This paper points toward a more strategic use of ecosystem services in agricultural systems, where ecosystem services are shaped by the coupling of management interventions and environmental variables.

Does long‐distance pollen dispersal preclude inbreeding in tropical trees? Fragmentation genetics of Dysoxylum malabaricum in an agro‐forest landscape

Tropical trees often display long‐distance pollen dispersal, even in highly fragmented landscapes. Understanding how patterns of spatial isolation influence pollen dispersal and interact with background patterns of fine‐scale spatial genetic structure (FSGS) is critical for evaluating the genetic consequences of habitat fragmentation. In the endangered tropical timber tree Dysoxylum malabaricum (Meliaceae), we apply eleven microsatellite markers with paternity and parentage analysis to directly estimate historic gene flow and contemporary pollen dispersal across a large area (216 km2) in a highly fragmented agro‐forest landscape. A comparison of genetic diversity and genetic structure in adult and juvenile life stages indicates an increase in differentiation and FSGS over time. Paternity analysis and parentage analysis demonstrate high genetic connectivity across the landscape by pollen dispersal. A comparison between mother trees in forest patches with low and high densities of adult trees shows that the frequency of short‐distance mating increases, as does average kinship among mates in low‐density stands. This indicates that there are potentially negative genetic consequences of low population density associated with forest fragmentation. Single isolated trees, in contrast, frequently receive heterogeneous pollen from distances exceeding 5 km. We discuss the processes leading to the observed patterns of pollen dispersal and the implications of this for conservation management of D. malabaricum and tropical trees more generally.

Geographical Indications and Biodiversity in the Western Ghats, India Can Labeling Benefit Producers and the Environment in a Mountain Agroforestry Landscape?

Abstract A geographical indication (GI) is a form of protection highlighted in the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It protects intangible economic assets such as the quality and reputation of a product through market differentiation. It is considered a promising tool at the international level to maintain multifunctionality in rural landscapes and involve local populations in biodiversity management and conservation. Using the example of an existing GI for Coorg orange, a crop frequently associated with coffee agro-forestry systems in the mountain region of Kodagu (Western Ghats, India), we discuss how a GI can be successfully used by local producers and what conditions are needed for it to have a positive impact on the landscape and its associated biodiversity.

Forest trees in human modified landscapes: ecological and genetic drivers of recruitment failure in Dysoxylum malabaricum (Meliaceae).

Tropical agro-forest landscapes are global priority areas for biodiversity conservation. Little is known about the ability of these landscapes to sustain large late successional forest trees upon which much forest biodiversity depends. These landscapes are subject to fragmentation and additional habitat degradation which may limit tree recruitment and thus compromise numerous ecosystem services including carbon storage and timber production. Dysoxylum malabaricum is a large canopy tree species in the Meliaceae, a family including many important tropical timber trees. This species is found in highly fragmented forest patches within a complex agro-forest landscape of the Western Ghats biodiversity hot spot, South India. In this paper we combined a molecular assessment of inbreeding with ecological and demographic data to explore the multiple threats to recruitment of this tree species. An evaluation of inbreeding, using eleven microsatellite loci in 297 nursery-reared seedlings collected form low and high density forest patches embedded in an agro-forest matrix, shows that mating between related individuals in low density patches leads to reduced seedling performance. By quantifying habitat degradation and tree recruitment within these forest patches we show that increasing canopy openness and the increased abundance of pioneer tree species lead to a general decline in the suitability of forest patches for the recruitment of D. malabaricum. We conclude that elevated inbreeding due to reduced adult tree density coupled with increased degradation of forest patches, limit the recruitment of this rare late successional tree species. Management strategies which maintain canopy cover and enhance local densities of adult trees in agro-forest mosaics will be required to ensure D. malabaricum persists in these landscapes. Our study highlights the need for a holistic understanding of the incipient processes that threaten populations of many important and rare tropical tree species in human dominated agro-forest landscapes.

Fragmentation Genetics of Vateria indica: implications for management of forest genetic resources of an endemic dipterocarp

Tropical agro-forest landscapes are potentially valuable reserves of forest genetic resources for forestry and restoration of degraded forests. The Dipterocarpaceae is a dominant Southeast Asian family of tree species of global significance for the tropical timber industry. Very little information exists about how effective human modified landscapes are for conserving genetic diversity in dipterocarp species. This study provides a baseline for understanding how fragmented agro-forest landscapes in India sustain forest genetic resources in an endemic dipterocarp tree. We compare genetic diversity and fine-scale spatial genetic structure (FSGS) in the threatened tree species Vateria indica within an isolated and a continuous forest site in the Western Ghats, South India. We place these results in the context of dipterocarps from both the Seychelles and Borneo. Parentage analysis of 694 progeny using twelve nuclear microsatellite markers is applied to estimate pollen and seed dispersal. Using a nursery trial we evaluate effects of inbreeding on growth performance. Our results show that levels of FSGS, and gene dispersal are comparable between a small isolated and a large continuous site of V. indica. Realized long-distance pollen flow into the isolated patch appears to help maintaining genetic diversity. The nursery experiment suggests that selection favours outbred progeny. Individuals of V. indica in close proximity appear less related to each other than in another highly fragmented and endangered dipterocarp species from the Seychelles, but more related than in three dipterocarp species studied in continuous forest in Borneo. We discuss the wider implications of our findings in the context of conservation and restoration of dipterocarp forest genetic resources in fragmented populations.