How far do hornbills disperse seeds?
Hornbills disperse more than 90 percent of the seeds of the fruits they consume, and the larger-bodied great hornbills and wreathed hornbills can disperse seeds more than 10 km away…
Why the ancient Myristica swamps need more protection
The low-lying valleys of the evergreen tropical forests of the Western Ghats harbour a rare, ancient ecosystem: the Myristica swamps. Comprised mainly of evergreen trees of the Myristicaceae family—one of…
New species remain hidden in the myristica swamps of the Western Ghats
It was a bright afternoon after two days of heavy rain in Kerala and Professor P. Manimohan’s two Ph.D. students K. P. Deepna Latha and K. N. Anil Raj were…
The invisible victims of an unfinished city
Nestled within the picturesque Western Ghats, the Lavasa township near Pune, Maharashtra is unlike any other hill city of India. As one drives up a smooth road amid the monsoon…
Why the city that never stops comes to a standstill when it rains
When the rain poured down on Mumbai last week, drowning the city in what now seems like an annual affair, it once again brought up the question – why is…
[Book Review] The stories of our roots
Reading Cities and Canopies is like sitting through an Indian family gathering. There's the know-it-all uncle, the remedy-ready grandmother and the botany graduate cousin, who all have something to share…
Forest fires impact typical Himalayan trees
The western Indian Himalayas, spread across Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, have always been known for their pines, cedars and oaks. These trees are so typical to the…
Will urban outrage over environmental apathy reflect in voting?
Whether it was the intense public protest in Delhi last June, over the proposed cutting of thousands of trees, or protests in Bengaluru since 2017 against tree felling for a…
Quest for black diamond leaves Korba breathless
This is the second article in a three-part series on the role of environment in the upcoming elections at Chhattisgarh. Part One describes the paradox of development in the resource-rich…
Greening with pollution-gobbling trees doubles benefits
As India chokes on a cocktail of toxic fumes and particulate matter, researchers are zeroing-on air pollutant-gobbling plant species, that could be marshalled for green belt development along roadsides, thermal…
