Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve
Overview of research in KMTR
Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve is spread over 900 km2 along the eastern slopes of
Agasthyamalai in the south Western Ghats (map).This encompasses one of the finest stretches
of contiguous evergreen forests in the Western Ghats. The forest type ranges from Scrub jungle
to montane forest and grasslands. Agasthyamalai is also one of the important speciation centre
in Western Ghats and harbors over 150 localised endemic plants and more than 50 newly described
plant taxa. Agasthyamalai is one of the few safest home in Western Ghats for many endemic animals
such as Lion -Tailed Macaque, Nilgiri Langur, Brown Palm Civet, Malabar Spiny Dormouse, Nilgiri
Marten and Nilgiri Tahr.
Vegetation
We established forest dynamic plots in a medium elevation wet evergreen forest in 1994-95.
Forty percent of the tree species in the plots were endemic to Western Ghats and around 10%
of them were endemic to Agasthyamalai. These forests experience lowest annual turnover and
mortality rate compared to several similar evergreen forests elsewhere.
Phenology
Phenological observations on 78 species of canopy and sub-canopy tree species started in 1990.
Community peaks in flowering generally occur twice in a year between January and May followed
by a second peak between Aug and October Some dominant species flower annually and often
asynchronously. Many of the rare species flower for brief duration but are highly synchronous.
Fruiting reaches a high in the late dry season after May and continues till the end of October.
High variability is noticed between years; a gradual build-up of fruit resources started from
July 92 and lasted for almost 2 years. Such extended big bang of fruiting was not noticed
later in the years.
Pollination and Seed dispersal
The wet forest canopy trees are pollinated by social bees (18%), beetles (17%), moths and
butterflies (15%) and other insects (25%), bats (3%) and others the remaining 22%. 35% of the
species were pollinated by only 1or 2 species and only 2 social bee species were responsible
for the pollination of over 16 tree species.
Nearly 79% of the tree species produce fleshy fruits that are consumed by 6 species of birds and
6 species of mammals, including a bat. Many of the mammals were seed predators. Bird dispersed
species account for 60% of the tree species 14% of which are exclusively dispersed by large pigeons.
Disturbance and diversity
Logged sites were species rich mainly due to secondary forest species. Abundance and
frequency of the most common primary species and rare species were equally affected by
logging. Dominant species of the forest such as Palaquium ellipticum suffered regeneration
in the logged forests. Similarly a study on the butterfly community of logged forests showed
that ubiquitous species, which persist along a wide range of habitat types were common. Also
there was a release of light loving species in the logged sites while there was a restraint
in the abundance of the understorey butterflies.
What’s “NEW”
Disturbance and plant-animal interactions
Plant-animal interactions in tropical forests maintain local diversity of trees. The loss of
these pollinators due to human disturbance could affect the pollination success of these trees
and consequently their regeneration and survival. If these trees are keystone species then it
could affect the entire community. The result of this study will justify the need to stock
degraded forests with requisite mammal pollinators. A similar study is initiated with other
tree species that are important for arboreal mammals and insects.
Community interventions
The dry forests in KMTR are under constant stress due to fuelwood collection and grazing. To
reduce the pressure of forest dependency interventions are designed and the implementation
are under way. The important interventions are finding long term alternatives for the livelihood
of fuel wood collectors, growing fuel wood and fodder trees around the empty spaces and
sensitizing the villagers and their children about the importance of protection of natural
resources. In this connection nursery is stocked with multipurpose plant species that can
meet the demand of fuel wood, fodder, vegetable and health care. Sensitizing the villagers
about the greening of surrounding through various programs with their participation is under way.
Conservation education programs for rural kids
Rural education programs have been initiated with village kids and a green brigade (Pasumai padai)
have been formed. These help in spreading the message across different section of the society.
Forth coming program
Canopy program
We plan to initiate a canopy program in India that will address issues that relate to biodiversity,
climate change and human welfare. We will soon be submitting a proposal to Global Canopy program
and hope to have a walk way in the forest to facilitate research and exploration.
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