Land-use changes put rocky addresses of animals under stress in Maharashtra’s Sahyadri plateau

Subject : Geography

Section: Places in news

Context:

A team of five scientists upturned more than 7,000 rocks over a considerable period of time to find out how animals ranging from ants to snakes are responding to land-use changes in rocky habitats.

About the study:

Conducted by:
- The study was conducted by the Nature Conservation Foundation-India (NCF), Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG), and the Ahmedabad-based Reliance Foundation.
- The study was supported by the United Kingdom-based On the Edge Conservation, the Habitat Trust (India) and the Maharashtra Forest Department.
The animals the scientists focussed on included:
- The white-striped viper gecko (Hemidactylus albofasciatus) reported only from small parts of the Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra, the Seshachari’s caecilian (Gegeneophis seshachari), a unique legless amphibian that mostly lives under soil, the saw-scaled viper (Echis carinatus), ants, spiders, and scorpions.
Findings:
- The rapid shift from traditional local grain cultivation to monoculture plantations of mango and cashew in the Sahyadri plateaus of Maharashtra is impacting elusive amphibians, insects, and reptiles that live under a crop of loose rocks.
- More intensive studies are needed to understand how the socio-ecological impacts traditional paddy abandonment benefits an amphibian, while orchards impact other animals negatively in rock outcrops.
- These changes can lead to:
  - Widespread impact on ecosystem services
  - Ecological biodiversity of the area
  - Species richness
  - Genetic diversity of the fauna of that region

Sahyadri plateau:

The Western Ghats, also known as the Sahyadri Hills, are well known for their rich and unique assemblage of flora and fauna.
The range is called Sahyadri in northern Maharashtra and Sahya Parvatham in Kerala.
The Maharashtra Plateau and the Sahyadris are made of volcanic igneous rocks (basalt).
They are thus considered to be geologically younger than certain other sections of the mountain range.