There are 3 strains of Lymnaea in regard to their cognitive abilities: smart, average, and dumb. The strains are defined operationally as to how easy or difficult it is to make memory and how long the memory persists. As a population each strain’s off-spring possess similar cognitive ability. Ecologically important and relevant stressors (e.g. thermal, food availability) differentially alter the ability of the strains to make or retrieve memory. We have recently been able, by selective alteration of the environment to transform a dumb snail into a smart snail. We are attempting to determine how this occurs.

There are also two classes of Lymnaea as regards their response to a crayfish predator: predator-naive and predator-experienced. The detection of crayfish in predator-experienced Lymnaea causes memory to be formed better, faster and persist longer. Feeding is also inhibited. However, in predator-naive snails this does not happen.

We are monitoring the invasion of crayfish into a now cray-fish free lake (Margo Lake, ML) where the snails are presently predator-naive. However, past history tells us that soon the ML snails will be predator-experienced. We are attempting to find out how this transformation occurs at both the behavioural and neuronal levels.

Foods such as green-tea that contain high levels of epicatechin enhance memory formation when snails are trained in that substance; whereas, foods such as black tea block memory formation. Finally, trauma occurring in juvenile snails not only changes juvenile behaviour but also changes the behaviour expressed in them when they become adults. All this in a relatively simple, tractable model system.

Determining how biodiversity is produced and maintained remains one of the fundamental questions in ecology. This diversity is not distributed uniformly across the Earth; a large proportion of global biological diversity is concentrated in tropical areas, many of which are biodiversity hotspots. The phenomenon of diversification, which occurs via the interplay of speciation and extinction, holds the key to understanding these processes. However, our understanding of species diversity in the tropics and the factors influencing diversity has been constrained by inadequate knowledge about the large number of undescribed species. This dearth of information about undescribed species is closely related to the problem of species delimitation. It is crucial to delimit species boundaries in a systematic manner, as species are units at which evolutionary processes operate.

In my thesis, I studied diversification in Nyctibatrachus, a genus of endemic frogs from the Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot in peninsular India. I first attempted to uncover the species diversity in this genus by employing a systematic spatial sampling strategy and subsequently carrying out lineage delimitation through a stepwise protocol. I then explored the key characteristics of lineage, morphological and ecological diversification in Nyctibatrachus. Finally, I examined the relationship between morphological diversity, phylogeny and distribution patterns among lineages belonging to this genus. My findings reveal the existence of 21 new putative species, most of which are morphologically cryptic in nature but distributed allopatrically. Furthermore, I establish that Nyctibatrachus manifests features of an adaptive radiation, with accompanying ecomorphological diversification. I also found that there were distinct patterns of body size evolution in Nyctibatrachus, and significant differences in body size between lineages distributed in sympatry versus parapatry.

With around 4000 wild tigers, efforts are on to secure the last remaining source populations and recovering tigers range wide. At Panthera, our focus is on securing source populations from the most serious threats (i.e. the poaching of tigers and their prey). Our efforts highlight how safeguarding habitats need more than just “boots on the ground”. Efforts are also on to expand breeding cores through recovery efforts. Through a few cases, I highlight key factors that facilitate recovery of tiger populations and by assessing the recovery potential of multiple sites across the tigers range, confirm that significant recoveries are possible but are contingent on prey recovery, which is a slow process. From these experiences, I show how the ambitious commitment made by the heads of 13 tiger range countries in 2010 to doubling tiger populations by 2022 may be ecologically unrealistic. Finally, I discuss how an overt emphasis on tiger enumeration (spurred by these global endeavours) is increasingly limiting research in the field to estimating numbers, which may seriously impede conservation of this endangered species.

SPEEC-UP Bangalore is a one-day event created to encourage and promote interactions among students of ecology, evolution, conservation and environmental science working in Bangalore. The event features a competition of the speed-talk format (3 minute talks) and includes interaction sessions with peers and faculty. Co-organised by a group of Bangalore based institutions, SPEEC-Up 2018 will be held at CES, IISc, Bangalore on 31 August 2018
(http://speecup-blr.weebly.com/)

The vegetated terrestrial surface plays an outsized role in global carbon cycling, and annual variability in CO2 removal from the atmosphere is highly dependent on the strength of the terrestrial carbon sink. However, despite large advances in measurement and modelling techniques, and increased spatiotemporal measurements of [CO2], global estimates of terrestrial photosynthesis (Gross Primary Productivity or GPP) vary between 90- 175 Pg C yr-1. This is due to our inability to measure photosynthesis beyond the leaf level. The eddy covariance method is widely used to measure net uptake of CO2 (NEE) across a range of ecosystems but lacks a process-based approach to partition this into source (Respiration) and sink (GPP) terms.
Atmospheric measurements of carbonyl sulphide (OCS) have recently been shown to provide an independent and direct estimate of plant productivity. OCS is the most abundant reduced sulphur gas present in the atmosphere, with a mean atmospheric concentration of ~ 500 ppt (parts per trillion) and is emitted into the atmosphere from oceans via direct emissions or oxidation of CS2, and consumed by leaves of actively photosynthesising leaves.
In this study, co-authors and I present the first measurements of OCS from a well studied temperate oldgrowth coniferous forest, focussing on biotic and abiotic controls on ecosystem OCS flux. Estimates of GPP from OCS flux are then compared with other independent estimates from the site.
We find that eddy-flux based measurements of CO2 flux underestimate GPP at the site, likely driven by to an underestimation of respiration. We suggest that measurements of trace gases such as OCS, coordinated with physiological and structural measurements, may jointly provide constraints on GPP.

Although we can trace back the study of epidemics to the work of Daniel Bernoulli nearly two and a half centuries ago, the fact remains that key modeling advances followed the work of three individuals (two physicians) involved in the amelioration of the impact of disease at the population level a century or so ago: Sir Ronald Ross (1911) and Kermack and McKendrick (1927). Ross' interests were in the transmission dynamics and control of malaria while Kermack and McKendrick's work was directly tied in to the study of the dynamics of communicable diseases. In this presentation, I will deal primarily with the study of the dynamics of influenza type A, a communicable disease that does not present a “fixed” target. The study of the short-term dynamics of influenza, single epidemic outbreaks, makes use of extensions/modifications of the models first introduced by Kermack and McKendrick while the study of its long-term dynamics requires the introduction of modeling modifications that account for the continuous emergence of novel influenza variants: strains or subtypes. Here, I will briefly review recent work on the dynamics of influenza A/H1N1, making use of single outbreak models that account for the movement of people in the transmission process over various regions within Mexico. Next, I will discuss models that are tied in to the study of the long-term dynamics of influenza, models that account for outbreak-generated year-to-year shifts on the immunological profile of large populations, a process often referred to as cross-immunity. In particular, the role of cross immunity, population structure and interventions as drivers of sustained oscillations will be assessed. This research has been carried in collaboration with a large number of researchers over a couple of decades.

Through the advent of large plant trait databases, timetrees, and comparative analyses to handle such databases, we are gaining increasing insight into how plants evolved to thrive in different settings. I will discuss several projects in which I've been involved in which we examined the evolution of plant function (growth form, leaf construction, seed size, conduit anatomy) at a global scale, as well as where our existing resources currently fall short.

Well-sampled phylogenies now allow us to integrate various sources of geographic, ecological, and evolutionary information to understand the distribution of threat and diversity in species-rich groups. How divergent are individual species? How is evolutionary distinctiveness related to present-day imperilment? Are threats or diversity concentrated in areas we might not expect? I present data from the VertLife project, an NSF-sponsored, multi-institutional project to study the biodiversity of all terrestrial vertebrates (Tetrapoda), making them the first major global group of animals with near-complete species-level data on key evolutionary and ecological attributes. For squamate reptiles, amphibians, turtles, and crocodilians, extinction risk and phylogenetic position are related to each other in surprising ways. The geographic and ecological correlates of these patterns reveal pressing needs for further study, and insight for conservation.

The Western Ghats (WG) is one of the major global biodiversity hotspots, harbouring a rich diversity of flora and fauna many of which are endemic to the WG. The current understanding of the biogeographic history of WG comes from paleo-floral records and taxonomic diversity studies, but hasn’t been explored from a phylogenetic perspective. This was the inception of my study with the main aim to understand the imprints of biogeographic history on the phylogenetic diversity (PD) of the flora of Western Ghats. I first studied the PD patterns of local deciduous forest patches (Nandi Hills, Savandurga, and Devrayanadurga) to evaluate the usefulness of PD in the Indian context. Whereas other studies have shown that PD can be decoupled from taxon richness in biodiversity hotspots, my results showed this decoupling even in regions of low diversity. I then used these tools of community phylogenetics to analyze the patterns of PD across the WG. My premise was that if the deciduous forests of the WG are indeed more recently established than the evergreen forests (as literature suggests), then evergreen PD would be high and deciduous PD would be low. My results indeed show this pattern, corroborating this hypothesis. Within the evergreen belt, I found PD patterns that corroborate the southern refuge hypothesis, with higher PD in south compared to north. I also analyzed the phylogenetic turnover between these forests and showed that whereas the deciduous and evergreen taxa have shared evolutionary histories, the evergreen taxa from different forest types have quite disparate evolutionary histories. Phylogenetic endemism (PE) analysis (analyzing ranges of clades rather than taxa) showed that most paleoendemic plots are found south of 12-degree latitude indicative of refugial regions as postulated by the southern refuge hypothesis. Toward the north and south are clusters of neo- and paleo- endemism, which indicate that clades are restricted in distribution mostly in south, but also in north, with the central WG being a region of overlap of these ranges. My study is the first to provide a phylogenetic perspective toward understanding the biogeographic history of Western Ghats. It provides a fresh line of evidence corroborating current hypotheses and uncovered many interesting patterns which need further exploration, integrating tools from both community ecology and biogeography.

Soil salinity is a widespread problem throughout the world. Salinization makes productive land unproductive. The problem can be addressed by various means: chemical amelioration and structural engineering. However plant-based remediation is one of the emerging trends. Whereas non-plant based remediation can provide quick outcomes, plant-based remediation is slow, but is environmentally friendly and even less expensive. Plant-based remediation, more importantly and usefully helps recycling of nutrients and their build up. Keeping these in view, this talk would aim to explain the efforts made in this context in the intensely salinity affected agricultural landscape of central-western NSW.