The study of venoms and toxins is relevant to a number of scientific fields. Clinical toxinology studies the impact of bites and stings from venomous organisms on humans. With the World Health Organization’s recent reinstatement of snakebite envenoming to the list of Neglected Tropical Diseases, clinical toxinology promises to be a growing area of research. Pharmacology, on the other hand, takes an interest in toxins (the constituents of venom) because of the fascinating structure-function relationships that influence their interaction with their targets. This perspective, including its application in “biodiscovery” – the search in nature for novel molecules for use in drug design or as investigational ligands – is properly considered an evolutionary outgrowth of ethnopharmacology, the ancient human practice of seeking medicines in the natural world. Yet another way of considering venoms and toxins is through the lens of evolutionary biology. The dynamic evolution of venom systems and their role in predator-prey interactions makes them a unique model system for studies of both molecular and ecological evolutionary patterns.

Are these various viewpoints best considered separately, or do we stand to gain key insights by combining them? In my research I have straddled all three of these subject areas and also consider venoms interesting subject material for work in the philosophy of biology and biosemiotics (the study of “sign relations” in nature). My belief is that our understanding can be greatly enhanced by treating venoms and their associated anatomy as the complex adaptive systems that they are. Thus, in this talk I will be jumping from perspective to perspective in order to give a flavour of the view of toxinology from the “interdisciplinary nowhere” that I inhabit.

The evolution and biogeography of various taxa in Peninsular India are of particular interest as this region, a Gondawanan fragment, is critical to our understanding of historical biogeography in the Oriental realm. Over the past decade, molecular tools have enabled testing of alternative historical scenarios of faunal exchange and consequent biogeographic patterns. The snakes of Peninsular India, despite their spectacular diversity, remain poorly known with regard to their biogeographic affinities. While most Indian snakes are considered to be Malayan relicts, this hypothesis remains unexplored. Hence, we explored historical patterns of dispersal and diversification within Peninsular India using two distantly related snakes with broad differences in ecology and biology; an arboreal, non-venomous genus, Ahaetulla (vine snakes), belonging to the family Colubridae, and the genus Trimeresurus (pit vipers) a group of terrestrial and arboreal, venomous snakes belonging to the family Viperidae.

First, using an extensive taxon sampling of snakes from Peninsular India and adjoining Northeast India, we delimited species using a coalescent method and a multi-criteria approach including genes, geography and morphology. The results reveal the presence of several new lineages of snakes, including morphologically cryptic lineages, in both genera. Second, using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, we reconstructed the phylogenies of the delimited lineages. In vine snakes, we discovered a deeply divergent lineage from the southern Western Ghats, that is sister to all remaining members of Ahaetulla. In Trimeresures, we recovered multiple clades, one of which is predominantly peninsular Indian with a few Southeast Asian lineages. Third, we tested for clade congruence in patterns of diversification and dispersal using ancestral range reconstruction of geographical ranges. In contrast to earlier hypotheses, Peninsular India emerged as a centre of snake diversification and Western Ghats as a major centre of in-situ radiation for both clades. Patterns of dispersal show signatures of congruence and contrast between the clades, with the Western Ghats

acting as a major source for colonisation of ancestral lineages into the arid regions in Peninsular India and adjoining Sri Lanka as well as Southeast Asian regions.

In 2004 Poland joined European Union as a new Member State. In terms of nature conservation it meant following the guidelines of Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora) and implementing them into national law. Main subjects of new regulations was designation of the network of protected areas known as NATURA 2000 and preparation of management plans for habitats and species listed in Annex II of Habitat Directive. One of the pilot species chosen for management plan preparation, among others was Great Crested Newt (Triturus cristatus). This amphibian is widespread in Europe but has suffered severe declines in most of the 37 known range countries. It is listed as Least Concern in the IUCN Red List.
I want to present the approach, work and result we obtained during management plan preparation. The core part of a plan is holistic approach to the conservation measures. We followed the scheme: threat-aim-activities. After presenting outcome of our work I want to show also how the guidelines of the plan are meeting the reality.

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.