Understanding species distribution and richness can contribute significantly to our knowledge of community assembly and macroecological patterns, as well as to the effective conservation of threatened species and habitats. Although there have been a plethora of studies on birds in India over the years, there is a critical need to accurately delineate species distributions and understand patterns of richness. The focus of this study was to understand the factors that influence the distribution of bird species in the Western Ghats, as well as to explore patterns in their geographic range sizes. These questions were addressed at the scale of the entire Western Ghats using a combination of primary field data comprising 78 one km transects across habitat types and a published secondary dataset comprising 57 transects. Random forest analysis and species distribution modeling were used to examine the influence of environmental factors, and the relationship of floristics and vegetation structure on bird species distribution were explored using Mantel’s tests. Species distribution models also produced fine scale maps which were used to investigate patterns in range sizes in terms of species-specific traits and compared with currently available information on range. The specific approaches used to address these questions and the findings will be presented at the colloquium.

The history of botanical exchanges between Africa and the Indian
subcontinent reaches back in time over 5000 years. Recent advances in
archaeobotany have revealed these connections through evidence of food
crops of African origin found at various archaeological sites in the
subcontinent. However, little is known about the people that brought the
crops to these places and other parts of the Indian Ocean world. This is
also the case with other plants from Africa such as the charismatic
baobab tree (Adansonia digitata L.) that appears to have had a
longstanding presence in South Asia. Most scholarly accounts assume that
'Arab traders' were responsible for introducing baobabs to this region
but do not offer any reasons for their doing so. Few scholars, if any,
have sought to relate the dispersal of baobabs with the history of
African migrations to the region. This presentation reveals the elusive
traces of their entwined environmental histories by linking baobab
genetics with historical accounts and cultural evidence of the presence
of African diasporic communities in South Asia.