Re: [efloraofindia:47644] 5 pictures from the plateau from Chiplun to Ganpatipule- and about Rocky Plateaus

[Aparna Watve]

first is senecio, second is Smithia. Blues are Utricularia reticulata- common and dominant to all the lateritic rocky plateaus from Dapoli to North Kerala.
the Konkan-Malabar plateaus have lots in common with the high altitude plateaus but different in some specific characters.
Hope to finish a paper on all of these and more by the end of the month. it is for the Western Ghats ecological assessment committee, will forward the link asa it gets in public domain.

a special request to all on this group- the vegetation on rocky plateaus is extremely specialized and sensitive to disturbance, even at small scale. Please sensitize all who visit these areas even for a short time. I have been studying these rocky plateaus since 2001 and have seen massive degradation in recent past due to development activities and tourism. I came back from Kaas (Satara dt) yesterday numbed by the insensitive behavior of the tourists - plant watchers.
It will turn into Panchgani tableland (a sad example of formerly glorious rocky plateau) within few years.

The habitats are too special to be treated simply like flowering areas. There is also rare and endangered fauna which is heavily disturbed by increased movement of people and vehicle pollution. India has been bestowed by these habitat- rarely seen anywhere else in world- let us treat it like a treasure- showing respect like we would show Taajmahal - or even more. The habitats have developed naturally over millions of years, hope we can still retain them in natural state for future generations.
I will be putting up some basic details about rocky plateaus on my facebook account soonest and also as a blog.
regards
Aparna

On Mon, Sep 20, 2010 at 12:03 AM, Parjanya guru <guroo...@gmail.com> wrote:

.. Dear Arunan jee..

 
For DSCN0798.JPG,  try with  Smithea  of Family fabaceae

 And for the pics DSCN0857.JPG   and  DSCN0862.JPG  .. I stick to  Utricularia reticulata
as id.

.. Remaining pics.,lets see for the expertee's opinion..

:)

 

 

--

  Parjanya Guru
 +919738723392

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Dr. Aparna Watve
Dr. Aparna Watve
Asha Appt, Shanti Nagar, Ekata Colony
Nr. BSNL tower, Akbar Ward,
Seoni.480661
tel: 07692-228115
mobile: (0)9755667710 and 9822597288 still works

[MC Arunan]

Dear Aparna,

 It is nice to hear passionately from you on the laterite palteau in the Konkan region. One of my tangential interests in this theme  is because I was forwarded a EIA report undertaken in the event of the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project which outright dismisses the flora and fauna as not significant enough to worry about. ( I do not recollect the exact words, though).

 

So, while I was not able to visit Jaitapur, I had this sneaky feeling while passing through Chiplun towards Ganpatipule, that area (Jaitapur) may not flaunt much less biodiversity or cannot be of no concern for us, as the EIA done by the Dhapoli college 'experts' wants us to assume!

 

MC Arunan

[Aparna Watve]

Thanks so much. You are absolutely right. All the rocky plateaus everywhere in WGHats and Konkan are equally important are better left alone considering their special nature.
You can read one short article on the matter in ENVIS document published by WII, Dehradun on special habitats. Also in sancuary issue XXV (3) of 2005. Also google to check my other publications on this. 
Jaitapur is a very sensitive issue right now and owing to confidentiality I cannot comment on it or the EIA in any public forum at the moment. However my inputs have already reached the policy makers. 
Regards,
Aparna