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Herbaceous taxa in south India: Ecology, Distribution and Applications in palaeovegetation studies

30th November - 1st December 2006

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Aim and Scope

Herbaceous taxa are quite widespread in both natural and human-modified ecosystems (such as tanks and surrounding agricultural areas) in south India. They can be key indicators of climate and disturbance. Further, several families (such as, Poaceae and Cyperaceae) consist of species with high pollen productivity, dispersal and preservation, making them key constituents of the pollen assemblages in both surface and core samples or fossil sections. In continuation of our holistic approach to reconstructing past vegetation history and to provide a synthesis on the present day ecology and distribution of these taxa we aim to pool our knowledge and expertise at this discussion workshop to address the following through a joint publication:

1. What are the key herbaceous pollen taxa (conventionally designated, NAP: Non-arboraceous pollen), commonly found in surface and core sediments?
2. What are the main species included in these pollen taxa?
3. What do we know about the present day distribution and Ecology of these species in south India?
4. What are the key ecological herbaceous markers that can be “missed” in the pollen record?
5. What are the inherent limitations in our methods and interpretation?
6. To what extent can these limitations be overcome using contemporary ecological studies on the herbaceous strata?

Programme

Thursday, 30th November 2006

9.30-10.00 Inauguration
10.00-13.00 (Tea break at 11.00 am) SESSION I: General Overview of the Herbaceous flora of South India:
1. Herbaceous and Shrub flora of selected forests of peninsular India: Diversity, Distribution and Ecology by Parthasarathy, N., Department of Ecology & Environmental Sciences, Pondicherry University, Puducherry
2. Herbaceous flora of Tamil Nadu: An appraisal of their Distribution and Ecology by Narasimhan, Madras Christian College, Tambaram Chennai.
3. Grasses of Tamil Nadu – Diversity, Ecology and Distribution by Ravichandran P. , Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli.
4. Species composition and distribution of grasses in the Western Ghats: biogeographic implications by Jean Philippe Puyravaud. IT Power India Pvt. Ltd., Puducherry
13.00–14.00 Lunch
14.00–15.00 Session I continues:
5. Ecology, Distribution and Pollen Productivity of some members of Asteraceae in and around Puducherry by Presena, J. and Pragasam, A. Kanchi Mamunivar center for Post Graduate study, Puducherry
6. Diversity of Herbaceous and Shrub species in Chitteri, Valasamalai and Theerthamalai forests of Eastern Ghats: A Landscape approach Raja, S. & Parthasarathy, N., Department of Ecology & Environmental Sciences, Pondicherry University, Puducherry
15.00 – 16.15 (Tea break at 16.00) SESSION II: The pollen Data
1. An overview of pollen data and reconstruction of palaeovegetation using case studies from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh Anupama, K., Prasad, S., Aravajy, S., Stephen, A. & Ponnuchamy, R. - A joint presentation
16.15 – 17.30 SESSION III: Workshop and discussions
18.00 – 19.00 COCKTAIL

Friday, 1st December 2006

10.00-10.30 SESSION IV: New Methods / approaches
1. Estimation of pollen diversity using ecological sampling methods by Winfred Thomas, D. & Muthuramkumar, S., The American College, Madurai.
2. Functional Trait measurements on 2 selected medicinal herbs of Tamil Nadu by Aslam, A. The Jamal Mohammed College, Trichy.
10.30 - 13.00 (Tea break at 11.00) SESSION V: Workshop and discussions
13.00 pm-14.00 Lunch
14.00-16.00 SESSION V: continues until conclusion of outline draft of proposed paper

Participants

  • Livingstone (Madras Christian College, Chennai)
  • Narasimhan (Madras Christian College, Chennai)
  • Parthasarathy (Pondicherry University)
  • Raja S. (Pondicherry University)
  • Pragasam A. (Kanchi Mamunivar Post Graduate Centre, Pondicherry)
  • Presena J. (Kanchi Mamunivar Post Graduate Centre, Pondicherry)
  • J.P. Puyravaud (IT Power India Pvt. Ltd., Puducherry)
  • Ravichandran P.(Manonmaniam Sundaranar niversity, Tirunelveli)
  • Winfred Thomas D. (The American College, Madurai)
  • Muthuramkumar S. (The American College, Madurai)
  • Aslam A. (The Jamal Mohammed College, Trichy)
  • Anupama K. (IFP)
  • Aravajy S. (IFP)
  • Karunakaran (IFP)
  • Prasad S. (IFP)
  • Stephen A. (IFP)
  • Ponnuchamy R. (IFP)

Organisers

Department of Ecology, French Institute of Pondicherry

Venue

Jawaharlal Nehru Conference Hall, French Institute of Pondicherry, 11, Saint Louis Street, Pondicherry - 605001

Contact

Participation by Registration, please contact Dr. Anupama, K.

Latest addition : 7 December 2006.