Browsing Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES) by Title
Now showing items 16-35 of 85
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The Distribution, Dynamics & Impacts Of Invasive Lantana Camara In A Seasonal Forest Of Mudumalai, Southern India
(2016-04-25)Species that become naturalized in a new geographical range, subsequently multiply and spread, and persist to the detriment of resident communities, are known as alien invasive species. Two aspects of species invasion – ... -
Diversity and distribution of mixed-species foraging groups in the Lakshadweep Islands, India
Species interactions are known to shape biological communities. While antagonistic interactions like competition and predation are well known, cooperative interactions have received comparatively less attention. Mixed-species ... -
Diversity from the Gut to Species: Phylogeny, Population genetics and Microbiome of the Antilope cervicapra
Evolutionary relationships between members of the Antilopina taxon have been much debated in recent years. The ‘true antelope’ clade is currently comprised of 4 genera viz., Gazella, Nanger, Eudorcas and the monotypic genus ... -
Divided They Stay : Species Coexistence In A Community Of Mutualists And Exploiters
(2012-12-14)The fig–fig wasp interaction is a classic example of obligate mutualism and coevolution. It is also a nursery pollination mutualism and supports a diversity of exploiter/parasite/non-pollinating fig wasp species. Mutualists ... -
Dynamic colour change in Psammophilus dorsalis: role of natural and sexual selection
Overall, the results from this study support the idea that animal signals arise from a balance between increased conspicuousness for social signalling and inconspicuousness to avoid predation risk. Animals that can change ... -
Eco-Hydrology of a Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest : Tree Growth, Belowground Water Dynamics and Drought-Vulnerability
(2017-12-13)Tropical forests are storehouses of more thanhalf of the world‘s biodiversity and play a key role in global carbon, water and energy cycles. However, as a consequence of rapid anthropogenic climate change, biodiversity and ... -
Ecology of Fungus-Farming by Termites : Fungal Population Genetics and Defensive Mechanism of Termites against the Parasitic Fungus Pseudoxylaria
(2018-05-25)All living organisms require food for growth and survival. Heterotrophs depend on autotrophs such as green plants which can synthesize their own food unlike heterotrophic animals. Among heterotrophs, only humans and some ... -
Ecology of predator-prey interactions in the context of mate searching
Animals communicating in the context of mate searching benefit by increasing their likelihood of encountering mates. Mate searching begins the important process of individuals of opposite sexes forming pairs, which is ... -
A Farewell to Arms : Dynamics of Interactions between the Unique Semi-myrmecophyte Humboldtia Brunonis (Fabaceae) and its Domatia-inhabitants in the Absence of Universal Protection Mutualism
(2017-12-10)Mutualistic interactions between species are balanced on a delicate scale of net benefits to both interacting partners. The dynamics of such interactions could change depending on the context in which these interactions ... -
Finding the Way Back Home : A study of Spatial Orientation, Navigation and Homing Behaviour in the Social Wasp Ropalidia marginata
(2018-05-23)For most of the animals, if not all, finding their way to a particular place is crucial for survival. To address this challenge of way-finding, different animals have evolved with different homing strategies. Social ... -
Fire Ecology of a Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest in Southern India
(2017-10-26)Fire ecology encompasses the study of the factors, biotic and abiotic, that influence the occurrence of fire in an area, as well as the effects fire has on the flora and fauna native and non-native to the region (Whelan ... -
For Queen and Country : Reproductive and Non-Reproductive Division of Labour in the Primitively Eusocial Wasp Ropalidia Cyathiformis
(2018-07-05)Division of labour is a hallmark of eusocial insects and is believed to be a major factor in their evolutionary success and ecological dominance. Division of labour can be of two kinds – reproductive division of labour ... -
Foraging Decisions of the Lesser False Vampire Bat, Megaderma Spasma in a Heterogeneous Landscape
Predators make various foraging decisions at different spatial and temporal scales. Such decisions can be studied at two levels: patch decisions at the landscape level, and prey decisions at the foraging patch level. In ... -
Game of Thrones : Direct Fitness through Nest Foundation in the Primitively Eusocial Wasp Ropalidia Marginata
(2018-07-09)Reproduction is the avenue for gaining direct fitness. But in certain species some individuals do not reproduce, instead gain indirect fitness by helping relatives to reproduce; the prime examples for this come from the ... -
Ground-dwelling arthropods across human land use: Interpreting the spatial and temporal dimensions of beta diversity
This study investigates beta diversity and its partitions to quantify the influence of different processes that drive spatial and temporal variation in ground-dwelling arthropod assemblages. First, ant assemblages across ... -
Habitat Acoustics And Microhabitat Selection In An Ensiferan Assemblage Of A Tropical Evergreen Forest │
(2013-08-29)Several animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate, communicate using sound and they do so in a non-ideal medium, the habitat in which they live. As acoustic signals pass through the habitat, they suffer loss of information ... -
Host Location in Non-pollinating Fig Wasps of Ficus Racemosa : Age, Oviposition History and the Ovipositor
The fig–fig wasp system is a brood site pollination system where pollinators breed inside an enclosed globular inflorescence (syconium) that they pollinate. This pollination mutualism is subjected to exploitation by the ... -
The influence of landscape composition on butterfly populations: A behavioural ecological approach
Overall, taking behavioural ecological and trait-based approaches, my study suggests that the distribution of a species and patterns in its population densities in a landscape are affected by diverse ecological variables, ... -
Insights into an Evolutionary Radiation : Causes And Consequences of Diversification in the Western Ghats Bush Frogs
(2017-10-26)One of the biggest attractions of the tropics is its stunning diversity; the origin and determinants of this diversity are amongst the most important questions in evolution and biogeography. There are two ways of looking ...