Browsing Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES) by thesis submitted date"2017"
Now showing items 1-10 of 10
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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 ... -
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 ... -
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 ... -
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 ... -
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 ... -
Investigating the Impact of Habitat Disturbance and the Role of Functional Traits in a Tropical Butterfly Assemblage
(2018-07-09)Tropical habitats face a diverse range of anthropogenic threats. Two common and important threats to tropical biodiversity are invasive species and roads. Invasive plants are proposed to be a major threat to biodiversity ... -
Stress Physiology of Free-ranging Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus) : Influence of Ecological and Anthropogenic Stressors
(2018-07-09)Various ecological and human-induced disturbances play an important role in defining the health of an animal. To cope up with such threats or challenges to its homeostasis, an animal responds by secreting stress hormones ... -
Systematics and Comparative Biogeography of Vine Snakes (Genus: Ahaetulla, Family: Colubridae) and Pit vipers (Genus: Trimeresurus, Family: Viperidae) in Peninsular India
The Indian subcontinent is a considered a mega biodiverse region with representative regions belonging to three of the 35 global biodiversity hotspots, including the Western Ghats in Peninsular India and the Eastern ... -
Systematics and Diversification in the Indian Radiation of Hemidactylus Geckos
Understanding the patterns and processes generating biodiversity is fundamental to ecology and evolutionary biology, and studying diversification can give us key insights into this process. In my thesis, I investigate ... -
Urbanisation and Shifting Phenotypes Behavioural, Physiological and Cognitive Strategies of the Indian Rock Agama Psammophilus Dorsalis
(2018-07-09)Humans directly or indirectly cause changes in the environment, and urbanisation is currently one of the most important threats to biodiversity. Urbanisation exposes organisms to novel pressures that are drastically different ...