Shakunthala Sridhara
Published: 2009
Total Pages: 0
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Apart from economic reasons related to non-availability of bamboo for several years after gregarious flowering and famine resulting from exhausted food crops and stored food by an increased population of rodents, the phenomenon of gregarious flowering in bamboo is a highly debated ecological event starting from the possible theories of evolution of semelpary to response of seed predators to sudden availability of huge quantities of seed. The gregarious flowering of bamboo has fascinated the plant evolutionary ecologists as to causo-mechanisms of the phenomenon, the reasons for variable inter mast periods, reasons for parental death, advantages and disadvantages of masting, and animal ecologists regarding vertebrate response to masting, community dynamics of seed predators during and after masting, eruption of rodent populations and rodent borne diseases consequent to bamboo masting. The literature available is either enormous as in mast seeding or scanty about the inter-mast periods. No clear picture has emerged on any of the above aspects due to factors like variety of flowering in several species, inadequate historical documentation and insufficient time in the life of a scientist to verify the findings. Study of flowering mechanisms and ecological interactions require many decades of planned observation at permanent location by interdisciplinary working groups of plant evolutionary ecologists, animal population ecologists, community ecologists and modelers. In the absence of such an effort at present, this book is an attempt to explain the different theories put forward by specialists on some of the aspects of gregarious flowering of bamboos and community response to it especially those of vertebrates (birds and rodents). It is the first ever attempt of consolidating plant ecology and animal response, both of which affect drastically the livelihood of people depending on bambooContentsCHAPTER - 1 BAMBOO, THE WONDER GRASS" Introduction" Classification, Species Diversity and Distribution in India" Types of Bamboo and Bamboo Growth" Uses of Bamboo" Medicinal Properties" ConclusionsCHAPTER - 2 GREGARIOUS FLOWERING OF BAMBOO" Introduction" Evolution of Mast seeding Semelpary" Distribution of Masting Bamboos" Mechanism of Floral Induction" Reproductive Biology of Bamboos" Pollination in Bamboos" Inter-mast Periods" Reasons for Parental Death" ConclusionsCHAPTER 3 MECHANISMS OF SEED MASTING" Introduction" Evolutionary Ecology of Masting" Advantages and Disadvantages of Masting" Mechanisms of Seed Masting" ConclusionsCHAPTER 4 VERTEBRATE PREDATORS OF MAST SEEDS" Introduction" Vertebrate Predators of Masting (a) Birds (b) Mammals (c) Other Vertebrates" Vertebrate Response to Masting" ConclusionsCHAPTER 5 SEED MASTING AND COMMUNITY DYNAMICS OF TERRESTRIAL VERTEBRATES" Introduction" Community Response to Masting" ConclusionsCHAPTER 6 RODENT RESPONSE TO BAMBOO FLOWERING AND SEED MASTING" Introduction" Bamboo Flowering and Rodent Outbreaks" Masting of Trees other than Bamboo and Rodent Outbreaks" Seed Dispersal and Scatter Hoarding" Effects of Rodents on Tree Regeneration" ConclusionsCHAPTER 7 ECOLOGICAL DISTURBANCES AND RODENT BORNE DISEASES" Introduction" Rodents in Natural Disasters and Diseases" Factors Influencing Rodent Outbreaks" Management of Field Rodents during Rodent Outbreaks" Rodent Control during Population Outbreaks" ConclusionsCHAPTER 8 SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF GREGARIOUS FLOWERING OF BAMBOO IN NORTH-EAST INDIA" Introduction" Gregarious Flowering of Bamboo in North East India" Rodents of North East India" Rodent Outbreaks and Famine-A Historical Perspective" Action initiated to Mitigate problems of Bamboo Flowering of 2005-2007" Current Status of Rodent problem in North East Hill states" Action for Rodent Control-Present and Future" ConclusionsREFERENCESAUTHOR INDEXSUBJECT INDEX