Category Plants & Animals

What is the importance of handloom in India?

How do plants transport their seeds for propagation? Do you know that they employ different ways to spread their seeds widely? Let’s look at some of them today

Plants have various ways to ensure that their seeds are spread widely and have a chance to grow. Some employ animals and birds, others wind and water, while still others use their own power to transport their seeds.

 

Dodo tree

The tambalacoque tree grows only in Mauritius and is valued for its timber. In the 17th century, all of a sudden, the tambalacoque lost the ability to grow from seeds. Existing trees continued to live, but not one of the seeds they produced would germinate. By the 1970s, there were only 13 sickly trees left.

An American ecologist. Stanley Temple, observed in 1977 that the tree had stopped growing from seed at about the same time that the DID YOU KNOW? The seeds of a type of tomato plant that grows in the Galapagos Island germinate only when they are eaten by a tortoise and pass through its digestive system! flightless bird of Mauritius, the dodo, became extinct. Temple concluded that the seeds, which had a thick hard covering, would germinate only if they were eaten by the dodo and passed through its digestive system! Without the grinding in the dodo’s gizzard, the seed could not break through the tough exterior and sprout.

He force-fed the seeds to wild turkeys and some of them germinated- the first tambalacoque saplings seen in 300 years!

Launch pad

The squirting cucumber of the Mediterranean fills with a slimy juice as it ripens. Soon, the pressure within increases so much that the cucumber is launched off its stalk like a miniature rocket. The seeds stream out from a hole in its base and land as far away as six metres from the parent plant!

The Brazilian hura tree or monkey’s dinner-bell has a more dramatic way of sending off its seeds. It has a detonating seed container. After it dries out fully, it explodes with a deafening bang, hurling its seeds over a distance of 12 metres! The pods of the broom plant become hot and dry and split open down the middle, catapulting is tiny black seeds in all directions.

Wind and water

Some plants fuave seents so tiny, that they are easily carried away by the wind. Kapok trees auf cotton bushes provide their seeds with a convenient tuft of threads that are long and durable. They catch the wind and float many miles before they land in fertile soil and germinate Dandelion seeds have a tiny parachute and are attached to the top of a stem like a fragile globe. The merest breath of wind can cause millions to take off and sail high into the sky.

The coconut palm on the other hand, sends its seed by sen packed in a fibrous waterproof shell containing water and a supply of rich food in the form of the kernel to nourish it on its long journey.

Winging their way

Many tall trees have winged seeds that travel some distance before falling on the ground to germinate, thus avoiding their shade.

The Anisoptera and Alsomitra are two of the tallest trees in Asia. Their seeds come equipped with a pair of wings. Anisoptera seeds are spear-shaped and spin like the rotors of a helicopter when released. Alsomitra seeds are fitted with paper-thin wings. They descend very slowly and travel over nine metres before falling to the ground.

Critters as couriers

Plants use animals as seed carriers. Some have thomy, stick-on seeds which attach to the fur of the animal as it brushes past. The South African grapple plant has seeds with hooks that embed in the soles of a rhino or elephant’s feet and fall off after the animal has walked some distance.

The best advertisement for most plants are their delicious fruits! if the animal swallows the seed with the fruit, the coating ensures the seed passes out undamaged.

It wouldn’t do if the seed is eaten before it matures, so the plant craftily makes the fruit hard and sour. Once the seed is ready, the fruit tums sweet and aromatic inviting animals to have a feast!

Picture Credit: Google

How are plants and animals named?

Binomial nomenclature is the standard naming convention used in modern society, and applies to Latin identification of species too.

Loxodonta africana, Panthera tigris, Nelumbo nucifera. Tamarindus indica these are not magical spells – you know these names better as the African elephant, tiger, lotus and tamarind respectively. Every living being on earth, be it an animal, bird, insect or plant is given a two-part scientific name in the Latin language. The system of identification is called binomial nomenclature. It was devised by a Swedish naturalist named Carl Linnaeus in 1753. An internationally agreed-upon set of rules govem the application of binomial nomenclature. The system helps scientists worldwide to discuss the various innumerable species without confusion.A species is one of the most basic units of biological classification. Each species has a unique name. The first capitalised part of the name indicates the genus to which the organism belongs and the second part identifies the species within the genus. The name is usually printed in italics. Part of the name may describe the organism (for example, ‘domesticus’ indicates a domesticated species). It may indicate the name of its discoverer, for example, Abies fraseri is a fir tree named after a John Fraser, a Scottish botanist named John Fraser who discovered the tree species.

Picture Credit : Google

What are the terms which start from ‘Pink’?

Pink noise

The pink noise is a steady background sound. They help calm one and filter out distracting noises such as people talking or the sound of cars. It uses a consistent frequency or pitch. This can also be defined as random noise having equal energy per octave, and thereby having more low-frequency components. Hence most people perceive it as being even or flat. Pink noise is often used to test Loudspeakers.

Pink city

The city of Jaipur is the most colourful city in Iulia. It is fondly called the ‘Pink City’ due to the colour scheme of its buildings: a shade of pink. The city acquired its pink colour during the reign of Maharaja Ram Singh. Back in 1876, the king had the city painted pink, a colour associated with hospitality to welcome the Prince of Wales (later King Edward II) to the city. Ever since then, Pink City gets a fresh coat of paint every 10 years.

Pink slip

The termination notice given to an employee is known as the pink slip. It was originally an American practice to attach a note of discharge along with the pay envelope given to an employee. The Oxford dictionary included the word in 1915.

Pink-headed duck

An elusive bird, the Pink-headed duck is a large diving duck that is believed to be extinct since the 1950s. The species was found in India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The duck was hunted for its unusual plumage. It had a long slender neck, a dark body, a peaked pink head and a pink bill. It lived in marshlands and built its nest in high grass. It is said to have eaten water plants and molluscs. The last confirmed sighting was in 1949.

Pink dolphin

The most popular of river dolphins found in the Amazon river, the Pink dolphin is a very intelligent, friendly and social creature. They eat crabfish, river fish and even turtles. They can turn their heads 180 degrees. An endangered species, it is being threatened by the increase in river traffic and pollution.

Pink eye

A viral infection of the inner lining of the eyelids and the white of the eye, Conjunctivitis is a very contagious disease. Also called Pink eye, you get conjunctivitis when the conjunctiva gets irritated because of allergies or infection. The thin dear tissue that lies over the white part of the eye is called the conjunctiva. The affected person has watery, itchy eyes and develops sensitivity to light. The disease can spread easily through direct contact with eye by eyes or by sneezing or coughing.

Pink Panther

A series of comedy films, the Pink Panther features an inept police detective, Inspector Jacques Clouseaus. It was originally played by Peter Sellers and more recently by Steve Martin. The Pink Panther is a large pink diamond which is so called because a flaw in its centre resembles the image of a panther. The films gave birth to the Pink Panther animated character which has its own series of cartoons.  The first of those series, The Pink Phink, won the 1964 Academy award for Best Animated Short film.

Pink Floyd

An English rock band formed in London in 1965, Pink Floyd is considered the greatest progressive rock hand of all time. With their highly philosophical lyrics, extended compositions and unique sonic experimentations they created a niche for themselves in the music industry. Their albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975). Animals (1977) and The Wall (1979) are very popular. The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. These albums along with Wish You Were Here are among the best-selling albums.

Pink

The stage name of an American singer-actress Alecia Beth Moore, Pink has won several Grammy and MTV Video Music Awards. She is hailed for ‘a strong signature voice and a literally acrobatic ability on stage’. ‘Lady Marmalade’, ‘Get the Party Started’ and Trouble’ are some of her most popular songs.

Pink chocolate

You have heard about dark and white chocolate. But what is pink chocolate? Also known as ruby chocolate, pink chocolate was launched by Swiss cocoa giant Barry Callebaut in 2017. This chocolate has a reddish-pink hue and a fruity berry-like flavour. It’s not as sweet as milk chocolate. It has no food colour or berry flavour added to it. Its pink colour comes from a powder extracted during the processing and is claimed to be the first new natural colour for chocolate since Swiss food company Nestle introduced white chocolate more than 80 years ago. Pink chocolate is made from the Ruby cocoa bean, a new type of cocoa bean discovered by Barry Callebaut. These beans are found in different regions of the world including Brazil, Ecuador and the Ivory Coast in Africa. They’re completely natural and not genetically modified. Its unique attributes were unlocked through an innovative process that took 13 years to develop.

Pink lake

Picture this. A lake that is pink in colour. Lake Hillier in Middle Island, in the Recherche Archipelago off Australia’s south coast, has water that resembles a strawberry milkshake. It is a shallow lake with brilliant pink water that is nearly opaque and highly salty. It is about 1.6 km long and about a third as wide. At first, it was thought that the algae that grow in the Lake were responsible for creating the pink colour. But now that this theory has been disproved. Why the lake has pink water remains a mystery.

Picture Credit : Google 

Do plants have the ability to learn?

Plants do not store information the way we humans do, but they have a way of remembering – they store memories “in sophisticated cellular and molecular signalling networks”. Called ‘somatic memory’, it is stored in the plant’s body. And, this is what a plant passes down to its offspring.

The act of learning is usually attributed to animals. A few studies in the past have shown that plants can learn too. However, a new analysis suggests that plants are capable of more than just learning. What is it? Come, let’s find out.

From floods and heat waves to drought and wildfires, extreme weather events caused due to climate crisis have been affecting natural wildlife habitats the world over. Such changes to their environment have forced animals to change their behaviour too – “altering their hunting and hibernation patterns and moving habitats”. But animals aren’t the only ones adapting to change. As the new research indicates, plants too are forced to “quickly adapt to survive. And, as part of this adaptation, they also “transmit these new traits on to their offspring” – in what is seen as teaching.

It may seem impossible that rooted as they are to the spot, plants are able to adapt, much less teach. But this is exactly what is happening. For instance, plants use the winter season to get ready for flowering in spring, which is the next season. With winters becoming shorter, some plants now have mechanisms in place that allow them “to avoid flowering in periods where they have less chances to reproduce”. Plants do not store information the way we humans do, but they have a way of remembering – they store memories “in sophisticated cellular and molecular signalling networks”. Called ‘somatic memory, it is stored in the plant’s body. And, this is what a plant passes down to its offspring. Researchers say this is not a genetic change, rather it is what they call ‘epigenetics”; “they can change how an organism reads a DNA sequence”. This contributes “to the long-term adaptation of plant species to climate change”.

Did you know?

Epigenetics is the study of how your behaviours and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work. Unlike genetic changes, epigenetic changes are reversible. They do not change your DNA sequence, but they can change how your body reads a DNA sequence.

Picture Credit : Google 

Have you heard about a tree that looks like a painting?

Have you heard about a tree that looks like a painting? Legend even has it that Robin Hood took shelter in a tree. Here we bring you some of the unique trees in the world.

AFRICAN BAOBAB – AFRICA

These ancient trees have been around even before humans walked the earth. They date back thousands of years and are endemic to the African savannah. These baobabs grow into colossal sizes and are life-sustaining trees. This tree species is referred to as the Tree of Life for the shelter, food and water it provides during inclement weather conditions.

THE MAJOR OAK TREE- THE UK

This is Robin Hood’s tree. Remember the legend of Robin Hood and how he took shelter in a tree and hid from the Sheriff of Nottingham? Well, this Oak tree, which is the largest in the U.K., is the infamous tree that provided shelter. The tree is hollow inside and has a hole in its trunk. Nuzzled in the Sherwood Forest Country Park, this 1,000-year-old hollow oak tree gets many visitors. Seen here is the Robin Hood’s Larder tree from an 1880 postcard.

LONE CYPRESS TREE – THE U.S.

Lone Cypress is perhaps the most photographed tree in the world. As the name suggests, this tree stands all alone, standing sentinel on the Californian coast. The tree is believed to be over 250 years old and is perched on the rocky ledge along the 17 Mile Drive on Pebble Beach in Monterey County.

RAINBOW EUCALYPTUS

Northern Hemisphere Picture this. A tree cloaked in a rainbow. The tree looks like a painting with a multitude of colours splashed right across it. Christened the rainbow eucalyptus, these rare eucalyptus trees are indigenous to the northern hemisphere. When the bark of the tree peels off during each season, out pops the coloured bark which ages as it with the elements producing the brilliant hues. Commonly called Rainbow Eucalyptus, the species goes by the name Eucalyptus deglupta. The tree is commonly found in Philippines, New Guinea, and Indonesia.

WANAKA TREE – NEW ZEALAND

Hundreds flock to this place every year to get a picture of the Wanaka Tree that seems to rise out of the placid waters of lake Wanaka, New Zealand. Evenings are the best time to visit the place as it always offers postcard-perfect views. The tree is often called That Wanaka Tree’. This loner of a willow tree set against a panoramic vista of the mountains of the Southern Alps makes for a resplendent sight.

THE BOAB ‘PRISON’ TREE-AUSTRALIA

This is a huge Boab tree with a large hollow. The tree is believed to be more than a thousand years old and is found in Derby, Kimberley, Western Australia. Known for decades as the Boab Prison Tree, the tree gets its name after the legend that it was used as a lockup for Aboriginal prisoners. But researchers have maintained that there is no evidence for this and have been pushing for appropriately naming the tree.

Picture Credit : Google 

What are some of the characteristics of weeds?

Weeds are fast growers, sturdy and hard to get rid of Although some are known to be toxic, they have multiple uses. Let’s look at a few of them this week.

Unwanted nuisance

A weed is a plant which is generally considered to be an unwanted nuisance, particularly in farms, gardens, etc. Weeds grow and spread very fast are very hardy and difficult to get rid of, and can survive in the most adverse conditions.

There are many commonly known weeds, such as the dandelion, goldenrod, ragweed, bulrush, arrowhead, milkweed, Indian goose grass, dodder, amaranth, etc. Many of these are well known by other Indian names in history, folklore and literature.

Since weeds are very fast growers and sturdy survivors, they draw nutrition away from crop plants. Further, seeds of weeds have the ability to remain dormant in the soil for very long, growing back with the next crop or the rains. Dodder or ‘amarbel’ as known in India, for example, is a vicious weed: it spreads relentlessly, showing an uncanny ability to attach itself onto the crop plant towards which it grows. What is more, dodder has an eerie sense of preference for certain plants over others. It prefers tomatoes, for example, over wheat, and propels itself towards such plants.

Apart from interfering with the crop, many weeds are also seen to be harmful or poisonous. The giant milkweed or ‘arka’ as it is known in India, with faint white or purple flowers, is known to be toxic to the eyes.

‘Datura’ with the elongated white flowers is known to be toxic, and has been used across cultures as a poison.

‘Parthenium’ is a plant with thin stems and small white button-like flowers, of the Asteraceae family (like the flower aster). Parthenium is known to be toxic to both humans and animals.

They are useful too!

Many of these weeds have a multitude of uses across various cultures, including India.

A weed can be used as a prickly border to crop fields (the abundant shrub Lantana camara makes excellent fencing material), or as ropes to tie up bundles, make baskets, etc.

Any weed, when cut and left in the field, makes excellent compost or manure. Dandelion with the little yellow flowers, for example, helps crops grow better by breaking up the hard layer of soil known as ‘hardpan’ that forms in fields after too much cultivation.

Yet other weeds are useful as pest repellants. Ocimumcanum for example, is collected and added to grains during storage to reduce pests. Others such as Calotropis gigantea and Argemone mexicana are used to make antifeedant sprays just like neem leaves.

A number of weeds are also famous as ‘holy’ plants. The flowers of globe amaranth, the bluebell, or thumba with the little white flowers and others are offered to Gods. ‘Arka’ is used to make garlands for Lord Ganesha.

Many weeds also make excellent livestock feed. In Ayurveda, weeds are often used as medicine and food supplements. In olden times, the poor who could not afford nutritious food or milk would soak grass or ‘durva’ overnight in water, and give the water to their children the next day as a nutrition supplement. Cats and dogs are often seen munching on blades of grass on lawns when they have an upset stomach. Ganaki sopu of the tomato family is fodder to the cow and medicine for the humans.

Picture Credit : Google 

What are the predators of plant kingdom?

These are plants with many tricks up their sleeve. These are plants that consume meat. In short, these are called carnivorous plants. They lure unsuspecting prey into their traps. They indulge in carnivorous behaviour to obtain much-needed nutrients that are not found in the soil. Insects, spiders, lizards, mice, rats, and other small vertebrates become their prey. Let’s take a look at some of these meat eaters.

VENUS FLYTRAP

Here we have hinged traps built into each leaf of the plant. These hinged lobes have spiny tooth-like structures attached to them. There are hair-like projections called trichomes in the insides of the lobe and if a prey were to get into contact with these hairy structures, snap shut the lobes and the prey has been caught! The tooth-like structures that edge the lobes ensure that the prey cannot get out of the trap.

NEPENTHES RAJAH

The Nepenthes rajah is the largest carnivorous plant in the world. Its trap can grow up to 41 centimetres tall. Vertebrates and small mammals have fallen prey to this genus of camivorous pitcher plant. This plant is endemic to Borneo. Insects get attracted by the odour of the nectar and once inside the pitcher, they cannot escape as they fail to get a grip on the sticky walls of the pitcher. They then fall into the water in the pitcher and as they struggle, the digestive glands get stimulated and digestive acids are released. The Nepenthes rajah can even digest mice!

PITCHER PLANT

For the pitcher plant, its pitcher-shaped leaves form the trap. These pitfall traps are filled with digestive juices. The animals are lured by the nectar. The rims of the pitcher are slippery and the prey falls in and drowns in the digestive fluids. They are often seen growing in a range of habitats viz. from pine barrens to sandy coastal swamps. They normally grow in poor soil conditions and it is through their carnivorous behaviour that they get the much-needed nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen.

COBRA LILY

With its hooded pitcher-like leaves, this pitcher plant resembles a cobra. Even the purple-red appendages that the plant has resembles a set of fangs. The nectar glands attract insects and small animals to the mouth of the pitcher. The large tubular leaves of the plant trap water. This is the only species of its genus that do not produce its own digestive enzymes. Rather, it depends on bacteria to break down its prey. Once inside, there is no escape. The slippery walls and the downward-pointing hairs ensure this and the prey falls into the fluid at the bottom of the pitcher. The prey gets decomposed by microorganisms in the fluid. The plant is native to swamps in the mountainous regions of the USA.

BUTTERWORT

Butterwort is a carnivorous flowering plant that uses its sticky leaves to lure in insects and eventually trap and digest them. This plant releases its enzymes for digesting the prey whilst it holds the prey in its place with its sticky mucous.

Picture Credit : Google 

Why do we study fossils?

An important insight that fossil study could throw up is how plants and animals of different eras adapted to their changing environment. This is particularly crucial for us now as we battle climate change.

During scientific expeditions in 2017 and 2019, a team of scientists discovered something incredibly exciting – Africa’s oldest known dinosaur fossil. The reptile “roamed the earth around 230 million years ago”. What is even more unique about the discovery is that such “remains from the same era had previously been found only in South America and India”. The findings were published recently. Do fossils have any use? Yes, actually much more than one can imagine! Come, let’s delve deeper into this.

Fossils could be anything from skeletal remains to leaf impressions. Studying fossils give us a better understanding of an animal or plant that existed ages ago. That’s not all. Something as tiny as a mosquito trapped in amber is likely to offer us a peek into how evolution works. Or, even a glimpse of the history of our planet. For instance, this dinosaur fossil in Africa “broadens the range that we knew the very first dinosaurs lived in”. But it also does something very significant – the reptile “is remarkably similar to some dinosaurs of the same age found in Brazil and Argentina,  reinforcing that South America and Africa were part of continuous landmass during the Late Triassic. Apart from showing us that the now-separated continents were once connected, fossils also help us learn where humans came from, how life forms existed, and how our environment has changed through millions of years.

Another insight that fossil study could throw up is how plants and animals of different eras adapted to their changing environment. This is particularly crucial for us now as we battle dimate change. Understanding revolutionary changes and survival methods may help us equip ourselves better to tackle what is threatening to be a great challenge in the not-so-distant future.

So, do fossil fuels have anything to do with fossils? Without a doubt. But that’s a story for another day!

Picture Credit : Google 

WHAT IS THE TUNDRA?

The tundra refers to a vast, flat, treeless Arctic region of Europe, Asia, and North America in which the subsoil is permanently frozen. Tundra ecosystems are also found on the mountaintops here, where the climate is cold and windy, and rainfall is scant. These lands are covered with snow for much of the year, which melts during the summer. Yet it hosts a few species of wildlife acclimatised to harsh conditions. As the tundra faces the threat of global warming, so do its inhabitants.

Plants and Animals in Tundras:

Mountain goats, sheep, marmots, and birds live in mountain—or alpine—tundra and feed on the low-lying plants and insects. Hardy flora like cushion plants survive in the mountain zones by growing in rock depressions, where it is warmer and they are sheltered from the wind.

The Arctic tundra, where the average temperature is -34 to -6 degrees Celsius (-30 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit), supports a variety of animal species, including Arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus), polar bears (Ursus maritimus), gray wolves (Canis lupus), caribou (Rangifer tarandus), snow geese (Anser caerulescens), and musk oxen (Ovibos moschatus). The summer growing season is just 50 to 60 days, when the sun shines up to 24 hours a day.

The relatively few species of plants and animals that live in the harsh conditions of the tundra are essentially clinging to life. They are highly vulnerable to environmental stresses like reduced snow cover and warmer temperatures brought on by global warming.

Climate Change Impact on Tundras

The Arctic tundra is changing dramatically due to global warming, a term that falls within a wider range of trends scientists now prefer to call climate change. The impacts in this region are broad and somewhat unpredictable. Animals that are typically found farther south, like the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), are moving north onto the tundra. This means the red fox is now competing with the Arctic fox for food and territory, and the long-term impact on the sensitive Arctic fox is unknown.

Other tundra denizens, such as the wolf spider (Lycosidae spp.), are growing bigger and thriving. Shrubs are getting taller, contributing to declines in the sensitive groups of lichen that caribou and other species depend on for food. Lakes and ponds are evaporating or draining away.

Ctedit : National geographic society 

Picture Credit : Google 

WHAT ARE FOSSIL FUELS?

Fossil fuels are formed from decomposed plants and animals that lay buried deep inside the earth for millions of years. With the progress of time, heat and pressure turn these remains into fossil fuels. The most common ones are coal, crude oil (petroleum) and natural gas. They have multiple uses (from generating electricity and powering vehicles and planes to heating homes). Fossil fuels are nonrenewable and can harm the environment since the carbon stored in them gets released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that causes global warming.

According to the National Academies of Sciences, 81 percent of the total energy used in the United States comes from coal, oil, and natural gas. This is the energy that is used to heat and provide electricity to homes and businesses and to run cars and factories. Unfortunately, fossil fuels are a nonrenewable resource and waiting millions of years for new coal, oil, and natural gas deposits to form is not a realistic solution. Fossil fuels are also responsible for almost three-fourths of the emissions from human activities in the last 20 years. Now, scientists and engineers have been looking for ways to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and to make burning these fuels cleaner and healthier for the environment.

Scientists across the country and around the world are trying to find solutions to fossil fuel problems so that there is enough fuel and a healthy environment to sustain human life and activities in the future. The United States Department of Energy is working on technologies to make commercially available natural-gas-powered vehicles. They are also trying to make coal burning and oil drilling cleaner. Researchers at Stanford University in California have been using greener technologies to figure out a way to burn fossil fuels while lessening their impact on the environment. One solution is to use more natural gas, which emits 50 percent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than coal does. The Stanford team is also trying to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it underground—a process called carbon capture and sequestration. Scientists at both Stanford and the University of Bath in the United Kingdom are trying something completely new by using carbon dioxide and sugar to make renewable plastic.

Credit : National geographic

Picture Credit : Google 

WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT SOCOTRA ISLAND?

Hosting hundreds of plant and animals species that are found nowhere in the world, it’s small wonder that Yemen’s Socotra archipelago has been called the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean.

Full of life!

Located more than 300 km from its parent country Yemen, the Socotra archipelago comprises four islands in the Indian Ocean between Somalia and Yemen. Covering a total area of nearly 4,000 sq.km., the islands are known for their rich biodiversity and unique flora and fauna. For instance, among the 825 plant species found in the region now, as many as 307 cannot be seen anywhere else in the world. Birds such as the Socotra starling, Socotra sunbird, and Socotra warbler are said to be found only here. A staggering 90% of reptile species and 95% of land snails too are said to be endemic (found nowhere else). Because of this, the place is often referred to as the “Galapagos of the Indian Ocean”.

Lying close as it does to the African continent, the archipelago appears to be the extension of the Horn of Africa. About 20 million years ago, these islands were believed to have broken off the Gondwana supercontinent. The archipelago was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site with “Outstanding Universal Value” in 2008. Though the habitats within the region appear to be healthy and safe, they are not without threat. These include tourism, invasive species, overusing of natural resources and natural disasters. In fact, the conservation outlook for this site has been assessed as “significant concern” in the latest assessment cycle 2020.

Wildlife

Nearly 200 species of birds, including land and sea, are said to be seen in the archipelago. Among them are garganeys, shovelers, pintails, teals, ducks, guinea fowls, quails, flamingoes, grebes, pigeons, doves, sandgrouses, coucals, nightjars, swifts, moorhens, stilts, plovers, stints, snipes, sandpipers, coursers, gulls, terns, tropicbirds, petrels, shearwaters, boobies, egrets, herons, ibises, ospreys, buzzards, owls, hoopoes, bee-eaters, falcons, shrikes, ravens, larks, martins, swallows, warblers, whitethroats, thrushes, wheatears, starlings, sunbirds, pipits, wagtails, buntings, and sparrows. As an archipelago, the region has a startling variety of corals, fishes, crabs, lobsters, and shrimps too, together adding up to more than 1,000 species!

Dragon’s blood tree

Synonymous with the identity of Socotra, the dragon’s blood tree is found nowhere else in the world. It “lives within remnants of prehistoric ‘Dragonsblood forest on granite mountains and limestone plateaus” within Socotra.

Marked by a unique umbrella-shaped canopy, the tree is said to capture the moisture in the air through its leaves and take it to the roots. Having held an economically significant role for centuries, the tree has varied uses. When fed to cattle in very small quantities, the tree’s berries are said to improve the animals’ health.

The tree gets its name from the red-coloured resin it produces, and this resin is believed to have several medicinal uses. The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s conservation status for the tree is “vulnerable”.. Shockingly, it has been discovered that hardly any “populations are regenerating naturally”. In addition, it has been noticed that “in some areas young trees lack the species’ characteristic umbrella shape”.

As climate change intensifies, “Socotra is drying out, with once reliable monsoon weather becoming patchy and irregular. And this could spell irreversible change to the archipelago and its unique inhabitants.

Picture Credit : Google 

WHAT IS HONEYCOMB WEATHERING?

When salt water that collects on the rough surface of rocks, or seeps into cracks, evaporates, it leaves behind salt crystals. Over time, these crystals alter the rock, forming hundreds and thousands of tightly joined pits called honeycombs that are a classic example of both physical and chemical weathering.

Honeycomb weathering occurs throughout the world, but the origin remains a matter of controversy. Wind erosion, exfoliation, frost shattering, and salt weathering have been proposed as explanations, although few attempts have been made to substantiate these hypotheses with chemical or mineralogical studies.

Chemical analyses and field observations indicate that honeycomb weathering in coastal exposures of arkosic sandstone near Bellingham, Washington, results from evaporation of salt water deposited by wave splash. Microscopic examination of weathered surfaces show that erosion results from disaggregation of mineral grains rather than from chemical decomposition. Thin walls separating adjacent cavities seem to be due to protective effects of organic coatings produced by microscopic algae inhabiting the rock surface. Cavity walls are not reinforced by precipitation of elements released by weathering, as has often been suggested at other locations. Honeycomb weathering develops rapidly and can be observed on surfaces that were planar less than a century ago.

Credit: Geo Science World

Picture Credit : Google 

CAN TREES CAUSE WEATHERING?

Yes, trees can break up large rocks. Seeds may be deposited in the cracks and gaps of rock clusters and they germinate there. As the plant grows, the roots crack the rock further and may even break it into many pieces.

Plants can cause mechanical and chemical weathering. When plants cause mechanical weathering, their roots grow into rocks and crack them.It can also happen in streets or sidewalks. When plants cause chemical weathering, there roots release acid or other chemicals, onto rocks, which then forms cracks, and breaks apart.

Plants can cause physical weathering as their roots grow. Seeds of plants or trees can grow inside rock cracks where soil has collected. The roots then put pressure on the cracks, making them wider and eventually splitting the rock. Even small plants can cause this kind of weathering over time.

Biological Weathering – This type of weathering is caused by plants and animals. The plants and animals have acids inside them and when they release their acid it converts into chemicals that further results in weathering and breaking down of rocks and minerals and other types of landforms.

Credit: SidmartinBio

Picture Credit : Google 

What ant actually explodes to protect the entire colony?

Found in the remote rainforests of Borneo, Colobopsis explodens ants have developed extreme abilities to protect their colony. When threatened by other insects, these ‘exploding ants’ rupture their own body walls, releasing a toxic, sticky liquid which kills or immobilizes their attacker.  Outside the kitchen door at the Kuala Belalong Field Studies Center in Brunei, on a number of trees near the balcony, there is a nest of very special ants. Workers of C. explodens have a distinctive, rather foul talent. When their nest is invaded, they rupture their own abdomens, releasing a sticky, bright yellow fluid laced with toxins on their attackers. Similar to honey bees that die after stinging, the exploded ants do not survive, but their sacrifice can help save the colony. Scientists call this suicidal behaviour “autothysis”.

Some ants (called door-keepers) have even developed plug-shaped heads used to physically barricade the nest entrances against intruders. These ants explode, but their nests live to see another day.

Credit : The Newyork Times

Picture Credit : Google 

WHEN DID PLANTS START TO GROW ON LAND?

The first land plants appeared during the Silurian period, around 440 million years ago. These simple plants reproduced by releasing spores. Plants produced oxygen and provided food for the first land animals – amphibians. Amphibians first developed in the Devonian period, 420 million years ago, from fish whose fins evolved into limbs.

Botanists now believe that plants evolved from the algae; the development of the plant kingdom may have resulted from evolutionary changes that occurred when photosynthetic multicellular organisms invaded the continents. The earliest fossil evidence for land plants consists of isolated spores, tracheid-like tubes, and sheets of cells found in Ordovician rocks. The abundance and diversity of these fossils increase into the Silurian Period (about 443.8 million to 419.2 million years ago), where the first macroscopic (megafossil) evidence for land plants has been found. These megafossils consist of slender forking axes that are only a few centimetres long. Some of the axes terminate in sporangia that bear trilete spores (i.e., spores that divide meiotically to form a tetrad). Because a trilete mark indicates that the spores are the product of meiosis, the fertile axes may be interpreted as the sporophyte phase of the life cycle.

Fossils of this type could represent either vascular plants or bryophytes. Another possibility is that they are neither but include ancestors of vascular plants, bryophytes, or both. The earliest fossils also include at least one or more additional plant groups that became extinct early in the colonization of the land and therefore have no living descendants. By the early Devonian Period (about 419.2 million to 393.3 million years ago), some of the fossils that consist of forking axes with terminal sporangia also produced a central strand of tracheids, the specialized water-conducting cells of the xylem. Tracheids are a diagnostic feature of vascular plants and are the basis for the division name, Tracheophyta.

Credit: Britannica

Picture credit: Google

Can seaweed clean your teeth?

NEWCASTLE University scientists claim that an enzyme isolated from marine bacterium Bacillus licheniformis cuts through plaque on teeth and cleans hard-to-reach areas. Dr Nicholas Jakubovics of the university’s School of Dental Sciences said: “Plaque is made up of bacteria which join together to colonize an area in a bid to push out any potential competitors. Traditional toothpastes work by scrubbing off the plaque containing the bacteria. But that’s not always effective which is why people who religiously clean their teeth can still develop cavities.” When bacterial cells die, the DNA inside leaks out and creates a biofilm that sticks to teeth, protecting the bacteria from brushing, chemicals or even antibiotics. Bacillus licheniformis, found on the surface of seaweed, releases an enzyme which breaks up the biofilm and strips away harmful bacteria.

Researcher Prof. Burgess said: “The zyme breaks up and removes the bacteria esent in plaque and importantly, prevents build-up of plaque too. If we can contain it with’n toothpaste we would be creating a product which could prevent tooth decay. The enzyme also has huge potential in he ping keep clean medical implants such as artificial hips and speech valves which also suffer from biofilm infection.”

Picture Credit : Google