More needs to be done to understand the pollen transfer dynamics affected by this insect guild in the agro and horticultural ecosystems of the state
During the first week of March, I was in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu to deliver a keynote address at the International Conference on ‘Asian Pollinator Conservation’ organized by Department of Zoology of the Avinashlingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women, deemed to be university in Coimbatore; an impressive academic and research institute managed by women administrators and academicians.
In the week that I spent in Coimbatore, I also gave Guest Lectures in area of Conservation Biology at Bharatiar University and the Salim Ali Center for Ornithology and Natural History (South India Centre of Wildlife Institute of India) under MoEFCC, Govt of India. At all these institutes that have carved a niche for themselves in the academic and research arena, I thoroughly enjoyed interacting with the young minds and their mentors. Surprisingly, the young India is aware of the imminent environmental threats and willing to act with urgency to avert the eco-catastrophes catalyzed by our collective folly.
I was particularly gripped by the sharp focus, out of box ideas, and contagious enthusiasm of the young, cultured, and disciplined women students at Avinashlingam University, who fearlessly raised several queries after every presentation through the conference, as also participated with a sense of keen interest in deliberations with some of India’s accomplished scientists like Prof Renee Borges of the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore; who spoke on pollination mutualism with her intelligent and mellifluous oratory. Prof Srinivasan of Tamil Nadu Agriculture University was another erudite speaker who dwelt upon impact of agrochemicals on pollinators.
I chaired one technical session where almost 23 papers were presented by academics and researchers from various states in a physical and virtual mode on a range of pollinators like bees, wasps, birds, and bats. The data painstakingly collected, collated, and meticulously presented by the young scholars is a testimony to the emerging priorities and scientific temperament of new India; and signals the emergence of meaningful research of relevance to the society at large.
In my keynote lecture, I highlighted the ‘vulnerability drivers and conservation concerns of butterflies and moths’, an important group of insects that is showing an alarming decline in diversity and numbers. Apart from their portrayal as ‘flying colours’ and the admiration they win from across domains of knowledge and age groups; after bees and wasps, butterflies are efficient vectors of pollen transfer, while moths pollinate many night blooming flowers. Of course, everything is incentivized, and nectar is the ‘fee’ that the plants pay to these insects for their pollination services!
Drawing inferences from my own research on these two insect groups in Goa, and current global trends; I cautioned the gathering on the imminent threat of losing out on the crucial pollination services rendered by these insects due to loss of their habitat driven by changing land use in an increasingly urbanizing world. Pesticides continue to exterminate many species through a direct exposure and food chain transfer, killing them or deforming their developmental stages, besides climate change driven phenological disruptions that put them out of sync with nectar yielding plants.
Another exploitative pressure on butterflies is the illegal collection for trade, where some rare species fetch good money in ‘grey markets’. In absence of statutory protection to these species, such clandestine trade continues to deplete their population.
Novel pathogens, parasites infecting and infesting these insects are being reported from different countries. Lastly, one needs to emphasize the light pollution affecting the moth species on our incrementally lighted planet. Research has shown that artificial lighting distracts male moths from female pheromone signals, thereby reducing their mating frequency; besides increasing their risk of predation. Altered moth abundance, composition of moth assemblages, and moth behaviour are likely fallout of exposure to artificial lighting at night.
Butterflies have inspired photonic fabrics, long-lasting iridescent paints, painless syringe needles, aerodynamic fan of air-conditioners, and drug discovery. They’ve stirred poets, philosophers, and researchers alike and yet their conservation future is worrisome.
It is absurd that we demand tenable justification to conserve any species on this planet; more often economic reasons to protect a species for posterity. Our conservation interventions should have been our ethical mandate. We must let species exist and replenish themselves simply because they have a right to live and coexist with us!
At the end of the conference, I was invited to conduct a roundtable along with Dr B. A. Daniel, an accomplished Entomologist and Board member, Butterfly Specialist Group (IUCN SSC). The young delegates came up with various ideas for undertaking simple research projects to address gaps in critical information, fostering regional and national network, contributing to policy for conservation of pollinators.
Conservation education must manifest into action, lest these events stay merely academic and add to the burgeoning list. We have the ‘Indian Pollinator Initiative’ whose members are actively researching in national laboratories of repute such as IISER Thiruvananthapuram and NCBS Bangalore and building capacity of stakeholders. Kolkata university has a Centre for Pollination Studies that strives to promote good management for pollinators in partnership with farmers and villagers.
In Goa, while much of the focus is on compiling insect inventories, there are few systematic studies on Pollination Biology. A course on ‘Plant Animal interactions’ is offered by Goa University with a module on ‘Pollination Biology’ in its postgraduate Botany programme. Goan naturalist Dr Nandakumar Kamat has made some elaborate observations on pollination ecology of some flora of the university campus. But more needs to be done to understand the pollen transfer dynamics affected by this insect guild in the agro and horticultural ecosystems of the state.
Goa has an ICAR - Central Coastal Agricultural Research Institute with a Crop Science division that has expertise and experience in Agricultural Entomology. They could partner with academia and state department of agriculture to promote pollinator friendly farming. The pollinators must persist through the contemporary perilous scenario.
