“Ecological Intelligence: The Need of the Hour”

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:01:47]Microphone is muted.

[00:01:57]microphone.

[00:02:08]But I want all right, that's good enough.

[00:02:19]It's perfect.

[00:02:30]Can you hear?

[00:02:33]>> Yes.

[00:02:52]Maybe I don't want to sit there. I am work for.

[00:03:10]Okay.

[00:10:43]audio. I think now audio is on audio also.

[00:13:27]Hello. Anybody there?

[00:13:30]Hello?

[00:13:31]>> Yes ma'am.

[00:13:32]>> Yes sir.

[00:13:32]>> Uh can I can I test my presentation whether the screen is visible and all?

[00:13:37]>> Sure my s you can share your screen.

[00:13:40]>> Okay.

[00:13:53]Is it visible?

[00:13:55]>> Uh yes madam. Can you please uh full screen?

[00:13:59]>> Oh okay.

[00:14:01]>> Yeah.

[00:14:05]>> Yes madam. Uh please change the slides.

[00:14:08]>> Yeah.

[00:14:13]>> Yeah it's working now.

[00:14:15]>> Working. Okay.

[00:14:16]>> Yeah. Yeah. Working. Fine. Fine.

[00:14:18]>> Yeah. Thank you.

[00:14:19]>> Okay. Thank you.

[00:14:31]H >> more technical institute Okay.

[00:16:07]I thought I was The bottom burger.

[00:16:54]I don't even want Good morning.

[00:17:58]How was your day?

[00:18:17]too too humid here and too hot.

[00:18:21]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:18:21]>> Otherwise otherwise everything fine.

[00:18:25]>> Yeah. Today it is humid actually you know we are expecting a thunderstorm.

[00:18:31]>> Yeah. That may come any any moment.

[00:18:35]We we are not that fortunate. We have to really wait >> wait. Uh here these days we get occasional showers with uh a kind of cyclone thing which is too dangerous.

[00:18:50]>> Kalbaki for a Yes. Yes. Kalbaki. Yes.

[00:18:56]>> Yes.

[00:18:58]So biodiversity they perhaps you know all are in almost green green >> green. Yes. theme team based >> all the rest theme based >> I hope no my people are not >> only I am >> okay now that we are since waiting you know I have a feeling that we should even start >> uh do you need prior registration or are they directly joining?

[00:19:39]>> It's in YouTube.

[00:19:41]>> YouTube. Okay.

[00:19:43]>> So, it will be there. So, whoever wants to watch can watch >> can watch.

[00:19:51]I'll just check with them whether we can start.

[00:19:57]Yeah, it's almost 1 minute only. My introduction will go one minute.

[00:20:05]Yes, ma'am.

[00:20:07]>> Can we start?

[00:20:09]>> Uh, just to meet them.

[00:20:11]>> Okay.

[00:20:25]>> So, participants will be joining through YouTube.

[00:20:30]Yes, they will be watching it will be put in YouTube and then people will be watching and live also is there >> right that I understand but uh this platform may they are not joining >> uh >> they can see uh you know YouTube live only >> okay okay because in Google meet and all they can directly join this platform and also visible in the YouTube no so that's why I was thinking Okay. Maybe this is a good idea that here there is no confusions.

[00:21:05]Only the organizers are there. No.

[00:21:08]>> Yes.

[00:21:09]>> Yes.

[00:21:10]>> Nice.

[00:21:21]Chat is not available now.

[00:21:24]Available ma'am in YouTube. It is available. Okay.

[00:21:38]Come on. Start.

[00:21:41]>> Okay.

[00:21:42]>> Yeah.

[00:22:05]Yes ma'am. Yes.

[00:22:32]Uh repeat need to be visible.

[00:22:51]problem.

[00:22:52]>> Is that okay?

[00:22:54]>> Ah, okay.

[00:22:56]Fine.

[00:22:58]>> Good morning everyone.

[00:23:02]Go ahead.

[00:23:04]>> Good morning everyone. On behalf of the India Institute of Tropical Metrology project environmental information awareness capacity building and livelihood program EICP program center research partner and in collaboration with EICP center on biodiversity on a zoological survey of India Kolkata I warmly welcome to all participants in today's webinar organized on the occasion of international day for biological diversity 2026. We are delighted to see participants from different institutions, organizations, researchers, faculty members, students joining us today for this important webinar on ecological intelligence and ecological intelligence. The need for of the our is aimed at creating awareness and encouraging a deeper understanding of our relationship with nature and biodiversity conversation. to provide a brief introduction about today's occasion and the significance of the day. I would like to invite Dr. Aratam.

[00:24:13]>> Okay. Good morning. Over to you.

[00:24:16]>> Good morning all. Let me take a minute to introduce all to this special day.

[00:24:21]What is biodiversity and why should we insist that biodiversity need to be maintained? Biod diversity encompass a variety of life in earth on earth including plants, animals, fungi, microorganisms, genetic differences within species and the ecosystems they form. Maintenance of biod diversity is needed as it is essential for providing food, water, medicine, fuel, clothing and shelter and many more. Moreover, biodiversity supports ecosystem resilience, climate stability, and disease prevention, including zenotic diseases that can spread from animals to human. The theme of the international day of biodiver biological diversity 2026 is act locally and impact globally, which is very relevant in the current era of such a high connectivity.

[00:25:18]The action start with observing the bio biological world around one and learning from it. Spending some time on the same.

[00:25:27]The next step would be to connect with people around you about what you have learned and discuss it further and decide how to act and implement it. The third step would be to tell the world what one has achieved to motivate or want the flows to take caution. EIC is an environmental awareness and livelihood generation program under MOFCC with 54 centers across India supported by various organizations. Thus the host organizations also do their bit towards the aim of this program. Without their support such a widespread action would not have been possible. Today IATM Pune and Judas Kolkata have come together to celebrate International Biodiversity Day. Today's program includes a lecture by the eminent scientist Dr. Raja Muhana from Zai.

[00:26:20]An online quiz will follow the lecture.

[00:26:23]Handing over to Rupit, our IT officer for an introduction and welcoming of our speaker.

[00:26:33]>> Thank you ma'am. It's my privilege to introduce our distinguished speaker for the today's webinar Dr. K. Raj Mahaname who will deliver an expert talk on the topic ecological intelligence the need of the hour Dr. Dr. Raj Moame is currently serving as a scientist officer in charge of isopetra section and coordinator of ESP center on biodiversity fauna at zoolological survey of India Kolkata with more than 32 years of research experience in biodiversity and zoological sciences. She has made remarkable contributions in the field of taxonomy, pollinator ecology, host host parcytoid interactions and biodiversity studies.

[00:27:21]She has published more than 250 research papers, authored book, authored book and book chapters, supervised several PhD scholars and discovered numerous species new to science. We are truly honored to have a such an eminous scientist with us today. Without talking much of your valable valuable time, I request Dr. Raj Mona ma'am to kindly deliver her expert talk. Over to you ma'am.

[00:27:52]>> Thank you very much for that uh very elaborate u introduction and uh good morning to all.

[00:28:02]Uh good morning uh Dr. Lea and her team EACP Indian Institute of Tropical Materology Pune.

[00:28:11]Uh it's a happy occasion for all those who are working in biodiversity research. Every year we used to look forward for this particular day and even our office also has organized some eleution competitions and uh those uh kind of interactions with the youngsters so that all will be aware regarding this particular theme of this year is act globally for global impact. Yeah. So can I share my uh PPT now?

[00:28:46]>> Yes ma'am.

[00:28:47]Okay.

[00:29:00]>> Is it visible?

[00:29:01]>> Yes, ma'am.

[00:29:02]>> Yes. Yes.

[00:29:03]>> Okay. Fine. Fine. Fine. Okay.

[00:29:07]Uh once again uh good morning to all.

[00:29:11]So the topic uh we are going to discuss today is on uh ecological intelligence understanding biodiversity for a sustainable future. I have changed little bit the title which I have given earlier but it almost uh means the same.

[00:29:32]uh ecological intelligence is u relatively um used um in in the recent times um with a with a wide context and meaning. So uh what we planned for this uh lecture today is we will be uh discussing a few aspects on what exactly we mean by ecological intelligence.

[00:30:02]uh taking examples from u a few important faile groups uh which are very vital to sustaining of the ecosystems and also we will see um how we should improve our ecological intelligence or people who are doing in research uh can also uh get an overall uh idea about uh how to how to know uh the components in the ecosystem so that we can improve our overall understanding and of course we will be quickly going through a few uh examples from the current scenario uh which will again emphasis on the importance of uh uh biodiversity and the uh need of focusing our time, energy and resources to save and conserve the biodiversity around us.

[00:31:16]Uh how many species on earth is relatively a very simple question but the answer is not that simple.

[00:31:28]different uh sources will give you different values. Even you will find something around 25 million, 30 million and figures like that. We are not here to say that all those figures are wrong or uh er erroneous. But I would like to quote one particular paper which was published in 2011 uh which stated after a very uh meticulous scientific calculation that they they suggest or they arrived at a figure around 8.7 million plus or minus 1.3 million ukarotic species uh globally of that animalia belong to almost 7.77 million and the important aspect is um 2.6 of them are insects. A a huge chunk of what is known are insects.

[00:32:29]Um you will find a a red highlighted area here uh telling it's 2.2 million species we have named across the globe.

[00:32:41]So 8.7 million we we are estimating the total number and in that estimate it said that we know only about 2.2 million species only those species are described in science and have a very solid scientific name. So what about the rest is that's a big question and challenge in front of us that when will we be able to get to know uh at least uh 3/4 or uh the the entire species existing on earth. Um let's wait for that uh fine morning where we can almost list out uh a major more than 90% of that species on earth. But the situation today is we don't know about 86% of the species living on land and 91 species of uh species living in ocean. we don't know about uh all those and u I invite the youngsters who are uh into the field of biodiversity research to accept this challenge and uh extend their research into these fields and come out with promising results.

[00:34:04]So in this direction, Zoolological Survey of India, a premier taxonomic organization uh established uh more than a century ago uh to be exact, 1st July 1916.

[00:34:20]Uh this organization works on fal exploration that is uh research and survey exploration of uh animal species in India and um we the institution as a whole has uh contributed considerably to the advancement of the knowledge and uh that way to the conservation of the entire formal resource.

[00:34:52]Um Dr. Diti Banerjee is woman uh director for Zedesi.

[00:35:03]So recently uh Zedesi brought out a u a special uh I would say it's very special checklist of fauna of India. It seems very simple checklist of fora but the task was uh a numerous it was a huge task and the benefit what we have now is we have a list of 1 lakh 5,244 species of animals uh animal species in India. It is just like an attendance register your teacher is having in the class. So now all the living animals known in India are listed at one place and u those who would like to know more about it are website and there fauna or the uh group wise since order wise classwise and uh uh categorically you can see and download the checklist.

[00:36:10]So this will serve as a very important baseline information for whatever uh conservation oriented or kind of work um people undertake.

[00:36:24]And every year uh Zesai publishes uh a a very informative publication uh named animal discoveries which includes or it updates uh the species and uh uh and such information uh which is added that particular year to the science. it it comes around 600 to 700 species every year as new species as well as first reports to India. So every year we have this released on 1st July uh the birthday of Ziza by the honorable environment minister.

[00:37:10]uh to have a broader idea of what we have in India regarding animals. Uh at the top you can see uh a pie which is uh the major portion is green and a small pie a piece has been taken out. Uh that's just compare the size of the two pieces a major chunk and a small piece.

[00:37:34]So that major chunk what it meant is invertebrates and the small fraction is only vertebbrates. So this is how uh vertebrates and invertebrates are distributed not only in India the almost it's the same figure when we compare globally too uh coming next to the small chunk that is the vertebrae diversity uh fishes are the uh largest group and followed by birds then uh reptiles of course amphibian and mammals later and another important pie which is uh presented here uh is regarding the invertebrates in detail. I won't be reading out everything just focus on the uh major piece of the pie that is 82 it's coming around 83%.

[00:38:34]this 83% are film arropoda who are people uh from the bi zoology background will follow it easier but for others I can explain that uh um this crustaceians like prawns crabs then the entire insect groups everything falls under even the spiders everything fall under this arropoda and uh that particular group in fact tops the entire invertebrate fa among this invertebrates also among the arroports we have to agree that insects belong to almost 70 or 75% of the entire percentage see wherever you go whatever you experience you cannot ignore the insect world in some way or the Either at your household, either at your workplace or in your farm or when you are on a just an evening walk somewhere always you will feel the presence of insects and their impacts around you. So that is at least a mosquito will come and bite you. Or you can see grasshoppers eating your favorite garden plants. Or you can you can see uh a honeybee busy pollinating a flower or silk worm from where the entire silk fabrics are being uh made. So they building their cocoons nearby on on a on a plant. So by all means uh once we are surrounded by this living world we happen to be under the influence of insects just for information I'm adding here one slide regarding that uh plant diversity also uh compared to the animal diversity which we have more than one lakh species this data as 56,177 7 uh plant species in India. This data is from botanical survey of India. They also engage uh in the uh the same similar kind of uh research which Zazai is doing on animals and they publish authentic information on the floral aspects of our country.

[00:41:09]Fine. uh to go into a little bit more detail.

[00:41:15]Uh though lot of studies in different areas are going on still we have huge gaps when we discuss different areas of biodiversity.

[00:41:27]Um still we need very solid contribution in many fields so that we get a little bit more holistic and detailed scientific uh knowledge on biodiversity.

[00:41:42]We don't know in fact as we already discussed in the first slide how many species exactly exist and that is termed as linen shortfall. Line after this is after Linas who contributed uh a major part in naming of the animals and at least bringing in that binomial nomenclature the way uh animals are named with a scientific name having a genus name and a species name that the two word naming system.

[00:42:15]So uh that's why it's named after Lineas when we talk about species numbers and all.

[00:42:24]Charles Darin contributed a lot on the evolutionary process. So when we are addressing the gap that we yet have to know a lot on how animals evolved or what is the pattern of evolution uh in animals that shortfall is named Darvenian shortfall. That way distribution of species on earth is also very important. Like we have many geographical realms. Um India falls under oriental region. We have this paleotic region. We have um seven uh broad classifications kind categories kind of. So this distribution of animals are uh very important to to tell you a very simple kind of example. Uh when you step out into your garden or into into uh a nearby nature park in your area, the flora and fauna or the plants and animals you see there is going to be different from what you see in the forest nearby or in the seashore nearby or if you go to the Himalayan side there the entire uh the nature looks little bit foreign to you or different from what is seen in your native. So distribution of species is not that random. It also follows a particular pattern and uh we need to uh learn very depth uh regarding distribution of species also abundance of species. We have to learn more about it also how this abiotic factors like temperature and soil and all those kinds how they uh interact with the living world. Um so all this kind of information avail is available I I have to agree but it's only a tip of the iceberg and uh very in-depth and serious research is needed to unear more on it.

[00:44:42]Just a couple of uh points more on insects particularly because um I happen to work on insects other than u insects are one of the principal living organisms on earth.

[00:45:00]See um there are around 28 insect orders found in India.

[00:45:08]Um and in that this five are the mega divers insect orders in the sense in species numbers they top among the rest bugs this beetles uh belonging to order colopa then butterflies and moths lepidoptera true flies that is housefly and all come under that group dipa and ants bees and wasps himoptra then bugs the plant bugs and all you see in your uh garden they belong to him. These are the major uh insect groups and um every year uh at least a thousands are added uh to our knowledge globally from different angle. So I personally have been working on order himoptra.

[00:46:08]Uh himanoptra means bees, wasps and uh these are the groups uh which of people are generally familiar.

[00:46:17]uh it comes to around 11,000 species in India and uh economic uh due to its economical importance uh and its sheer numbers um the group always draws our attention.

[00:46:37]Um insects uh are always discussed whenever we discuss agriculture but then nowadays uh the smart agriculture and those kind of topics uh are very much um in science. So we speak a lot on technological intelligence but then there are other things too which are important ecological intelligence and social intelligence.

[00:47:08]Technology of course the drones the AI and all we know developing very fast those fields day by day. Ecological intelligence is what which we should develop. We will be looking into detail in the following slides. Social intelligence is also very important.

[00:47:25]that means the traditional knowledge which is uh rested among the society uh which comes out of the experience in the field. So these are the uh three big pillars uh underlying smart agriculture.

[00:47:43]So to understand more on ecological intelligence see what is an ecosystem.

[00:47:49]Ecosystem is composed or is comprised of uh species mainly both plant, animals, microbes and whatever. So how far do we understand these species present that is very important when we talk uh anything about ecosystems.

[00:48:12]So how do we understand about the animals or plants or the other living organisms? We require a branch of science called taxonomy.

[00:48:23]To taxonomy is that is a science which tells you how to identify uh and name the organisms. Once you get the identity of the organism then you can understand or you can study more on the function that particular organism is having in the ecosystem.

[00:48:47]Uh we know that uh we have huge diversity. We just discussed the number of plants, number of animals and all uh present number in the sense species. So each species has its own definite role in the ecosystem and uh it's it has a function to perform. So uh we have to understand or we have to perform a functional analysis to to understand their contribution in the ecosystem.

[00:49:19]So to sum it very uh briefly we have to say that it is the biological interactions that sustain the ecosystems as well as the agriculture.

[00:49:31]See we very often hear uh the weather patterns or the climate change disrupting uh the crop failure happened this time uh rains were um beyond the normal limits flooding happened many such uh climatic factors or um changes happen frequently these days. So what what exactly is happening your your crop land your crop is failing that you can un see and you you experience it. But if you go one step further, you will understand that because of the change in the weather pattern, maybe depending on the on the particular circumstances or the situation, the pollinators, the bees that u wouldn't have pollinated uh your crops in the proper way. Uh maybe because of the too h humid or too hot weather. uh things like that or uh the the rain has delayed the total cycle of the crops over there and we have a regulatory structure performing uh in uh nature silently. We will go into detail little bit in the next slides. So those agents are called paracettoids which regulate the populations of insects and other other groups insect groups particularly. So there is a synchrony in everything in nature once the synchrony is lost because of the abiotic factors or things like that pest outbreak happens. That is how we call we say that this year there was a huge pest outbreak and it couldn't be controlled. It led to this many um loss in the patty and other vegetables whatever because of this uh weather parameter changing the soil parameters also changes and overall uh affecting the stability of agriculture.

[00:51:42]So in order to understand all that we need to go a step further uh we have to understand the functional aspects of the insect biodiversity and uh we cannot cover the entire topic within within a short time. So we will be just uh going through three important uh this regulating systems.

[00:52:09]uh one will be parasettoids which regulate the trophic interactions.

[00:52:14]Trophic interactions is the energy transfer which is happening in the ecosystems like um plants are the primary producers and then they are eaten by caterpillars and other small herbivores. They are in turn eaten by larger groups. Then carnivores come into picture. So this way uh with the trophic interactions the energy transfer is happening in the ecosystem.

[00:52:40]Pollinators regulate plant reproduction.

[00:52:44]When we talk about uh the ecosystem services, pollination serves as a key ecosystem service and it's performed by numerous agents principally the insects, honeybees, uh even moths, butterflies, small beetles all all have their u small role in it. Even vertebbrates like bats, small some birds are there. So pollinators regulate the plant reproduction. And coming to soil which is the medium of growth of the plants.

[00:53:20]Soil organisms micro and macro level are very important. And to discuss on the soil organisms we will we will be looking into some aspects on uh the nutrient recycling agents or the ecosystem engineers we call it termites.

[00:53:39]So uh see we uh existence of uh diverse traffic interactions. We just named uh a few of them. It will be surprising to learn that even though our science has progressed to a large extent there still lies a lot of such um interactions yet to be uh documented.

[00:54:08]Coming to pollinators uh and just concentrating on the bees. See whenever we talk about bees there is a a common notion and understanding about honeybees. But what we should uh get to know is that honeybees they make honey.

[00:54:29]So that is why uh in the livelihood uh sector and also uh in the nutrition aspect uh they gain a special place. But there are other bees also which are equally or more important than honeybee when we talk about pollination.

[00:54:52]In India we have around 850 850 roughly uh species of uh bees and um I have given uh a list here uh of course it's a bit technical and this is how different families of uh beesh species are present.

[00:55:18]So talking about the diversity of bees other than honey bee, we have the mining bee, we have the cuckoo bee, we have the large carpenter bee, small carpenter bees, stingless bees, leaf cutter bees.

[00:55:30]By seeing this photograph itself, I think you will be able to people who are familiar uh with the insects, you will be uh able to recollect uh what all you have seen or you used to see when you go to your garden. Um I am sure you would have noticed the small cuts on the leaves on the rose plants and many other plants. In fact uh it is done so precisely as if cut by a very very sharp scissor and this is done by the leaf cutter B me it it is taking that particular piece of uh leaf uh to to build its nest.

[00:56:13]So 87% of world flowering plants depend on pollinators. 35% global food production depends exclusively on bees.

[00:56:24]And um uh now nowadays uh there are uh attempts made to to estimate the economic value of pollination services which will enhance this importance of pollination science.

[00:56:42]So as I told you honeybees are only a very small sector and there are a group of bees which nest in the ground. Just compare the honeybee hive on the tree or on the buildings. And this kind of bee they live not as colonies they live singly. Either they build their nest in cavities of cavities in the soil or in the tree. they can even borrow a little bit. Uh so these bees are solitary bees and 85% of the total bee come under solitary bees. So whatever you do in your agriculture field that is intense tilling, intense farming, application of pesticides, application of other chemicals all are directly going to impact negatively to an extent this uh bee community who is helping the farmer in producing the seeds. So this uh these are often overlooked uh overlooked signs I should say and uh studies are coming up uh nowadays the impact of uh agriculture intensification on on this honeybees or this kind of solitary bees.

[00:58:06]So when we talk about pollination, it's not just about the efficiency of the bee or of the number of bees in your garden.

[00:58:14]It is a whole system. In fact, um the plant morphology, the flower morphology means the structure. Not all plants are equally all flowers are not equally attractive to all kind of bees.

[00:58:29]and the quantity of nectar it produces, the pollen content it contains then uh there are several factors which involve uh when you talk about pollination efficiency.

[00:58:44]So it's itself is a huge science.

[00:58:48]Recently government of India has brought out a very uh unique publication environmental accounting explainer series pollination services. uh it is by the ministry of statistics and program implementation but this document has been brought out uh after consultation with several organizations including zoological survey of India then IC and other uh institutes which directly work on this particular field. So it is uh freely downloadable if you just Google with this name and you will get very uh useful updated uh information on this aspect.

[00:59:33]Oh since we we are have uh time limitation in we are not elaborating too much on pollinators we have to discuss something uh of the uh processes uh which is happening in the soil about the soil organisms and as the as you see in the photograph termites are quite common and I'm sure all of you would have encountered termites either in your garden or in the forest when you go for a nature walk or inside your house and perhaps they would have eaten some of your valuable documents kept in the almirra or in the shelf. So there are they they are also a very important group equally uh important to mankind and um in the rainy season especially you will find the uh winged forms coming near the light u mostly at evening time and when the first rain comes. So these are the flying or the reproductive uh part or the of the termite colony. And what you see usually inside that mud plasters or the foraging tubes in the corner of your rooms and all they are a separate cast. Cast in the sense termites are a group of organisms and termites, ants, bees and all. They have different cast system very rigid cast system. division of labor. All individuals don't look alike and they also do perform different kind of jobs and the entire colony uh in unison works as a uh single organism. So in that way uh they are little bit different. So don't think that all termites are confined uh in inside that mud plasters and tubes.

[01:01:37]There are groups which are uh coming under open foraging groups and it's very interesting to see them um in lacks coming outside their small soil nesting structures at the base of the trees and all but they don't come out in the warm sun as if you go for your daily office work. They also march together uh early mornings before the sun rises and uh maybe they also need to collect lychans and algae and small other materials for the colony and by evening after sunset they all return back and these are also very common I'm not telling anything which is happening uh abroad or in somewhere else this if you Um have a keen eye when you go uh towards the riverside vegetation or a um little bit humid kind of environment in the forest and all you will happen to see these processes around you and it's very interesting to watch them.

[01:02:53]So whenever I talk about termites uh the curiosity comes or or they they are generally known as pest. Termites are known for their uh not as famous they are notorious as pest causing extensive damage. Even the examples which I took to introduce them are also that they eat your uh they have eaten some of your important documents uh in uh in your almira but uh only 12.3 uh% of the total termite species are in reality come coming under pest category.

[01:03:34]Um that's a very small percentage. The rest of them are in fact uh adding to the soil fertility or the soil erration.

[01:03:45]In fact uh they contribute mostly to the uh fertility of the enhancing the fertility of the soil. So uh very positive ecosystem uh engineers see even the uh most uh serious pest also because they are mostly living underneath in the subterranean colonies and all their their presence itself increase the u soil fertility of that regions. more air will enter the soil more water penetration which will in turn change many of the soil parameters. So though with a status or a label as best we should learn to accept the species numbers termite is relatively a small group and it'll be very surprising and interesting to know that they are very much closely related to cockroaches as per the recent u studies.

[01:04:52]Fine. Um see uh in all these groups even we are getting several new reports to India and even new species to India.

[01:05:07]Um it's not that we uh as see we always should go back to that first slide where we told that 86% of the uh species residing in land and 91% in the ocean are yet to be discovered. So that is why whenever we do some detailed and intense studies we come across new species which we get to describe to science.

[01:05:40]Um fine.

[01:05:42]So moving on to the third sur ecosystem service regulation of population of insects and arthropods. Have you ever imagined why the number of butterflies or why the number of spiders or why the number of house flies are not multiplying beyond certain limits everywhere in nature there is a balance always nature maintains balance and there are factors which are contributing to the maintenance of this kind of balance. one among those factors and I should say one of the most important of those regulatory factors are a group of insects called paracettoids and and here I have given six uh groups under which we find paracettoids.

[01:06:37]So not going into that detail just I can tell you that why the name parasettoid because all the immature stages of these insects are living uh depending on other organisms that is they are parasitic in their immature stages but they are free living in the adult stage. So once they're um immature means once they uh complete their young nursery stages they don't need the uh other insect or or the host organism uh uh anymore. So they kill them in the process of their development and uh that is the difference between the parasettoid and the parasite. Uh as an example, if if we discuss the the simplest parasite, the lice which is uh in the human hair or on the um on the animal uh hair and all um they this lies they never kill the host. They never kill you. They never kill the dog. They never kill the cat, the ticks, mites, whatever because they they need the host throughout their development. This is what uh makes the parasites different from parasettoids. I repeat because this is a very uh important concept uh because once the paracettoids finish their development since they don't need the host they kill the host and come out and that is how uh the population is under control is kept under control in nature and 75% of the paracettoids are coming under him means the group where bees, wasps and all are coming and uh I told you we have 11,000 species of himoptra and in that about 75 to 80% are parasitic himoptra and we know very little about this particular group.

[01:08:53]So this is uh not the time to elaborate too much but I have to mention just briefly about the main three categories in parasitic himoptra when it is seen in the eggs of other insects. See in the photograph this can be the egg of some plant bugs or some other bug groups. You can see a tiny organism coming out. So when the bug laid it eggs we expect that the bug will come out of the baby bug will come out of it. The nymph will come out of it. But here the you will see another organism coming out and that is a himanopra and this is a paracettoid.

[01:09:32]This is what I told you this is how it controls the population of the bug.

[01:09:39]And the next one is a dead larva. This is our own photograph from one of the surveys and you can see a kind of a cotton plug on the on the larva. So it's not a cotton uh plug. It is just uh a kind of um cocoon which is uh secreted or which is uh made by the not by this larvae but by the himoptra uh himoptran larae which developed on the this uh caterpillar.

[01:10:15]So we had taken this and kept it for raring. After 1 week or so, we could get some 300 to 400 very tiny wasp which came out of this cotton plug. Inside this cotton plug, uh there were numerous like um suppose 300 came out, there would have been 300 small pupé uh or cocoons I should say inside this big cotton plug and that resulted in the death of this larvae. So this kind of parasitization they are called arwell paracettoids and pup also uh are not spared even if it is a cocoon uh of a moth or maybe it is of a neuropran cocoon or it is of a dipter pupe whatever they are also equally attacked by a group of paracettoids and again I say you need not go travel beyond beyond uh miles and kilometers to watch all this. Even when you uh watch a a series of plants in your balcony or in your home garden with a keen eye, you will be able to spot these things happening around you.

[01:11:35]This is just a small um documentation which we tried uh a compilation of uh um how many paracettoids were known from the butterflies and moth eggs from India and 113 species in 10 genera.

[01:11:58]uh were found to attack the eggs of 290 species 202 general of lipidoptra. Of course the we have to now update this data uh because this kind of studies where we know the association of which parasettoid is attacking which particular host organism is very limited and I I will always uh be interested to explain this particular phenomena and because it it has really surprised me a lot and this is my own photograph that uh you can see small wasp sitting on the on a bug. So this was taken from our own microscope and to my surprise even after the whole photography was over even after hours they were not uh flying away or leaving the body of the bug. Similarly this one was from the one patty field which we visited. You can see a small bug sitting small wasp sitting on the head of the bug and uh similarly in the other photographs also you will see. So this is a very interesting phenomenon called foresty or uh hitchhiking. They are hitchhikers or they ride freely on on the particular bug. They wait till the bug will lay the egg and soon after the bug lays egg they will go and uh lay their eggs into the egg of this bug. So what happens finally instead of the uh young one of the bug coming out of their own egg this this flies this paracettoids this small wasp will come out of it. So the term is called fory where it travels on the on other organisms.

[01:13:59]So just as a small example of similar host association records uh it is seen everywhere even uh I'm sure you are familiar with the mud nest of the um thread wasted wasps and all which is either it will be in the corners of your house outdoors sometimes indoors also on the tile roofing tile or uh this may be sealing uh the holes of the plug points and all there also. It is not always the same uh the baby of the same individual coming out. Some other groups will come out. They may be either klepto means they they would have come there uh to steal the food which is provisioned inside and they develop inside it eating that food or they may directly use the resources of the egg inside and they develop. So there are different ways and it's entirely a very much fascinating field of science and which we know only very less and uh I should say that in my 32 years of research uh this episode was one of the most interesting and uh um timeconsuming as well as a piece of research. See in the photograph you you can see a kind of um several layered structure. People who are familiar to this developmental biology can find a resemblance to this to blastoa morula and those kind of terminologies.

[01:15:41]Uh do you believe if I say that this is in fact a spider egg? We used to study the development or the paracettoids attacking the spider uh eggs and all. So as usual we collected some spider uh egg sacks from the leaves and all and we had kept it for rearing. After a few days accidentally when examining under the microscope we couldn't imagine what we were seeing. The eggs were like uh ditto as seen. This is the photo taken under the microscope. So that was the first report of the entire phenomenon in science. No, because when we uh went to literature support to understand what we are seeing, we could see we couldn't find anything uh in the literature which tells you what we are seeing. So we had to start this research from the scratch.

[01:16:40]Even from the very simple sentence that is the spider special spider laying this kind of structured egg. We know that that cannot happen. But we started our hypothesis or the questions. We made a huge list of possibilities which we uh attended one by one and finally we came to know that these this appearance of the spider egg is because of the paracettoids uh which entered inside and which developed inside and suppose it is eight loed or eight chambered looking it meant that eight paracettoids have developed inside.

[01:17:23]So that entire uh science we published in plus one and uh I'm still excited when I think uh in the steps of research we went through and uh all the five species which came out of these kind of eggs all were new to science. So we we really thoroughly enjoyed doing this particular piece of work. So in short um we were discussing all this in the context of smart agriculture.

[01:17:56]So the point which I wanted to tell you is that smart agriculture or climate resilient agriculture is not just big big trackers or tractors which you use or the drip irrigation which you use or the drone which you use uh or the AI image matching which you use. It is also or the key factor here is working in harmony with nature with the pollinators with the parasettoid with the nutrient recyclers in the soil and the ecosystems that sustain them that is most important.

[01:18:35]So I can I uh whatever I talk will be incomplete if I don't tell about the science which helps you understand these components which we already talked about whether it is termites whether it is bees or whether it is butterflies. There is a science animal taxonomy which tells you which helps you to identify the group. Uh the gentleman in this picture I'm sure you can make out he is none other than Linus father of animal taxonomy.

[01:19:09]Uh there is a saying these days this is a publication which came a few years back but very much valid. We still quote this always that it's not that organisms alone are getting endangered. It's the taxonomists who study them are also now endangered in the sense that they are very less in numbers. People are not coming up to this particular science.

[01:19:35]Maybe because it is time consuming. Uh you have to spend hours sitting in front of the microscope trying to make out what you are seeing. Uh you are in fact breaking down the diversity in front of you.

[01:19:51]So spec as species decline so do the scientists who name them and uh it's a very big challenge not only India the entire globe is facing and is going to face in the future. So naturally we have to resort to other techniques some other ways of in uh increasing the speed in which we come up with animal discoveries. Again I take you back to the first slide where I told 86% of the terrestrial species 91% of the marine species are yet to be discovered to to to the world. We don't know anything about all these. So we need taxonomies and we need some methods where we can do the science in a faster way but equally efficient way also. So then we will be talking about integrative taxonomy which has helped to speed up the pace with which we come up with studying animal groups. And here we are adding not just the morphology of the animal in which uh means uh you are working. You will be adding the molecular data, you will be adding the biology, the ecology part, the behavior part, whatever all aspects will be considered together. And that approach is called uh integrative taxonomy. And the results are uh more uh solid. Uh once you take up this particular approach and metabarcoding I should say it has a huge ecological application like in biodiversity assessment, endangered species monitoring, inverses species detection and even in unknown species identification.

[01:21:46]Um this uh part this is a mo recent u high-tech tool um which but it is of really helpful in reaching conclusions particularly once let us imagine a day when uh we have finished barcoding or we have finished the uh sequencing of almost a majority of our species. Once that time comes then maybe techniques like this metabarcoding and all will give you the identity of the species within seconds within uh within just uh a wink of an eye you will get to know what the species you are talking about.

[01:22:35]But we have to travel a long way to to reach that particular stage. Of course uh we have started uh our journey in that direction.

[01:22:46]So uh uh this barcoding meta barcoding whatever it generates sequences but we need integrative taxonomy kind to transform that biological knowledge into species identities. Only once the species identity is known you get to know what the animal is. And we uh our team had a opportunity to work on a DNA metabarcoding project where we uh tried the technology with our uh egg paracettoids, the uh spider eggs as well as butterfly eggs, moth eggs, bug eggs and all. To our surprise, we got fantastic results. The why I'm telling this is those uh uh biological rea interactions which otherwise cannot be documented uh could be documented with the fine traces of DNA which we could of different organisms as I told you you expect only the baby spider in developing from the spider but it is not the fact several groups are developing from the spider eggs. So uh if you do the metabarcoding of this spider egg, you will get the DNA of all the organisms associated with with that uh scientific piece. So overall it's very interesting science. So to sum up accurate species identification gives you helps you to know the function of the organism in the ecosystem that will help you to understand the ecosystem network.

[01:24:27]Uh once you understand the ecosystem network you can map the species interactions. So all of these are uh uh inter related and uh so uh I think my slides have slipped a little bit.

[01:24:57]Yeah, I had reached what? Sorry for this confusion. Let me go back to where I Yeah.

[01:25:06]So here we reached here uh after discussing the ecological aspects. Now it's time for us to briefly discuss what is happening or or some data around us regarding the biodiversity around us.

[01:25:23]See the from the WWF we get or they publish a living planet report once in every two years. So this um to 2024 report is the most recent one. It says that there has been a 73% decline of wildlife in the past 50 years.

[01:25:43]That is a very much uh alarming information and maybe that's why they themselves made this particular slide in a stunning red color. It's a warning sign.

[01:25:57]Uh, of course not uh there are different aspects how certain groups of animals uh are uh threatened or uh they they are uh simply facing stress in the environment.

[01:26:12]One of the factors are invasive alien phonal species. Invasive alien phonal in or flora whatever it means that these u animals have come uh from uh outside the boundary of our country and uh they have multiplied so much here that they have become a threat to the uh native fa because of the competition for food or maybe they are directly feeding uh or destroying or or consuming the resources of the native fauna. There are examples.

[01:26:49]Um when we discuss about animals around 156 species have been listed by zoological survey of India as invasive alien species.

[01:27:04]And we have some uh fishes also in the water bodies. uh particularly in 1990s food. Some food fishes like the African catfish were imported to introduce as food fishes because they grow very fast.

[01:27:21]They gain uh weight very soon. So it will be very profitable for the aquaculture industry thinking that they were uh many species were imported and released into the aquatic water bodies which later turned to be a disaster.

[01:27:41]uh even the gambusia which were uh released to control the larae of mosquitoes to combat malaria that also finally turned as an ecological disaster. So there are examples and it's very interesting to to know more about them the pathway the story how they came it's just like the Mughal invasion in India and all it's equally interesting if you read how they came how they flourished and how they conquered but here not the land but the ecosystem and now all of us are facing their impact along with this we cannot ignore the climate change the fal species fauna and flora are under immense uh threat pressure I don't know yeah some problem is happening in the slides fine so because of this climate change there has been uh some reports that u uh and it's true also the total num number of Insects is also on the decline. The collapse of the insects in this kind direction you will find quite a good number of literature and see these are warning signs. Uh if uh it is uh showing this kind of uh effect very soon the humanity will also suffer because of the same factors. So these are uh to be considered as indicators and warning signs. So many living organisms are now pushed towards the edge because of several factors.

[01:29:31]Maybe tropical cyclones are increasing in number particularly if islands are concerned. the island biodiversity is in danger and that way uh there are several new new topics worth investigation coming just because uh of the entire change happening and u this particular small mouse which you see in the picture is the officially declared as the first mammal to go extinct due to human induced climate change. So um uh this used to live in great barrier reef Australia some a corner of a island uh and it was a small island of only five acres in area and u you you know islands are most prone to that ocean level increase and decrease and um much of the habitat where it also needs small crevices and all to hide from its natural enemies and all. Maybe uh other islands uh other people from other islands also used to come with their dogs maybe mostly from Papa New Guinea and all um and u for a long time maybe after 2009 and 2014 uh surveys they couldn't find this particular um mouse in that island and um in fact the government had taken the uh the conservation workers had taken enough um permissions from the government to do the captive breeding of this particular mice and by the time they got the permissions and all they could not get even a single pair of this to to multiply and save the species. So it's a sad story but there may be even more examples uh from the uh world around you but uh one more example I have quoted here it's a small insectivorous bird nuthatch we have other species in India of this nuthatches so this was confined to the pine endemic we can say to that term to a pine forest in Bahama islands and uh because of the cyclone which came Dorian Maybe that cyclone in very recent uh it entirely wiped away this population and um it it is uh now considered under the critically endangered category and maybe uh they will wait for some more years and more studies to find if at all any individuals will be present or not. So there are teen examples coming now how species are in danger and if we know the Himalayan picture the species there particularly the insect species and all because of the rising temperatures are they are going upwards and upwards but there is a limit where uh the ecosystem can support them. So this change this is particularly termed escalator effect regarding the mountain species.

[01:32:47]See there should be some solution for everything. A healthy ecosystem itself is the best solution. Too much we manipulate we tamper with the ecosystem.

[01:33:01]And as the title of the talk today goes that e ecological intelligence uh we have to develop ecology still a lot lot more that is why one of the reason which we are facing many of the consequences today. This photo itself is quite exp our own photograph.

[01:33:23]See um this is from a social forestry exercise in in uh Jharkand.

[01:33:30]You can see it is inside the forest.

[01:33:34]It's very welcome. They are planting avenue trees on the roadsides. But for what uh benefit are they doing? Are they fencing it with plastic measures inside the forest? We can very well understand what is going to happen to this plastic.

[01:33:52]It will uh just go into pieces within a few years and add to the debris. Of course, the earlier technology was to use the bamboo fences.

[01:34:05]It won't last long. True. But we have to be in some places uh little bit more ecologically sensitive than always looking for the financial benefits.

[01:34:20]Uh there was a huge initiative in West Bengal last year. Uh almost 3,000 bird nests were distributed to the students.

[01:34:29]But uh this photograph I took from the internet all smiling faces with the plastic feeders, bird feeders. But what will happen uh all the 3,000 I'm sure by this period within one year itself they would have entered into some dust bins.

[01:34:50]Instead we should promote the sparrow nesting other kinds of nesting with naturally uh nature friendly materials and that is the need of the hour. We have to save sparrows. We have to do our campaigns like this but have to be very careful in what we are choosing.

[01:35:12]Of course, the another aspect which we all are aware is about the ecosystem uh restoration which which is badly needed and UN is celebrating this decade as ecosystem restoration decade uh in order to degrade the uh restoration of the degraded ecosystems.

[01:35:32]uh only healthy ecosystems can fight the climate change or enhance food security, water supply, biodiversity all these aspects. So in this direction last year from EICpsi we had brought out four newsletters promoting this theme. Um it is about the in role of invertebrates uh in uh restoring the ecosystems.

[01:35:59]So awareness is the first step. So we are trying our best uh to increase the awareness to different classes of the society. And this is a very recent uh photograph. Um these three photographs are from one of our campaigns uh in uh Kolkata sorry in Hawra West Bengal. I I was surprised to hear that for a long time there is a hunting festival Shikar also uh happening in Hawra and uh related nearby places. Uh during the month of May it is uh um related to Falahharini Kali Puja. Um in the name of that puja the tribals come in good numbers. They kill they undergo massive killing of whatever they come to see.

[01:36:56]Even if it is u um this kind of eggs birds or the monitor lizard or the squirrels or the small turtle tortoise whatever is seen in the human habitation and they are they happily uh uh they happily in the sense this hunters they are too excited uh to come in huge numbers and kill them put them in sacks and take them back maybe uh for some of their byproducts for selling or even for uh their meat whatever. So once we came to know that this kind of savage kind of things are happening even today and that too very near to us we we had a u awareness program arranged in the uh in that v municipality in that village and the blocks and all uh with pamphlets and all uh writeups uh at least to uh spread the awareness against this kind of killing And we have to conserve our fellow living beings.

[01:38:10]Not going into detail the sustainable goals. All this have been developed by different agencies United Nations thinking about how we can make the living world a better place to live. We have the uh Montreal coming Montreal global biodiversity framework that 23 target biodiversity target points are there. Based on that India has developed in national biodiversity strategy action plan. You can freely download it from the website and have a look at it. And we will get to know more about the vision biodiversity 2050 because it is aimed that by 2050 we have to maintain our ecosystem services in a better way sustaining a healthy planet delivering benefits essential for all people. So for all this what I feel is important is ecological literacy. You should understand how the nature works. There is no shortcut out of it in order to prevent many actions which we which we regret. Now just an example I will tell you uh we were doing some surveys in the western guard forest in Kerala that side and we were in the uh even from there we entered Karnataka forest also the Kudrauk iron mines were there. It's the very core of the evergreen forest and u many patches you will see that red soil due to this iron ore mining and all and a belt nearby is totally green from a distance but if you go near it was full of acacia and eucalyptus which is planted right inside the uh evergreen forest of the western gods just to satellite just to satisfy the satellite pictures which will say that it is all a green world and afterwards now I think the government government has realized uh and uh pros are again being spent to approve all these from the forests. So all this will come under a topic called ecological literacy. A scientific understanding of ecosystems, awareness of interconnections in nature and application of ecological thinking in everyday life. Maybe uh or these are the background by which we are uh the u our government has introduced a paid maram where uh thousands of trees are planted so that at least we we continue our next generation will continue the effort to to save earth and also the mission life uh strategies how we should change our life habits little by little at least save water, save air, uh less plastic, all this kind of campaigns are all uh directed towards this ecological intelligence. Thank you very much.

[01:41:28]>> Thank you very much ma'am. Uh there is some questions in a chat box.

[01:41:32]>> Yes. Uh oh, >> can you read out the questions please?

[01:41:37]>> Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am.

[01:41:39]uh with the poll with the population increase and agricultural area decreasing but the population needs to be fed but intensive farming is harmful to pollinators. How a balance has to be achieved?

[01:41:55]See this is a challenging question right from the uh green revolution time the green revolution which happened in the 1970s and all it saved India uh it promoted a hunger-free India sure but uh it was at that time that insecticides and this fertilizers and all became a norm to the agriculture system. So maybe uh there are technologies which is fast yielding varieties where instead of a single crop in a in a whole year multiple crops can be done in the same area and techn uh high yielding seeds also there are uh ways and means to I cannot say that it is to fully overcome but to find a balance to try to find a balance. Of course, more research everything is needed uh in this particular direction but there are ways.

[01:43:04]>> Okay, that is very optimistic.

[01:43:08]>> Yeah, >> it was a really you know exhaustive lecture. Thank you for that Dr. Muana.

[01:43:16]>> Thank you. Uh any other questions?

[01:43:21]>> Yes ma'am. There is one question. Uh how do radiation from communication systems uh affect the insects?

[01:43:28]>> How radiation from communication system?

[01:43:31]>> Yeah, there are studies telling that the bees fail to return to their hives because of the radiations happening. But uh again these are all developing fields and mobile towers. There are some studies telling that they also interfere with the navigation system of the small insects.

[01:43:54]Um we have to because this era this last decade uh have seen many scientific advances.

[01:44:04]So the studies are going on how the living world is accepting all this and how what are the impacts of all this in the living world.

[01:44:17]Okay. Thank you ma'am. And uh last question is uh like you shown the images of uh cathedral mounts.

[01:44:24]>> Yes.

[01:44:25]>> So nowadays ants are showing what uh that mounts are not uh building. So what was the what is the reason?

[01:44:33]>> Ants are not mount builders.

[01:44:36]>> Okay.

[01:44:37]>> Can I get the question please once more?

[01:44:41]>> Yes. What is >> cathedral mounts are not showing nowadays but ants are there or insects are there?

[01:44:49]>> Uh cathedral mounts are there. If you go to the forest systems inside the forest you will find this kind of mounts everywhere in the city because urbanization and all happening. You won't find these structures now anywhere within the vicinity but once you go to the forest fringes and all you find plenty of them and it is built by the subterranean termites >> slide that that there are about 8.7 billion >> yes >> categories in the in the bio >> million million million million >> okay million >> million I think yes >> and then 2.2 two are only named. Then how do we know that they are more? How do we bifocate or how do >> that even see >> that is the thing where many species are