Small Collections Grant
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Collection of rare and elusive milkweeds (Tribe: Ceropegieae, Asclepiadoideae, Apocynaceae) of India.
India
Database, Conserve
Cost (USD):
2000
UH
University of Hyderabad
Objective:
1) To systematically collect the 50 species of Ceropegia and 25 species of Brachystelam from their reported localities in India.
2) To make field visits and record the ecology of the habitat of Brachystelma and Ceropegia in India.
3) To assess the threat status of the species.
4) To make a population assessment of the species.
5) To make the specimens available for consultation at UH herbarium.
Timetable:
The project would take at least two years to complete: Jun 2024 to July 2026.
Ceropegia and Brachystelma flowering is closely associated with the monsoons. In India, there are two monsoons. 1) South West or early monsoon, from May to September and 2) North East or late monsoon, from October to December. Brachystelmas flower during the pre-monsoon before the rains, ensuring seed set before the rains. Field visits will be done throughout the two-year period.
Therefore, with the aim of collecting about 75 species of extremely elusive Ceropegia and Brachystelma, a minimum of two years is required. Since the species flower parallel in different distant localities, there is a chance that on a visit to a site, the other site might be overlooked. Therefore, a period of two years is requested.
Since the collection area is extensive, encompassing the entire country of India, the timeline would be hectic.
Scoring Rubric
Reviewer's name:
Collection Improvement (max. 120 points)
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Facilitating access to the physical collections by digitization (e.g., data entry, setting up database structure with an outline of the platform to be used, purchasing equipment, and imaging specimens) – up to 30 points.
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Enhancing physical collections by improving the conservation status of specimens in the herbarium (e.g., better folders, protecting covers, mounting paper, labeling, etc.) – up to 30 points.
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Curating specimens (e.g., updating families, species identification, identifying types) – up to 20 points.
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Increasing our understanding of the flora or funga by making new herbarium specimens available, such as processing of backlog or collecting and mounting of new specimens from understudied sites – up to 20 points.
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Securing collections by distribution of duplicates (or orphan collections) to other regional or international herbaria or shipping endangered collections to another herbarium – up to 20 points.
This proposal scores:
/120
Methods & Funding (max. 40 points)
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Match between the proposed budget and methods for the aims described – up to 10 points.
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Perceived need, the extent to which the project will benefit from IAPT funding: e.g., due to active floristic work or contribution to poorly collected sites, due to threatened conditions of collections, and for the degree of involvement of others (outreach and education). We give more points for herbaria in low- and middle-income countries – up to 20 points.
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Sharing duplicate specimens with other herbaria – up to 10 points.
This proposal scores:
/40
Broader Impacts (max. 40 points)
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Degree of regional importance of the collection or the taxonomic importance of the targeted collection – up to 10 points.
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The project will yield durable benefits (specimens, digitized metadata, databases, websites) – up to 15 points.
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The project involves outreach/mentoring and broad dissemination – up to 15 points.
This proposal scores:
/40
Year of last successful SCG application:
Has applicant applied for SCG before?:
Plan:
To obtain the above objectives, I plan to conduct field trips to the endemism areas of these plants. The locality and phenology information of the plants will be obtained from publications, and herbarium collections. These plants are present and are found in highly biodiverse areas of India such as the Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, the Himalayas and tropical forests of Northeast India. These regions fall under several states of India. Forest permits would be obtained in advance from local forest departments for protected regions.
Field visits with the help of local experts will be made by train, bus, or car during flowering season.
Specimens would be evaluated for the abundance, but the number of individuals in an area would be surveyed.
The GPS coordinates of the localities will be noted, and the habitat type will be photographed along with the associated flora. Phenlogy information will also be noted down. The morphology of the plants would be characterised by macro photography.
Limited samples will be collected without the destruction of underground tubers in case of rare plants. A limited number of leaves would be collected in ZipLock bags with silica gel for DNA extraction later on.
Herbarium specimens will be prepared in the laboratory at the University of Hyderabad, India.
The herbarium specimens will be stored in the University of Hyderabad (acronym: UH) for posterity. Duplicate specimens will be deposited at the Indian Institute of Science Herbarium (JCB)
Institution:
IH Code:
Country:
Target areas:
Applicant First Name/s:
email:
"Other" target:
Siddharthan Surveswaran
Applicant Last Name/s: