IISER-KIS Field Station

Why a field station in the Shola Sky Islands?

The Sky Islands in the Shola habitats of the Western Ghats are isolated montane ecosystems. Recent research, some from our group at IISER Tirupati, shows several species isolated, and endemic to specific mountains. Such a system of isolated mountains with a set of restricted species forms a great natural laboratory to understand various biological phenomena - how and why do some species live on these mountains? How does climate change impact their lives?

Similar questions are being explored on different mountain systems of the world with a significant amount of field research combined with modern science (e.g. Rocky Mountain Biological field station). Although the Western Ghats are some of the best-studied landscapes in India, we still know very little about the biology of several species. Even some of the common birds here, the Sholakilli had less than 100 sighting records globally (in 2000, before our detailed studies).
One of the fascinating elements of the Shola Sky Islands endemics is that several of the species, though globally endemic, and several are endangered, seem to be fairly common in mild human-use areas - even kitchen gardens and backyards. This provides us with a great opportunity to live here, while exploring the lives of these animals at close proximity - akin to being able to live in a zoo, an aviary, or a laboratory (not exactly!)

Field stations are a critical link to biological research in the wild. Stations like RMBL (linked above) have run since 1928 and have provided immense insights into how the world works, with implications for science, policy. and education (see video). Field stations permit long-term field data collection, and such data can in turn help answer questions like climate change. Scientists from other parts of the world also find this to be true, for examples, see a description from Australia. In India the set of field stations from Indian Institute of Science has led the way. There are more recent stations established by NCBS, and Madras Crocodile Bank (ARRS in Agumbe, and ANET in Andamans), and RAMBLE, a multi-institutional station in the Banni Grasslands.

IISER-KIS Bombay Shola field station provides a unique opportunity to study the Shola species over the long term, examining impacts of climate change and landscape change on biodiversity.
The facility will encourage researchers while also providing outreach and science-engagement opportunities for younger students. This was set up in 2018 through a collaboration with scientists from IISER Tirupati (Robin Vijayan and Nandini Rajamani) and Kodaikanal International School

The entrance to the field station. Photo: Chiti Arvind

Research team after a field session.

The bougainvillea with the Nilgiri Wood Pigeon nest. The tree fell in 2020. Photo: Chiti Arvind

One of the dorm rooms: Photo: Anupama Devi M

Inside the dorm. Photo: Anupama Devi M

Badminton space outside field station. Photo: Chiti Arvind

Sholakilli at our field station

Woods near the field station. Photo: Chiti Arvind

Gaur at our field station entrance

RESEARCH AT THE STATION:

Having several sky island species around the station implies that we get a very deep understanding of the lives of several of the organisms around us. Over the years several rare, endemic birds have nested around us, and some even on the field station walls. All of it permits for fascinating natural history observations, that eventually lead to more refined scientific questions.

ONGOING Projects:

Bird Lab Projects

Lab lead - V. V. Robin (Vijayan)

Avian Malaria Project: The avian malaria project seeks to determine the patterns of prevalence of avian malarial parasites in the endemic and non-endemic bird species across the sky islands of the Western Ghats. We are interested in the evolutionary relationship between the hosts (bird), vectors (dipteran flies) and the parasites among different sky islands, mainly Palani-Annamalai hills and Nilgiri hills. We also aim to understand the impact of rapid landscape change and climate change on the prevalence of avian malaria among the sky island birds and also how species traits influence the degree of parasitemia within individuals. We plan to investigate the distribution of mosquito vectors as well as plasmodium spp. in relation to the extent of landscape change and climate change in these sky islands. This will help us identify the areas of potential conservation action. Link to more details: Avian malaria.

Students, interns trained 2; PhD students 1

Bird Occupancy Project: This project studies the regenerative role of invasive landscapes in mountain ecosystems. We have collected data on the distribution of several threatened birds across the Shola and Planted forests, paired with vegetation data to quantify the spatial and structural aspects of those ecological settings that permit the establishment of native biodiversity, floral and faunal, in these modified landscapes. More details.

Students, interns trained 6; PhD theses 1; Masters theses 2.

Bird Song Complexity - White-bellied Sholakili: This study aims to quantify birdsong complexity and investigate its effect on individual fitness. This involves the colour banding of White-bellied Sholakili individuals followed by the collection of songs from focal individuals. The study also involves mapping out territories and collecting data of identified banded pairs through their breeding cycle. The team has devised a metric to quantify this bird song complexity and looks to apply it on data collected from field observations - more here.

Students, interns trained 2; PhD students 1; Masters students 1; Project Student 1

Dusky-striped Squirrel behaviour: The Dusky-striped Squirrel is a poorly-studied small mammal endemic to the Western Ghats and is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN. In the last three years, we have recorded its presence in more than 30 distinct locations across Palani Hills in various habitats (forests, plantations and agriculture fields). Our study provides the first record of the feeding habits of Dusky-striped Squirrels in the Western Ghats. Dusky-striped squirrels feeding on highly invasive plant species like Acacia mearnsii and Lantana camara were a significant finding. Read more here.

Students, interns trained 1; Project Student 2

Landscape Change in the Shola Sky Islands: This project was conducted using Remote Sensing images to understand how landscapes and land use patterns have changed over the decades in the Shola Sky Islands. The authors of this study found that much of the landscape change is from invasion from timber trees, apart from the expansion of agriculture (in the Palani Hills). This work was conducted while partly based out of IISER-KIS field station. A major contribution of this study has been the outputs provided to the Madras High Court for use in proceedings to restore the Shola landscape across Tamil Nadu. Link to more details: Landscape Mapping.

Students, interns trained 4; PhD theses 1.

Passive Acoustics of Shola Birds: This project uses Autonomous Recording Units (ARU) to examine the avian diversity in the Shola Sky Islands of the Western Ghats. Coincidentally, the Shola forest is a very dense and dark environment which makes visually locating species difficult, and most detections of birds are aural. In recent years, around 60% of the landscape has been modified due to anthropogenic pressure, habitat degradation, and invasive species. We use ARUs to understand the current status of some of the threatened avian species in this landscape. Our current deployments allow us to examine bird presence over several months at a time. More on the study here.

Masters students 1; Project Student 1.

SCIURID LAB Projects

Lab lead - Nandini Rajamani

Impact of the Gaja cyclone on tree falls: Assessment of impacts and patterns of treefall during the cyclone Gaja, which caused extensive damage to the Palani Hills in 2018. Our study finds that exotic Eucalyptus and Acacia trees were more prone to damage than the native trees. The uprooting of large-sized Eucalyptus trees contributed to major economic and ecological loss.

Students, interns trained: 1 Project Student: 2

Nesting behaviour of Indian Giant Squirrel: Data on squirrels nesting in novel habitats like exotic plantations are rare, and are valuable. This project studies the nest sites of Indian giant squirrels in the timber plantations of the Palani Hills. We found most of the squirrel nests in exotic Eucalyptus globulus trees, whereas the dominant tree species in the nesting sites were the highly invasive Acacia mearnsii.

Masters theses: 1

Palm Squirrel acoustics: This study aims to understand the acoustic repertoire of four species of palm squirrels that occur in the Indian subcontinent and study inter- and intra-species variation. The work involves collecting focal recordings of all species from different locations of the Indian subcontinent including Kodaikanal along with the collection of behavioral meta-data associated with the individual being recorded. The recordings are then annotated using Raven Pro software and the resulting acoustic features are used to study the inter and intra-species variations in squirrel calls. Using dimensionality reduction and classification tools and rigorous statistical analyses, the team has worked on identifying acoustic characteristics that make each population unique.

Students, interns trained 5; Masters theses 1; Volunteers 30.

Spatial segregation of diurnal squirrels: Squirrels are responding rapidly to compositional and structural habitat changes in the Palani Hills. While some species of squirrels occur in human-modified habitats, others appear to occur predominantly in forests with little to no human presence. This study is examining the occupancy and abundance of different species of palm squirrels and giant squirrels across the landscape. The team has also quantified the habitat characteristics to see how well each species uses different habitat types.

Students, interns trained 1; Project Student 1.

NATURAL HISTORY PROJECTS:

Biodiversity of KIS Clavarack Campus: This project comprises an ongoing collection of data compiled by all the visiting students at Clavarack in KIS. A few key covered areas are: a) Checklist of birds from Bombay Shola/ Clavarack campus. b) Documentation of herpetofauna (frogs and snakes from campus). c) Documentation of small mammals (squirrel, leopard cat etc also via camera traps). d) Other fauna including arthropods, fungus, flatworms etc. Photos

Nesting behaviour of the White-bellied Sholakili: This project currently focuses on a colour-banded pair of Sholakili nesting close to Clavarack and monitored using camera traps. The study aims to gather first-hand information on this species which has previously not been recorded. We are collating data on nesting behaviour pre-and during incubation as well as documenting the parental provisioning behaviour after hatching. This project aims to give a glimpse into the breeding activity and add to the life history observations of this species. We hope to expand these observations to include more pairs over the years.

Student interns trained 3.

Bird Calling and Cicada activity in Bombay Shola: The cicadas are insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs), found all around the world in temperate to tropical climates. Most cicadas are cryptic. They produce exceptionally loud songs mostly during the hot hours of summer. Cicadas are thought to be the loudest insects in the world. Often these loud vocalizations mask the bird calling activity in the Cicada habitats. Here we aim to understand how Cicada vocalizations affect bird calling activity in the Shola Sky Islands of the Western ghats. We have deployed two autonomous recorder units in various forests for a full year July 2018-June 2019, which is being analysed to spot patterns.

Student interns trained: 3

Capacity building at the field station

As part of our commitment to use the facility to train the next generation of ecologists, we have started an internship program. Late stage school students and early undergraduate students are the target audience.
We select students for the 10-week internship after interviewing several applicants for ecological research motivations. All the students are initially exposed to three components of research - behaviour, acoustics, GIS and Remote Sensing, each for a week. During the first few weeks, students are exposed to one theme each week, including theory, research papers discussions, and learning methods of field data collection on the same themes. After three weeks, students select one stream of research to collect detailed field data through a short project. At the end of the internship students conducted analyses of the data they collect and make short presentations. Many intern projects so far have provided novel insights into the natural history of several bird species and can possibly segue into larger projects.
The field station can support up to 20 students at a time.

We have also had six school students intern with us for online research projects in 2021.

Undergraduate student interns - batch of 2022 with mentors and support staff at the field station

Future Directions:

In the future, we see the IISER-KIS field station as a base to house research that provides key insights into aspects like climate change and related biotic change. We hope to understand the behaviour and habitat requirements of some endangered taxa. Some of this research, we hope, will influence policy - on the restoration of Shola, and the conservation of the landscape. We also hope to host a number of undergraduate students from different parts of India, offering them field internships, thus building capacity in conducting high-quality field research. Research and education will thus go hand-in-hand, while we will also invite researchers from other institutes to conduct research while based here.