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Ecology & Environment
Mahesh

18/05/24 05:44 AM IST

Mother of the forests

In News
  • A new study has uncovered the origins of baobabs, the tall and uniquely-shaped deciduous trees which are famously spotted on the island of Madagascar.
Baobabs Trees
  • Baobabs are known for their great heights, with some extending up to 50 metres, and exceptionally long lifespans going upto 2,000 years.
  • In India too, a few baobab trees exist, including one near the Golconda Fort in Andhra Pradesh that is believed to be more than 400 years old.
  • The trees have trunks with large circumferences and thin, spindly branches.
  • In local cultures, the trees are also revered because of the multiple uses their parts have, with the fruits and seeds being edible, the seed oil used for cooking and the bark fibre for clothing.
  • They are also called “upside down” trees because of their tops resembling an uprooted plant turned upside down.
  • Many legends surround the nickname, including an Arab one that says.
  • The devil plucked up the tree and thrust the branches into the soil and left the roots in the air.
  • In any ecosystem, such species provide “essential resources, such as food or shelter, for a guild of animals in return for which the guild of animals provides an essential service, or mobile links, such as pollination or diaspore dispersal.
  • The baobabs play an important biological role in the conservation of ecosystems of which lemurs, sunbirds and hawk moths are important constituents.
Major findings of the study
  • The study noted the threats that the trees face and studied their genetic makeup.
  • It said that three Madagascar species of the baobab trees are threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  • The remaining three are listed under the Least Concern category, meaning they do not face significant threats.
  • According to the IUCN, these include residential and commercial development and livestock farming and ranching, which require the clearing of land.
  • Their declining populations indicate that more rigorous conservation strategies are required to ensure the long-term survival of these culturally and globally important species.
  • For that to happen, a detailed understanding of the genetics of baobabs is urgently needed.
  • An assessment of Adansonia suarezensis and Adansonia grandidieri suggested high levels of recent inbreeding, and given their distinct place in their ecology and low genetic diversity, they were likely to have “reduced resilience to ecological perturbations and habitat fragmentation”.
Source- Indian Express

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