How Nanak used nature in his verses to drive home his point

Down To Earth speaks to musician and singer Rabbi Shergill about the poetry of Sikhism’s founder and its many allusions to facets of …

Five actions Madagascar's president must take to save country's biodiversity

Andry Rajoelina’s term represents the last chance to save some of Madagascar’s incredible natural heritage

Propagate and protect halophytes

It is high time that India’s governments make serious efforts to identify, propagate and protect these plants which establish mangroves, …

Male flowers enhance pollination

Plants normally have only bisexual flowers. Some species, however, also produce male flowers to make the dispersal of pollen more efficient.

Sands of life

Beyond the Thar's austere barrenes, a battle of survival rages - between the region's treasure-trove of floral diversity and marauders like humans,…

A unique tree park for Chennai

With 300 species of trees, the ‘Forest Genetic Resources Tree Park’ will serve as a unique gene pool for Tamil Nadu’s …

Have scientists stumbled upon the brain of a plant?

Scientists have shown how a 'decision making centre' of a plant that assesses environmental conditions and determine when seeds will germinate

Meet thy neighbours

Every existence has its excuse, it is said. Every year taxonomists in India venture into uncharted landscapes and scan every nook and corner to …

Species census

Total number of known species on Earth are rising. A report by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University, US,…

A drop of wood alcohal helps to perk up plants

Plants grow taller and faster if sprayed with a solution of methanol, claims an American farmer

Much-maligned bats need more protection

Scientists insist bats are a muck-maligned bats mammal that in fact plays a crucial role in the propagation of several plant species

Bees before blossoms

A new finding suggests that bees may have been around about 100 million years before flowering plants appeared

More than intoxicating

Yet government policy has forced many people to give up mahua -- their nutritious staple food

The cactus and its uses

Cacti are prickly, and pleasing. Extremely ungainly, they flourish in arid conditions where no plant will survive. Succulent inside, their thick …

Lack of data on gut microbes in India a problem

Studies across the globe have linked intestinal microbes with protection from diseases; India may be sitting on a mine of information

Plant non-grata

Book>> Weeds, in defense of nature’s most unloved plants • by Richard Mabey • Harper Collins • US $25

Catch a tiger by its pug

Accurate tiger census methodology assumes significance in the context of the recent controversy over the declining number of tigers in the Indian …

Looking beyond hype and nostalgia

To most modern Indian writers, the environment means trees, birds and animals -- and human beings, in aesthetic or metaphysical communion with them.

Ask the villager before the researcher

Nigerian pastoralists have been found to be a storehouse of valuable information on the value of plants.

Making a start

Ground realities alone will determine the future of Himalayan biodiversity and the people of the area

Farmer's right

A new draft of the Union for Protection of New Plants Varieties protects the rights of the farmers

Review of 'Trees of Delhi', a book by Pradip Krishen

Book>>Trees of Delhi A Field Guide by Pradip Krishen Penguin Books India>> Dorling Kindersley 2006

One-third of Africa's tropical plant species are on the verge of extinction

A large part of western Africa, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo could lose 40 per cent of their trees, shrubs, herbs and …

The Earth's biodiversity could be much greater than we thought

A widely touted study proposes a total of 8.7 million species, but they could be 10 times more

Mira Behn: A friend of nature

The urge to be close to nature guided Madeleine Slade, who came to be known as Mira Behn, throughout her life