16. Notes on the Ecology of the Nilgiri and Pulney 



Highland Plateaus 



Madras 



»/ 



The science of Ecology as compared with other branches of 

 Botanv is so young that it is hardly surprising that little has so 

 far been done on the Ecology of Indian areas. 



In this paper an attempt is made to indicate some points 

 of Ecological interest in the Flora of the Nilgiri and Pulney 



^^% I **^ 4* rf~X **^ m ^ft **^* 



plateaus. 



K MM If-* I 11** 



There are two facts of special importance, which appear to 

 the writer to render study of these areas of some interest m 

 relation to Ecological problems ; one is their comparative 

 isolation the other is the uniformity of certain factors which 

 are often of considerable importance. The narrowing of prob- 

 lems is almost always of the greatest value m * e "^^- ff . 



The two plateaus stand mostly ^^ «^ h a ^^? ^ 

 though one or two peaks run up to 8,000 ft. The underljmg 



rock is much the same throughout, an ^ dec ^^™?^e 

 morphic rock, charnochite, and the jjotajl - » •«££ 



very similar all over. We nave iiuu w --- u-innWp* and 

 calciphobous species, nor to distinguish YnXSere^ceTh 

 xerophytes. This, however, does not exclude localdiff eHmces 

 the U; which may be light «d £*, o^^ornch m 

 humus, or in swamps deficient in oxygen. sutrolv of 



every variation in tfiat -important >«^>aJ 

 water to the roots— a factor varied still tuitner o> , 



water to the roots—a tactor * "^T, ith the c00 i sha de of 

 hot sun on the open downs, as contrast rtwiw diffefences in 

 the moist wooded hollows. We have also grea 



light, a factor which seems to * *«"^£ b ^M gr°ow in 

 first, importance in determining union specie 



any particular habitat, sTjecies which belong to 



1 do not propose to numerate the specie * 



this or that particular type oi sigatiom ^long properlj 

 as such lists are in the studv of Ecoio^ ■ particularly 



to the paper which is to be read at 1 isur ^> of fe & Section, 

 interested, rathe, than to a paper £t a^aeet g ^ ^ 

 It is proposed only to draw attention ro 

 points in distribution and captation. t tion8 . where the 

 Taking first species of the anesi throU gh, we find 



•soil is very thin, the «^^^wl and the 



almost always the shrub, <> 9 ^ K /* VJ> j> ent %. while Anaphalis 

 undershrub.Anisochilus dysophylloides, Benth, 



