::BIOSPEC - Project Background & Approach

Species Database and Biodiversity Characterization at Landscape level.

Customisation of species database for Bioprospecting and Molecular taxonomy programme.

Project Approach:

The query shell has been created using Active Server Pages as a front end interactive tool and embodied as a relational database has been created in Oracle as a back end tool. The database is associated with different tables and within tables different fields. Different query operations would be provided to the user in order to query with respect to species name, taxon information etc depending upon the type of tables and fields.

Project Background:

The Earth's genes, species and ecosystem are the product of 3000 million years of evolution and are the basis for survival of our own species - Biological Diversity encompasses all of plants, animals and microorganisms and the ecosystem of which they are a part. India with 2.4% of the world's area has 8% of the world's total biodiversity with a species count of 0.126 million is one of the 12 mega biodiversity outlets of the world. It has 2 of the 18 identified hot spots, in Western Ghats and Eastern Himalayas and is one of the 12 centres of origin of cultivated plants. India is a signatory of the International Convention of Biological Diversity and as such is committed to undertake identification and monitoring of the components of biological diversity important for their conservation and sustainable utilization. The intrinsic potential of biodiversity as key resource for evolving new kinds of food, cosmetics, drugs, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals of agro-industrial importance has been increasingly realized and Bioprospecting is emerging as one of the most promising techniques. Keeping this in perspective, bioprospecting of useful genes and biomolecules of active principles and inventorization of endangered species was identified as a high priority area for support during the 9th plan and a need for an end-to-end approach was felt for conservation of National Bioresources.

A multi-institutional collaborative programme on Bioprospecting of Biological Wealth using Biotechnological Tools was initiated in October 1997 by the Department of Biotechnology. The study is concentrated mainly on the two hot-spot regions - North Eastern Himalayas and South-Western Ghats and in addition the Lahaul and Spiti region of the Western Himalayas. There are 9 major sub- programmes involving 13 institutes. Extensive studies have been suggested to address issues of identifying biomolecules, gene markers, understanding generic and species variability, developing habitat relationship of economically important plant resources, their habitat characterization and landscape characters so as to focus on comprehensive biodiversity conservation.

Under this a programme on "Biodiversity characterization at landscape level" has been jointly supported and implemented by the Department of Biotechnology and Department of Space. The satellite remote sensing, with its varied sensor systems, allows assessment and monitoring of vegetation cover and its attributes. The Geographic Information System allows building of comprehensive database on physical, biological and environmental parameters, which govern the spatial distribution of biodiversity. Their landscape ecology unravels the impacts of human intervention, spatial pattern and spatial organization of the habitats. The unique attempt in the DBT-DOS project, allows combining field lab data, ancillary data and information derived from satellite remote sensing for defining conservation strategies and prioritizing sites for bioprospecting. Integrating spatial data with vegetation cover type, disturbance regimes and biological richness with taxonomical & genetic information, and creating a comprehensive plant species database linked with the landscape level information for facilitating conservationists and biotechnologists are the main thrusts.

Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) data is being used for this important task under this project. Besides mapping of vegetation and land use, impacts of habitats are being studied under landscape ecological principles. Forest fragmentation and human induced disturbances are being mapped. The vegetation cover in different disturbance regimes is being sampled at ground, using stratified random sampling approach to assess the diversity in plant species, their economic value, endemism and ecological status. The above parameters are being processed and modeled employing Geographic Information System (GIS), using a customized software package called 'Bio-CAP' developed specifically for the purpose at Department of Space. This database has been integrated with species database, classified as per conservation values by Botanical Survey of India. The spatial information like, vegetation cover and land use, disturbance regimes, and fragmentation, biological richness along with non-spatial information on species distribution, etc., is being developed as Biodiversity Information System (BIS).

Department of Biotechnology proposes to use this information for bioprospecting of biomolecules available in the different plant species of different habitats across varying ecological zones. Integrated gene marketing techniques are planned for flagging location-species-environmental complexes. Under this project, specific efforts are made to map known medicinal plant species formations occurring in gregarious and almost in pure monolithic colonies, specially in higher reaches of the Himalayas, some of these species are Taxus walliachiana, Rhododendrom, Hippophae and Leuntopodium etc.

This project undertaken by the Department of Space is being implemented by Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun at the lead, through an inter-institutional network involving institutions within Department of Space and some leading institutions like Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun; G.B.Pant Inst. For Himalayan Environment & Development, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora; French Institute, Pondicherry; North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong; respective State Forest Departments and many Universities and individuals.

Some of the important accomplishments of the Project are :

Establishment of Excellent Network (Interest Groups) to prepare Biodiversity Information System which needs to be further enlarged.
Identification of Biodiversity Gap Areas which will enable decision making for bioprospecting.
Identification of Biologically Rich Fragmented Sites - such sites require special attention for their conservation and regeneration. Detailed community level definition and mapping of such sites are to be carried out. This will be greatly facilitated from future IRS satellites : (i) IRS-P6 (Resourcesat), that will provide multispectral data at 5.8 m. resolution, and (ii) IRS-P5 (Cartosat) that will provide better locational accuracy through its 2.5 m. resolution PAN data.
Evolution of Biodiversity Information System using the present framework involving developing protocols for data storage dissemination and updation.
It is hoped that the outputs of the project will provide valuable database for planning biodiversity conservation efforts in these eco-regions. The species distribution and occurrence maps will be of use in identifying the 'species distribution gap areas'; it will also help in identifying some 'biodiversity rich pockets' all together leading to marking of these location-species-environment complexes for sustainable bioprospecting.

The maps are now ready for the three regions - Western Ghats, North East and Western Himalayas. Studies are also continuing for the Andaman and Nicobar Island region. Under the bioprospecting and molecular taxonomy programme, number of plant species which are environmentally, medicinally and economically important are being studied and a good amount of information is being collected. There is a need to collate this information such that accessible, reliable and accurate data with regard to the plant species is easily and readily available. A database on the information related to bioprospecting and molecular taxonomy is being developed. The unique feature of this database would be information on the molecular marker, DNA profiling, genetic indexing and gene and biomolecule prospecting.

Department of Space has also evolved a species database query shell which integrates the data available with BSI for the plant species enlisted in 'Red Data Book' with the spatial/ geographic location. The database created by the Department of Space will also incorporate the information generated under the Bioprospecting and Molecular Taxonomy programme. This would provide integrated, comprehensive information encompassing morphological, taxonomical, spatial and genetic details for the plant species being studied.

The non-spatial database documenting the species being studied under the bioprospecting / molecular taxonomy programme aims to provide a systematic guide to the information available in respect of the morphological and genetic characteristics of the plant species being studied. This would constructively maximize the use of time and resources.

A Query shell has been designed by DOS. The 'Species database query shell' depicts geographic location of species in the country, thus equips the conservationists or researchers with a clue to narrow down their search for a particular or group of species. One of the potential applications of the 'Species database query shell' could be to extrapolate the probable locations of particular species once their habitat requirements and locational details are known in detail.

Species database query shell facilitates simple & efficient retrieval and query of non-spatial data (plant species) with respect to spatial distribution (Geographic location) in many different 'flavors' as demanded by the user. It also provides facilities such as building larger databases based on the basic database. Reproduction and updating can be done as per the changing need. The ability of the database programs to respond swiftly to so called queries, helps the user in retrieving the piece of information in which he or she is interested. It certainly has an edge over the manual system in which the user needing information has to refer to many voluminous pieces of printed material, which is time-bound and tiring. The 'database query' shell enables to satisfy user needs through the mere clicking of a button.