A rare low-altitude Basalt plateau housing 76 species of plants and shrubs from 24 different families discovered in the Western Ghats, can prove to be a repository of information for species interactions. It can help study the effects of climate change on species survival and increase awareness of the conservation needs of rock outcrops and their immense biodiversity value in the global context.
The Western Ghats is one of four global biodiversity hotspots in India, and Agharkar Research Institute (ARI) in Pune has been studying its biodiversity, particularly its rock outcrops, for a decade. These outcrops have seasonal water availability, and limited soil and nutrients, making them ideal laboratories to study the effects of climate change on species survival. Plateaus are thus a valuable source of insight into how species can survive in extreme conditions.
The ARI team led by Dr Mandar Datar recently discovered a rare low-altitude basalt plateau in Manjare village, Thane district. The research paper published recently in SpringerNature journal National Academy of Science Letters has highlighted the importance of the newly discovered low-level basalt plateau located in Manjare Village of Thane district in the Northern Western Ghats, standing 156 m above mean sea level.
The press service of the Ministry of Economic Development has announced that over the past four years, the number of trips by Russian tourists to Uzbekistan has increased more than tenfold - from 37,000 to 403,000 people
The press service of the Ministry of Ecology and Nature Management of the Moscow Region has announced that the first May beetles have begun to wake up in the region
The Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI), with the support of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, the Roscongress Foundation, the International Exhibition-Forum "Russia", the Russian Union of Tourism Industry, the Committee for Tourism Development of the City of Moscow and the B1 Group of Companies, presented the results of a study of the domestic tourism market in Russia at the IV Russian Tourism Forum "Travel!"
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