What is Humboldt’s Enigma and What Does It Mean For India?

Context: 

This article is based on the news “What is Humboldt’s enigma and what does it mean for India?” which was published in the Hindu. Explorers and naturalists have been curious about the biodiversity of different regions.

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About Humboldt’s Enigma

• Proposed by: The concept of Humboldt’s Enigma was proposed by Alexander von Humboldt which explores the relationship between temperature, altitude, humidity, and biodiversity.
• Varying Biodiversity: The enigma or puzzle arises from the fact that mountains, even though located beyond the tropics, demonstrate considerable biodiversity.
• Illustration of Humboldt’s Enigma in India:
• • The tropical areas, south of the Tropic of Cancer passing through Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. These areas are supposed to be the most diverse in the country. 
  • However, the eastern Himalayas are much more diverse. Some scientists have even suggested this part of the mountain range is the second-most diverse area of perching birds in the world. For river birds, the eastern Himalaya may be the most diverse.

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Drivers of Mountain Diversity

• Main Drivers: The history of the earth, geology, its geography, and the climate. 
  • Different biodiversity at different locations is the result of changes in how these factors have intermingled over time and space.
• Process of Biodiversity Generation: Mountains host two processes that generate biodiversity:
  • Cradles: The geological processes like uplifts, result in new habitats where new species arise, so the habitats are ‘cradles’. 
  • Museums: Species on some climatologically stable mountains persist there for a long time, so these spots are ‘museums’ that accumulate many such species over time.
    • Sometimes, the same mountain can be both cradle for some species and museum for others, depending on the species’ ecologies.
  • Examples: Coastal tropical sky islands like the Shola Sky Islands in the Western Ghats. Old lineages have persisted on the mountain tops as climates and habitats fluctuated around them in the lower elevations. 

Unresolved Queries

• Complexity of Biodiversity: Multiple factors drive diversification and Humboldt’s enigma in different regions, leading to over a hundred different hypotheses.
• Data Limitation: There is a lack of fine data on species occurrence. 

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Way Forward

• Need for more Research and Modern Tools: India needs more research and modern tools like genetics to understand a region’s true biodiversity.
• National Programmes: The National Mission on Himalayan Studies, the National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem, and the National Mission on Biodiversity and Human Wellbeing should be implemented and monitored at their full potential. 

Conclusion

Humboldt’s enigma is perhaps one of many puzzles of mountain biodiversity, offering opportunities for study and insights into global climate and landscape change issues. To gain more, the national programmes need to be strengthened, bolstered by the will to support basic research on diversity.

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