 Acknowledgement

I sincerely express my deep gratitude to my EVS

professor Ms. Nirmalai Bordoloi for providing me
her able guidance and support in completing my
project.

I have taken a lot of reference from the teachings

that she has provided in the class and thus, her help
has been indispensable for the conclusion of my
report.
EVS REPORT BY HARDIK WADHWA

AIM AND OBJECTIVE OF THE EXPERIMENT –

- To study the Tadoba national park in detail and analyze certain components of the forest
ecosystem such as the
* Climate and temperature
* Flora and fauna
* Food chain
* Food web
* Energy Level hierarchy
*Threats faced by Tadoba
*Recommendations to curb the dangers.
Also analyzing the dangers that haunt the national park and providing necessary solutions to
protect the ecosystem.

 History and geography of tadoba national park

- In Chandrapur District, Maharashtra, India, there is a tiger reserve called Tadoba-Andhari

Tiger Reserve. Tadoba National Park and Andhari Wildlife Sanctuary are part of it. The
earliest national park in Maharashtra was founded in 1955 and is called Tadoba Andhari
Tiger Reserve. It is one among the 28 Project Tiger Reserves in India. The Tadoba and
Andhari range's two forested rectangles make up the National Park's 623 km2 of land.

Few observations
Location - The national Park is situated in the chandrapur district of Maharashtra.It is one of
the oldest and biggest national parks in India. A total of 32.51 square kilometers (12.55
square miles) of protected forest and 577.96 square kilometers (223.15 square miles) of
reserved forest make up the reserve.
 Biotic components
 Flora

- One of the most common species of the trees are teak and bamboo in the forest
ecosystem.
- However , other sorts of trees include Bija , hald , salai , semal , tendu, beheda , hirda ,
karaya gum , mahua madhuca and lannea coromandelica are also present

- Axle wood , scientifically known as anogeissus latifolia is also grown here

- Around the lake, the riparian ecosystem is home to black plum trees. Huge Arjun trees
may be spotted at Panchadhara's waterhole.
- The climber kach kauli, also known as velvet bean, is also found here. It is used to cure
Parkinson’s disease.
- The leaves of a species called bheria are used as an insect repellent.

- Axle wood - Black Plum - Arjuna

- Velvet bean - Bheria

 Fauna

- There are about 115 plus tigers in Tadoba, 88 in the forest and 27 immediately outside
the reserve
- Other mammals found in Tadoba Tiger Reserve include Indian leopards, sloth bears,
gaur, nilgai, dhole, small Indian civet, jungle cats, sambar, barking deer, chital,
chausingha, and honey badger in addition to the keystone species, the Bengal tiger.

- Indian monitors and the endangered Indian python are also commonly found in Tadoba.
Tadoba is also home to terrapins, Indian star tortoises, Indian cobras, and Russell's vipers.
There are several different water birds and raptors in the lake. Three endangered bird
species are among the 195 bird species that have been identified. Some of the raptors
seen in the park are the crested serpent eagle, the changeable hawk-eagle, and the grey-
headed fish eagle

- Orange-headed thrush, Indian pitta, crested treeswift, stone curlew, crested honey
buzzard, paradise flycatcher, bronze-winged jacana, lesser golden backed woodpecker,
various warblers, black-naped blue flycatcher, and Indian peafowl are among the other
bird species present in the reserve. 74 different species of butterflies, including pansies,
monarchs, mormons, and swordtails, have been identified. The giant eggfly and the
endangered danaid egg-fly are insect species. Other insects found in the reserve include
praying mantises, stick insects, jewel beetles, and dragonflies. During and immediately
after the monsoon, it's common to witness the recognisable spider, the huge wood spider,
and red wood spiders. A few common hunting spiders include wolf spiders, crab spiders,
and lynx spiders. In May 2018, a black panther was observed. It is an unusual sight,
according to the officials
Some of the common elements of fauna in Tadoba

-Tiger - Leopard
 -Chausingha - Honey Badger

-Serpent eagle - Crested treeeswift

 Abiotic components of Tadoba national park

- Climate and temperature

Tadoba's summers used to be brutally hot, with highs of up to 47 °C ( summers are a
perfect time to sight mammals like sloth bear, Indian leopard, gaur etc)

Beginning in June, the region experiences considerable rainfall during the monsoon season
(approx 1275mm) (The coming of the monsoon in June is a welcome reprieve after the
sweltering summers, when temperatures can reach up to 48 degrees. Even when it is very humid,
the rains nevertheless manage to revitalise the jungle. Between July and September, only the
buffer zone of the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve is open to visitors because the rains render the
terrain impassable. It is pure delight to visit Tadoba National Park during the monsoon season

- Precipitation
The national park is usually dry and mostly covered with teak and bamboo trees. The average
rainfall in the park use to be 1280 mm.

- Soil
The soil is generally slightly acidic which is well drained
  Food chain in tadoba national park

A food chain basically explains the consumption of one organism by the other in a ecosystem. It
could also be understood as a succession of living organisms that transfer nutrients and energy
from one organism to the next. A food chain basically starts off with a producer being consumed
by an organism and ends up with the decomposer organism.

The food chain in tadoba national park goes as follows-

 Trophic levels
The organisms on a food chain are grouped into categories that are called trophic levels. There
used to be three trophic levels, namely, first trophic level (producers are included in this) ,
second , third , fourth trophic level (consumers are included in this) and decomposers.
Generally autotrophs like plants including velvet beans, black pulms, palas, bamboo etc And
bacteria like phytoplankton (tiny organisms living in the sea), which are actually found in tadoba
national park, produce their food using the sunlight and they are included in the first trophic
level. These autotrophs are consumed by other organisms like rabbits, deer, chausinghas, frogs
and insects like caterpillar , cockroaches , butterfly , black beetles etc.
Further moving on towards the hierarchy, these organisms are consumed by other
carnivorous/omnivorous organisms like lions, tigers, beers, snakes etc.
However, there may be more level of consumers before the food chain reaches to the top level
predator. Top predators are also called as apex predators and they consume other consumers. For
example, snakes are also consumed by tigers.
In the below image , plants are being eaten by certain insects , which in turn are eaten by frog ,
which again gets consumed by a snake , and finally the snake ends up being a prey to the eagle.
  Food web in tadoba national park
The animals of Tadoba National Park are connected in a complex web of interdependence known
as the food web, whereby apex predators like marsh crocodiles, tigers, leopards, and eagles are
somehow connected to a common prey and the common prey are dependent on herbs or even
more small animals like frogs, which eat insects and frogs are eaten by snakes, and the eagle also
eats rats. This becomes a complex mechanism which actually makes tadoba’s ecosystem a very
exciting one to research upon.

 Energy level hierarchy in tadoba

- The energy level hierarchy in tadoba starts from the sunlight energy being utilized by the
autotrophs to make food. The plants in turn are consumed by primary consumers such as
insects, butterflies, deer etc. further, the secondary consumers like honey badgers, dholes
etc. consume the primary consumers. Finally the energy flows to the tertiary consumers
such as tigers who are the final predators.
  Threats that continuously bother Tadoba’s ecosystem

In and around the reserve, there are 41,644 people residing in 59 settlements, five of which are
located in the core zone. These core zone villages continue to engage in farming there.
Rehabilitation is still in progress. Following the rehabilitation of the navegaon settlement,
grassland is anticipated on the site where it had stood. The core and buffer zone include 41,820
livestock. While cattle grazing is prohibited in the core zone, villagers' livestock are permitted to
graze under controlled conditions in the buffer zone. However, occasionally livestock from
nearby communities make their way into the area and harm the ecology even more.

Forest fires typically burn between 2% and 5% of the land throughout the dry season.

In surrounding communities, domestic livestock are frequently killed by tigers and leopards. This
has a negative effect on the locals' financial situation and gives them a bad impression of the
reserve administration. At least four humans and 30 to 50 cattle were killed by leopards, tigers,
or sloth bears in 2013. The northern and western boundaries of the tiger reserve are formed by
hills that are heavily wooded. The hills' elevation ranges from 200 meters (660 feet) to 350
meters (1,150 feet).

 Suggestions for protecting the ecosystem

- Cattles from nearby villages should be restricted from freely grazing into the grounds so
that it doesn’t harm the ecology.
- Proper measures should be taken to prevent forest fires. Some of them could be

1- Undertaking technical checkups regularly.

2- Have properly functioning spark arrestors
3- Avoiding parking of vehicles near dry grass
4- Having proper facilities of fire preventers and extinguishers
5- Having dedicated water or sand reservoirs for emergency purposes

- It should be ensured that the wild animals or top predators do not kill nearby domestic
animals or livestock’s so that the impression of the people regarding the administration of
tadoba doesn’t fade away and the tourism doesn’t get affected.