Covid pandemic hit discovery of new species: Scientists

The Covid-19 pandemic has taken a toll on the discovery of new animal and plant species in India, with scientists saying they have not been able to travel to remote and biodiversity-rich areas due to the nationwide lockdown and subsequent travel bans in states besides cut in the research budget.

Fewer discoveries of plant and animal species, some of which were unknown to humans, by scientists from Botanical Survey of India (BSI) and Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have been reported in comparison with years not affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“There has been a drop in discovery of plant species this year due to the pandemic. Because of the pan-India lockdown, restriction on travel imposed by several states, scientists could not travel to remote areas. The budget has also been slashed for which field tours had to be curtailed,” said AA Mao, BSI director.

On an average, the BSI discovers around 350 plant species, ranging from flowering plants to ferns, fungi and algae, every year. However, number has come down to around 250 in 2020-21, a BSI scientist said, adding that around 180 discoveries are new to science.

For new discoveries, scientists depend on the field trips to remote and biodiversity-rich areas of the country such as the Himalayas, Western Ghats and the Nicobar Islands in Bay of Bengal among others. Samples are collected and brought back to the laboratories for analysis and identification.

Every year the ZSI and BSI, both headquartered in Kolkata, come up with annual publications, listing the few hundred animals and plants that are discovered. While some are new to science, others are reported from India for the first time.

“But over the past one-and-ahalf-years, almost all such field surveys have virtually come to a halt. During this time, ZSI scientists had to primarily depend on the samples, which they collected during earlier field trips. Not all samples that are collected can be analysed. They are kept in store. These were analysed this time and we came up with a few hundred new species,” said Dhriti Banerjee, ZSI director.

The ZSI, which discovers around 350 species a year on an average, came up with around 200 new findings this year. Most of them are new to humans, a ZSI official said.