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There is everything in a name

There is no doubt that taxonomy has a unique status in biology as it is both the queen and servant of biology; queen since it is the ultimate and servant since it provides the basic information on any organism to scientists working in other areas of biology1. People have slowly started realizing that taxonomy is no more an esoteric art, but an exoteric discipline. The most important functions of taxonomy are to identify an organism and assign a name to it. As mentioned by Ganeshaiah2, the Chinese proverb, The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names duly emphasizes the importance of correct names to organisms, irrespective of whether the organisms are christened on the basis of their characters, place of occurrence or after somebody. What is important while naming a species is whether the name has been assigned after faithfully following the guidelines laid down by ICBN or ICZN3. A botanical name, consequently should have in sequence a generic name, a specific epithet and the name of the author (in full or in abbreviated form) who gave that name to that plant. There should be no punctuation mark between the specific epithet and authority. A name without the authority is incomplete. What bothers us the most is the increasing tendency of biologists working in areas other than taxonomy (sometimes in taxonomy too) to give scant respect to properly reproducing the correct names of taxa on which they had worked, while publishing their results in journals. This was substantiated when we had critically gone through the ten volumes of Current Science from 1990 to 1999. We had screened 217 articles where 1601 vascular plants have been studied in some aspect or the other. Only in about 60 articles were the names of plants correctly reproduced. The most common mistake was mentioning of the botanical name without the accompanying authors name. This has been done in 514 of the total 1601 names. Sixty-one names are accompanied by wrong author citations. There were mistakes in the spelling of names of plants or authority in 49 taxa. Mistakes pertaining to punctuation marks, abbreviations, absence/misuse of parentheses, etc. were found in 33 names. Invalid names were also employed. For certain taxa, wrong family names have been provided. In some articles the same plants have been cited differently in different places. Nomenclatural mistakes were present in the titles of the papers themselves in 29 instances, which accounts for 13.4% of the total 217 articles mentioned earlier. There were also abbreviations of the generic names to their first letters when the taxa were mentioned for the first time in the text and in one or two instances in the title of the article itself. To completely avoid the recurrence of such mistakes in a journal like Current Science, we suggest the following steps. (1) Authors of manuscripts should be clearly instructed to mention the correct names of plants/animals/microbes as per the respective codes when they report their studies. This should be mentioned in the Instructions to Authors. The Editorial Board should also seek the assistance of professional taxonomists in case of doubt regarding the validity of names used and especially when the referees of the paper are not competent taxonomists. (2) The generic and specific names should be italicized in the manuscript; appropriate instructions should be given to the authors regarding this. (3) The manuscript must include reference to the voucher specimens of the plants/microbes examined. Such specimens should be deposited in a recognized institution/herbarium which permits the verification of their identity if needed. This is followed in a number of journals like Planta Medica, Phytochemistry, Pharmaceutical Biology, etc.
1. Sivarajan, V. V., Introduction to Principles of Plant Taxonomy , Oxford and IBH Publishing Co, New Delhi, 1984, p. 4. 2. Ganeshaiah, K. N., Curr. Sci ., 1998, 75 , 412. 3. Janardhanam, M. K., Curr. Sci ., 1998, 75 , 11031104.

K. V. KRISHNAMURTHY* L. GNANASEKARAN V. I RUDAYARAJ

School of Life Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirapalli 620 024, India

*For correspondence. e-mail: kvk@bdu.ernet.in

Science, education and religion

The editorial Creationism, Astrology and Science in Current Science (2000, 79 , 1139), presents a mindset of Indian scientists, who follow traditions such as fixing of auspicious times consulting a panchangam and using horoscopes for marriage alliances, while calling them private superstitions. The basis of these traditions is not understood, as those do not find a place in education. Basing on one persons view that Astrology can never be a Science, the editorial calls for a crusade of Science against Astrology. A statement such as when events appear to overtake us and are swept along by circumstances beyond our control, we attribute our misfortunes to the planets results from ignorance. A prayer from Upanishads is: Lead us from unreality to reality, from darkness (ignorance) to light (knowledge) and from death to immortality (Asatoma Sadgamaya, Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya, Mrityorma Amritam Gamaya). The quest for truth and right knowledge has been the goal of religion. Sciences such as Nyaya Sastra and Tarka Sastra, aim to combine perceptual knowledge with inference, developed from debates between schools of Vedanta, Buddhism and Jainism. The conflict in the West was between the beliefs of the Christian
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Church and the results of scientific research. Galileo became convinced of the Copernican theory that the planets revolve about the sun and with the telescope he had built, made observations conflicting with the Bible. Galileo was prosecuted for heresy and spent his last years under house arrest. Similarly, Darwins theory appeared alien to the Church. With regard to Astrology (Jyotisha) and Education, Jyotisha is one of the six Vedangas : Siksha (Phonetics), Vyakarana (Grammar), Chandas (Metrics), Nirukta (Etymology), Jyotisha (Astronomy, including relevant Mathematics plus Predictive Astrology) and Kalpa (Rituals). For an introduction to the works of Aryabhata, Bhaskara, Varahamihira, the basics of time and the limbs of Panchanga (thithi, nakshatra, yoga, karana and vara) see ref. 1. The Indian conception of TIME is sophisticated. On the macrocosmic scale a Mahayuga is of 43,20,000 years. On the microcosmic scale, a unit of time, Truti (33750th part of a second), has been mentioned. Indian literature, such as the Mahabharata , abounds in astronomical data. Studies in Ancient Indian History need this knowledge. There is a considerable knowledge base (human expertise, textbooks, journals and databases) on Astrology. Even subjects such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), aiming to build smart machines for tasks requiring human intelligence have been criticized. There are always believers, nonbelievers and social critics. A liberal education enables one to see the world with all its miseries, mysteries and marvels and lets him form his own mental model of the world. Acharya Sankara said Viswam darpana drisyamana nagari tulyam nijantargatam in hymn to Dakshinamurti. (A seeker questions his guru: We speak of things as existing and appearing? Are they true, real and what is their relationship to the ultimate truth? The seeker is advised to see the universe existing within Him, like a city seen to exist within a mirror.)2 Scientists should avoid taking holier than thou attitudes while talking of education. Science has produced nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Ethics has only been of recent concern to Indian scientists3,4. In summary, the editorial summarizes a non-existent threat to Science. (The cartoon is in poor taste.) Subjects such as Astrology have their place in the educational system. Science has enough credibility to stand on its own strengths. UGC is only fulfilling its obligation to the society at large in starting courses on Astrology. This will not have any effect on Science education in the country. The credibility and strengths of Science education will depend on the honesty and commitment of the scientists themselves.
1. Balachandra Rao, S., Indian Astronomy An Introduction , University Press, Hyderabad, 2000. 2. Sri Sankaracharya, Dakshinamurti Stotra , Samata Books, Madras, 1978. 3. Reddy, Amulya, K. N., Curr. Sci ., 1999, 77 , 1134. 4. Valluri, S. R., Curr. Sci ., 1999, 76 , 1181.

V. V. S. S ARMA Department of Computer Science and Automation, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India
e-mail: vvs@csa.iisc.ernet.in

IF: A case of richness in poverty

It is gratifying to note that Current Science is rated top among the journals in India with an Impact Factor (IF) of 0.567. Undoubtedly, Current Science has become one of the most popular science journals in the country and I congratulate the effort that has gone on to make it so successful. However for a young reader like me, it is also disheartening to note that the IF of Current Science coincides with the decimal digits of the IF of the topmost journal of the world (Annual Review of Immunology, IF = 47.564). Assuming the rate of increase in IF over the last decade, Current Science will reach the IF of the topmost journal in just about 2856 AD! I wish Current Science well, and hope it reaches and inspires many more of our students. G. RAVIKANTH Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK Campus, Bangalore 560 065, India
e-mail: ra_kant@usa.net

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Mitigating nitrous oxide emission in tropical agriculture: Myths and realities

A great deal of evidence has accumulated showing that agricultural activities, especially application of fertilizers have resulted in an increased emission of N2O to the atmosphere1. The reasons why we should care about this are that N2O is one of the so-called greenhouse gases, constituting 6% of anthropogenic greenhouse effect1, and also contributing to the depletion of stratospheric ozone. Fertilized agriculture is the single most important anthropogenic source of N2O, accounting for over 70% of the sources2. From 1980 to 1994, global agricultural N2O emissions increased by ca. 15% (ref. 3). Agricultural lands in tropical countries are potentially large emitters of N2O, due to favourable moisture, temperature and high rates of N fertilizer use4. It is estimated that the rate of N2O emission in cultivated soils of the tropics is double the rate of temperate soils5. There is an urgent need therefore to find out feasible methods for mitigating N2O emission in the tropics. Strategies to mitigate N2O emission from agricultural soils of the world have been identified6,7. They include (1) matching N supply with crop demand; (2) optimizing irrigation, drainage and tillage; (3) use of advanced fertilization techniques and 4) tightening N flow cycles. Estimated decrease in the global emissions from agricultural soils by the proposed strategies is ca. 20% (ref. 7). It is hoped that if implemented, they are more likely to increase crop productivity. Strategies consist of a number of specific methods to be applied under field conditions. They are (1) optimizing spilt application schemes of fertilizers to match crop demands; (2) minimizing fallow periods to limit mineral N accumulation in the soil; (3) minimizing drying and rewetting cycles in agricultural soils; and (4) tilling before rains (as revealed from ref. 8). Feasibility of employing them in tropical agriculture is rather doubtful, because they are not applicable under rainfed agriculture, which prevails in most of the tropics, and which provides about two thirds of the global food production 9. Fertilizer application should be adhered to the soil moisture level that is determined by rainfall in the rainfed areas. Hence it is difficult to match fertilization with crop demands by the split application. Moreover, increased number of fertilizer application times contributes to an additional cost of labour in the crop production, which should translate to a benefit in terms of increased yields. In rainfed agriculture, the length of fallow period depends on the availability of rain water to start tillage for cropping. As proposed, one cannot therefore arbitrarily change fallow periods. Drying and rewetting cycles are also determined by rewetting of soils with the rainfall, which is out of human control. Tilling before rains is a difficult task due to soil compaction and crust formation, particularly in clay soils. Among other options, the use of soil/ plant testing to determine fertilizer needs, and match fertilizer types to seasonal precipitation have been proposed. Successful applications of these are also doubtful because of the vast spatial variability of soil fertility and the temporal variability of seasonal rainfall in the tropics. There should be extensive soil/plant testing programmes for almost all the sites, if fertilizer needs are to be accurately ascertained. Advanced fertilizer techniques such as controlled released fertilizers, foliar application of fertilizers, urease and nitrification inhibitors and placing fertilizers below the soil surface are being tested to control the N2O emission. However, these are economically non-viable, due to their high cost and labour-intensive operations involved. Poverty in many developing countries in the tropics prohibits the use of high cost, advanced technologies. The use of urease and nitrification inhibitors has problems related to environmental safety, which could influence social acceptability. Plant residue management on croplands has been recommended and is practiced to some extent in tropical agriculture, in order to (1) conserve soil moisture; (2) control weeds; (3) contribute to soil organic matter after decomposition; and (4) synchronize between nutrient release and plant demand for efficient nutrient use, reducing losses. Different parts of specific plant species like neem (Azadirachta indica L.) and karanja (Pongamia glabra Vent.) contain nitrification inhibitors and biocidal compounds such as polyphenols, as natural products that can inhibit nitrification and other N transformations. For example, neem and karanja seed extracts can retard nitrification by ca. 6070% (ref. 10). Karanjin, a furano flavonoid extracted from karanja seeds can increase rice grain yield by ca. 50% and grain protein by ca. 15%, by retarding nitrification10. Such substances can be mixed with fertilizer formulations in designing economically-viable fertilizer techniques for the tropics. Soil surface mulch application with plant residues cuts down soil N2O emission considerably in the tropics11. Retaining N2O for prolonged periods in the soil by the mulch acting as a gas diffusion barrier, allows the complete reduction of it into N2 (G. Seneviratne, in manuscripts). Dissolution of N2O in moisture contained in the mulch and subsequent microbial and possibly chemical reductions are also attributed to this mitigation effect. It is a clear fact that we should give priority immediately to boost food production, if the forthcoming world food crisis in the year 2005 is to be successfully faced. In this context, promoting organic material recycling is urgently needed to maintain ever depleting soil organic matter in the tropics. The N2O mitigating options related to the organic material recycling are therefore the most feasible, realistic and immediately applicable options for the tropics. If we can optimize the residue management in order to sustain and improve crop production and at the same time to mitigate N2O emission, that should provide the best agronomic, economic and environment-friendly options for tropical agriculture.
1. Houghton, J. T. et al ., Climate Change 1994: Radiative Forcing of Climate Change and an Evaluation of the IPCC 117

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IS92 Emission Scenarios , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995, p. 337. Bouwman, A. F., Report No. 773004004, National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection, Bilthoven, 1994. Mosier, A. and Kroeze, C., IGBP Newsl. , Stockholm, 1998, p. 24. Bouwman, A. F., Nature , 1998, 392 , 866867. Mosier, A., Kroeze, C., Nevison, C., Oenema, O., Seitzinger, S. and van Cleemput, O., Nutr. Cycl. Agroecosyst. , 1998, 52 , 225-248. Mosier, A. R., Duxbury, J. M., Freney, J. R., Heinemeyer, O. and Minami, K., Climatic Change , 1998, 40 , 738. Pathak, H., Curr. Sci. , 1999, 77 , 359 369. Ball, B. C., Scott, A. and Parker, J. P., Soil Till. Res. , 1999, 53 , 2939. Falkenmark, M. et al ., Ambio , 1998, 27 , 148154. Sahrawat, K. L., in Nitrogen Economy in Tropical Soils (ed. Ahmad, N.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 1996, pp. 379388. 11. Seneviratne, G., Ambio , 1999, 28 , 378.

6.

2.

7. 8. 9. 10.

GAMINI S ENEVIRATNE Biological Nitrogen Fixation project, Institute of Fundamental Studies, Hantana Road, Kandy, Sri Lanka e-mail: gaminis@ifs.ac.lk

3. 4. 5.

Mapping fish research in India Missed opportunity

Jayashree and Arunachalam1 have analysed the impact of fish research in India among the global scientific community and reported that majority of publications, particularly those from the central research laboratories, are published in non-Science Citation Index (SCI) and non-Journal Citation Reports (JCR) journals of low impact with poor visibility. They have concluded fish research in India appears to be mediocre in general. The fish production in our country increased by more than five times2 and the contribution of fisheries to the GDP of India increased by nearly three times3 during the last 5 decades, a growth arguably one of the highest among the food production sectors. This growth would not have been possible without an effective research support. A few examples of research-supported fish production are as follows: (i) The then Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (Barrackpore) published the first paper on the success in induced breeding of carps in 1957 (ref. 4). Subsequently, technologies on induced breeding and larval rearing were developed for a number of species of carps, all of which were published in non-SCI journals. These research developments paved the way for the current annual carp production of >1 million tonnes. (ii) The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Kochi developed the hatchery technology of penaeid
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shrimps in 1973 (ref. 5), and by 1978, larval rearing of several shrimps was successfully developed and documented. All these achievements were published in the Institutes non-SCI journals. In 19992000, the country has exported farmed shrimps worth US $ 0.8 billion. (iii) The CMFRI developed hatchery and mariculture technologies for the pearl oyster6, edible oyster, mussels7 and clams. All these technologies were, and are being documented in non-SCI journals since 1973. Of these, pearl culture and mussel culture have made significant impacts among the entrepreneurs and fishermen. (iv) The Bay of Bengal Programme (FAO), Chennai designed a high opening trawlnet with the help of gear experts in India. The design, which revolutionized the capture fisheries sector, was published as a BOBP working paper in 1980 (ref. 8). In two decades, all the trawlnets (150,000 in number in 1998) in the country are of high opening type. These nets now produce 1.2 million tonnes of fish/year. (v) Several special publications and bulletins of the central fisheries institutes have helped the Supreme Court, Parliamentary Standing Committees and the maritime state governments in framing several policy documents such as the Aquaculture Authority Bill, Deepsea Fishing Policy and Marine Fishing Regulation Acts, which are milestones in the development of fisheries sector in India.

There are many more examples, which paved the way for, what is hailed as Blue revolution in India. The growth of the fisheries sector, to a very large extent, is due to the impact of research on the fish farmers, fisherfolk, fisheries planners and managers. The mandate of the central research institutes is to develop technology packages and transfer them to the beneficiaries to increase/sustain fish production. Publications in high impact journals will not help in meeting the objective of directly reaching the beneficiaries. The philosophy of Garfield9 has not considered the importance of this kind of production-oriented research, which is crucial for developing countries like India. By following the methodology commonly adopted for measuring the quality of publications of physical, chemical and biological and several other disciplines of science, Jayashree and Arunachalam1 have missed a good opportunity to evolve a specialized methodology for proper assessment of the impact of fisheries research (and for other food production researches as well). Scientometrics has to perhaps redefine and reorient its methodology and evolve a meaningful tool for quantitatively measuring the output of science and scientists.
1. Jayashree, B. and Arunachalam, S., Curr. Sci ., 2000, 79 , 613620.

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2. Devaraj, M. and Vivekanandan, E., Curr. Sci ., 1999, 76 , 314332. 3. Vivekanandan, E., in Proceedings of the Fisheries for Nutritional Security (ed. Pandian, T. J.), National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, New Delhi and Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, 2000 (in press). 4. Chaudhuri, H. and Alikunhi, H., Curr. Sci ., 1957, 26 , 381382. 5. Rao, P. V. and Kathirvel, M., Indian J. Fish ., 1973, 20 , 228250. 6. Alagarswamy, K. and Qasim, S. Z., Indian J. Fish ., 1973, 20 , 533 550. 7. CMFRI Spl. Publ., 1978, 2 , p. 53. 8. Pajot, G. and Crockett, J., BOBP/WP, 1980, p. 23. 9. Garfield, E., Curr. Contents , 1979, 46 , 313318.

E. V IVEKANANDAN Madras Research Centre, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, 68/3 Greams Road, Chennai 600 006, India
e-mail: chcmfri@md3.vsnl.net.in

Seismic wave amplification Similarities between West Bengal (India) and Seattle (USA) basins
As detailed earlier1 success of natural hazards and disaster management depends on a combined input from systematic scientific research, proper extensional education, organized training and involvement of common man. As I was contemplating to formulate a comprehensive research programme for detailed seismic surveillance in the West Bengal basin, I came across an article in EOS, Transactions of American Geophysical Union2, with significantly similar but more detailed findings as in the case of the West Bengal basin3. The high resolution seismic refraction coverage in the Seattle basin, Washington (USA) has revealed that seismic shots in Seattle even though small (180 kg or less), were much more energetic than expected and were felt by Seattle residents as far as 4.5 km from shot points. Similarly, in the case of the West Bengal basin a shot charge of only 125 kg during seismic refraction survey in 1988, has produced unexpectedly considerable surface vibrations, resulting in panic amongst Burdwan population. It is attributed that this energy propagation2 could be both due to the well-coupled detonation of the explosions within the water table and trapping of the seismic energy by lowvelocity surficial units within the basin. It is further stated2 that there is a strong correlation between the geometry of the basin filled with sediments and the amount of amplification of the seismic waves. It is stated2 that the amplification results from either focusing associated with the entire basin, or resonances and trapping of the seismic energy within the specific layers in the basin, probably the uppermost lower velocity quaternary deposits, whose geometry may measure the geometry of the entire basin. The finding that the seismic wave amplification was confined to the Seattle basin and nothing unusual has been noticed in the surrounding Olympic mountains region could be ascribed to a major extent even to the West Bengal basin, but for the differences in the geometries of the two basins. The seismic refraction studies4 confined to the adjacent crystalline part, near Beliator, produced no amplified signal, as in the case of shots closer to Burdwan. In the West Bengal basin as detailed earlier3, in similar geologic terrain all the phenomena noticed in Seattle basin were observed. As in the case of Seattle2, determining the origin of the amplification of the seismic waves within the West Bengal basin needs to be taken up as a priority research topic, as a part of detailed surveillance package that includes stress studies, threedimensional tomographic imaging of the area in and around Burdwan and close seismic surveillance network to record even micro tremors of magnitude 2. These observations emphasize the need for a detailed study in the West Bengal basin as it is well established2 that crustal faults and sedimentary basins could pose seismic hazards in regions like the Seattle basin.
1. Reddy, P. R., Curr. Sci ., 2000, 79 , 1045 1046. 2. Brocher, T. M. et al. , EOS Trans. Am. Geophys. Union , 2000, 81 , 545552. 3. Reddy, P. R., Curr. Sci ., 2000, 79 , 1144 1145. 4. Kaila, K. L., Reddy, P. R., Mall, D. M., Venkateswarlu, N., Krishna, V. G. and Prasad, A. S. S. S. R. S., Geophys. J. Int ., 1992, 4566.

P. R. R EDDY

National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad 500 007, India

e-mail: postmast@csngri.ren.nic.in

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