Climate Change

 

The blogger caught the same location in his camera at different time of the year and here you see the difference. The first picture was caught on a near harvest season for paddy on a fine evening when the moon was also visible up in the sky. The bamboo blossomed at that time and you can see the so called tallest grass in yellow color because of that. The second picture was taken after around 2 years on a rainy season, when the sky was little bit clear on another evening. You can see the effect of climate change in these pictures as well as the effect of bamboo blossom. The bamboo will perish after it blooms which is seen in the second picture. This will cause a temporary dry years in the forest. The blogger had already published the first picture in the post named “Bamboo Blossom and The Moon”. The location is place called Nadavayal in Wayanad district where the bloggers mother house is.

Bamboo Blossom Again

Last year onwards I have seen bamboo blossoms in many parts of Wayanad. I have already posted an article about the same; read here --> Bamboo Blossom

Bamboo - the tallest grass - flowers only once in its life time, and there after it will get dry and destroyed like all other grass. I am not pretty much sure about the life time of bamboos, but it varies. Around one and half years ago, I spotted bamboo flowers and seeds from Meppadi while I was about to trek in Chembra peak.

Now most of the bamboos from Pulpally and Sulthan Bathery forest ranges are bloomed. Understanding the natural balance maintained by the eco system due to the self destruction of bamboo after flowering is a difficult process. When we consider a short span of time like one or two years, the flowering of bamboo is a threat to the nature. A lot of wild animals, especially elephants depend upon bamboo for their foods, and when the bamboo blooms, the bamboo forest gets disappeared all of a sudden the next year. This causes famine and draught for the wild animals.

But I am sure some other kind of much more lengthier natural process will be running behind the scene which accounts for some other kind of natural balance for a longer span of time. The seeds produced out of bamboo are good for making different kinds of dishes; yes it can replace the paddy. Apart from the food that can be made out of it, it can also used in lots of Ayurvedic medicines. I have seen the locale people clearing the surroundings of bamboo so that they can get the seeds which fall from bamboo the next day.

Not only for humans, the seeds very much liked by the elephants. It is a feast year for the elephants when it blooms. There is a high possibility of seeing a big herd of wild animals feeding on the bamboo when it is bloomed. Bamboo stem as it is can be used for a variety of purpose like construction of shelters and houses, but the strange thing is that once it is bloomed, the stem is good for nothing. The stem will get decayed very soon – the exact opposite phenomenon of animal teeth getting decayed while it is alive, but remains for thousands of years when it is died.

Bamboo blossom is not a threat to the nature, but the sufferings undergone by nature for a better tomorrow with greener bamboo forests.

History repeats itself, bamboo flowering => Nick Balmer's Article

Bamboo Blossom

Bamboo blossoms very rarely. Don’t know the exact amount of time it takes to blossom. Some says it is around 45 years, some says it is around 60 years. But few have watched bamboo blossom. One may be able to watch this wonderful scene only one or two times in his/her entire life period.

I saw this scene when I went for a trekking to Chembra peak. Luckily I had the camera with me and took these snaps. Chembra peak near Meppadi is around 20 kilometers away from Kalpetta, the head quarters of Wayanad. While going from Kalpetta towards Meppadi we can see the blossomed bamboo just before reaching Meppadi.

Bamboo dies after this flowering period. The seeds are used to make a lot of varieties of food items. I remember my mother said, during her child hood, they went to the forest nearby daily, to clear the surroundings of bamboo bushes, to collect the seed that falls next day during a flowering period of bamboo.

Flowering of bamboo makes a lot of change to the eco system, since an entire forest will be out of bamboo next year.