Biodiversity in microhabitats : plants, predators, and prey of Arogyashram / B.V. Venkatesha Murthy.

Venkatesha Murthy said “The172 page book was written to preserve the ethnopharmacological knowledge that we have garnered over the years and make our small contribution towards climate action in an urbanised world. Since its establishment in 1961, Dhavantari Arogyashram which is set up in ten acre land and which is also known as lung space of Nanjangud has housed a growing number of plant species, most of which are used for Ayurvedic medicines and treatments. Arogyashram has a wide variety of trees, plants, herbs. An unintended, but wonderful, externality of growing these species organically has created a haven for many birds, reptiles, and insects, amid an increasingly industrialised town. With 348 plant species, 299 identified varieties of insects, and 61 types of birds, the land now serves as a conservatory for species preservation, and we wish for this to only grow. I first wrote a redaction called “Plants of Arogyashram and their Healing Powers” in 2012, to record what were then 214 species of plants that we had planted in Arogyashram. The purpose was to share information about these plants as referenced in Ayurveda, Botany, Philosophy and Sanskrit. We hope it can be useful to researchers, students and enthusiasts of Ayurveda, Botany, Entomology, Ornithology or Pharmacy, and also introduce the interest of school children in protecting Biodiversity”. Kiran Bagade Srinivas and Dr Prabha Mokshagundam too contributed for the book.