Thanks Vijay for making it simple. Respected Oudhia sir, I have always admired your work in Chhattishgarh, but I would like to add something here.... 1. You cant compare the forests of Chhatisgarh with Jharkhand, they are two different phytogeograhic zones. Just for example, I have never seen Orchids growing on Pinus roxburghii trees in Jharkhand, but yes, I have seen it in Himalayas. Jharkhand is not an orchid hotspot and hence it doesnt have luxuriant growth of Orchids. 2. As Vijay said, yes you can miss many things outside your plots, thats not a big deal, as you cant search each and every tree present in the area for the presence of Orchids. 3. Pterocarpus and Teminalia chebula, can you please send me some pics to show how many species grow on these two trees? I would be grateful. When you say storehouse, you may be referring to only one taxa growing luxuriantly on the tree, not a big deal. I am talking about areas with more than 9-10 orchids were sampled. I will give you another example. I went to coal mine areas in Hazaribag, where due to some reasons, the trees were laden with orchids, but only two species. 4. As you can see, the paper deals exclusively with Dendrobiums and hence I am not talking about any other orchids, which might be or are found on these two trees. 5. When you say, if I used locals, my answer is ALWAYS!! except for some naxallite prone zones where no one was willing to accompany me. If you say they play vital role in such surveys, then may be yes, but its not of much help unless you are looking for a particular orchid which they know. For example, if I wish to know about Pathal Kela (Pholidota imbricata and P. pallida. The first point here is, they cant differentiate between two), then for sure, they know places where these plants grow as they have been using them. But, I can go to a patch of Pholidota and lay a plot saying its abundant in the area. That will be ridiculous. For each of my plot, I used to check orchids on my own for their identity which they cant do. 6. You should understand that there is a difference between devoting you life in the forest and working for your PhD. If I had 10 years in hand to work for my PhD, then may be my results would have shown differences. This answer your question that more survey can lead to more result. Secondly, for you information, one of my friend went to Chattisgarh for one week and we had new records of Orchids from that area, it doesnt mean that you didnt survey well. Its mere luck and also the area where he worked. 7. Your sampling design is based on your objectives as well as your duration. One simple example will be, if you wish to calculate the density of lets say one species of Orchid in an area, then for sure you will either have to do the total count, which is not possible, or you will have to lay RANDOM plots and then count inside the plots. You will surely get chances when you will find that particular orchid outside your plot, but you are not supposed to count it. Hope you understand what I mean here. 8. No, I never acknowledged local people in my articles but all those who helped me have been acknowledged in my thesis, each and every person. But that doesnt mean that I dont respect them. There are so many friends here and at Jharkhand who have helped me in my work, I cant write each and every name there on the articles. Infact my boss found my acknowledgement in the thesis too long and smiled when I showed him so many names. 9. I had around 33 new records of Orchid from chhotanagpur and this doesnt include around 12 species which I know they are present, but couldnt identify due to lack of flowers. There could be many more new records of both orchids as well as host trees. I have seen Vanda growing on ground, it makes no sense as it some how fell down and was carried away by flow of water. Orchids are very opportunistic. They can grow anywhere and you wont find a reason to explain. Just because I found ONE ORCHID GROWING ON ONE TREE, doesnt make it publishable. If you really want to publish it, then for sure you need to prove it scientifically. 10. When you say how random sampling can give accurate result: YES IT CAN...BEST WAY IS TO INCREASE YOUR SAMPLING EFFORT. 11. You send me the list of orchids found on these trees and list of hosts and may be list of orchids and I would be there to help you publish it. No authorship needed, no acknowledgement needed. I always believe in distributing rather than gathering. I thought you should have known by now. 12. I can give you suggestions how to do scientific interviews and sampling, which could yield you good PUBLISHABLE results, you just need to ask...FOR FREE... otherwise you will end with yet another book on list of medicinal plants, which most of the people do now a days. There are books on HOROPATHY, if you know. It comes in volumes, and it is available at ranchi. Then there are so many people writing same book over and over again. If you wish to come out with better publication then for sure you need to do it more scientifically. For which I can help you and it is evident that Dr. Vijay will also be able to help you.
Regards Pankaj
