The woody flora of Shettihalli Wildlife Sanctuary, central Western Ghats of Karnataka, India - A checklist

Documenting the biodiversity of protected areas and reserve forests is important to researchers, academicians and forest departments in their efforts to establish policies to protect regional biodiversity. Shettihalli Wildlife Sanctuary (SWS) is an important protected area located in the central Western Ghats of Karnataka state known for its diverse flora and fauna with distinct ecological features. For the last four decades the sanctuary has witnessed the loss of forest cover, yet the vegetation in few locations is relatively undisturbed. The current inventory was undertaken during 2019–2020 to provide a checklist of woody species from SWS under-researched earlier. The list comprises 269 species of trees, lianas and shrubs distributed in 207 genera and 68 families. The most diverse families are Fabaceae, Moraceae, Rubiaceae, Rutaceae, Lauraceae, Apocynaceae, Meliaceae, Malvaceae, Phyllanthaceae, and Anacardiaceae, representing 48% of total woody flora. The sanctuary shelters 263 native and six exotic plant species. Thirty-nine species were endemic to the Western Ghats, five species to peninsular India and one species to the Western Ghats and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Four forest types, i.e., dry deciduous, moist deciduous, semi-evergreen, and evergreen forests, are represented in the sanctuary. Of the total species, only seven occurred in all forest types, while 111 species are exclusive to a single forest type. One-hundred-and-four taxa were assessed for the International Union for Conservation of Nature & Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List. Ten species that fall under Near Threatened, Vulnerable, and Endangered categories were encountered occasionally. The baseline data generated on plant diversity will be useful in highlighting the importance of these forests for species conservation and forest management. Such data form a cornerstone for further research. For instance, to understand the effect of invasive species and human impacts on the diversity of the region.

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A new species of Prosopistoma Latreille, 1833 and redescription of P. indicum Peters, 1967 (Ephemeroptera: Prosopistomatidae) from the Western Ghats, India

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4242.3.10 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4242 (3) ◽

pp. 591 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

S. RAMYA ROOPA ◽

C. SELVAKUMAR ◽

K. A. SUBRAMANIAN ◽

K. G. SIVARAMAKRISHNAN

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Western Ghats ◽

Indian Species ◽

Peninsular India ◽

Fresh Material ◽

Central Western Ghats ◽

The Western Ghats ◽

A New Species

Prosopistoma someshwarensis n. sp. is described based on larvae collected from the streams of central Western Ghats, and P. indicum Peters, 1967 is redescribed based on fresh material from additional localities of the southern and central Western Ghats of peninsular India. A brief discussion on their ecology and biogeography, and a key to the Indian species of Prosopistoma, are also provided. The Indian species may be distinguished from one another based on the segmentation of the antennae, carapace colourations, the setation of the tibiae and mandibular canines, and the morphology of gills 2.

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Floristic diversity of Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary, northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra, India

Journal of Threatened Taxa ◽

10.11609/jott.3074.9.8.10493-10527 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. 10493

Author(s):

Savita Sanjaykumar Rahangdale ◽

Sanjaykumar Ramlal Rahangdale

Keyword(s):

Western Ghats ◽

Geographic Area ◽

Floristic Diversity ◽

Forest Types ◽

Wildlife Sanctuary ◽

Evergreen Forests ◽

Threat Categories ◽

The Rich ◽

Rich Flora ◽

The Western Ghats

Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary (BWS) is located on the crestline of the northern Western Ghats in Pune and Thane districts in Maharashtra State. It was notified in October 1985 towards conservation of the state animal of Maharashtra, the Giant Squirrel Ratufa indica ssp. elphinstonii. Although an important protected area in the Western Ghats, due to the lack of a comprehensive report, an assessment of floristic diversity of BWS was done from 2009 to 2016. The results revealed that forest types and microhabitats are diverse in the sanctuary. Major forest types are western subtropical broad leaved hill forest to moist deciduous types with a few included small patches of evergreen forests. The rich flora of the sanctuary is represented by a total of 1,142 angiospermic taxa at species and infraspecific level spread over 619 genera and 124 families. Of these 1,094 taxa are wild, which belong to 118 families and 586 genera. Rest of the taxa are planted (34), and 14 introduced. The taxa are classified as per the APG IV. The wild taxa include 20 magnolids, 285 monocots, one Ceratophyllales and 788 eudicots. Out of these, 217 taxa are Indian endemics; which comprise about 19.84% of the total number of wild taxa (1,094) in the sanctuary and 5.04% of total Indian endemics (4,303). Total 53 taxa are under different threat categories according to IUCN. BWS harbours a significant extent of angiosperms in a very small geographic area.

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Comparative assessment of floristic structure, diversity and regeneration status of tropical rain forests of Western Ghats of Karnataka, India

Journal of Applied and Natural Science ◽

10.31018/jans.v5i1.300 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 157-164 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

B. N. Sathish ◽

Syam Viswanath ◽

C.G. Kushalappa ◽

M. R. Jagadish ◽

K. N. Ganeshaiah

Keyword(s):

Tree Species ◽

Western Ghats ◽

Forest Cover ◽

Diversity Indices ◽

Evergreen Forest ◽

Tropical Rain Forests ◽

Evergreen Forests ◽

Regeneration Status ◽

Central Western Ghats ◽

The Western Ghats

Tropical forests are one of the richest landscapes in terms of its richness, diversity and endemicity. The present study was carried out in the Central Western Ghats: one of the hottest hotspot of biodiversity. The aim of the study was to compare floristic diversity in tropical wet evergreen forest between northern and southern parts of Western Ghats of Karnataka. Kodagu district in southern part and Uttara Kannada district in northern part was chosen to assess the same, as these two districts cover highest forest cover in the Western Ghats of Karnataka. In each district all the evergreen forests were sampled with 1000 m X 5 belt transacts. Totally 22 such samplings were done both southern and northern part of Western Ghats. In each of these transacts all the trees measuring e” 30 gbh were enumerated and botanically identified to the species level and the same was used for computation of diversity indices. The richness and diversity was comparatively higher in southern part compared to northern part of Western Ghats, where as the richness of threatened tree species was comparatively higher in northern part of Western Ghats. In addition to the species richness and diversity, the paper also deals with the dominant tree species and families in both the region.

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Diversity of butterflies of the Shettihalli Wildlife Sanctuary, Shivamogga District, Karnataka, India

Journal of Threatened Taxa ◽

10.11609/jott.4543.11.10.14349-14357 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (10) ◽

pp. 14349-14357

Author(s):

M.N. Harisha ◽

Harish Prakash ◽

B.B. Hosetti ◽

Vijaya Kumara

Keyword(s):

Sri Lanka ◽

Western Ghats ◽

Wildlife Sanctuary ◽

Peninsular India ◽

Wildlife Protection ◽

Number Of Species ◽

The Family ◽

The Western Ghats

A study was conducted on the diversity of butterflies by using the pollard walk method in the tropical dry deciduous habitats of Shettihalli Wildlife Sanctuary, Shivamogga District, Karnataka, from February 2010 to January 2011. A total of 151 species of butterflies belonging to 99 genera and five families was recorded. The family Nymphalidae was the most dominant with the highest number of species (52 species; 35%), followed by Lycaenidae (33 species; 22%), Hesperiidae (25 species; 17%), Pieridae (24 species; 16%), and Papilionidae (15 species: 10%). The study also revealed 24 species of butterflies which are protected under various schedules of Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and 13 species as being endemic to the Western Ghats, peninsular India and Sri Lanka.

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Diversity and distribution of orchids of Goa, Western Ghats, India

Journal of Threatened Taxa ◽

10.11609/jott.4499.11.15.15015-15042 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (15) ◽

pp. 15015-15042

Author(s):

Jeewan Singh Jalal

Keyword(s):

Protected Areas ◽

Western Ghats ◽

Pilot Project ◽

Geographic Area ◽

The State ◽

Wildlife Sanctuary ◽

Peninsular India ◽

Orchid Species ◽

Suitable Area ◽

The Western Ghats

The Botanical Survey of India launched a pilot project during 2015–2017 on exploration of orchids of Goa State covering all the protected areas. A total of 68 orchid species belonging to 28 genera were documented of which 42 are epiphytic and 26 are terrestrial. Twenty-eight species are endemic, of which 23 species are strictly endemic to the Western Ghats, two are endemic to peninsular India, and three are endemic to the country. Distribution of orchids in Goa is concentrated mainly in the Western Ghats region, which accounts for 86% of the total orchid species richness of the state. The most favourable habitat was found to be semi-evergreen forests followed by moist-deciduous forests. Among all the protected areas, the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary was found to be rich in orchid diversity (39 species) followed by Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary, and Cotigaon Wildlife Sanctuary. The MaxEnt data shows the highly suitable area for orchids in Goa is approximately 1,005km2, which is 27% of the total geographic area of the state.

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A new species of rock-dwelling Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Tamil Nadu, southern India

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4571.3.6 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4571 (3) ◽

pp. 383

Author(s):

AKSHAY KHANDEKAR

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Endemic Species ◽

Western Ghats ◽

Tamil Nadu ◽

Southern India ◽

Peninsular India ◽

Tamil Nadu State ◽

The Rich ◽

The Western Ghats ◽

A New Species

A new species of the gekkonid genus Cnemaspis is described based on a series of nine specimens from near Sankari in Salem district, Tamil Nadu state, southern India. The new species is diagnosable by the following suite of characters: a small-sized Cnemaspis (adult snout to vent length less than 33 mm); heterogeneous dorsal pholidosis consisting of weakly keeled granular scales intermixed with large strongly keeled, conical tubercles, 9–11 rows of dorsal tubercles, 12–17 tubercles in paravertebral rows; spine-like scales absent on flank, 17–20 lamellae under digit IV of pes. Males with 4–6 femoral pores on each thigh, separated on either side by eight poreless scales from four precloacal pores; precloacal pores separated medially by a single poreless scale; two single dorsal ocelli on occiput and between forelimb insertions, two pairs of ocelli on either side just anterior and posterior to forelimb insertions. Cnemaspis agarwali sp. nov. is the fifth endemic species of Cnemaspis from peninsular India outside the Western Ghats and highlights the rich and unique diversity of this understudied region.

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VEGETATION COMPOSITION, STRUCTURE AND PATTERNS OF DIVERSITY: A CASE STUDY FROM THE TROPICAL WET EVERGREEN FORESTS OF THE WESTERN GHATS, INDIA

Edinburgh Journal of Botany ◽

10.1017/s0960428608004952 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 65 (3) ◽

pp. 447-468 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

A. Giriraj ◽

M. S. R. Murthy ◽

B. R. Ramesh

Keyword(s):

Western Ghats ◽

Forest Type ◽

Local Level ◽

Basal Area ◽

Woody Species ◽

Distribution Patterns ◽

Diversity Indices ◽

Evergreen Forests ◽

Composition Structure ◽

The Western Ghats

The composition, abundance, population structure and distribution patterns of the woody species having a girth at breast height of ≥ 10 cm were investigated in the tropical wet evergreen forests of the Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in the southern Western Ghats, India. A 3 ha plot was established with an altitudinal range of 1170 to 1306 m. In the study plot 5624 individuals (mean density 1875 ha−1) covering 68 woody species belonging to 52 genera and 27 families were enumerated. The mean basal area was 47.01 m2 ha–1 and the Shannon and Simpson diversity indices were 4.89 and 0.95, respectively. Of these woody species nearly 51% are endemic to the Western Ghats. The four dominant species, Cullenia exarillata, Palaquium ellipticum, Aglaia bourdillonii and Myristica dactyloides, account for 34% of the trees and 67% of the basal area, and therefore constitute the main structure of the forest. Within this forest type, five species assemblages corresponding to altitudinal gradient were identified using correspondence analysis. Management of such mid elevation evergreen forests necessarily depends on knowledge of recognisable community types and their environmental variables. The present study provides essential background for formulating strategies for sustainable conservation of forest communities at the local level.

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Two new Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from the Shevaroy massif, Tamil Nadu, India, with a preliminary ND2 phylogeny of Indian Cnemaspis

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4609.1.3 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4609 (1) ◽

pp. 68

Author(s):

AKSHAY KHANDEKAR ◽

NIKHIL GAITONDE ◽

ISHAN AGARWAL

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Body Size ◽

South Asian ◽

Western Ghats ◽

Tamil Nadu ◽

Elevation Gradient ◽

Sequence Divergence ◽

Colour Pattern ◽

Peninsular India ◽

The Western Ghats

We present a preliminary ND2 phylogeny of South Asian Cnemaspis, recovering a number of deeply divergent clades within Indian Cnemaspis, endemic to the southern and northern Western Ghats besides the Mysore Plateau and hills of Tamil Nadu. There are a number of unnamed lineages that are >5% divergent on ND2 across the phylogeny, including three from the gracilis clade on an elevation gradient (800–1400 m asl.) around Yercaud in the Shevaroy massif, Salem district, Tamil Nadu. We describe two of these as new species— Cnemaspis shevaroyensis sp. nov. and Cnemaspis thackerayi sp. nov. are both allied to Cnemaspis gracilis and can be diagnosed from all other Indian Cnemaspis by the absence of spine-like scales on flank, heterogeneous dorsal pholidosis, presence of femoral and precloacal pores, tail with enlarged, strongly keeled, conical tubercles forming whorls, a median row of enlarged and smooth sub-caudals. They differ from C. gracilis and each other in body size, the number of tubercles around midbody, the number of tubercles in paravertebral rows, the number of femoral and precloacal pores, the number of poreless scales in-between precloacal pores and between femoral and precloacal pores, and subtle colour pattern differences; besides uncorrected mitochondrial sequence divergence (7.9–16.6 %). We also provide a description of Cnemaspis yercaudensis from its type locality and an additional locality. The discovery of two endemic species and a third unnamed divergent lineage from an isolated massif in peninsular India outside the Western Ghats indicate that many other such understudied hill ranges may harbour high endemic biodiversity.

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Bootstrapping Wildfire Selectivity for the Forest Types of Canton Ticino (Switzerland)

Earth Interactions ◽

10.1175/2011ei387.1 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 15 (19) ◽

pp. 1-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Sofia Bajocco ◽

Gianni Boris Pezzatti ◽

Antonella De Angelis ◽

Marco Conedera ◽

Carlo Ricotta

Keyword(s):

Resource Selection ◽

Forest Cover ◽

Forest Type ◽

Null Model ◽

Direct Consequence ◽

Spatial Arrangement ◽

Propagation Rate ◽

Forest Types ◽

Burnt Area ◽

Spatially Distributed

Abstract Disturbances spreading through the landscape, like wildfires, are essential processes in modeling landscape structure and dynamics. Like other disturbances, fire may spread from a local epicenter with a propagation rate enhanced or retarded by the spatial arrangement of fuel across the landscape. Therefore, fire ignition and spread are a direct consequence of the presence and arrangement of fire-prone habitats. Generalizing the concept of “habitat selection” to every spatially distributed ecological process, the resource selection functions used in zoology to summarize habitat use by wildlife can be also used to characterize the wildfire’s pattern across the landscape. The aim of this paper is thus to quantify the relationship between forest cover and burnt area in Canton Ticino (Switzerland) during 1980–2007 using a bootstrap test of significance: that is, to identify forest types that burn more (or less) than expected from a random null model based on the regional availability of the resource (forest type). The results show that fires behave selectively for most forest types; whereas chestnut stands and broad-leaved forests display overproportional burnt areas, coniferous forests typically burn less than expected by a random null model.

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Grasses of Kundadri Hills in the Western Ghats of Karnataka, India

Journal of Threatened Taxa ◽

10.11609/jott.5614.12.5.15619-15630 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (5) ◽

pp. 15619-15630

Author(s):

Hanchali Udayashankar Abhijit ◽

Yelugere Linganaik Krishnamurthy

Keyword(s):

Western Ghats ◽

Present Communication ◽

Central Western Ghats ◽

The Western Ghats

Abstract: The present communication provides a checklist of grass flora in Kundadri Hill of central Western Ghats, Karnataka. During the exploration, a total of 78 species belonging to two sub-families, 12 tribes, and 43 genera of Poaceae have been documented.

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