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.

Glyphochloa acuminata (Hack.) Clayton var. laevis (Poaceae): a new variety from central Western Ghats of Karnataka, India

This communication describes a new variety of Glyphochloa acuminata var. laevis from the lateritic plateau of central Western Ghats of Karnataka, southern India.

Flowering plants of Agumbe region, central Western Ghats, Karnataka, India

Agumbe, the Cherrapunji of southern India, is a bastion of rich endemic flora. In the present study of random sampling, a total of 570 species of flowering plants were collected belonging to 370 genera and 105 families, including a few endemic and Red Listed medicinal plants such as Garcinia gummi-gutta (L.) Roxb., Dipterocarpus indicus Bedd., Dysoxylum malabaricum Bedd. ex C.DC., Elaeocarpus tuberculatus Roxb., Hopea canarensis Hole, Calophyllum apetalum Willd., Adenia hondala (Gaertn.) W.J.de Wilde, and Myristica dactyloides Gaertn. Family Leguminosae contributes the maximum number of species (47 species) followed by Rubiaceae (32 species) and Asteraceae (27 species) and Genera Ficus (9 species), Diospyros (8 species) and Syzygium (7 species) are the dominant genera. Trees (185 species) are the dominant species followed by herbs (162 species), climbers (117 species), shrubs (62 species), grasses and sedges (19 species), epiphytes (15 species) and parasites (10 species).

The Impact of Traditional Conservation Practices on Species Composition and Diversity Patterns of Sacred Swamps in the Central Western Ghats, India

Sacred forests are of immense value for their ecosystem functions. Traditional indigenous conservation practices have helped maintaining biological diversity over centuries and have resulted in the preservation of some of the best patches of natural vegetation. Exclusive taxa find refuge in the micro-climatic conditions of sacred groves and many rare species are found here. Ten sacred swamps and ten non-sacred swamps in the central Western Ghats region, India, with a similar distance from roads, village settlements, or commercial orchards and with nearly the same size, were compared with regard to their species composition, floristic structure, diversity, occurrence of amphibians, odonates and birds. In the sacred swamps, 122 plant species from 99 genera and 58 families occur against 83 species from 72 genera and 47 families in the non-sacred swamps. Tree stem density was 277 individuals/ha in sacred swamps against 158.4 in non-sacred swamps. Average basal area was 47.57 m 2 /ha in sacred swamps and only 14.60 m 2 /ha in non-sacred swamps. Sacred swamps have higher number of endemic species (28%) when compared to non-sacred swamps. We conclude that the traditional belief system of treating the swamps as sacred has helped to protect these ecologically important forests.

HR-LCMS BASED MYCHOCHEMICAL PROFILING OF ENDOPHYTIC XYLARIA ADSCENDENS (FR.) FR., IN WENDLANDIA THYRSOIDEA (ROTH) STEUD. OF CENTRAL WESTERN GHATS

Endophytic fungi are important microbes that exit in the internal tissues of diverse parts of the plant, developing a mutual relationship. The present study was concentrated on the isolation, identification and mycochemical profiling of the fungal endophyte in the healthy and matured leaves of Wendlandia thyrsoidea (Roth) Steud. of Chikkamagaluru. The endophytic fungus was identified based on morphological characteristics and molecular characterization. The aim of this study is metabolite profiling by HR-LCMS and molecular characterization of endophytic Xylaria adscendens (Fr.) Fr., in Wendlandia thyrsoidea, an ethnomedicinally important and widely used plant in Indian subcontinent.

A new small-bodied, polymorphic Cnemaspis Strauch, 1887 (Squamata: Gekkonidae) allied to C. monticola Manamendra-Arachchi, Batuwita & Pethiyagoda, 2007 from the Central Western Ghats of Karnataka, India

We describe a new small-bodied, polymorphic Cnemaspis from near Hongadahalla village, Sakleshpur in the Central Western Ghats of Karnataka, India. Cnemaspis schalleri sp. nov. is allied to C. monticola and can be diagnosed from all other Indian Cnemaspis by its small body size; presence of spine-like tubercles on flank; heterogeneous dorsal pholidosis; presence of both precloacal and femoral pores in males; dorsal pholidosis of tail heterogeneous, composed of small, weakly keeled, flattened, sub-imbricate scales intermixed with enlarged, strongly keeled, distinctly pointed, conical tubercles forming whorls; slightly enlarged median row of sub-caudal scales, smooth at anterior half and strongly keeled posteriorly. The new species differs from C. monticola based on the number of dorsal tubercle rows at mid-body, the number of paravertebral tubercles, the number of precloacal pores and poreless scales between precloacal and femoral pores; besides 8.9–10.7 % uncorrected ND2 sequence divergence. We also provide the first description of topotypic males of C. monticola along with the first data on live colouration and natural history. Cnemaspis schalleri sp. nov. is the second new Cnemaspis described from around Sakleshpur within a span of less than a year with minimal field survey effort. It is almost certain than the dedicated systematic sampling across the Central Western Ghats will result in the discovery of many undescribed Cnemaspis lineages.

The oat-like grass Trisetopsis aspera (Munro ex Thwaites) Röser & A.Wölk (Poaceae): a new record for the flora of central Western Ghats of Karnataka, India

For the documentation of grasses in the central Western Ghats of Karnataka, we have conducted the extensive field surveys by using random sampling method from 2017 to 2020. During this survey we have collected some grass specimens from the shola grassland, which forms the new distributional record of Trisetopsis aspera (Munro ex Thwaites) Roser & A. Wolk to the flora of central Western Ghats, Karnataka, India from the montane high- lands of Baba Budangiri hills of Chikkamagaluru District.