Research Article | Published: 01 September 2009

Endemism in the evergreen forests of Western Ghats of Karnataka, India

A. N. Sringeswara, N. Pradeep, Balakrishna Gowda and M. B. Shivanna

Indian Journal of Forestry | Volume: 32 | Issue: 3 | Page No. 379-385 | 2009
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54207/bsmps1000-2009-XQY97J | Cite this article

Abstract

In the present study analysed the pattern of tree endemism in the evergreen biotype of Western Ghats part of Karnataka, a biodiversity hotspot. Sampling has been done in various forest types of evergreen biotype and the recorded species were evaluated to analyse endemic status. A total of 267 plots sampled randomly across various forest types in evergreen biotype revealed 340 tree species (girth at breast height 30 cm) of which 112 endemics to them. Overall tree endemism observed in the Western Ghats part of Karnataka is 33%. The forest types studied are Myristica swamps, Riparian fringing forests, Southern hill top evergreen forests, West coast semi-evergreen forests and West coast tropical evergreen forests. Myristica swamps had the highest number of endemic trees (45.10%) followed by Southern hill top evergreen forests (39.78%). More than 50% tree endemism was observed in 14 families of the recorded 33 families. Cluster analysis of endemic species revealed distinct species composition in Southern hill top evergreen forests.

Keywords

Access Options

250/-

Buy Full Access in HTML Format

Instant access to the full article.

Get access to the full version of this article. Buy Full Access in HTML Format

References

1. Ahamedullah, M. and Nayar, M. P. (1986). Endemic Plants of the Indian region. Botanical Survey of India. Calcutta, pp. 261.

Google Scholar

2. Chandran, M. D. S. (1993). Vegetational changes in the evergreen forest belt of Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka State. Ph. D. Thesis, Karnataka University, Dharwad.

Google Scholar

3. Gentry, A. H. (1986). Endemism in tropical vs temperate plant communities. In: Conservation Biology: The Science of Scarcity and Diversity. (Edited by Soule, M, E.), Sinauer Associates. Sunderland, Massachusets, pp. 153-181.

Google Scholar

4. Goodall, D. W. (1970). Statistical plant ecology. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 1: 99-124.  https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.es.01.110170.000531

Google Scholar

5. Heywood, V. H. (1995). Global Biodiversity assessment. Cambridge University Press.

Google Scholar

6. Hubbell, S. P. Foster, R. B. (1986). Commonness and rarity in a Neotropical forest, implications for tropical trees conservation. In: Conservation Biology: the science of scarcity and diversity (Edited by Soule, M. E.), Sinauer Associates Inc., Massachusetts, USA, pp. 205-231.

Google Scholar

7. MacKinnon, J. and MacKinnon, K. (1986). Review of the Protected Areas System in the Indo-Malayan Realm, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.

Google Scholar

8. Major, J. (1988). Endemism: a perspective. In: Analytical Biogeography. As integrated approach to the study of animal and plant distributions. (Edited by Mayen, A. A. and Giller, P. S), Chapman and Hall, New York, pp. 117-146.  https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-1199-4_6

Google Scholar

9. Meher-Homji, V. M. (1983). On the Indo-Malaysian and Indo-African elements in India. Feddes Repertorium. 94: 407-424.  https://doi.org/10.1002/fedr.4910940604

Google Scholar

10. Myers, N., Mittermeler, R. A., Mittermeler, C. G., da Fonseca, G. A. B., Kent, J. (2000). Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature, 403: 853-858.  https://doi.org/10.1038/35002501

Google Scholar

11. Nayar, M. P. (1996). Hot spots of Endemic plants of India, Nepal and Bhutan. Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram.

Google Scholar

12. Pascal, J. P. (1982). Bioclimates of the Western Ghats at 1/500000. Inst. fr. Pondichéry, Hors Série, 18.

Google Scholar

13. Ramesh, B. R. (2001). Patterns of richness and endemism of arborescent species in the evergreen forests of the Western Ghats, India. In: Proc. Intern. confer. on Tropical Ecosystems (Ed. Ganeshaiah, K. N., Uma Shanker, R. and Bawa, K. S.), Oxford-IBH, New Delhi, pp. 539-544.

Google Scholar

14. Ramesh, B. R. and Pascal, J. P. (1997). Atlas of Endemics of the Western Ghats (India): Distribution of tree species in the evergreen and semi-evergreen forests. Institut Français de Pondichéry, Publications du département d’écologie. 38: 403p.

Google Scholar

15. Stevens, G. C. (1989). The latitudinal gradient in geographical range: how so many species coexist in the tropics. American Naturalist, 133: 240-256. https://doi.org/10.1086/284913

Google Scholar

16. Subramanyam, K. and Nayar, M.P. (1974). Vegetation and Phytogeography of the Western Ghats, M.S. (Ed.) Ecology and Biogeography of India. Junk. The Hague.  https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-2331-3_7

Google Scholar

17. Sukumar, R., Suresh, H.S. and Ramesh, R. (1995). Climate change and its impact on tropical montane ecosystems in Southern India. Journal of Biogeography, 22: 533-536.  https://doi.org/10.2307/2845951

Google Scholar

18. Vaghese, A. O. Mennon, A. R. R. (1999). Ecological amplitude of rare, threatened and endemic trees of Pepara Wildlife Sanctuary. Current Science, 76: 1204-1208.

Google Scholar

19. Van-Wright, R. I., Humphties, C. J. and Williams, P. H. (1991). What to Protect? – Systematics and the agony of choice. Biological Conservation, 55: 235-254. https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3207(91)90030-D

Google Scholar

About this article

How to cite

Sringeswara, A.N., Pradeep, N., Gowda, B. and Shivanna, M.B., 2009. Endemism in the evergreen forests of Western Ghats of Karnataka, India. Indian Journal of Forestry, 32(3), pp.379-385. https://doi.org/10.54207/bsmps1000-2009-XQY97J

Publication History

Manuscript Published on 01 September 2009

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: