Southern Western Ghats

The present study is an attempt to explore endemic taxa occurring in the Ranipuram hills in the Southern Western Ghats region of Kasaragod district and to identify habitat preference and diversity of life form type and current threat status of the plants. A total of 46 endemic taxa were culled out of 302 taxa eneumerated from the study area. The maximum number of endemic taxa belongs to Acanthaceae (13%) followed by Lauraceae and Gesneriaceae (8% each). Analysis of the habit reveals that among the endemics 35% (16 Spp.) of plant species were herbs, 30% (14 Spp.) were trees, 26% (Spp.) were shrubs and 9% (4 Spp.) were Climbers. Present study also identifies two near threatened and one vulnerable species. The Identification of endemic taxa is important in the biodiversity conservation and they have specific ecological niche.

The present study was done for the assessment of endemic succulent plant wealth of Nilgiris. The survey was conducted during 2017 - 2020. The survey in different localities of Nilgiris resulted in identifying a total of 48 succulent flowering plants belonging to 15 families and 27 genera. Among the different families Orchidaceae was leading by 35.4% (17 Spp.) of total endemic plant species followed by Balsaminaceae by 27 % (13 Spp.). Five endangered species explored in the genus are Impatiens neobarnesii C. E. C. Fisch., Impatiens pendula Heyne ex Wight & Arn., Impatiens nilagirica C.E.C.Fisch., Conchidium nanum (A.Rich.) Brieger and Gloriosa superba L. It is concluded that there are no previous reports on the endemic succulent flora in the Southern Western Ghats of Nilgiris, India. Hence, the locality should be further analysed to design conservation measures for the management of these endemic species with environmental quality.