Forest evergreenness and tree endemism in the central Western Ghats, southern India

Abstract

Forests of the Western Ghats are well known for their evergreenness and high endemism. The present study carried out in the Sharavathi River Basin in the central Western Ghats of India is to find the relationship between forest evergreenness and tree endemism. The study was carried out from 2000 to 2006 and the methodology followed is a combination of transect and quadrat method nested with smaller quadrats for shrub layer and herb layer. A total of 51 endemic tree species belonging to 20 families were recorded. The results reveal that the composition of endemic tree population is closely associated with the evergreenness of the forest. With the increase in evergreenness, endemism also increased and almost all the endemic trees of the region occurred in very high evergreen class. Many of them were exclusively found in very high evergreen forests and ground layer data support this observation. Such narrow distribution of endemics makes them most vulnerable to extinction. The present study will be helpful in understanding the association of endemic trees with evergreenness of forest and will be useful in conservation as well as restoration of these endemic trees in their natural habitats.