Meghamalai landscape : a biodiversity hotspot

Subramanian Bhupathy ¹ & Santhanakrishnan Babu ²

^1,2 Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatti(PO), Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641108, India

² Wildlife Information Liaison Development Society, 96 Kumudham Nagar, Vilankurichi Road, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641035, India

¹ bhupathy.s@gmail.com (corresponding author), ² sanbabs@gmail.com

Abstract: The Meghamalai, also known as High Wavy Mountains, is located in the TheniForest Division of Tamil Nadu, Western Ghats. The landscape is endowed with an array of vegetation types varying from dry (thorn forests) in the eastern side to wet (evergreen) forests on the western side due to wide elevation gradient (220–2000 m above sea level) and varied rainfall pattern (wind ward and leeward zones). The composition and configuration of this landscape facilitates diverse species of vertebrates (18 species of fishes, 35 amphibians, 90 reptiles, 254 birds, 63 mammals). In the past, selected floral and faunal groups of Meghamalai have been sporadically surveyed by the British explorers. However, in-depth ecological studies on various biota have only been initiated in recent years by SACON and WILD, which highlighted the conservation importance of the area. It is hoped that the recently declared MeghamalaiWildlife Sanctuary encompassing a part of the landscape, and the proposal of the Srivilliputtur-Meghamalai Tiger Reserve, if realized, would help conserving the diverse biota of this landscape in the long run.

Keywords: Endemism, High Wavy Mountains, MeghamalaiWildlife Sanctuary, Theni Forest Division, Western Ghats.

doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3592.4939-44 | ZooBank:urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:02F9F575-E31F-45C4-BB94-208915FFBACD

Editor: P.S. Easa, Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi, India. Date of publication: 26 November 2013 (online & print)

Manuscript details: Ms # o3592 | Received 26 April 2013 | Final received 30 August 2013 | Finally accepted 10 October 2013

Citation: Bhupathy, S. & S. Babu (2013).Meghamalai landscape : a biodiversity hotspot.Journal of Threatened Taxa 5(15): 4939–4944; http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3592.4939-44

Copyright: © Bhupathy & Babu 2013. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium, reproduction and distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication.

Funding: The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India and ATREE-CEPF and Rufford Small Grant.

Competing Interest: The authors declare no competing interests. Funding sources had no role in study design, data collection, results interpretation and manuscript writing.

Acknowledgements: We are grateful to G.V. Subramanian and Naseem Ahmad (MoEF), and Jack Tordoff and Bhasker Acharya (ATREE-CEPF) and Jane Reymond (Rufford) for financial support. We thank the PCCF and Chief Wildlife Warden of Tamil Nadu for permission to work in the forest area, and to the staff of Theni Forest Division for logistic support. Drs. P.A. Azeez (SACON) and Sanjay Molur (WILD) helped us at various levels.

This article forms part of a special series on the Western Ghats of India, disseminating the results of work supported by the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF), a joint initiative of l’Agence Française de Développement, Conservation International, the European Commission, the Global Environment Facility, the Government of Japan, the MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank. A fundamental goal of CEPF is to ensure civil society is engaged in biodiversity conservation. Implementation of the CEPF investment program in the Western Ghats is led and coordinated by the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE).

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The Western Ghats, a chain of mountain ranges (~1600km in length) that runs parallel to the west coast from the river Tapti (Gujarat) in the north to Kanyakumari(Tamil Nadu) in the south, is one of the 34 biodiversityhotspots of the world (Mittermeier et al. 2005). Meghamalai, is part of a larger landscape (ca. 800km²), catchment area of Vaigai and Suruliarrivers. PeriyarTiger Reserve, Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary and CumbamValley surround Meghamalai. Meghamalai in local language (Tamil) denotes cloud covered mountains i.e. Megha= cloud, Malai = hill. Among the locals, it is known as Patchakumachi, (Patcha = green, Kumachi = jungle). Meghamalai is also known as High Wavy Mountains due to the general appearance (wavy) of these high hills from the Cumbam Valley/Town (Image 1). The term High Wavy Mountains was largely used by British Explorers.

The landscape has been identified as an important wildlife area by Rodgers & Panwar (1988). Meghamalai is largely under the control of the Theni Forest Division (TheniDistrict), which was a part of erstwhile Travancore Presidency prior to the Indian Independence. In 2009, 269.11km² of the area was declared as MeghamalaiWildlife Sanctuary (Tamil Nadu Government Gazette 2009). Considering its conservation importance, (the landscape forms a buffer to the existing protected areas such as Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary and Periyar Tiger Reserve); the area, along with the Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary, has recently been proposed as a Tiger Reserve (Fig. 1). In the present paper, we provide a description of the Meghamalai area, especially with respect to conservation of biodiversity based on collation from published papers.

History

The Theni forests have a long and remarkable history. The tract, in which the forests of this division lie, is the heart of the legendary and famous Pandya kingdom (ca. 1600 AD). Since the beginning of 1800, till the independence of India (1947), the area was managed and extensively exploited for revenue generation from forest produce by the British Empire. Notable actions that helped conservation and management of forests in the area are as follows:

- 1857: Report by Colonel Beddome indicating rapid denudation of forests in High Wavy Mountains

- 1861: Formation of Madurai Forest Division

- 1871: Establishment of Forest Ranges, viz., Madurai and Periakulam

- 1880: Committee formed with 21 Forest Blocks (738.15km²)

- 1882: Promulgation of Madras Forest Act

- 1882–1890: Demarcation of various Reserve Forests

- 1888: Formation of Forest Ranges, viz., Kanavaipatti, Sholavandan, Palamedu, Palani and Cumbam ranges

- 1951: Bifurcation of Madurai Forest Division as Madurai West and East

- 1956: Prohibition of shifting cultivation

- 1957: Madurai North and Madurai South divisions formed

- 1982: Formation ofTheni Forest Division

- 2009: Declaration of Meghamalai Wildlife Sanctuary

-2013: Srivilliputtur-Meghamalai Tiger Reserve (proposal pending decision)

Terrain and Climate

The general area is rugged and mountainous with elevation ranging from 220–2000 m. Digital elevation model of landscape shows that the lower elevation (<800m) contributed to about 44% of the area followed by medium elevation (800–1400 m), which is about 38% (Bhupathy et al. 2012). Rock formation of the area is largely composed of charnockites, granite gneiss and pink granites which have been deformed by folds and faults (Palanivelu et al. 1988).

Fifty years of global climate data show variations in annual mean temperature across elevations, i.e., 24.1⁰C (in 500m) and 18⁰C (in 1700m). Monthly mean minimum and maximum temperatures recorded in 500m were 21.8⁰C and 30.6⁰C respectively, whereas it was 16.1⁰C and 24.0⁰C for 1700m (Bhupathy et al. 2009). Cumulative annual rainfall of lower and higher elevations of the area is 1500 and 2161 mm respectively. Both in higher and lower elevations, the lowest rainfall was recorded during January and the maximum during July (Bhupathy et al. 2009).

Rivers and Dams

Major rivers in the area are the Vaigai and the Suruliar. The Vaigaioriginates from Varusanad Hills while Suruliar originates from High Wavy Mountains and both join Periyar at different locations. The Public Works Department, Tamil Nadu has constructed five dams—High Wavys, Manalar, Venniyar, Eravangalar and Shanmuganathi—for electricity generation and for irrigation in and around Cumbam.

Tribes

Paliyar and Muthuvar are the two tribal communities spread across various parts of TheniDistrict (Jeyaprakash et al. 2011).

Bhupathy et al. (2009) and Sukhla(2013) have reported the forest types from Meghamalaiand its environs (Images 2–4). Besides these, teak plantations and cash crops (cardamom, and coffee (Image 5)) raised during the mid 19^th Century are still being maintained, though a few of them have been abandoned. Ailanthus excelsa,Ceiba pentandra, Tamarindus indica, Eucalyptus grandis, Schleichera oleosa were the plantations under practice in Theni Forest Division.

The eastern fringe of the area (Varusanad) is covered with tropical thorn forests. As per the working plan of the Tamil Nadu Forest Department (2005), the following forest types were identified (i) southern tropical west coast semi-evergreen forests, (ii) southern tropical moist mixed deciduous forests, (iii) southern tropical secondary moist mixed deciduous forest, (iv) southern tropical dry mixed deciduous forests (v) southern tropical carnaticumbrella thorn forests (vi) southern dry deciduous scrub forests.

Biodiversity

Flora: The flora and fauna of Meghamalailandscape attracted several researchers during the 19^th and early 20^thcenturies. The natural resources of this area were exploited by the British since 1801. The first status report on this forest was prepared by Colonel Beddomein 1857, which indicated rapid denudation due to a large number of commercial activities. Perhaps, this resulted in various conservation and management initiatives in the region as well as in the erstwhile Madras Presidency.

The area was under dense montane rain forests during early 1900 (Blatter & Hallberg1918). The Botanical Survey of India surveyed the area under District Flora Scheme 1984–1991. Seven new species have been reported by Ravikumar (1999). Syzygium zeylanicum var. megamalayanumis endemic to the landscape. Sasidharan et al. (1997) provided a brief description on the orchids of this area.

Fauna: Eighteen species of fishes belonging to 11 genera and four families have been reported from the area (Table 1). Among them, 10 (55.5%) are endemic to Western Ghats. Puntius ophicephalus, a rare barb has restricted distribution in the rivers originating/ flowing through this landscape (Silas 1951; Arunachalam et al. 2004).

Boulenger (1891a) described Ixalus (=Philautus) travancoricusbased on a specimen deposited at the British Museum (now Natural History Museum, London) by Mr. H.S. Ferguson from Bodanaikanur (now Bodinayakanur). This species (currently known as Raorchestes travancoricus), which is endemic to Theni Forests, is listed as ‘Extinct’ as the same was not recorded for over 100 years (IUCN 2011, IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, Version 2011. 2). Bhupathy et al. (2012) reported 35 species of amphibians, including 23 (65.7%) endemics from the landscape (Table 1) (Srinivas & Bhupathy 2013). Meghamalai is one of the two known localities for the Malabar False Tree Frog Rhacophorus pseudomalabaricus (Srinivaset al. 2009).

Sporadic reptile collections were carried out in this landscape by the British explorers which resulted in descriptions of snake species such as Silybura liura Günther, 1875, now Uropeltis liura (fide, Smith 1943), Silybura madurensis Beddome, 1878, nowUropeltis arcticeps madurensis (fide, Whitaker & Captain 2008) and Xylophis indicus Beddome, 1878, now a putative synonym of Xylophis stenorynchus(fide, Günther 1875). Based on the collection of Harold S. Ferguson of the State Museum at Trivandrum (1880–1904), Boulenger (1891b) described Lygosoma subcaeruleum (Blue-bellied Tree Skink, now Dasia subcaeruleum). A second specimen was collected by Angus F. Hutton from High Wavy Mountains and the same was reported by Smith (1949a). This species was reportedly endemic to the area till recently (Harikrishnanet al. 2012). Angus F. Hutton collected snakes from the area during 1946–48. Most of these specimens are housed in the Museum of the Bombay Natural History Society and Natural History Museum, London (Hutton 1949a; Hutton & David 2009). Based on these collections, Smith (1949b) described Hutton’s Pit Viper Trimeresurus (=Tropidolameous) huttoni. This species has not been recorded so far since its original description. In all, 90 taxa belonging to 53 genera and 16 families were reported from this landscape, including 30 (33.3%) endemic species (Bhupathy & Sathishkumar2013).

Nichols (1944a,b; 1945) surveyed the erstwhile Madura District including Meghamalai, for birds. Biddulph(1956) reported the occurrence of Red-faced Malkoha Phoenicophaeus pyrrhocephalusfrom this mountain range. Due to non-availability of specimens in the museum and lack of records from the region for over 60 years, distribution of this species within India is considered spurious, and currently this species is reportedly endemic to Sri Lanka (Erritzoe & Fuller 1997; Hoffmann 1996; Bhupathy et al. 2012). A most recent compilation showed that the area harbors254 species belonging to 18 orders and 55 families of birds, and this includes 11% (18 of 159 species) of threatened bird species of India and 88% (14 of 16 species) of endemic birds of the Western Ghats (Babu& Bhupathy 2013). There were a few intensive studies on Grey Jungle Fowl Gallus sonneratii that addressed habitat use, nesting seasonality and threats on the species (Subramanian 2002; Ramesh 2007).

Meghamalai was included in the Mammal Survey of India (1911–1923) organized by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). Stanley Hendry Pratercarried out surveys in Meghamalai during 1917 and the results were reported by Wroughton(1917). Angus F. Hutton (1946–48) collected mammals from this landscape (Hutton 1949b). Thonglongya (1972) described a new species of bat, Sálim Ali’s Fruit Bat Latidens salimalii from Hutton’s collection. In recent years, a few researchers conducted surveys in the High Wavy Mountains in search of the globally threatenedLatidens salimalii. Muni (1991) has described the experience of mist netting the bat in the High Wavy Mountains. After a lapse of a decade, Singaravelan & Marimuthu(2003a,b) mist netted Sálim Ali’s Fruit Bat and described habitat characteristics and morphometric differences of the species with other closely related species. Including all records, 63 species of mammals belonging to 24 families were reported to occur in the landscape, which include 24 globally threatened and nine Western Ghats endemics (Babu et al. 2013).

Most of explorations and research on the biota of the Meghamalai were carried out during pre-independence era (Silas 1951; Boulenger1891a; Smith 1943; Hutton 1949a; Nichols 1944a,b, 1945; Hutton 1949b). In recent years, the study of flora and fauna of this region is being carried out by several research institutions such as Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (Bhupathy et al. 2012) and Wildlife Information Liaison Development Society, Coimbatore (Babuet al. 2013), and Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai (Singaravelan & Marimuthu2003a,b). Several local NGOs such as VANAM, Wildlife Association of Rajapalayam and Wildlife Association of Ramnad District are interested in conserving this landscape (Kumara et al. 2011).

Conservation Issues

Conservation problems of this area are similar to that of other landscapes of the Western Ghats. Major among them are:

1. Encroachment and developmental activities—About 5911ha of area has been encroached in 2896 encroachments. This includes 2060ha in Varusanad and 1721ha in MeghamalaiForest Ranges (Srinivas et al. 2013). Apart from these, leased forest land for tea and coffee estates in the upper elevations also take a major share of natural forests. The estate workers depend on natural forests for their fire wood requirement and for cattle grazing. New proposals on roads in this landscape should be carefully studied and mortality of fauna due to vehicular traffic needs to be assessed (Bhupathy et al. 2012)

2. Monoculture plantations such as Silk Cotton (Ceiba pentandra) have been extensively planted in the Varusanad Valley and the southern slopes of Koranganai. Preliminary surveys show that these plantations are devoid of vertebrates as the lower stratum is removed periodically. A detailed study on vertebrate assemblages in the plantation would help in managing biodiversity in these man-modified landscapes.

3. Five hydro-electric projects are currently in operation in this landscape. Apart from inundation of natural forests, these dams might hinder the movement of smaller vertebrates such as fishes and amphibians (tadpoles). Investigations on the current capacities of these hydro-electricprojects and their utilization by wildlife are required.

4. Hunting was reported as an issue for the wildlife in the landscape (Kumara et al. 2011). In addition, on-going studies on large mammals by WILD would provide the baseline information about the hunting practices and preferred species by hunters in the area.

The present review shows that the Meghamalai landscape harbors rich diversity of several groups of vertebrates including endemics (Table 1). Ecology of many of these species is poorly known. Only a portion (269.11km²) of the Meghamalai landscape has been declared as Meghamalai Wildlife Sanctuary (MWS), and efforts should be made to identify other important areas holding rich biodiversity and proposals should be made to include them in the existing protected area (MWS). Recognizing this landscape as a nationally important area such as a Tiger Reserve (Srivilliputtur-Meghamalai) and Important Bird Area would help conserving the biota of Western Ghats in a long run.

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