Journal of
Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 June 2018 | 10(7): 11895–11915
Floristic enumeration of Torna Fort (Western Ghats, India): a storehouse
of endemic plants
Mayur D. Nandikar 1, Priyanka T.
Giranje 2 & Durga
C. Jadhav 3
1,2,3 Naoroji Godrej Centre for Plant Research,
431, Lawkim Campus, Shindewadi, Shirwal, Satara, Maharashtra 412801, India
1 mnandikar@gmail.com, nandikar@godrej.com
(corresponding author), 2 priyagiranje24@gmail.com, 3 durgacjadhav@gmail.com
Abstract: The forts on hilltops of the Sahyadri
(northern Western Ghats) have seen a turbulent historical past and are famous
for their architectural style and cultural heritage. Besides this, these hilltops are home to an incredible plant diversity. One of the highest hilltop forts (ca. 1,403m)
the Torna, has been explored since 2012 for floral
assessment. The study documented ca. 399
plant species of which about 28% are endemic to the Western Ghats and 16
monotypic species were recorded. A brief
account of the immense floristic diversity and new findings from Torna fort are
summarized in the present article.
Keywords: Endemism, hilltop forts, flowering
plants, northern Western Ghats.
doi: http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3705.10.7.11895-11915
Editor: Aparna Watve, Biome Conservation Foundation, Pune, India. Date of publication: 26 June 2018
(online & print)
Manuscript details: Ms # 3705 | Received 29 September 2017 | Final received 01
June 2018 | Finally accepted 13 June 2018
Citation: Nandikar, M.D., P.T. Giranje
& D.C. Jadhav (2018). Floristic enumeration of Torna Fort (Western Ghats,
India): a storehouse of endemic plants. Journal of Threatened
Taxa 10(7): 11895–11915; http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3705.10.7.11895-11915
Copyright: © Nandikar et al. 2018. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International 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: Naoroji Godrej Centre for Plant
Research.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Author Details: Dr. Mayur D. Nandikar - presently working in the area of plant taxonomy and conservation as a
Scientist and Head at Naoroji Godrej Centre for Plant Research (NGCPR)
Shirwal. Ms.
Priyanka T. Giranje - research fellow at NGCPR,
working in biosystematics studies on the genus Ledebouria in
India and also studying the endemic plants from the northern Western Ghats. Ms. Durga C. Jadhav - research fellow at
NGCPR, studying the genus Salacia in India and also engaged in
documentation of local flora from Satara District.
Author Contribution: MDN - Project design, proposal, implementation, plant collection,
photography, data interpretation, editing. PTG - Plant
collection, endemic plant enumeration, herbarium preparation, manuscript
writing. DCJ - Plant collection, data processing,
herbarium preparation, manuscript writing.
Acknowledgements: Authors are thankful to Mr. Vijay M. Crishna, Director,
Naoroji Godrej Centre for Plant Research (NGCPR) for
the consistent support and encouragement and Dr. K.V.C. Gosavi, HPT Arts &
KCK Sci. College, Nashik for assistance in grass identification and
photographs. We extend our thanks to Dr.
Vinod Shimple, Dr. Nilesh Pawar, Dr. Alok Chorghe, and Kishor KC for assisting
in the field tours to the Torna Fort. We
are also thankful to anonymous reviewers for their critical comments on the
draft and conceptualizing an idea about BHS in the view of conservation.
INTRODUCTION
India
is one of the megabiodiverse countries of the world. It has diverse biogeography, and consists of
about 18,000 plant species, which is almost 11% of total species in the world
(Singh et al. 2015). One of the global
biodiversity hotspots, the Western Ghats consist more than 7,400 plant species
of which 1,270 are endemic (Nayar et al. 2014). Mountain ranges
of the northern Western Ghats are commonly known as Sahyadri. These ranges are very diverse in the
habitats, flora and fauna.
The northern
Western Ghats spreads from Tapti (Gujarat) to Goa with an average elevation of
900m. Torna hilltop with an altitude
1,403m is one of the tallest peaks in Maharashtra and highest peak in Pune
District. It is one of the renowned
historical forts, which served as the capital of Maratha dynasty for 25 years
and lies 50km southwest of Pune City in Velhe Tehsil.
Hilltop forts
in Sahyadri are famous for their architectural style, cultural heritage and for
being witness to the turbulent historical past.
In addition, these forts and adjoining areas possess specific habitats
like flat summits, rocky flanks, crevices, precipitous slopes, which shelter
extremely rich plant diversity. Previous
documentation of these centres of floristic diversity includes Sinhagad,
Purandar and Khandala (Santapau 1951, 1957, 1967), Torna Hills, Katraj Ghats and
Rajgad Fort (Vartak 1953, 1960, 1965), Harishchandragad (Billore & Hemadri
1969), and the enumeration of vegetation from hilltops near Pune and adjoining
areas (Cooke 1901–1908; Razi 1952).
Moreover, new species and new additions to the state flora have been
published from these hilltops during the last century. Detailed study on the endemism from these
hilltops has not been done so far and therefore, the present study on floristic
assessment and endemism is the beginning of this endeavour.
METHODS
Study area
The
study was in and around Torna Fort which is situated between 18.290597220N
and 73.624444440E, 18.265163890N and 73.610555560E,
covering a study area of ca. 10,000ha.
It ranges from the foot of the mountain at village Velhe, Pune (750m) to
the hilltop of Torna Fort situated at 1,403m and about 50km southwest of Pune,
Maharashtra (Image 1). Foothill soil is
mainly composed of ‘moorum’ (a soil type, comprising small pieces of
disintegrated rock or shale) and red soil while slopes have loose red soil, the
plateau top has very shallow soil cover on basalt. Average rainfall during the six months of
monsoon is around 900mm (Maharashtra State Gazetteer 1992). Torna Fort is frequently
visited by tourists, trekkers, and nature lovers during the monsoon. Hilltop and slopes are used
by local inhabitants for grazing and collection of fuel wood. Widening of the tar road have
opened a corridor for tourist vehicles up to the middle of the fort and it can
be referred to as a possible threat to the habitat.
Data collection
Our
study is an outcome of continuous expeditions to the Torna Fort during
2012–2017. Plant materials were
collected during regular field visits at different seasons. Bridson & Forman (1999) have been
followed for herbarium preparations. The
identity of plants was confirmed with the help of floras (Cooke 1901–1908;
Lakshminarasimhan 1996; Singh & Karthikeyan 2000, 2001). The collected specimens have been deposited
at NGCPR with accession details. Besides
this Agharkar Research Institute, Pune (AHMA) and Fergusson College Herbarium,
Pune have been consulted for the specimens collected by V.D. Vartak from Torna
and adjoining area. Endemic statuses of
plants were confirmed by using research publications (Tetali et al. 2000;
Gaikwad et al. 2014; Nayar et al. 2014; Singh et al. 2015). The families have been arranged
alphabetically. Binomials and
nomenclature follows the International Plant Name Index (IPNI 2012).
The monotypic taxa have been identified (Rana & Ranade 2009). Categorization for threat has followed the
IUCN (2017). A glimpse of endemic plants
is featured in the images (Images 3–7).
RESULTS
Torna Fort
shows a high degree of variation in habitats and in vegetation patterns. The plateau and plains are covered with grasses,
sedges, orchids, scrophulariaceae, legumes and other ephemerals, Strobilanthes,
etc. (Image 2 C & G). Vertical rocky cliffs are covered with
liverworts, mosses, ferns, balsams, lithophytic grasses, Begonias, Senecio
edgeworthii Hook. f., etc. (Image 2E). Vegetation
on slopes are dominated by large number of endemic species, viz.,
Ceropegia sahyadrica Ansari & B.G.P.Kulk., Chlorophytum glaucum Dalzell, Neuracanthus
sphaerostachys (Nees) Dalzell, Adenoon indicum Dalzell, Strobilanthes
sessilis Nees, S. callosus Nees, Barleria sepalosa C.B.
Clarke, Delphinium malabaricum (Huth) Munz, Adelocaryum malabaricum (C.B.
Clarke) Brand, Echinops echinatus Roxb., and Thalictrum dalzellii Hook (Image
2B). Rocky crevices have Flemingia
rollae (Billore & Hemadri) Anand Kumar and Cyanotis tuberosa (Roxb.) Schult. & Schult.f. Hillslopes and valleys are
occupied by Strobilanthes callosus Nees, and the undergrowth
shelters species like Ceropegia maccannii Ansari, C. oculata Hook., C. media (H. Huber) Ansari, Vigna
sahyadriana Aitwade et al., Cucumis setosus Cogn., C. ritchiei Ghebret.
& Thulin, Argyreia cuneata (Willd.) Ker Gawl., Aeginetia indica
L., and Abutilon ranadei Woodrow & Staf (Image 2D). Different micro-habitats are enlisted for
each plant species separately in Table 1.
A total
of 399 angiosperm species which comprised 274 genera and 73 families are listed
in the present study (Table 1); 269 are dicotyledonous which belong to 199
genera and 59 families and 130 are monocotyledonous, which belong to 75 genera
and 14 families. Poaceae dominated the
list by having a total of 89 species, followed by Fabaceae (41 spp.),
Asteraceae (30 spp.), Acanthaceae (17 spp.), and Euphorbiaceae (13 spp.). Poaceae comprises 52 genera, followed by
Fabaceae (24 genera), Asteraceae (24 genera), Acanthaceae (15 genera),
Apocynaceae and Rubiaceae (nine genera each).
The most diverse genera are Ischaemum (8 spp.), Euphorbia,
Smithia, and Habenaria (7 spp. each), Dioscorea, Arthraxon
and Eragrostis (5 spp. each), Arundinella, Ceropegia, Ficus, Tripogon
and Vigna (4 spp. each). Six
families are represented by a single genus and 22 families are represented by a
single species. The vegetation is also
diversified in habits (Table 1) like annual, perennial, parasitic herbs, shrubs,
scandent shrubs, trees, climbers, and lianas.
DISCUSSION
From
the 399 plant species documented, 109 species (27.31%) are referred to as
endemic to the Western Ghats and India.
The Torna Fort is enriched with eight species of Ischaemum L. (4 endemic), seven species of Habenaria Willd. (5 endemic), seven species of Euphorbia L. (2 endemic), seven species
of Smithia Aiton (5 endemic), four endemic species of Ceropegia
L. (3 rare in occurrence) (Nayar
& Sastry 1987, 1988, 1990).
Sixteen species viz. Triplopogon ramosissimus (Hack.) Bor, Indopoa
paupercula (Stapf) Bor, Moullava spicata (Dalzell) Nicolson, Tamarindus
indica L., Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa, Urena lobata L., Erinocarpus
nimmonii J. Graham, Frerea indica Dalzell, Hemidesmus indicus
(L.) R.Br., Haldina cordifolia (Roxb.) C.E. Ridsdale, Spermadictyon
suaveolens Roxb., Calacanthus grandiflorus (Dalzell) Radlk., Colebrookea
oppositifolia Sm., Adenoon indicum Dalzell, Pinda concanensis
(Dalzell) P.K. Mukh. & Constance and Trilobachne cookei (Stapf)
Schenck ex Henrard are recorded as monotypic.
Torna Fort is
the only repository for the Critically Endangered Barleria sepalosa C.B.
Clarke (Acanthaceae) which is rediscovered after a lapse of 128 years (Gosavi
et al. 2013), and the recent study also extends the distribution of Flemingia
rollae (Fabaceae), the species which was earlier known from its type
locality at Kalsubai Hilltop, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra (Gavade et al. 2016).
In the context
of anthropogenic activities and threat to the habitats, many hilltops like the
table land of Panchgani (Satara District), Sinhagad Fort (Pune District),
Panhala (Kolhapur District) are prone to disturbances viz.,
tourism, overgrazing, invasive species and grassland fires. Poor planning of tourism and lack of
awareness regarding the unique habitat and vegetation are serious threats to
these areas. Present efforts have been
made to create awareness amongst the visitors, authorities and custodians as
authors have witnessed the developmental activities like clearing of roadside
vegetation for widening of roads and new road construction during the last four
years at Torna Fort. The earlier
enumeration by Vartak (1953) listed 241 species while the present study of
Torna lists 399 angiosperms of which 109 (27.31%) are endemic to India. The detailed plant enumeration with its
endemism, distribution, phenology, habitat and habit has been tabulated in Table
1.
CONCLUSION
Torna Fort in
the northern Western Ghats exhibits habitat diversity with annual and perennial
floristic components. The fort stands as
a storehouse of endemic and unique floral diversity. The topography, elevation and distinct climatic
conditions make the fort different from other lowland floristic habitats. Although, Torna Fort is in consideration for
tourism development by the government as archaeological monument, we strongly
believe that presence of endemic, threatened plant species and unique habitats
can be adequate for ‘Biodiversity Heritage Sites’ to ensure further
conservation measures.
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