Check List 8(5): 951–962, 2012 © 2012 Check List and Authors Chec List ISSN 1809-127X (available at www.checklist.org.br) Journal of species lists and distribution Arborescent Angiosperms of Mundanthurai Range in PECIES S the Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) of the OF southern Western Ghats, India ISTS L Paulraj Selva Singh Richard 1* and Selvaraj Abraham Muthukumar 2 1 Madras Christian College, Department of Botany, Chennai – 600 059, Tamil Nadu, India. 2 St. John’s College, Department of Botany, Tirunelveli, 627 002, Tamil Nadu, India. [email protected] * Corresponding author. E-mail: Abstract: The present study was carried out to document the diversity of arborescent angiosperm taxa of Mundanthurai representingRange in the 175Kalakad-Mundanthurai genera in 65 families Tiger were Reserve recorded. (KMTR) The most of the speciose southern families Western are Euphorbiaceae Ghats in India. (27 During spp.), the Rubiaceae floristic survey carried out from January 2008 to December 2010, a total of 247 species and intraspecific taxa of trees and shrubs to this region which includes Agasthiyamalaia pauciflora, Elaeocarpus venustus, Garcinia travancorica, Gluta travancorica, (17Goniothalamus spp.), Myrtaceae rhynchantherus, (14 spp.), Lauraceae Homalium (13 travancoricum, spp.) and Annonaceae Homaium (11 jainii, spp.). OropheaOf the 247 uniflora, taxa, 27 Phlogacanthus species are endemic albiflorus, only Polyalthia shendurunii, Symplocos macrocarpa and Symplocos sessilis . This clearly signifies that this range is relevant to the conservation of the local flora. Introduction India for conserving global biological diversity and also The Western Ghats is one of the biodiversity hotspots declared as Regional Centre of Endemism in the Indian of the world (Myers et al. 2000). It is a mountainous subcontinent (Davis et al. 1995). There are c. 2255 species of Angiosperms so far recorded from Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, including 448 species endemic to the range extending from the mouth of the river Tapti in Western Ghats; in addition 150 species are strict endemics hillGujarat range to Kanyakumariaccommodates in differentTamil Nadu. vegetation The floristic types of the Agasthiyamalai region. This high rate of endemism suchdiversity as wet of theevergreen Western forests, Ghats ismoist very and significant dry deciduous as this is mostly attributed to the short dry period (1–4 months). forests, montane forests, sholas, scrubs and savannas. The leeward side of Agasthiyamalai and Kalakad hills Some of prominent research on the documentation of appears to be the zones of active speciation (Henry et al. the tree species of the Western Ghats are Pascal and 1984). The region also represents a rich reservoir for a Pelissier’s (1996) report on 103 tree species of Uppangala, large number of wild relatives of cultivated plant species a part of central Western Ghats, Parthasarathy’s (1999) (Viswanathan 1999; Gopalan and Henry 2000; Annamalai documentation of 122 woody species (114 trees) belonging 2004). to 89 genera and 41 families from southern Western Ghats Some of the recent studies that describe the importance and recently a compilation by Ramesh et al. (2007) of 526 of this region include Pascal et al. 1997; Gopalan and Henry arborescent species distributed in the Western Ghats and 2000; Manickam et al. 2003; Ramesh et al. 2007. In recent 241 of these in the southern Western Ghats. Ganesh et years many new species were discovered and reported as a al. (1996) recorded 140 species of woody angiosperms Memecylon manickamii from the Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, southern (Murugan et al. 2000); Memecylon tirunelvelicum (Murugan etresult al. of2001); repeated Memecylon field exploration: mundanthuraianum, Polyalthia Agasthiyamalai region’s tree species were by Gopalan tirunelveliensis, (Viswanathan and Manikandan 2001a, b); andWestern Henry Ghats. (2000), Other Mohanan documentations and Sivadasan exclusively (2002) on andthe Glochidion balakrishnanii (Jothi et al. 2002); Xanthophyllum Annamalai (2004). The Western Ghats also have a high manickamii (Murugan 2002); Miliusa tirunelvelica proportion of endemism, comprising 1720 endemic (Murugan et al. 2004); Schefflera agasthiyamalayana species (i.e about 40%) out of c (Manickam et al. 2007); Syzygium agasthiyamalayanum plants (Kaveriappa and Shetty 2001). Among the endemic (Viswanathan and Manikandan 2008). species, 63% were represented. by4500 trees species and the of floweringsouthern The present study was carried out with the objective region of Western Ghats is rich in endemism by having of documenting the arborescent angiosperms of 1051 endemic species (Ramesh and Pascal 1991; Tissot et Mundanthurai Range of Agsthiyamalai Biosphere Reserve, al. 1994; Viswanathan 1999). The Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) is situated in the southern Western Ghats in Tirunelveli Materialssouthern Western and Methods Ghats, India in an exclusive manner. district, Tamil Nadu, forming a part of the Agasthyamalai Study area region. This region is one of the plant diversity centres in Mundanthurai Range lies between 08°31’ N – 08°48’ N 951 Richard and Muthukumar | Angiosperms in the Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, India and 77°10’ E – 77°21’ E. It is situated on the eastern slope representing 175 genera distributed in 65 families were of Agasthiyamalai Biosphere Reserve and covers an area of recorded from Mundanthurai range of southern Western about 270 km2 (Figure 1). It is one of the important ranges Ghats (Table 1). This includes 218 species of canopy and in Kalakad–Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) of understorey trees, 23 species of shrubs (height < 5m, DBH Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu, sharing the Agasthiyamalai >1cm) and 6 species of woody climbers. The most speciose peak (1868 m) with the neighbouring state, Kerala. This families of the study area include Euphorbiaceae with 27 study area also covers a wide array of forest types such species, followed by Rubiaceae (17 spp.), Myrtaceae (14 as southern tropical thorn forests (200 m), southern spp.), Lauraceae (13 spp.) and Annonaceae (11 spp.). tropical dry deciduous forests (300 m), grasslands at Ganesh et al. (1996) also mentioned Lauraceae, Rubiaceae lower altitude (500 m), southern tropical moist deciduous and Euphorbiaceae as the three most dominant families in forests (500 m), Tirunelveli-semi evergreen forests (700 terms of species richness in the forest. The most speciose m), southern tropical wet evergreen (rain) forests (800 – genera include Eugenia (8 spp.), followed by Syzygium (6 1500 m), subtropical montane forests and grasslands at spp.), 5 spp. each in Garcinia, Elaeocarpus and Memecylon, higher altitude (>1500 m) (Gopalan and Henry 2000). 4 spp. each in Diospyros, Terminalia and Mallotus. The pictures of selected species are given in Figures 2 – 4. Of Data collection species. to December 2010 covering various seasons. A total of 36 the In247 this arboreal study, taxa,tree aboutspecies 88% that consist are predominantly of evergreen The study area has been explored from January 2008 associated with their respective vegetation were Albizia odoratisima, Bauhinia racemosa, field trips (120 field days) were conducted to the study Capparis grandis, Erythroxylon monogynum are some of 1908;area. The Gamble voucher and specimens Fischer 1915were collected– 1936; andGopalan identified and theassessed: important species distributed in southern tropical Henryusing local 2000 floras and thesuch Biotik as Beddome – Western 1868 Ghats – 1874; v. 1.0 Bourdillon software application (Ramesh et al. 2007). The identity on the adjoining areas. The southern tropical dry deciduous thorn forests that exist around Mundanthurai and its with authentic specimens at Madras Herbarium (MH), Papanasm region are commonly associated with species Coimbatore;species was Frenchlater confirmed Institute ofby Pondicherry comparing Herbariumspecimens suchforests as existing Albizia near odoratisima, Servalar, Karaiyar,Lannea Kattlemalaicoromandelica, and (IFPH), Puducherry, St. Xavier’s College Herbarium (XCH), Pterocarpus marsupium, Terminalia chebula, Hiptage Tirunelveli and M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, benghalensis, Vitex altissima. Grasslands at lower altitude Community Agrobiodiversity Centre Herbarium, Wayanad (500 m), southern tropical moist deciduous forests (500 m) includes tree species such as Dillenia pentagyna, Acronychia pedunculata, Pterocarpus marsupium, Bridelia some(MSSH). alterations The families based on were split-up classified of various according families. Theto scandens, Clausena indica, Glochidion ellipticum, Terminalia familiesBentham as and well Hooker as the generaClassification are arranged (1862 in– alphabetical1883), with paniculata, Helectres isora, Careya arborea as important order. All the processed voucher specimens were deposited components. Tirunelveli-semi evergreen forests (700 at the Herbarium of French Institute (IFPH), Pondicherry. m) in patches and belts commonly occur in Injikuzhi, Kannikatty, 8th mile with commonly occurring species Results and Discussion such as Antidesma menasu, Erythroxylon lanceolatum, Filicium decipiens, Gordonia obtusa, Holigarna arnottiana, Diospyros spp., Cleistanthus travancorensis, Psychotria During the floristic survey, a total of 247 species nigra, Gomphia serrata. Southern hilltop tropical evergreen forests (800 – 1500 m) common in Chinnapul, Kaliparpuli (Pandipathu), Chemunji and Upmamottai region include Agasthiyamalaia pauciflora, Cullenia exarillata,