An Annotated Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Udaipur Wildlife Sanctuary, West Champaran, Bihar, India
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ISSN (Online): 2349 -1183; ISSN (Print): 2349 -9265 TROPICAL PLANT RESEARCH 7(1): 209–228, 2020 The Journal of the Society for Tropical Plant Research DOI: 10.22271/tpr.2020.v7.i1.027 Research article An annotated checklist of the vascular plants of the Udaipur wildlife sanctuary, West Champaran, Bihar, India Anand Kumar1, Saurabh Sachan1, Tanay Shil1 and Onkar Nath Maurya2* 1Central National Herbarium, Botanical Survey of India, P.O. Botanic Garden, Howrah-711103, West Bengal, India 2 Botanical Survey of India, CGO Complex, Salt Lake City, Kolkata-700064, West Bengal, India *Corresponding Author: [email protected] [Accepted: 17 April 2020] Abstract: The Udaipur forest was notified as a wildlife sanctuary in 1978 and is situated around the Sareyaman Lake in West Champaran district of Bihar. The sanctuary is known for the migratory birds who visit the Sareyaman Lake during the winter season. Field surveys were conducted periodically in 2017–2018 in the Sanctuary to access the plant diversity. A total of 283 taxa under 225 genera are enumerated from 71 families. It includes one species, endemic to India and two species listed in appendix-II of CITES. Poaceae is the most dominant family with high species representation, followed by Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, Cyperaceae, Apocynaceae, Rubiaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Malvaceae, Acanthaceae, Boraginaceae, Convolvulaceae and Cucurbitaceae. In addition, 23 species belonging to 23 genera and 14 families were new additions to the ‘Flora of West Champaran district, Bihar’. Keywords: Bihar - Checklist - Udaipur Wildlife Sanctuary - Vascular plants. [Cite as: Kumar A, Sachan S, Shil T & Maurya ON (2020) An annotated checklist of the vascular plants of the Udaipur wildlife sanctuary, West Champaran, Bihar, India. Tropical Plant Research 7(1): 209–228] INTRODUCTION India is one of the 18 mega diverse nations in the world in terms of biodiversity with its rich and diverse floral wealth, ranking 10th among the top 25 species rich countries. With only 2.4% of the world’s geographical area, it accounts for 7–8% of the world’s recorded plant and animal species (IUCN 2019). At present, the country has 869 protected areas, including 104 National Parks, 551 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 87 Conservation Reserves and 127 Community Reserves. In addition, 18 Biosphere Reserves, 32 Elephant Reserves and 50 Tiger Reserves are also found in India (WII 2019). Protected areas are one of the well-recognized in situ conservation methods to protect the biodiversity across the world. Bihar covers an area of 94,163 km2, of which about 7,305 km2 is under forest cover that constitutes 7.76% of total geographical area (FSI 2019). The state has 11 Wildlife Sanctuaries and a National Park (Singh & Singh 2002, WII 2019) covering about 3280 km2. Previous documentation includes enumeration of the flora of Udaipur forests from Charmparan district (Thothathri et al. 1966) and flora of West Champaran (Bhattacharya & Sarkar 1998). Moreover, new additions to the state and district flora were also published (Thothathri 1965, Singh 2005). The present survey has been conducted to study the vegetation/flora of Udaipur wildlife sanctuary, West Champaran, Bihar, India. Since, the documentation of the area was carried out 55 years ago (Thothathri et al. 1966) before its notification as Sanctuary in 1978. Therefore, the present study is one such effort to document all floral elements and assess the vascular plants diversity of the Sanctuary. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study area The Udaipur forest was notified as a wildlife sanctuary in 1978 under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (Figs. 1–3). It was earlier owned by the erstwhile Bettiah Estate with shooting facilities. The name of the sanctuary was coined in the memory of Sri Udai Singh, one of the successors of Bettiah Estate and owners of these forests before independence. The sanctuary is situated 14.5 km west of Bettiah town in the West Champaran district of www.tropicalplantresearch.com 209 Received: 07 November 2019 Published online: 30 April 2020 https://doi.org/10.22271/tpr.2020.v7.i1.027 Kumar et al. 2020 Bihar and lies between 26° 46'42" N to 26° 49'15" N and 84° 24'24" E to 84° 27'15" E. It is predominantly forested wetland, located on both sides of an Oxbow Lake (Sareyaman Lake) and covers an area of 8.87 km2. The soil is of immature riverain type and it is clayey, sandy loam and greyish with slightly alkaline in nature. Annual average rainfall is 1201 mm (Roy 2016). The sanctuary was created to protect the bird diversity in the area and to also conserve the ecosystem functions as it is one of the most important wetland in this highly urbanized landscape. The main attraction of the sanctuary is the Sareyaman Lake where migratory birds visit during the winter season and the lake acts as wintering sites for these migratory birds. The area is one of the recognized important bird area and a centre for conservation, education and recreation in the State. Tourists, school and college students visit the sanctuary for watching migratory bird in winter (November to March) and collecting information on floral and faunal diversity to study the ecosystem. The vegetation falls under four categories such as mixed deciduous forest, vegetation in plantation, grasslands and aquatic vegetation. Figure 1. Location map of the Udaipur wildlife sanctuary, West Champaran, Bihar, India. Figure 2. Udaipur wildlife sanctuary, West Champaran, Bihar, India. www.tropicalplantresearch.com 210 Tropical Plant Research (2020) 7(1): 209–228 Figure 3. Udaipur wildlife sanctuary, West Champaran, Bihar, India (Satellite view). Data collection Literature pertaining to the flora of Udaipur wildlife sanctuary, West Champaran district, Bihar was collected from published works prior to undertaking explorations. Specimens collected by K. Thothathri and B.V. Shetty exclusively from Udaipur forests deposited at Central National Herbarium (CAL) were studied during the present documentation. Field surveys were undertaken periodically in the sanctuary during 2017– 2018 and plant samples with flowers and fruits were collected during field surveys. The collected specimens were processed following standard herbarium techniques (Bridson & Forman 1998). Specimens were identified using national and regional floras (Hooker 1872–1897, Haines 1921–25, Hajra et al. 1995a, 1995b, Rajendran & Daniel 2002, Balakrishnan et al. 2012, Bandyopadhyay 2014) and also compared with authentic specimens deposited at CAL. A set of voucher specimens duly labelled are deposited at CAL. The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (2016) system of classification is followed in the present documentation. The species under a family have been arranged in alphabetical order. The nomenclature of plants has been updated using Plants of the World Online (2019) and International Plant Name Index (2019). Authors of Plant Names have been given according to Brummitt & Powell (1992). RESULTS The flora comprises 283 taxa (angiosperms: 278, pteridophytes: 5) belonging to 225 genera and 71 families (Table 1). The study of literature (Thothathri 1965, Bhattacharya & Sarkar 1998, Singh et al. 2001) revealed that out of the 283 taxa, 23 species belonging to 23 genera and 14 families are new additions to the ‘Flora of West Champaran district, Bihar’. Poaceae with 31 species followed by Fabaceae (27 species), Asteraceae & Lamiaceae (15 spp. each), Cyperaceae (13 spp.), Apocynaceae & Rubiaceae (11 spp. each), Euphorbiaceae & Malvaceae (10 spp. each) and Acanthaceae, Boraginaceae, Convolvulaceae & Cucurbitaceae (7 spp. each) are the dominant families with high species representation (Fig. 4). Cyperus is the most dominant genus with 5 species, followed by Euphorbia, Fimbristylis & Solanum (4 spp. each) and Alysicarpus, Commelina, Ipomoea, Ficus and Phyllanthus (3 spp. each) (Fig. 5). An analysis on the life-form composition of the flora reveals that there are 189 herbaceous species that constitute 66.8% of flora, followed by 34 tree species (12%), 31 species of shrubs (11%) and 29 species of climbers (10.2%) (Fig. 6). Photographs of habitats and important plants have also been provided in photoplates (Figs. 7–13). Table 1. Checklist of vascular plants of the Udaipur wildlife sanctuary, West Champaran, Bihar, India. Flowering and S.N. Family/ Plants name Habit Specimens examined Fruiting NYMPHAEACEAE 1. Nymphaea nouchali Burm. f. Aug.–Dec. Herb ONM, AK & SS 85567 2. Nymphaea pubescens Willd. Sept.–Nov. Herb ONM, AK & SS 85608 PIPERACEAE 3. Peperomia pellucida (L.) Kunth April–Sept. Herb ONM, AK & SS 74784 www.tropicalplantresearch.com 211 Kumar et al. 2020 ANNONACEAE 4. Miliusa tomentosa (Roxb.) Finet & March–June Tree ONM, AK & SS 65570 Gagnep.* ARACEAE 5. Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott Aug.–Dec. Herb ONM, AK & SS 85627 ALISMATACEAE 6. Caldesia parnassifolia (L.) Parl. May–Oct Herb K. Thothathri 9902 HYDROCHARITACEAE 7. Hydrilla verticillata (L.f.) Royle Apirl–Dec. Herb ONM, AK & SS 65582; K. Thothathri 9941 8. Najas marina L. Aug.–Sept. Herb ONM, AK & SS 65584, 85536 9. Nechamandra alternifolia (Roxb. ex Aug.–Nov. Herb ONM, AK & SS 85606 Wight) Thwaites 10. Ottelia alismoides (L.) Pers. Nov.–April Herb B.V. Shetty 197 POTAMOGETONACEAE 11. Potamogeton nodosus Poir. July–Sept. Herb ONM, AK & SS 65583, 85512, 85544; K. Thothathri 9939 DIOSCOREACEAE 12. Dioscorea bulbifera L. Sept.–March Climber ONM, AK & SS 85516 13. Dioscorea glabra Roxb. Sept.–Jan. Climber ONM, AK & SS 85550 ORCHIDACEAE 14. Habenaria plantaginea Lindl.* Aug.–Oct. Herb ONM, AK & SS 74776, 85515 15. Vanda tessellata (Roxb.) Hook. ex G. April–July Herb ONM, AK & SS 85529 Don HYPOXIDACEAE 16. Curculigo orchioides Gaertn. April–Aug. Herb ONM, AK & SS 85530 ARECACEAE 17. Calamus tenuis Roxb. July–Dec. Shrub ONM, AK & SS 74708 18. Phoenix sylvestris (L.) Roxb. March–June Tree ONM, AK & SS 85634 COMMELINACEAE 19. Commelina benghalensis L. June–Nov. Herb ONM, AK & SS 85541 20. Commelina longifolia Lam. Aug.–Nov. Herb ONM, AK & SS 65525, 74767 21. Commelina undulata R.Br.* May–July Herb ONM, AK & SS 85578 22. Murdannia nudiflora (L.) Brenan Aug.–Nov. Herb ONM, AK & SS 65519, 85542 PONTEDERIACEAE 23.