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Diversity, Distribution Pattern and Conservation of Pteridophytes in Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh

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Diversity, Distribution Pattern and Conservation of Pteridophytes in Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh 1330 Indian Forester [October, DIVERSITY, DISTRIBUTION PATTERN AND CONSERVATION OF PTERIDOPHYTES IN MEHAO WILDLIFE SANCTUARY, ARUNACHAL PRADESH VINEET KUMAR RAWAT AND T.R. SAHU* Botanical Survey of India, Central Circle, Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh). Introduction Palaearctic, Indo-Chinese and Indo- Malayan floral and faunal elements. The Indian Himalayan Region (IHR), Centrally located natural water bodies extends from Jammu & Kashmir to like mehao lake covering an area about Arunachal Pradesh. It is known for its 200 ha and Mini Mehao lake add to the natural, representative and unique flora. beauty and wealth of the sanctuary. The The pteriophytic flora of the IHR sanctuary enjoys a cool climate throughout constitutes a very prominent part of the the year with 2,680 mm average annual vegetation and over 600 species of rainfall. pteridophytes are known from the region (Bir, 1993). A few species are medicinal The main tribes inhabiting in MWLS and edibles. Pteriophytic flora of the IHR are the Idus and Mishmis. The staple food has not received much attention compared of the people is rice, millet and meat. Apart to higher group of plants, and many parts from this, a varietyof wild leafy vegetables, in IHR particularly Protected Areas (PAs) roots, tubers, fruits as well as pumpkin, have not been explored adequately. potato, brinjal, ginger, onion, mustard, bamboo shoots, mushrooms are included The Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary lies in their diet. A beer called ‘Yu’ or ‘Apong’ between 95o15' - 97o50'E longitudes and is the common drink and it is fermented 27o - 29o30' N latitudes. It is located in from rice or millets. Agriculture is the Debang Valley District of Arunachal mainstay of the economy and the Pradesh and covers an area of 281.50km2. traditional shifting of ‘Jhum’ is the most The terrain is entirely hilly, varying in popular method practiced by the people. altitude from 400m to 3,000m. There are a number of perennial streams and lakes The sanctuary area is rich in faunal (Mehao, Epipani, Ejo, Aba, Defu etc.) resource and a large number of animals draining the sanctuary. The area falls with like tiger, fishing cat. Himalayan bear, in the geographical sub-tropics and sloth bear, jackal, mongoose, otters, temperate climate. The biological elephant, with buffalo, goral, serrow, importance of the area can be visualized sambhar, barking deer, wild boar, by the fact that the area includes porcupines, rats, shrews etc. and several * Dr. H.S. Gaur Vishwavidyalaya, Sagar (Madhya Pradesh). 2009] Diversity, distribution pattern and conservation of Pteridophytes in ... 1331 species of bats occur in this area. The avian precipitation, mostly snowfall over the fauna comprises of about 400 species. mountains. Study site Temperature : The maximum temperature is in the range of 12oC to 39oC and Topography : The terrain is entirely hilly, minimum in the range of 2oC to 23oC. Both varying in altitude from 400m to 3,000m. day and night temperatures rise rapidly There are a number of perennial streams from March and continue till June which and lakes (Mehao, Epipani, Ejo, Aba, Defu is the hottest month with maximum and etc.) draining the sanctuary. The area falls minimum temperatures 39oC and 22oC within the geographically sub-tropics and respectively. temperate climate. The biological importance of the area can be visualized Humidity : The relative humidity in the by the fact that the area includes sanctuary area is high throughout the year palaerctic, Indo-Chinese and Indo-Malayan however, winter months are slightly less flora and faunal elements. humid with the humidity ranging from 44 to 96%. The humidity starts rising rapidly Climate : The sanctuary area falls within from May onwards. the geographically subtropical zone, and enjoys subtropical climate with a distinct, Special Weather Phenomena : Thunder through short, cold weather from storms mainly occur from February to November to February in the lower September. It's maximum frequency is in reaches. This is the most pleasant period April and minimum in the month of when humidity in the air is least. However, December. During the pre-monsoon on the basis of the experience and available months, thunder storms are often violent information, seasons can be classified as and from December to April they are follows : occasionally accompanied by hail. Fog is frequent in the valleys during the winter The cold season - December to February months. The pre monsoon season - March to May The monsoon season followed by South- Material and Methods West monsoon – June to September The post-monsoon season from October to The present study is based on primary November. It is also a period of surveys conducted in the different localities transition. of Mehao Wildlife sanctuary (Shalley Lake, Mayodia, Mehao Lake, Epipani) in 2001, Rainfall : The climate of sanctuary is a and also on the secondary information typical monsoon type. The mean annual available from literature (Beddome, 1883; rainfall over the Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary Borthakur and Barua, 2000; Chandra, is of the order of 2,680mm. The maximum 2000; Dixit, 1984; Singh and Panigrahi, rainfall is experienced during the months 2005). For each species information on from June to September. During the altitudinal range and habitat was collected months of November to March, the during exploration tour. The samples of region periodically comes under the each species were collected and identified influence of western disturbances causing with the help of literature. Rarety of the 1332 Indian Forester [October, species has been decided on the basis of Ferns are so diverse in structure and habitat specificity, population size and adaptation that they can be found in every distribution range. habitat. As to the diversity in size of sporophyte, the species of Asplenium was Results and Discussion recorded as smallest ferns whereas Alsophyla spinulosa was as largest. Based on field collections and study of flora a total of 205 species belonging to Distribution Pattern : The fern vegetation 72 genera and 35 families of ferns have of MWLS can be broadly categorized based been recorded to be occurring in Mehao on the altitude and species composition in Wildlife Sanctuary (Table 3). to following main types : Polypodiaceae was found to be the 1. Tropical forests : up to 900m. largest family in that area which 2. Sub-tropical forest : between 900- represented 30 species followed by 1,800m. Athyreaceae (27 species). Dryopteridaceae 3. Temperate forests : between 1800- (21 species), Thelypteridaceae (17 species) 3500m. and Aspleniaceae (4 species). Family 4. Sub-alpine/Alpine forests : between Polypodiaceae shows the maximum generic 3,500-5,000m. diversity with 13 genera followed by Thelypteridaceae (7), Athyriaceae (5) and The sub-tropical zone of MWLS Dryopteridaceae (4). At generic level was very rich in pteridophytes and the Athyrium shows the maximum species majority of the ferns and fern-alies diversity with 16 species followed by occur there were in exceedingly diverse Asplenium (11 spp.), Polystichium (10 habitats. Most of the Selaginella and spp.), Diplazium, Dryopteris, Pyrrosia and Equisetum species were available in this Selaginella (8 spp. each) (Table 2). Ten zone. Most of the species of Asplenium, families including Monachosoraceae, Diplazium, Dryopteris, Polystichum and Oncocleaceae, Botrychiaceae, Dipteri- Thelypteroid ferns are restricted to the daceae, Lomariopteridaceae, Loxo- subtropical parts of MWLS. Distribution grammaceae, Lygodiaceae, Angio- pattern of the species indicated that along pteridaceae, Pteridiaceae and Vittariaceae an altitudinal gradient, species richness were recorded as monotypic (Table 2). was maximum in sub-tropical and Table 1 Ecological classification of Pteridophytes of Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh. Sl. Categories Families Genera Species Percentage No. 1. Terrestrials 26 52 125 62 2. Epiphytes 7 21 46 22 3. Lithophytes 6 12 28 14 4. Hydrophillous 5 5 5 2 2009] Di Table 2 versity, distributionpatternandconservationofPteridophytesin...1333 Comparison of five dominant Pteridophytic families in India, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Western Himalayas and Western Ghats. Present India Meghalaya Nagaland Western Western Study (Dixit, 1984) (Baishya and (Jamir and Himalayas Ghats Rao, 1982) Rao, 1988) (Khullar, 2000) Polypodiaceae Polypodiaceae Polypodiaceae Polypodiaceae Dryopteridaceae Aspleniaceae (14:33) (27:132) (23:51) (16:53) (4:71) (1:26) Athyriaceae Dryopteridaceae Dryopteridaceae Aspleniaceae Athyriaceae Adiantaceae (5:24) (4:103) (6:21) (11:43) (6:45) (1:25) Thelypteridaceae Athyriaceae Thelypteridaceae Thelypteridaceae Polypodiaceae Thelypteridaceae (7:18) (14:85) (10:20) (15:31) (9:43) (14:25) Dryopteridaceae Thelypteridaceae Aspleniaceae Athyriaceae Aspleniaceae Dryopteridaceae (4:19) (21:81) (1:14) (5:21) (1:30) (8:21) Aspleniaceae Aspleniaceae Adiantaceae Aspleniaceae Thelypteridaceae Polypodiaceae (1:11) (4:53) (5:14) (1:17) (12:23) (12:20) 1334 Indian Forester [October, temperate zone. It decreased sharply were found occurring as lithophytes in the in the sub-alpine and alpine zones. sanctuary (Table 1). The high diversity in subtropical and temperate zones may be due to diverse Rarity : Apart from these species habitats and suitable climatic conditions A.crassipes, A. wallichianum, Alsophyla or the growth and development of the spinulosa, Angiopteris evecta, Arthromeris species. The low diversity in the alpine lehmannie, Asplenium cheilosorum, zone may be due to severe climatic Athyrium flebalulatum,
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