CHAPTER 2 Review of Literature The Western region of Nfaharashtra is known for the extreme diverse ecological habitats and geographical features (Bawa et ai, 2007). The region has distinct climatic zones separated from each other by mountain barriers and thus has different vegetation patterns. The Western is divided in to 3 major regions, namely, , Sahyadri ( of Maharashtra) and Deccan Plateau. Each region has its own biodiversity with a dominance of a species particularly suited to the habitat it occupies (Mahabale, 1987). Two distinct features of Western Maharashtra are ‘Ghats’ and ‘Hill forts’ all along the ranges of Sahyadri (Singh and Karthikeyan, 2000). The forts are historically important and play a paramount role; one in the foundation, expansion and preservation of ‘Maratha’ power and the second in sustaining unique type of vegetation and ecosystems on and around them (Santapau 1951, 1958, 1967, Billore andHemadri, 1972; Naik, 1998). The study of vegetation on forts is important as these places are unique from geographical point of view and are reservoirs of vegetation and lithophytes. Various ecosystem services rendered by the forts remain pretermitted over the period of time. Each fort has significant contributions in the form of different vegetation patterns, species diversity and variations in the ecosystems. Very few notable attempts were made to carry out the vegetation patterns on forts and the ecosystems around them (Birdwood, 1899; Santapau, 1951, 1958, 1967; Vartak, 1953, 1957, 1983; Cherian and Pataskar, 1971, 1972; Billore and Hemadri, 1972; Naik, 1998; Bhat, 2004, Mathad and Shrishail, 2008; Shrishail and Mathad, 2009).

Exploratory work in and Maharashtra Various workers significantly contributed for exploration of the floristic wealth of India and Maharashtra (Birdwood, 1886, 1887; Cook, 1901; Blatter, 1909, Santapau, 1958, 1960, 1967; Kulkami and Wadhawa, 1973; Kulkami and Thite, 1979; Karthikeyan and Sharma, 1983; Sane, 1983; Bole and Almeida, 1984; Kulkami, 1984, 1988; Almaida, 1987, 1998, 2001, 2003; Pascal, 1988, 2004; Deshpande, 1993, 1995; Kothari and Moorthy, 1993; Sharma et al, 1996; Singh and Karthikeyan, 2000a, 2000b; Patil, 2003; Pradhan, 2005;). The exploratory work of vegetation on hills and forts in Sahyadri Mountains, on scree, species mapping and ecological

Page I 11 studies of vegetation patches, evaluation of ecosystem services (Groot 1992, 1994; Bingham et al, 1995; Bawa and Gadgil, 1997; Bhat et al, 2001; Groot et al. 2002; Muthramkumar, 2006) were critically reviewed to elucidate the theoretical background of the present research work. Vegetation studies in Maharashtra have been started by modem scientific ways in 18'*’ century (Singh and Karthikeyan, 2000). Gammie (1903); Bharucha and Ferreirav (1941); Joshi and Kumbhojkar (1997); Watve (2001) and Waghchaure (2006) commented on the regional ecology and ecosystem of and nearby areas of Pune. Many floras, checklists, monographs and revisions of floras from India have been published. The preliminary exploratory work done by Hooker (1872-1897) and his colleagues ultimately resulted in the preparation of major plant lists for different areas of India. The Western Ghats of India (WG) is a biologically rich area and one of the mega biodiversity hotspots of the world (Mittemeier, 1998, 2004). It was regionally studied by many authors. Major plant inventories for Southern Western Ghats (SWG) of India are published in the form of various regional floras, such as. Flora of Tamilnadu (Nayar and Henry, 1983-89; Gamble and Fisher, 1916-1936;); Kerala (Sreekumar and Nair, 1991; Sivarajan and Mathew, 1997; Matthew, 1999; Anil Kumar et al, 2005; Daniel and Umamheshawari, 2001; Mohanan and Sivdasan, 2002; Manickam and Irudayaraj, 2003; Daniel, 2005; Nayar, 2006; Nayar and et ai, 2008; Fyson, 2008; Remadevi and Binoj Kumar, 2009; Shanavas and Sivadasan, 2009) and Karnataka (Arora et al, 1981; Sharma et al,. 1984; Ganeshaish et ai, 2002, 2003; Manjunatha et ai, 2004). The plant exploratory work for Northern Western Ghats (NWG) of India and adjoining area has been enumerated in various regional floras as well as in district floras of Maharashtra and Goa (Graham, 1837; Dalzell and Gibson, 1861; Birdwood, 1887, 1896; Naime, 1894; Woodrow, 1897-1901; Lisboa, 1890- 1898; Cooke, 1901; Talbot, 1911; Blatter and McCann, 1926-1935; Santapau, 1953, 1967; Vartak, 1966; Almaida, 1983-1986, 1987, 1990, 1998, 2001, 2003; Rao, 1985, 1986; Kulkami, 1988; Laxminarsimhan, 1991; Kothari and Moorthy, 1993; Deshpande er a/., 1993, 1995; Sharma ef a/., 1996; Naithani ef a/., 1997;Jagtap, 1997; Singh and Karthikeyan, 2000; Mishra and Singh, 2001; Yadav and Sardesai, 2002; Patil, 2(X)3; Pradhan and et ai, 2005; Chaudhary et ai, 2(X)8). Karthikeyan (1996) and Hajra et al. (1997) have published a detailed account of the Northern Western Ghats and Northern West coast with reference to species diversity.

Page I 12 The exploratory work added many new records for Western Ghats of India since 2000, of which, most of the species are recorded from Southern Western Ghats (Ravi and Mohanan, 1997, 2002; Ravi, 1998; Kumar et al, 1999; Kumar and Sequiera, 1999; Murthy et al, 1999; Ravikumar, 1999; Sasidharan and Augustine, 1999; Suresh and Sukumar, 1999; Gopalan et al., 2000; Janarthanam et al., 2000; Murthy, 2000; Ravi et al., 2000a, 2000b, 2001; Santosh Kumar et al., 2000, 2001a, 2001b, 2002a, 2002b, 2008; Sunil and Sivadasan, 2000; Veldkamp and Salunkhe, 2000; Anto et al., 2001; Chaudhary and Pandey, 2001; Satish Kumar and et al., 2001; Vishwanathan and Manikandan et al., 2001; Vishwanathan et al, 2002; Bhat, 2002; Biju, 2002; Jothi, et a l 2002; Prasanthkumar et al, 2002; Santosh Kumar et al, 2002; Sunojkumar and Matthew, 2002, 2008; Fonseca and Janarthanam, 2003; Matthew and Mathew, 2003; Murugan et al, 2003; Salunkhe et al, 2003; Sivadasan and Jaleel, 2003; Pusalkar and Singh, 2004; Shaju and Mohanan, 2004; Anupama and Sivadasan, 2005; Vijaya Sankar et al, 2006; Kumar Ambrish, 2007; Murugan et al, 2007; Muruganesan and Balasubramanium, 2007; Sasidharan and Sujanpal, 2007; Udayan et al, 2001\ Choudhary et al, 2008; Nayar and et al, 2008; Santosh Kumar, 2008; Sunoj Kumar and Matthew, 2008; Veldkamp, 2008). Very few records from NWG as compared to the SWG were added since 2000 (Yadav et al, 2005, 2006, 2010; Tetali et al, 1998, 2000; Gaikwad et al, 2002, 2004; Punekar et al, 2003; Gaikwad et al, 2004; Datar et al, 2005; Sardesai et al, 2006; Shimpale et al, 2007; Potdar and Yadav, 2008; Yadav et al, 2009). Some of these records were from the Protected Areas, Sacred Groves and from hilly regions of the Western Ghats. Although the forts are the parts of Sahyadri Mountain, few attempts were made to determine the floristic wealth sustained by them.

Previous Research on Vegetation of Forts Forts distributed in Western Maharashtra are the unique features of the Western Ghats. Most of them are at hilltop location in Sahyadri Mountains or at peculiar locations on ground or in sea. The initial exploratory work on forts was done by Ansari (1960). He visited forts like , Purandhar and other adjoining areas and described many new species especially of the genus Ceropegia. Santapau (1951) made some additions to the species on Sinhagad fort. Later, Santapau (1958) enumerated all phanerogamic plants in ‘Flora of Purandar’. Vartak (1953, 1957, 1983) explored vegetation on forts like Toma, Sinhagad and Raigad forts. Billore et al

Page I 13 (1972) studied on plant diversity from Harischandragad fort and surrounding areas in Junnar. Janardhanan (1966) recorded 838 species from Bhimashankar and surroundings which include the data of Bhorgiri fort. Sinhagad, Purandar, Toma, Bhorgiri and Harischandragad forts are present in whereas is in of Maharashtra {http.raigad.gov.in/DG/1964/aboutkulaba.html). The forts and surrounding area from Junnar were studied by Billore and Hemadri (1972). Santapau (1953); Kulkami (1976); A lr^ d a and Mistry (1987); Alm^da (1990); Deshpande (1993, 1995); Billore (1972); Santapau (1951) partially assessed forts like Koraigad, , Raireshwar in Pune district; Makarandgad, , Vasota in ; Manohargad, Mansantoshgad, Narayangad and Mahadeogad in with reference to vegetation. The forts like Saptashringi, Markandya, Ravlya-Javlya and are present in Surgana-Harsul ranges in district were also evaluated for their floristic diversity (Cherian and Pataskar 1969a, b, 1972, 1982). Yadav et al. (2009) reported Elaeocharis from , Kolhapur on Western Ghat. In some cases, hills were studied as an ecosystem (Birdwood, 1899; Blatter, 1909; Venkatareddi, 1969, 1970; Joshi and Kumbhojkar, 1997, 1998; Sane, 1983; Gadgil, 1979; Prabhakar and Gadgil, 1994; Bhat et al., 2001). Although exploratory work has been done, very few workers rarely commented on the ecological aspect of vegetation, ecosystem and ecosystem services rendered by the forts. Few workers published ecology and vegetation of Pune district (Puri and Jain, 1959-1960; Puri and Patil, 1960), Konkan (Jain, 1959), (Puri and Mahajan, 1960), Mangrove vegetation of Western India (Patil, 1957; Puri and Jain, 1957). Most of these observations were based on preliminary survey and taxonomical exploratory work. Endemic and Threatened Species To understand patterns of distribution and conservation requirements, shrub and herb diversity, rarity and endemism of trees are essential. Ramesh et al. (1997) published distribution maps and phytogeographic analysis of endemic trees of Western Ghats which are also in a computerized database. Quantitative ecological studies on habitat requirement of endemic and rare trees were performed from a sanctuary of Kerala (Menon, 1991). The studies on endemic and threatened plants from Maharashtra were recorded in ‘Red Data Book’ of Indian plants (1987-1990: Ahmedullah and Nayar (1987)). Ghate et al. (1994) compiled the list of endemic and threatened with some

Page I 14 field visits from WGM. Yadav (1997) studied on the endemic plants of Maharashtra following the lUCN revised criteria. Mishra and Singh (2001) enumerated and described distribution of endemic and threatened species of Maharashtra, in which they described the status of individual species according to lUCN criteria. Caley (1997) stated that the relationship in between local endemism and regional species richness is of utmost important. Special endemic classification was described by Keener (1983). Endemic species were reviewed from India by Chatteijee (1939); Mahabale (1973); Nayar (1980). Ramesh et al. (1998) studied a vegetation based biodiversity gap analysis in four sanctuaries in Agasthyamalai of SWG to propose new conservation areas. However, he used the potential habitat ranges only of tree species for identifying conservation areas for rare an endemic trees. Murali et al. (1998) suggested a complete enumeration and analysis of diversity of all plant life forms for setting conservation priorities. Such work has been done for the vegetation in SWG with the help of GIS technology by various workers (Nagendra and Gadgil, 1999; Giriraj, 2003b; Ghosh et al., 2003;). “The biodiversity conservation priority setting exercise” was carried out from 1997-2000 by various groups from all over India (Singh et al., 2001) including forests. Sacred Groves and grasslands mainly from central Indian regions. HRS (2001, 2002) mapped tree vegetation in Western Ghats and classified forests on the basis of species density and fragmentation which is the basic requirement for designing the conservation strategy. Thus, for planning effective conservations measures, regional data on spatial - temporal distribution and abundance of plant diversity is essential. Similar type of studies with some modifications has been considered in present work on vegetation of forts across the Western Maharashtra to develop a prototype. Ecological studies In India, ecological research with respect to plant communities is less extensive as compared to taxonomic work. The research on community and habitat diversity is scanty (Chatterjee, 1939; Bharucha, 1983; Dash, 1989; Kothari, 1993; Muthuramkumar et al, 2006). Bawa et al. (2009) published a comprehensive report on ecosystem profile including forest types, total biological diversity, important sites or habitats, corridors and critical links in southern and northern Western Ghats of India. Indian Forest Types were described by Brandis (1883); Champion (1938); Puri (1954, 1960); Legris (1963); Champion and Seth (1968); Mani (1974); Puri et al. (1983); Champion et al. (2004); Giriraj et al. (2009) and FSI (2009) which include

Page I 15 quantitative descriptions of the forests of Western Ghats. Some of the floras in NWG also include fragmentary discussion on vegetation and plant communities (Santapau, 1967; Deshpande et al, 1993, Singh and Karthikeyan, 2000; Mishra and Singh, 2001; FSI, 2009). However, these are based qualitative and quantitative observations in few undisturbed areas which provide adequate information for understanding broad patterns of climatic and geographic distribution of forest vegetation in India. But this information is not thoroughly useful for local plant diversity and vegetation types. The ecology of SWG is more extensively documented as compared to that of NWG. Gaussen et al. (1961, 1965, and 1966) described and prepared maps of vegetation types of SWG in detail. The forest types in SWG are mainly descriptive (Arora, 1960, 1961, 1964). Chandrashekharan (1962); Blasco et al. (1971); Chandran (1983); Rai (1983); PeUssier et al. (1990); Sha (1990); Menon (1991); Gadgil and Guha (1992); Chandrashekharan and Ramkrishanan (1994); Condit et al. (1995); Pascal and Pellisier (1996); Varghese (1998a, b, c.); Ghate (1998); Ganesh and Davidar (2001) and Pascal et al. (2004) studied quantitative research on vegetation, diversity and distribution of forest types. Among these, Pascal (1986, 1988, and 2004), for the first time, made significant contribution towards the detailed quantitative research on structure and floristic composition on wet evergreen forests of Western Ghats. This study is exhaustive on different forest types. It is based on extensive field studies in the SWG. However, this account of forest especially of NWG is based upon available literature on Matheran (Satyanarayan and Mudaliyar, 1959), Mahabaleshwar (Puri and Mahajan, 1960), and Kolhapur (Dashaputre, 1960). Hence it may not be a representative of the forests of entire NWG. The study identifies a single climax vegetation series Memecylon - Syzygium - Actinodaphne. Satyanarayan (1958) has documented different forest types from NWG by using qualitative methods. A few quantitative studies of vegetation types have also been made in NWG especially in the areas around Pune (Puri and Jain, 1960; Puri and Patil, 1960; Watve, 2001). But recent quantitative descriptions of vegetation are available only from limited areas like Panshet (Brahme and Tetali, 1986) and Bhimashankar (Jagdale, 1995) which provide some data on primary and secondary vegetation in NWG. Ghate et al. (1997) reported two distinct forest types in NWG, namely, stunted semi-evergreen and tall evergreen but they did not provide necessary description on the structural and floristic aspects of these types. Ramesh et al. (1997a) has also indicated the possibility of occurrence of other forest series in this region.

Page I 16 Thus, quantitative ecological studies of NWG vegetation are extremely limited and very little information is available on vegetation in the study area and in different parts of NWG. At present, the biotic pressures are affecting all natural vegetation in Western Ghats leading to adverse changes in habitats (Gadgil and Guha, 1992; Ramesh et a l, 1992c, Menon, et al. 2001). Continuous tracts of forests are now heavily fragmented and exist as islands separated by degraded areas. The annual rate of forest degradation was estimated by studies in SWG (Ramesh et al. 1997; Jha et al. 2000; Giriraj, 2003a; Nagendra, 2004) and is alarming. Similar processes occur in NWG and are more severe than that of SWG but not quantified separately. Although Forest Survey of India (FSI) is regularly monitoring the vegetation cover with GIS technology, so many factors are associated with it due to which it is difficult to keep the track of fragmentation and degradation at small scale and within the ecosystem (FSI, 2001 to 2009).

Ecological Methods In vegetation study, inventory of species is the first step. Inventories are commonly used as qualitative tools to understand flora. Droage et al. (1998) recorded ancillary information which can be used in quantifying the data from different checklists and are extremely important in ecological analysis of flora of any region. A variety of quantitative methods of research is available for estimating ecological diversity of a region. Several sampling procedures using various sizes of quadrats, transects, distance measures are studied by many workers (Cain, 1913; Mishra, 1968; Gentry, 1988; Dallmeier, 1992; Ravindranath and Premnath, 1997; Southerwood et al., 2006). A variety of indices have also been used for quantifying species diversity (Simpson, 1949; Curtis and McIntosh, 1951; Condit et al, 1998, 2000 2002). Magurran (1988) provided an excellent analytical account of different indices which are used for different purposes in diversity studies. For vegetation studies, the documentation of diversity of plant communities is essential. For this, it is necessary to classify the communities and habitats. A variety of methods have been used for this study. The documentation of life -form spectrum which reflects major features of climate and provide a basis for natural ecological classification. Raunkier (1937) suggested this classification which is modified by Ellenberg and Mueller-Dombois (1967) and even today it is widely used in India. However, the most commonly used classification is based on physiognomy of vegetation. A need to standardize classification of

Page I 17 vegetation is essential, mainly owing to the land cover mapping exercises. In Countries like UK, USA and Canada prepared standardized national maps by using physiognomic classification. Internationally accepted classification is based on physiognomy as well as climatic criteria (UNESCO, 1973; UNEP/FA, On 1995; USGS, 1997). In India, the terminology by Champion (1936) and ‘Champion and Seth’ (1968) has been used to describe vegetation. Meher-Homji (1978a) and Puri et al. (1983) described vegetation classification with respect to physiognomic characters only in describing vegetation series. In addition, Gaussen (1959) described vegetation types of climax and successional vegetation based on the holistic classification. Ayyappan and Parthsarathy (1999, 2001a and b) studied biodiversity inventory of trees, composition, population structure and distribution of Dipterocarps and patterns of tree diversity from tropical evergreen forest of Varagalaiar, Annamalai of Western Ghats. The plant community structure in tropical rain forest from SWG was studied by Muthuramkumar et al. (2006) and Joseph (2(X)8.) Inamati et al. (2005) worked on woody vegetation analysis along the altitudinal gradient from Uttara Kannada of Karanataka. Nautiyal and Bhat (1999) worked on alpine graze land in Garhwal Himalaya with respect to niche width and diversity pattern. Pande et al. (2000) worked on species diversity and turn over from Western Himalaya forest. Nirmal Kumari et al. (2010) worked on tree species diversity on tropical dry deciduous forest of Western India with respect to Shanon-Weiner index, Simpsons index of dominance and Margelefs species richness index. Whittaker (1972) worked on Alpha and Beta diversity especially the analysis of the biodiversity and variation in species composition between locations and global diversity. Lande (1996) expressed beta diversity as a function of environmental variation. Couteron and Pelisser (2004), Pelisser and Couteron (2007) focused on the methods of analysis of field data. Chao et al. (2005) assessed similarity of species composition with statistical analysis. Condit et al. (2002) worked on Beta diversity in tropical forest trees.

Forest The classification of tropical forest ecosystem has been made by Whitmore (1985) mainly based on the climate and physiognomy. Due to high diversity values, the tropical forests have great importance. Most of the information on forest types is obtained from different parts of the world. The most notable studies are from S.

Page I 18 America (Dallmeier, 1992), Barro Colorado Island (Hubble and Foster, 1986), deciduous forest of Madhumalai, India (Sukumar et al, 1992) and evergreen forest of Kodagu, in SWG (Elouard et al, 1997). The fragmentation of forest and its effects on the diversity, dynamics and structure of forests have received much attention due to their significance for conservation and management. Such types of studies are discussed by Lovejoy et al. (1986), Janzen (1988) and Keitt et al. (1997). The fragmentation leads to formation of distinct edges, which have a special microclimate as they are at the interface of two distinct environments (Williams-Linera et al. 1998; Fraver 1994; Fox et al. 1997). The impact of human activities on vegetation has been documented in various areas across the Western Ghats. The changes in species attributes due to deforestation are discussed by Hegde et al. (1998). It was found to be adverse especially for the forest vegetation in North Kanara in SWG (Daniels et al. 1995; Gadgil, 1996). The effects of NTFP collection are well documented by Uma Shankar et al. (1998a, b); Ganeshaiah et al. (1998) and Pelissier et al. (1999). Jha et al. (2000) studied deforestation and landuse changes in Western Ghats of India. Coppin and Bauer (1996) studied the changes in the forest ecosystem with remote sensing digital imagery. Panigrahi et al. (2010) studied the forest covers change of Western Ghats of Maharashtra by using satellite remote sensing based on the visual interpretation technique.

Invasive Species The different aspects of invasive plants have been discussed by Cronk and Fuller (1995) and Funk (2008). Reichards (1997) and Reichards and Hamilton (1997) studied identification and prevention of spread of invasive species. Several researchers worked on specific plant groups such as invasive and endemic species in addition to vegetation types from Western Ghats. The distribution pattern of some invasive species was reviewed by Tripathi et al. (2006). Ganeshan and Bawa (2010, ww.atree.org) studies on the impact of Lantana invasion in dry deciduous forest (Maskell et al., 2006).

Vegetation mapping by GPS RS-GIS (Remote Sensing - Geographical Information System) and Global Positioning System (GPS) are the advanced techniques used in vegetation mapping. RS-GIS imagery provides a lot of data on land use pattern, soil type and forest types. In India, use of RS-GIS has been initiated in 1970 and but from 1980 it is used for

Page I 19 mapping of vegetation. Forest Survey India and Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun keep the track of total forest in India with this technique (FSI, 2009). In RS-GIS technique, GPS plays an important role of ‘Ground Truthing’. The data received or analyzed by RS-GIS can be confirmed only by using GPS navigation method. GPS can be used in various ways to predict more accurate vegetation composition recorded on the GIS imagery (Behara, 2000). GPS has been used extensively for ground truthing of RS-GIS data by various authors in India (Nagendra et al, 1990, 2004; Ravan et al, 1995; Jha et al, 1997; Nagendra and Gadgil, 1997, 1998 1999a and b; Lele et al, 1998; Ayyappan and Parthsarathy, 1999; IIRS, 2001, 2002; Kushwah et al, 2000; Nagendra, 2000, 2001; Singh et al, 2002; Amamath et al, 2003; Balguru et al, 2003; Ganeshaish, 2003; Giriraj, 2003a, b; Ghosh et al 2003; Porwal et al, 2003;) and in abroad (Brokaw, 1989; Roughgarden and et a/., 1991; Simmons and et al, 1992; Trietz and et al, 1992; Stoms and Estes, 1993; Frankline, 1994; Brininger et al, 1995; Lapin and Barnes, 1995; Kootwijk, 1995; Dietz and Steilein, 1996; Hershey, 1996; J0rgensen and N0hr, 1996; Fuller and et «/., 1997,1998; Lauver, 1997; Mack et al, 1997; Innes and Koch, 1998; Johnston, 1998; Wadworth, 1999; Condit and et al, 2000; Gould, 2000; Martin and et al, 1998; Matheson, 1994; Pelissier, 1998; Pelissier and Goreaud, 2001). RS-GIS tool is widely used for large areas in many sectors related to mapping but there are some limitations in small sized area. In India, although the majority parts of the Indian forests have been mapped by Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS) and Forest Survey of India (FSI, 2009), there is a tremendous variation in the vegetation communities in small patches. The effective use of GPS can solve this problem. Extensive mapping of various features of an ecosystem with GPS can give the precise map of vegetation composition or community structure in an ecosystem which can be useful for keeping the track of temporal changes in the ecosystems even for small areas. Gooding et al (1997) devised a method of detailed vegetation mapping for use on undulating terrain where the combination of vegetation communities, topography, and other factors makes it difficult to locate a position on typical maps.

Ecosystem Services Groot et a l (2002) reviewed the world wide literature on ‘Ecosystem Services’ and tried to define a conceptual framework and typology for describing, classifying and valuing ecosystem functions, goods and services in a clear and consistent manner.

Page I 20 Wallace (2007) also proposed a classification system for ecosystem services and tried to remove the ambiguities in terminologies. Several models have been put forth for biodiversity conservation in various parts of the world (De Groot, 1992, 1994; Pearce, 1993; Turner, 1993; Bingham et al, 1995; Daily, 1997; Costanza et al., 1997; Pimentel & Wilson, 1997, Limburg & Folke, 1999, Wilson & Carpenter, 1999; Daily et al., 2000; Goldman et al. 2008; Luck et al. 2003). In India, very few attempts were species made to identify ecosystem services in various types of ecosystems (Mark and Gaurav, 2010). Very few reports are noted on ecosystem services in ‘Sacred Groves’ from NWG. In the present study, in addition to taxonomy and traditional ecology an attempt has been made to identify, classify and evaluate the ecosystem services available on forts (Bawa and Gadgil, 1997). The framework of the present study has designed after considering the diverse viewpoints, methods and discussion after reviewing the literature. The objectives of this interdisciplinary study were formulated to understand regional plant diversity, ecology and conservation needs for the vegetation on forts. The specific objectives of this study 1) To study vegetation and floristic diversity of the selected forts across the western Maharashtra ■ Preparation of inventory of arboreal and non-arboreal plant species ■ Assessment of arboreal species abundance on forts ■ Categorization and floristic descriptions of plant communities in different vegetation types and habitats. ■ Assessment of threatened arboreal species on forts 2) To co-relate vegetation patterns with respect to ecological conditions which include: ■ Assessment of plant diversity of different forts in different ecological conditions ■ Impact of human disturbance on species and community diversity. 3) To study lithophytes on forts ■ Assessment of species diversity with respect to habitats and their distribution on fort wall and on other pre-identified locations on forts. 4) To study patterns of spatial distribution of arboreal vegetation in fort ecosystem ■ Mapping of distribution of plant species and communities on forts ■ Mapping of species distribution with respect to altitude

Page I 21 ■ Assessment of ‘Ecosystem Services’ available on forts ■ Assessment of invasive species and their distribution on forts 5) To create a database of floristic diversity and vegetation on forts ■ Database creation with RDBMS (Relational Database Management System) software. To achieve these objectives, traditional as well as recent technologies have been used and are described in the section of ‘Materials and Methods’.

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