DOCSLIB.ORG

Identification of Antidote Medicinal Plants Against Snake Venom - a Field Survey

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Identification of Antidote Medicinal Plants Against Snake Venom - a Field Survey International Journal of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences (IJMPS) ISSN(P): 2250-0049; ISSN(E): 2321-0095 Vol. 3, Issue 5, Dec 2013, 21-32 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd. IDENTIFICATION OF ANTIDOTE MEDICINAL PLANTS AGAINST SNAKE VENOM - A FIELD SURVEY VIJAYA P1, RANJANI R2, RAO M R3 & SUDARSANAM G4 1Department of Botany, Government Degree College for Women, Begumpet, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India 2Department of Virology, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India 3Department of Zoology, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India 4Department of Botany, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India ABSTRACT Snake bites in India cause loss of many precious lives. Snakes are considered as harmful to human and to avoid them many snakes are killed by human. About thousands of people reportedly die of snakebite in India every year and however, the unreported cases also even more, mostly in rural India. There are two important aspects of snakebite Management, one is the management of victim of snakebite and then the timely medical management - antivenom serum therapy. Plant products have many pharmaceutical agents and are used as traditional medicine to cure disorders from ancient days. There was place for plant medicines, with proven biologically activity particularly for chronic diseases that were not cured effectively with synthetic medicines. It was very strenuous to generate, unbiased, objective, scientific data on such plant medicines used in India either directly as folk remedies or medicaments of different indigenous systems of medicine like Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha, India has nearly 400,000 practitioners of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani etc. whose services were not appropriately used in the health care services. About 80% of the raw materials for drugs used in the Indian systems of Medicine and homeopathy is based on plant products. Field survey focuses mainly on alternative uses of plants for protection against poisonous bites, especially Naja naja - snake venom and identified many antidote plants. KEYWORDS: Antidote, Antivenom, Medicinal Plants, Traditional Medicine, Naja naja INTRODUCTION Nature has bestowed India with enormous wealth of medicinal flora. Keeping in view of the vastness of the area and richness of vegetation, systematic efforts to explore and exploit this valuable potential has been lacking with the exception of some sporadic attempts by a handful of reputed investigators (Satapathy and Panda, 1992; Jain, 1992). The real progress in this field can only be achieved through intensive interdisciplinary work involving pharmacologists, botanists, organic chemists and physicians of various systems of medicine such as Allopathy, Homeopathys, practitioners of Ayurveda, Unani and indigeneous systems of medicine. There is a feeling in many quarters that tribal medicine is not based on any pharmacological experiment or scientific testing. Such a notion is largely erroneous because the aims and objectives of the pharmacological experiments or other means of scientific testing of drugs are achieved in a large measure in tribal medicine through the study and analysis of properties, therapy and actual experience over long periods. Tribal medicine did have pharmacological principles though without systematic, experimental or analytical basis.In recent years importance of plant products or herbal drugs are receiving great attention through pharmacological and clinical experimentation on the herbal drugs used in traditional medicine is in progress throughout the globe in order to establish their effectiveness and safety. 22 Vijaya P, Ranjani R, Rao M R & Sudarsanam G Snakebite is an important medical problem in both developing and developed countries (Williams et al., 2010; Omale James et al.,(2013). The snake bites exceeding 5,000,000 per year in many countries, globally (Mariane et al., 2011). Snakebite cause approximately 50,000 – 60,000 people die each year globally. And one of the best practice is identifying herbal medicines for their antivenom activity (Atul Kaushik iet al., 2013). From several studies of plant extracts and their isolated active principles, Isolated inhibitors, such as steroids, terpenoids, and phenolic compounds, are able to inhibit phospholipases A2 (PLA2s) from different snake venoms when used against crude snake venoms or their toxic fractions (Carvalho, et al., 2013). A concrete steps on these lines was taken in 1954, when the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) tried to give a new dimension to research on Indian Medicinal plants by initiating to different disciplines such as botany, chemistry, pharmacology, etc., were brought together on to the same platform to study the efficacy of medicinal plants as an integrated and coordinated endeavour. As cited in the introduction part of this are very many investigators contributions by way of field survey, data collection helped to identify number of medicinal plants in and around the world including India. In view of this, the author has conducted intensive field work in selected mandal areas of Chittoor district of A.P., to explore the antidote plants used against snake-bite and the data obtained was presented. RESULTS Field survey undertaken in 12 mandal areas out of 62 mandals of Chittoor district revealed the occurence of 31 medicinal plants especially used as antidote ones against snake-bite. The data presented in table:1 confir the prevalence of the following families of antidote plants. Acanthaceae 1, Alangiaceae 1, Amaranthaceae 1, Annonaceae 1, Apocynaceae 1, Aristolochiaceae 2, Asclepiadaceae 1, Asteraceae 5, Convalvulaceae 1, Cucurbitaceae 2, Dioscoriaceae 1, Fabaceae 1, Labiatae 1, Liliaceae 1, Loganiaceae 1, Menispermaceae 2, Mimosaceae 1, Plumbaginaceae 1, Rubiaceae 1, Sapotaceae 1, Scrophulariaceae 1, Solanaceae 1, Sterculiaceae 1. in each mandal required information was collected from 10 tribal doctor and the possible number of tribal doctors that prefer the individual plant species for treating snake-bite was shown in table 1. Of all the plants 3 plant species like Aganosma cymosa, Corallocarpus epigaeus and Randia dumetorum were found to be preferred by more than 70% of tribal doctors to treat snake-bites. The classification, part used, mode of administration of individual plants and their related information were presented (table -1). The information collected with regard to the indentification, use and dose of antidote plants collected from tribal doctors in the field survey was compared with the reports of earlier authors and was presented in table: 1. DISCUSSIONS Andhra Pradesh is the fifth largest state in India. The present study was undertaken in this district area which lies geographically in the South-eastern part of the A.P., India. The district is located at the common borders of the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka with Andhra Pradesh. The district is situated between 1230 and 1405 of the north latitude and 7805 and 8008 of the East longitude and is bounded on the north by Anantapur, Cuddapah and Nellore districts of A.P., and on the east and south by the districts of Tamil Nadu state and on the west by Karnataka state. The soils of this district are red loamy and red sandy types with varying thickness from a few centimeters to a few meters. The elevation generally varies from 40 m to 1800 m above the mean sea level. The climate of the district as a whole is dry and salubrious with a maximum temperature of 40C and a minimum of 24C. The ethno-medico-botanical survey carriedout by the author in 12 mandal areas of Chittoor district of A.P. Identification of Antidote Medicinal Plants against Snake Venom - A Field Survey 23 revealed the existence of 31 antidote plants especially used by various aboriginal tribes against snake bites alone and the photographs 1-31 of individual plants collected were presented The flora of Chittoor district has received much attention by Gamble, (1957); Naidu and Rao, (1967), (1969) and Naidu et al., (1971); Rao and Raja Reddy, (1983 a,b); and Rangacharyulu, (1991) have also made significant contributions to identify the flora of Chittoor district. Vedavathy et al., (1992); Narayana Rao et al., (1991); Sudarsanam and Siva Prasad, (1995); Madhava Chetti et al., (1998) have described the ethnobotanical uses of number of medicinal plants from Chittoor district. Amongst these the reports of Sudarsanam and Sivaprasad (1995) explored the occurrence of nearly 21 antidote plants in different areas of Chittoor district especially used for various poisonous bites. Compared to the reports of various authors as shown in table:1 against individual plant species the field survey results presented in table:1 are in agreement with reports of earlier authors, in relation to their classification, locality, part used, mode of administration, etc. One of the new aspects choosen by the author in the field survey data collection was that of the number of tribal doctors, i.e., as 10 and the number of tribal doctors that prefer the individual plants for treating the snake-bite was also presented. Table 1: Traditional Antidote Plants of Snake Poison in Chittoor District Botanical Name of No. of Part Used No. of the Plant Followed Tribals {Private} as Locality Tribals Mode of Administration by Family and Local Prepared Antidote Enquired Name as Antidote 1. Andrographis Whole Chandrag 10 6 Leaf powder as antidote paniculata (Bourm.f) plant iri (Sudarsaname, 1987) root ex Ness decoction as antidote (Nagaraju, (Acanthaceae) L.N. 1992) root powder and paste as Nelavemu antidote (Sivaprasad, 1993) plant decoction used as antidote (Hemambara Reddy et al., 1996) plant used as antidote (Annie Bright et al., 2001); (Martz, 1992). Dry root powder (5 g) made into paste with hot water and smeared over bite : one spoonful leaf powder administered internally (Sudarsanam & Sivaprasad, 1995). Leaves poultice on the affected area (Siddigui & Husain, 1990). Plant is the prominent ethnobotanical antidote (Garg, 2001). Methanolic extract used as antidote (Alam, 2001). Plant used to snake bite (Jain & Sahu, 1993; Selvanayagam 1994). Root powder or extract taken Aganosma cymosa internally as antidote for cobra bite (Roxb.)G. Don. Changrag (Sudarsanam, 1987); (Reddy et al., 2.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Folkloric Medicinal Plant Studies in Kalrayan Hill Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India
    Available online at www.ijpab.com Ghouse Basha et al Int. J. Pure App. Biosci. 3 (6): 109-125 (2015) ISSN: 2320 – 7051 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18782/2320-7051.2142 ISSN: 2320 – 7051 Int. J. Pure App. Biosci. 3 (6): 109-125 (2015) Research Article Folkloric medicinal plant studies in Kalrayan Hill Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India Saalai Senthil. M.S, Sisubalan. N and M. Ghouse Basha* P.G and Research Department of Botany, Jamal Mohamed College (Autonomous) Tiruchirapalli – 620020, Tamil Nadu, India *Corresponding Author E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT The aim of the study is to illuminate the traditional behaviors, activities, special functions and record the medicinal system of native peoples of kalrayan hill. A standard questionnaire was used to gather the relevant information on plants and their usage of tribal people’s life. Interviews and detailed documentation were carried out during July 2011 to May 2013.The traditional beliefs and customs of tribal people passed on by word of mouth were recorded. Totally 108 medicinally used plant species of 90 genera belongs to 50 families were documented with the help of tribal practitioners. The study also recorded the mode of preparations, mode of administration of medicinal plants to their corresponding ailments. The study concluded that the native peoples of kalrayan hill have good medicinal knowledge and also maintained plant based medicinal system from their ancestors. This type of study may helpful to the Ayurvedic practitioners and also plant based medicinal system. Keywords: Folklore, Ethnomedicines, Kalrayan Hill, Eastern Ghats, Tamil Nadu. INTRODUCTION Traditional folk medical practices are empirical in nature; several million people in India with limited access to organized modern health care centers depend on traditional systems of medicine to cater their primary health care needs.
    [Show full text]
  • Check List of Wild Angiosperms of Bhagwan Mahavir (Molem
    Check List 9(2): 186–207, 2013 © 2013 Check List and Authors Chec List ISSN 1809-127X (available at www.checklist.org.br) Journal of species lists and distribution Check List of Wild Angiosperms of Bhagwan Mahavir PECIES S OF Mandar Nilkanth Datar 1* and P. Lakshminarasimhan 2 ISTS L (Molem) National Park, Goa, India *1 CorrespondingAgharkar Research author Institute, E-mail: G. [email protected] G. Agarkar Road, Pune - 411 004. Maharashtra, India. 2 Central National Herbarium, Botanical Survey of India, P. O. Botanic Garden, Howrah - 711 103. West Bengal, India. Abstract: Bhagwan Mahavir (Molem) National Park, the only National park in Goa, was evaluated for it’s diversity of Angiosperms. A total number of 721 wild species belonging to 119 families were documented from this protected area of which 126 are endemics. A checklist of these species is provided here. Introduction in the National Park are Laterite and Deccan trap Basalt Protected areas are most important in many ways for (Naik, 1995). Soil in most places of the National Park area conservation of biodiversity. Worldwide there are 102,102 is laterite of high and low level type formed by natural Protected Areas covering 18.8 million km2 metamorphosis and degradation of undulation rocks. network of 660 Protected Areas including 99 National Minerals like bauxite, iron and manganese are obtained Parks, 514 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 43 Conservation. India Reserves has a from these soils. The general climate of the area is tropical and 4 Community Reserves covering a total of 158,373 km2 with high percentage of humidity throughout the year.
    [Show full text]
  • Kerala State Biodiversity Board
    1 2 biodiversity FOR CLIMate RESILIENCE Editors Dr. S.C. Joshi IFS (Rtd.) Dr. V. Balakrishnan Dr. Preetha N. KERALA STATE BIODIVERSITY BOARD 3 Biodiversity for Climate Resilience [This book is a compilation of the papers presented as part of the 1st Kerala State Biodiversity Congress held during 2018] Editors Dr. S.C. Joshi IFS, Dr. V. Balakrishnan, Dr. Preetha N. Editorial Board Dr. K. Satheeshkumar Sri. K.V. Govindan Dr. K.T. Chandramohanan Dr. T.S. Swapna Sri. A.K. Dharni IFS © Kerala State Biodiversity Board 2019 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, tramsmitted in any form or by any means graphics, electronic, mechanical or otherwise, without the prior writted permissionof the publisher. Published By Member Secretary Kerala State Biodiversity Board ISBN: 978-81-934231-2-7 Citation: In. Joshi, S.C., Balakrishnan, V. and Preetha, N. (Eds.), Biodiversity for Climate Resilience. Kerala State Biodiversity Board, Thiruvananthapuram. 4 5 CONTENTS Best Practices of Biodiversity conservation 1. People’s action for Rejuvenating lost waterbodies - The Aadi Pamba Varattar Story - 5 2. Jalasamrudhi – A Modal Initiative on Water Conservation -12 3. Best Practices in Biodiversity Conservation: A Case of M. S. Swaminathan Botanic Garden in Wayanad, Kerala -17 4. Yaongyimchen Community Bio-Diversity Conservation Area , Nagaland - 29 5. Hornbill Monitoring to Ecological Monitoring – One and Half decade of Indigenous community Based Conservation and Monitoring of Endangered Rainforest Species and Habitat in Western Ghats -35 6. Best Practices in Agrobiodiversity Conservation for Climate Resilience - 41 7. Best Practices on Biodiversity Conservation in Rice Ecosystems of Kerala - 46 Biodiversity Conservation Priorities 8.
    [Show full text]
  • Threatenedtaxa.Org Journal Ofthreatened 26 June 2020 (Online & Print) Vol
    10.11609/jot.2020.12.9.15967-16194 www.threatenedtaxa.org Journal ofThreatened 26 June 2020 (Online & Print) Vol. 12 | No. 9 | Pages: 15967–16194 ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) JoTT PLATINUM OPEN ACCESS TaxaBuilding evidence for conservaton globally ISSN 0974-7907 (Online); ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) Publisher Host Wildlife Informaton Liaison Development Society Zoo Outreach Organizaton www.wild.zooreach.org www.zooreach.org No. 12, Thiruvannamalai Nagar, Saravanampat - Kalapat Road, Saravanampat, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641035, India Ph: +91 9385339863 | www.threatenedtaxa.org Email: [email protected] EDITORS English Editors Mrs. Mira Bhojwani, Pune, India Founder & Chief Editor Dr. Fred Pluthero, Toronto, Canada Dr. Sanjay Molur Mr. P. Ilangovan, Chennai, India Wildlife Informaton Liaison Development (WILD) Society & Zoo Outreach Organizaton (ZOO), 12 Thiruvannamalai Nagar, Saravanampat, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641035, Web Design India Mrs. Latha G. Ravikumar, ZOO/WILD, Coimbatore, India Deputy Chief Editor Typesetng Dr. Neelesh Dahanukar Indian Insttute of Science Educaton and Research (IISER), Pune, Maharashtra, India Mr. Arul Jagadish, ZOO, Coimbatore, India Mrs. Radhika, ZOO, Coimbatore, India Managing Editor Mrs. Geetha, ZOO, Coimbatore India Mr. B. Ravichandran, WILD/ZOO, Coimbatore, India Mr. Ravindran, ZOO, Coimbatore India Associate Editors Fundraising/Communicatons Dr. B.A. Daniel, ZOO/WILD, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641035, India Mrs. Payal B. Molur, Coimbatore, India Dr. Mandar Paingankar, Department of Zoology, Government Science College Gadchiroli, Chamorshi Road, Gadchiroli, Maharashtra 442605, India Dr. Ulrike Streicher, Wildlife Veterinarian, Eugene, Oregon, USA Editors/Reviewers Ms. Priyanka Iyer, ZOO/WILD, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641035, India Subject Editors 2016–2018 Fungi Editorial Board Ms. Sally Walker Dr. B.
    [Show full text]
  • Climbing Plants of the Southern Western Ghats of Coimbatore in India and Their Economic Uses
    American-Eurasian J. Agric. & Environ. Sci., 15 (7): 1312-1322, 2015 ISSN 1818-6769 © IDOSI Publications, 2015 DOI: 10.5829/idosi.aejaes.2015.15.7.12645 Climbing Plants of the Southern Western Ghats of Coimbatore in India and Their Economic Uses A. Sarvalingam and A. Rajendran Department of Botany, Bharathiar University Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India Abstract: The present paper focuses on diversity of climbers and their ethno-botanical uses of 156 species under 83 genera belonging to 26 families. Most number of species was recorded in the family Convolvulaceae (35-species) followed by Fabaceae (26) and Asclepiadiaceae (22). The ascending plants (incl. lianes) are segregated into five types based on their climbing modes. Incorporating the ecological strategies of the climbers to the changing environmental conditions, of the total species recorded, 79 (50%)-species twined around the host plants, 7(5%) plants used hooks, 27(17%) plants used tendrils, 38(24%) plants used Woody stems and only 6(4%) plants used Prostrate climbing the host plants. They are used for different ailments in the present study belong to 57 are medicinal (include ethnoveterinary), 29 Ornametal, Edible 14 and 7 multiple purposes as well as of economic utility. Key words: Diversity Climbers Economic use Southern Western Ghats Tamil Nadu INTRODUCTION Climbers are the most threatened group of plants because they are first to be decimated in a silviculturally managed ‘The ecology of lianas is virtually blank’. ‘They have forest. been no less neglected by plant collectors, quite probably The species diversity and abundance of lianas lianas are the most under collected of any major habit depend upon several key abiotic factors which include group of plants” [1].
    [Show full text]
  • Aganosma Cymosa (Roxb.) G
    SPECIES l ANALYSIS ARTICLE Species Specialized pollination 22(69), 2021 mechanism, insect-pollination, autochory and anemochory in Aganosma cymosa (Roxb.) G. Don (Family Apocynaceae: sub- To Cite: family Apocynoideae) Solomon Raju AJ, Kala Grace L, Venkata Ramana K, Ch. Prasada Rao, Lakshmi Sree M. Specialized Solomon Raju AJ1, Kala Grace L2, Venkata Ramana K3, pollination mechanism, insect-pollination, autochory and anemochory in Aganosma cymosa (Roxb.) G. Don Ch. Prasada Rao4, Lakshmi Sree M5 (Family Apocynaceae: sub-family Apocynoideae). Species, 2021, 22(69), 89-96 Author Affiliation: ABSTRACT 1,2Department of Environmental Sciences, Andhra Aganosma cymosa is a semi-evergreen woody climber. It is a massive bloomer University, Visakhapatnam 530 003, India for a short period. The flowers are white, nectariferous, pleasantly fragrant 3-5 Department of Botany, Andhra University, and hermaphroditic with a specialized pollination mechanism that is adapted Visakhapatnam 530 003, India for cross-pollination. The foragers included a wasp, flies, butterflies and a hawk moth. Among these, the flies have no role in pollination while all other Correspondent author: A.J. Solomon Raju, insects effect either geitonogamy or xenogamy. Fruit set in open-pollinations Department of Environmental Sciences, Andhra does not exceed 4% of which 4.5% is 2-follicled and 0.5% is 1-follicled University, Visakhapatnam 530 003, India indicating that the plant is most likely a self-incompatible and obligate out- Mobile: 91-9866256682 crosser and 1-follicled fruits represent only one of the ovaries of the flower. Email:[email protected] The white eye bird also visits the flowers for nectar but it simply steals the nectar causing damage to the sexual apparatus and flower fall.
    [Show full text]
  • 2320-5407 Int. J. Adv. Res. 8(11), 1146-1155
    ISSN: 2320-5407 Int. J. Adv. Res. 8(11), 1146-1155 Journal Homepage: - www.journalijar.com Article DOI: 10.21474/IJAR01/12112 DOI URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.21474/IJAR01/12112 RESEARCH ARTICLE DIVERSITY OF ANGIOSPERM CLIMBER SPECIES IN POINT CALIMERE WILDLIFE AND BIRD SANCTUARY, TAMIL NADU M. Padma Sorna Subramanian1 A. Saravana Ganthi2 and K. Subramonian3 1. Siddha Medicinal Plants Garden, CCRS, Mettur, Salem, Tamil Nadu. 2. Department of Botany, Rani Anna Govt. College for Women, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu. 3. Department of Botany, The MDT Hindu College, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu. …………………………………………………………………………………………………….... Manuscript Info Abstract ……………………. ……………………………………………………………… Manuscript History Climbers are currently understood to have a range of important Received: 25 September 2020 ecological functions in forest dynamics. Climbers are already Final Accepted: 28 October 2020 recognized as an important group for tropical biodiversity, playing a Published: November 2020 key role in ecosystem level processes and providing resources for pollinators and dispersers. The present study is an attempt to document Key words:- Climbers, Lianas, Point Calimere Wild different climber species and their uses in Point Calimere Wildlife and Life and Birds Sanctuary, Medicinal Birds Sanctuary, Tamil Nadu, India. The present study recorded 53 Uses herbaceous climbers and 21 lianas from all the forests types of Point Calimere Sanctuary, covering 25 families. Considering all climbers and lianas, 40 species are stem twiners, 2 species are branch twiners, 4 are spiny Climbers, 19 species are tendril climbers and 8 species are hook climbers. Most of the lianas are distributed in scrub forests and many climbers are recorded in wet lands. 53 medicinal climbers are recorded in the study area.
    [Show full text]
  • 23. AGANOSMA (Blume) G
    Flora of China 16. 168–169. 1995. 23. AGANOSMA (Blume) G. Don, Gen. Hist. 4: 77. 1837. 香花藤属 xiang hua teng shu Echites sect. Aganosma Blume, Bijdr. 1040. 1826; Amphineurion (A. de Candolle) Pichon. Lianas woody, with white latex. Leaves opposite, interpetiolar line evident. Cymes terminal or axillary, corymblike; bracts and bracteoles sepal-like. Flowers large. Calyx divided halfway or deeper, with 5 or more basal glands inside, sepals usually longer than corolla tube. Corolla white, salverform; tube long cylindric, widened at base; lobes overlapping to right. Stamens inserted at lower third of tube; anthers included, sagittate, adherent to pistil head, cells with a rigid, empty basal tail; disc ringlike or tubular, lobed or dentate, surrounding ovary. Ovaries 2, distinct; ovules numerous. Style short; pistil head conical, apex 2-cleft. Follicles linear, terete. Seeds flat, not beaked, coma early deciduous. About 12 species: tropical and subtropical Asia, five species in China. 1a. Corolla tube longer than sepals; calyx with a continuous row of basal glands inside; leaves with a strong intramarginal vein ............................................................................................................................................. 1. A. marginata 1b. Corolla tube shorter than sepals; calyx with basal glands only inside sepal edges; leaves without a strong intramarginal vein. 2a. Corolla glabrous at throat; all parts densely tomentose ................................................................................... 2. A.
    [Show full text]
  • Nomination File 1203
    Nomination of The Central Highlands of Sri Lanka: Its Cultural and Natural Heritage for inscription on the World Heritage List Submitted to UNESCO by the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 1 January 2008 Nomination of The Central Highlands of Sri Lanka: Its Cultural and Natural Heritage for inscription on the World Heritage List Submitted to UNESCO by the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 1 January 2008 Contents Page Executive Summary vii 1. Identification of the Property 1 1.a Country 1 1.b Province 1 1.c Geographical coordinates 1 1.e Maps and plans 1 1.f Areas of the three constituent parts of the property 2 1.g Explanatory statement on the buffer zone 2 2. Description 5 2.a Description of the property 5 2.a.1 Location 5 2.a.2 Culturally significant features 6 PWPA 6 HPNP 7 KCF 8 2.a.3 Natural features 10 Physiography 10 Geology 13 Soils 14 Climate and hydrology 15 Biology 16 PWPA 20 Flora 20 Fauna 25 HPNP 28 Flora 28 Fauna 31 KCF 34 Flora 34 Fauna 39 2.b History and Development 44 2.b.1 Cultural features 44 PWPA 44 HPNP 46 KCF 47 2.b.2 Natural aspects 49 PWPA 51 HPNP 53 KCF 54 3. Justification for Inscription 59 3.a Criteria under which inscription is proposed (and justification under these criteria) 59 3..b Proposed statement of outstanding universal value 80 3.b.1 Cultural heritage 80 3.b.2 Natural heritage 81 3.c Comparative analysis 84 3.c.1 Cultural heritage 84 PWPA 84 HPNP 85 KCF 86 3.c.2 Natural Heritage 86 3.d Integrity and authenticity 89 3.d.1 Cultural features 89 PWPA 89 HPNP 90 KCF 90 3.d.2 Natural features 91 4.
    [Show full text]
  • Taxonomic Diversity of Lianas in Tropical Forests of Andaman And
    International Journal of Innovative Research and Review ISSN: 2347 – 4424 (Online) An Online International Journal Available at http://www.cibtech.org/jirr.htm 2014 Vol. 2 (3) July-September, pp.19-27/Ghosh Research Article TAXONOMIC DIVERSITY OF LIANAS IN TROPICAL FORESTS OF ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS, INDIA *Asutosh Ghosh Taxonomy and Biosystematics Lab, Department of Botany, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, WB, India *Author for Correspondence ABSTRACT Lianas are important in forest ecosystem and strongly influence the forest dynamics and diversity. Lianas are common in the tropical moist deciduous and rain forests, which are competing with other forest trees. Little information is known on the habitat specialization in tropical lianas diversity and the root causes for variation among forests in liana species composition. A total of 105 liana species representing 109 genera and 33 families were reported. Papilionaceae was the dominant family with 13 species and Caesalpinia, Derris was the largest genera. Stem twinner climbers (45.71%) was the most predominant climbing mechanism. Keywords: Lianas, Climbing Modes, Diversity, Andaman Islands INTRODUCTION Lianas are prominent features of most tropical forests, where their leaves can constitute a large amount of the total area of the entire forest community (Putz and Mooney, 1991). They struggle strongly with trees, very much reducing tree growth, tree reproduction and greatly increasing tree mortality (Wright et al., 2005; Schnitzer and Carson, 2010; Ingwell et al., 2010) and altering the course of regeneration in forests (Schnitzer et al., 2000). Lianas add significantly to vascular plant species as their contribution to species richness ranges from 8-12%. Lianas make up 2 to 7% of total woody biomass; but as much as 6 to 36% of the total leaf biomass and production of litter 36% against that by trees 59%.
    [Show full text]
  • Check List 5(1): 092–111, 2009. ISSN: 1809-127X
    Check List 5(1): 092–111, 2009. ISSN: 1809-127X LISTS OF SPECIES Angiosperms, Climbing plants in tropical forests of southern Eastern Ghats, Tamil Nadu, India Chellam Muthumperumal Narayanaswamy Parthasarathy Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Pondicherry University. Puducherry – 605 014, India. E-mail: [email protected] Abstract We provide a check list of angiosperm climbing plant species, along with their climbing modes, enumerated from a total of one hundred and fifty grids in tropical forests of southern Eastern Ghats, peninsular India. The Eastern Ghats constitute an important biodiversity area in India and have been studied earlier mainly for the floristics, and that too confined to a few prioritized sites. Lianas, the woody vines contribute substantially to the diversity and structure of most tropical forests. Yet, little is known about the importance of habitat specialization in maintaining tropical liana diversity. A total of 175 climbing plant species that belong to 100 genera and 40 families are included in this enumeration. Introduction Lianas, the woody vines are an important, but (Schnitzer and Bongers 2002). Liana density understudied growth-form, common to most (≥ 1.6 cm diameter) decreased with increasing forests throughout the world, particularly in the altitude, whereas richness was highest at tropics (Schnitzer and Bongers 2002). The past intermediate elevations (Parthasarathy et al. few decades have brought increasing awareness of 2004). Reports suggest that lianas are now the importance of lianas to species diversity increasing in tropical forests as a result of the (Gentry and Dodson 1987; Schnitzer and Carson recent climatological trend (Malhi and Wright 2001; Burnham 2002). Lianas constitute ~ 25 % 2004).
    [Show full text]
  • Patterns of Liana Diversity in Tropical Evergreen Forests of Peninsular India N
    Forest Ecology and Management 190 (2004) 15–31 Patterns of liana diversity in tropical evergreen forests of peninsular India N. Parthasarathy*, S. Muthuramkumar, M. Sridhar Reddy Salim Ali School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Pondicherry University, Pondicherry 605 014, India Abstract ThequantitativelianainventoriesmadeinfivepeninsularIndianindependentforestsites,distributedintheWesternGhats,Eastern Ghats and on the Coromandel coast, were examined particularly with reference to site altitude and forest stature. Liana diversity totaled148 speciesin101 genera of47 families,ina totalsampleof47 ha.The coefficient ofvariabilityinspeciesdistributionamong the five sites was used to identify an oligarchy in liana species by taking 55 abundant species from the species pool. Ordination analysis, based on presence–absence as well as relative density of liana species indicated a geographical differentiation among the five sites in both the ordinations with respect to site altitude. Liana density (stems > 1:6 cm diameter) decreased with increasing altitude, whereas richness was highest at intermediate elevations. The mean liana density across the forest sites showed a weak negative correlation with forest stature. The lianas encountered in the five study sites fell under six climber types, of which twining was the chief climbing mechanism, both in terms of species diversity and density, and tendril climbers were more abundant in dry evergreen forests than in the wet evergreen forests. In liana diaspore dispersal modes, the majority of evergreen forest species possessed animal dispersal guilds, whereas wind-dispersal was prevalent in semi-evergreen and dry evergreen forests. # 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Climbing modes; Forest stature; Lianas; Ordination; Oligarchy; Site elevation 1. Introduction play a significant role in forest structure and functional aspects of tropical forests (Putz and Mooney, 1991).
    [Show full text]