Vascular Plant Assemblage of Cliffs in Northern Western Ghats, India

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Communication Vascular plant assemblage of cliffs in northern Western Ghats, India

Mandar N. Datar & Aparna V. Watve

26 February 2018 | Vol. 10 | No. 2 | Pages: 11271–11284 10.11609/jot.3611.10.2.11271-11284

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Threatened Taxa

Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 February 2018 | 10(2): 11271–11284

Vascular plant assemblage of cliffs in northern Western

Ghats, India Communication

Mandar N. Datar 1 & Aparna V. Watve 2 ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) 1 Biodiversity and Paleobiology group, Agharkar Research Insttute, G.G. Agarkar Road, Pune, Maharashtra 411004, India OPEN ACCESS 2 Biome Conservaton Foundaton, 34/6, Gulawani Maharaj Road, Pune, Maharashtra 411004, India 1 [email protected] (corresponding author), 2 [email protected]

Abstract: Vertcal rocky clifs, which consist of various types of rock, are widespread all over the world. India’s northern Western Ghats consistng of basaltc rocks form probably the largest clif ecosystem globally, however, almost no studies are available concerning their foristc richness. In an atempt to understand the vascular plant assemblage of this habitat, clifs of the northern Western Ghats were surveyed for their microhabitats, species diversity, distributon of endemics, occurrence of partcular adaptve traits and potental threats. A total of 102 species of vascular plants were documented from the clif habitats of which 55 are endemic. Flowering of the species on clifs is triggered by the advent of the south-west monsoon and peak fowering is seen between August and October. Of the total species, 27 grow exclusively on clifs. Owing to habitat specifcity, clifs show a greater number of narrow endemic and threatened species when compared with other habitats like deciduous, evergreen and semi-evergreen forests, which are widespread in the northern Western Ghats. Unfortunately, this habitat faces threats in the form of landslides, periodic burning and habitat loss due to road-widening.

Keywords: Clif ecology, endemic species, vertcal clifs, Western Ghats.

DOI: htp://doi.org/10.11609/jot.3611.10.2.11271–11284

Editor: N.P. Balakrishnan, Coimbatore, India. Date of publicaton: 26 February 2018 (online & print)

Manuscript details: Ms # 3611 | Received 30 June 2017 | Final received 15 February 2018 | Finally accepted 18 February 2018

Citaton: Datar, M.N. & A.V. Watve (2018). Vascular plant assemblage of clifs in northern Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 10(2): 11271–11284; htp://doi.org/10.11609/jot.3611.10.2.11271-11284

Copyright: © Datar & Watve 2018. Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this artcle in any medium, reproducton and distributon by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publicaton.

Funding: Agharkar Research Insttute In-house grant BOT 15 for MND and self-funded by AW.

Competng interests: The authors declare no competng interests.

Author Details: Dr. Mandar Datar works as a scientst, is interested in diversity, distributon and endemism of fowering plants of the northern Western Ghats. Dr. Aparna Watve is a scientst with Biome Conservaton Foundaton and teaches at the Tata Insttute of Social Sciences, Tuljapur Campus. She has been working on the rock outcrops habitats in India and on the conservaton of rocky plateaus in Maharashtra.

Author Contributon: MD and AW did feld work and wrote the manuscript.

Acknowledgements: We are thankful to the Director Agharkar Research Insttute, Pune for facilites and encouragement. We are also thankful to the authorites of BSI and GU for grantng us permission to check herbarium specimens. We thank Dr. Karthick Balasubramanian and Dr. Sanjay Molur for their critcal suggestons on the manuscript and Dr. Stefan Porembski, Rostock University, Germany for fruitul discussions.

11271 Clif fora of northern Western Ghats Datar & Watve

INTRODUCTION habitats and studied for their biodiversity, environment, social, cultural and anthropological aspects. But litle The Western Ghats form a mountain range that runs atenton has been paid to the clifs of the Western Ghats parallel to the western coast of India from 8.3188890N and they have not been studied in detail. The present to 21.273330N for more than 1,600km. Together with Sri paper addresses this gap in knowledge and atempts to Lanka it is one of the 34 biodiversity hotspots designated give an overview of existng studies, foristc aspects and based on high species endemism and also high degree the ecological features of clif vegetaton. of threat due to habitat loss (Myers et al. 2000). The Clifs have atracted the atenton of biologists, region has diverse habitats ranging from dense tropical geologists and geomorphologists throughout the forests to sholas, swamps and rocky outcrops supportng world. IUCN’s (2014) habitat classifcaton of the world endemic fora and fauna. The entre range is an important recognizes inland clifs as part of the general category watershed area with many hill streams and river valleys of “rocky areas” which are generally defned as high, formed by deep weathering. The weathering has given steep or overhanging face of rock. Though they are very rise to hills with steep slopes, tall clifs and fat or conical distnct land forms, their spatal extension is difcult mountain tops (Images 1 & 2). to quantfy on geographical maps because of vertcal The Western Ghats are of igneous origin and surfaces. Larson et al. (2000) state that clifs are a type geomorphologically the range is actually the western of rock outcrop, having three essental elements: a level escarpment of the Deccan Plateau formed by volcanic or sloping platorm or plateau at the top; a pediment erupton between 60 and 68 million years ago. The consistng of base-rock at the botom; and a vertcal Western Ghats go down steeply to the coastal plains or near-vertcal part, called the clif face or free-face in on the western side, but towards the east, they merge between. Clifs usually do not form smooth walls but gently through a series of hills or spurs with the Deccan show crevices, caves and ledges. Talus or scree is the Plateau (Gunnell & Radhakrishna 2001). accumulated mater at the botom consistng of loose Based on the parent rock, the Western Ghats can rock fragments derived from the weathering of clif. A toe be separated into two sectons. The south of the river is the point where the talus slope meets the pediment. Kali in Karnataka (15N), is the region of Precambrian Ledges are the secton of clif faces that are more or less archean crystalline rocks. The hills have rounded tops horizontal and may have undercuts forming overhangs and they rise to 2,000m or more. This secton, known as (Larson et al. 2000). Figure 2 shows a representatve the southern Western Ghats is rich in arboreal diversity diagram of clifs in NWG. sheltered by dense evergreen forests. North of the The degree of slope for defning the clifs has been Kali River is the Deccan trap country having relatvely debatable, but is generally taken as more than 45°. fragile rocks with hills not rising beyond 1,650m and Distnctness of abiotc conditons from other habitats having fat hill tops showing outcroppings of laterite is a characteristc of clifs; however, similar to other and basalt (Gunnell & Radhakrishna 2001). Pascal rock outcrops, the microclimate of the clifs is more (1988) describes this secton as the northern Western extreme in terms of moisture, humidity, radiaton and Ghats (henceforth referred to as NWG), which has a soil nutrient availability as compared to the surrounding high annual rainfall (3,000–4,000 mm) but a longer dry landscape. According to Larson et al. (2000), vertcal period (almost 8 months) as compared to the southern exposed clifs are very dry, hot, have litle or no humus and central Western Ghats (rainfall above 5,000mm and and support a very limited group of species adapted almost 4 dry months). Strong seasonality together with to a harsh environment. The vertcal nature of clifs, typical geological and geomorphological features of this however, also leads to vegetaton being strongly region have infuenced the plant and animal ecology infuenced by wind and difculty in formaton and with regards to diversity of life-forms. Monsoon herbs retenton of soil. Coates & Kirkpatrick (1992) describe are abundant and show higher endemism as compared clifs as extreme environments where plant growth is to the woody endemics. The NWG comprise a large limited by the combined efects of moisture availability, number of habitat types including forests, grasslands, light, and gravity. Light may not be a limitng factor in the and rocky outcrops. In additon to these, clifs are also case of tropical regions such as the NWG, but availability a very prominent habitat in the NWG and are seen of moisture, in the clif environments certainly varies throughout the escarpment and on the major eastern drastcally with seasonal changes. In the wet period and western spurs of the NWG (Fig. 1). (June–October), most clifs in the NWG have waterfalls Across the world, clifs are considered as distnct and hill streams that support the lush growth of seasonal

11272 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 February 2018 | 10(2): 11271–11284 Clif fora of northern Western Ghats Datar & Watve

Figure 2. Microhabitats on clifs

Ecological studies of clif habitats in the NWG are also scarce. Bharucha & Ansari (1963) published plant associatons on slopes and screes in the NWG, and included specifc communites seen on steep slopes. Chasmophytc grasses of southern Western Ghats were Figure 1. Locatons of mountain passes in Northern Western Ghats which show predominance of clif habitats (Map prepared using reported by Thomas et al. (2012). Work on lithophytc QGIS 2.16.1) grasses of Maharashtra was carried out by Gosavi (2010), which included certain clif grasses (Image 5). These were chasmophytes. only sporadic eforts and any exclusive review of clif As seen from Fig. 2, clifs include a variety of fora or vegetaton ecology or autecological accounts of microhabitats and hence can have a diversity of plant endemic species of this special habitat have not been life forms. Perennial shrubs and tree species are well published tll now. Similar is the situaton in the rest of established wherever humus or soil is present. The India as well, where foristc literature takes cognizance ephemeral vegetaton seen during and post monsoon, of clif as a habitat but ecological studies of clifs have not however, is abundant on the clif face, ledges and been undertaken. Lack of baseline informaton on the crevices. The habitat is not easily accessible, but foral compositon and detailed studies on the diversity secondary vertcal clifs faces seen along roads in paterns on this habitat and efects of degradaton are mountain passes, known as “ghats” in vernacular hampering the conservaton eforts in the Western (Marathi) also support a majority of typical elements of Ghats. clif fora. Many foristc exploratory works on various Clifs are well studied in other parts of the world. district foras of the Indian state of Maharashtra have Several researchers have contributed to our knowledge studied vegetaton of the ghats. These studies menton of clif vegetaton (Escudero 1996; Cooper 1997; Dimitrov ghats as a habitat or locaton of certain species but do & Vutov 2015; Bogges et al. 2017). Studies by Davis not give detailed informaton regarding microhabitat (1951), Wilson & Cullen (1986), Lavergne et al. (2004) are preference or adaptve features of ghat fora. Also none focused exclusively on clifs, and try to bring out paterns of them discussed the presence of specifc features of endemism in fora, fauna, niche requirements, habitat generally reported as life strategies for clif species or preferences and adaptve features. Impacts of human mentoned the general foristc compositon. A detailed actvites such as trekking and mountaineering on clifs compilaton of ghat fora from the entre Western Ghats have also been studied by Nuzzo (1996). Most notable is a much-needed one. among clif research is the review by Larson et al.

Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 February 2018 | 10(2): 11271–11284 11273 Clif fora of northern Western Ghats Datar & Watve

(2000), which documents biological, environmental as categorized into six major microhabitat groups (Table well as social and cultural aspects of clif ecology. The 1). The species were categorized as generalist (GN) and review indicates that clifs harbor a multtude of rare, restricted (RI). Their specifc adaptatons for survival in endemic and endangered plant species and contribute clifs were also recorded. In the checklist all the names substantally to regional biodiversity. are as per the Plant List (2013). The scope of this paper, as a preliminary report is mainly to compile a list of species that primarily use clifs as habitat in the NWG. It also discusses the microhabitats RESULTS and partcular plant adaptve traits, endemism, conservaton signifcance and future research needs. Our studies yielded a total of 102 species of vascular plants belonging to 35 families and 69 genera for the clif fora of the main range of the NWG which pass through MATERIALS AND METHODS Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Pune, Nashik, Ahmednagar, Palghar and Thane districts of Study area Maharashtra state and north and south Goa districts of The study was carried out in the NWG between Goa State. Of the total species 91 are angiosperms and 15° and 21°N lattudes, one-third of the total length of 11 are pteridophytes. Although pteridophytes are less the Western Ghats. To understand the distributon of in the number of species, they can be seen as dominant species in NWG, the region was divided into three parts: members with respect to percentage cover on some northern, (between 19° and 21° N), central (between clifs. In case of some species there was not enough or 17° and 19° N), and southern (between 15° and 17° N) accurate ecological informaton available from earlier parts of the northern Western Ghats. foristc works to assign them conclusively to a life form category. We have categorized them based upon feld Data collecton and analysis observatons and habit, however further research on Primary informaton for this paper has been collected these aspects is necessary. In the list, therophytes are during feld studies between 2008 and 2016 in various represented by 54 species followed by 27 geophytes, parts of the NWG. During feld work observatons 12 phanerophytes and nine hemicryptophytes (Fig. 3) related to species distributon, details of microhabitats, based on Raunkiaer’s classifcaton (Cain 1950) of life phenology of the species and partcular plant adaptve forms. This is consistent with the seasonal climate of traits were made. Based on these observatons a the region, which is more favorable for the growth of checklist of vascular plants growing on primary as well therophytes and geophytes. as secondary clifs was prepared (Table 1). Primary As far as distributon of clif species is concerned, clifs are the natural clifs seen in the Western Ghats 61 species are spread throughout the NWG while fve while secondary ones are the man-made clifs during are exclusively in the northern part of NWG, 13 in the constructon of roads in the ghat sectons. Available central part of NWG and 16 in the southern part of NWG. literature on foristc studies of the NWG especially Five species are distributed in the southern and central district foras for ghats like Trimbakeshwar and Kasara parts of NWG while two species in the northern and (Billore 1972; Lakshminarasimhan & Sharma 1991); central part of NWG. Five species viz. Kalanchoe bhidei Malshej (Billore 1972); Bor (Santapau 1953); Tamhini & Varandha (Kothari & Moorthy 1993); Ambenali & Kumbharli (Almeida 1983–1986; Deshpande et al. 1993–95); Amba, Bhuibavda, Gaganbavda and Phonda (Kulkarni 1988; Yadav & Sardesai 2002); Amboli and Tilari (Kulkarni 1988; Almeida 1990); Satari (Rao 1985–1986) and Anmode (Rao 1985–1986; Datar & Lakshminarasimhan 2013a&b) was consulted. Additonal ecological informaton was collected from the specimens and feld notes in the herbaria of Botanical Survey of India, Western Regional Center (BSI), Agharkar Research Insttute Herbarium (AHMA) and Goa University herbarium (GU). The microhabitats of clif plants were Figure 3. Distributon of various life forms in clif fora

11274 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 February 2018 | 10(2): 11271–11284 Clif fora of northern Western Ghats Datar & Watve

Cooke, Kalanchoe olivacea Dalzell, Senecio edgeworthii Hook.f., Dyerophytum indicum (Gibs. ex Wt.) O. Ktze. And Chlorophytum bharuchae Ansari et al. were found to grow exclusively on clifs of ghats connectng north and south which are comparatvely drier than the east- west ghats (Fig. 1). These hill passes are located at about 40km towards east of the main crest of the Western Ghats.

DISCUSSION Figure 4. Seasonal changes in precipitaton and fowering of clif dwelling species (Precipitaton data based on India meteorological Clifs are known to support ecologically specialized department, Climate of Maharashtra report 2005). taxa. Extreme climatc conditons have made species growing on clifs fower for a limited duraton. From the phenology of the species it can be seen that fowering is depending on the local land use. Very ofen hill slopes triggered by the advent of the monsoon. The maximum are burnt as part of developing secondary grasslands for fowering is seen between August and December when cultvaton where they are easily accessible to people. the monsoon is setled. During the monsoon mostly c. Seasonally moist vertcal rock face (MVR): therophytes and geophytes fower, while post monsoon exposed vertcal rock with almost 90 degree inclinaton fowering is observed in phanerophytes (Fig. 4). and devoid of soil is a classic feature of most clifs. Geomorphologically it is termed as free face or clif face Microhabitats on clifs (Image 7). In the rainy season waterfalls are present and All 102 plant species growing on clifs grow in 6 major in general water seepage is common. Here a bioflm microhabitats. All these microhabitats are present on made up by cyanobacteria, diatoms and lichens occurs. most of the clifs, but their relatve area on each clif in In the monsoon they are moist due to contnuous various regions may difer. A brief descripton of the trickling of water even during the gap in rain owing to prominent microhabitats is given below: the availability of water from the plateau. If a waterfall a. Edge of the plateau tops: plateau top edges are is large, the clif face has a spray zone near waterfalls, ofen marked by deep crevices and fssures in the rock which is also moist. Moist crevices on vertcal faces can due to natural erosion processes. Many small or large be treated under this microhabitat. Narrow cracks are waterfalls can be seen along the plateau edges during ofen seen on vertcal rock faces. These crevices have monsoon. some amount of humus accumulated over the years. Most of the species found in this microhabitat have Water trickles contnuously during the wet period also been noted on plateau tops and boulders as well (Image 3). but they are abundant on plateau edges. Although d. Ledges: They are sectons of clif face that ecological research on their habitat preference has not are more or less horizontal and may be undercut, thus been carried out, these observatons have been made forming overhangs (Larson et al. 2000). These are step during feldwork and are supported by literature data. like formatons due to weathering of clif faces and In most areas, plateau tops are heavily grazed and look like small terraces with accumulaton of soil and trampled by people as well as livestock. Some monsoon humus. These ledges can support phanerophytes and agriculture is also practced and very ofen they are geophytes. Caves and overhangs are ofen seen and can subject to burning during the summer for increasing be of varying depth. Vascular plants, however, hardly the grass fush. It is possible that one or more of these ever occur in caves. processes have heavily impacted populatons of these e. Dry vertcal rock (DVR): exposed vertcal rock species on the plateau tops and they are thus restricted with almost 90 degree inclinaton and devoid of soil. DVR or abundant only along the edge of the plateaus. can be distnguished from MVR in having no trickling of b. Hill slopes: Slope varies between 30–60 degrees water on the rocks. These rock faces are moist during along the hill ranges of NWG. They are mostly covered the rains, but in the absence of trickling water these with soil of varying depth formed by weathering. The rocks dry up very quickly as compared to the MVR. As vegetaton cover may vary from scrub grassland to forest seen from the descripton, MVR and DVR are both moist

Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 February 2018 | 10(2): 11271–11284 11275 Clif fora of northern Western Ghats Datar & Watve in heavy rainfall period, but the moisture lasts longer on case of species such as Silentvalleya chandwadensis, MVR due to waterfalls or streams thus infuencing the which are known from a limited number of specimens it vegetaton. is not possible to ascertain whether they are specialists f. Scree: This is a well-defned habitat consistng or not. of accumulaton of large rock fragments derived from weathering of the clif face (Larson et al. 2000). Soil Adaptatons of varying depth can be seen and in the absence of Some of the species recorded in clifs in the NWG intensive biotc pressures, scree has dense shrub or low showed characteristc adaptatons to grow under harsh tree growth. environmental conditons. They are explained below: a. Poikilohydry: Poikilohydry is a highly specialized Ecological amplitude of species adaptaton shown by plants growing under conditons For the sake of understanding we have classifed of periodic water stress. These species are more plants into generalist (GN) and restricted (RI) here. commonly known as desiccaton tolerant or resurrecton Recently Kypriotakis & Tzanoudakis (2001) have plants owing to the unique adaptaton for sustaining categorized plant taxa occurring on clifs into three during the dry period. At the beginning of a dry spell categories (a) obligate chasmophytes, which exclusively the tssues of these plants lose water and become dry occur on clifs and in crevices; (b) plants that are mainly and shriveled. But if a small amount of water becomes chasmophytes, occurring mostly on vertcal clifs, but available from rainfall or streams, these plants absorb occur in other habitats with lower frequency; and (c) water and resume normal growth even during the dry plants that are partally or occasionally occurring on period. Eight poikilohydric species were listed on clifs, clifs and mostly occur in other habitats. viz. Tripogon lisboae, T. capillatus, T. fliformis (Image The term generalist (GN) is used as a descriptor in 4), Didyimocarpus pygmaea, Microchirita hamosa, Table 1 indicatng that these species were also seen in Actnopteris sp., Cheilanthes sp., etc. Poikilohydry has habitats other than clifs, e. g. Delphinium malabaricum not been studied for Indian plants with the excepton is also seen on high alttude plateaus while Begonia of a paper by Gaf & Bole (1986). It is quite possible crenata is seen on boulders in exposed or shaded areas that more such species can be found on clifs and other and it grows as an epiphyte in dense forest as well. The outcrop habitats in future. same is the case with other species marked GN in Table 1. b. Carnivory: Carnivory is an adaptaton by plants But our observatons suggest that these species do have to overcome the scarcity of nutrients like nitrogen, a greater abundance on clifs as compared to the rest phosphorus and potassium (Ellison 2006). Carnivorous of the habitats in which they occur. The reasons of this plants are abundant and diverse in the ephemeral fush could be many ranging from environmental parameters vegetaton on rock outcrops (Porembski & Watve 2005) to biotc pressures. such as ferricretes, mesas and inselbergs in India. But Many species, which are facultatve or opportunistc only two species of bladderworts were recorded on clif dwellers, were excluded from this list, for the clif microhabitats in this study. Utricularia striatula reason that they do not show more abundance on the is a specialist that ofen covers large MVR, and many clifs as compared to the other habitats, e.g., Senecio individuals are seen on wide, open faces with trickling bombayensis grows on clifs but is much more abundant water. U. graminaefolia is another generalist carnivorous on plateaus. species seen on clifs. The term RI (Restricted) is used in Table 1 instead of c. Succulence: Frerea indica and Sarcostemma specialist. It indicates that these species are observed intermedium (Apocynaceae) are the only two succulent or reported so far only from the cluster of microhabitats species growing on clifs. Frerea indica grows on hills of identfed under the broad category of clif. Some the main NWG, while Sarcostemma intermedium grows of them such as Utricularia striatula (Image 9) or on ofshoots of Ghats, in drier areas as compared to the Rhynchoglossum notonianum can be called specialists former. Frerea indica was considered as one of the most considering the fact that their patern of growth and threatened species of the region, but it is now reported root system appeared to be adapted to vertcal clifs. from six localites on plateau edges (Misra & Singh About 62 species are noted as generalists while 40 2001). Frerea indica is also found to show C4 pathway are restricted to clifs. More detailed ecological and of photosynthesis (Lange & Zuber 1977), which is one of autecological studies are needed for a more reliable the adaptatons for surviving in harsh environment on categorizaton into generalists and specialists. In the clifs.

11276 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 February 2018 | 10(2): 11271–11284 Clif fora of northern Western Ghats Datar & Watve

d. Geophytes: Presence of tubers, bulbs and soil is accumulated. rhizomes is a classic adaptaton to seasonal climate, Clifs shelter six narrow endemic species viz. where growing period is limited to only a certain part Hubbardia diandra (Image 10), Silentvalleya of the year. This is by far the most common adaptaton chandwadensis, Ceropegia mahabalei, C. santapaui, C. shown by clif species. A total of 2 bulbous, 22 tuberous noorjahanae and Begonia concanensis. It was found and 2 rhizomatous species are included in table 1. that narrow endemic species showed a clear patern The reproductve phase of these plants is over afer of ecological diferentaton from their widespread the monsoon and the plant remains in the form of congeners as they occurred in steeper habitats, higher underground organs untl the next monsoon. This group bedrock and sparser vegetaton. This is consistent with includes species like Ceropegia huberi (Image 8), C. observatons of Baskin & Baskin (1988) that rocky areas mahabalei, and C. santapaui which generally grow on have a higher number of narrow endemic species. moist vertcal rocks or hill slopes with some amount of Endemism and the presence of threatened plants on soil accumulaton. clifs is also reported by Shmida (1984) and Aronne et al. In additon to these well documented adaptatons, (2014). They have documented 7% endemic plants from certain species show perennatng organs in the form coastal vertcal clifs of the natonal park of Cilento. But of dry cotony balls produced next to the soil surface compared to this region clifs of the NWG have a much at the base of the stem. This understudied adaptaton higher percentage of endemic plants emphasizing again is observed in species belonging to genera like Blumea its high conservaton value. and Senecio. These species are treated here under hemicryptophytes. As seen from above, the adaptatons Threats to the habitat and vegetaton recorded so far seem to be more for the seasonal During this frst study, the focus was on foristcs, dryness and nutrient scarcity experienced by the fora in however, notes were recorded on pressures and threats this habitat. More research is necessary to understand to the habitat. As compared to the plateau tops, valleys, if adaptatons related to wind velocity, radiaton or any forests and other more accessible habitats near human other factors are also present. habitatons, clifs are less intensively used by humans and livestock. Hill slopes are used for grazing by sheep and Endemism and rarity catle, but the vertcal clifs faces (MVR, DVR) and edges, Numerous endemic (Image 6) species are found on ledges or overhangs are rarely accessed by people, clifs owing to their geographical isolaton and selectve making these safe sites for some species. A major threat pressure towards evoluton of adaptve features (Larson for clif vegetaton appears to be from manmade fres, et al. 2000). Clifs of the NWG also support many which are lit for developing scrub grasslands, or hill slope endemic species. The list (Table 1) includes 55 species cultvaton. These are mostly seen during hot months reported as endemic in previous studies of which 35 are (January to April) and ofen fre escapes and burns endemic to the NWG (Singh & Karthikeyan 2000; Datar many habitats. Widening of roads and railway track & Lakshminarasimhan 2013a). The number of endemics expansion is another threat to established vegetaton on shows a fairly large percentage (50%+) of the clif fora. the clifs. This can be seen in Anmode Ghat (Datar & Many of these are restricted (RI) as per our observatons Lakshminarasimhan 2013a). The vegetaton of clifs is and 19 species are reported as Critcally Endangered heavily dependent on accumulated humus and intense (CR), Endangered(EN) and Vulnerable (VU) as per the burning can afect it severely. Landslides are also a Botanical Survey of India (Mishra & Singh 2001) and threat to vegetaton, but in the absence of any specifc IUCN indicatng high conservaton signifcance of clif data on frequency or intensity of landslides, their actual habitats. efect at species level cannot be predicted. This is more The species growing on clifs also show microhabitat evidenced in secondary clifs. Nuzzo (1996), Camp preference, for example species like Hubbardia & Knight (1998) and McMillan & Larson (2002) have diandra, Eria retcosa, Ceropegia huberi, C. santapauii addressed efect of rock climbing on clif vegetaton and are restricted to moist vertcal rocks while species their efect on endemic fora. So far this does not appear like Begonia concanensis, B. phrixophylla prefer to to be a threat to clif fora of this region as rock climbing grow in moist areas on edges of plateau tops. Species or mountaineering is not common. It may be a local like Frerea indica always prefer dry vertcal rocks factor of importance in case of some localites such as while Trachyspermum roxburghianum and Ceropegia forts and peaks such as Raigad, Sinhagad, Kalsubai and noorjahanae grow on hill slopes where some amount of others popular for these sports.

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Table 1. Vascular plant species growing on clifs in the northern Western Ghats.

Distributon in Endemicity Voucher Name of the species Family Life form Specifcity Adaptaton Microhabitats NWG -range specimen* Northern and Delphinium malabaricum 1 Ranunculaceae TH GN HS central parts of NWG 15929 (Huth) Munz NWG Throughout 2 Thalictrum dalzellii Hook. Ranunculaceae TH GN DVR, L NWG 78 NWG Throughout 3 Reinwardta indica Dumort. Linaceae TH GN DVR, L 2159 NWG Throughout 4 Impatens acaulis Arn. Balsaminaceae GE RI UPO MVR 2289 NWG Rhamnus virgata var. Throughout 5 hirsuta (Wight & Arn.) Y.L. Rhamnaceae PH GN HS PI 25386 NWG Chen & P.K. Chou Central part of 6 Kalanchoe bhidei Cooke Crassulaceae TH RI EP NWG NWG Central part of 7 Kalanchoe olivacea Dalzell Crassulaceae TH RI EP NWG 899 NWG Throughout 8 Sonerila scapigera Dalzell Melastomataceae GE RI UPO MVR NWG 20880 NWG Central part of 9 Rotala foribunda (Wt.) Arn. Lythraceae TH RI MVR NWG 1981 NWG Throughout 10 Begonia concanensis DC. Begoniaceae GE RI UPO EP NWG 8149 NWG Throughout 11 Begonia crenata Dryand Begoniaceae GE GN UPO MVR 8155 NWG Begonia phrixophylla Blat. Central part of 12 & McCann Begoniaceae GE RI UPO EP NWG NWG

Central and Begonia trichocarpa Dalzell 13 Begoniaceae GE RI UPO MVR Southern parts WG 21028 of NWG Heracleum grande (Dalzell Throughout 14 & A. Gibson) Mukhop. Apiaceae GE GN UPO EP WG 1023 NWG

Pinda concanensis (Dalzell) Throughout 15 P.K. Mukh. & Constance Apiaceae GE GN UPO EP NWG 8174 NWG

Scandix stellata Banks & Central part of 16 Apiaceae TH GN HS Soland NWG Trachyspermum Throughout 17 Apiaceae GE RI UPO HS PI 8295 roxburghianum (DC.) Craib. NWG Argostemma vertcillatum Southern part of 186753 18 Rubiaceae GE RI UPO MVR Wall. NWG (BSI) Argostemma courtallense Southern part of 186777 19 Rubiaceae GE RI UPO MVR Arn. NWG (BSI) Hymenodictyon obovatum Throughout 20 Rubiaceae PH GN EP India Wall. NWG Hymenodictyon orixensis Throughout 21 Rubiaceae PH GN EP 15522 (Roxb.) Mabb. NWG Neanots lancifolia (Hook.f.) Throughout 22 Rubiaceae TH GN MVR WG 5443 W. H. Lewis NWG Neanots montholonii Throughout 23 Rubiaceae TH GN MVR PI 6093 (Hook.f.) W. H. Lewis NWG Spermadictyon suaveolens Throughout 24 Rubiaceae PH GN HS 26272 Roxb. NWG Central part of 25 Artemisia japonica Thunb. Asteraceae PH GN HS 7468 NWG Artemisia nilagirica Throughout 26 Asteraceae PH GN HS (C.B.Clarke) Pamp. NWG Throughout 27 Blumea membranacea DC. Asteraceae TH GN HS 7533 NWG Kleinia grandifora (wallich Throughout 28 ex DC.) N.Rani Asteraceae TH GN EP 1177 NWG

Throughout 29 Senecio edgeworthii Hook.f. Asteraceae HE RI DCB DVR, HS PI 7895 NWG

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Distributon in Endemicity Voucher Name of the species Family Life form Specifcity Adaptaton Microhabitats NWG -range specimen* Gynura bicolor (Roxb. ex Throughout 30 Asteraceae TH GN S 7818 Willd.) DC. NWG Campanula alphonsii Wall. Central part of 31 Campanulaceae GE RI UPO DVR NWG 8823 ex A.DC. NWG Dyerophytum indicum (Gibbs ex Wight) Northern part of 32 Plumbaginaceae PH RI DVR 8894 Kuntze NWG

Southern and 33 Ceropegia huberi Ansari Apocynaceae GE RI UPO MVR Central part of NWG 26636 NWG Ceropegia mahabalei Northern part of 34 Hemadri & Ansari Apocynaceae GE RI UPO HS NWG 17548 NWG

Ceropegia noorjahanae Central part of 175465 35 Apocynaceae GE RI UPO HS NWG Ansari NWG (BSI) Ceropegia sahyadrica Throughout 36 Apocynaceae GE RI UPO EP,HS NWG 17713 Ansari & Kulkarni NWG Ceropegia santapaui Southern part of 37 Apocynaceae GE RI UPO MVR NWG 26091 Wadhwa & Ansari NWG Northern and Frerea indica Dalzell 38 Apocynaceae HE RI SUC DVR central parts of NWG 17540 NWG Sarcostemma intermedium Central part of 39 Apocynaceae HE GN SUC DVR NWG 17824 Decne. NWG Canscora concanensis Throughout 40 Gentanaceae TH GN EP NWG 20139 C.B.Clarke NWG Canscora difusa (Vahl) Throughout 41 Gentanaceae TH GN EP 14145 R.Br. ex Roem. & Schult. NWG Kickxia incana (Wall.) Southern part of 42 Scrophulariaceae TH RI HS 11886 Pennell NWG Kickxia ramosissima (Wall.) Throughout 43 Scrophulariaceae TH GN DVR 11855 Janchen NWG Throughout 44 Utricularia striatula Sm. Lentbulariaceae TH RI CAR MVR 26941 NWG Utricularia graminifolia Southern part of 45 Lentbulariaceae TH GN CAR MVR 12903 Vahl NWG Microchirita hamosa (R.Br.) Southern part of 46 Gesneriaceae TH RI POIK MVR Yin Z.Wang NWG Didymocarpus Central part of 47 pygmaeus C.B.Clarke Gesneriaceae TH RI POIK DVR 12936 NWG

Southern part of 48 Epithema carnosum Benth. Gesneriaceae TH RI MVR NWG Rhynchoglossum Southern part of 49 Gesneriaceae TH RI MVR 12941 notonianum (Wall.) Burt. NWG Rhynchoglossum obliquum Central part of 50 Gesneriaceae TH RI MVR 12947 Blume NWG Throughout 51 Strobilanthes callosa Nees Acanthaceae PH GN HS NWG 13083 NWG Eranthemum capense L. Southern part of 186720 52 var. concanense (T. Anders.) Acanthaceae TH GN HS WG NWG (BSI) Santapau Haplanthodes Throughout 53 neilgherryensis ( Wight) Acanthaceae TH GN HS NWG 13078 NWG Majumdar Haplanthodes plumosa (T. Throughout 54 Acanthaceae TH GN EP WG Anders.) Panigr. & G. C. Das NWG Haplanthodes vertcillatus Throughout 55 Acanthaceae TH GN HS WG 13388 (Roxb.) R.B.Majumdar NWG Justcia wynaadensis Southern part of 187501 56 Acanthaceae TH GN HS NWG B.Heyne NWG (BSI) Strobilanthes scrobiculatus Southern part of 57 Acanthaceae PH RI HS NWG 1786 Dalzell ex C.B.Clarke NWG Anisochilus carnosus (L.f.) Throughout 58 Lamiaceae TH GN S 13559 Wall. NWG

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Distributon in Endemicity Voucher Name of the species Family Life form Specifcity Adaptaton Microhabitats NWG -range specimen* Anisochilus adenanthus Southern part of 59 Lamiaceae TH RI HS WG 13563 Dalzell & A.Gibson NWG Leucas montana (Roth) Central part of 60 Lamiaceae PH GN HS 14628 Spreng. NWG Lecanthus peduncularis Throughout 61 Urtcaceae TH GN MVR 11109 (Wall. ex Royle) Wedd. NWG Ficus arnotana (Miq.) Throughout 62 Moraceae PH GN EP 11263 Miq. NWG Throughout 63 Eria retcosa Wt. Orchidaceae HE RI MVR India 21009 NWG Habenaria brachyphylla 64 Orchidaceae GE GN UPO MVR throughout NWG NWG 21092 (Lindl.) Aitch. Throughout 65 Habenaria rarifora A. Rich. Orchidaceae GE GN UPO MVR WG 6271 NWG Throughout 66 Crinum brachynema Herb. Amaryllidaceae GE RI UPO HS NWG 6640 NWG Throughout 67 Crinum woodrowii Baker Amaryllidaceae GE GN UPO HS NWG 17557 NWG Chlorophytum Southern part of 68 Asparagaceae GE GN UPO L arundinaceum Baker NWG Chlorophytum bharuchae Central and 69 Ansari, Sundararagh. & Asparagaceae GE GN UPO HS Southern parts NWG 20490 Hemadri of NWG Chlorophytum glaucum Throughout 70 Asparagaceae GE GN UPO EP NWG 24500 Dalzell NWG Northern and Chlorophytum glaucoides 165260 71 Asparagaceae GE GN UPO EP central parts of PI Blat. (BSI) NWG Chlorophytum nimmonii Southern part of 72 Asparagaceae GE GN UPO L 25048 Dalzell NWG Phoenix loureiroi var. Northern part of 73 pedunculata (Grif.) Arecaceae PH GN HS PI 12367 NWG Govaerts . Throughout 187924 74 Ariopsis peltata Nimmo Araceae GE GN UPO MVR NWG (BSI) Northern and Eriophorum comosum 75 Cyperaceae TH RI DVR central parts of 19985 (Wall.) Nees NWG Throughout 76 Arthraxon jubatus Hack. Poaceae TH RI MVR WG 13665 NWG Arthraxon hispidus (Thunb.) Throughout 77 Poaceae TH RI MVR 13657 Makino NWG Throughout 78 Arthraxon meeboldii Stapf Poaceae TH RI MVR NWG 13704 NWG Garnota arborum Stapf. ex Throughout 79 Poaceae TH GN MVR NWG 204 (GU) T. Cooke NWG Hubbardia diandra Southern part of 182304 80 Chandore , Gosavi & Poaceae TH RI MVR NWG NWG (BSI) S.R.Yadav Throughout 81 Isachne gracilis C.E. Hubb. Poaceae TH RI MVR NWG 20284 NWG Ischaemum raizadae Throughout 82 Poaceae TH GN MVR NWG 25817 Hemadri & Billore NWG Ischaemum diplopogon Throughout 83 Poaceae TH GN MVR NWG 15614 Hook. f. NWG Lakshmia venusta Southern part of 84 Poaceae TH RI MVR NWG (Thwaites) Veldkamp NWG Silentvalleya Northern part of 85 chandwadensis Gosavi, B.R. Poaceae TH RI DVR NWG NWG Pawar & S.R. Yadav Pseudodichanthium Throughout 86 serrafalcoides (Cooke & Poaceae TH GN EP India 17757 NWG Stapf) Bor Throughout 87 Tripogon bromoides Roth Poaceae HE GN POIK MVR 21266 NWG Tripogon capillatus Jaub. Throughout 88 Poaceae HE GN POIK MVR WG 21501 & Spach NWG

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Distributon in Endemicity Voucher Name of the species Family Life form Specifcity Adaptaton Microhabitats NWG -range specimen* Tripogon fliformis Nees Central part of 89 Poaceae HE GN POIK MVR ex Steud. NWG Throughout 90 Tripogon lisboae Stapf Poaceae HE RI POIK MVR PI 21030 NWG Tripogon trifdus Munro Northern part of 91 Poaceae HE GN MVR ex Stapf NWG Throughout 92 Selaginella tenera Spring Selaginellaceae TH GN POIK HS NWG Adiantum capillus-veneris Throughout 93 Pteridaceae TH GN HS L. NWG Cheilosoria tenuifolia Throughout 94 Pteridaceae TH GN HS,EP (Burm. f.) Trevis. NWG Cheilanthes albomarginata Throughout 95 Pteridaceae TH GN POIK HS,EP C.B. Clarke NWG Cyclosorus interruptus Throughout 96 Thelypteridaceae TH GN HS (Willd.) H. Itô NWG Thelypteris parasitca (L.) Throughout 97 Thelypteridaceae TH GN HS Farwell NWG Ampelopteris prolifera Throughout 98 Thelypteridaceae TH GN HS (Retz.) Copel. NWG Macrothelypteris Throughout 99 Thelypteridaceae TH GN HS torresiana (Gaudich.) Ching NWG Athyrium hohenackerianum Throughout 100 Athyriaceae TH GN HS (Kunze) T. Moore NWG Diplazium esculentum Throughout 101 Athyriaceae TH GN MVR (Retz.) Sw. NWG Leptochilus decurrens Throughout 102 Polypodiaceae TH GN MVR Blume NWG

Abbreviatons: Adaptatons: UPO - Underground Protectng or storage organ; POIK - Poikilohydrous; CAR - carnivorous plants; DCB - Dry cotony balls; SUC - Succulent. Life forms: TH - Therophyte; PH - Phanerophyte; GE-Geophyte; HE - Hemicryptophyte. Habitat specifcity: GN - Generalist; RI- Restricted. Habitats: DVR- Dry vertcal rocks; EP - Edge of the plateau top; HS - Hill slopes; L - Ledges; MVR- Moist vertcal rocks; S - Scree. Endemism: NWG - northern Western Ghats; WG - Western Ghats; PI - Peninsular India. Acronyms and short name of herbaria to which voucher specimens are referred: AHMA - Herbarium of Agharkar Research Insttute, Pune, India; GU - Goa University herbarium, Goa, India; BSI - Botanical Survey of India, Western Circle Herbarium, Pune, India. * All specimens without any acronym in bracket are referred to AHMA.

CONCLUSION services to take the necessary steps for conservaton. It is hoped that this paper will provide baseline informaton The clif ecosystem of the Western Ghats is among for future detailed studies on this unique habitat in the the largest worldwide, but botanically it is stll rather northern Western Ghats and other parts of India as well. neglected. This review of species, vegetaton and microhabitats of clifs in the NWG is a preliminary REFERENCES documentaton of existng informaton and feld studies. As seen above, this clif ecosystem has many Almeida, S.M. (1983–86). Report of the Botanical Survey of India Ratnagiri district fora project 2 vols. (ined). 1008pp. environmental peculiarites, which are refected in Almeida, S.M. (1990). The Flora of Sawantwadi, Maharashtra, the species adaptatons and life forms. Partcularly India. Journal of Economic & Taxonomic Botany, Additonal Series 2 outstanding is the fact that desiccaton tolerant grasses Volumes. Scientfc Publishers, Jodhpur, 411–304pp. Aronne, G., D. Micco, A. Santangelo, N. Santangelo, A. Santo & M. (Tripogon spp.) are dominant colonizers of steep vertcal Buonanno (2014). Coastal vertcal clifs of the Natonal Park of clifs throughout the NWG. The clifs of this mountain Cilento: reservoirs of endemic species. Latest Trends in Engineering range seem to form the largest rocky surface area on Mechanics, Structures, Engineering Geology 26: 77–85. Baskin, J.M. & C.C. Baskin (1988). Endemism in rock outcrop plant Earth, which is colonized by resurrecton plants. The communites of unglaciated eastern United States: an evaluaton high number of endemic and threatened species, special of the roles of the edaphic, genetc and light factors. Journal of Biogeography 15: 829- 840; htp://doi.org/10.2307/2845343 ecological features, and specifc threats due to biotc Bharucha, F.R. & M.Y. Ansari (1963). Studies on the plant associatons actvites indicates need for conservaton and protecton of slopes and screes of the Western Ghats, India. Plant Ecology measures. The habitat is also important from the 11(4): 141–154. Billore, K.V. (1972). Studies on the vegetaton and fora of Thane watershed point of view and more research is needed district. Ph. D. Thesis. Vikram University, Ujjain, M. P. on foristc, ecological and ecosystem processes and Bogges, L.M., G.L. Walker & M.D. Madritch (2017). Clif fora of the

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©Mandar Datar ©Mandar Datar Image 1. Typical basaltc clif of the northern Western Ghats Image 2. Clifs with alternate lava layers at Arthur’s Seat, Mahabaleshwar

Image 3. Dense mats of Rotala foribunda Koehne on clifs Image 4. Typical habitat of poikilohydrous Tripogon sp. on clifs

©Mandar Datar ©Mandar Datar Image 5. Dense growth of a grass Arthraxon jubatus Hack. on clifs Image 6. Endemic Begonia concanensis A.DC. growing on clifs

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Image 8. A clif specialist endemic and threatened Ceropegia huberi Ansari

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11284 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 February 2018 | 10(2): 11271–11284

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online); ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)

February 2018 | Vol. 10 | No. 2 | Pages: 11245–11360 Date of Publicaton: 26 February 2018 (Online & Print) www.threatenedtaxa.org DOI: 10.11609/jot.2018.10.2.11245-11360

Communicatons A taxonomic study on trachypenaeid prawns with special reference to Indian records Observatons of occurrence and daily actvity paterns of ungulates -- Angsuman Chanda, Pp. 11332–11338 in the Endau Rompin Landscape, peninsular Malaysia -- Win Sim Tan, Norazmi bin Amir Hamzah, Salman Saaban, Nurul Pollinaton ecology of Merremia tridentata (L.) Hallier f. Aida Zawakhir, Yugees Rao, Norolhuda Jamaluddin, Francis Cheong, (Convolvulaceae) Norhidayat bint Khalid, Nur Iadiah Mohd Saat, Eka Nadia bint -- G. Lakshminarayana & A.J. Solomon Raju, Pp. 11339–11347 Zaidee Ee, Azwan bin Hamdan, Mei Mei Chow, Chee Pheng Low, Mufeng Voon, Song Horng Liang, Martn Tyson & Melvin Gumal, Pp. 11245–11253 Notes

Records of the Indian Pangolin (Mammalia: Pholidota: Manidae: A record of Blue Posy Drupadia scaeva cyara (Hewitson, 1878) Manis crassicaudata) from Mansehra District, Pakistan (Lycaenidae: Theclinae: Theclini) from Dibang Valley, Arunachal -- Tariq Mahmood, Konish Kanwal & Ifikhar-Uz- Zaman, Pp. 11254– Pradesh, India 11261 -- Gaurab Nandi Das, Subrata Gayen & Rohit Kumar Jaiswal, Pp. 11348–11350 Rapid assessment of sacred groves: a biodiversity assessment tool for ground level practtoners Conserving the newly recorded Hill Arecanut Palm Bentnckia -- Shivam Trivedi, Erach Bharucha & Rahul Mungikar, Pp. 11262– condapanna Berry ex Roxb (Arecaceae) populaton outside the 11270 natural forest as wildlife corridor -- M. Divin Murukesh & Ajith Ashokan, Pp. 11351–11353 Vascular plant assemblage of clifs in northern Western Ghats, India -- Mandar N. Datar & Aparna V. Watve, Pp. 11271–11284 First report of rust fungi Puccinia duthiae on Dichanthium foveolatum from India -- S.D. Pawar, S.V. Thite, A.S. Kadam & B.A. Kore, Pp. 11354–11355 Short Communicatons

Hunted species and huntng equipment used by rainforest poachers Response & Reply in Ghana -- Edward Debrah Wiafe, Pp. 11285–11289 Non-Inverse J - shaped populaton distributon: Peculiarity of Red Sanders forests Status and conservaton issues of wetland birds in Komaranahalli -- S. Suresh Ramanan & T.K. Kunhamu, Pp. 11356–11357 Lake, Davanagere District, Karnataka, India -- M.N. Harisha & B.B. Hoset, Pp. 11290–11294 Reply to Response: Non-Inverse J - shaped populaton distributon -- Chenchu Ankalaiah, Thondaladinne Mastan & Mullangi Sridhar An annotated checklist of the herpetofauna of the Reddy, Pp. 11357–11358 Rashtrapat Bhawan Estates, New Delhi, India -- Vishal Kumar Prasad, Anjali Verma & Ghazala Shahabuddin, Pp. 11295–11302 Book Review

Records of new larval host plants of some common buterfies of Additon to the Documentaton of Lepidoptera Fauna of Himalaya Bangladesh - -- Tahsinur Rahman Shihan, Pp. 11303–11311 A Book review of “Buterfies of Utarakhand” -- K.A. Subramanian, Pp. 11359–11360 Two new reports of thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) from India -- R.R. Rachana & R. Varatharajan, Pp. 11312–11315 Miscellaneous A preliminary study on the dung beetles of the northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra, India Natonal Biodiversity Authority -- Aparna Sureshchandra Kalawate, Pp. 11316–11331

Threatened Taxa