Biodiversity Studies for proposed Gargai Water Supply Project, Palghar District Submitted by BNHS Core Team Principle Investigator - Dr. Deepak A. Apte, Director Co-Investigator - Rahul V. Khot, Curator Team Dr. Swapna Prabhu - Systematic Botanist Mr. Nitesh Nikam - JRF Botanist Ms. Neha Mujumdar - Entomologist Mr. Unmesh Katwate - Fish Taxonomist Ms. Priya A.Warekar - Herpetologist Mrs. Pinal Patel - Ornithologist Mr. Saunak P. Pal - Mammalogist Mr. Noor I. Khan - GIS Expert Mr. Balaji Survase - Driver / Field Assistant Mr. Vishwas Shinde - Project Officer Mr. Rajendra Pawar - Project Officer Contents List of Tables ...............................................................................................................................4 List of Figures ..............................................................................................................................5 List of Abbreviations....................................................................................................................8 Summery.....................................................................................................................................9 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................10 1.1 Background .................................................................................................................10 1.2 Importance of the study .............................................................................................11 2. Materials & Methods .........................................................................................................12 2.1 Study Area .................................................................................................................12 2.1.1 Location ...............................................................................................................12 2.1.2 Topography ..........................................................................................................12 2.1.3 Climate ................................................................................................................12 2.1.4 Rivers ...................................................................................................................12 2.1.5 Landuse details ....................................................................................................13 2.2 Methods .....................................................................................................................14 2.2.1 Flora ....................................................................................................................16 2.2.2 Insects .......................................................................................................................18 2.2.3 Freshwater Fish .........................................................................................................19 2.2.4 Amphibians & Reptiles ..............................................................................................19 2.2.5 Birds ..........................................................................................................................20 2.2.6 Mammals ..................................................................................................................20 3 Results and Discussion .......................................................................................................23 3.1 Vegetation and Flora ...................................................................................................23 3.1.1 Habitats ........................................................................................................................23 I. Moist Deciduous Forest ...................................................................................................24 II. Tropical Semi-EvergreenForests .....................................................................................25 III. Degraded Moist deciduous Forest .................................................................................26 1 IV. Open scrubs ..................................................................................................................27 V. Grasslands .....................................................................................................................27 VI. Agricultural lands ..........................................................................................................28 VII. Plantation ....................................................................................................................29 3.1.2 Community Structure ...........................................................................................30 3.1.3 Socio-economically important species .................................................................36 3.2. INSECTS .......................................................................................................................40 3.3 Freshwater Fish ...............................................................................................................51 3.4 Amphibians and Reptiles .................................................................................................58 3.5 Birds ...............................................................................................................................69 3.5.1 Species richness ............................................................................................................69 3.5.2 Diversity ..................................................................................................................73 3.6 Mammals .........................................................................................................................76 4 Conclusion and Potential Areas for Conservation ...............................................................88 4.1 Vegetation .......................................................................................................................88 4.2 Insects .............................................................................................................................89 4.3 Fish ..................................................................................................................................90 4.4 Amphibians and Reptiles .................................................................................................97 4.5 Birds ................................................................................................................................98 4.6 Mammal ........................................................................................................................ 100 Annexure…………………………………………………………………………………….…....i Annexure 1………………………………………………………………………………….……..i Annexure 2…………………………………………………………………………………….….v Annexure 3…………………………………………………………………………………….…ix Annexure 4………………………………………………………………………………….……xi Annexure 5…………………………………………………………………………………...…xiii Annexure 6………………………………………………………………………………….…...xx 2 Plate………………………………………………………………………………………….….xxi Plate 1…………………………………………………………………………………………...xxi Plate 2………………………………………………………………………………………….xxix Plate 3…………………………………………………………………………………….....xxxviii Plate 4…………………………………………………………………………………………..xliii Plate 5…………………………………………………………………………………………….lii Plate 6…………………………………………………………………………………………....lix Maps …………………………………………………………………………………………..lxvii 3 List of Tables Table 1 Landuse Details Of The Study Site ............................................................................... 13 Table 2 Habitat types and corresponding areas sampled during study ....................................... 14 Table 3 Major Associations of Plants in The Study Area ........................................................... 30 Table 4 List of Socio-economically important plant species ...................................................... 36 Table 5 Geographical details of fish sampling sites studied across the study area. ..................... 55 Table 6 Spatial distribution of freshwater fish species diversity recorded across the Gargai watershed. ................................................................................................................................. 56 4 List of Figures Map 1 Study site location and sampling map .......................................................................... 15 Figure 1 Sampling layout for vegetation study .......................................................................... 16 Image 1 Moist Deciduous forest near Amla ......................................................................... 24 Image 2 Tropical semi evergreen forest of the study area – near Quaripada ........................... 25 Image 3 Degraded Moist deciduous forest near Khidse ....................................................... 26 Image 4 Open scrub near Waganpada ...................................................................................... 27 Image 5 Grassland near Bhawaniwadi .................................................................................. 28 Image 6 Agricultural fields near Gargai .................................................................................... 29 Image 7 Plantation near Quaripada ........................................................................................ 29 Figure 2 Habit-wise species distribution .................................................................................. 31 Figure 3 Family