Biodiversity Assessment Report of Christian Medical College, Chittoor Campus. ECOLOGICAL BASELINE REPORT 2020 1 Citation: Hopeland P, Richard, P.S.S., Arul Sekar P (2020), Biodiversity Assessment Report: Christian Medical College, Chittoor Campus. Final Report. Prepared for Christian Medical College, Chittoor Campus. Lead by Hopeland P Contributing consultants: Hopeland P- Fauna, ecology, mapping. Selva Singh Richard- Flora, ecology Arul Sekar P- Water resources, geography and mapping. Revision History: Version 2. September 2020. Disclaimer: The information contained in this document produced by Hopeland et al. is solely for the use of Christian Medical College, Chittoor Campus. Hopeland et al. undertake no duty to or accepts any responsibility to any third party who may rely upon this document. All details here reflect the findings at the time of the intervention only and within the limits of Christian Medical College’s instructions, if any. Acknowledgements: The consultants would like to thank Dr. Nihal Thomas– the Director of Christian Medical College, Chittoor Campus and the team of Senior Doctors Dr. Abraham Joseph, Dr. Emmanuel Kishore and others for engaging us in this effort. The support of the Administration department of CMC Chittoor – Mr. Gnanasekar, Mr. Dasarathan, Mr. Prince is acknowledged. For more information, contact: 2 Table of Contents 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................ 6 1.1 ECOLOGY: .............................................................................................................................................. 6 1.2 FLORA: .................................................................................................................................................. 7 1.3 FAUNA: ................................................................................................................................................. 8 1.4 THREATENED BIODIVERSITY: .................................................................................................................... 10 1.5 ENVIRONMENTALLY IMPORTANT AREAS: .................................................................................................... 13 1.6 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES & IMPACT ........................................................................................................... 14 1.7 RECOMMENDATIONS: ...................................................................................................................... 16 1.8 OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS: ................................................................................................................... 18 2 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 20 2.1 OBJECTIVES: ......................................................................................................................................... 20 2.1.1 Flora: ............................................................................................................................................ 20 2.1.2 Fauna: .......................................................................................................................................... 20 2.1.3 Ecology: ........................................................................................................................................ 21 3 STUDY AREA ........................................................................................................................................ 22 3.1 CLASSIFICATION OF THE REGION ............................................................................................................... 23 3.2 RAINFALL OF THE REGION2 ....................................................................................................................... 23 3.3 LAND USE PATTERN OF THE REGION ........................................................................................................... 23 3.4 CHARACTERS OF THE CMC, CHITTOOR CAMPUS: .......................................................................................... 25 3.5 VEGETATION & HABITATS ........................................................................................................................ 30 4 METHODOLOGY: ................................................................................................................................. 34 4.1 FLORA ................................................................................................................................................. 34 4.2 FAUNA ................................................................................................................................................. 34 4.3 SENSITIVITY ASSESSMENT: ........................................................................................................................ 36 4.3.1 Method 1: ..................................................................................................................................... 36 4.3.2 Method 2: ..................................................................................................................................... 37 4.4 DEFINITIONS: .................................................................................................................................... 42 4.4.1 The IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: .................................................................................. 42 4.4.2 The Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 ...................................................................................... 43 4.4.3 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) ...... 44 5 FLORA OF CMC CHITTOOR CAMPUS .................................................................................................... 46 5.1 EXOTIC SPECIES ...................................................................................................................................... 50 5.2 ENDEMIC, RARE AND THREATENED FLORA: .................................................................................................. 51 5.3 OTHER INTERESTING FLORA: ..................................................................................................................... 52 5.4 PHOTOGRAPHS OF SOME OF THE PRIMITIVE GROUP OF PLANTS SEEN ON THE CAMPUS. ......................................... 52 CHECKLIST OF PLANTS AT CMC CHITTOOR CAMPUS. ................................................................................................... 53 PLANTS PHOTOGRAPHED AT CMC CHITTOOR CAMPUS ................................................................................................ 63 6 AVIFAUNA OF CMC CHITTOOR CAMPUS .............................................................................................. 76 CHECKLIST OF AVIFAUNA – CMC, CHITTOOR CAMPUS ................................................................................................ 77 AVIFAUNA PHOTOGRAPHED AT CMC CHITTOOR CAMPUS ............................................................................................ 85 6.2 CONGREGATIONS, FEEDING, BREEDING AND ROOSTING RECORDED ON CAMPUS .................................................. 90 Photographs of Bird Congregations, Breeding and Roosting recorded at the CMC, Chittoor campus ....... 93 3 7 BUTTERFLIES OF CMC, CHITTOOR CAMPUS: ........................................................................................ 95 CHECKLIST OF BUTTERFLIES- CMC, CHITTOOR CAMPUS ............................................................................................... 96 BUTTERFLIES PHOTOGRAPHED FROM THE CHRISTIAN MEDICAL COLLEGE, CHITTOOR CAMPUS ............................................. 97 8 HERPETOFAUNA ................................................................................................................................ 101 8.1 REPTILES ............................................................................................................................................ 101 CHECKLIST OF REPTILES- CMC, CHITTOOR CAMPUS .................................................................................................. 102 REPTILES PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE CMC CHITTOOR CAMPUS ...................................................................................... 103 8.2 AMPHIBIANS ....................................................................................................................................... 104 CHECKLIST OF AMPHIBIANS- CMC, CHITTOOR CAMPUS ............................................................................................ 105 AMPHIBIANS PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE CMC CHITTOOR CAMPUS ................................................................................. 106 9 MAMMALS: ....................................................................................................................................... 108 CHECKLIST OF MAMMALS, CMC CHITTOOR CAMPUS ................................................................................................ 109 MAMMALS PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE CMC CHITTOOR CAMPUS ................................................................................... 110 9.1.1 Endemic, rare and threatened fauna: ........................................................................................ 111 Photographs of Gunther’s Toad and Golden Gecko taken on campus: .................................................... 112 10 OTHER INTERESTING FAUNA: