January - March, 2009Volume - 15 Issue - 1

BRYOFLORA OF BAPHLAMALI HILL IN EASTERN GHATSOF ORISSA, INDIA

ISSN : 0974-2336Vol. 15, No.1, 2009

The ENVIS Centre on Eastern Ghats is a decentralized Environmental Information Centre established by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India on thematic issue of Ecology of Eastern Ghats

ENVIS CENTRE ON ECOLOGY OF EASTERN GHATS

Orissa

Andhra Pradesh

Tamil Nadu

Karn

atak

a

EASTERN GHATSEASTERN GHATS

ENVIS CENTRE ON EASTERN GHATS

ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION TRAINING & RESEARCH INSTITUTE91/4, Gachibowli, Hyderabad - 500 032, A.P., India

Ph.:+91-040-23006472, 23000489, 23001241, 23001242 Fax No: +40 - 23000361, URL: http://envis-eptri.ap.nic.in; http//www.eptri.com

Email : eptri@envis.nic.in \ envirorazia@gmail.com

ContentsEditorial ................................................. 1

Legislations ............................................. 2

Bryoflora of Baphlamali Hill in Eastern Ghats

of Orissa, India ........................................ 3

Abstracts ................................................. 6

Biblography of Bryophytes....................... 7

National & International Days .................. 8

EditorialThe thematic information on perennial water resources, Birds and Sacred Groves of Eastern Ghats were presented in the previous year (Vol.14, Issues 1,2,3 & 4).

In this issue the status / availability of Bryoflora at Baphlamali Hills is presented. The Bryophytes are the second largest group of plants with about 25,000 species world wide. These have phylogenetic importance, medicinal usage and play key role in the ecosystems of the world.

In the name of development, various activities are going on in the Eastern Ghats one among them is open cast-mining, which may be a threat to the habitat of Bryophytes, which may also lead to the change in species composition. Keeping this in view suitable conservation measure need to be adopted. Few abstracts, bibliography of Bryophytes, information on Forest Right Act. 2006, importance and observation of World Water Day & World Forestry Day are presented.

ENVIS Coordinator

EPTRI - ENVIS Newsletter Vol. 15, No.1, 2009

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ISSN No: Volume : Issue : Year:

Editorial Team

Published by

Supported by

0974-233615, 1 2009

Dr. Razia Sultana,

Mr. I. Siva Rama Krishna,

Mr. Prabhata Kumar Swain,

Mr. B.L.N. Murty,

Mrs. J.V.S. Prabhavati,

ENVIS Coordinator

Sr. Program Officer

Program Officer

Program Assistant

Data Entry Operator

EPTRI, Hyderabad.

Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India, New Delhi

After acrimonious public debate for more than a year

since tabling in the parliament in December 2005, the

Scheduled Tribes (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill,

2005 which was re-christened as “The Scheduled

Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers

(Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006” was passed

in the parliament. The Act came into force since

December 2006.

The Forest Rights Act (to use its convenient

short form) provides for a series of rights for

scheduled tribes (which are listed in India’s

constitution) and other traditional forest-dwelling

communities over land that they have occupied for

cultivation or residence, and also over forest produce

and traditional knowledge. It gives legal

empowerment to communities to manage and protect

forests.

The Forest Rights Act has generated debate

over its social and ecological implications. In

particular, a number of conservationists have been

vociferously opposed to it, claiming that it will be the

death-knell of India’s forests and wildlife. Many

social activists on the other hand feel that it will not

only provide the basic rights that forest-dwelling

communities should have been granted decades back,

but will also lead to enhanced conservation of forests.

A number of groups and individuals have taken more

of a ‘middle path’, pointing out that several

provisions of the Act could favor conservation while

others could lead to deforestation, and that the

benefits accruing to forest-dwellers from the Act

could be substantial in some places, peripheral in

others. How precisely the Act will play will depend

on a number of policy and ground-level factors,

including the level of mobilization and cohesion of

forest-dwelling communities in a particular area, the

sensitivity of government officials administering the

Act and the ecological fragility of the area.

Instructions to Contributors

ENVIS Newsletter on Ecology of Eastern Ghats is a

quarterly publication publishes the articles related to

the thematic area of the ENVIS Centre. Authors are

requested to send their articles, write-ups, on the

themes pertaining to Biological, Physical, Socio-

Econonic Environments, Programmes & Policies

and Information Systems of Eastern Ghats.

Readers are requested to kindly visit the website:

http://envis-eptri.ap.nic.in.

Expert Database Form and Querry Rsponse Form are

available in the website.

Experts in the above fields are requested to download

the Expert Database Form, fill up and send to us.

Whoever intends to seek information on the ecology

of Eastern Ghats may kindly download the Querry

Response Form, fillup and send us.

The filled in forms can be sent by post to Envis

Coordinator, ENVIS Centre on Eastern Ghats,

EPTRI, Gachibowli, Hyd. or Fax at 040-23000361 or

email : eptri@envis.nic.in / envirorazia@gmail.com

LEGISLATIONS

FOREST RIGHTS ACT, 2006

Abstract

Thirty one species of bryophytes comprising 20 liverworts, 9 mosses and 2 hornworts are being reported for the first time from Baphlamali hill ranges from the Eastern Ghats of India during the survey conducted from January 2007 to November 2008. Some of the noteworthy species are Conocephalum conicum, Dumortiera hirsuta, Targionia hypophylla, Pallavicinia lyelli , Lophocolea bidentata, Pellia epiphylla, Frullania muscicola, Frullania squarrosa and Plagiochasma appendiculatu.

Introduction

The Eastern Ghats are isolated hill ranges in Peninsular India (Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka), harbors primarily tropical moist deciduous vegetation, which represents species of high economic, timber, medicinal

0 0 0potential, lies in 11 30' to 21 0' N Latitudes and 77 022' to 85 20' E Longitudes. Eastern Ghats are highly

significant in terms of its biodiversity. Of the estimated 3,200 flowering plant taxa, there are about 528 tree taxa under 271 genera belonging to 80 families (Reddy et al., 2007) distributed in different regions of Eastern Ghats. In total 454 species under 243 genera and 78 families are endemic to Eastern Ghats. Based on geological and tectonic considerations, the Eastern Ghats in Orissa starts from North of Similipal in Mayurbhanj district and runs through Malkangiri. Seventeen districts of Orissa come under the Eastern Ghats including 14 protected areas (13 wild life sanctuaries, one Biosphere reserve, one National Park, two tiger reserve and one Ramser Wetland). Baphlaimali is situated in the southwestern part of Orissa, falls in the North Eastern Ghat belt in the peninsular shield with the highest peak of 1056 m above msl. between 19° 18’ to 19° 22’ N longitude and 82° 56’ to 82° 59’ E latitude and comes under Kashipur block of Rayagada district and rest in Koraput districts of Orissa. Baphlimali is one of the rich bauxite deposit areas in the Eastern Ghats of India. According to Champion and Seth (1968), the vegetation of the hill

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is basically of tropical moist deciduous type with many riparian evergreen elements. The average annual rainfall is 1485 mm; the maximum temperature goes up to 42ÚC and the minimum drops to 5ÚC. The relative humidity is normally high during the monsoon and post-monsoon months sometimes being more than 85% which favours growth of bryophytes in the hills. There are no surface water bodies on the top of the platue, but many of the hill streams are originated from the top storey of the hills provide amicable environment and multiple habitat for the growth of Bryophytes. Bryophytes constitute a group of non-flowering plants which includes mosses, liverworts and hornworts. Despite their small size, they comprise major components of the biomass and photosynthetic production (Frego, 2007) in forest ecosystems. Bryophytes are widely used as bioindicators of environment for their unique and very specific responses as some species are extremely sensitive to pollutants and exhibit visible injury symptoms even in the presence of very minute quantities of pollutants (Sahu et al., 2007). They have several biological features making them particularly suited to serve as study organism in macroevolutionary, population genetics and ecological research. Bryophytes are used in medicines, household purposes, horticulture, agriculture, fuel in industries and as ecological indicators throughout the world (Nath & Asthana., 2005). Bryophytes are the second largest group of plants, with about 25,000 species worldwide (Buck and Goffinetnet, 2000). About 2000 species of mosses, 816 species of liverworts and 34 species of hornworts are occurring in India in the present state of our knowledge. The plants are distributed in Eastern and Western Himalayas, South India and Central India (Nath & Asthana, 2005). Despite of their diversity, phylogenetic importance, medicinal uses and key role in the ecosystems of the world, no study has been carried out on bryophytes of Orissa. An attempt has been made for the first time to explore and document the Bryophytes of Eastern Ghats of Orissa.

Materials and methods

The study was undertaken from January 2005 to December 2007. Keeping in view of the hygrophilous

BRYOFLORA OF BAPHLAMALI HILL IN EASTERN GHATS OF ORISSA, INDIA* **

P.K. DASH , D.K. SAHU and D.K. SAXENA*Biodiversity Conservation Division, Vasundhara, Orissa, India**Department of Botany, Bareilly College, Bareilly, U P, India.

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nature of the bryophytes the sampling was conducted seasonally. The aquatic, terrestrial and epiphytic bryophytes were collected in polythene bags and brought to the laboratory, washed and dried. The specimens were identified after examining the special features like elaters, rhizoids, sporophyte diameter, etc. The doubtful specimens were identified by matching with the herbarium specimens at National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow. The voucher specimens were kept in bryophyte herbarium of Utkal University, Bhubaneswar with proper accession numbers.

Results and discussion

In total 31 Species of bryophytes including 20 liverworts, 2 hornworts and 9 mosses under 17 family and 22 genera are reported here for the first time from the Baphlamali hills in the Eastern Ghats of India (Table 1). All the species reported here are new distributional records of occurrence for the State. Species like Anthoceros angustus, Conocephalum conicum, Lophocolea bidentata, Pallavicinia lyellii, Pellia epiphylla, Polytrichum juniperinum and Targionia indica were encountered between altitudes of 550 m to 870 m, where the forest is mostly moist deciduous type with small semi-evergreen patches having closer canopy. Four species such as Phaeoceros laevis ssp. carolinianus, Asterella

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angusta, Heteroscyphus argutus and Riccardia levierii were collected between altitudes of 250 m to 680 m indicating its adaptation towards varying micro-climatic conditions. Five species like Riccia trichocarpa, Herpetineuron toccoae, Cyathodium cavernarum, Funaria hygrometrica and Riccia glauca were collected from mining areas harbouring dry deciduous forest with more open canopy. D u m o r t i e r a h i r s u t a a n d P l a s i o c h a s m a appendiculatum showed a wide range of morphological variation along the altitudinal gradient within the hill ranges. Mossess like Entodontopsis wightii, Polytrichum juniperinum and Pinnatella calcutensis were collected from high altitudes ranging from 750 to 900 m above msl.

The present study indicates that Baphlamali hill ranges are rich in bryophytes. Currently the critical habitat of the bryophytes is under threat against the ongoing anthropogenic activities like open cast mining in this region. The changes in the microhabitat of bryophytes may seriously affect the species composition very rapidly and thus upset the ecological balance. Keeping in view the immense ecological importance of this lower group of plants suitable conservation measures should be taken to preserve the bryoflora of the hills. Studies are in progress to document the Bryoflora of the Northern Eastern Ghats of India.

Table 1 Checklist of Bryophytes of Baphlamali Hills along with Altitudinal Variation

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LL - Leafy liverworts, TL - Thallus liverworts, MS - Mosses, HW – Hornworts.

Marchantia palmata Nees Plagiochasma appendiculatum lehm et Lindenb

Pallavicinia lyellii (Hook.) Carruth Polytrichum juniperinum Hedw.

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Pellia epiphylla (L.) Corda

Riccia glauca L.

AcknowledgmentsThe authors are grateful to the Concern World Wide, Bangalore for providing financial support to carry out the study. The Director of Vasundhara, Orissa is thankful for his kind support and Dr. Virendra Nath, the Head of Bryology Division, NBRI, Lacknow is highly acknowledged in identifying the doubtful specimens.

References

Buck, W.R. and Goffinet, B. Morphology and

classification of mosses. Bryophyte Biology

(eds.) A. J. Shaw & B. Goffinet. Cambridge

University Press, University of Cambridge,

UK, 2000.

Champion, H.G. and Seth, S.K. A Revised Survey of

the Forest Types of India. Govt. of India

Press, Delhi, 1968.

Frego, K.A. Bryophytes as potential indicators of

forest integrity. Forest Ecology and

Management., 2007, 242, 65–75.

Nath, V. and Asthana, A. K. Studies on Indian

Bryophytes, 50 years of National Botanical

Research Institute (eds.) P. Pushpangadan, S.

Kumar & V.K. Kochhar., 2005, pp 277-288.

Sahu, V., Asthana, A.K., Nath, V and Yunus, M.

Bryophytes: A Useful Tool in Heavy Metal

Monitoring, Archives of Enviro News,

Newsletter of ISEB India Vol. 13 No. 4. 2007.

Reddy, C.S., Reddy, K.N., Murthy, E.N and Raju, V.S,

2009. Tree Wealth of Eastern Ghats of Andhra

Pradesh, India: An updated checklist. Check

List 5(2): 173–194.

ABSTRACT

Pattanaik, C., C. S. Reddy and M.S.R. Murthy. 2008. An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used by the Didayi tribe of Malkangiri district of Orissa, India

Fitoterapia, 79(1): 67-71

An ethnobotanical survey was carried out among the ethnic community (Didayi) in Malkangiri district, Orissa. A total of 53 medicinal plant species belonging to 34 families and 52 different species are described under this study.

Krishna Prasad, V., K.V.S. Badarinath and A. Eaturu. 2008. Biophysical and anthropogenic controls of forest fires in the Deccan Plateau, India Journal of Environmental Management, 86(1): 1-13

Forest fires constitute one of the most serious environmental problems in several forested regions of India. In the Indian sub-continent, relatively few studies have focused on the assessment of biophysical and anthropogenic controls of forest fires at a landscape scale and the spatial aspects of these relationships. In this study, we used fire count data sets from satellite remote sensing data covering 78 districts over four different states of the Deccan Plateau, India, for assessing the underlying causes of fires. Spatial data for explanatory variables of fires pertaining to topography, vegetation, climate,

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anthropogenic and accessibility factors have been gathered corresponding with fire presence/absence. A logistic regression model was used to estimate the probability of the presence of fires as a function of the explanatory variables. Results for fire area estimates

2suggested that, of the total fires covering 47,043km that occurred during the year 2000 for the entire Indian region, 29.0% occurred in the Deccan Plateau, with Andhra Pradesh having 13.5%, Karnataka 14.7%, Kerala 0.1%, and Tamilnadu 1.15%. Results from the logistic regression suggest that the strongest influences on the fire occurrences were the amount of forest area, biomass densities, rural population density (PD), average precipitation of the warmest quarter, elevation (ELE) and mean annual temperature (MAT). Among these variables, biomass density (BD) and average precipitation of the warmest quarter had the highest significance, followed by others. These results on the best predictors of forest fires can be used both as a strategic planning tool to address broad scale fire risk concerns, and also as a tactical guide to help forest managers to design fire mitigation measures at the district level.

Behera, S. K. and M. K. Misra. 2006. Aboveground tree biomass in a recovering tropical sal (Shorea robusta Gaertn. f.) forest of Eastern Ghats, India. Biomass and Bioenergy, 30(6): 509-521

Aboveground biomass of individual tree species by component and total biomass per unit area for four different stages of a recovering tropical dry deciduous forest stands, dominated by sal (Shorea robusta Gaertn. f.) of the Eastern Ghats, India were investigated during 2001–2002. Different periods of recovering (2, 4, 6, and 10-year) forest stands (84°132 E, 20°292 N) were selected in the Kandhamal district of Orissa, India and sample trees of all species were harvested. Tree species diversity was 23, 23, 21 and 22 in 2, 4, 6, and 10-year recovering stands, respectively. Species-wise Ixora pavetta showed the highest biomass in 2 and 4-year stands while Shorea robusta in 6 and 10-year stands. Component-wise, in all species, bole–wood contribution ranged between 22.6% and 60.9%. Aboveground tree biomass, in all the stands, was dominated by Shorea robusta, which

”1ranged between 12.68 and 231.91 Mg ha . Total aboveground tree biomass was 30.12, 49.21, 107.54

”1and 261.08 Mg ha in 2, 4, 6 and 10-year stands, respectively.

Ahmad, S. 1942. Three new species of Riccia from India. Curr. Sci. 11: 433 – 434.

Asthana, A.K. & S.C. Srivastava. 1991. Indian Hornworts (A taxonomic study). Bryophyt. Biblioth. 42: 1 – 158.

Asthana, G. 2001. Present status of the genus Cololejeunea in India. In: V. Nath & A.K. Asthana (ed.), Perspectives in Indian Bryology, 209 – 217. Dehra Dun

Asthana, G., S.C. Srivastava & A.K. Asthana 1995. The genus Cheilolejeunea in India. Lindbergia 20: 125 – 143.

Awasthi, U.S. 1986. The genus Leptolejeunea (Spruce) Steph. in India. J. Indian Bot. Soc. 65: 117 – 123.

Awasthi, U.S. & R. Udar. 1984. The genus Mastigolejeunea (Spruce) Schiffn. in India. Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. (Pl. Sci.) 93: 485 – 494.

Bapna, K.R. 1968. A new record of Petalophyllum indicum Kash. From Western Ghats. Curr. Sci. 37: 173 – 175.

Bapna, K.R. & B.L. Chaudary. 1980. Contributions on Indian Hepatics I. (1951 – 1960). Misc. Bryol. Lichénol. 8: 169 – 172.

Bapna, K.R. & B.L. Chaudary. 1981a. Contributions on Indian Hepatics II. (1961 – 1970). Misc. Bryol. Lichénol. 9: 18 – 23.

Bapna, K.R. & B.L. Chaudary. 1981b. Contributions on Indian Hepatics III. (1971 – 1980). Misc. Bryol. Lichénol. 9: 59 – 63.

Bapna, K.R. & B.L. Chaudary. 1982. Contributions on Indian Hepatics III. (1971 – 1980). Misc. Bryol. Lichénol. 9: 93 – 94.

Bruehl, P. 1931. A census of Indian mosses with analytical keys to the genera. Rec. Bot. Surv. India 13(1): 1 – 135; 13(2): 1 – 152.

Chopra, R.S. 1943. A census of Indian Hepatics. J. Indian Bot. Soc. 22: 237 – 260.

Chopra, R.S. 1975. Taxonomy of Indian mosses. New Delhi.

Daniels, A.E.D. 1998. Ecological adaptations of some bryophytes of the Western Ghats. J. Ecobiol. 10: 261 – 270.

Daniels, A.E.D. 2001. Cololejeunea furcilobulata (Berrie et Jones) Schuster and Heteroscyphus argutus (Reinw. et al.) Schiffn. from Mahendragiri hills of Kanyakumari District of South India. In: Nath, V. & A.K. Asthana (ed.), Perspectives in Indian Bryology, 301 – 307. Dehra Dun.

Daniels, A.E.D. 2004. Bryophytes. In: Annamalai, R. (ed.), Tamil Nadu Biodiversity Strategy and Action plan.Wild Plant Diversity: 49 - 70. Government of Tamil Nadu, Chennai.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BRYOPHYTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BRYOPHYTES

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balance in nearby villages. The ground water levels are depleted due to indiscriminate drilling of water.

The fifth World Water Forum in Istanbul (Turky) th nd

started on 15 March and ended on 22 March (on World Water Day), with a pledge by more than 100 countries to strive to provide clean water and proper sanitation. The forum is held every three years. around 25,000 policymakers and grassroots workers took part.

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL DAYS

WORLD WATER DAY

Water is an astonishing substance-centre of life. It nourishes our nations, drives our industries, washes away our scrap, satisfies our thirst and brings beauty and pleasure into our lives. It is a paradox that the world is in inexorably moving towards an era of water shortage despite water constituting three-fourths of

nd the earth’s surface. March 22 was first deemed as World Water Day in 1993 by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) as an international day of observance and action to draw attention to the role that fresh water plays in our world and lives. Emerging water scarcity has the potential to wreak economic and ecological havoc on the planet on the coming decades. Unsustainable exploitation of deep aquifers to cater to growing population, pollution of surface waters by untreated sewage, pesticides, fertilizers and industrial chemicals, inefficient agriculture use and the impact of climate change are all affecting the world’s water availability.

Today’s reality is that one in eight people in the world don’t have access to safe water. Poor countries are at greater risk of facing the ravage of water scarcity. The World Heath organization proposed years ago that access to water must be made a basic human right with a duty cast on government to take targeted steps for its realization, that would include legislative measures to make the right enforceable.

The water is being mismanaged and unsustainably used. India’s huge economic growth and mounting population is pitting an acute strain on water resources. The country has seventeen percent of the world’s population, but only 2 percent of the world’s land and 4 percent of the water resources. It is estimated that 40 percent of communicable diseases in India are related to unsafe water. Diarrhea alone causes more than 2000 deaths. There had already been an alarming decline in ground water levels in many states.

In Andhra Pradesh , river pollution, depletion of ground water and land ward movement of seawater have been noticed. Sea water has already intruded upto 30 km. in the coastal belt. The intrusion of seawater in river estuaries upsetting the hydrological

THE WORLD FORESTRY DAY

World Forestry Day is celebrated around the world on st21 March every year as people take time to consider

the benefits of forest to the community - such as catchments protection, providing habitat for animals and plants, areas for recreation, education and scientific study and as a source of many products including timber and honey.

The concept of having a World Forestry Day originated rd at the 23 General Assembly of the European

Confederation of Agriculture in 1971. Later that year, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization gave support to the idea of believing that the event would contribute a great deal to public awareness on the importance of forests and agreed that it should be

stobserved every year around the world on March 21 . The day is chosen to disseminate information on the importance of forestry, its protection, production and use for recreation.

stWorld Forestry Day was observed on 21 March, 2009 by officials of the Nilgiris South Forest Division at the Sree Vivekananda Vidyalaya Primary School, Udhagamandalam, Tamilnadu run by the Rotary Club of Ootacamund in Theetukkal on Saturday. Addressing the students, the president of the Club, Mr. B.R. Bhirman, said that "Children should play an active role in enhancing environmental awareness among various sections of society". Planting of 50 saplings marked the occasion.

Source: The Hindu, March 22, 2009

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in association with Ministry of Environment and Forests

st (MoEF) celebrated World Forestry Day on 21 March 2009. The dignitaries present on the occasion were Mr. Vijai Sharma, Secretary MoEF, Padmashri Dr Anil Joshi, Mr. M.B. Lal, ADGF (Wildlife), Mr. A K Johari, DIG (RT) and Ms. Ranjana Saikia, Fellow TERI.

Source: The Economic Times, March 21, 2009