Short report
Contributions of vulnerable hydrogeomorphic habitats to endemic plant diversity on the Kas Plateau, Western Ghats
1 Department of Biology, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO, 80903, USA
2 Naoroji Godrej Centre for Plant Research, Shirwal, Maharashtra, India
SpringerPlus 2012, 1:25 doi:10.1186/2193-1801-1-25
Published: 4 October 2012Abstract
Background
The Western Ghats of India are known to be a major biological hotspot that supports plant diversity and endemism. On the Kas Plateau, a lateritic plateau of the northern Western Ghats, we examined mesoscale distributions of endemic, rare, or locally significant plant species in forest habitats or on the plateau and its escarpments, and assessed the edaphic and hydrological parameters of seasonal plateau microhabitats.
Findings
Almost two thirds of over 100 phytogeographically significant species occur on the plateau top; these represent 26 plant families and 43 genera. About 80% of the species are restricted to the upper plateau and its escarpments.
Conclusion
Since botanically critical plateau habitats are generally small, dependent on seasonal monsoon moisture, and determined by drainage-related parameters that can be altered by anthropogenic activities, they are highly vulnerable. Maintenance of appropriate microhabitats should be a key consideration for conservation of regionally significant plant biota.
