Biodiversity Hotspots

Biodiversity hotspots The Western Ghats Main article: Western Ghats The Western Ghats are a chain of hills that run along the western edge of peninsular India. Their proximity to the ocean and through orographic effect, they receive high rainfall. These regions have moist deciduous forest and rain forest. The region shows high species diversity as well as high levels of endemism. Nearly 77% of the amphibians and 62% of the reptile species found here are found nowhere else.[12] The region shows biogeographical affinities to the Malayan region, and the Satpura hypothesis proposed by Sunder Lal Hora suggests that the hill chains of Central India may have once formed a connection with the forests of northeastern India and into the Indo-Malayan region. Hora used torrent stream fishes to support the theory, but it was also suggested to hold for birds. [13] Later studies have suggested that Hora's original model species were a demonstration of convergent evolution rather than speciation by isolation.[12] More recent phylogeographic studies have attempted to study the problem using molecular approaches.[14] There are also differences in taxa which are dependent on time of divergence and geological history.[15] Along with Sri Lanka this region also shows some faunal similarities with the Madagascan region especially in the reptiles and amphibians. Examples include the Sibynophis snakes, the Purple frog and Sri Lankan lizard genus Nessia which appears similar to the Madagascan genus Acontias. [16] Numerous floral links to the Madagascan region also exist.[17] An alternate hypothesis that these taxa may have originally evolved out-ofIndia has also been suggested.[18] Biogeographical quirks exist with some taxa of Malayan origin occurring in Sri Lanka but absent in the Western Ghats. These include insects groups such as the zoraptera and plants such as those of the genus Nepenthes.

The Eastern Himalayas

The Red Panda or Firefox is native to the Himalayas in India and Nepal and southern China. The Eastern Himalayas is the region encompassing Bhutan, northeastern India, and southern, central, and eastern Nepal. The region is geologically young and shows high altitudinal variation. It has nearly 163 globally threatened species including the One-horned Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), the Wild Asian Water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis (Arnee)) and in all 45 mammals, 50 birds, 17 reptiles, 12 amphibians, 3 invertebrate and 36 plant species. [19] [20] The Relict Dragonfly (Epiophlebia laidlawi) is an endangered species found here with the only other species in the genus being found in Japan. The region is also home to the Himalayan Newt (Tylototriton verrucosus), the only salamander species found within Indian limits.[21]

Indo-Burma This region borders the Indian political boundary and extends into the northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and includes the Andaman Islands. It is contiguous with the entire Myanmar region. [22]

The Bugun Liocichla was described in 2006 The region has provided new mammal species which are very surprising for recent times. Some of these recent discoveries include that of the Arunachal macaque (Macaca munzala), a species that was well known to the locals but introduced to science in 2004. Other recent discoveries from this region include the Laotian rock rat, the Leaf Muntjac and the Bugun Liocichla. The Khasi Hills toad (Bufoides meghalayanus) is known from just a few locations within India.[23]

Extinct and fossil forms During the early Tertiary period, the Indian tableland, what is today peninsular India, was a large island. Prior to becoming an island it was connected to the African region. During the tertiary period this island was separated from the Asian mainland by a shallow sea. The

Himalayan region and the greater part of Tibet lay under this sea. The movement of the Indian subcontinent into the Asian landmass created the great Himalayan ranges and raised the sea bed into what is today the plains of northern India.

Elephas ganesa a fossil elephant from the Siwaliks Once connected to the Asian mainland, many species moved into India. The Himalayas were created in several upheavals. The Siwaliks were formed in the last and the largest number of fossils of the Tertiary period are found in these ranges. [24] The Siwalik fossils include Mastodons, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, Sivatherium, a large four-horned ruminant, giraffe, horses, camels, bison, deer, antelope, pigs, chimpanzees, orangutans, baboons, langurs, macaques, cheetahs, Sabre-toothed tigers, lions, tigers, sloth bear, Aurochs, leopards, wolves, dholes, porcupines, rabbits and a host of other mammals.[24] Many fossil tree species have been found in the intertrappean beds [25] including Grewioxylon from the Eocene and Heritieroxylon keralensis from the middle Miocene in Kerala and Heritieroxylon arunachalensis from the Mio-Pliocene of Arunachal Pradesh and at many other places. The discovery of Glossopteris fern fossils from India and Antarctica led to the discovery of Gondwanaland and led to the greater understanding of continental drift. Fossil Cycads[26] are known from India while seven Cycad species continue to survive in India.[27][28] Titanosaurus indicus was perhaps the first dinosaur discovered in India by Richard Lydekker in 1877 in the Narmada valley. This area has been one of the most important areas for paleontology in India. Another dinosaur known from India is Rajasaurus narmadensis [29], a heavy-bodied and stout carnivorous abelisaurid (theropod) dinosaur that inhabited the area near present-day Narmada river. It was 9 m in length and 3 m in height and somewhat horizontal in posture with a double-crested crown on the skull. Some fossil snakes from the Cenozoic era are also known. [30] Some scientists have suggested that the Deccan lava flows and the gases produced were responsible for the global extinction of dinosaurs however these have been disputedHimalayacetus subathuensis the oldest-known whale fossil of the family Protocetidae (Eocene), about 53.5 million years old was found in the Simla hills in the foothills of the Himalayas. This area was underwater (in the Tethys sea) during the Tertiary period (when India was an island off Asia). This whale may have been capable of living partly on land. [33] [34] Other fossil whales from India include Remingtonocetus approximately 43-46 million years old. Several small mammal fossils have been recorded in the intertrappean beds, however larger mammals are mostly unknown. The only major primate fossils have been from the nearby region of Myanmar.

Recent extinctions

Illustration of a Himalayan Quail from A. O. Hume's work. Last seen in 1876 The exploitation of land and forest resources by humans along with hunting and trapping for food and sport has led to the extinction of many species in India in recent times. Probably the first species to vanish during the time of the Indus Vally civilisation was the species of wild cattle, Bos primegenius nomadicus or the wild zebu, which vanished from its range in the Indus valley and western India, possibly due to inter-breeding with domestic cattle and resultant fragmentation of wild populations due to loss of habitat.[35] Notable mammals which became or are presumed extinct within the country itself include the Indian / Asiatic Cheetah, Javan Rhinoceros and Sumatran Rhinoceros.[36] While some of these large mammal species are confirmed extinct, there have been many smaller animal and plant species whose status is harder to determine. Many species have not been seen since their description. Hubbardia heptaneuron, a species of grass that grew in the spray zone of the Jog Falls prior to the construction of the Linganamakki reservoir, was thought to be extinct but a few were rediscovered near Kolhapur. [37] Some species of birds have gone extinct in recent times, including the Pink-headed Duck (Rhodonessa caryophyllacea) and the Himalayan Quail (Ophrysia superciliosa). A species of warbler, Acrocephalus orinus, known earlier from a single specimen collected by Allan Octavian Hume from near Rampur in Himachal Pradesh was rediscovered after 139 years in Thailand.[38][39] Similarly, the Jerdon's Courser (Rhinoptilus bitorquatus), named after the zoologist Thomas C. Jerdon who discovered it in 1848, was rediscovered in 1986 by Bharat Bhushan, an ornithologist at the Bombay Natural History Society after being thought to be extinct.

Species estimates Glimpses of biodiversity An estimate of the numbers of species by group in India is given below. This is based on Alfred, 1998.[40] Taxonomic Group PROTISTA Protozoa Total (Protista) ANIMALIA Mesozoa

World species

Indian species

% in India

31250 31250

2577 2577

8.24 8.24

71

10

14.08

Porifera Cnidaria Ctenophora Platyhelminthes Nemertinea Rotifera Gastrotricha Kinorhyncha Nematoda Nematomorpha Acanthocephala Sipuncula Mollusca Echiura Annelida Onychophora Arthropoda Crustacea Insecta Arachnida Pycnogonida Pauropoda Chilopoda Diplopoda Symphyla Merostomata Phoronida Bryozoa (Ectoprocta) Endoprocta Brachiopoda Pogonophora Praipulida Pentastomida Chaetognatha Tardigrada Echinodermata Hemichordata Chordata Protochordata (Cephalochordata+Urochordata) Pisces Amphibia Reptilia Aves Mammalia Total (Animalia) Grand Total (Protosticta+Animalia)

4562 9916 100 17500 600 2500 3000 100 30000 250 800 145 66535 127 12700 100 987949 35534 73440 600 360 3000 7500 120 4 11 4000 60 300 80 8 70 111 514 6223 120 48451 2106 21723 5150 5817 9026 4629 1196903 1228153

486 842 12 1622

10.65 8.49 12 9.27

330 100 10 2850

13.2 3.33 10 9.5

229 35 5070 43 840 1 68389 2934

28.62 24.14 7.62 33.86 6.61 1 6.9 8.26 6.83 7.9 2.67

100 162 4 2 3 200 10 3

3.33 2.16 3.33 50 27.27 5 16.66 1

30 30 765 12 4952 119 2546 209 456 1232 390 868741 871318

27.02 5.83 12.29 10 10.22 5.65 11.72 4.06 7.84 13.66 8.42 7.25 7.09

Western ghats: biodiversity hot spot With tropical and deciduous rainforest, grasslands and scrub forests, montane forests, the Western Ghats in India, is consisted with one of the richest collections of flora and fauna on this earth planet, and is regarded as one of the world’s eighteen bio-diversity hotspots. The Western Ghats or Sahyadri mountains contain more than 330 species of butterflies, 1800 species of plants, 100 species of frogs and more than ten species of bats, comprising rarely found wroughton’s freetailed bat, the false vampire bat, Indian flying fox, the painted bat and the short nosed fruit bat. If you are really a true nature lover, the Western Ghats are profused with natural beauty where you can find the rarest things, which can hardly ever be seen somewhere. The Western Ghats run along the western tip of India ’s Deccan Plateau, untying it from a narrow coastal plain all along the Arabian Sea. The range begins from south of the Tapti River close to the border of Gujarat and Maharashtra, and runs about 1600 km via the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala , and Tamil Nadu, to the southern point of the Indian peninsula and comes to an end in close proximity to Swamithoppe in Marunthuvazh Malai in Tamil Nadu. The highest elevation is approximately 900 meters. The Western Ghats are the watershed for South India’s main eastward-flowing rivers, the Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri. Short, steep westward flowing streams supplies hydroelectricity to west-coast cities

Mountain Range

Highest peaks comes by in the northern section of the range in Maharashtra, remarkably Kalsubai 1646 m (5427 ft), Mahabaleshwar 1438 m (4710 ft) and Harishchandragarh 1424 m (4691 ft); in southwest Karnataka, markedly Kudremukh at 1862 m (6,109 ft) and Mullayanagiri at 1925 m (6,317 ft); and in the southern part of the range, with Anai Mudi in Kerala at 2695 meters (8,842 ft) getting the highest peak in the Western Ghats.

Chembra Peak in Kerala at 2100 m, Banasura Peak in Kerala at 2073 m and Vellarimala in Kerala at 2200 meters. The Goa gap, between the Maharashtra and Karnataka sections, and the Palghat Gap that joins Tamil Nadu to Kerala are the only single main gaps in the range. Smaller ranges, comprising the Nilgiri Hills with Doddabetta, the highest peak at 2623 meters of northwestern Tamil Nadu and Biligirirangans southeast of Mysore in Karnataka, meet up the Shevaroys, Servarayan range, and Tirumala range farther east, connecting the Western Ghats to the Eastern Ghats. These ranges of hills are considered significant wildlife corridors, letting species such as elephants to move between the ranges.

Rain Forests

Historically the Western Ghats were well covered in dense forests. In the south, they have the only rainforests of southern India . These forests are home to an attention-grabbing and diverse fauna and flora, loads of of them viewing resemblance to the Malayan region, however are more and more threatened by human activity. A number of national parks and other protected areas come within the range, however it is estimated that only a small fraction of the Western Ghats is in untouched condition. The Silent Valley National Park in Kerala is regarded by loads of to be the final tracts of virgin tropical evergreen forest in India.

Flora and Fauna Biogeographers have long given importance to the unique animal and plants communities of the Western Ghats. A lot of of these faunal and floral elements cannot be seen anywhere else in India apart from in parts of northeastern India. The Western Ghats are also meant for a home to countless common species, and the endemism is chiefly high in the reptilian fauna and amphibian. The snake family Uropeltidae is virtually utterly diversified and restricted in this region of the world. A few Western Ghats streams are home to a freshwater puffer fish Tetra don travancoria besides marine forms such as Chelonodon patoca (BuchananHamilton, 1822)