Ecology and conservation of threatened plants in Tapkeshwari Hill ranges in the Kachchh Island, Gujarat, India

Abstract

The survey was conducted in Tapkeshwari Hill Range (THR) areas, wherever threatened plant species were said to exist, based on secondary information in literature. Thirteen plant species categorized as ‘Threatened’ by the World Conservation Monitoring centre (WCMC 1994) and also listed under various threat categories in the Red Data Book of Indian Plants (Nayar & Sastry 1988) were surveyed in the THR. All the RET plants reported from the study area occupied eight major habitat types. Thorn mixed forests harbored the highest number of individuals (560) of all RET plants, followed by open scrubs (345 individuals), Acacia senegal forests (328) and thorn mixed scrubs (293). Field observations showed that except Helichrysum cutchicum, all the other RET plant species were reported with very low seedlings and regeneration ratio. This paper discusses the status, distribution and threats faced and the conservation implications at border regions of some of the threatened plants of the arid Kachchh district.