Lichens of the Mahabaleshwar Panchgani Ecosensitive zone
(MPESZ), Maharashtra,
India
Gargee S. Pandit
AgharkarResearch Institute, G.G. Agarkar Road, Pune, Maharashtra
411004, India
gargee.pandit@gmail.com
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3784.5784-91
Editor: Aparna Watve, Pune, India. Date
of publication: 26 May 2014 (online & print)
Manuscript details: Ms #
o3784 | Received 24 September 2013 | Final received 31 January 2014 | Finally
accepted 01 May 2014
Citation: Pandit,
G.S. (2014).Lichens of the Mahabaleshwar Panchgani Ecosensitive zone (MPESZ), Maharashtra, India. Journal
of Threatened Taxa 6(5): 5784–5791; http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.o3784.5784-91
Copyright: © Pandit 2014. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium,
reproduction and distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and
the source of publication.
Funding: The Department of Science and Technology-SERB,
SB/FT/LS-187/2012, New Delhi.
Competing Interest: The
authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: The author is grateful to the Director, Agharkar Research Institute Pune, for the laboratory
facilities. Thanks are also due to Dr. Aparna Watve for her inspiration
in making the project and as one of the valuable reviewer of this paper; and my
guide Dr. Urmila Makhija who made me a lichenologist and also Dr. Bharati Sharma who has
directly and indirectly helped me in the work, and Mr. Subhash Gaikwad for his
technical assistance and suggestions. I
would also like to thank the Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG) for
providing the map required by me for the study area.
For figures, images, tables -- click here
Lichens are by definition symbiotic organisms composed of a fungal
partner, the mycobiont and one or more photosynthetic
partners, the photobiont, that may be either a green alga or a cyanobacterium. Lichens are regarded as an example of
controlled parasitism, because the fungus seems to obtain most of the benefits
and the photobiont may grow more slowly in the lichenized state than when free-living (Ahmadjian1993).
They dominate other groups of organisms in as much as 8% of the earth’s
surface (Ahmadjian 1993, 1995). The associated entity grows at an
average rate of 1–5 mm per year and persists for tens or hundreds of
years on their substratum. In the
tropics and subtropics some rapidly growing lichens even colonize the surface
of leaves as epiphylls.
The growth forms of lichens are usually conspicuous and among the
terrestrial autotrophs of the world, lichens exhibit intriguing variation in
miniature. They are categorized
primarily based on their morphology and size into three major types, viz., crustose (crust like), foliose (leaf like) and fruticose (shrubby). The lichens belonging to the former category are called microlichens and the latter two are referred to as macrolichens. They colonize a great variety of
substrates such as rocks, soil, humus, wood substrates as tree trunks, branches
and logs, animal shells, bones, insect backs, synthetic materials as plastic
taps and substrates derived from mineral sources such as bricks, cement,
concrete roofs and walls and glass and iron, amongst others (Brightman & Seaward 1978; Hale 1983; Sipman 1994; Schroeter &
Sancho 1996).
Many of the lichen species have proved economically very beneficial and
continue to hold significant commercial implications particularly in cosmetic
and perfumery industries. A
large number of chemicals called lichen substances unique to lichens have made
them useful as a source of dyes, medicines, agrochemicals and other exploitable
compounds. They play an important
role in the mineral cycling patterns of their ecosystem, particularly if cyanolichens are the dominant components.
The Western Ghats have attracted the attention of naturalists for nearly
a century in course of the studies on the biological material of their
interests or in their discussions on the biogeography of the Indian biota. The complex topography of the Western
Ghats with a wide range of microclimatic and soil
conditions have resulted in a mosaic of plant communities and animal
associations unique to itself. Besides being biologically rich in genera and species the Western Ghats
is rich in endemics too. Many new
and endemic lichen species have also been reported from this region (Makhija et al. 2004; Dube et al. 2005; Makhija et al. 2005; Makhija et al. 2006; Chitale& Makhija 2008; Chitaleet al. 2008; Chitale et al. 2009; Makhija et al. 2009; Dube & Makhija 2010; Singh & Sinha 2010; Bajpai & Upreti 2011; Chitale et al. 2011; Bajpai et
al. 2012;). Lateritic plateaus and basalt outcrops are a special habitat seen in the
northern Western Ghats. They are
known for high endemism and dominance of certain function groups such as
carnivorous plants (Watve 2013). They are seen at altitude above 900m in
the Western Ghats.
During the previous surveys undertaken for documentation of lichen
diversity of the region, rocky plateaus of laterite as well as basalt were seen
to have abundance of saxicolous lichens. Though the saxicolouslichen species of India have been studied by Indian and foreign lichenologists,
they are available in the form of scattered publications and all are dealing
mainly with the taxonomy (Awasthi 1965, 1988, 1991,
2000; Schubert & Klement 1966; Patwardhan & Badhe 1972; Degelius 1974).
In view of this, the present paper documents lichens of Mahabaleshwar-Panchgani EcosensitiveZone (MPESZ) in the northern Western Ghats, and reports the diverse lichen
forms and their preferred substrates.
Study area: MPESZ lies roughly between 17055’N–73040’E
& 17.000N–73.820E. The lateritic
plateaus, better known as the tablelands, have been studied by many geologists
and geographers (Widdowson & Cox 1996; Widdowson 1997; Ollier & Sheth 2008). The area was a famous hill station since the British period and
botanically very well known due to the work of Blatter(1909), Razi (1952), Puri& Mahajan (1960), Deshpande et al. (1993,
1995). However, the focus of these
studies was on angiosperms. Old
records of lichens of the region are available, but needed to be updated. New records of lichens from Mahabaleshwar and Koyna region
have been recently published (Bajpai & Upreti 2011; Bajpai et al.
2012). Lichenology group from Agharkar Research Institute has consistently reported many
lichens from this region (Dube et al. 2005; Chitale 2007; Chitale et al.
2008; Chitale & Makhija2008; Chitale et al. 2009; Dube& Makhija 2010; Chitaleet al. 2011). However, this is the
first ever checklist of the lichens of this region, and describes the prevalent
forms with their microhabitat needs.
MPESZ area is dominated by semi-evergreen forests of Memecylon-Syzygium-Actinodaphneseries as described by Pascal (1988). Much of the hill slopes are bioticallymodified and dominated by Catunaregam spinosa, Scutia myrtina and Carissa congesta thickets. Herbaceous vegetation
dominates open areas in the monsoon period (June–September). Five tablelands are located within the Panchgani Municipal Corporation limits, and another
fourteen plateaus are reported from Mahabaleshwarproper. Notable amongst these is
the Wilson Point (Image 1) with an altitude of about 1000–1400 m, which
is the highest point in the region. All these plateaus are declared conservation zones as per the
development plan of the region and tablelands of Panchganiare natural heritage sites (Image 2). Tetali et al. (2000) and Mishra & Singh
(2001) have described more than 20 endemic and threatened flowering plants from
this region.
Methods: Primary data on MPESZ lichens was
collected during 2001–2010 as a part of surveys for Maharashtra lichens
and studies on microlichens (Chitale2007). The floristic surveys
covered dry as well as wet seasons, diverse habitats (forests, scrublands and
rocky plateaus). Lichen specimens
were collected using standard field survey techniques and reference specimens
are deposited in Agharkar Research Institute lichen
repository (Ajrekar Mycological Herbarium -
AMH). Ecological notes regarding
substrate, forms, abundance were recorded on field.
All the specimens collected were studied for their morphology, anatomy
and chemistry and identified at Agharkar Research
Institute (ARI) using the most recent literature available on lichen taxonomy.
Secondary data was collected from previously published literature from
the study area (listed above) which was mostly about
new records and lichen descriptions. Earlier lichen collections from ARI lichen repository were also scanned
to make a complete regional checklist of species reported so far.
Results and Discussion: A list of species of
lichens reported from MPESZ is given Table 1. They include, 25 families represented by
43 genera and about 129 species which is 5.6% of the
total lichens known from India. Of these, 110 species are exclusively corticolous (bark or twig dwelling), 20 species are saxicolous (rock dwelling), three species are muscicolous and only one species is exclusively terricolous. Lichens can also be categorized as macrolichens,
including, foliose lichens (49 spp.); fruticose (3
spp.); squamulose (4 spp.), leprose(3 spp.) and microlichens i.e. crustoselichens (72 spp.).
So far only five lichen species have been recorded from the Panchgani Plateau but the number is likely to increase as
currently exploratory, ecological studies have been started as part of
DST-Fast-track Scheme. Some species probably form their origin here, e.g., Diorygma megasporum Kalb, Staiger & Elix, Diorygma panchganiense Makhija, Chitale & B.O. Sharma. (Makhija et al. 2009). Observations also show that excessive
trampling and disturbance has eroded lichen flora from the main parts of Panchgani tableland, while the peripheral part of the
plateau has a better preserved lichen crust. Therefore, it is necessary to study and
then plan protection measures to protect this unique lichen diversity of these
unique plateaus.
Schubert & Klement (1966) in their study
tour to northern and central India have collected several lichens from these
areas of which 16 species are recorded from Maharashtra. Degelius(1974) in his monograph on the lichen genus Collemahave reported five saxicolous species from
Maharashtra (Satara District, near Panchgani). Three species of the genus Rhizocarponhave so far been recorded from Maharashtra—Rhizocarpon concentricum (Davies) Beltram,Rhizocarpon distinctum Th. Fr., Rhizocarpon obscuratum (Ach.) Massal. (Singh, 1980)—but the material on which the
record of earlier known species are based was not available for study. Chitale Gayatri and Dube Archana during 2001–2007 have taxonomically explored
the state of Maharashtra and also the MPESZ area for their doctoral studies and
have published new species (Chitale 2007; Dube 2007). Unfortunately Rhizocarpon genus was not
recollected. But there is a hope of
finding it on these outcrops with thorough explorations, as they are saxicolous species (rock dwelling).
Many of these species are likely to be endemic to the special habitats
in this region. They are most vulnerable to extinction as they occur in narrow
geographical areas and it is extremely important to document the existing
vegetation and study the effect of biotic pressures on it.
Natural habitats in MPESZ are gradually degrading due to increasing
human pressures. The protection offered by ecosensitivezone category or natural heritage tag or conservation zone declaration has
slowed down the habitat depletion caused by land-use change and rapid
urbanization. However, increasing
pressure for fuelwood, grazing, insensitive tourism are serious threats to natural biodiversity. Lichen flora, is sensitive to even mild
disturbance of their habitats and hence needs special protection. The role of lichens as pioneer species
in a habitat, as indicator taxa and complex biological symbiontsneeds to be emphasized. It is
urgently necessary that steps are taken to halt the
process and thereby conserve the diversity of species characteristic and
endemic to these areas. It is hoped
that this review of MPESZ lichens attracts attention to this lesser-known but
ecologically significant group of organisms and appropriate conservation
measures are urgently taken. However, increasing pressure for fuelwood,
grazing, insensitive tourism are serious threats to
natural biodiversity (Image 3).
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