Additional floral
elements to the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve,
Rajasthan, India
Anshu Shrivastava 1 & V. Singh 2
1Abhumka Herbal PvtLtd., 502 - Shreeji Chambers, B/h Cargo Ford, C G
Road, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380006, India
2 Botanical Survey of India, Arid Zone Circle, 775/80, Subhash Nagar, Khema Ka Kuan, Jodhpur, Rajasthan 342008, India
Email: 1 ansh24@gmail.com
Date of publication (online): 26
September 2009
Date of publication (print): 26
September 2009
ISSN 0974-7907 (online) |
0974-7893 (print)
Editor: K. Ravikumar
Manuscript details:
Ms # o2037
Received 20 August 2008
Final received 07 July 2009
Finally accepted 07 September
2009
Citation: Shrivastava, A. & V. Singh (2009). Additional
floral elements to the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve,
Rajasthan, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa1(9): 475-480.
Copyright: © Anshu Shrivastava & V. Singh
2009. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 UnportedLicense. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article
in any medium for non-profit purposes, reproduction and distribution by
providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication.
Acknowledgements: The authors are
grateful to the Director, Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata and forest
Officials of the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve for
facilities. Thanks are also due to MOEF, New Delhi for financial assistance.
RanthambhoreTiger Reserve (RTR), located in the south-eastern part of Sawai Madhopur District of Rajasthan State in western
India, is well known for the Indian Tiger - a subspecies in crisis. It is located between 25°54’-26°12’N &
76°23’-76°35’E, with an area of 1333.88km2 at the average altitude of 350m. The dense forests of Anogeissus pendula Edgew. (Dhok), along with
other tree associates and shrubby and herbaceous layers, provide shelter and
food for wildlife.
Sharma (1983), Das (1987), Das & Singh (1995) and others reported
392 species of higher plants. General
vegetation account and floristic studies of Sawai Madhopur district have also been carried out by Jain
(1960), Mathur (1987), and Das (1990).
The reserve sustains many
rare and endangered plant species, most of which are considered threatened
now. Many wild relatives of crop plants
have also been identified as a potential genetic resource. Therefore the BSI surveyed the RTR for more
than four years (from February 2001 to March 2005) and compiled data. A total of 539 species of flowering plants
were collected (Singh & Shrivastava 2007), of
these, the occurrence of 398 species were recorded by earlier workers. Thus 141
species belonging to 113 genera spread over to 48 families are additions.
Field surveys were conducted
to the study of floristic diversity of RTR. Specimens collected were preserved and
identified with the help of regional flora volumes, viz. Flora of Rajasthan (Shetty& Singh 1987-1993) and Flora of North-eastern Rajasthan (Sharma & Tiagi 1979) and matching with the types in various Indian
herbaria including the Botanical Survey of India, Jodhpur (BSJO), Central
National Herbarium, Kolkata (CNH) and Herbarium of Rajasthan University, Jaipur (RUBL). All
the voucher specimens are deposited in BSJO. Arrangement of families is
according to Bentham and Hooker (1862-1883). Introduced species are marked with
an asterisk (*) against the name.
The present study not only
records 141 species of flowering plants as additions to RTR but also reports 75
species as additions to Sawai Madhopurdistrict where the RTR exists. It is
interesting to note that 20 grasses (Poaceae) and 14
sedges (Cyperaceae) taxawere also added. Implementation of wildlife protection rules and regulations
and proper conservation and management strategies may form RTR more suitable
habitat for in-situ conservation for the species of rare occurrence.
Species
highlights:
In
this study, an interesting, rare species considered to be endemic to western
Rajasthan, Abutilon bidentatum Hochst. ex A. Rich. var. major (Blatt. & Hallb.) Bhandari was
collected. Its occurrence in Aravalli hills shows extended distribution eastwards. Two new records to Indian flora, Tephrosia uniflora Pers.
and Pergularia tomentosa L. of rare occurrence reported in the study area. Oryza rufipogon Griff., Luffa acutangula (L.) Roxb. var. amara(Roxb.) C.B. Clarke and Cajanus scarabaeoides (L.)
du Petit-Thou. are some of the wild relatives of crop plants facing
threats. It is worth mentioning that RTR
is the only habitat in Rajasthan from where four taxaviz. Fimbristylis dipsacea (Rottb.) Clarke, Pergularia tomentosa L., Tephrosia uniflora Pers. and Abrus pulchellus Wall. ex Thw. have been
reported. Some species which became
restricted in distribution due to adverse ecological factors or inadequate
reproductive mechanism are Capparis sepiaria L. var. vulgarisHook. f. & Thoms., Oxalis corymbosa DC.,Ziziphus mauritiana Lam.
var. hysudrica (Edgew.)Almeida, Gardenia turgida Roxb. var. montana (Roxb.) Hook. f., Ceropegia bulbosa Roxb. var. lushii (Grah.) Hook. f.,
Convolvulus prostratus Forssk. var. deserti (Hochst. & Steud. ex Baker
& Rendle) Parmar,
Ipomoea nil (L.) Roth var. himalaica(Clarke) Johri, Euphorbia granulata Forssk. var. glabrata Boiss., Eriophorum comosum (Wall.) Wall. ex Clarke, Brachiaria lata (Schumach.) C. E. Hubbard var. pubescens C.E. Hubbard, Pennisetum pedicellatum Trin. subsp. unispiculum Brunken, and Vetiveria lawsonii (Hook. f.) Blatt. &McC.
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