Status of floristic diversity and impact of development on two sacred groves from Maval Tehsil (Maharashtra, India) after a century
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Global urbanisation and anthropogenic activities are leading to a decline in religious beliefs and adversely affecting the biodiversity, ecology, and environmental sustainability of sacred groves, particularly in Lonavala (Rye Wood Park) and Karla Grove in Maval Tehsil, Pune district, Maharashtra, India. The Lonavala Grove, situated at 18.749° N, 73.403° E, and 622 m, and the Karla Grove, located at 18.760° N, 73.478° E, with an elevation of 621 m, both within the Western Ghats, are undergoing transformations due to landscape gardens and urban developments despite their historical significance. Gammie Alexander‘s 1903 floristic research identified 84 species across both groves, but our present study reveals a significant decline. Lonavala and Karla groves now host 46 genera and 42 species and 25 genera and 29 species, respectively, totaling 120 species from 49 families and 110 genera. This decline is attributed to the introduction of alien and invasive species, resulting in the disappearance of six indigenous species over the past century. The research aims to explore and document changes in floristic diversity, utilising remote sensing methods like NDVI for growth and deterioration assessment, measuring tree and liana girth, and analysing the impact on native flora due to the spread of alien species.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors own the copyright to the articles published in JoTT. This is indicated explicitly in each publication. The authors grant permission to the publisher Wildlife Information Liaison Development (WILD) Society to publish the article in the Journal of Threatened Taxa. The authors recognize WILD as the original publisher, and to sell hard copies of the Journal and article to any buyer. JoTT is registered under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY), which allows authors to retain copyright ownership. Under this license the authors allow anyone to download, cite, use the data, modify, reprint, copy and distribute provided the authors and source of publication are credited through appropriate citations (e.g., Son et al. (2016). Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the southeastern Truong Son Mountains, Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam. Journal of Threatened Taxa 8(7): 8953–8969. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2785.8.7.8953-8969). Users of the data do not require specific permission from the authors or the publisher.
References
Balfour, E. (1870). The timber trees, timber and fancy woods, as also the forests of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia. 3rd Edition. Higginbotham & Co., Madras, 246 pp.
Bhagwat, S.A. & C. Rutte (2006). Sacred groves: potential for biodiversity management. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 4(10): 519–524. https://doi.org/10.1890/1540-9295(2006)4[519:SGPFBM]2.0.CO;2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1890/1540-9295(2006)4[519:SGPFBM]2.0.CO;2
Bhise, M.R., S.S., Rahangdale, S.R., Rahangdale & S.V. Kambhar (2013). Floristic study of Kalbhairavanatha sacred grove, Terungan, Ambegaon Taluka, Pune. Journal of Botany 2(1): 17–24.
Blicharska, M., G. Mikusiński, A. Godbole & J. Sarnaik (2013). Safeguarding biodiversity and ecosystem services of sacred groves –experiences from northern Western Ghats. International Journal of Biodiversity Science, ecosystem services & Management 9(4): 339–346. https://doi.org/10.1080/21513732.2013.835350 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21513732.2013.835350
Burman, J.R. (1996). A comparison of sacred groves among the Mahadeo Kolis and Kunbis of Maharashtra. Indian Anthropologist 26(1): 37–45.
Chandran, M.S., M. Gadgil & J.D. Hughes (1997). Sacred groves of the Western Ghats of India. Conserving the sacred for Biodiversity Management 10(8): 210–231.
Cooke, T. (1901–1908). The Flora of the Presidency of Bombay. Vol. 1 & 2. Taylor & Francis, London.
Daye, D.D. & J.R. Healey (2015). Impacts of land-use change on sacred forests at the landscape scale. Global Ecology and Conservation 3: 349–358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2014.12.009 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2014.12.009
Gadgil, M. & M.S. Chandran (1992). Sacred groves. India International Centre Quarterly 19(1/2): 183–187.
Gammie, G.A. (1903). The trees and shrubs of Lonavala and Karla groves. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 15: 279-293.279–293.
Godbole, A.J. (1980). Ethnobotanical studies of Mawal taluka Pune District Maharashtra. PhD Thesis Department of Botany, Savitribai Phule Pune University.
Gokhale, Y. (2005). Use of plants as indicator of management of sacred groves in the Western Ghats of Karnataka, pp 82–92. In: Kunhikannan C. & G.B. Singh (eds.). Strategy for Conservation of Sacred Groves. Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, Coimbatore, India, 207 pp.
Graham, J. (1839). A catalogue of the plants growing in Bombay and its vicinity: Spontaneous, cultivated or introduced, as far as they have been ascertained. Government Press, Bombay, 27, 31, 40, 41, 56, 61,62, 109, 125, 174, 188, 206 & 207 pp.
Hegewald J. (2022). Water Architecture in South Asia: A Study of Types, Developments and Meanings. Brill Academic Pub, 181 pp.
Robert, H., (1895). Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Library, Art & Archives, 460 pp.
Khan, M.L., A.D. Khumbongmayum & R.S. Tripathi (2008). The sacred groves and their significance in conserving biodiversity: an overview. International Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences 34(3): 277–291.
Kulkarni, A., A. Upadhye, N. Dahanukar & M.N. Datar (2018). Floristic uniqueness and effect of degradation on diversity: A case study of sacred groves from northern Western Ghats. Tropical Ecology 59(1): 119–127
Kulkarni, D.K., D.S. Nipunage, L.M. Hangarge, & A.D. Kulkarni (2013). Quantitative plant diversity evaluation of Sagadara and Navalachi raimonotypic sacred groves in Pune district of Maharashtra state, India. Annals of Biological Research 4(2): 234–240.
Lindenmayer, D.B. & W.F. Laurance (2016). The unique challenges of conserving large old trees. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 31(6): 416–418. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2016.03.003 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2016.03.003
Lindenmayer, D.B., W.F. Laurance & J.F. Franklin (2012). Global decline in large old trees. Science 338(6112): 1305–1306. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1231070 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1231070
Mahan, A. (Ed.) (1878). Divine life and international expositor of Scriptural Holiness: Haughton & company., Paternoster Row, E.C, London, 18 pp.
Mahabaleshwarkar, M., N. Ghayal, S. Mahabaleshwarkar & V. Ghate (2023). Multidimensional time-lapse of a relict species Canarium strictum Roxb. from a sacred landscape in Pune District, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 15(2): 22718–22725. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8271.15.2.22718-22725 DOI: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8271.15.2.22718-22725
Mishra, B.P., O.P. Tripathi, R.S. Tripathi & H.N. Pandey (2004). Effects of anthropogenic disturbance on plant diversity and community structure of a sacred grove in Meghalaya, northeast India. Biodiversity & Conservation 13: 421–436. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BIOC.0000006509.31571.a0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BIOC.0000006509.31571.a0
Ormsby, A.A. (2021). Diverse values and benefits of urban sacred natural sites. Trees, forests and People 6 (100136). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tfp.2021.100136
Palmeirim, A.F., S. Seck, L. Palma & R.J. Ladle (2023). Shifting values and the fate of sacred forests in Guinea-Bissau: are community- anaged forests the answer? Environmental Conservation 50(3): 152–155. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892923000164 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892923000164
Pandey, D.N. (1999). Sacred Forestry: The Case of Rajasthan, India. History of Indian Science and Technology 10(7): 1–9.
Patil, S., R.D. Shinde, J. Leong‐Škorničková & P. Chaudhari (2021). Fixing stray traditions in gingers: The identity and nomenclatural history of Zingiber neesanum and other entwined names. Taxon 70(6): 1339–1351. https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.12567 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/tax.12567
Patwardhan, A., P. Ghate, M. Mhaskar & A. Bansude (2021). Cultural dimensions of sacred forests in the Western Ghats Biodiversity Hot Spot, Southern India and its implications for biodiversity protection. International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology 5(1): 1–26. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41257-021-00053-6
Ramsankar, B. (2010). Role of sacred groves in biodiversity conservation in Bankura district of West Bengal. Journal of Economic and Taxonomic Botany 34(1): 12–17.
Rai, A., A. Chettri, A. Pradhan, S.K. Rai, A.K. Rai & N.T. Lepcha (2016). Diversity of climbing plants in ‘Gadi’ sacred grove of Central Pendam in East Sikkim, India. Pleione 10(1): 97–107.
Ray, C., M.D.S. Chandran & T.V. Ramachandra (2014). Biodiversity and ecological assessments of Indian sacred groves. Journal of Forestry Research 25: 21–28. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11676-014-0429-2
Rutte, C. (2011). The sacred commons: conflicts and solutions of resource management in sacred natural sites. Biological Conservation 144(10): 2387–2394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2011.06.017 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2011.06.017
Santapau, H. (1967). The Flora of Khandala on the Western Ghats of India Records of the Botanical Survey of India. Vol. XVI, No.1. Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta. 1–372.
Seely, J.B. (1825). The Wonders of Elora: Or the Narrative of a Journey to the Temples and Dwellings Excavated Out of a Mountain of Granite, and Extending Upwards of a Mile and a Quarter, at Elora, in the East-Indies. Whittaker Andesite Press, 80 pp.
Stuart, C.M.V. (1913). Gardens of the Great Mughals. A. and C. Black, 241 pp.
Voigt, J.O. (1845). Hortus suburbanus Calcuttensis. Bishops’ College Press, Calcutta. 245, 256, 271, 476, 554 & 572 pp.
Tatay, J. & A. Merino (2023). What is sacred in sacred natural sites? A literature review from a conservation lens. Ecology and Society 28(1): 1–17. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-13823-280112 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-13823-280112
Unnikrishnan, E. (1995). Sacred Groves of North Kerala: An Eco Folklore Study (Malayalam). Jeevarekha, Thrissur, Kerala, India, 229 pp.