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DISCOVERY OF TWO RARE AND THREATENED TREE SPECIES FROM
MYRISTICA SWAMPS OF UTTARA KANNADA, KARNATAKA
The discovery in Uttara Kannada district of two rare and threatened tree species,
considered hitherto endemic to the Western Ghats south of the Palghat gap, and feared to
be extinct at one time, throws up before us fresh questions related to conventional
approach to conservation. These two tree species viz. Madhuca bourdillonii (Gamble)
Lam. and Syzygium travancoricum Gamble, have been discovered in some of the relic
evergreen forest patches of Uttara Kannada in central Western Ghats.
Both the tree species occur in the vicinity of some of the Myristica swamps of the district.
The Myristica swamps are reported as highly threatened relics of primeval swamps of the
Western Ghats by Chandran & Mesta (2001). Of the characteristic tree species exclusive
to these swamps are very rare and threatened ones belonging to Myristicaceae, one of the
most ancient families of flowering plants. The famous spice tree nutmeg (Myristica
fragrans), a native of the Mollucas Islands, is a member of this family. Some species of
wild nutmeg trees, endemic to the evergreen forests of South Indian Western Ghats, are
exclusive to the swamps. The most striking of them are Myristica fatua var. magnifica
(Bedd) Sinclair and Gymnacranthera canarica (King) Warburg. The Myristica swamps
are found usually at altitudes less than 600 m. Recent discovery of Semecarpus
kathalekanensis, an altogether new evergreen tree species belonging to the mango family
Anacardiaceae, from some of the Myristica swamps of Uttara Kannada, highlights the
importance of such swamps, as centres of extremely threatened endemic biodiversity of
Western Ghats.
The Myristica swamps are usually enmeshed amidst the least disturbed patches of
evergreen forests, which outlived to some degree the all pervasive human impacts
through the last few millennia. Apart from the species mentioned already the microheterogeneity of these relic forests has several more endemic and interesting plant species
such as Cyathea nilgirica. (tree ferns), Dipterocarpus indicus, Mastixia arborea,
Myristica malabarica, Pinanga dicksonii, Piper hookerii etc. Some such forest relics of
southern Uttara Kannada form the northernmost limit for the distribution of the
endangered Lion-tailed Macaque, a primate endemic to the southern Western Ghats. The
Myristica swamps form important watershed forests and act as feeders for perennial
streams.
The Myristica swamps today occur in isolated patches; the southernmost swamps are
found in Travancore and the northernmost occur in Goa. All over the low and medium
altitudes (<1500 m) of South Indian Western Ghats, over the last several centuries,
because of ever increasing human impacts most of the primeval evergreen forests have
given way to secondary forests, cultivations, savannas, monoculture tree plantations,
commercial plantations of tea, coffee, rubber etc., rice fields, arecanut gardens, mining
areas etc.
Amidst the highly human impacted landscapes of Western Ghats are small stretches of
relic primeval forests. These forests escaped human impacts to certain extent because of
their sacred nature, their watershed and biodiversity values (as the sources of mainly
pepper and spices) or due to their inaccessibility.
Chandran and Mesta (2001) consider Myristica swamps as priceless possessions for
evolutionary biology. The swamp, with its entanglement of aerial roots, and canopy of
dark green large leaves, and high degree of endemism, is doubtlessly, the relic of one of
the most primeval ecosystems of the Western Ghats. As much remained undone
regarding the diversity and ecology of these swamps, they were considered “virtually live
museum of ancient life of great interest to biologists” (ibid.).
With this presumption, that the Myristica swamps and their immediate surroundings,
studded with Dipterocarpus trees, could shed some light on the nature of the primeval
low altitude evergreen forests of the South Indian Western Ghats, we began surveying
these forest relics more systematically. Our search resulted in the find of two very
significant tree species viz. Madhuca bourdillonii (Gamble) Lam. and Syzygium
travancorica (Gamble). We consider the discovery of these two tree species in Uttara
Kannada district at (14 degrees north lat.) as very significant due to the following
reasons:



The above species were originally reported from Travancore Western Ghats only
These species were feared to be extinct according to the Red Data Book of Indian
Plants (Nayar and Sastry, 1997, 1988). Subsequent investigations revealed their
rare presence in southern Western Ghats (Sasidharan & Sivarajan 1996;
Sasidharan 1997).
The Myristica swamps near which we found these species had the status of kan
forests. The kans were, during the pre-colonial times, safety forests cum sacred
groves (Chandran & Gadgil, 1993).
Madhuca bourdillonii (Gamble) Lam.
Bourdillon (1908), the discoverer of this species in Travancore during 1894-95 described
it as a “rare tree of medium size occurring in the Ariankavu and Shendurni valleys, but
not seen elsewhere”. Gamble (1935), quoting Bourdillon, described it in his Flora of the
Presidency of Madras (vol.2). As the species was not collected since Bourdillon’s
observation in 1894-95 the Red Data Book of Indian Plants considered its status as
“possibly extinct”.
It states: “Indiscriminate and steady destruction of its natural
habitats, compounded by selective felling of Madhuca trees in the past for their purported
all round value, accounts for the present day state of scarcity in the Western Ghats
region” Nayar & Sastry (1988).
The rediscovery: Sasidharan and Sivarajan (1996) found this species in the forests of
Thrissur district, to the north of the type localities. Later, Saisdharan (1997) found the
tree also in its type localities Arainkavu and Shendurni Valley, where it was reported as
“rare”.
Occurrence of M. bourdillonii in Uttara Kannada: Notably all the findings of the
species hitherto were in the Western Ghats south of the Palghat Gap. We found a rare
population in the Ankola taluk of Uttara Kannada district in the Karnataka Western
Ghats. Our find extends the northern limit of the species by 600 km; but more
significantly, this is the first report of the species from north of the Palghat Gap. There
were just 13 trees of this critically endangered species dispersed within a stretch of semievergreen forests of Ankola taluk (Lat….Long….). Three of them somewhat exceeded 30
m in height and were about 2 m in girth. Others were of smaller dimensions. The trees
occured in the vicinity of a Myristica swamp, which is distinguished by the swampexclusive Myristicaceae tree, Gymnacranthera canarica. The swamp occurs in what is
apparently a relic forest (see Plate-1), characterized by Western Ghat endemics such as
Aglaia anamallayana, Dipterocarpus indicus, Garcinia talbotii, Holigarna spp., Knema
attenuata, Myristica malabarica etc. Incidentally the site is also a northward extension
for Dipeterocarpus indicus by about 50 km.
Description: M. bourdillonii is a medium to large evergreen tree exceeding 30 m height
at maturity (Plate- 2). Though described as an evergreen (Nayar and Sastry, 1980), it has
a brief period of leaf-fall, which is not strictly season bound. The leaf-fall may vary from
tree to tree. Flowering is simultaneous with leaf fall and new flush that follows is mingled
with late blooming flowers and early fruits.
The trees have grayish brown, longitudinally fissured and flaky bark with a pinkish
interior. The plant parts have milky latex like other species of Madhuca. Young shoots,
including young leaves, are densely covered with brownish-orange, wooly hairs. In the
older leaves the undersurface of veins retains the hairs. Mature leaves, at least, are not
hairy in other related species like M. longifolia var. longifolia and M. longifolia var.
latifolia and M. neriifolia.
The leaves which attain dimensions of 22 x 6.5 cm are simple and crowded towards the
tips of branchlets. They have conical base and bluntly acute to somewhat narrowing tips.
In having 20-25 pairs of lateral nerves M. bourdillonii stands apart from its close
associates M. longifolia var. longifolia (10-12 pairs) and M. longifolia var. latifolia (1014 pairs).
Flowers appear in dense clusters from the axils of fallen leaves or of older leaves that are
about to fall. While the tree is in full bloom clusters of young leaves appear from the tips
of branchlets. The stalks of flowers, 1.5-2 cm long, are also covered with dense hairs. The
4 ovate sepals are hairy outside. The 12 petals of the corolla are united towards the base.
Stamens, often twice the number of petals, occur in two whorls, inner to the corolla. The
anther is tipped with a narrow outgrowth.
Madhuca spp. produce berries with one to few seeds. Globose fruit is a key
distinguishing character of M. bourdillonii. M. longifolia var. latifolia has somewhat
globose fruit but with oblique apex (Saldanha, 1984) and M. longifolia var. longifolia
has ovoid fruit. It has only 1 or 2 seeds whereas M. bourdillonii has 2-3 seeds
(see Table-1 for comparison of the various Madhuca spp. of South India)
Table 1: Comparative morphology of different species of Madhuca
Characters
M. bourdillonii
M. longifolia var.
longifolia
Large (>25 m)
M. longifolia
var. latifolia
Large (>25 m)
M. neeriifolia
M. insignis
Tree height
Large (>25 m)
Small (8-10 m)
Moderate
Bark
Grayish brown,
fissured & flaky
Dark brown, scaly
Dark, fissured and
scaly
Dark, scaly
Evergreen
Evergreen
Deciduous
Evergreen
Evergreen
(?)
Leaf size (cm)
20-30 x 6 -10
5.5 -12 x 1.5-4
7-22 x 5-14
7-24 x 3-6
9-13 x 4-6
Leaf hairiness (mature leaf)
Petioles & underside
of veins with
brownish-orange,
wooly hairs
Glabrous
Glabrous
Glabrous
Glabrous
No. of lateral nerves (pairs)
20-25
10-12
10-14
14 -25
11-13
Ovary
Glabrous
Hairy
Hairy
Glabrous
Fruit shape
Globose
Oblong
Globose often with
oblique apex
Fusiform,
beaked
Fusiformovoid
Surface of mature fruit
Glabrous
Hairy
Hairy
Glabrous
Glabrous
No. of seeds
2-3
1-4
1-4
1
1
Leaf shedding
Syzygium travancoricum Gamble
The tree was first discovered in the swampy lowlands (altitude <65 m) of Travancore by
Bourdillon in 1894. Gamble described it in 1918 in the Kew Bulletin and in the Flora of
the Presidency of Madras in 1919. The Red Data Book of Indian Plants, vol-1 (Ed.
Nayar and Sastry, 1987), quoting Nair and Mohanan (1981), states: “Apparently no tree
is surviving in the type locality. Recently only 4 trees have been spotted in a sacred grove
of Aikad in Quilon district.” Sasidharan’s (1997) collection of the species from the
Shenduruny Wildlife Sanctuary shows that the species has not become extinct in the type
locality. According to him this species, endemic to Southern Western Ghats of Kerala, is
“fairly common in the Myristica swamp forests”.
Occurrence in Uttara Kannada: We came across small population of about 35 trees of
this endangered species associated with some of the Myristica swamps of Siddapur taluk
(Lat… Long…). It occurred in association with several other Western Ghat endemics
such as Aglaia anamallayana, Calophyllum apetalum, Diospyros paniculata, D. pruriens,
Dipterocarpus indicus, Gymnocranthera canarica, Holigarna grahamii, Hydnocarpus
?
?
pentandra, Hopea ponga, Mastixia arborea, Myristica fatua var. magnifica, Pinanga
dicksonii etc. . In the Ankola taluk a lone tree was observed in a Myristica swamp. Some
bushy forms, obviously coppice shoots, occurred close to the lonely tree.
Description: Gamble described the species as “medium sized or large tree”. Sasidharan
(1997) described it as “small trees”. Some of the Siddapur trees that we observed attained
about 30 m height. The two largest of the trees had girths of 253 and 254 cm respectively.
The older trees are buttressed at the base. The young branchlets are 4-angled; in the
saplings the angles are winged. The trees in the stream have floating water roots, an
adaptation to swampy habitat.
Leaves are simple, opposite, ovate and bluntly acute towards the tip. The leaf base is
shortly deccurrent (continued) on the 2 cm long petiole. Leaf measures to 9-18 cm in
length and 6-9 cm in breadth. It produces from the midrib 12-15 pairs of lateral nerves.
Flowers occur in the axils of leaves in corymbose cymes of 5-8 cm long. They are very
small, 3 mm across. The white petals form a calyptra (cap) in the bud enclosing the
stamens. Fruits 0.7 to 1 cm across, purplish to maroon-red, are 1-seeded. Fruits ripen in
May-June. The description of the fruit is wanting in any of the floras although fruits are
sketched in Sasidharan (1997).
The value of forest patches
Efforts to conserve tropical biological diversity have usually concentrated on setting
aside large tracts of forest in national parks and other protected areas. While highlighting
the essentiality of such large, relatively undisturbed forests for effective conservation of
tropical ecosystems and many forest species, it needs to be admitted that only 5.9% of the
world’s land area is in designated protected areas (WRI, 1994). Because of social,
economic and political constraints, there is often little hope of expanding protected area
systems. A conservation strategy focusing only on large, protected areas will leave the
conservation needs of some organisms and habitats unmet; the conservation efforts in the
tropics must include areas that lie outside large reserves (Schelhas and Greenberg, 1996).
‘Forest patches’ include a diversity of habitats which are in close proximity forming a
mosaic, or even in isolation like a sacred grove in the middle of a village or small town.
Investigations into the ecological history of the Western Ghats reveal that the forests
here, especially of lower altitudes below 1000 m, constitute a mosaic of patches of varied
nature and ages. In the Uttara Kannada district of central Western Ghats, where we
conducted our present study, this landscape mosaic, according to traditional pre and early
colonial land use typically consisted of sacred forests (kans or devarabana), ordinary
forests (kadu or adavi), shifting cultivation areas (kumri or hakkalu), leaf manure forests
(betta), grazing lands (bena) etc. in addition to lands under permanent agriculture and
horticulture. Such traditional mosaic contained within it streams, ponds, waterfalls and
rivers, gorges and steeps and rocky pinnacles, each with its own characteristic species
composition (Chandran, 1997, 1998; Chandran and Gadgil, 1993, 1998).
Shifting cultivation was a major enterprise carried out by forest dwelling tribals,
throughout the Western Ghats, sparing only the higher altitudes. Carried out through
centuries, the primary evergreen- semi-evergreen forests would have been altered
substantially. In most sparsely populated interior places of South Indian Western Ghats
(Uttara Kannada southwards), as the fallow period was long (sometimes the tribes never
returned to the original areas) the forests would re-grow and through time get back most
of the original elements of the flora, barring few. As fire was an important factor in
shifting cultivation, it may be that hygrophilous endemic tree species such as
Dipterocarpus and Vateria indica, failed to regenerate on slash and burn areas.
Forest history of Uttara Kannada district in central Western Ghats (750558and
740513 East longitude and 135526and 153123 North latitude) points out that
slash and burn cultivation (known as kumri) in the district could have been as old as three
millennia. Gradual progress of shifting cultivation through centuries have altered the
primary forests patch by patch, creating vast stretches of secondary forests. In the
absence of fires these secondary forests would, through vegetational succession, get back
most of their original elements. Yet some key Western Ghat tree species do not easily
recolonise the secondary forests. These include Dipterocarpus indicus and Vateria
indica. The early agricultural communities, however, left behind a great legacy of sacred
groves, known as kan forests in Uttara Kannada and other adjoining districts. The
investigations of the kans reveal that many of them are relics of the primary forests of the
Western Ghats and are often centers of endemism for both plants and animals. Many of
the Myristica swamps are associated with these sacred groves of pre-colonial times
(Chandran and Gadgil, 1993; Chandran, 1988; Chandran, 1997; Chandran and Mesta,
2001).
The relic forests, which sheltered the original biodiversity of the Western Ghats suffered
severely, over the last 150 years, due to their merger with the state reserved forests and
commercial exploitation of forests for timber, monoculture, extension of cultivation etc
and numerous other kinds of human impacts.
In the course of our ongoing ecological studies in Uttara Kannada we gave greater
importance to the floristic composition of the relic evergreen forests. In some such forests
we have come across the rare occurrence of the tree species Madhuca bourdillonii and
Syzygium travancoricum. We present here the details regarding these two critically
endangered evergreen and endemic tree species of the Western Ghats, which were once
considered to be extinct from Travancore, the only region
Habitat fragmentation is one of the key threats to global diversity. The impact of
fragmentation is expected to be severe in the tropics, where biodiversity is rich, and
human populations are rapidly growing (Cunnigham and Duncan, 2001). Deforestation is
occurring at an alarming rate in the tropical lowlands. In many tropical regions, rain
forest is restricted to small (<100 ha), isolated fragments. While only the preservation of
large areas of tropical forest can safeguard the complete biota, there is growing evidence
to support the view that a substantial number of forest species can persist for decades in
fragmented forest. Inevitably, small fragments will become the last refuges of many
rainforest species that are on the brink of extinction (Turner and Corlett, 1996).
Several authors consider that the current discontinuity of some faunal species in India,
might represent relicts of a former continuous distribution (Mani, 1974; Ali, 1935, 37;
Daniel, 2002; Das, 2002). Climatic change and deforestation might be the major causes
for discontinuous distribution of species that probably existed once in continuous range.
In the case of the Lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus), endangered primate endemic to
the South Indian Western Ghats, Karanth (2003) considers its present day disjunct
distribution and aggregation in the relics of wet forest patches, as the result of climatic
aridity and deforestation.
The recordings of Dipterocarpus indicus in Ankola taluk further substantiate the findings
of Caratini and his co-workers (1991). They had reported the presence of Dipterocarp
pollens in the marine core close to Kali River estuary indicating its more northern range
of distribution in the past. So far it has been recorded of its distribution up to Sharavathi
Valley, the southern region of Uttara Kannada (Karikan and Gersoppa Ghats including
Malemane and Kathalekan). This report records its extension to further north of Uttara
Kannada.
The lower altitudes of pre-historical Western Ghats, before the beginnings of shifting
cultivation, around 3000 years ago, would have been covered with pristine ecosystems,
more or less untrammeled by man, except by hunter-gatherers, who seldom if at all,
indulged in forest alterations. Especially due to the heavy rainfall, western facing portions
of the mountains would have been covered with tropical evergreen to semi-evergreen
forests, laced with water courses and swamps (Chandran, 1997).
This was probably true of Uttara Kannada district in the central Western Ghats. Pollen
analysis by Caratini et al. from a marine core taken off the coast (1991), reveals that,
Dipterocarpus, an endemic tree of the South Indian Western Ghats could have had its
northern limits extending at least upto Karwar (
). Presently Dipterocarpus (indicus),
part of the climax evergreen forests of the Western Ghats, is rare in the district, being
confined to isolated patches only towards the southern parts. Therefore our discovery of a
small patch of Dipterocarpus at ---- lat. In the Ankola taluk of the district is significant.
This patch is in the vicinity of a sacred grove of the forest dwelling Karivokkaliga
peasants. It is associated with the remains of a Myristica swamp, also relic of a primeval
forest. The association of a few trees of Madhuca bourdilloni, far away from its hitherto
known locality south of the Palghat gap, over 700 km to the south, clearly goes to prove
that this particular forest patch is a relic of a continuous stretch of low altitude evergreen
forests along the Western Ghats, at least upto the latitude of Uttara kannda district.
Same could be stated about Syzygium travancorica, a stately tree, thought to be extinct
once from Travancore Western Ghats, but rediscovered later, ut only in the stretch of
Western Ghats south of the Palghat Gap. Our find of this extremely rare tree, in the
Siddapur taluk of Uttara Kannada in the Central Western Ghats is equally significant.
These trees are found in a forest of ancient antiquity, dominated by Dipterocarpus and
remnants of Myristica swamps. The same stretch of Siddapur forests are also home to the
recently discovered new species Semecarpus kathalekanensis.
What we wish to emphasize all along is that in the pre-historical days, before the
advances of the slash and burn cultivators, into the lower altitudes of the Western Ghats,
may be around 3000 years ago, primeval evergreen forests would have covered most of
the hills and valleys, receiving annual rainfall exceeding 2000 mm. Sluggishly flowing
streams, characterized by swamps of wild nutmegs (Myristicaceae members), would have
formed a network through these primeval forests. These forests would have been
characterized by the presence of endemic evergreen tree species such as Dipterocarpus
indicus, Gymnacranthera canarica, Madhuca bourdilloni Myristica fatua var. magnifica,
Syzygium travancoricum, Vateria indica, etc., with a lot many of others. The ones named
here, however, belong to a rare lot, characterized by their near absence in secondary
forests of central Western Ghats. Most of these secondary forests owe their origin to the
fires set on in the past by the shifting cultivators.
During late October of 2005 one mature tree was leafless another with fully developed
young leaves. A third tree was leafless and with full of bunches of flower buds. The
flowers opened during November. All the fallen flowers and even the young buds were
seen infected with insect larvae.
The heavy immature fruit fall and the infection of flowers with insect larvae seems to be
a major obstacle in the fruit setting and in turn the regeneration of M. bourdillonii.
Anyhow recently we have observed few seedlings (3 one year old seedlings and 16 young
seedlings with cotyledons) under the only tree, which had matured fruits in the last
season. This indicates that out of 13 trees (known population) only one tree is producing
the viable seeds.
Number of studies reveal depressed reproductive outputs in small and fragmented
populations; some species might, on the other hand, might produce more fruits (Turner
and Corlett, 1996).
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