Study of flowering plant endemism of Northern Western Ghats highlights importance of plateaus in conservation plans

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Environment & Biodiversity

In News:

• Scientists at the Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune have published a plant data of the Northern Western Ghats.
• The institute is an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology.
• As per their data, the plateaus and the cliffs harbour most of the endemic species in these areas.
• The plateaus along with forests should be prioritized for conservation of the Northern Western Ghats.
• The study suggested that the Northern Western Ghats is the region of rapid diversification of specific herbaceous endemic genera like Ceropegia, Glyphochloa, etc.

Important value additions:

Northern Western Ghats

• The Indian Western Ghats is one of the global biodiversity hotspots due to the endemism of various flora and fauna.
• The northern part of the Ghats receives more precipitation than southern and central parts.
• Plateaus and cliffs display maximum endemic species.
• Forests harbour many non-endemic species.