Conservation of Myristica swamps - The highly threatened and unique Ecosystem in the WesternGhats, India: Biodiversity Inventory and prioritisation of conservation
Location: Central Western Ghats
Duration: 2003-2004
Description: The proposal aims to conduct a detailed inventory of the various
taxa (plants, amphibians, reptiles, molluscs, birds and aquatic insects) in the Myristica swamps.
The inventory will be undertaken at three seasons (monsoon, winter and summer) in the Central
Western Ghats at pre-selected swamps. The inventory will be conducted following standard sampling
protocols and will be compared with sampling sites outside and adjacent to the swamps. Based on
the inventory (which we believe will be the first of its type), we expect to identify species
that could be prioritised for conservation action.
Progress: Inventorization of 18 swamps of different size class (ranging from
300 m2 to 10,000 m2) categorised into three-size class namely, small (< 500 m2), medium (500
to 2000 m2) and large (>2000 m 2). The data on various taxonomic groups have been obtained by
following suitable sampling strategy. Besides plants, about 50 butterflies, 75 Birds and 25
amphibians species have been recovered from in and around these swamps. The sampling has been
carried out in 2 seasons (Winter and Summer) and will be carried out for another season (rainy).
Outputs:
- Inventory of plants, birds, reptiles, amphibians, aquatic insects as well as fresh water molluscs
- Prioritization of swamps and species for restoration and conservation
- Formulating strategies for conservation of Myristica swamps in the central Western Ghats: development of an action plan
Publications
- Aravind N. A, K.N Ganeshaiah and R. Uma Shaanker, 2004. Crock, Crock, Crock- Are there more frogs to be
discovered in Western Ghats. Current Science, Vol 86 (11): 1471
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