Exponential rise in the discovery of endemic plants underscores the need to conserve the Indian savannas

Nerlekar, Ashish N.; Chorghe, Alok; Dalavi, Jagdish V.; Kullayiswamy, K Raja; Karuppusamy, S.; Kamath, Vignesh; Pokar, Ritesh; Ganesan, R.; Sardesai, Milind M.; Kambale, Sharad Suresh

doi:10.1111/btp.13062

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Nonetheless, the northern WG represents approximately 5000 Myr of evolutionary history in terms of woody plants alone (calculated as summation of branch length of lineages found in this region, in units of millions of years). While there are very few endemic woody species in the northern WG, it harbours relatively higher endemism of other plant groups, such as shrubs and herbaceous species, including endemic radiations [85,86]. As our study focuses only on the standing woody plants (generally >10 cm diameter at breast height) and their evolutionary diversity, future studies that include other groups such as pteridophytes, gymnosperms and other plant habits (herbs, lianas, climbers etc.)…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…R. Soc. B 290: 20222513 shrubs and herbaceous species, including endemic radiations [85,86]. As our study focuses only on the standing woody plants (generally >10 cm diameter at breast height) and their evolutionary diversity, future studies that include other groups such as pteridophytes, gymnosperms and other plant habits (herbs, lianas, climbers etc.)…”

Section: (E) Conservation Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Range restricted old and young lineages show the southern Western Ghats to be both a museum and a cradle of diversity for woody plants

et al. 2023

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The Western Ghats (WG) mountain chain is a global biodiversity hotspot with high diversity and endemicity of woody plants. The latitudinal breadth of the WG offers an opportunity to determine the evolutionary drivers of latitudinal diversity patterns. We examined the spatial patterns of evolutionary diversity using complementary phylogenetic diversity and endemism measures. To examine if different regions of the WG serve as a museum or cradle of evolutionary diversity, we examined the distribution of 470 species based on distribution modelling and occurrence locations across the entire region. In accordance with the expectation, we found that the southern WG is both a museum and cradle of woody plant evolutionary diversity, as a higher proportion of both old and young evolutionary lineages are restricted to the southern WG. The diversity gradient is likely driven by high geo-climatic stability in the south and phylogenetic niche conservatism for moist and aseasonal sites. This is corroborated by persistent lineage nestedness at almost all evolutionary depths (10–135 million years), and a strong correlation of evolutionary diversity with drought seasonality, precipitation and topographic heterogeneity. Our results highlight the global value of the WG, demonstrating, in particular, the importance of protecting the southern WG—an engine of plant diversification and persistence.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: (E) Conservation Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Range restricted old and young lineages show the southern Western Ghats to be both a museum and a cradle of diversity for woody plants

et al. 2023

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“…1). These landscapes are spatially distributed through the high‐altitude grasslands in the Himalayas and Western Ghats (Arasumani et al 2018), to the semiarid and arid grasslands of the Thar Desert (Kher & Dutta 2021), from the floodplain grasslands of Indian Himalaya (Lahiri et al 2021) to the grasslands in peninsular India (Nerlekar et al 2022). Recent evidence suggests that many of India's so‐called forests are in fact savannas (areas of mixed trees and C4 grasses “defined by fire tolerance and shade intolerance” with trees; Ratnam et al 2011, p. 653).…”

Section: India's Grasslandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, grassland habitats bear the brunt of neglect and ill‐informed afforestation activities in Argentina Chaco grasslands (Grau et al 2015), and Brazilian Cerrado (Overbeck et al 2015). Indian grasslands harbor globally significant endemic biodiversity (Sankaran & Ratnam 2013; Nerlekar et al 2022) and carbon storage (Dad & Ahmad 2022). In some cases, BAD promotes planting trees in grasslands and savannas causing increased incidence(s) of megafires (Buisson et al 2019) and a decrease in long‐term carbon storage (Hurteau et al 2008; Dass et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grassland conservation and restoration in India: a governance crisis

Lahiri

Roy

Fleischman

2023

Restoration Ecology

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Grasslands are contested ecosystems due to our scant understanding of their ecological and socioeconomic roles, and also due to the ambiguity in understanding what exactly constitutes them. This problem escalates in the absence of proper governance. In this paper, we explore the historical accounts of Indian grasslands to trace how they have shaped contemporary grassland conservation and restoration policies. The paper draws from the concept of Biome Awareness Disparity (BAD) and links it to grassland degradation through misleading nomenclature and flawed interventions rooted in misplaced governance. We found that Indian grasslands are negatively affected by India's commitment to global goals (with quantified targets of increasing tree cover) and the involvement of multiple government bodies in grassland management. This conundrum is fueled by the strong forest bias within government bodies and NGOs. Based on the findings, we propose that India needs a more cohesive national policy framework and a robust ecosystem classification system to successfully conserve and restore grasslands.

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“…Nonetheless, the northern WG represents ~5000 mya of evolutionary history in terms of woody plants alone. While there are very few endemic woody species in the northern WG, it harbours relatively higher endemism of other plant groups, such as shrubs and herbaceous species, including endemic radiations [84,85]. As our study focuses only on the standing woody plants (generally > 10 cm diameter at breast height) and their evolutionary diversity, future studies that include other groups such as pteridophytes, gymnosperms, and other plant habits (herbs, lianas, climbers etc.)…”

Section: Conservation Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Range restricted old and young lineages show the southern Western Ghats to be both a museum and a cradle of diversity for woody plants

Gopal

Bharti

Page

et al. 2022

Preprint

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The Western Ghats (WG) mountain chain is a global biodiversity hotspot with high diversity and endemicity of woody plants. The latitudinal breadth of the WG offers an opportunity to determine the evolutionary drivers of latitudinal diversity patterns. We examined the spatial patterns of evolutionary diversity using complementary phylogenetic diversity and endemism measures. To examine if different regions of the WG serve as a museum or cradle of evolutionary diversity, we modelled the distribution of 470 woody plant species across the entire region.In accordance with the expectation, we found that the southern WG is both a museum and cradle of woody plant evolutionary diversity, as both old and young evolutionary lineages are restricted to the southern WG. The diversity gradient is likely driven by high geo-climatic stability in the south and phylogenetic niche conservatism for moist and aseasonal sites. This is corroborated by persistent lineage nestedness at almost all evolutionary depths (10-135 million years), and a strong correlation of evolutionary diversity with drought seasonality, precipitation and elevation. Our results highlight the global value of the WG, demonstrating, in particular, the importance of protecting the southern WG - an engine of plant diversification and persistence.

show abstract

Exponential rise in the discovery of endemic plants underscores the need to conserve the Indian savannas

Abstract: Biodiversity of tropical grasslands and savannas (tropical grassy biomes, TGBs) remains poorly documented compared with tropical forests.

Cited by 12 publications

References 61 publications

Range restricted old and young lineages show the southern Western Ghats to be both a museum and a cradle of diversity for woody plants

Range restricted old and young lineages show the southern Western Ghats to be both a museum and a cradle of diversity for woody plants

Grassland conservation and restoration in India: a governance crisis

Range restricted old and young lineages show the southern Western Ghats to be both a museum and a cradle of diversity for woody plants

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