The Western Ghats is a mountain range that runs parallel to
India's western coast, covering 160,000 square kilometers in 1,600 kilometers.
Older than the Himalayan mountains, the mountain chain of the Western Ghats
represents geomorphic features of immense importance with unique biophysical
and ecological processes. Pteridophytes are vascular cryptogams that dominated
the earth 250 million years ago. Currently, there are 13,600 species of
pteridophytes around the world, and is the second most dominant plant group. In
India, there are 1200 pteridophyte species with 70 families and 192 genera. The
pteridophyte hotspots in India are the Himalayas, Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats,
Central India, and Andaman and the Nicobar Islands. The Western Ghats occupies
only 6% of the Indian landmass and still holds a pteridophyte diversity of 384
species. Fern and fern allies are highly sensitive to changes in their natural
habitat, thus habitat destruction, anthropogenic influences, climate change,
etc., are causing a fast decline in their population. Epiphytic species are
easily destroyed due to the felling of trees and because of this at present 41-
43% of epiphytic pteridophytes in India are reported to be threatened. Frequent
analysis of the pteridophyte flora of a region is necessary to ensure the
existence of its species diversity. Understanding the flora of a region always
helps in understanding the change in the ecosystem. The current study presents
a review of the pteridophyte flora of the Western Ghats with the intention of
assessing the extent of changes in the diversity of fern flora in this mountain
range.
Author(s) Details:
Athira Krishnan,
Department of Botany, Sree Narayana College, Nattika, Thrissur,
Kerala, 680566, India.
Dr. Rekha K
(Associate Professor),
Department
of Botany, Vimala College (Autonomous), Thrissur, Kerala, 680009, India.
Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/IBS-V6/article/view/14923
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