_____________________________________________ *Correspondence: pandianmaha11@gmail.com ISSN 2235-9370 Print/ISSN 2235-9362 Online © University of Sri Jayewardenepura 12 Diversity and Threatened Climber Plants in Tropical Forests of Courtallam Hills, Southern Western Ghats, India E. Pandian* and P. Ravichandran Department of Plant Science, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India Date Received: 26-11-2019 Date Accepted: 14-12-2019 Abstract Investigated the distribution of climber and its conservation status in tropical forests of Courtallam hills in southern Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India during 2017-2018. A total of five 1 ha plots were established, and all climber species ≥1 cm diameter at breast height (dbh) were counted, which resulted in a total of 81 climbing plant species that representing to 62 genera under 30 families. Study plots revealed the most abundant climber species are Jasminum flexile (Oleaceae), Salacia oblonga (Celastraceae) and Ziziphus oenopolia (Rhamnaceae). The dominant climber species families in the study plots include Apocynaceae (11 species), Leguminosae (10 species), Menispermaceae and Vitaceae (6 species each), Capparaceae and Oleaceae (5 species each) and Convolvulaceae (4 species). Among 81 climber species, about 12 species are documented as threatened species of Courtallam hills. The results of this investigation suggest that forest management and forest protection is important for in-situ conservation of liana diversity with the involvement of local community. Keywords: Climbing modes, conservation, threatened species, Western Ghats, Courtallam hills 1. Introduction Lianas are woody climbers that are an abundant and diverse group of plants in tropical forests (Schnitzer and Bongers, 2002; Yang et al., 2018), where they comprise up to 32% of woody stems and 35% of woody species richness (Schnitzer et al., 2011; De Walt et al., 2015). The liana begins their life as self-supporting plants (Putz, 1984; Caballe, 1998) and providing a valuable food source for the associated fauna, physically linking trees together, furnishing canopy to canopy access for arboreal animals, tree regeneration and increasing tree mortality (Putz and Mooney, 1991; Schnitzer and Bongers, 2002). The lianas are largely used by local communities especially those surviving in nearby areas (Phillips, 1991; Bongers et al., 2002 Liu et al., 2004; 2005; Ewango, 2010; Muthumperumal and Parthasarathy, 2013). The climbing plants are found in all types of forests and all over the world, a few of climber studies have been carried out in the Western Ghats (Sarvalingam et al., 2011; Sarvalingam and Rajendran, 2012; 2016) and Eastern Ghats (Reddy and Parthasarathy, 2003; Parthasarathy et al., 2004; Muthumperumal and Parthasarathy, 2009; Seger and Hartz, 2014) of forests, India. Over the time period liana abundance has increased in various tropical forests in old-growth forests of western Amazonia (Phillips et al., 2002; Foster et al., 2008), the Guianas (Chave et al., 2008) and Central America (Wright et al., 2004; Ingwell et al., 2010; Schnitzer et al., 2012; Yorke et al., 2013). Moreover, evidences of climber species dominance in certain forest ecosystems i.e. temperate (Allen et al., 2007) and tropical (Phillips et al., 2002; Muthumperumal and Parthasarathy, 2009; Swaine and Grace, 2007) are also attributed to climate change (Malhi and Wright, 2005). DOI: https://doi.org/10.31357/jtfe.v9i2.4464 mailto:pandianmaha11@gmail.com Pandian and Ravichandran /Journal of Tropical Forestry and Environment Vol. 9, No. 02 (2019) 12-20 13 The abundance, species diversity and distribution of lianas are explained by several abiotic and biotic factors, including total rainfall, seasonality of rainfall, soil fertility, forest canopy structure and disturbance regimes (Addo-Fordjour et al., 2009a; 2009b; 2012; DeWalt et al., 2010; Ibarra-Manriquez and Martinez-Ramos, 2002; Poulsen et al., 2005; Schnitzer and Bongers, 2002; Schnitzer et al., 2005; Toledo, 2010; Vivek and Parthasarathy, 2016). Density of lianas (≥1.6 cm diameter) decreased with increasing altitude, whereas species richness was highest at intermediate elevations (Parthasarathy et al., 2004). Plant species richness and community composition may differ according to elevational gradient (Trigas et al., 2013), disturbance (Mohandass et al., 2015), and other environmental factors like climatic conditions (Tielborger et al., 2014). Lianas play a major role in many aspects of forest functioning such as different patterns of pollination, dispersal and phenological systems, provide several resources and important role in the protection of biological diversity (Reddy and Parthasarathy, 2006) and they are well documented, since its fundamentally importance in the functioning of ecosystems as competing with trees either directly or indirectly, and they act as key ecological components of whole forest in transpiration, forest regeneration and carbon sequestration (Schnitzer and Bongers, 2002). The climbing species reveal a diversity of climbing mechanisms (Hegarty and Caballe, 1991) which is the best productive system of climbers and its overcome the trees for sunlight where they spread out the branches over the trees canopies (Campbell and Newbery, 1993). The small-scale of floristic surveys provide an effective method to explore forest structure and plant species composition within tropical forest communities (Castillo-Campos et al., 2008; Mohandass and Davidar, 2010; Refuge et al., 2016). However, climber communities have been neglected by most of studies, hence many of them emphasise greater attention on climber diversity only in recent years, particularly in India, because their conservation is threatened by anthropogenic disturbance from local communities residing beside the forest area and on the fringes of these reserves continue to be enormous (Mehta et al. 2008). Our study aim is to investigate the climber species diversity and their threatened status in tropical forests of Courtallam hills, southern Wastern Ghats, India. 2. Methodology 2.1 The study area The present research work was conducted in Courtallam hills of southern Western Ghats (SWG) in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, India lies between 08.90211N" and 77.29772E" and 08.91093N" and 77.25842E" (Figure 1). Elevation range is around 500 m to 1,500 m and it has a diverse geographical and physical features such as hills and low plains, thorn-scrub jungles, rivers and cascades and thick inland forest. The mean daily maximum temperature is 30° C. The weather is quite hot in May and June and the maximum temperature sometime reaches 39° C. This region enjoys winter (December to March), summer (April to June), Southwest monsoon (June to September) and Northeast monsoon (October to November). The month of November generally receives maximum rainfall. Species were identified using various regional floras (Gamble and Fischer, 1915; 1935; Nair and Nayar, 1986; Hooker, 1872 to 1897). The composition of the soil in the Courtallam area as recorded by Nair and Nayar, (1986) is as follows: 18.1% gravel; dark brown sandy loam; 19.5% silt; 5.5% clay; 75% sand; water holding capacity 58.8%; pH 6.1; total soluble salt content 0.003% and organic carbon 2.2%. 14 Figure 1. Map showing the location of Courtallam hills of southern western Ghats of India. Enumeration of angiosperm climbing plants was carried in a total of 5 different forest plots to investigate the diversity and threatened climber plants species in tropical forests of Courtallam hills during 2017-2018. Five 1-ha plots (100x100 m) were inventoried in different tropical forest plots, these plots were subdivided into two contiguous plots (50x100 m). These sub-plots were again subdivided into fifty 10x10 m quadrats for the quantitative assessment of climber species. All climber species with ≥1cm diameter at breast height (dbh) were measured at 1.3 m above ground level and their climbing mode (Putz, 1984) was recorded in the field itself and were classified into six categories viz. ST: Stem twiners; Str-A: Stragglers-armed; Str-UA: Stragglers-unarmed; TC: Tendril climbers; RC: Root climbers; and HC: Hook climber. The threatened status of the climber species was confirmed with IUCN Red list and also the help of using available RET (Rare, endangered and threatened species) data books and standard publications such as (Nair and Daniel, 1986; Nayar and Sastry, 1987; Nayar and Sastry, 1988; Nayar and Sastry, 1990; Walter and Gillet .1998; Sarvalingam and Rajendran, 2016). Voucher specimens were collected for each species and identified with local floras (Nair and Nayar, 1986; Hooker, 1872; 1897; Parkinson, 1923). 3. Results and Discussion A total of 81 angiosperm climbing plants from 62 genera and 30 families were recorded in five 1 ha plots of Courtallam hills southern Western Ghats of India (Table 1). Sarvalingam and Rajendran (2016) reported a total of 285 climbing plant species belonging to 125 genera and 41 families from Pandian and Ravichandran /Journal of Tropical Forestry and Environment Vol. 9, No. 02 (2019) 12-20 15 different forest types in the southern Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India and 60 liana species were recorded in Maruthamalai hills of southern Western Ghats (Sarvalingam and Rajendran, 2012) of Tamil Nadu. However, Muthumperumal and Parthasarathy (2009) recorded a total of 175 climbing plant species that belong to 100 genera and 40 families in tropical forests of southern Eastern Ghats, India. Seger and Hartz (2014) also conducted in northern Eastern Ghats of forests where 170 liana species were recorded, representing 109 genera and 43 families from 210 grids. A total of 169 species belonging to 60 families were encountered in the Cagarras Islands Natural Monument (CINM) located offshore of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Bovini et al., 2014), while Araujo and Alves (2010) also reported 93 climbing plant species were recorded in land Atlantic forest, northern Brazil, moreover in Upper Guinean forests documented 746 species of climbers (Jongkind and Hawthorne, 2005). Abundance and distribution pattern of lianas generally depends on abiotic factors such as elevation, rainfall and seasonality, soil fertility, and disturbance (Gentry, 1991; Balfour and Bond, 1993; Schnitzer and Bongers, 2002; Lu et al., 2009; Pandian and Parthasarathy, 2016). Our study plots revealed that the most abundant species are Jasminum flexile (Oleaceae), Salacia oblonga (Celastraceae) and Ziziphus oenopolia (Rhamnaceae) which data was pooled for the all the plots (Table 1). In other hand, Pterolobium hexapetalum (Caesalpiniaceae), Secamone emetica (Asclepiadaceae) and Premna villosa (Verbenaceae) were reported by Muthumperumal and Parthasarathy (2013) as most abundant species in the Western Ghats, while northern Eastern Ghats (Seger and Hartz, 2014) showed most dominant liana species such as Acacia sinuata (Mimosaceae), Bauhinia vahlii (Caesalpiniaceae), Calycapteris floribunda (Combretaceae) and Combretum albidum (Combretaceae). Strychnos minor (Loganiaceae) was dominant in the tropical dry evergreen forests (Parthasarathy et al., 2004) on the Coromandel Coast of India, interestingly those species did not occur in our sites. The dominant climber speciose families in our sites include Apocynaceae (11 species), Leguminosae (10 species), Menispermaceae and Vitaceae (6 species each), Capparaceae and Oleaceae (5 species each) and Convolvulaceae (4 species) etc (Figure 2). This result accordance with Seger and Hartz (2014) who reported the most specious families, Convolvulaceae (23 species), Papilionaceae (22 species), Asclepiadaceae (19 species) and Cucurbitaceae (9 species) in northern Eastern Ghats of India. The common liana families are Cucurbitaceae, Papilionaceae, Asclepiadaceae and Convolvulaceae in Maruthamalia hills of Western Ghats (Sarvalingam and Rajendran, 2012). The families such as Smilacaceae, Passifloraceae, Menispermaceae, Cucurbitaceae and Convolvulaceae are totally dominated by plant species with a climbing habit (Araujo and Alves, 2010). In general, Apocynaceae, Anonaceae, Combrataceae, Fabaceae, Loganiaceae and Rutaceae lianas families were dominated in Asian forest (Cai et al., 2009; Dewalt et al., 2006; Mittermeier et al., 2004; Muthukumar et al., 2006; Muthuperumal and Parthasarathy, 2010; Sukumaran and Raj, 2007; Sarvalingam and Rajendran, 2016). Bovini et al., (2014) also reported, most dominated families are Asteraceae (12), Myrtaceae (12), Fabaceae (11), Euphorbiaceae (6), Cactaceae (6), Bromeliaceae (6), and Poaceae (6 species each) at Cagarras Islands Natural Monument (CINM) located offshore of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The most abundant liana species include the thorny stragglers, Ziziphus oenoplia (Rhamnaceae), Acacia caesia (Leguminosae), Capparis brevispina (Capparaceae), Carissa spinarum (Apocynaceae), Toddalia asiatica (Rutaceae), and the twiners Jasminum flexile (Oleaceae), Pyrenacantha volubilis (Icacinaceae), Ventilago maderaspatana (Rhamnaceae), Morinda umbellate (Rubiaceae) and Jasminum angustifolium (Oleaceae) (Table 1). This result coincides with Muthumperumal and Parthasarathy (2009) who also reported, thorny stragglers Pterolobium hexapetalum (Caesalpiniaceae), Lantana camara (Verbenaceae), Ziziphus oenoplia (Rhamnaceae), and the twiners Jasminum angustifolium (Oleaceae), Gymnema sylvestre, Secamone emetica (Asclepiadaceae) and Aganosma cymosa var. cymosa (Apocynaceae) in tropical forests of southern Eastern Ghats, India. 16 Among 81 climber species, about 12 species are documented as threatened species which are Acacia caesia (Leguminosae), Aganosma cymosa (Apocynaceae), Ampelocissus latifolia (Vitaceae), Aristolochia tagala (Aristolochiaceae), Asparagus racemosus (Asparagaceae), Capparis diversifolia (Capparaceae), Cayratia pedata (Vitaceae), Coscinium fenestratum (Menispermaceae), Derris scandens (Leguminosae), Hemidesmus indicus (Apocynaceae), Salacia oblonga (Celastraceae) Smilax zeylanica (Smilacaceae) in Courtallam hills (Table.2). Karuppusamy and Ravichandran (2016) reported, a total of 486 woody plant species, of which 41 species are recorded as threatened species (IUCN) in Megamalai Wildlife Sanctuary in the southern Western Ghats of Theni district, Tamil Nadu and Sarvalingam and Rajendran (2016) also reported list of the rare, endangered and threatened (RET) of climbers in the southern Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India. Among the 81 species, few of the climber species (Abrus precatorius, Asparagus racemosus, Cissampelos pariera, Coccinea grandis, Hemidesmus indicus, Ichnocarpus frutescens and Tylophora indica) which are using as a medicinal plant by local people, this result coincides with Uma and Parthipan (2015) in Pazhayaru river bank of Kanyakumari District, Tamilnadu. Sarvalingam and Rajendran (2016) also reported in southern Western Ghats where few medicinal climbers are (Aganosoma cymosa, Aristolochia tagala and Coscinium fenestratum) using for curing skin diseases, cough, fever, headache, diabetes, asthma, dysentery and poison bites. Pictures of selected liana species are given in Figures (3-7). Plant binomial, family and voucher number of the 81liana species are listed in Table 1. The enumerated climbing plants were classified into two category woody vines, the lianas (69 species) and herbaceous vines (12 species). Seger and Hartz (2014) who also classified into two catenaries of lianas, woody vines (128 species) and herbaceous vines (42) in Eastern Ghats of India. The present study recorded six climbing mode of lianas were recognized: stem twiners (47%) followed by stragglers- armed (24%), stragglers unarmed (9%), tendril climbers (14%), root climbers (2%) and hook climber (2.5%). This climbing mode of lianas were similar with Muthumperumal and Parthasarathy (2009) and Seger and Hartz (2014) in tropical forests of Eastern Ghats, India. Several researchers have been reported that stem twiners were most common climbing plants in the different tropical forests (Parthasarathy et al., 2004; Kuzee and Bongers, 2005; Ghollasimood et al., 2012). Only one climbing mode, the grapnel-like climber (rattans) which was reported from Indian Western Ghats sites by Muthuramkumar and Parthasarathy (2000), did not occur in our study plots. 4. Conclusion The climbers play an important role in the forest ecology and dynamics. A total of 81 climber species, 12 species were reported as threatened species in Courtallam hills. Many of climber species need effective care and proper conservation measures for their survival and long-term protection, because of forests are deteriorating under constant human activities. 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