Assigning conservation value and identifying hotspots of endemic rattan diversity in the Western Ghats, India

Rattans, or canes, are one of the most important non-timber forest products supporting the livelihood of many forest-dwelling communities in South and North-eastern India. Due to increased demand for rattan products, rattans have been extracted indiscriminately from the Western Ghats, a 1600-km moun...

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Main Authors: Mukta Joshi, Bipin Charles, G. Ravikanth, N.A. Aravind
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2017-10-01
Series:Plant Diversity
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468265916301688
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spelling doaj-ae7be7d8a42742cdbb6fd12a4707e8502021-02-02T08:49:28ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.Plant Diversity2468-26592017-10-0139526327210.1016/j.pld.2017.08.002Assigning conservation value and identifying hotspots of endemic rattan diversity in the Western Ghats, IndiaMukta Joshi0Bipin Charles1G. Ravikanth2N.A. Aravind3Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Royal Enclave, Srirampura, Jakkur PO, Bangalore 560064, IndiaAshoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Royal Enclave, Srirampura, Jakkur PO, Bangalore 560064, IndiaAshoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Royal Enclave, Srirampura, Jakkur PO, Bangalore 560064, IndiaAshoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Royal Enclave, Srirampura, Jakkur PO, Bangalore 560064, IndiaRattans, or canes, are one of the most important non-timber forest products supporting the livelihood of many forest-dwelling communities in South and North-eastern India. Due to increased demand for rattan products, rattans have been extracted indiscriminately from the Western Ghats, a 1600-km mountain chain running parallel to the west coast of India. Extensive harvesting, loss of habitat and poor regeneration has resulted in dwindling rattan populations, necessitating an urgent attempt to conserve existing rattan resources. In this study, using niche-modelling tools, an attempt has been made to identify areas of high species richness of rattans in the Western Ghats, one of the mega-diversity regions of the world. We have also developed conservation values for 21 economically important and endemic rattans of the Western Ghats. We identified at least two to three sites of extremely high species richness outside the existing protected area network that should be prioritized for in situ conservation. This study emphasizes the need to develop strategies for the long-term conservation of rattans in the Western Ghats, India.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468265916301688CalamusNTFPDistributionProtected areasGap analysisSpecies distribution models
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Mukta Joshi
Bipin Charles
G. Ravikanth
N.A. Aravind
spellingShingle Mukta Joshi
Bipin Charles
G. Ravikanth
N.A. Aravind
Assigning conservation value and identifying hotspots of endemic rattan diversity in the Western Ghats, India
Plant Diversity
Calamus
NTFP
Distribution
Protected areas
Gap analysis
Species distribution models
author_facet Mukta Joshi
Bipin Charles
G. Ravikanth
N.A. Aravind
author_sort Mukta Joshi
title Assigning conservation value and identifying hotspots of endemic rattan diversity in the Western Ghats, India
title_short Assigning conservation value and identifying hotspots of endemic rattan diversity in the Western Ghats, India
title_full Assigning conservation value and identifying hotspots of endemic rattan diversity in the Western Ghats, India
title_fullStr Assigning conservation value and identifying hotspots of endemic rattan diversity in the Western Ghats, India
title_full_unstemmed Assigning conservation value and identifying hotspots of endemic rattan diversity in the Western Ghats, India
title_sort assigning conservation value and identifying hotspots of endemic rattan diversity in the western ghats, india
publisher KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
series Plant Diversity
issn 2468-2659
publishDate 2017-10-01
description Rattans, or canes, are one of the most important non-timber forest products supporting the livelihood of many forest-dwelling communities in South and North-eastern India. Due to increased demand for rattan products, rattans have been extracted indiscriminately from the Western Ghats, a 1600-km mountain chain running parallel to the west coast of India. Extensive harvesting, loss of habitat and poor regeneration has resulted in dwindling rattan populations, necessitating an urgent attempt to conserve existing rattan resources. In this study, using niche-modelling tools, an attempt has been made to identify areas of high species richness of rattans in the Western Ghats, one of the mega-diversity regions of the world. We have also developed conservation values for 21 economically important and endemic rattans of the Western Ghats. We identified at least two to three sites of extremely high species richness outside the existing protected area network that should be prioritized for in situ conservation. This study emphasizes the need to develop strategies for the long-term conservation of rattans in the Western Ghats, India.
topic Calamus
NTFP
Distribution
Protected areas
Gap analysis
Species distribution models
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468265916301688
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