Floristic Biodiversity of Barda Hills and its Surroundings

The Title "Floristic Biodiversity of Barda Hills and its Surroundings " is written by S.M. Pandya. This book was published in the year 2005. The ISBN number 8172333994|9788172333997 is assigned to the Hardback version of this title. This book has total of pp. xxiii + 325 (Pages). The publisher of this title is Scientific Publishers. Floristic Biodiversity of Barda Hills and its Surroundings is currently Available with us.

The Book "Floristic diversity of Barda Hills and its surroundings" is first of its kind emphasizing the contribution of J.I. Thaker (1910) to the field of plant taxonomy and ethnobotany of Gujarat. His major contribution was on "Vanaspati Sastra - Barda dungar ni-Jadibuti taeni Pariksha anae Upayog" in Gujarati (1910). After his premiere work, no comprehensive study were undertaken to identify the multifarious changes that have come about in the area. In view of this, an attempt was made to understand the floristic diversity with different facets of taxonomic and ecological understanding in the Barda Hills and its surroundings. The basis of the whole study was based on the hypothesis that - the "habitat destruction, over-exploitation of biotic resources, pollution and introduc-tion of exotic species as a result of human activities in the area over a period of ten decades, might have caused decline or shift in the species composition in the Barda Hills and its surroundings.

Justification to the hypothesis includes various descriptive findings on biodiversity, historical understanding, floristic diversity, biogeography, species diversity (ecological prospective), genetic diversity and bioresources.

Dr. P.S. Nagar was born in Imphal city, Manipur on 2nd March, 1972. He pursued his higher education B.Sc. (Hon.) and M.Sc. Biosciences at Sri Sahya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (SSSIHL), Prasanthinilyam, Andhra Pradesh. He completed his Ph.D. on "Biodiversity of Barda Hills and its surroundings - a floristic view" from Saurashtra University, Rajkot in 2000. His teaching career started as an Adhoc Lecturer in the Department of Biosciences, Saurashtra University, Rajkot during 1998-2000. Later, he worked as a Principal Investigator (2000-2001) on the project of "Floristic diversity of Barda Sanctuary, Gujarat" under the forest scheme of GEER Foundation, Gandhinagar. The project was followed by the position of Research Associate (2001-2004) in the Department of Biosciences, Saurashtra University, on the topic of "Coastal plant biodiversity of Saurashtra, Gujarat" and "Floristic diversity of Girnar, Gujarat'1. During the same period he also worked as a Principal Investigator on the project "Medicinal plants of Saurashtra" GEER Foundation, Gandhinagar. He has also played a key role (Coordinator) in proposing and establishing "Inter-university Medicinal Plant Laboratory for Analysis, Nurture and Therapeutics" (IMPLANT) at Saurashtra University, Rajkot in the year 2001, presently, he is working as a Scientific Advisor with the centre. The division has a well-established demonstration medicinal and aromatic farm with extraction unit and database on traditional medicinal plants of Saurashtra region. Presently the team of IMPLANT is engaged in developing finger prints and quality standards of various medicinal and aromatic plant species.

Dr. Nagar is basically a plant taxonomist and is actively engaged in the study of Plant biodiversity in Saurashtra and other parts of Gujarat region. He has studied the flora, phytogeography, ethnobotany, ecology, threatened plant species and issues pertaining to biodiversity conservation for nearly 9 years now. The study includes more than 64 sites in Saurashtra region covering : forest areas, grasslands, coastal regions and fallow lands. The result of his investigations has appeared in prestigious Indian and international journals. He is associated with Forest division, Agriculture Universities, National Institutes etc. and is playing an important role in formulation, planning and finalization of floristic and medicinal plant studies on Kathiyawad peninsula and other forest regions of Gujarat. He is Life member of Indian Association of Angiosperm Taxonomy (IAAT).

Foreword
Preface

I. INTRODUCTION : BIODIVERSITY :
1. Basic understanding
2. Origin and definitions of biodiversity
3. Types of Biodiversity :
i. Genetic diversity
ii. Species diversity
iii. Habitat diversity
iv. Ecosystem diversity

4. Diversity at different scales
5. Present status of Global Floristic Diversity :
i. Threatened Taxa and Families
ii. Extinct species

6. India's Floral Biodiversity in a Global Context :
i. Centre of origin and diversity

7. Present status of Floristic diversity :
i. Gujarat

8. Study undertaken :
i. Hypothesis

II. BACKGROUND AND RESEARCH SITE :
1. History and People :
i. History of Bileshwar
ii. History of Khambhala Lake
iii. Maldharis
iv. Social tradition and norms

2. Location :
i. Legal status
ii. Physiography
iii. Geology
iv. Drainage System

3. General Climate :
i. Climatic Variables :
a. Rainfall
b. Temperature
c. Relative humidity
d. Wind speed

ii. Edaphic Variables :
a. Soil Physical characters
b. Soil Chemical characters

4. Vegetation :
i. Forest Area
a. Dense forest
b. Open forest
c. Degraded forest area
d. Highly degraded forest area
e. Other classes

ii. Faunal Diversity
iii. Human Activities and Livestock
iv. Economic Development

III. FLORISTIC DIVERSITY :
1. Floristic Biodiversity of Gujarat
2. Floristic Diversity of the Barda Hills and its surroundings
3. Methodology
4. Observations
i. The Floristic Catalogue - A Comparative Analysis

5. Physiognomic Classification :
i. Life form
ii. Habit

6. Missing Plants from the Original List of Thaker
7. Differences in observed facts with regard to Plant species Previously mentioned - A Critical Perception
8. Plants Unaccounted Previously in the Flora of Saurashtra and Recorded from The Barda Hills and its Surroundings
9. Endangered and Threatened Plant Species of The Barda Sanctuary
i. Endangered and threatened plant species
ii. Threatened plant species in the Barda Sanctuary

10. Mangroves
11. Recognition of Ecozones
(Jam Barda, Ran Barda and Districtis)

IV. BIOGEOGRAPHY :
1. Biogeography of the World
2. Floristic Regions
3. Megadiversity Countries
4. Biogeographical Provinces
5. Realms
6. Hotspots of India

7. Biogeography of Gujarat :
i. The Barda forest

8. Endemism
9. Biogeograhical Distribution :
i. Resident Species
ii. Alien Diversity
iii. Cultivated and Escaped Plant Species
iv. Weeds of Agroecosystems

V. SPECIES DIVERSITY :
1. Methodology :
i. Density and Frequency
ii. Analysis of Biodiversity
iii. Species Status

2. Results and Discussion :
i. Floristic Composition and Associations
ii. Density and Frequency
iii. Girth and Height (Growing Stock)
iv. Regeneration Status

3. Species Diversity, Species Richness and Evenness
4. Habitat Diversity
(Dominating Species in Descending Order)

VI. GENETIC DIVERSITY :
1. Biological Variations (Gene Pool) in The Flora

VII. BIORESOURCES :
1. Methodology
2. Observations and Discussions
i. Medicinal Plants
ii. Timber Forest Products (TFP) and fuel wood species

3. Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) :
i. Fodder plants
ii. Fiber plants
iii. Fruit plants
iv. Beverages
v. Narcotics
vi. Cereals/Millets
vii. Condiment/species
viii. Pulses
ix. Dyes
x. Gums
xi. Tanin
xii. Resin
xiii. Oils

4. Plant species used for Agricultural Purposes
5. The Horticultural and Floricultural Species
6. Plant Species used as Hedges

VIII. THREAT TO BIODIVERSITY
IX. CONCLUSION