HYDERABAD: The Western Ghats of India serve as a “museum” and “cradle” of evolutionary diversity, according to a new study published in the Royal Society’s flagship biological research journal ‘Proceedings B’. The study conducted by CSIR – Centre For Cellular And Molecular Biology (CCMB), sheds light on the evolution of plants in the Western Ghats.
The research, headed by Dr Jahnavi Joshi and conducted in collaboration with a group of international and national institutions, indicated that the South Western Ghats have a higher number of species, almost by a factor of six times, when compared to the North Western Ghats.
Terming these ghats a ‘museum’ and ‘cradle’ of evolutionary diversity, the study found that Western Ghats have a higher diversity of woody plants with over 60 per cent of them being endemic to the region.
The Western Ghats of India are known as the global biodiversity hotspot with many woody plants, birds, mammals, reptiles, fishes and insects, among other life forms. Many of which are endemic, meaning they occur only in this area and nowhere else.
Dr Jahnavi Joshi, senior author of the paper, said that the Western Ghats hold tremendous evolutionary diversity.
“The study highlights the global value of the Western Ghats, demonstrating, in particular, the importance of protecting the South Western Ghats. The results of this study can also be used to increase the existing protected areas in the landscape, which are facing severe anthropogenic stress,” she added.
The South Western Ghats cover vast regions of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu with elevations ranging from 1,000 to 2,695m. While the North Western Ghats spread from the southernmost part of Gujarat through Daman, Maharashtra and Goa.
“These species also have restricted distribution in the Southern Western Ghats, and interestingly this region has six times higher number of species than the northern Western Ghats,” said Abhishek Gopal, the first author of the study.
“This study complements several taxonomic studies in the region, which show the Western Ghats have a high diversity of woody plants, with over 60 per cent being endemic,” he added.