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Key Words:
dry deciduous forest; NTFP extraction; wind dispersal; animal dispersal; Soliga.
The response of the forest vegetation to anthropogenic pressures may depend upon the intrinsic features of its flora (Kruckeburg and Rabinowitz 1985). In particular, the reproductive
features and regeneration potential of the constituent species might strongly influence their response to human induced pressures such as harvesting, fire and grazing. For instance, Daniels,
Gadgil, and Joshi (1995) showed that in the
tropical humid forest of western ghats in south
India, species with good coppicing ability were
less vulnerable to anthropogenic disturbance
than those with poor potential for coppicing. In
orchids, floral features, such as large size and
bright colors, were found to predispose species
to extinction following harvesting (Lokesha and
1998]
GANESHAIAH
ET AL.: N O N - T I M B E R F O R E S T P R O D U C T S , I N D I A , 5
Y = 2 5 . 8 3 + 2.74 X, R 2 = 41
r = 0 . 6 3 8 , P < 0.05
317
60
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~20
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D
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DISTURBANCE INDEX
318
TABLE
1.
ECONOMIC BOTANY
[VOL. 52
TABLE 3.
A S S O C I A T I O N OF DISPERSAL M O D E OF
T U R B A N C E LEVEL OF T H E TRANSECTS.
POGENIC PRESSURE.
Dispersal mode
Dispersal mode
Wind
Animal
Passive
Percent
species
r = 0.456
P < 0.185
r = 0.275
P < 1.000
r = -0.173
P < 1.000
Percent
stems
r = 0.638
P < 0.047
r = -0.591
P < 0.072
r = 0.447
P < 0.195
Site
Wind
Passive
Animal
Distant
31
(49) ~
164
(157)
438
(427)
Proximal
41
(23)
68
(75)
195
(205)
proximal site, there was a greater number of understory plants and saplings/seedlings of wind
dispersed species than expected (Table 3); conversely, there was lesser number of seedlings of
animal dispersed species than expected (Chisquare = 22.43, df = 2, P < 0.001, Table 3).
The number of saplings recruited per individual
tree (->10 cm dbh) of wind dispersed species
was relatively more than that of the species in
the proximal compared to the distant site (Table
4). These differences, however, were not significant because of the high variance contributed
by the wide range of the species constituting a
given dispersal mode.
Thus, there appears to be a strong association
between anthropogenic pressure and the preponderance of species with wind dispersal in communities subjected to human pressures. Animal
dispersed species appear to be more vulnerable
to human impact than wind or passively dispersed species. Wind dispersed species, in fact
TABLE 4.
MEAN
TABLE 2.
SPECIES
PROXIMAL A N D D I S T A N T SITES.I
A S S O C I A T I O N OF DISPERSAL MODE OF
(ON
I N D I V I D U A L STEM BASIS) W I T H A N -
Site
T H R O P O G E N I C PRESSURES.
Dispersal
mode
Dispersal mode
Site
Wind
Passive
Animal
Distant
576
(705) ~
355
(374)
698
(550)
Proximal
674
(545)
308
(289)
278
(426)
Wind
Animal
Passive
Distant
n
X + SD
9 0.100 + 0.119
15 2.510 + 4.212
4 0.177 + 0.490
Proximal
n
X + SD
11 0.367 + 1.277
16 1.350 + 2.082
2 0.118 + 0.074
1998]
319
Gentry, A. H. 1982. Patterns of neotropical plant species diversity. Pages 1-84 in M. K. Hecht, B. Wallace and G. T. Prance, eds., Evolutionary Biology:
Volume 15, Plenum Press, New York.
Hedge, R., S. Suryaprakash, L. Achoth and K. S.
Bawa. 1996. Extraction of non-timber forest products in the forests of Biligiri Rangan Hills, India.
1. Contribution to rural income. Economic Botany
50:243-251.
Kruckeberg, A. R., and D. Rabinowitz. 1985. Biological aspects of endemism in higher plants. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 16:447479.
Lokesha, R., R. Vasudeva, and A. N. Yellappa Reddy. 1991. Do rare/endangered/threatened plant species of south India have specific reproductive syndromes promoting their extinction? Proceedings of
the Symposium on Rare, Endangered, and Endemic
Plants of the Western Ghats. Trivandrum, Kerala.
Lokesha, R., and R. Vasudeva. 1992. Commercial
exploitation--a threat to Indian orchids? Current
Science 63:740-744.
Murali, K. S., Urea Shankar, R. Urea Shaanker, K.
N. Ganesbaiab, and K. S. Bawa. 1996. Extraction
of non-timber forest products in the forest of Biligiri Rangan Hills, India. 2. Impact of NTFP extraction on regeneration, population structure and
species composition. Economic Botany 50:252269.
Ramesh, B. R. 1989. Vegetation map of the Biligiri
Rangan Hills French Institute, Pondicherry.
Sokal, R. R, and F, J. Rohlf. 1969. Biometry. Freeman, San Francisco.
Uma Shaanker, R., K. N. Ganeshaiah, and T. R.
Radhamani. 1990. Association among the modes
of pollination and seed dispersal----ecologicalfactors and phylogenetic constraints. Evolutionary
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Trends in Plants 4:107-111.
This paper represents contribution number 52 of a research program
Uma
Shankar, K. S. Murali, R. Urea Shaunker, K.
in Conservation of Biodiversity and the Environment jointly co-ordinated
N. Ganeshaiah, and K. S. Bawa. 1996. Extraction
by the Tata Energy Research Institute, New Delhi and the University of
Massachusetts, Boston. The program is supported in part by the Macof non-timber forest products in the forests of the
Arthur Foundation. Dr. K. N. Ganeshaiah and Dr. R. Urea Shaanker were
Biligiri Rangan Hills, India. 3. Productivity, extracalso supported by a grant from the Department of Science and Technoltion and prospects of sustainable harvest of Amla,
ogy, Government of India, New Delhi.
Phyllanthus emblica (Euphorbiaceae). Economic
Botany 50:270-279.
LITERATURE C I T E D
Uma Shankar, R. Hedge, and K.S. Bawa. 1998. ExDaniels, R. J. R., M. Gadgil, and N. V. Joshi. 1995.
traction of non- timber forest products in the forests
Impact of human extraction of tropical humid forof Biligiri Rangan Hills, India 6. Fuelwood presests in the Western Ghats in Uttara Kannada, South
sure and management options. Economic Botany
India. Journal of Applied Ecology 32:866-874.
52:320-336.
Gamble, J. S. 1915-1934. Flora of the Presidency of Urea Shankar, K. S. Murali, R. Uma Shaanker, K.
Madras, 1-3, Adlard, London.
N. Ganeshaiah, and K, S. Bawa. 1998. Extraction
Gentry, A. H. 1980. Phytogeographic patterns as evof non-timber forest products in the forests of Biidence for a Choco refuge in biological diversifiligiri Rangan Hills, India. 4. Impact on floristic dication in the tropics. Pages 112-136 in G. Prance,
versity and population structure in a thorn scrub
ed., Columbia University Press, New York.
forest. Economic Botany 52:302-315.
appear to be relatively favored by human disturbance. While our results suggest a possible
role for dispersal mode in the response of species to anthropogenic pressures, it is likely that
other plant features or processes may be similarly important. Urea Shaanker, Ganeshaiah, and
Radhamani (1990) showed that there exists a
strong association between the modes of dispersal and pollination; wind dispersed species
tend to be wind pollinated and animal dispersed
species tend to be insect or animal pollinated. It
is therefore likely that the response of species to
anthropogenic pressures is also influenced by
their pollination mode. Wind pollinated and
wind dispersed species may be more resilient to
anthropogenic disturbances in the forest compared to species that are insect pollinated and
animal dispersed.
It can also be argued that disturbance should
favor early successional species that are likely
to have wind dispersed propagules. While this
might be true, our results seem to suggest that
wind dispersed species might gradually replace
species with other modes of dispersal, if the disturbance were to continue. Thus forests under
continuous and persistent anthropogenic pressure may come to be dominated by species with
abiotic mode of dispersal. Such changes in community structure in turn may have negative effect on populations of pollinator and seed dispersers thus leading to lower levels of biodiversity.