Arborescent Angiosperms of Mundanthurai Range in the Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve ( KMTR ) of the southern Western Ghats , India

India for conserving global biological diversity and also declared as Regional Centre of Endemism in the Indian subcontinent (Davis et al. 1995). There are c. 2255 species of Angiosperms so far recorded from Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, including 448 species endemic to the Western Ghats; in addition 150 species are strict endemics of the Agasthiyamalai region. This high rate of endemism is mostly attributed to the short dry period (1–4 months). The leeward side of Agasthiyamalai and Kalakad hills appears to be the zones of active speciation (Henry et al. 1984). The region also represents a rich reservoir for a large number of wild relatives of cultivated plant species (Viswanathan 1999; Gopalan and Henry 2000; Annamalai 2004). Some of the recent studies that describe the importance of this region include Pascal et al. 1997; Gopalan and Henry 2000; Manickam et al. 2003; Ramesh et al. 2007. In recent years many new species were discovered and reported as a result of repeated field exploration: Memecylon manickamii (Murugan et al. 2000); Memecylon tirunelvelicum (Murugan et al. 2001); Memecylon mundanthuraianum, Polyalthia tirunelveliensis, (Viswanathan and Manikandan 2001a, b); Glochidion balakrishnanii (Jothi et al. 2002); Xanthophyllum manickamii (Murugan 2002); Miliusa tirunelvelica (Murugan et al. 2004); Schefflera agasthiyamalayana (Manickam et al. 2007); Syzygium agasthiyamalayanum (Viswanathan and Manikandan 2008). The present study was carried out with the objective of documenting the arborescent angiosperms of Mundanthurai Range of Agsthiyamalai Biosphere Reserve, southern Western Ghats, India in an exclusive manner.

India for conserving global biological diversity and also declared as Regional Centre of Endemism in the Indian subcontinent (Davis et al. 1995).There are c.2255 species of Angiosperms so far recorded from Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, including 448 species endemic to the Western Ghats; in addition 150 species are strict endemics of the Agasthiyamalai region.This high rate of endemism is mostly attributed to the short dry period (1-4 months).The leeward side of Agasthiyamalai and Kalakad hills appears to be the zones of active speciation (Henry et al. 1984).The region also represents a rich reservoir for a large number of wild relatives of cultivated plant species (Viswanathan 1999;Gopalan and Henry 2000;Annamalai 2004).Some of the recent studies that describe the importance of this region include Pascal et al. 1997;Gopalan and Henry 2000;Manickam et al. 2003;Ramesh et al. 2007.In recent years many new species were discovered and reported as a result of repeated field exploration: Memecylon manickamii (Murugan et al. 2000); Memecylon tirunelvelicum (Murugan et al. 2001); Memecylon mundanthuraianum, Polyalthia tirunelveliensis, (Viswanathan and Manikandan 2001a, b); Glochidion balakrishnanii (Jothi et al. 2002); Xanthophyllum manickamii (Murugan 2002); Miliusa tirunelvelica (Murugan et al. 2004); Schefflera agasthiyamalayana (Manickam et al. 2007); Syzygium agasthiyamalayanum (Viswanathan and Manikandan 2008).
The present study was carried out with the objective of documenting the arborescent angiosperms of Mundanthurai Range of Agsthiyamalai Biosphere Reserve, southern Western Ghats, India in an exclusive manner.

Introduction
The Western Ghats is one of the biodiversity hotspots of the world (Myers et al. 2000).It is a mountainous range extending from the mouth of the river Tapti in Gujarat to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.The floristic diversity of the Western Ghats is very significant as this hill range accommodates different vegetation types such as wet evergreen forests, moist and dry deciduous forests, montane forests, sholas, scrubs and savannas.Some of prominent research on the documentation of the tree species of the Western Ghats are Pascal and Pelissier's (1996)  and 77°10' E -77°21' E. It is situated on the eastern slope of Agasthiyamalai Biosphere Reserve and covers an area of about 270 km 2 (Figure 1).It is one of the important ranges in Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) of Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu, sharing the Agasthiyamalai peak (1868 m) with the neighbouring state, Kerala.This study area also covers a wide array of forest types such as southern tropical thorn forests (200 m), southern tropical dry deciduous forests (300 m), grasslands at lower altitude (500 m), southern tropical moist deciduous forests (500 m), Tirunelveli-semi evergreen forests (700 m), southern tropical wet evergreen (rain) forests (800 -1500 m), subtropical montane forests and grasslands at higher altitude (>1500 m) (Gopalan and Henry 2000).

Data collection
The study area has been explored from January 2008 to December 2010 covering various seasons.A total of 36 field trips (120 field days) were conducted to the study area.The voucher specimens were collected and identified using local floras such as Beddome 1868Beddome -1874;;Bourdillon 1908;Gamble andFischer 1915 -1936;Gopalan and Henry 2000 and the Biotik -Western Ghats v. 1.0 software application (Ramesh et al. 2007).The identity on the species was later confirmed by comparing specimens with authentic specimens at Madras Herbarium (MH), Coimbatore; French Institute of Pondicherry Herbarium (IFPH), Puducherry, St. Xavier's College Herbarium (XCH), Tirunelveli and M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Community Agrobiodiversity Centre Herbarium, Wayanad (MSSH).The families were classified according to Bentham andHooker Classification (1862 -1883), with some alterations based on split-up of various families.The families as well as the genera are arranged in alphabetical order.All the processed voucher specimens were deposited at the Herbarium of French Institute (IFPH), Pondicherry.
This list provides comprehensive information on the recent floristic diversity of the Mundanthurai Range in the Kalakad-Mudanthurai Tiger Reserve, updating the species diversity including new species, endemic and threatened and resulting in a good database that will be useful to implement better conservation strategies and management of tropical forests and ecosystems.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Map indicating the location of Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu state, where the study area, Mundanthurai Range, is located.

Table 1 .
List of Trees and Shrubs from Mundanthurai Range, KMTR, southern Western Ghats, Tamil Nadu, India with their family, binomial, habit, endemism and voucher number.S: Shrub; LS: Large shrub; ST: Small tree; T: Tree; WC: Woody climber; LE: Local endemic; SWG: southern Western Ghats; WG: Western Ghats: EPI: Endemic to Peninsular India; SWG & SL: commonly endemic to southern Western Ghats of India and Sri Lanka.