Check List of Wild Angiosperms of Bhagwan Mahavir ( Molem ) National Park , Goa , India

in the National Park are Laterite and Deccan trap Basalt (Naik, 1995). Soil in most places of the National Park area is laterite of high and low level type formed by natural metamorphosis and degradation of undulation rocks. Minerals like bauxite, iron and manganese are obtained from these soils. The general climate of the area is tropical with high percentage of humidity throughout the year. The variation in temperature does not exceed 20°C. The minimum temperature during the coldest month is about 15 °C while maximum in summer is about 37°C (Naik, 1995). Monsoon starts during the first week of June. It extends up to the middle of October. According to Champion and Seth (1968), the forest types in the National Park falls within the biogeographical province 5A/5B and contains pristine vegetation which Introduction Protected areas are most important in many ways for conservation of biodiversity. Worldwide there are 102,102 Protected Areas covering 18.8 million km2. India has a network of 660 Protected Areas including 99 National Parks, 514 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 43 Conservation Reserves and 4 Community Reserves covering a total of 158,373 km2 of geographical area of the country which is approximately 4.82% (National Wildlife Database 2011). There are also 15 Biosphere Reserves and 30 Tiger Reserves as well. The Government of India has declared 2 biosphere reserves and 13 National Parks in the Western Ghats. (National Wildlife Database 2011). Though fragmented, protected areas in Western Ghats of India are important from conservation point of view, because most of these areas are under threat of rapid destruction. Goa is an important state located along Western Ghats occupying an area of c. 600 km2 out of the total 3702 km2 geographical area of the state. Western Ghats range extends over the length of c. 125 km in Goa. Due to existence of two and recent declaration of two new protected areas, the prospects of conserving the rich biodiversity have increased. Bhagwan Mahavir National Park is one such habitat with tremendous diversity and forms an important constituent in the green jewel of Western ghats ranges in Goa. Bhagwan Mahavir National Park also known as Molem National Park is the only National Park in Goa, spreading over a total area of 107 km2 on the western escarpment of Western Ghats in the Sanguem Taluka of Goa between 15°14’09.82”-15°24’34.3” N latitude, 74°13’20.6”74°20’02.92” E longitude (Figure 1). Dudhsagar waterfall, second largest waterfall in India, lies in Bhagwan Mahavir National Park. The National Park forms the core area of Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and is located on National Highway 4A (PanajiBelgaum) c. 60 km from Panaji and c. 85 km from Belgaum. The National Park area is mountainous in terrain with succession of hills and valleys. The altitude ranges from 80 m to about 750 m above m. s. l. in the National Park. Tallest peak in the National Park is a hill near Karanzol railway station, which is about 753 m above m. s. l. The major types of rocks seen Abstract: Bhagwan Mahavir (Molem) National Park, the only National park in Goa, was evaluated for it’s diversity of Angiosperms. A total number of 721 wild species belonging to 119 families were documented from this protected area of which 126 are endemics. A checklist of these species is provided here. 1 Agharkar Research Institute, G. G. Agarkar Road, Pune 411 004. Maharashtra, India. 2 Central National Herbarium, Botanical Survey of India, P. O. Botanic Garden, Howrah 711 103. West Bengal, India. * Corresponding author E-mail: datarmandar@gmail.com Mandar Nilkanth Datar 1* and P. Lakshminarasimhan 2 Check List of Wild Angiosperms of Bhagwan Mahavir (Molem) National Park, Goa, India


Introduction
Protected areas are most important in many ways for conservation of biodiversity.Worldwide there are 102,102 Protected Areas covering 18.8 million km2 .India has a network of 660 Protected Areas including 99 National Parks, 514 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 43 Conservation Reserves and 4 Community Reserves covering a total of 158,373 km 2 of geographical area of the country which is approximately 4.82% (National Wildlife Database 2011).There are also 15 Biosphere Reserves and 30 Tiger Reserves as well.The Government of India has declared 2 biosphere reserves and 13 National Parks in the Western Ghats.(National Wildlife Database 2011).
Though fragmented, protected areas in Western Ghats of India are important from conservation point of view, because most of these areas are under threat of rapid destruction.Goa is an important state located along Western Ghats occupying an area of c. 600 km 2 out of the total 3702 km 2 geographical area of the state.Western Ghats range extends over the length of c. 125 km in Goa.Due to existence of two and recent declaration of two new protected areas, the prospects of conserving the rich biodiversity have increased.Bhagwan Mahavir National Park is one such habitat with tremendous diversity and forms an important constituent in the green jewel of Western ghats ranges in Goa.
Bhagwan Mahavir National Park also known as Molem National Park is the only National Park in Goa, spreading over a total area of 107 km 2 on the western escarpment of Western Ghats in the Sanguem Taluka of Goa between 15°14'09.82"-15°24'34.3"N latitude, 74°13'20.6"-74°20'02.92"E longitude (Figure 1).Dudhsagar waterfall, second largest waterfall in India, lies in Bhagwan Mahavir National Park.The National Park forms the core area of Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and is located on National Highway 4A (Panaji-Belgaum) c. 60 km from Panaji and c. 85 km from Belgaum.The National Park area is mountainous in terrain with succession of hills and valleys.The altitude ranges from 80 m to about 750 m above m.s. l. in the National Park.Tallest peak in the National Park is a hill near Karanzol railway station, which is about 753 m above m.s. l.The major types of rocks seen Abstract: Bhagwan Mahavir (Molem) National Park, the only National park in Goa, was evaluated for it's diversity of Angiosperms.A total number of 721 wild species belonging to 119 families were documented from this protected area of which 126 are endemics.A checklist of these species is provided here.
Mandar Nilkanth Datar1* and P. Lakshminarasimhan 2 Check List of Wild Angiosperms of Bhagwan Mahavir (Molem) National Park, Goa, India  Epiphytic plants in evergreen forests are restricted to family Orchidaceae (belonging to the genera like Aerides, Bulbophyllum, Cymbidium, Eria and Vanda) and Apocynaceae (Hoya wightii).Other epiphytes or lithophyres like Utricularia striatula and Argostemma courtallense are also found in the crevices of rocks and on trunks of tall trees where there is little soil and moisture.The herbaceous flora includes Costus speciosus, Impatiens spp., Phyllanthus spp., Urena lobata, Gynura nitida, etc.

b. West Coast Semi -Evergreen Forests
This type of forest is found in upper parts of ghats and lower elevations near stream beds.These forests are transitional between moist deciduous forests and evergreen forests.The semi-evergreen formations are seen with isolated patches of evergreen forests in ravines and valleys.
The following two edaphic types are found depending on local variation in soil and moisture within semievergreen forests.
A) Cane Breaks -These occur on the slopes of the ghat region.Calamus thwaitesii is more common in lower elevation areas.
B) Lateritic Semi -evergreen forests -These forests are distributed over elevations above 200 m.In addition to these forests, there are some plateaus and grasslands in the National Park.This varied vegetation is responsible for the diversity of the national park.

Materials and Methods
The present checklists of wild angiosperms of Bhagwan Mahavir National Park is an outcome of intensive and extensive field collections and laboratory work between the years 2001-2006.Plants were collected during regular field visits and were processed using standard methods.The identification was done using local and regional flora.(Dalgado 1898;Vartak 1966;Rao 1985-86;Naithani et al. 1997).The identity of the plants were confirmed by comparing with authentic specimens deposited at Agharkar Research Institute herbarium (AHMA), Botanical Survey of India, Pune (BSI), Central National Herbarium, Howrah (CAL), Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun (DD) and Goa University Herbarium.In addition, specimens collected by other collectors from Bhagwan Mahavir National Park in these herbaria were also studied.All the specimens collected during the work were deposited in Botanical Survey of India, Pune (BSI).A comprehensive checklist for wild angiosperms in the National Park is presented here giving their family, updated botanical names (Karthikeyan, et al, 2009; The Plant List 2010), local name if any, status of endemism and voucher specimen of that taxon (Table 1).

Results and Discussion
Intensive and extensive exploration tours covering all seasons in various ecosystems of Bhagwan Mahavir National Park have resulted in collection of about 1100 A total number of 126 species of endemic plants (Figures 2-5) are documented here.The endemic plants occurring in the National Park show a peculiar pattern of distribution.About 58% of the total endemic species, i.e. 74 species occurring in the National Park are endemic to Western Ghats while about 31 endemic species are endemic to Peninsular India.Rest other are endemic to India (7 species), Western India (3 species), Southern and Northern Western India (2 species each) and strictly endemic to Goa (2 Species), etc,.Bhagvan Mahaveer National Park, a comparatively smaller protected area, occupies 0.05% of the total area of Western Ghats but harbours about 8.4% of species of endemics that are endemic to Western Ghats.Leguminosae and Orchidaceae (12 species each) followed by Rubiaceae and Acanthaceae (10 species each) are dominant families in Endemic plants of National Park.Family Eriocaulaceae is not species rich but rich in endemic species.
The National Park area is just 2.5% of the total area of Goa, but it harbours about half of the species that occur in entire Goa.This point highlights the importance of the protected areas is conservation of the flora.
field numbers.The Angiosperm Flora of Bhagwan Mahavir National Park comprises of 119 families, 7 subfamilies, 490 genera and 721 species, which occur in the wild.The dicots are represented by 563 species (about 78% of the angiosperm flora) belonging to 381 genera and 93 families while monocots are represented by 158 species (about 22%) belonging to 109 genera and 26 families.The largest family in the National Park according to number of species is Leguminosae represented by 63 species, followed by Poaceae (40), Rubiaceae (38), Euphorbiaceae, Orchidaceae and Acanthaceae (34 each).Some of the large genera found in Molem National Park are Ficus (12 species), Eriocaulon (09 species), Diospyros (08 species), Utricularia (07 species), Habenaria, Impatiens, Lindernia, Murdannia, and Syzygium (06 species each) and Acacia, Crotalaria, Ixora, Ipomoea, Phyllanthus and Strobilanthes (05 species each).Largest family according to number of genera in Bhagwan Mahavir National Park is Leguminosae (37 genera), followed by Poaceae (32), Rubiaceae (25), Orchidaceae (24), Apocynaceae and Euphorbiacae (22 each) and Asteraceae (21).Fifty six families are represented by single genus and 44 families are represented by single species.The pattern of dominance amongst families is almost similar to pattern discussed by Karthikeyan (2000) for Indian flora.Distribution as per the habit of the plant reveals that the flora constitutes 346 herbs, 103 shrubs, 192 trees, 66 climbers and 18 lianas.Habitats like lateritic plateaus and open areas show dominance of herbaceous elements while forested areas show dominance of arboreal members and lianas.