Diversity of angiospermic plants in Dhanaulti Region , Uttarakhand : an emerging tourist destination in Western Himalaya

Situated adjacent to Mussoorie, the popular hill station in Uttarakhand state of India, Dhanaulti region is known for its scenic environs amidst the temperate forests. The floristic survey revealed a total of 112 species belonging to 96 genera and 47 families. Poaceae was the largest family with 16 genera and 17 species followed by Rosaceae represented by nine genera and 13 species and Asteraceae with eight genera and eight species. Lamiaceae and Caprifoliaceae had four species each while Brassicaceae, Celastraceae, Cyperaceae, Fabaceae, Orchidaceae, Plantaginaceae and Smilacaceae had three species each. Most dominant genus was Rubus with four species followed by Euonymus and Smilax with three species each. Two vulnerable species, Bergenia ciliata (Haw.) Sternb. and Valeriana jatamansi Jones, were also recorded. This study in addition gives an account on ethnobotanical uses of 51 species. Since Dhanaulti is an emerging tourist destination in Western Himalaya, the study will generate baseline information for management authorities to give due importance to its ecological wealth while planning any development in future.


INTRODUCTION
Indian Himalayan Region, known for its rich biodiversity, supports about 18,440 plant species, i.e., 8,000 angiosperms, 44 gymnosperms, 600 pteri dophytes, 1,737 bryophytes, 1,159 lichens and 6,900 fungi (Singh and Hajra 1996) and over 1,748 medicinal plants (Samant et al. 1998).The Western Himalaya (WH), wherein Garhwal Himalaya lies, has been identified as a major hotspot of endemic and genetic diversity in India (Rao 1994).Uttarakhand in the WH is rich in biological diversity due to its deeply dissected topography, complex geological structure, wide elevational range and varied climatic conditions.The state is divided into two regions, Garhwal and Kumaon.
The Garhwal Himalaya (GH), in the western part of Uttarakhand state, forms transition zone between three different floristic provinces: Tibetan province in the North, Upper Gangetic Plain province in the South and Central Himalayan province in the East.The GH has more than 3,500 species of flowering plants most of which are in temperate forests and alpine meadows.Thirty species listed in the "Indian Red Data Book" (Nayar and Sastry 1987, 1988, 1990) have been found to be distributed in Garhwal Himalaya.Several taxonomic studies have been undertaken in this region; viz., Duthie (1922) made an account of the Flora of Upper Gangetic Plain and of the adjacent Siwalik and Sub-Himalayan Tracts.Stewart (1942) worked on the ferns of Mussoorie and Dehradun, reporting 112 species.Raizada and Saxena (1978) worked in and around Mussoorie and reported over 1,331 species.Polunin and Stainton (1984) reported 1,495 species of flowering plants from Western Himalayas spread across India and Nepal.Stainton (1988) published supplement to this work adding 584 species.The floristic diversity of the Binog Wildlife Sanctuary adjacent to Mussoorie and Dhanaulti region reported 335 species belonging to 237 genera under 102 families (Kumar et al. 2012).In India, the importance of floristic assessment in protected areas has been recognized widely, albeit equally important is to explore the currently little known microhabitats of Forest Divisions (FD; covering forest blocks and compartments) which represent the management unit in the hierarchy of forest departments in the country.includes Dhanaulti forest block (328 ha) covering twin eco-parks, "Amber" and "Dhara", within the Mussoorie Forest Division.The region gained popularity due to the immense scenic beauty adhered with tourism perspectives that led to the opening of eco-parks.The parks, also known as the Dhanaulti Eco-Parks, were set up by the Uttarakhand Forest Department with the help of local youth in 2008.These parks, spread over an area of 13 ha, were set up with an aim to mitigate pressure on forest ecosystem by providing employment to the local people through their participation in the management of forest.Over 50 locals including both male and females are employed as service and information providers such as guides, gardeners, ticket collectors, etc.A handicraft shop has been set up that sells local handicrafts, hand woven woollen garments, packaged organic food items, etc. Topography of the region is mountainous with major soil type being loamy-clay.The Dyuligaad River, flowing down the valley, is the main source of water.The area is broadly characterized by Himalayan moist temperate forest (Champion and Seth 1968)  Moreover, studies pertaining to understand the plant diversity in flowering or fruiting stage of a particular season or period have a greater role while understanding the phenology of the plant species.Hence, keeping this in view the need was felt and an attempt has been made to document the plant species of Dhanaulti region of Mussoorie forest division, which came into limelight after the establishment of the Dhanaulti Eco-Park.The study also gives an account of the ethnobotanical uses of plant species of the region.As an emerging tourist destination, the region is certain to undergo cycles of development and might face human encroachments and threats due to mismanagement.Thus, this study presents a baseline for future monitoring studies and development planning by forest managers, conservationists, ethnobotanists and researchers.

Study area
Dhanaulti, a hill station situated close to the popular hill station of Mussoorie also known as 'Queen of hills', is known for its quiet environs amidst the temperate forests.It lies in the western part of the Uttarakhand state in India at 30°42′ N, 078°24′ E at an elevational range of 2,118-2,415 m (Figure 1).The study area on herbarium sheets and thereafter deposited at the CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute herbarium (LWG).For updated botanical names, authorities, genera and families of plant species, www.theplantlist.org website has been used.Ethnobotanical surveys were conducted with Garhwali communities from the area and the information on vernacular names of plants, plant part used and uses was gathered.

Floristic diversity
The study revealed a total of 112 species of angiospermic plants belonging to 96 genera and 47 families.For each of the species, the current valid name and author citation along with its vernacular name, habit, habitat, voucher specimen number and ethnobotanical notes have been provided in Table 1.Poaceae was the dominant family (16 genera and 17 species) followed by Rosaceae (9 genera and 13 species; Figure 2).
The dominant genus was Rubus with four species namely Rubus ellipticus Sm., R. macilentus Cambess, R. foliolosus D.Don and R. niveus Thunb.followed by Euonymus and Smilax with three species each.(Kala 2013).

Data collection
The present work is a result of detailed and careful survey of the area in and around Dhanaulti forest block for angiospermic plants.A reconnaissance survey was carried out in February 2014.This was followed by extensive field surveys every week in order to cover all the forest types, viz., a) Deodar Forest, b) Rhododendron-Oak Mixed Forest and c) Grassland, during late winter, spring and summer seasons of 2014.The floristic surveys and specimen collections were carried out on foot along the existing trails, water streams (nallahs) and various habitats in and around forests, grasslands and human habitations.During collection, detailed field observations were recorded, including notes on ethnobotanical uses of various plants by the local people.The plants were collected, identified and herbarium sheets were prepared following standard methods (Jain and Rao 1977).Identification of plant species was done using existing literature (Gaur 1999;Polunin and Stainton 1984;Raizada and Saxena 1978;Lawrence 1964) and with the help of taxonomists at the National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow and the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.Identification was cross-checked by comparing voucher specimens with the standard specimens in herbaria of CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow (LWG), Botanical Survey of India, Dehradun (BSD) and Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehradun (DD).The collected plants were dried, pressed and mounted   Arundinella, Berberis, Geranium, Gentiana, Plantago, Quercus and Rumex were represented by two species each.Herbs were the most dominant growth form in the region.The percentage of different growth forms recorded in study area is shown in Figure 3.

Threatened taxa
Bergenia ciliata (Haw.)Sternb and Valeriana jatamansi Jones were also recorded from the region, which are listed as vulnerable under various threat categories as per Ved et al. (2003).

Ethnobotanical use
A total of 25 people, including 12 men and 13 women, were interviewed to gather ethnobotanical information about the wild plants.A total of 51 plants have been found to have ethnobotanical usage in the study area.Of these, the majority were reported to be used for fodder (41%).The percentage of plant species utilized in various ways by the locals is given in Figure 4.

DISCUSSION
Of the total angiospermic plants recorded in the Dhanaulti region, the species richness was observed to be highest along the road-side (55 species) followed by Rhododendron-Oak mixed forests (22) and grassland (21).Due to the dense canopy in Deodar forests, very few plant species were found to be in flowering or fruiting and hence, were comparatively less rich.The floristic diversity in mixed forests of Oak and Deodar was richer as compared to pure stands of Oak and Deodar.Rumex nepalensis Spreng., Malva parviflora L., Sonchus oleraceus (L.) L., Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik.and Brassica juncea (L.) Czern.were found growing exclusively near human habitations which could be due to nitrogen enrichment of soil by livestock dung.
The plant species richness in Dhanaulti block was found higher in mixed forests comprising of Oak and Deodar species as compared to pure stands of Deodar and Chirpine.The participatory conservation approach of Dhanaulti Ecology and Ecotourism Development Committee of planting more than 1,000 saplings of Deodar tree species as memory plantations in the ecopark area has improved the environmental conditions of the Dhanaulti region.Besides, the committee also looks after the conservation and management of adjoining forest areas (Kiss 2004).
In Himalaya, tourist destinations are prone to ecological degradation due to influx of large volume of tourists and associated developmental activities.Thus, at a time when tourism is in its nascent stage, it becomes imperative to prepare a baseline of natural wealth of the area for future monitoring and conservation purposes.The present inventory is expected to provide baseline scientific data, which can be used by forest managers, area developers and researchers for further studies.In order to enhance the tourism activities in a considerate way towards nature, the information will be helpful in understanding the floral diversity and landscape management of the region as well as of the eco-parks.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Map showing location of the study area.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Dominant families with their respective number of genera and species in Dhanaulti region, Uttarakhand.

Figure 3 .
Figure 3.The percentage of different growth forms recorded in Dhanaulti region, Uttarakhand.

Figure 5 .
Figure 5. Usage of plants with respect to plant part used in Dhanaulti region, Uttarakhand.

Figure 4 .
Figure 4. Percentage of plant species utilized in various ways by the locals in Dhanaulti region, Uttarakhand.

Table 1 .
Plant species of Dhanaulti region, Uttarakhand with their family, vernacular name, habit, habitat, voucher specimen number and ethnobotanical uses.Abbreviations: RS-Roadside, DF-Deodar Forest, ROMF-Rhododendron Oak Mixed Forest, GS-Grassland and HH-Human Habitation.ContinuedSarg.)forests.A people participatory committee, Dhanaulti Ecology and Ecotourism Development Committee (DEEDC), looks after the management of parks.The number of tourists flocking to the park has substantially increased from 43,281 in 2008 to 1,19,745 in 2012.Despite this, the well designed mandate of this eco-park has led to improvement of ecosystem and environmental conditions of Dhanaulti through the approach of participatory conservation