Language: English
From the preface:
"This publication is an important output of the Biodiversity Hotspots Conservation Programme undertaken by WWF-India since 1992, with the support of the MacArthur Foundation in USA. The Western Ghats and the Eastern Himalaya are among the eighteen hotspots of biological diversity on earth identified by scientists.
One of the largest families of the flowering plants ot India are the Orchidaceae – about 1141 species in 166 genera, many of which are ndemic. Around 267 orchid species have been identified in the Western Ghats region alone. Taking this group as an indicator species, Dr. T. Ananda Rao of the Karnataka Association for the Advancement of Science at Bangalore has focussed his study on Tadiandamol in Kodagu district of Karnataka. He has taken great pains to record and describe with illustrations the orchid species from this area. Further, he has been instrumental in transplanting 78 species at a riverine island of the Cauvery river called Nisargadharna, also in Kodagu district, which has now developed into a veritable orchidarium.
Thus, the project has addressed the objectives of both ex-situ and in-situ conservation with respect to the orchids of Tadiandamol. Thirty-eight of these orchids have been found to be disjunctly distributed in South India and Sri Lanka. In effect, Tadiandamol area is a repository of important orchid species and valuable as far as their distribution in India goes. Dr. Rao has also identified 18 orchids as those having potential value for horticulture. Yet another significant outcome is the identification of two more hotspots – Bababudan hills (Chikmagalur District) and Dandeli Reserve Forest (Ultara Kannada District) – during the implementation of the study."