BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION STATUS, FUTURE AND WAY FORWARD BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION STATUS, FUTURE AND WAY FORWARD Dr. T. Marimuthu Dr.P.Ponmurugan Dr. M. Subramanian Dr. N. Mathivanan Dr. S.Anita Details of Authors Dr. T. Marimuthu Formerly, Dean, School of PG Studies Director, Centre for Plant Protection Studies Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Coimbatore – 641 003, Tamil Nadu Dr. P. Ponmurugan Professor & Head Department of Biotechnology K.S.Rangasamy College of Technology Tiruchengode - 637 215 Namakkal District, Tamil Nadu. Dr. M. Subramanian Formerly, Dean, PAJANCOA & RI, Karaikal Director, TRRI, Aduthurai Director of Research Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Coimbatore – 641 003, Tamil Nadu. Dr. N. Mathivanan Associate Professor CAS in Botany University of Madras Chennai – 600 025, Tamil Nadu. Dr. S. Anita Associate Professor Department of Biotechnology K.S.Rangasamy College of Technology, Tiruchengode - 637 215 Namakkal District, Tamil Nadu. Diversity and Distribution of Lichens in India vis a vis its Lichenogeographic Regions Sanjeeva Nayaka* and Sucheta Asthana Lichenology Laboratory, CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute Rana Pratap Marg, Lucknow – 226 001, U.P., India Email: nayaka.sanjeeva@gmail.com ABSTRACT Undoubtedly, India is one of the lichen diversity hotspots, where country as a whole with diverse climate, vegetation and topography provide numerous habitats for luxuriant growth of lichens. The compilation of all the lichens reported so far from the country resulted in 2428 lichen taxa which belong to 2368 species, 305 genus and 67 species. With the present data whole country could be divided into eight lichenogeographic regions where Eastern Himalaya and North-east India, and Western Ghats possessed maximum diversity of lichens with 1144 and 1138 species respectively. However, Western Ghats harbors maximum number of 266 endemic taxa in comparison to Eastern Himalayan region (187 taxa). Andaman and Nicobar Islands though lesser number of species the percentage of endemic taxa is too high up to 27%. The country also has as many as 76 rare taxa which are not being collected since many years and can be included under Redlist category. Graphidaceae with 431 species 35 genus is the most dominant family in the country, and in tu3rn Graphis is the most dominant genus with 115 taxa. The maximum numbers of lichen in India belong to crustose group (1509 taxa) and found inhabiting bark. The current study apart from revealing the diversity of lichens in India and its lichenogeogrpahic regions it also ex- Sanjeeva Nayaka & Sucheta Asthana 80 press the concern over lichen conservation in India and especially preparing Redlist for Indian lichens. Keywords: Lichen biota, Phytogeography, Cryptogams, Asia, Biodiversity INTRODUCTION A phytogeographical region is defined as an area of uniform climatic conditions and having a distinctly recognizable type of vegetation. Takhtajan (1986) divided the world in to 35 floristic regions based on the distribution of vascular plants. In the world there about 13,000 species of lichens are recognized and this number rises to 20,000 if the orphaned species are also considered (Sipman and Aptroot, 2001). Lücking (2003) grouped Takhtajan’s 35 floristic regions in to six lichenogeographical regions based on the refined data available for foliicolous lichens in 19 floristic regions. India is one of the mega-biodiversity countries which includes parts of at least four biodiversity hotspots of the world (Western Ghats and Sri Lanka; Himalaya and Indo-Burma, Sundaland, www.biodiversityhotspots.org). India is located at north of the equator enjoys the advantages of both tropical and temperate climate. The vast extension of the county, variation in climate and geography that includes mountains, forests, desert, islands, water bodies, highlands, coasts, highlands and wetlands provide countless niches for organism to colonize makes India a biodiversity rich country. Among Takhtajan’s 35 floristic regions major part of India make a separate ‘Indian region’ while Gujart, Rajastan, Punjab, and Haryana area are included under ‘East African (Sudano-Zambezian)’ region. Singh and Sinha (1997) divided India in to eight lichenogeographical regions based on the 10 dominant families and genera in the region. These regions included mostly all parts under political boundary of India, except for Lakshadweep Islands. The lichenological studies is in constant progress in the country and in the recent times a large number of lichens are being added to Indian lichen biota and there has been a dramatic change in the classification of lichenized fungi, especially at Sanjeeva Nayaka & Sucheta Asthana 81 upper hierarchy. Hence it has become necessary to relook into the diversity and distribution of lichens in India vis a vis lichenogeographic regions. Lichen Diversity In India The historical review of Lichenology in Indian subcontinent was given in detail by Awasthi (1965, 2000) and A. Singh (1964). Dr. D.D. Awasthi who systematically initiated lichenological studies in India and constantly contributed towards its development. By the year 1965 total number of lichens known from whole Indian subcontinent was 1310 species (Awasthi 1965) and this number increased to 1995 species by the year 1977 (A. Singh 1980). Awasthi (1988, 1991) keyed out all micro and macro lichens of Indian subcontinent and according to which the number of lichen species known to occur in India alone was 1850 under 234 genera and 80 families. Later on Singh and Sinha (1997) estimated the number of lichen species to occur in India is 2021 within 248 genera. Recently, Singh and Sinha (2010) check listed a total of 2305 lichen species under 305 genera and 74 families. However, the latest update for the present communication resulted in 2428 taxa of lichen, which belong to 2368 species and 60 infra-specific taxa. The infraspecific taxa included six subspecies, three forma (Evernia mesomorpha f. esorediata, Sticta weigelii f. beauvonisii, Strigula nemathora f. hypothelia) and 51 varieties. The total numbers of genera represented currently in India are 305 within 67 families. There has been addition of about 500 species 71 genus in a span of 20 years between the years 1991 to 2013 (Figure 1). This indicates the quantum of taxonomic research carried out in India by a very limited number of research organizations such as CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Botanical Survey of India and Agarkar Research Institute. Exponential increase in the new species described in recent times also indicates tremendous scope for lichenological research in India. Sanjeeva Nayaka & Sucheta Asthana 82 Figure 1 Increase in the number of species to Indian lichen biota during the year 1991 - 2011 According to the present inventory a total of 557 (23%) taxa are endemic to India, of which a large portion (411, 73.8%) belongs to neoendemic category, which are described in the recent times, i.e. after year 1950 and are not yet reported from elsewhere. Among the different families Graphidaceae emerges as the most dominant family in India with 431 taxa followed by Parmeliaceae (347 spp.) and Physciaceae (213 spp.) (Table 1). The dominance of Graphidaceae is due to the merger of family Thelotremataceae with the former which now widely accepted (Mangold et al., 2008). Among the families Parmeliaceae exhibits greater diversity at genus level with 45 taxa, but among the genera Graphis has more number species (115) (Table 1). India has about 87 genus represented by only one species. However, not all of them are monotypic genus in true sense as other species within the genus are known elsewhere. Only Awasthiella indica, Byssophragmia monospora, Heterocyphelium leucampyx, Lecidoma demissum, and Reimnitzia santensis are true montotypic genus while the taxonomic status of Caleniopsis, Erythrodecton, and Frutidella is uncertain at this stage. A. indica is distributed Sanjeeva Nayaka & Sucheta Asthana 83 in central India, western and eastern Himalaya, while B. monospora is restricted to Western Ghats. Table 1 Dominant families and genera of India S.No. Families No. of No. of species genera S.No. Genera No. of species 1 2 Graphidaceae Parmeliaceae 431 347 35 45 1 2 Graphis Pyrenula 115 92 3 Physciaceae 213 20 3 Lecanora 89 4 Pyrenulaceae 127 4 4 Caloplaca 71 5 Arthoniaceae 117 6 5 Porina 61 6 Lecanoraceae 106 6 6 Usnea 60 7 Ramalinaceae 97 16 7 Cladonia 59 8 Trypetheliaceae 80 8 8 Pertusaria 54 9 Teloschistaceae 81 4 9 Parmotrema 51 10 Collemataceae 77 3 10 Heterodermia 44 More than 60% of Indian lichen biota is dominated by crustose lichens with 1518 taxa, followed by foliose (705 taxa) and fruticose (205 taxa) lichens. Tropical regions of the country like have more crustose lichens while temperate region have more of foliose and fruticose lichens. Among the substratum most of the lichens (1768 taxa) prefer to grow on tree bark. The rocks and soil are other important substratum where 605 and 222 taxa respectively are found growing. As many as 26 lichens, especially belonging to genus Calicium and Cladonia grow on dead wood (Lignicolous). A total of 54 lichens grow on moss (muscicolous) while four species grow on other lichens (lchenicolous). Many lichen taxa have wider niche or substratum range and can grow on various substrates such as bark, rock, soil and moss. The foliicolous lichens are also well represented in India with 140 species of which at least 130 are grow exclusively (obligate) on leaves. Foliicolous lichens are mostly distributed in tropical rain forests in Western Ghats and eastern Himalayas. They require adequate rainfall and continuously moist condition. The grow in shady understorey of the forest and in light gaps. In Sanjeeva Nayaka & Sucheta Asthana 84 the world more than 800 species are recorded so far and they are the indicator of forest health microclimate, anthropogenic disturbance. The Indian lichen biota can be grouped in to several functional groups or communities based on their morphological similarities, habitat preference, distribution and indicator value (Fig. 2). The blue green alga containing cyanolichens are the indicator of environmental degradation, shady, wet and moist habitat. They are dependent upon liquid water for metabolic activity rather than humidity (Schlensong et al., 2000; Lange et al., 2001). They are usually grown on less acidic substrates with pH range from 5.0 – 6.0 (Goward and Arsenault, 2000). India is represented by a total of 169 cyanolichen taxa with its dominance in Western Ghats and western Himalayas. The Thelotremataceous and Graphidaceous lichens are dominant elements of tropical rain forest. They colonize the trunks of large mature trees. They are best studied as indicator of disturbance and ecological continuity in tropical forest (Plata et al., 2008). In India Thelotremataceous and Graphidaceous lichens are represented by 118 and 298 taxa respectively. Arthonioid lichens are considered to be primitive lichens as they do not form definite ascus holding structures such as apothecia or perithecia. Here the fertile ascigerous hyphae congregate and make round to irregular shaped structures sometimes resembling apothecia. They are believed to be primary colonizer in lichen vegetation. There are about 181 lichen taxa under Arthonioid community in India. Similarly, perithecia bearing Pyrenocarpous lichens are the major part of Indian lichen biota with 360 taxa, dominant in Western Ghats and eastern Himalayas. They prefer to grow on smooth barked tree and indicators of humidity in the forest. The Parmelioid, Physioid, Unsioid and Centrarioid lichens are the other major communities within Indian lichen biota represented by 203, 129, 74 and 43 species respectively. The Parmelioid and Physcioid lichens are the most common lichens in both tropical and temperate regions and have cosmopolitan distribution. The Parmelioid lichens are sensitive to air pollution while Physioid lichens are comparatively pollution tolerant. Few of the Physcioid lichens such as Dirinaria, Phaeophyscia, Pyxine and Rinodina are not only pollution tolerant but also good accumu- Sanjeeva Nayaka & Sucheta Asthana 85 lators of heavy metals. The Cetrarioid and Usneoid lichens prefer temperate conditions for their growth and hence they are common in Himalayas and high altitude places of Western Ghats. Figure 2 Lichen communities based on the substratum and functional groups and their number Many countries have their lichens documented in the Red List. However, in India the lichens don’t make their appearance in the ‘Red List’ of endangered organism because no serious thought has been given so far on this issue. There exists insufficient information on the status of many lichens that have potential to be included under IUCN’s Red List categories. As per the record a total of 76 lichen taxa rare not recollected since long time (Table 2) and some of them are as old as 180 years and can be included under Red List. Campylothelium superbum probably the oldest species which is not been collected since 1825. Such lichens are either extinct or critically endangered. However, they all fall under the category either ‘not evaluated’ or ‘data deficient’ according to IUCN Red List guidelines (Anonymous, 2010). Sanjeeva Nayaka & Sucheta Asthana 86 Table 2 List of lichen species that can be included under ‘Red List’ S.No. Species Year since not Distribution collected status 1 Anisomeridium subnexum (Nyl.) R.C. Harris 1892 Endemic, AND 2 Anomomorpha subtorquens (Nyl.) Staiger 1873 AND 3 Arthonia catenatula Nyl. 1873 Endemic, AND 4 A. circumalbicans Nyl. 1867 GPL 5 A. dispersula Nyl. 1879 Endemic, WG 6 A. inconspicua Stirt. 1879 Endemic, WG 7 A. leprariella Nyl. in H. Willey 1890 Not available 8 A. medusula (Pers.) Nyl. 1838 Not available 9 A. polymorpha Ach. 1892 EHNEI 10 A. radiata var. swartziana (Ach.) Almq. 1867 GPL 11 A. ravida Stirt. 1879 Endemic, GPL 12 A. recedens Stirt. 1879 Endemic, EHNEI 13 A. subvelata Nyl. 1869 Endemic, GPL 14 A. translucens Stirt. 1881 Endemic, EHNEI 15 Arthopyrenia majuscula (Nyl.) Zahlbr. 1873 GPL 16 A. planorbella (Nyl.) Zahlbr. 1873 Endemic, AND, GPL 17 Arthothelium abnorme var. insitum (Stirt.) 1879 Endemic, GPL Zahlbr. 18 A. erumpens Müll. Arg. 1892 Endemic, EHNEI 19 A. indicum (Müll. Arg.) Makhija & Patw. 1892 Endemic, EHNEI 20 A. pycnocarpoides Müll. Arg. 1892 Endemic, EHNEI 21 A. spectabile (Flot.) A. Massal. 1952 WG 22 A. subilicinum (Leight.) Zahlbr. 1881 EHNEI 23 Astrothelium eustomum (Mont.) Müll. Arg. 1881 EHNEI 24 Aulaxina uniseptata R. Sant. 1915 EHNEI 25 Bacidia chinsurensis (Stirt.) Zahlbr. 1879 Endemic, GPL 26 Biatorella conspersa (Fée) Vain. 1892 WG 27 Buellia ocellata (Flot.) Körb. 1892 EHNEI, WH 28 B. stellulata (Taylor) Mudd 1892 EHNEI Sanjeeva Nayaka & Sucheta Asthana S.No. Species Year since not Distribution collected status 87 29 30 Caloplaca encephalartii (Kremp.) Zahlbr. C. fulvolutea (Arn.) Jatta 1892 1905 Endemic, GPL WH 31 C. kurzii (Kremp.) Zahlbr. 1892 Endemic, AND 32 C. leptopisma (Nyl.) Zahlbr. 1957 WH 33 C. orissensis (Räsänen) D.D. Awasthi 1950 Endemic, CI 34 Campylothelium superbum (Fr.) Müll. Arg. 1825 Not available 35 Cresponea proximata (Nyl.) Egea & Torrente 1892 Not available 36 Crocynia indica de Lesd. in Hue 1924 Endemic, WH 37 Cryptolechia carneolutea (Turner) A. Massal. 1867 GPL 38 Diploicia canescens (Dicks.) A. Massal. 1892 Not available 39 Enterodictyon indicum Müll. Arg. 1892 Endemic, EHNEI 40 Graphina aeola (Stirt.) Zahlbr. 1879 Endemic, GPL 41 G. canaliculata (Fée) Müll. Arg. 1838 WG 42 G. fasciata (Eschw.) Müll. Arg. 1892 EHNEI 43 G. semirigida Müll. Arg. 1892 Endemic, EHNEI 44 G. spilota (Stirt.) Zahlbr. 1881 Endemic, EHNEI 45 Graphis implexula Stirt. 1881 Endemic, EHNEI 46 Gyalecta tropica Bèl. 1846 Endemic, WG 47 Haematomma accolens (Stirt.) Hillmann 1882 EHNEI 48 Lecanactis flavisdella (Nyl.) Tehler 1867 AND 49 Lecanora carnulenta Nyl. 1934 EHNEI 50 L. horiza (Ach.) Röhl. 1905 EHNEI 51 L. lecideoides (M. Choisy) Zahlbr. 1931 Endemic, WG 52 Lecidea fuscorubida Nyl. 1892 Endemic, AND 53 L. luridescens Nyl. 1892 EHNEI, WH 54 L. rubina Ach. 1838 Not available 55 Leptorhaphis epidermidis (Ach.) Th. Fr. 1838 WG 56 Lobaria adpressa (Müll. Arg.) Zahlbr 1892 Endemic, EHNEI 57 Lopadium saxicolum H. Magn. 1954 Endemic, WH 58 L. vensutulum (Stirt.) Zahlbr. 1879 Endemic, GPL 59 Megaloblastenia marginiflexa (Hook.f. & 1892 WG Taylor) Sipman Sanjeeva Nayaka & Sucheta Asthana S.No. Species Year since not Distribution collected status 88 60 61 Melaspilea insitiva Stirt. Mycomicrothelia thelena (Ach.) D. Hawksw. 1879 1838 Endemic, GPL WG 62 Phlyctis polyphora Stirt. 1881 Endemic, EHNEI 63 Phyllopsora parvifolia var. subgranulosa 1892 EHNEI 1891 Endemic, EHNEI, (Tuck.) Müll. Arg. 64 Protoblastenia griseococcinea (Nyl.) M. Inoue WH 65 Pseudopyrenula subvelata (Nyl.) Müll. Arg. 1892 EGDPL 66 Pyrenula nodulata (Stirt.) Zahlbr. 1881 Endemic, EHNEI 67 P. subindica Upreti 1867 Endemic, GPL 68 Pyxine endochrysina Nyl. 1892 EHNEI 69 Ramalina usnea (L.) R. Howe 1892 Not available 70 Rinodina colobina (Ach.) Th. Fr. 1892 GPL 71 R. exigua (Ach.) Gray 1892 EHNEI 72 Sigridea glaucomoides (Nyl.) Tehler 1892 GPL 73 Thelopsis inordinata Nyl. 1867 Endemic, GPL 74 Thelotrema pachysporum Nyl. 1879 EHNEI, GPL 75 T. subcalvescens Nyl. 1873 Endemic, AND 76 T. tetrasporum (Stirt.) D.D. Awasthi 1881 Endemic, EHNEI Note: AND = Andaman and Nicobar Islands, GPL = Gangatic Plain, WG = Western Ghats, EHNEI = Eastern Himalaya and North-east India, CI = Central India, WH = Western Himalaya, EGDPL = Eastern Ghats and Deccan Plateau Politically, for administration purpose India has got a total of 35 states and Union Territories, of which Tamil Nadu records the maximum numbers of lichens with 785 taxa followed by Uttarakhand (581 spp.), West Bengal (531 spp.) and Sikkim (503 spp.) (Fig. 3). Location of lichen rich areas such as Nilgiri and Palni Hills, and major portion of Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu is the reason for lichen richness in the state. In addition the Eastern Ghats of part in the Tamil Nadu is well explored which further added about 150 species to earlier list of lichens for the state. Major part of West Bengal state for instance comes under Gangatic plains, however high diversity in the state is mostly due to presence of mangrove forest at Sundarbans in the Sanjeeva Nayaka & Sucheta Asthana 89 south and Himalayas in the north. Darjeeling district of West Bengal is actual lays in eastern Himalayas and has high diversity of lichens. However, the present study also revealed that there are no reports of lichens in at least 6 states or Union Territories (Chandigarh, Dadar & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Haryana, Delhi and Tripura) while Gujarat, Mizorum and Puducherry are represented by 2 each species, Punjab by 3 species, Bihar and Chattisgarh by 6 each species, Lakshadweep by 9 and Jharkhand by 10 species only (Fig. 3). Apart from these there are many states which have high degree of forest area and suitable habitat for lichen, but number of lichens reported are actually low. This clearly indicates that lichen exploration efforts in these areas are insufficient. And even for the regions having high record of lichens intensive survey is lacking and sometimes the data is obsolete and there is need for revision or revisit to these localities. Sanjeeva Nayaka & Sucheta Asthana 90 Lichen Diversity in Lichenogeographic regions of India The eight lichenogeographic regions discussed in the present communication are 1. Western Himalaya, 2. Eastern Himalaya and North-east India, 3. Western Dry Region, 4. Gangatic Plain, 5. Central India, 6. Western Ghats, 7. Eastern Ghats and Deccan Plateau, and 8. Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Figure 4). Figure 4 Lichenogeographic regions of India based on Jaccard Similarity with respect to lichen diversity in different states Sanjeeva Nayaka & Sucheta Asthana 91 Table 3 provides the diversity of lichens and Table 4 provides the lichen communities in these regions. It is evident that both Eastern Himalayan region and Western Ghats have equally rich lichen diversity with 1144 and 1138 species respectively. The number of genus and families represented by the two regions are also almost equal with 200 & 193 and 58 & 53 respectively. However, what differentiates the two regions is the number of endemic species and lichen communities. Western Ghats has about 23% of endemic species of the country while Eastern Himalaya has 16%. It is interesting to note that a large number of endemics (82%) of Western Ghats are newly described (neoendemics) in comparison to Eastern Himalaya. This not only indicates existence of large number of undescribed taxa in Western Ghats, but also amount of exploration and taxonomic revisionary work involved in the area. Among the lichen communities Eastern Himalayas obviously dominates with large number of fruticose (145 taxa), terricolous (156 taxa), foliicolous (111 taxa) and Cetrarioid (39 taxa) lichens; where as Western Ghats dominates with Cayanolichens (96), Thelotremataceous (78) and Graphidaceous (182) lichens. Though both the regions have tropical vegetation availability of more temperate conditions favours such a differentiation in the lichen communities. Western Himalaya ranks third in the lichen richness with 718 species and all other Lichenogeographic regions have <500 lichen species. Western Dry Region is probably the lichen deprived area reperesented by only 50 species. The lower altitude, reduced forested area and drier climate are some of the reason for reduced diversity in these regions. Also, lichen exploration in these areas are limited. Gangatic Plains and Central India have similar lichen diversity with 247 and 245 species respectively, and also have similar proportion of endemic taxa. However, Central India interesting lichen biota with more number of foliose lichens preferring saxicolous and terricolous habitat. Comparitively it also has more number of Cyanolichens, Parmelioid and Physioid lichens. Gangatic Plains on the other hand has more number of crustose taxa on corticolous habitat and also it dominates with Graphidaceous, Arthonioid and Pyrenocarpous lichens. 92 Taxa Species Infra-specific Genus Family Endemic (% of Neoendemic (% of total taxa endemism for the endemics in that region) region) Eastern Himalaya and 1162 1144 18 200 58 187 (16.1) 111 (59.4) Western Ghats 1157 1138 19 193 53 266 (23) 218 (82) Western Himalaya 812 781 31 151 46 67 (8.3) 42 (62.7) 367 364 3 83 27 99 (27) 83 (83.8) Gangatic Plain 250 247 3 78 34 49 (19.6) 22 (44.9) Central India 247 245 2 73 31 45 (18.2) 34 (75.6) 180 177 3 70 32 14 (7.7) 12 (85.7) 51 50 1 25 14 6 (11.8) 6 (100) North-east India Andaman and Nicobar Islands Eastern Ghats and Deccan Plateau Western Dry Region Biodiversity Conservation – Status, Future and Way Forward Table 3 Diversity of lichens in Lichenogeographic regions Table 4 Distribution of lichen communities in Lichenogeographic regions Saxicolous Terricolous Lignicolous Muscicolous Foliicolous Cyanolichens Thelotremataceous Graphidaceous Pyrenocarpous Parmelioid Physioid Usneoid Cetrearioid 359 145 841 292 156 19 36 111 2 69 25 142 61 187 112 75 49 39 Western Ghats 728 353 75 987 237 80 6 23 57 2 96 78 182 73 175 125 81 41 3 Western Himalaya 326 381 105 498 385 153 17 41 1 1 81 13 17 6 44 106 76 33 25 Andaman and Nicobar 320 45 1 303 13 5 0 2 64 0 26 42 68 43 130 3 10 0 0 Gangatic Plain 201 49 1 218 38 5 0 0 6 2 12 2 30 54 53 8 18 0 0 Central India 149 95 3 176 121 22 0 8 2 0 28 7 14 3 20 21 33 0 0 Eastern Ghats and Dec- 100 61 18 151 68 24 2 2 4 0 11 4 12 13 29 27 20 7 0 can Plateau Western Dry Region 20 30 1 27 36 6 0 3 0 1 12 1 0 0 3 6 7 0 0 Eastern Himalaya and Arthoniales Corticolous 657 Regions Lichenicolous Fruticose Functional Groups Foliose Substratum Crustose Growth Form North-east India Sanjeeva Nayaka & Sucheta Asthana Islands 93 Sanjeeva Nayaka & Sucheta Asthana 94 Among all the lichenogeographic regions Andaman and Nicobar Islands has more proportion of endemic taxa (27%) and Western Ghats stands at second position with 23%. Simultaneously, the percentage of neoendemics also very high for these two regions, 83.8 and 82% respectively. Where as Gangatic Plains though has high proportion of endemic taxa (19.6%) the neoendemics are less (44.5%) meaning most of them are true endemics. Eastern Himalayas and North-east India though has maximum number of lichen it stand only 5th position in terms of endemic species share (16.1%) while Cenral India is ahead of it with 18.2% endemism. Even Western Himalayas has very less proportion of endemic species (8.3%). This analysis clearly indicates the peculiarities and uniqueness of lichen communities in Andaman Islands and Western Ghats. Himalaya being located in the north and directly connected with China acts as corridor for species reception and migration. By having temperate condition it receives and accommodates species China, Japan as well as from Russia and Europe. Hence it is expected to have more number of species but less endemic. Western Ghats being located in tropical belt has chance of species sharing from far off land mass like South Africa and other parts of India. Similarly, Andaman has mostly isolated Islands with their close proximity being Burma, Thailand and Sumatra is subjected high speciation radiation (Naithani 2008). This explains the endemism theory in lichenogeographic regions of India. The diversity and peculiarities of the each lichenogerographic regions are given in details below. CONCLUSION It is clear from this study that though India has huge diversity of lichens there still many interesting sites for exploration. Exploration whole India in coming 20 years would add another 500 – 600 species to India taking total count to about 3000. This would be an ideal number for further critical analysis of lichen distribution and divide India in to further smaller and finer lichenogeographic units. Concurrently, it is now time for seriously think towards conservation of lichens in India and preparation of Redlist according to IUCN guidelines. It is necessary to mention that lichens are more sensi- Sanjeeva Nayaka & Sucheta Asthana 95 tive to threats like air pollution and climate change (Nimis et al. 2002) and many of them may go extinct before being documented. In India lichens are being collected only once from an area and hence frequent observation on their diversity and abundance dynamics are lacking. Some of the hotspots like ‘Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve’ should be revisited for lichen exploration. Absence of quantitative data is another big problem for conservation efforts. The aim of the country’s lichenologist so far is to enrich their herbarium. Gathering quantitative information on the diversity and abundance of lichens which would really helpful to know exact status of endemic, rare and threatened lichens. 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