Assessment of Pteridophyte Diversity and their Status in Gujarat State , Western India

An intensive field survey was carried out from the hilly regions, plains of different climatic regimes and agricultural land of Gujarat state. About 23 species were collected from Gujarat state, from which eight species viz., Actiniopteris radiata (Sw.) Link, Adiantum caudatum L., A. incisum Forssk., Lygodium flexuosum (L.) Sw., Pteris vittata L., Selaginella ciliaris (Retz.) Spring, S. delicatula (Desv. ex Poir.) Alston, and S. repanda (Desv. ex Poir.) Spring. were added as new distributional record for the Gujarat state. Increasing anthropogenic pressure, destruction of forest ecosystem and development of infrastructure facilities including road widening and rainwater harvesting program by deepening of the natural ponds are additional reasons for declining terrestrial and aquatic pteridophyte diversity respectively. Our survey concludes that E. debile is regionally extinct in the wild while Isoetes coromandeliana, will be lost from its natural habitat in short time if not conserved properly. Therefore, there is an urgent need of in situ conservation by developing action plans in collaboration with the state forest department.


Introduction
Pteridophytes are the considered one of the early land dwellers and most primitive group of vascular plants that appeared on this planet in the mid-Palaeozoic era (i.e.approx.438 million years ago) during the Silurian period (Dudani et al., 2011(Dudani et al., , 2014)).Their adaptation to terrestrial condition by evolving specialized tissues for the translocation of water and food is responsible for their greater colonization in terrestrial ecosystems.Development of vascular tissue not only contributed in water and food translocation but also played crucial role in mechanical support.Therefore, many of them such as Cyathea and Wilsonia (tree ferns) could attain great heights like trees.This interesting group of plants form an important component of forest ecosystem and act as connecting bridge between the non-vascular cryptogams and the seed plants and occupy various niches on the land, in marshes, swamps and in water bodies (Dudani et al. 2011).They flourish in moist tropical and temperate forests while, they also occur in different eco-geographical regions of the world where the conditions are not conducive for growth (Dixit, 2000).The majority of them thrive well in shady and moist places but a few survive in rock crevices and dry places while some of them such as Salvinia and Azolla grow in aquatic habitats (Bower, 1923(Bower, , 1963)).
First report on pteridophyte (Ceratopteris thalictroides) of Gujarat comes from the Flora of North Gujarat written by Saxton and Sedgwick (1918).Subsequent studies on pteridophyte of Gujarat were taken up by contemporary researchers such as Phatak et al. (1953), Chavan and Mehta (1956), Gaekwad and Deshmukh (1956), Chavan and Sabnis (1961), Chavan andPadate (1962, 1963), Mahabale (1948Mahabale ( , 1963)), Shah and Vaidya (1964), Nayar and Devi (1964), Padate (1969), Inamdar and Shah (1967) and Inamdar (1970). Gujarat Ecological Commission (1996) documented 16 species of pteridophytes from different parts of the state, including forest areas.Thereafter, this group of plants was completely neglected and studies on them lagged behind.However, recently few sporadic reports about the occurrence of pteridophyte have been carried out by Patel et al. (2010), Dabgar (2012), and Modi and Dudani (2013).However, these reports lack location specific data on species reported from the state.This emphasizes the necessity for in-depth inventorization and documentation of pteridophytes.Thus, it was thought worthwhile to study the diversity of pteridophytes from Gujarat state.

Materials and Methods
The field survey was carried out from Gujarat state during different seasons of the year 2013 to 2015.Field photographs were taken by using digital camera (Cannon SLR 1200D).The collected specimens were properly processed in laboratory for the preparation of herbariums (Bridson and Forman, 1992).The herbariums have been deposited in the BARO herbarium of the Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat (India).Identification of specimens was carried out by the help of various flora viz., Beddome (1883), Blatter and d'Almeida (1922), Dixit (1984), Khullar (1994Khullar ( , 2000)), Ghosh et al. (2004), Fraser-Jenkins (2008), Chandra (2000), Kholia (2014) andFraser-Jenkins et al. (2015).After identification and verification of correct identity, further confirmation of identity was done by Dr. Sachin Patil from Department of Botany, Shivaji University Kolhapur (Maharashtra state).The classification of families and genera is followed according to Fraser-Jenkins (2009).
Information on the distribution pattern of pteridophytes in Gujarat is data deficient.However, on the basis of our last three years extensive survey in different regions and discussion with the field taxonomist, their status is categorized in the present study into RET species by following the guidelines for application of IUCN red list criteria at regional and national level (Version 3.1 2 nd Edition and Version 12, http://www.iucnredlist.org/documents/RedListGuidelines.pdf).

Result and Discussion
The present comprehensive survey of Gujarat state records 23 (22 in wild and one under cultivation) species belonging to 11 families and 15 genera of pteridophytes (Table 1).Most number of species were observed in Pteridaceae (7 species), Ophioglossaceae (5 species) and Selaginellaceae (3 species) while Equisetaceae, Isoetaceae, Lygodiaceae, Azollaceae, Marsileaceae, Salviniaceae, Dryopteridaceae and Woodsiaceae represents one species.Amongst these species of pteridophytes, maximum diversity was found in Dang (forest) District, Shoolpaneshwar wildlife sanctuary (Narmada district) and Wilson hills in Dharampur district of the state.In the present study about 08 species viz., Actiniopteris radiata (from Chotila, Than, Pavagadh, Chotta Udaipur and common in most part of the North Gujarat), Adiantum caudatum (frequently observed in most of the forest regions throughout the state), A. incisum (commonly observed in most of the forests throughout the state), Lygodium flexuosum presently observed throughout south Gujarat but expected in other parts), Pteris vittata (presently observed on the banks of major rivers and in rock crevices of south Gujarat forest and expected more in other parts), Selaginella ciliaris, S. delicatula and S. repanda (at several places in south Gujarat, Narmada district and expected other forests also) were added as new distributional record for the Gujarat state (Fig. 1-4).Some of the specimens collected from different forest regions were found to be biotypes of Ophioglossum (Fig. 5).Biotypes are the specimens that differ in size or shape of the particular organ like fronds or whole plant however they are identical in physiology physiological and anatomical characteristics (Anonymous, 2003(Anonymous, -2015)).Panigrahi and Dixit (1967) and Goswami (2007) reported occurrence of biotypes in the genus Ophioglossum.In the present study, we also noticed several variations in size of the specimen or number of tropophylls.(1918), Mahabale (1948Mahabale ( , 1963)), Chavan andPadate (1962, 1963) falls under RET category (Table 1).However, Equisetum debile, is regionally extinct in the wild while few saplings are under cultivation in the botanical garden of the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda.Earlier researchers reported 16 species of pteridophytes in wild, which represents a very poor status of pteridophyte diversity in the state (GEC, 1996, Modi, 2015).However from these 16 species, they identified four specimens only up to the generic level while other five species are the synonyms as per recent nomenclatural changes.During the present survey, most of the species were collected by us from the same or different localities as reported by earlier workers.However, we failed to recollect Isoetes coromandeliana and Equisetum debile from the reported localities.Both I. coromandeliana and E. debile lost their previously recorded habitat due to the urbanization and developmental policies such as road widening, water harvesting programs or habitat destruction due to deforestation and anthropogenic activities.Perusal of literature indicates that Isoetes coromandeliana at Harni (Gaekwad and Deshmukh, 1956, Chavan and Sabnis, 1961and GEC, 1996) and E. debile at Savali (Chavan and Padate, 1962, Padate, 1969and GEC, 1996) were commonly available in the aquatic pockets.Nevertheless, these localities are now converted into housing colonies as a suburban area of the Vadodara city.Thereafter, authors of the present study relocated this species from Talod and Vaktapur (Patel et al., 2015).Similarly, Ophioglossum gramineum was recorded by Chavan and Mehta (1956) from Harni village that has been now completely replaced with residential colonies and housing societies which resulted in loss of habitat forever.Nayar and Devi (1964) also documented Tectaria cicutaria from Girnar and other parts of Saurastra and Athyrium solenopteris from Girnar forest (Saurashtra region) of Gujarat.Chavan andPadate (1962), andPadate (1969), reported Equisetum debile from only one location i.e.Savli.Patel et al. (2015) worked on this species; however they could not found the same in wild after several visits on the same location, which indicates its extinction from its natural habitat.According to earlier reports, that Pteris vittata is cultivated as ornamental but in the present study we collected it growing wild in deep forest of Ahwa, Don, Waghai, Vansda, Kaprada forest and Wilson hills.It is also under cultivation throughout the state as ornamental in gardens as well as indoor plant.In 1996, Gujarat Ecological Commission (GEC) compiled pteridophyte diversity of Gujarat state and enlisted about 16 species belonging to 12 genera.We succeeded in the collection of all the species (excluding synonymous species and Equisetum debile) either from the same or another (new) location from the state (Table 1 Pteridophytes are plenty in the tropical, sub-tropical and moist deciduous forests of India.However, due to large scale destruction of forests has extremely affected the diversity of pteridophyte flora throughout the country.They flourish well in thick forests and their life-cycle depends upon the quality of forests.In the race of technology development and development of infrastructure facilities and anthropogenic pressure led to habitat destruction, which is consequently resulted in reduction in forest cover and destruction of natural habitat of many plant species.Several species of them are now rare or on the verge of extinction (Fraser-Jenkins, 2012).Based on the field observations, herbarium collections and available secondary data from the literature, Chandra et al. (2008), and Fraser-Jenkins, assessed the status of rare and threatened pteridophytes of India and Asia respectively.According to proposed list of Chandra et al., Ophioglossum gramineum and Isoetes coromandeliana falls under the category of endangered species.Recently, Fraser-Jenkins updated the status of pteridophyte and above said both the species are documented as "near threatened" species in Asian continents.After consulting local residents of Talod and Vaktapur, it is observed that population of I. coromandeliana has drastically decreased within last two years because of deepening of the water pond under rain water harvesting program.
According to guidelines of IUCN, red list categories (IUCN 2001(IUCN , 2012(IUCN , 2016) may be used unaltered at regional level except three categories viz.taxa regionally extinct (RE) i.e. taxa extinct within region but existing in other region, Extinct in Wild (EW) i.e. extinct in natural habitat but they are under cultivation and Not Applicable (NA) i.e. introduced taxa which are not eligible for assessment at regional level.Beside these categories, there are other possible categories to access the taxa regionally.These categories are as follows: Critically endangered (CR), Endangered (EN), Vulnerable (VU), Near threatened (NT), Least concern (LC), Data deficient (DD), Not evaluated (NE).Since, there are no studies on diversity of pteridophytes of Gujarat, their status falls under Data deficient (DD) or Not evaluated (NE).In the present study, we have kept those taxa in the Least concern (LE) category which are abundantly available in the forest areas while other genera which are either available in other areas but authors have not collected from that locality are kept in DD while species like O. gramineum and I. coromandeliana are extensively surveyed but found only at one or two locations respectively.As per IUCN guidelines (for regional level assessment), O. gramineum and I. coromandeliana fall under CE category and Lygodium flexuosum and Tectaria coadunata fall under EN.In contrast, E. debile is treated under regionally extinct in the wild (REW) since it is not found at the reported locality.For this purpose, we discussed with field taxonomist as well as local residents of that area from where Chavan and Padate (1962) and Padate (1969) collected E. debile and found that it is not available in wild.
In conclusion, studies on pteridophyte diversity in Gujarat state are completely neglected     side particularly from the forest department to formulate necessary action plan to conserve these species by legal protection to protect the species falling in RET category.On this line, we have started ex situ conservation of these species by multiplying them using conventional method and cultivating them in the university arboretum.We are also trying to conserve them by providing the saplings to individuals who are interested to cultivate ferns in their home garden or as an indoor plant.

Table 1 :
List of species reported by earlier workers and in the present study.Abbreviations: T= Terrestrial, L= Lithophyte, A= Aquatic and UC= Under Cultivation.Threat status as per regional level IUCN criteria: REW= Regionally Extinct in the Wild, CE= Critically Endangered, EN= Endangered, LC = Least Concerned, DD= Data Deficient.# may be typographical error in species name.*Species reported by earlier researchers with other name, which is synonym at present, ** Identification remains restricted up to genera level only.