An assessment of the population status of the threatened medicinal plant Illicium griffithii Hook.f. & Thomson in West Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh, India

Abstract

Illicium griffithii Hook.f. & Thomson, a medicinal plant of the family Schisandraceae, is an Endangered species listed by the IUCN. A decline in population of this plant due to climate change as well as increasing human influences on the natural resources has been a matter of great concern among the researchers. In order to estimate the existing population of this plant, a field-based study employing linear transect method was conducted in four phases, May–June 2017, May–June 2018, April–May 2019, October–November 2019 covering an area of 700km² (approx.) in West Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh that lies within the Himalayan biodiversity hotspot. The study recorded 3,044 live individuals of I. griffithii including 1,372 seedlings, 1,358 saplings, and only 314 mature trees. Additionally, 126 dead trees were also recorded. The study confirmed that the plant has a good regeneration rate but with a poor survival rate of saplings. Besides, large-scale collection of its fruits for trade and anthropogenic disturbances in the study area appears to be the major threat to its existing population. Therefore, proper training of the local people on large-scale cultivation of this plant together with awareness towards judicious harvesting of fruits from the wild may be the significant approach to conservation.