HERB DIVERSITY AND THEIR MEDICINAL USES IN BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION AREA OF JNANABHARATI CAMPUS, BANGALORE UNIVERSITY, KARNATAKA

Abstract

Unnoticed, breeding beneath the canopy in the woods, the herb layer serves a special role in maintaining the structure and function of forests, this stratum remains an underappreciated aspect of forest ecosystems. The Bangalore University, Jnanabharathi campus, historically being a scrub forest facilitating the growth of enormous vegetation ranging from large canopied trees to understory layer comprising of herbs and grasses. The present study was intended to assess the herbs diversity, richness and medicinal use to emphasize its role in tropical dry forest ecosystems, using a quadrate method. A total of 61 species were recorded, comprising of 52 species of herbs, representing 28 families, of which (77%) belongs to native and (23%) exotic (non-native) category. In addition to herbs four species of grass and five climber species of procumbent were also recorded in the same quadrate. Desmodium triflorum with1014 individuals and (IVI = 11.76) was found to be dominant species followed by Evolvulus alsinoides, Vicoa indica and Calyptocarpus vialis. Astraceae and Fabaceae was the most abundant family followed by Lameaceae and Acanthaceae. The diversity indices were estimated to determine the richness, diversity and evenness of herbaceous species, among three sectors, sector-1 is found to have Shannon index of 3.14 and Simpson index of 0.95, where highest Evenness index of 0.64 was associated with sector-3 followed by Sector-8 and Sector-1. From the study it was also revealed that all the three sectors were significantly depicting clumped or contagious pattern of herb distribution. The study indicates that understory herbaceous layer plays very important role in regeneration of canopy species in scrub forest and it support regeneration of many medicinal herbs. Hence University authorities should protect herb layer from fire, grazing and other anthropogenic disturbances.