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Eco-distribution mapping of medicinal plants of conservation concern of Southern India
D. K. Ved, Vijay Barve, S. Noorunnisa Begum,
Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions,Bangalore
India is well known as the "Emporium of Medicinal Plants". The Indian sub continent is one of the most distinct bio-geographic regions of the world, with a rich repository of Medicinal Plant species. According to All India co-ordinated project on ethno-biology over eight thousand plant species of India have been documented to be in medicinal use in the various indigenous medicinal systems. As a consequence of unregulated use of these plants, their populations are heading towards alarming depletion, coupled with fragmentation of their natural habitats.
Medicinal Plants are distributed across diverse habitats. More than 2000 medicinal plants
are estimated to be present in these southern Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka and
Tamilnadu. These are distributed across the different forest types of the region ranging
from Wet evergreen to dry deciduous forest.
Understanding of natural distribution pattern and Eco-climatic limits of these taxa helps in formulation of their conservation strategies. With the help of data on distribution pattern and availability of the species, historic as well as current, the causes for its reduction in number and rarity can be diagnosed. Identification of zones of speciation and demarcation of hotspots of biological diversity, covering all kinds of habitats that are rich in biological diversity also aid in the conservation measures.
The conservation efforts are best aided by vegetation and land use maps. Thus the need for mapping the distribution pattern of the species crops up. Systematic mapping of the occurrence of the species in an area provides distribution patterns related to the ecological parameters. It gives an insight into the region where the conservation has to be initiated. This also provides information on the extent of protection required.
In this paper we are presenting how FRLHT is using GIS for Eco-distribution mapping of prioritizes medicinal plants of Southern India.
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