Myristica ''Myristica'' is a genus of trees in the family Myristicaceae. There are over 150 species, distributed in Asia and the western Pacific as far as Vanuatu. The type species of the genus, and the most economically important member, is ''Myristica f ...

'' swamps are a type of

freshwater swamp forest Freshwater swamp forests, or flooded forests, are forests which are inundated with freshwater, either permanently or seasonally. They normally occur along the lower reaches of rivers and around freshwater lakes. Freshwater swamp forests are foun ...

predominantly composed of species of ''

''. These are found in three localities in India. ''Myristica'' swamps have adapted to inundation by way of stilt roots and knee roots. ''Myristica'' swamps are found in the

Uttara Kannada Uttara Kannada is a fifth largest district in the Indian state of Karnataka, It is bordered by the state of Goa and Belagavi districts to the north, Dharwad District and Haveri District to the east, Shivamogga District, and Udupi District to ...

district of

Karnataka State Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

and in the southern parts of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. Recently it is found in village Bambarde, in Maharashtra's Sindhudurga district.

History

''Myristica'' swamps were described as a separate

evergreen forest An evergreen forest is a forest made up of evergreen trees. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as conifers and holly in cold climates, eucalyptus, live oak, acacias, magnolia, and banksia in more temperate zo ...

type by Krishnamurthy in 1960. These received attention in 1988 when Rodgers and Panwar described it as the most endangered forest

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

in India. The swamps in Karnataka has been studied in detail by Chandran, MDS and his colleagues in 1999.Chandran, MDS, Mesta, DK, Naik, MB. 1999. Myristica swamps of Uttara Karnataka District. My Forest 35(3):217-222.Kerlalapages.org ''Myristica'' swamps, Karnataka
/ref> Myristica swamp in Arippa forest

Nair, PV and his team has conducted a detailed study on the flora and fauna of the ''Myristica'' swamps of southern Kerala in 2007.Kerlalapages.org ''Myristica'' swamps, Kerala
/ref> In Kerala, the Myristica swamps are found predominantly in

Kulathupuzha Kulathupuzha is a town in the eastern part of the Kollam district of Kerala, India. It is one of the important pilgrim spots linked with the legend of Sabarimala. It is the birthplace of the Malayalam music composer Raveendran. Kulathupuzha is t ...

, Anchal and Shendurney regions of

Kollam Kollam (;), is an ancient seaport and the List of cities and towns in Kerala, fourth largest city in the Indian state of Kerala. Located on the southern tip of the Malabar Coast of the Arabian Sea, the city is on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake ...

district. Nair PVand Pandalai carried out successful re-introduction of one of the swamp tree species in 2012.

Mapping

The swamps occur on either side of first order streams. The swamp boundary can be seen distinctly in the field due to the stilt roots. Chandran and his colleagues were able to locate 51 swamps in

. They were able to show them on maps, and describe location, but exact boundary mapping was not attempted. Mapping by Nairpv and colleagues in 2007 was more detailed and they mapped 60 swamps using

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide geol ...

technology. The swamps ranged in area from about 0.25 to 10

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

s. The swamps are distributed in two river systems spread over two districts. Boundary mapping has revealed that the total area of Myristica swamps in

is about 1.5 km2 which hardly make up 0.004% of the total land area of

(38,864 km2) and 0.014% of the total forest area of Kerala (11,126 km2). The swamps in Karnataka are located at about 300m altitude, the swamps in Kerala are at an altitude of 200m.

Flora

Chandran and his colleagues give detailed description of the

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

. They found that 63 of 130 flowering plants identified are endemic to Western Ghats of India. Major species of trees were '' Gymnocranthera canarica, Myristica fatua,

Mastixia arborea ''Mastixia arborea'' is a species of plant in the Nyssaceae family. It is found in India and Sri Lanka. References arborea Arborea is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Oristano, Sardinia, Italy, whose economy is largely based on ...

, Semecarpus travancorica,

Hopea wightiana ''Hopea wightiana'' is a species of plant in the family Dipterocarpaceae. It is endemic to India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-large ...

, Lophopetalum wightianum, Holigarna grahami, Sysygium laetum'', etc. Studies by Nair and colleagues in southern Kerala in 2007 documents eighty two trees and ninety four species of herbs/shrubs. Forty nine

lianas A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...

have also been recorded. Twelve of these plants species have been redlisted and about 28 species of them are endemic to Western Ghats. Out of the 19 sample plots, '' Gymnacranthera farquhariana'' was dominant in 10 plots. '' Myristica fatua'' was the dominant tree in 6 swamps. In the remaining plots, ''

Vateria indica ''Vateria indica'', the white dammar, is a species of tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae. It is Endemism, endemic to the Western Ghats mountains in India. It is threatened by habitat loss. It is a large canopy or emergent tree frequent in tropic ...

'' was the dominant tree. '' Holigarna arnottiana'' and '' Lophopetalum wightianum'' dominated in another two plots.

Fauna

Nair and colleagues in southern Kerala in 2007 focussed on fauna also. Faunal biodiversity of the Myristica swamps consisted of

Platyhelminthes Platyhelminthes (from the Greek πλατύ, ''platy'', meaning "flat" and ἕλμινς (root: ἑλμινθ-), ''helminth-'', meaning "worm") is a phylum of relatively simple bilaterian, unsegmented, soft-bodied invertebrates commonly called f ...

- (Bipalium-2, tapeworm-1) 3 species,

Nemathelminthes The nematodes ( or ; ; ), roundworms or eelworms constitute the phylum Nematoda. Species in the phylum inhabit a broad range of environments. Most species are free-living, feeding on microorganisms, but many are parasitic. Parasitic worms (helm ...

– 1 species,

Annelida The annelids (), also known as the segmented worms, are animals that comprise the phylum Annelida (; ). The phylum contains over 22,000 extant species, including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to variou ...

(

Oligochaeta Oligochaeta () is a subclass of soft-bodied animals in the phylum Annelida, which is made up of many types of aquatic and terrestrial worms, including all of the various earthworms. Specifically, oligochaetes comprise the terrestrial megadril ...

-2and

Hirudinea Leeches are segmented parasitic or predatory worms that comprise the subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the oligochaetes, which include the earthworm, and like them have soft, muscular segmented bo ...

-2) 4 species,

Mollusca Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

- 10 species, Unidentified

Crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

-1 species,

Insecta Insects (from Latin ') are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed leg ...

- 281 species belonging to 83 identified families,

Myriapoda Myriapods () are the members of subphylum Myriapoda, containing arthropods such as millipedes and centipedes. The group contains about 13,000 species, all of them terrestrial. Although molecular evidence and similar fossils suggests a diversifi ...

- 6 species and Arachnidae 54 species,

Pisces Pisces may refer to: *Pisces (astrology), an astrological sign Astronomy *Pisces (constellation), a constellation ** Pisces Overdensity, an overdensity of stars in the Milky Way's halo that is situated in the Pisces constellation ** Pisces II, a ...

14 species,

Amphibia Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniotic, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all tetrapods, but excluding the amniotes (tetrapods with an amniotic ...

56 species,

Reptilia Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocephalia. About 12,000 living spe ...

55 species,

Aves Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight ...

129 species and

Mammalia A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three middle ear bon ...

27 species. Joyce Jose, Ramachandran, K. K. and Nair, P.V. 2007. A rare and little known lizard, ''Otocryptis beddomi'' from the Myristica swamps of Southern Kerala, India. The Herpetological Bulletin 101:27-31. Quantitative analysis of

herpetofauna Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (incl ...

revealed that the differences in the environmental characteristics inside and outside the swamp play an important role in regulating the species diversity and abundance of both

amphibians Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

and

reptiles Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

Amphibians Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

were more susceptible to environmental changes. Patterns of diversity and abundance during day and night, across swamps and among months varied. There was no significant difference in patterns of diversity and abundance recorded during the two years. Many of the animals documented belong to

red list The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological sp ...

and

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

categories.

Conservation

Nair and colleagues in southern Kerala highlight the enormous

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

of the Myristica swamp forests. The study also indicates that there are gaps in information which can be filled up only with further studies in this region. A challenge is how further studies can be carried out without disturbing the delicate ecosystem of these swamps. A pertinent question is whether all human entry should be banned into the best and least disturbed patches of swamps, leaving only the disturbed patches for human visits (tourism and academic study). Conservation of these small and scattered swamp patches must also address the contiguous areas. Strategies for management and conservation have been suggested in the above context.

References