The impact of traditional conservation practices on species composition and diversity patterns of sacred swamps in the central Western Ghats, India

Sacred forests are of immense value for their ecosystem functions. Traditional indigenous conservation practices have helped to maintain biological diversity over centuries and have resulted in the preservation of some of the best patches of natural vegetation. Species that are endemic and restricted only to certain ecosystems find refuge in the micro-climatic conditions of sacred groves and many rare species are found here. Here, we compared species composition, floristic structure, diversity, and occurrence of amphibians, insects (odonatan) and birds in ten sacred swamps and ten non-sacred swamps in the central Western Ghats region, India. The sites were chosen based on similarities in distance from roads, village settlements, or commercial orchards and size. In the sacred swamps, 122 plant species from 99 genera and 58 families occur compared to 83 species from 72 genera and 47 families in the non-sacred swamps. Tree stem density was 277 individuals/ha in sacred swamps against 158.4 in nonsacred swamps. Average basal area was 47.57 m(2)/ha in sacred swamps and only 14.60 m(2)/ha in non-sacred swamps. Regeneration of swampy species is much better in sacred swamps showing a positively skewed distribution of individuals over all classes. Sacred swamps have a higher number of endemic species (28%) when compared to non-sacred swamps. There exist significant differences in the Shannon index of species diversity of amphibians and birds between sacred and to non-sacred swamps. We conclude that the traditional belief system of treating the swamps as sacred has helped to protect these ecologically important forests. Sacred forests are of immense value for their ecosystem functions. Traditional indigenous conservation practices have helped to maintain biological diversity over centuries and have resulted in the preservation of some of the best patches of natural vegetation.