Ficus L. as a Keystone genus in Sacred groves for sustaining Avian diversity: A case study in Some parts of Lower Gangetic Plain
Dibyendu Sekhar Mahanty
Plant Physiology, Plant Biochemistry and Plant Molecular Biology Laboratory Post Graduate Department of Botany, Barasat Government College, Kolkata-700124 (India) *Author for Correspondence : dibyendu.mahanty@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Owing to rapid destruction of habitat avian population has undergone a sharp decline in the recent years. Urbanization, population pressure, developmental works in connection with urbanization like construction of mass homes, high rise buildings, roads, stadium, playground have reduced the local vegetation. A sacred grove is any grove of trees, shrubs and herbs of special religious importance to a particular culture. Sacred groves are patches of primeval forest that some rural communities protect as abodes of deities. Such “ecosystem people” draw their livelihoods from nearby resources and value nature for the ecological services it provides16. The devastating impact of pollution, supplemented by deforestation can only be restored by green lung area of the sacred groves which, besides providing numerous tangible products remains the storehouse of the life gas–oxygen. If these storehouses are not properly managed and conserved, the future generation will definitely be deprived off this valuable asset3. The research paper intends to study the positive impact of genus Ficus L. in sustaining avian population in the lower Gangetic plain of West Bengal. It was seen that tree species Ficus L. genus is directly supports the avian population and diversity like the same way water bodies supports the migratory birds. It was observed that the sacred groves with Ficus trees facilitates a greater frequency of avian visit and also support more than double the number of birds visiting a sacred grove with no species Ficus. Plantation of such keystone genus like Ficus is accomplished, biodiversity would be flourishing and conserved with certainty