Flora of Fergusson College campus, Pune, India: monitoring changes over half a century

Abstract

<p>The present study was aimed at determining the vascular plant species richness of an urban green-space- the Fergusson College campus, Pune and comparing it with the results of the past flora which was documented in 1958 by Dr. V.D. Vartak. For this, the species richness data was obtained by both secondary sources and intensive surveys from 2009–2014. The data from the primary and secondary sources resulted in the documentation of 812 species belonging to 542 genera under 124 families, of which 534 species (65.8%) exists today as compared to 654 in 1958 (net loss of 120 species). Of the 812 species listed, 278 species were observed only during the past, 210 species were exclusively recorded in the current survey and 324 species were observed both, in the past as well as current survey. Arboreal species richness recorded till date (196) in the campus accounts for 40.7% of that of the entire Pune City. Leguminosae and Poaceae were the dominant dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous families respectively and an inventory of all the species recorded is provided. Although the botanical garden over the past years has lost 187 species, it still houses rare species such as <em>Acacia greggii,</em> which has been reported from Maharashtra for the first time. Considering the rapidly changing urban land use in the city, much attention should be paid towards the conservation of these green spaces, for which such studies provide baseline data.</p><div> </div>