Sacred groves of Central India: Diversity status, carbon storage, and conservation strategies

Abstract

Sacred groves (SGs) play an important role in the conservation of local biodiversity and provide numerous ecosystem services worldwide. We studied how the ecological status of Central Indian SGs contributes to regional tree diversity and carbon (C) storage. We inventoried the trees in fifty‐nine SGs of Madhya Pradesh and recorded a total of 109 tree species (90 genera, 40 families). The most species‐rich families were Fabaceae, Combretaceae, Malvaceae, and Moraceae. The tree density ranged from 75 to 925 individuals ha−1 (mean: 398 ± 32 individuals ha−1), while basal area varied from 2.5 to 69.2 m2 ha−1 (mean: 24.2 ± 1.9 m2 ha−1). The total C stock {tree C + soil organic C (SOC; 0–30 cm)} ranged from 44.7 to 455.4 Mg C ha−1 (mean: 153.8 ± 9.6 Mg C ha−1) across the SGs. The studied SGs represented 74.7% of the total tree diversity and contained 33.1% higher total C stock than the forests of the state. Tree C stock was significantly positively correlated with tree basal area, distance from the nearest village, and number of years of existence. The present study highlights the crucial role of SGs in sustaining regional biodiversity and storing C in biomass and soil. Continued conservation efforts and contained interventions by people are necessary in order to maintain the current role of these SGs as biodiversity and carbon reservoirs of Central India.

Biodiversity of India: Evolution, biogeography, and conservation

“…Aditya and Ganesh (2022) report high overlap in human and herbivorous mammal activity in the northern Eastern Ghats that needs to be taken into consideration when planning conservation programs. Dar et al (2022) show that 75% of the regional tree diversity is found in the 59 sacred grove forests that they studied in Central India highlighting the importance of these ecosystems in biodiversity conservation. Lone et al (2021) demonstrate that invasion of Lantana camara significantly decreases the density, basal area, species richness, and evenness of saplings and juvenile trees and herbaceous plants, increases soil organic carbon, nitrogen, and moisture and decreases pH in forests in Central India, thereby underscoring the environmental impact of the invasive species on Indian forest ecosystems.…”