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Conservation assessment of Ficus cupulata: a narrow range endemic species of Central India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2022

Amber Srivastava Open the ORCID record for Amber Srivastava [Opens in a new window] ,
Dibyendu Adhikari Open the ORCID record for Dibyendu Adhikari [Opens in a new window]  and
Vijay V. Wagh Open the ORCID record for Vijay V. Wagh [Opens in a new window]
Amber Srivastava
Affiliation:
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research–National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India vijay.wagh@nbri.res.in
Dibyendu Adhikari
Affiliation:
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research–National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India vijay.wagh@nbri.res.in
Vijay V. Wagh
Affiliation:
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research–National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India vijay.wagh@nbri.res.in
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Abstract

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Type
Conservation News
Information
Oryx , Volume 56 , Issue 4 , July 2022 , pp. 490 - 491
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence CC BY 4.0.
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International

Ficus cupulata Haines is a rare, endemic tree species of Central India. It was first described by Haines in 1914 based on his collections from Panchmarhi hills of Madhya Pradesh. It was recollected 86 years, in 2002, later by Khanna & Kumar from Rorighat near Panchmarhi. This species was considered endemic to Madhya Pradesh until Khanna & Kumar also reported it from Orchha forest division in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, in 2009. The species is allied to Ficus benghalensis L. and Ficus mollis Vahl in its growth form, habitat, and morphological appearance, but is distinct from both in having cupulate bracts in the fruits.

Ficus cupulata came to our attention when we were working on the traded forest flora of Madhya Pradesh, a project funded by Madhya Pradesh Biodiversity Board, Bhopal (Grant no. MPSBB/AMS (PRJ)/2020/2100). We subsequently undertook field surveys, during 1 October–20 December 2021, in various parts of Madhya Pradesh to locate the species. We found F. cupulata in 15 locations in Panchmarhi Biosphere Reserve and the Tamia region of Hoshangabad and Chhindwara districts, respectively, but despite several surveys we could not locate the species in the Orchha forest division.

Ficus cupulata Haines: (a) habit, (b) fruits. Photos: Amber Srivastava.

We recorded a total of 585 mature individuals in a total surveyed area of 1,500 km2, and estimated area of occupancy and extent of occurrence to be 64 km2 and 409 km2, respectively. Based on these findings, we recommend that F. cupulata should be categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List based on criteria B1b(iii)c(iv)+2bc(iii); C2b. The species’ restricted distribution range and small population size, and existing threats, warrant immediate conservation action. As the species was not under ex situ conservation in any botanical garden, we collected planting material (stem cuttings and saplings) of the species from Panchmarhi and introduced it to the botanical garden of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research–National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow. Plantlets raised in the botanical garden will provide propagation and research material for future studies of this species.

This is communication number CSIR-NBRI_MS/2022/03/01 of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research–National Botanical Research Institute.