STUDY AREA

The Central Western Ghats of Karnataka state comprise a significant portion of the Western Ghats and are bestowed with rich floral and faunal diversity. The Uttara Kannada district, lying between 13.9220^o N to 15.5252^o N and 74.0852^o E to 75.0999^o E, is northernmost coastal district of the state and a major chunk of central Western Ghats is embedded in the district. Topographically, the district can be divided into 3 distinct zones namely narrow and flat coastal zone, abruptly rising ridge zone and elevated flatter eastern zone. The district is known for its dense forest cover which encompasses more than 70% of the total geographical area of the district. Taking into consideration various phenological and ecological conditions, the forests of Uttara Kannada can be divided into moist type (evergreen, semi-evergreen and moist deciduous) and dry type (dry deciduous and thorny forest). Champion and Seth (1968) identified the major vegetation of Uttara Kannada as west coast evergreen/ semi-evergreen forest while Pascal (1982) in his vegetation maps (on 1:250000 scale) identified the vegetation of Uttara Kannada as belonging to the Persea-Diospyros-Holigarna series of wet tropical forest. The evergreen to semi-evergreen forests forms a major portion of the district especially towards the west which experiences heavy rainfall. As rainfall declines towards the eastern portion, the forests change from moist deciduous to dry deciduous types. Most of the forests towards the western portion are considered to be of secondary nature owing mainly to the slash and burn cultivation practices which were prevalent up to the mid of 19^th century and thereafter in an attenuate form until the close of the century. These forests today are in different stages of secondary succession, and in many places appear like the primary forest itself (Chandran 1997; 1998). The current study highlights the vegetation status, diversity and their conservation aspects in the selected forest patches in the Ankola-Yellapur stretch (Uttara Kannada) merging with portions of the Deccan Plateau in the Dharwad district towards the northeast, Shimoga district in the centre and Haveri district representing different altitudinal gradients, and affected by various levels of anthropogenic pressures.