Vegetation of Kalyana Karnataka Region, India

Understanding the diversity of vegetation is a useful tool in plant ecology and forestry to compare the composition of different species. Kalyana Karnataka region is one of the largest arid regions in India. The natural vegetation can be seen mostly in the valleys and hill locks only. The forest vegetation generally falls under Southern tropical dry deciduous forest and Southern tropical thorn forests. Dry deciduous forests are found in small blocks almost throughout the area but the mere composition is at Chincholi in Kaluburagi district, Khanapur and Changler in Bidar District and Sandur and Sogi in Bellary. Trees of this region are generally drought resistant with wide distribution and have great adaptability (Anogeissus latifolia, Soymida febrifuga etc.). The occurrence of teak (Tectona grandis) in low to fair amount characterizes this type. Yadgir, Raichur and Koppal district comprising predominant thorny and hardwood species, main components are Acacia chundra, A. leucophloea, Albizia amara, Ixora arborea, Cassis fistula etc.; this can be classified as thorn forests. Associated and encountered shrubs and herbs in the region were also recorded. Interestingly, few insectivorous plants viz., Drosera indica, D. Burmanii, Utricularia species are found. Pteridophytes like Isoetes coramandaliana, Selaginella bryopteris, Pteris jeranifolia, Adiantum incisum etc. are creating botanical interest about the forest vegetation of Yadgiri and Raichur district.


Introduction
Vegetation is an assemblage of plants growing under similar climatic conditions. The composition of vegetation depends on the assemblage of species population of a particular type and in turn the spatial distribution pattern of species population depends on the dispersal capacity of the species, the microclimatic condition in which it grows and other biotic factors Vegetation also play an important role in soil formation.
North-Eastern Karnataka is comprised of 6 districts of Karnataka state viz. Bidar, Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, Bellary (Fig-1) as listed from north to South. Physiographically North-Eastern Karnataka falls in the 'Maidan' or the plain country and is mainly an inland plateau. The main features of plateau landscape are either flat or rolling, extensive plains between 300-900 m altitude. The peninsular plateau constitutes the largest physiographic division of India and consists of South Deccan plateau as one of its five sub-divisions, of which the Karnataka plateau is one of the constituents. There are some terrains in the southern part of the region (Singh, 1988).  Geologically, this area varied from region to region, Bidar and Kalaburagi districts covered by dark coloured, large sheets of basic lava about 60 million years. A few of the economically important schist belts in the area are small bands of Kushtagi, Maski and Raichur. Small running bands of Sandur and copper mountain range and the Pennar-Hagari band in Ballari district. According to Raychaudhuri and Satyaprasad (1963) North-Eastern Karnataka has four types of soils. i) Laterite soils found in Southern Bidar and parts of Kalaburagi districts. ii) Red soil is found in almost all areas of the region except parts of Bidar and Kalaburagi districts. iii) Mixed red, yellow and grey soils are sedentary soils formed from the underlying, mostly granitic, parent rocks seen in parts of Raichur district and iv) Black soils are mainly found in the northern half besides on eastern and western boundaries of Ballari district.
The climate of North-Eastern Karnataka is generally dry, that can be classified as semi-arid. This area belongs to low rainfall area, receives rainfall from both South-West and North-East monsoon, South-West monsoon is responsible for maximum precipitation, and, the annual average rainfall is 668 mm. The mean daily maximum temperature ranging from 25.3 to 29.7 0 C and daily minimum temperature ranging from 15.6 to 17.7 0 C.
Ahmed, (2012) analysed the forest vegetation in Ranikhet, Kumaon Himalayas, Uttarakhand. Bhuyan et al., (2003) studied the tree diversity and population structure in undisturbed and human-impacted stands of tropical wet evergreen forest in Arunachal Pradesh, Eastern Himalayas, India. Tree species richness varied along the disturbance gradient in different stands. Kumar et al., (2006) studied the tree species diversity and distribution patterns in tropical forests of Garo Hills, Western Meghalaya, Northeast India. They found that the main vegetation of the region included primary secondary forest and Sal (Shorea robusta) plantations.
The structure of forest vegetation in India has been studied by several workers (Meher-Homji, 1973; Saxena and Singh, 1982;Singh and Singh, 1986). Singh and Singh (1987) have extensively reviewed studies on vegetation of the Himalaya including information on phytogeography, structure and functional aspects. Garga, (1988) have revealed the status of forests in India. Gaussen (1965) have worked maping of vegetation and environmental conditions of the world and in particular reference to India.
Kharkwal and Rawat, (2010) studied the structure and composition of vegetation in sub-tropical forest of Kumaun, Himalaya. They found that Quercus leucotrichophora A. Campus, Quercus floribunda Lindl. ex Rehder, Quercus semecarpifolia J.E. Smith and Pinus roxburghii Sarg. were the dominant tree species in Banj-oak, Tilonj-oak, Kharsu-oak and Chir-pine forests respectively.
Some of the botanical exploration works have been attempted in the region by Singh (1988), Saldanha (1984), Gamble (1915-36) and Khan (1953). These workers have highlighted the areas in their works.
Considering the heterogeneity of forest landscapes, soils diversity vegetation structure and their ecological, economical and academic importance, no significant efforts have made by earlier researchers due to various reasons.
Detailed survey of vegetation will provide valuable information for forest assessment and improve our knowledge by the identification of ecologically, useful species as well as species of special concern, thus identifying conservation efforts for sustainability of riparian forest biodiversity. Hence, an attempt is made to provide comprehensive and unified account on vegetation of this region which in turns helpful for researchers, foresters, and students which are involved in the botanical studies.

Description of the Study Area
The study was carried out in Kalyana-Karnataka region earlier it was known as Hyderabad Karnataka. The largest city of the the region is Kalaburagi falls in Latitude: 17°20′08″ N Longitude 76°50′15″ and altitude ranges from 300 to 750 msl. Total area of the region is 44,138 km 2 of which 1247.88 km 2 area is of forest cover. The highest forest cover is in Bellary district (739.22 km 2 ) and lowest in Koppal district (88.42 km 2 ). The most important factors determining the conditions of plant life in this region are attributed to low or scanty rainfall with long continuous drought period of six months besides high temperatures, especially during the summer seasons.
The region is endowed with diverse climate, topography and soils which has resulted in varied biodiversity. The diverse ecological niches support characteristic flora and fauna. The semi evergreen forests of the Sandur-Kumarswamy Hills cover about 60% of forest area of the region followed by Konchavaram forest of Chincholi taluk of Kalaburagi district (Chincholli Wildlife Sanctuary) (Fig-3).
Most of the areas of the region are subjected to different kinds of disturbances i.e., human induce or anthropogenic activities.

Field Work and Sampling
The survey had been planned in such a way to cover all the possible forest area of the region viz., Kalaburai Yadgir, Raichur, Bidar, Bellary and Koppal during all the seasons. A comprehensive and exhaustive data of the vegetation of the entire forest area was collected from 2014 to 2019. Fidelibus and Mac Aller (1993) have agreed that in a study site quadrates can be established regularly, subjectively or randomly.
The floristic and physiognomic characteristics were studied and recorded during the said period. The structural physiognomy of each plant species encountered were grouped into broader classes based on their height and growth form viz., tree (woody plants taller than 1.5 m), shrubs (woody plants from 0 to 1.5 m), herbaceous and grasses.
A stratified random sampling approach was established. A squared field plot of size 20m x 20m (Standardised Quadrat Sstructure) were inventoried. Each laid plot constitutes the tree species and their properties, i.e., canopy cover, density, and species composition etc. and sample plots were laid according to the recommendations of Gibbs Russell et al. (1985) (Plate-1). During the survey, most of the species were identified and recorded on site, if immediate identification was not possible, specimens were collected for later identification with keys.

Identification of Plants
The plants from the study sites were identified with the aid of regional floras (Hooker, 1897;Saldanha, 1984Saldanha, & 1996Singh, 1988;Gamble and Fishcer 1935;Seetharam et al., 2000). In the taxonomical survey the rare plants are identified with the help of red data book and other literature surveys.

Results and Discussions
According to Champion and Set (1968) the vegetation of Northeastern Karnataka which is includes Hyderabad Karnataka (Now it is renamed as Kalyana Karnataka) province. The region comprises Bidar, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal, Bellary and Kalaburagi that are in the present state of Karnataka and is the second largest arid region in India. Vegetation generally falls in to two regions viz., southern tropical dry deciduous forest and southern tropical thorn forest.

Southern Tropical Dry Deciduous Forest
The dry deciduous forests are found in small blocks almost throughout the area but to a much limited extent and the best ones are at Chincholi in Gulbarga district and Sandur and Sogi in Bellary districts.  Common Trees: Anogeissus latifolia is most common and found associated with Albizia amara, Terminalia alata, Chloroxylon swietenia, Hardwickia binata, Soymida febrifuga mixed with Accaia chundra, and Shorea roxburghii. Also found Pterolobium hexapetalum. General composition is similar to teak type, including shrubs, climbers, herbs and grasses.

Southern Tropical Thorn Forests
Widely scattered thorn forests in the present area are very open having thorny and hardwood species as its predominant and are generally short mixed with composed of thorn/prickly plants and are less in numbers. Such type of forests can be seen in Yadgir and Raichur district flora.

Conclusions
Many studies confirmed that forests have an important role in maintaining the productivity of the environment; Plants serve as a standing cover to protect the land forms wind and water erosion, stabilizing the water cycle, facilitate the process of evaporation, and keep the soil porous.
Kalyan  (Fig: 4 & 5).  One of the most important factors determining the conditions of plant life in this region is low or scanty rainfall with long continuous drought period of more than six months besides high temperatures, especially during the summer seasons. These are supplemented by the prevalence of poor soils. The natural vegetation in the areas at present can be seen mostly on the hill locks only.
The forest being open, allow a lot of scope for the invasion of fresh entrants.
These floristically rich forests shrinking like any other forests due to climatic and anthropogenic factors, the dry deciduous forests degraded to thorn scrubby jungles and to barren grass lands. Various factors threat to degrade the forests like fire is the regular occurrence, mining operations, illegal cuttings, collection of fire wood, encroachments, grazing etc. are main threats. Hence it needs immediate action to conserve the forest areas.