The Impact of Traditional Conservation Practices on Species Composition and Diversity Patterns of Sacred Swamps in the Central Western Ghats, India

Abstract Sacred forests are of immense value for their ecosystem functions. Traditional indigenous conservation practices have helped maintaining biological diversity over centuries and have resulted in the preservation of some of the best patches of natural vegetation. Exclusive taxa find refuge in the micro-climatic conditions of sacred groves and many rare species are found here. Ten sacred swamps and ten non-sacred swamps in the central Western Ghats region, India, with a similar distance from roads, village settlements, or commercial orchards and with nearly the same size, were compared with regard to their species composition, floristic structure, diversity, occurrence of amphibians, odonates and birds. In the sacred swamps, 122 plant species from 99 genera and 58 families occur against 83 species from 72 genera and 47 families in the non-sacred swamps. Tree stem density was 277 individuals/ha in sacred swamps against 158.4 in non-sacred swamps. Average basal area was 47.57 m 2 /ha in sacred swamps and only 14.60 m 2 /ha in non-sacred swamps. Sacred swamps have higher number of endemic species (28%) when compared to non-sacred swamps. We conclude that the traditional belief system of treating the swamps as sacred has helped to protect these ecologically important forests.