SURVEY OF TREES AND SHRUBS IN MARUNGOOR, KANYAKUMARI DISTRICT, TAMIL NADU, SOUTHERN INDIA

India is one of the twelve mega-biodiversity countries in the world, which has very rich floral vegetation with variety of plants of high economic value including plants of medicinal importance. Present survey was conducted in the plant species (Trees and Shrubs) growing in their natural habitats like grounds, roadsides, open land, home gardens. Plant specimens were collected (depending upon their availability) from the area under investigation. These specimens were identified and photographed. Maximum plants have been photographed in their natural habitat whereas others in the laboratory conditions. The present study site had a high species diversity for both tree and shrub species. Probably, the high species diversity for trees and shrubs could be attributed to the many tributaries and streams that empty rich organic content and mineral resources utilized by the species for growth and production. It is therefore recommended that measures to foster partnership between the community and other stakeholders in natural resources conservation in the areas should be encouraged to ensure sustainable natural resources management in the areas.


INTRODUCTION
Nature has blessed India with a wealth of medicinal plants, thus being designated as "Medicinal Garden of the World" (1). Since ancient times human health was taken care through traditional plant medicines (2,3). Indian floral diversity may be due to variety of habitats and variable environmental and geographical conditions (4). Studies of forest flora provide useful information on several aspects related to species diversity like dominant families, life-form status etc. The most dominant life form was trees (36.9%), followed by shrubs (22.7%), grasses (17.1%), herbs (13.6%) climbers (8.5%) and sedges (1.1%) (5). Vegetative survey of Kunckles valley recorded a total of 204 flowering plant species in 70 families. Eighty-nine (44%) species are endemic to Sri Lanka, while 39 (20%) are nationally threatened. Among them 148 trees, shrub species identified are 74 (50%) have not been recorded during previous floral surveys of the Kunckles forest reserve, while 115 (78%) are common to the lowland rain forests of southwestern Sri Lanka (6).

Description of the study area
The present study was carried out in Marungoor Panchayat and Agastheeswnram Taluk of Kanyakurnari District. Marungoor, is a panchayat town near Suchindrum in Kanniyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu. The place sprawls over an area of about 10 km². Suchindram is about five km south-west of Marungoor. As of 2001 India census, Marungur had a population of 10,096 and most of them are farmers Males constitute 49% of the population and females 51%. Marungur has an average literacy rate of 82%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 85%, and female literacy is 80%. The annual rainfall of this area is low when compared to other areas of the Kanyakumari District. Its latitude and longitude are 8.23738 and 77.33989 respectively.

Floristic survey
Present survey was conducted in the plant species (Trees and Shrubs) growing in their natural habitats like grounds, roadsides, open land, home gardens. Plant specimens were collected (depending upon their availability) from the area under investigation. These specimens were identified and photographed. Maximum plants have been photographed in their natural habitat whereas others in the laboratory conditions. All species have been designated to their corresponding families. Plant species were also differentiated on the basis of their habit. Herbarium sheets were prepared and documented. Identification was done with the help of different floras Gamble and Fischer (7), Mathew (8), Nair and Henry (9).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Total 78 plant species belonging to 43 families and 70 genera were recorded from the study site (Table 1). The most dominant life form was *Correspondence: V. Mary Kensa, P.G. Department of Botany and Research Centre, S.T. Hindu College, Nagercoil -629 002, Tamil shrub (57.5%) followed by trees, (30.8%), and climber (8.97%), herb (2.6%) ( Table 2). Out of 78 plants, 75 were angiosperms and three gymnosperms. The contribution of dicotyledons was 89.74% and monocotyledons 10.25% (Table 3). Apocynaceae was the most dominant family with 6 species and 5 genera and other main contributing families were Euphorbiaceae (4 genera and 5 species), Annonaceae (1 genera and 3 species) Bignoniaceae (3 genera and 3 species), Caesalpiniaceae (2 genera and 4 species), Rubiaceae (4 genera and 4 species), Verbenaceae (3 genera and 3 species) (  The Apocynaceae were observed to be the most prevalent family. This may be due to their fast germination ability, associated with symbiotic properties which have enabled species to easily establish within habitat types. This finding was in line with the works of Deka et al. (10), on vegetative assessment of tree species and shrubs indicating that legumes were the prominent species recorded in the study area. Moraceae, Meliaceae and Papilionaceae also their ability to produce numerous seeds which was eventually establish at suitable sites. This result was confirmed by Khan et al. (11) while working on regeneration and survival of tree seedlings in tropical forests. The reasons for the low number of species observed in some families could be attributed to diseases and browsing by The present study site had a high species diversity for both tree and shrub species. Probably, the high species diversity for trees and shrubs could be attributed to the many tributaries and streams that empty rich organic content and mineral resources utilized by the species for growth and production. Giliba (16) found that edaphic parameter (soil nutrients) played a major role in species richness and establish-ment in an ecosystem. The reasons for the poor establishment of some families which showed lowest species may be attributed to competition for nutrients, limited light by canopy trees and destruction of undergrowth during tree snapped and logged on the forest floor. Egbe et al. (17) mentioned similar reports in a disturbed and natural regeneration forest in Korup. National Park and Coley and Barone (12) also recorded anthropogenic activities affecting growth and distribution of species.

CONCLUSION
Human activities including unsustainable resources exploitation in communities has greatly depleted the resources base of the community forest. However, tree species had the highest population density in the study area followed by the shrubs species. It is therefore recommended that measures to foster partnership between the community and other stakeholders in natural resources conservation in the areas should be encouraged to ensure sustainable natural resources management in the areas. Furthermore, public enlightenment on the need for sustainable natural resources exploitation should be intensified in the area to raise the level of awareness of the locals; also there is need for the provision of alternative means of livelihood for the local populace to reduce their rate of dependence on the available resources of the forest. Finally, afforestation and re-afforestation programs should be timely carried out to rehabilitate the degraded ecosystem.