INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS - India Environment Portal
INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS - India Environment Portal
INDIAN SCIENCE CONGRESS - India Environment Portal
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Section XIV : Plant Sciences 9<br />
hard wood trees, however, only few are reported on conifers. They may be weak<br />
parasites or parasites on roots of hard woods causing root rots. Only few are<br />
terricolous, associated with termite nests. ‘Wuling Ginseng’ (Xylaria nigipes) is<br />
mentioned as medicinal and edible mushroom in Chinese literature. As many as 39<br />
species of the genus have been previously reported by various workers, from<br />
different regions of <strong>India</strong>. . Out of which only nine were reported from Western<br />
Himalayas. During the last three decades, extensive fungal forays have been<br />
undertaken by the author and his students to collect and study these fungi from<br />
various localities of Western Himalayas. Great diversity was noticed in the<br />
morphology and distribution pattern of the taxa within the genus under different<br />
altitudnal zones viz. tropical, sub-tropical, temperate and alpine zones. Zone wise<br />
analyses of the species has also been done. An illustrated account of 31 species<br />
of the genus, based on himalayan collections, has been given in this paper. A key<br />
to all the reported species from the region is also included. 22 species are new<br />
reports for western Himalayas, while 19 species are new records for <strong>India</strong>. Three<br />
species have been reported as new species.<br />
10. Plant Biodiversity and Impact of Biotechnology on Biodiversity<br />
C. M Govil<br />
Department of Botany,<br />
C. C. S. University,<br />
Meerut-25000-1<br />
Keywords : Biodiversity, megacentres, flora fauna, conservation, threatened species<br />
Biodiversity can be measured at any level from over all global biodiversity<br />
to ecosystem, community, species, population, individuals and even to gene within<br />
a single individual. A region with large number of individual species is said to be<br />
biologically diverse, and a species with large number of interpopulation differences,<br />
when each population gets genetically diverse is called genetic diversity of<br />
species. Biodiversity is the foundation of the earth and is crucial to the functioning<br />
of ecosystem which provides us with the products and services without which we<br />
could not live. It provides us oxygen, food, fresh water, fertile soil, medicines,<br />
shelter, protection from storms and floods, stable climate and recreation. All these<br />
have their source in nature a healthy ecosystem. We depend on it for our