Saturday, 12 March 2022 | PNS | Roorkee
There are 304 species of flora and fauna have been recorded on the campus of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee. This was revealed in the biodiversity report of flora and fauna on campus released by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII). The study was sponsored by IIT Roorkee and is the first such documentation of the biodiversity of the campus. WII was entrusted with the task of carrying out the biodiversity inventory of the 175 years old campus where an important discovery was also made- the finding of Typhoniuminopinatum, a herbaceous plant belonging to the family Araceae (Arum). This is the first record in Uttarakhand, according to the institute.
The five-month long floristic survey revealed a diverse assemblage of plants belonging to trees, shrubs, herbs as well as woody and herbaceous climbers. A total of 304 species belonging to 237 genera and 87 different plant families were recorded within the campus. Of these, the majority are represented by flowering plants or the angiosperms -291 species, while gymnosperms i.e. cone-bearing plants were represented by 9 species. Pteridophytes which include ferns and their kin were represented by mere 4 species. Amongst the floral types, trees were the most dominant with 140 species, followed by herbs – 91 species, shrubs – 45 species, and 28 species of climbing plants. Further, the floristic diversity on the campus is dominated by exotics and most of which are ornamental species.
The report follows a sequence from lower taxa (plants) to the higher taxa (vertebrates). Brief accounts of select species of each taxa group that were recorded on campus along with a checklist of the same are provided. Additionally, other than for plants, plates containing photographs of the different species recorded on campus are also provided. IIT Roorkee director, professor Ajit Kumar Chaturvedi said, “Human influence is accelerating climate change, thus raising serious environmental concerns globally. Thus, it was time to look back to nature to adopt more sustainable ways of living, keeping in mind the future of our planet. It all starts with one’s immediate surroundings and fortunately for us our IIT Roorkee campus is blessed with large green areas which rightly qualify our campus as an urban greenspace. And to further our consistent efforts to protect the environment, a collaborative study with the WII was initiated and the result is an inventory of the floral and faunal wealth of the campus. Through this document, I am sure many of our faculty, students and staff, and others within the campus, and elsewhere, will be further inspired by nature.”
The WII director Dhananjai Mohan remarked, “Spread over 365 acres and located amidst the rapidly growing Roorkee city, the IIT Roorkee campus is found to support a diverse variety of flora and fauna. I am thankful to the IIT Roorkee director for giving us an opportunity to document the various flora and fauna of the IIT campus. I hope this publication will be liked by one and all and will help in inculcating interest in the conservation of nature by the campus inmates.”
