ALBERT

Description:  Sacred groves are important repositories of rare endangered endemic plants and floral diversity that have been conserved by the local people or communities in a sustainable manner. Sri Umakotilingeswara Swami Temple is a famous Siva Kshetra located in Vizianagaram district of the Andhra Pradesh, India. This holy shrine is situated in the Punyagiri hills, 4 kms away from the Srungavarapu Kota and 62 kms away from the Visakhapatnam (a coastal city of Andhra Pradesh). Two study sites were selected, one was in the sacred grove region another was in forest region. Line transects were used for collection of data on species richness and diversity of the flora. Density and basal area were more in the sacred grove region than the nearby forest region. Some important medicinal and valuable plants were reported in this region, plants such as Saraca asoca (Roxb.), Diospyros peregryna (L.), Sterculia urens (Roxb.), Cleistanthus collinus (Roxb.), Ficus relisiosa (L.), Strublus aspera (L.), Chloroxylon swietenia (L.), Firmiana colorata (Roxb.), Albizia odoratissima (L.), Dalbergia paniculata (Roxb.), Dalbergia sisso (Roxb.), Azadiricta indica A. Juss., Diospyros chloroxylon (L.), Holoptelea integrifolia (Roxb.), Mangifera indica (L.), Eucalyptus globulesv(Labelle), Bombax ceieba (L.), Aegle marmelos, Ailanthus excelsa and some important pteridophytes and Bryophytes were reported in the sacred forest of the Punyagiri hills. Extension of the temple buildings and other developmental activities may be threat to the sacred groves. Invasion by the exotic weeds may further degrade the structure and composition of the sacred forests as a whole.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v4i1.12176 International Journal of Environment Volume-4, Issue-1, Dec-Feb 2014/15, page: 30-47