FERNS: A THRIVING GROUP OF URBAN DWELLERS.
SHAIESH MORAJKAR *
Rondano Biodiversity Research Laboratory, Department of Research and Post Graduate Studies in Biotechnology, St. Aloysius College (Autonomous), Mangalore 575 003
SUDHA SAJEEV *
Rondano Biodiversity Research Laboratory, Department of Research and Post Graduate Studies in Biotechnology, St. Aloysius College (Autonomous), Mangalore 575 003
SMITHA HEGDE *
Rondano Biodiversity Research Laboratory, Department of Research and Post Graduate Studies in Biotechnology, St. Aloysius College (Autonomous), Mangalore 575 003
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Geological, ecological and evolutionary factors have resulted in patchy habitats, creating disjunct distribution and endemism in fern biodiversity. With the creation of new habitats by manmade activities, these plants are now subject to survival by selection and adaption. The site of study, Mangalore is a city on the threshold of transition from a sleepy coastal town to a smartcity. It is located in the foothills of the central part of the Western Ghats. The fern flora of the region was studied. Eleven families of ferns are reported, several of them well adapted and thriving in the urban disturbed habitat. They are resiliently growing on concrete surfaces, tiles and metal pipes. They also colonise moist compound walls, avenue trees in the city and busy highways, crowded city parks, domestic gardens and drinking water wells with equal panache.