An unveil of Linnaean Shortfall: the discovery of new plant species from Kashmir Himalaya, India
by Tajamul Islam
One of the major gaps or shortfalls is the lack of taxonomic work, i.e. species descriptions called Linnaean shortfall. Plant discovery is the first and crucial step in plant conservation strategy. Until a species is illustrated, we cannot think about its conservation status or safeguard its survival. Once the species are described, it needs to be systematized into meaningful classification systems. These classifications provide expressive means to talk about plants and their diversity and are considered a basic need for other types of plant science. The case I am going to introduce here is the story of plant species discovery.
As we are familiar with, the current era is one of great environmental stochasticity with several effects, including the loss of biodiversity. However, researchers are keenly trying to combat, mitigate, quantify, and trace out the solutions for the escalating extinction rate being faced by biodiversity. I am one of them, a young and budding researcher that joined PhD programme on “Studies on taxonomic, functional trait diversity and ecosystem services of the flora of Overa-Aru Wildlife Sanctuary, Kashmir Himalaya” to explore the new plant species from Kashmir Himalaya. So far, I have reported two new records and also discovered two new novel plant species from Kashmir Himalaya.
The issue of biodiversity loss is one among three pillars (biodiversity loss, pollution and climate change) of the current scenario and is a crucial one. The sustenance and well-being of biodiversity underpin all life on earth, and its loss impacts everyone, especially indigenous peoples, whose cultures, languages, knowledge systems, and very identities are deeply interwoven with nature. So, in this scenario, the essence of plant species discovery will definitely halt the pace of biodiversity loss.
I belong to the Kashmiri Community residing in the lap of Pir Panchal mountain range of Himalaya. The majority of the population inhabiting the far-flung regions of Kashmir Himalaya are dependent on forest resources such as wild edibles, fuel, and fodder. Being a researcher recognized by a prestigious state university (Kashmir University), I started my journey of research as a plant taxonomist to explore the flora of Overa-Aru wildlife sanctuary, and I am still exploring. The said protected area seems to have a huge influx of tourists and grazers which makes the biodiversity threatened. This ignites my enthusiasm for discovering some new plant species in order to mitigate biodiversity loss. While exploring, I was blessed with a new novel plant species from the Royal Sar area of Pahalgam, which is located beside the majestic Mount Kolahoi. So here is the story and properties of newly discovered plant species.
As we know, the Indian Himalaya region (IHR) is the storehouse of many discovered and undiscovered novel plant species. To explore this repository, a plant exploration trip was planned far in the remote alpine zone (Royal Sar) of Overa-Aru wildlife sanctuary, Kashmir Himalaya, in the month of August 2020. Walked about 64 km (to and fro) by foot from Aru, Pahalgam through the dense forest trails, crossed several gushing streams, mountain cliffs and hillocks having rugged surfaces supplemented with whaleback rocks and water cascades; also beat the bright sunlight fed with high UV rays while walking through undulated pastures to reach the destination.
Along the trails of plant specimen collection, a small fascinating population of plant species from genus Swertia struck my sight and became limelight to satisfy the curiosity of new plant species discovery. But unfortunately could not make it possible that year as we failed to bring these specimens in hydrated condition. So, I spent that year with zeal and enthusiasm for making a discovery next year. Ultimately, to unveil the mystery, in the very next year in the same month, I visited the same place to collect the plant specimens, which were hitherto undiscovered, and it was fortunate to make it possible to analyze the diagnostic characters of the collected specimens. The microphotography of the diagnostic characters was carried out under a stereo zoom microscope (Make: Leica S9D, Germany) integrated with image processing software (LASX).
After perusal of existing literature and online floras, the collected specimen could not match with any of the existing known species of Swertia and is described as a new species (sp. nov) with the name Swertia pahalgamensis. It is a rhizomatous perennial herb about 50–80 cm tall. Stem erect, simple, hollow, glabrous, cylindrical in outline. Basal leaves are petiolate, 15–25 in number, and elliptic-spathulate. Cauline leaves are sessile in 3–6 pairs, elliptic to lanceolate. Inflorescence paniculate cyme. Flowers are pedicelate, tetramerous, pentamerous or rarely hexamerous, 20–40 in number; pair of nectaries are present just above the base of the petal, sub-confluent, viscous, round to cushion-shaped. Fruit is a capsule; seeds are oval-round, brownish, winged and flattened.
These newly discovered species are congeneric to Swertia chirayita, a store house of elite phytochemicals such as Amarogentin (the most bitter compound isolated to date), Swerchirin, Swertiamarin, and other bioactive compounds that significantly contribute to meeting the human healthcare needs. Its medicinal importance is well-documented in different medicinal systems such as the Indian pharmaceutical codex, the British, and the American pharmacopoeias and in different traditional medicine such as the Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha. This medicinal herb's different modes of herbal preparations were used in curing various ailments such as fever, malaria, bronchial asthma, hepatotoxic disorders, hepatitis, gastritis, constipation, hypertension, melancholia, and certain types of mental disorders, secretion of bile, blood purification, and diabetes.
Furthermore, recently, S. chirayita extracts showed promising activities against some lethal diseases including anti-hepatitis B virus (anti-HBV). So, being a sister species, the Swertia pahalgamensis is apparently a potential source of various phyto-constituents which would be used in treating the different ailments. So, it offers many promising prospects for both traditional and modern pharmacopoeias. Hence, it requires to be validated as a potential source of novel medicinal compounds on further bio-prospecting.
Although there were many species from genus Swertia dwelling in the sanctuary, the newly discovered species resembles them in some characters and is distinct in many characters. While making a discovery and naming of new plant species, the specific epithet ‘pahalgamensis’ is derived from the area of collection, i.e., Pahalgam (Kashmir Himalaya, India). It is a famous Himalayan tourist spot well-known for its picturesque beauty with temperate coniferous forests, pristine alpine lakes and snow-clad mountains. The new species is so far known only from the type locality, i.e., the Royal Sar area of Pahalgam in Kashmir Himalaya, India. I
In future, more extensive surveys in the study area and neighbouring regions may facilitate empirical evaluation of the conservation status for this new species. However, it is relevant to mention that the pastoralists use the type locality for livestock grazing and recently huge tourist influx may lead to its habitat degradation, which in the near future may endanger the existing natural populations of this newly described species. This novel finding has been recently published in the leading internationally reputed Journal (Phytotaxa), coauthored by Dr. Anzar Ahmad Khuroo and Prof. Irshad A. Nawchoo. This is our second species discovery belonging to this genus (Swertia) from Kashmir Himalaya. Hence, discovering every plant species escalates and augments the enthusiasm for plant exploration and species discovery in the blood of younger and budding plant researchers.
About
I, Mr. Tajamul Islam, is specialized in the identification of plant species, the taxonomy of plant diversity, functional trait diversity, ecosystem services and goods, ethnobotany, ethnomedicine and traditional knowledge across Kashmir Himalaya, statistical data analysis and data presentation, mapping using Q GIS and Arc GIS software, plant reproductive ecology. Tajamul Islam perceiving Ph. D at Department of Botany, University of Kashmir (Srinagar, India) from 2019- till the present. During his research career, he has published 11 peer-reviewed articles and 4 peer-reviewed book chapters. Among these, Tajamul Islam published four articles in high-impact journals. He attended the ‘National Workshop on “Taxonomy and nomenclature” in Calcutta, India, which refined his research interest. He has mentored 18 M.sc students who studied Reproductive ecology, Ethnomedicine, Ecosystem services and goods and Functional trait diversity of plants across the Kashmir Himalayas. Tajamul Islam has been an active team member of one of the International Union of Conservation of Natural Resources (IUCN) and World Commissions on Protected Areas (WCPAs). Besides, Tajamul Islam has received a certificate of appreciation from IUCN as a volunteer. He has led national projects —Worked as DBT JRF and Research Scholar under title “Florestic studies of Overa – Aru Wildlife Sanctuary, Kashmir Himalayas”. Also, a project during in masters on “ Phenotypic variabililty and Phenology of Urtica dioica concerning the altitudinal Variation ”.