Account of wetland flora of Devgad Island, off Karwar, Karnataka

The maritime state of Karnataka is situated between 11° 31' and 18° 45' N and 74° 12‘ and 78° 40' E along the south-western peninsular India. The state consists of three coastal districts, namely Uttara Kannda, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada. There are eight islands off Karwar, the district head quarter of Uttara Kannada District. These tropical islands are confined between 140 45’ N to 140 55’ N and 740 00’ to 740 07’ 30” E. The vicinities of these islands are key areas where commercial fishing is concentrated and these islands also act as refuges for many commercial and ecologically important flora and fauna. Devagad Island, regionally known as Devagadagudda Island, is one of the important Oyster rock Islands, with light house in it. This island is a reserve forest which covers 2.5 sq. km. with 41m elevation above MSL. The climate is wet monsoon type, with average total rainfall of around 3000mm/yr and temperature range between 20 0C to 38 0C. Though this island is important from the ecological and economic point of view, no detailed study is conducted to know the floral and faunal diversity of this island. Hence a study was conducted to assess the floral diversity of the island with special emphasis on the wetland floral diversity