Phytosociological studies of the sacred grove of Kanyakumari district, Tamilnadu, India

Sacred groves are forest patches conserved by the local people through religious and cultural practices. These groves are important reservoirs of biodiversity, preserving indigenous plant species and serving as asylum of Rare, Endangered and Threatened (RET) species. The present study was carried out in Muppuram coastal sacred grove of Kanyakumari district to reveal the plant diversity, structure and regeneration pattern of trees using quadrate method. About 102 plant species were recorded from the total area (0.2 ha) of the grove studied. The vegetation of the grove clearly indicates tropical dry evergreen forest. Malvaceae was the dominant family. Young plant species were dominating than older ones (> 160 cm). To avoid the rapid environmental degradation of the sacred grove, conserving the groves is urgent and it is necessary to conduct more researches on this grove as well as other groves of the district