Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant Memorial Lecture: II

orchids, fern, especially tree ferns, terminalias, oaks, laurels, rhododendrons, magnolias
and lot of other species. There are a number of gymnosperms not found in Western
Himalaya like Larix, hemlock, chinese spruce, fir, Cephalotaxus, Podocarpus and
Gnetum. There are over 26 species of bamboos in this region and very few in Western
Himalaya but none in Kashmir. While the eastern part has its distinctive flora, it does
have elements of the original Gondwanaland flora, which came with peninsular plate
when it struck against the Assam region. The plate carried with it the well developed
Podocarpus flora. However, there is no worthwhile palaenotological evidence of its
fauna. One would assume, it did have faunal elements of the Gondwanaland, having
affinities with Madagascar and African continent. The drifting continent was partly
submerged and perhaps had some original elements, particularly invertebrates and
amphibians, which were lost after its collision with the Asian mainland.
With the rise of Himalaya, exchange of biodiversity (faunal and floral) with the
northern Asia (Palaeoarctic Realm) was separated from the southern flora and fauna
which was essentially African. There has been far more spread of the biodiversity of the
Indo- Chinese affiliation from the east through the forested foot hills of the Himalaya.
These elements were of recent origin and were dynamic and radiating. On the other
hand, the original Indian biodiversity was indeed ancient and rather stable. Therefore, it
is not surprising to find many of the dominant species in the Indian subcontinent being
of Indo- Chinese origin.
In India, Himalaya start in the West from Naga Parbhat (8126m at present in the
Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) to its eastern limit in the Arunachal Pradesh. The mountain
ranges runs through Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Hills of Uttar Pradesh
and West Bengal, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. In wider sense, also include other
North-Eastern states of India, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Triura and
Mizoram. In vertical cross-section, Himalaya extend from Indian plains to Tibetan
Highlands in four almost parallel ranges from South to North (Fig. 3). These are:
Fig.3
A generalized north-south cross section of Himalaya source: Wadia, 1975
- Outer Himalaya or Siwalik ranges which are low lying foot hills, with a width
ranging from 10 to 60 km and an altitude not more than 1000m
- Middle or lesser Himalaya about 60 to 80 km in width and an altitude averaging
3500m. These fall in Jammu- Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and
Nepal.
- Inner or Great Himalayan range. This is high mountain range, about 120 to 140
km in width.
- Trans-Himalayan Region. This is about 40 km wide. This region is located
beyond Great Himalaya and covers Ladakh and the Tibetan Plateau covers. The
whole area is a big river basin and is not less than 4000m high.
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