Plant Biodiversity of Kothamangalapatti Karuppar Sacred Grove in Pudukkottai District, South India

Natural vegetation on the south-eastern coast of peninsular India has now been reduced to patches, some of which are preserved as sacred groves. These are the best examples for natural conservation subtended by belief system. These groves now play a vital role in the conservation and preservation of local species diversity. The plant biodiversity and population structure of woody plants (>20 GBH) in Kothamangalapatti sacred grove, occurring 18 kilometers away from Pudukkottai in Tamilnadu state of India have been analysed. A total of 680 individuals of angiosperms have been enumerated from this grove. The taxonomic and conservation values of the taxa were also assessed from the data.