Database Report

Maharashtra savannas -- herbaceous vegetation of Maharashtra's old growth savannas

Ashish Nerlekar & Avishkar Munje

GIVD Database ID: AS-IN-002	Last update: 2025-02-27
Maharashtra savannas	Web address: ashishnerlekar3@gmail.com
Database manager(s): Ashish Nerlekar (ashishnerlekar@tamu.edu); Avishkar Munje (avishkar.munje@gmail.com)
Owner: Ashish Nerlekar and Avishkar Munje
Scope: We sampled 15 old-growth savanna sites in western Maharashtra, India by following a stratified random sampling approach to understand the composition of the herbaceous layer. To select sites that confirm to the idea of old-growth savannas (Veldman et al. 2015; Frontiers in Ecology & the Environment, 13), we ensured that: a) Sites were free from exogenous anthropogenic disturbances (e. g. tillage agriculture, mining, settlements), as verified from either historical Google Earth imagery or a recently published map that identifies extant savannas by filtering exogenous disturbances (Madhusudan & Vanak 2022; Journal of Biogeography, 49) or communicating with botanists who know the land use history, b) Sites were grazed and/or burnt (i.e., intact endogenous disturbances; Buisson et al. 2019; Biological Reviews, 94), c) Sites had minimal (<10%) exotic invasive species. We sampled 15 old-growth savanna sites, and each site had three 20 meter long transects, and each transect with seven 1 sq m quadrats. Thus each of the 315 releves has a unique combination of site x transect x quadrat. In each quadrat (releve), the herbaceous layer (plants with height < 1.5m) was sampled by visual estimatives of the percentage cover of every species in every plot (modified Brau-Blanquet % cover scale). All vascular plants were identified at the lowest taxonomical level as possible.
Abstract: This dataset consists of herbaceous vegetation data for 15 old-growth savannas in western Maharashtra, India.
Availability: according to a specific agreement	Online upload: yes	Online search: yes
Database format(s): Excel	Export format(s): Excel
Plot type(s): normal plots	Plot-size range (m²): 1 to 1
Non-overlapping plots: 315	Estimate of existing plots: 315	Completeness: 100%	Status: finished
Total no. of plot observations: 315	Number of sources (biblioreferences, data collectors): 1	Valid taxa: 160
Countries (%): IN: 100
Formations: Non Forest: 100% = Terrestrial: 100% (Non arctic-alpin: 100% [Natural: 100%])
Guilds: all vascular plants: 100%
Plot size categories (%): 1-10 m2: 100%;
Environmental data (%): altitude: 0; slope aspect: 0; slope inclination: 0; microrelief: 0; surface cover other than plants (open soil, litter, bare rock etc.): 0; other soil attributes: 0; soil pH: 0; land use categories: 100; soil depth: 0
Performance measure(s): cover: 100%; number of individuals: 0%; measurements like diameter or height of trees: 0%; biomass: 0%; other: 0%
Geographic localisation: GPS coordinates (precision 25 m or less): 100%
Sampling periods: unknown: 100%
Information as of 2026-06-14; further details and future updates available from http://www.givd.info/ID/AS-IN-002

Ashish Nerlekar* (ashishnerlekar@tamu.edu)
Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, 77843 College Station, UNITED STATES
Avishkar Munje (avishkar.munje@gmail.com)
Fergusson College, INDIA
* corresponding author