Biodiversity of Assam is very rich in different types of flora and fauna. Assam is part of the transitional zone between the Indian, Indo-Malayan and Indo-Chinese Biographical regions. Assam also forms an important component of the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot.
The Protected area Network of biodiversity of Assam, comprising of the National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries comprise of 3925 sq. km. constituting about 5% of the total geographical area of Assam. It includes 7 National Parks and 18 Wildlife sanctuaries, 3 Tiger Reserves, 5 Elephant Reserves, 2 Biosphere Reserves and 2 World Heritage Sites.With the addition of two new national parks in 2021. Assam has became state that has third most National Parks after Madhya Pradesh and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Total number of National parks in Assam – There are total 7 National parks in Assam. Among these 7 National parks of Assam Kaziranga national park is the oldest national park in the state, it was declared as a national park in 1974 by the central government of India. The newest national park of Assam is Dehing Patkai National Park, it is the 7th National park of Assam.
List of National parks in Assam
1. Kaziranga National Park , located Golaghat, Nagaon and Karbi Anglong
2. Manas National park, Located in Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa, Bajali
3. Nameri National Park , Located in Sonitpur
4. Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, Located in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia
5. Orang National Park, Located in Darrang and Sonitpur
6. Raimona National Park, Located in Kokrajhar
7. Dehing Patkai National Park, Located in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia
Total number of Wildlife Sanctuaries in Assam – There are total 18 wildlife sanctuaries in Assam. And 2 proposed wildlife sanctuaries.
List of wild life sanctuaries in Assam
1. Panidihing Wildlife Sanctuary, located in Sivasagar district, Panidihing Wildlife Sanctuary is famous for migratory birds, it was established in the year 1995 with an area of 33.93 kilometres square.
2. Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary, located in Guwahat it was established in 2004 covers a area of 78.64-kilometer square, this wildlife sanctuary is famous for rare, endangered animals and birds.
3. Dihing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary, Located in Tinsukia, it was established in 2004 and covers an area of 111.19 km square. After that Dehing Patkai was announced as a Elephant Reserve under Project Elephant. And in 2021 it was declared as a National park.
4. Barali Wildlife Sanctuary, Located in Cachar district, Barali Wildlife Sanctuary was eastablish in the year 2004 with an area of 326.25 kilometers square. It is known for Tropical Moist Evergreen and Semi-Evergreen Forests.
5. Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, Located in Marigaon district, Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary is famous for the great Indian One-horned rhinoceros found in its area. It was establised in 1987 and covers an area of 38.81 km square.
6. Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary Located in Sonitpur district, It was established in 1998 and is known for its availability of the Indian Bison and Elephant. It has a area over 220 km sq.
7. Deepor Beel Wildlife Sanctuary Located in Kamrup district, It is recognized for being the staging site for migratory birds in the country. And deepor beel is the only ramsar site in Assam.
8. Barnadi Wildlife Sanctuary Located in Udalguri district, Barnadi wildlife sanctuary is known for the presence of rare species of Hispid Hare and Pygmy Hog in its region. It was established in the year 1980 and covers a land area of 26.22 km sq.
9. Lawkhowa Wildlife Sanctuary Located in Nagaon district. This wildlife sanctuary is well known for being the home of more than 225 species of birds along with Asiatic water buffaloes, the great Indian-one horned rhinoceros, royal Bengal tigers and elephants. It was establised in 1972 with an area expended about 70.14 km sq.
10. East Karbi Anglong Wildlife Sanctuary Located inKarbi Anglong district It is known mainly for the majestic Royal Bengal Tiger and also for other animals like the strapping Indian bison, Himalayan bear and imperial wild elephant. The east karbi anglong wildlife sanctuary was established in the year 2000 and this sanctuary has an area of 221.81 km sq.
11. Bherjan- Borajan Padumoni Wildlife Sanctuary Located in Tinsukia, This sanctuary is the home of leopard, slow loris, hoolock gibbon, rhesus macaque, capped langur and pig-tailed macaque. It was established in 1999 and consists of 7.22km land areas.
12. Chakrashila Wildlife Sanctuary Located in Kokrajhar district, The place is famous for golden langur. It was established in the year 1994 with an area of 45.56 km sq.
13. Burachapori Wildlife Sanctuary Located in Sonitpur district Burachapori Wildlife sanctuary is famous for different types of reptiles, birds and mammals. It was formed in 1995 with an area of 44.06kilometer sq.
14. Garampani Wildlife Sanctuary Located in Karbi Anglong district. The Garampani Wildlife Sanctuary is a popular sanctuary for its beautiful waterfalls and hot springs. It was announced in 1952 with an area of 6.05 km sq.
15. Nambor Doigrung Wildlife Sanctuary Located inGolagha, Nambor Wildlife Sanctuary has a area of 97.15 km sq. It was formed in 2003 and is famous for its hot water springs.
16. Marat Longri Wildlife Sanctuary Located inKarbi Anglong, The place is famous for its fauna of assam, such as Asiatic Elephant, Hoolock Gibbon, the Royal Bengal Tiger and Himalayan Black Bear. It was established in 2003 spreading an area of 451 km sq.
17. Hollangapar Wildlife Sanctuary Located inJorhat, was formerly known as Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary for being the home of india’s only ape species and the only nocturnal primate of North-eastern India called the Bengal slow loris. It was formed in 1997 and has a area of 20.98 km sq.
18. Nambor Wildlife Sanctuary Located inKarbi Anglong, It is famous for rare orchids, wild elephants, and different species of monkeys. This sanctuary was established in the year 2000 and covers a land area of 37km square.
Two proposed wildlife sanctuary of Assam are North karbi anglong wildlife sanctuary and Bordoibam bilmukh bird wildlife sanctuary.
List of Biosphere reserves of Assam
1. Manas National park
2. Dibru-Saikhowa National park
List of Ramsar sites of Assam
1. Deepor Beel
All this protected areas are impotant components of biodiversity of Assam
Biodiversity of Kaziranga National Park
The world famous Kaziranga National Park is home to the Big Five Mammals – Great Indian One Horned Rhinoceros, Asiatic Elephant, Asiatic Wild Water Buffalo, Eastern Swamp Deer and the Royal Bengal Tiger apart from this many important species such as the hog deer, sambar, leopard, reptiles, amphibians etc are also found in Kaziranga National park.
The Kaziranga National Park has the world’s highest population of the critically endangered Indian One Horned Rhinoceros and the Asiatic Wild Water Buffalo and have the world’s highest density of Royal Bengal Tigers per sq. km.
Kaziranga National park has 35 species of mammals including the big 5 mammals, 42 species of fishes, and 254 species of birds which includes the Bengal Florican. It is also UNESCO World Heritage Site which was declared in 1985 .
The Kaziranga National Park including the Laokhowa and Burhachapori Wildlife Sanctuaries. And kaziranga National park was declared as Tiger Reserve in 2007.
Biodiversity of Manas National Park
Manas National Park is also a Biosphere Reserve and forms a contiguous linear belt along the foot of Himalayas.
The floral diversity includes 543 plant species. The fauna species found in Manas National park are 60 mammalian species, 7 species of amphibians, 42 species of reptiles, 5 fish species, 327 species of birds and 103 invertebrate species.
The great Indian One Horned Rhinoceros is presently being reintroduced in Manas through the ‘Indian Rhino Vision – 2020’ programme.
Manas and Nameri National Parks were notified as Tiger Reserves in 1973 and 1985 respectively.
The Manas National Park has the distinction of having the highest number of endangered species.
Vascular plants in assam
A total of 4273 species of vascular plants have been recorded in Assam. This constitutes about 25% of total floristic wealth of India.
Angiosperms form the largest category of plants in Assam with a total of 3895 species including 154 species of primitive Angiosperms.
These are the most economically important plants of Assam and meet the demand for timber, ply wood, pulpwood, furniture and agriculture including for rearing of silkworm.
Orchids in Assam – As many as 293 species of Orchids are found in Assam which account for almost 25% of the orchid species found in India.
Bamboos in Assam – Altogether 38 species of naturally growing bamboo are found in Assam. Bamboos have a considerable importance in the socio-economic life of people in Assam. Bambusa jaintiana and Melocanna arundiana are the species of bamboos that are reported only from Assam.
Assam has 14 species of cane.
Medicinal Plants in Assam
Assam is home to a good number of medicinal plants.A vast number of these plant species are used by traditional village practitioners called Bej. These medicinal plants are also used in the preparation of Ayurvedic, Homeo pathic and Unani medicines. A total of 952 such medicinal plants species have been recorded so far. Some of the common me dicinal plants are Tulsi, Titaphul, Pipoli, Asoka, Mahabhringraj, Ada, Satmul, Loha-jam, Thekera, Dudhkuri, Chalmugra, Ban haldi, Bel, Hilikha, Bahera, Mejankuri, etc.
Flora and fauna in Assam
The diverse and luxuriant forests and grasslands of Assam provide ideal conditions and suitable habitat for a wide variety of fauna. Assam gives the gateway for spread of both oriental and palaearctic fauna to the different parts of the country.
The mammalian diversity of Assam is recorded to be 193 species so far. However, many of these species, such as the Indian One Horned Rhinoceros, Asiatic Wild Water Buffalo, Pigmy Hog, Swamp Deer, Golden Langur, Hoolock Gibbon, Royal Bengal Tiger etc. have their distribution limited to isolated pockets and protected areas due to habitat fragmentation. Other important mammals include Asiatic Elephant, Sambar, Spotted Deer, Clouded leopard, Marbled Cat, Golden Cat, Large Indian Civet, Binturong, Hog Badger, and Himalayan Bear etc. Assam is home to a number of primate species. Altogether 9 out of the 15 Indian primate species are found in Assam. The Hoolock Gibbon is the only ape species found in the country. Example of other primate species include Rhesus Macaque, Pig tail Macaque, Stump Tailed Macaque, Assamese Macaque, Slow Loris, Golden Langur, Capped Monkey and Golden Langur.
Bird diversity of Assam
Assam is rich in bird diversity and has many Important Bird Area (IBA) sites. About more then 600 bird species have been recorded till now in Assam which comprise of 53% of the bird species of the India. Of this, 17 bird species are endemic to Assam. On the other hand, 45 bird species from Assam are enlisted as endangered to highly endangered in the Indian Red Data Book. These include the Greater Adjutant, Lesser Adjutant, Bengal Florican, White Winged Wood Duck, Blyth’s Tragopan, Lesser White-fronted Goose, Marbled Teal, White Rumped Vulture, Longbilled Vulture, Beer’s Pochard, Palla’s Sea Eagle, Greater Spotted Eagle, Green Peafowl, etc.
Reptile diversity of Assam
Assam is home to a rich variety of reptilian population with 77 species of snakes and 19 species of tortoises and lizards are found in the state. Assam also has 70 species of Amphibians.
Fish diversity of Assam
The state is considered to be a hotspot of fresh water fish biodiversity.185 food, sports and ornamental fish species are reported from the State.The important ornamental fish species are Danio, Botia, Colisa, Chaca and Nemacheilus, Commercially important fish species include Pabha, Pabda Chital, Rohu, Katla, Magur, Singi, Sol etc.
Till now 39 species of freshwater snails have been reported from the state of which 10 species of snails that are used as food.
Butterfly species in Assam – Nearly 50% of the total 1500 reported species of butterflies have been documented in Assam and about 387 species of moths have been documented so far.