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The term "biodiversity" refers to the sum total of all living organisms on earth. It also refers to the interactions between these organisms and their surroundings. All the species are not present at one place. The occurrence of a species depends upon the range of environmental conditions it can tolerate. Biodiversity conservation refers to the preservation and management of biological diversity in order to gain resources for a sustainable development. Today there is a dire need to conserve biodiversity at all levels of the ecosystem as it is getting depleted at a much faster rate and the accusing finger directly points out to human activities. India is a land of rich biological diversity and therefore contributes significantly to global biodiversity. Rajasthan in India though has significant desert area and less forest cover, it still is a home to a wide variety of flora and fauna. My present study encompasses on the biodiversity conservation and sustainability with special reference to the Flora of Aravalli ranges of Rajasthan which harbours a panoptic range of flora.

The main aim of my research was to study the Biodiversity and the threat posed to the Aravallis of Ajmer region of Rajasthan.

Rashmi  Sharma,  Garima Kumari Chaumal  and  Ashok Gupta  (2020) in  their  research  article  mentioned  that  aravallis  should  be  protected  from  mining  and  strict  laws  should  be  laid  down  for  this  purpose  and  if  mining  is  not  stopped,  this  area  will  soon  be  transformed  into  desert.

S. S. Katewa, B. L. Chaudhary, A.  Jain  and  P.  Galav  (2003).  documented  the  aboriginals  of  the  Aravalli  hills  of  Mewar  region's  valuable  traditional  knowledge  about  the  applications and qualities  of  wild  plants.  The  paper  also  goes  into  the  current  role  of  plants  in  the  production  of  traditional  commodities,  as  well  as  some  of  the  specialised  skills  that  go  into  making  them.  C.  Sudhakar  Reddy,  S.  L.  Meena,  P.  Hari  Krishna,  Prabhu  D.  Charan and  K. C. Sharma  (2012)  investigated  the  habitat,  distribution,  and  regeneration  of  Commiphorawightii  (Arn.)  Bhandari  (Burseraceae)  in  Rajasthan,  India,    in  order  to  enhance  conservation  measures. D. U. Hooper,  F. S. Chapin III, J. J.  Ewel,  and  others  in  2005  studied  the  impact  of  biodiversity  on  the  functioning  of  ecological  system.  Dar,  Jamal,  Alhazmi,  El-Sharnouby,  Salah,  &  Sayed,  S.  (2021)  determined  various  factors  such  as  diversity,  richness  and  distributional  pattern  of  moths  in  Aravalli  Hill  Ranges  of  Rajasthan.

Invasion  by  the  species  cause  extensive  effects  on  the  habitats  they  invade,  like  impact  on  indigenous  species  diversity,  soil  nutrient  composition,  altering forest fire cycles and loss of  productivity  of  invading  ecosystems.  Alien  species  like  Lantana  camara,  Prosopisjullifloraand  Partheniumhysterophorous    can  rapidly  achieve  high  densities  and  therefore  have  greater  establishment  success  and  dominate  invaded  communities  to  the  exclusion  of  indigenous  species.

Nag pahar near Pushkar is densely populated with local flora .The beauty of Nag pahar lies in the thick flora which surrounds it. Field surveys in the vicinity of Nag pahar (Aravallis) were conducted during different seasons from April, 2018 to March, 2021. The area was surveyed in two ways - (I) Walking on existing forest tracts and recording the observed species and (II) Walking on the unknown tracts, off the tracts into the vegetation and recording the observed species. Quadrats of 10m×10m size were prepared at four sites to calculate plant population density and frequency and the data was recorded. During this study, a total of 14 plant species including 11 trees and 3 shrubs belonging to 8 families were studied.

Aravalli  ranges  have  witnessed  negative  impact  on  forest  ecosystems  posed  by  human  activities.  These  activities  are  generally  deleterious  to  biodiversity  and  pose  a  threat  to  local  flora  and  also  causes  economic  losses.  According  to  some  earlier  surveys  conducted  by  researchers  under  the  guidance  of  Ex  Vice  Chancellor,  Dr.  K.  C.  Sharma,  MDS  University,  Ajmer,  in  Nag  pahar  area,  more  than  2000  native  plant  species  ,having  ayurvedic  properties,  were  marked  in  red  zone  (extinct  or  endangered)  due  to  alien  species  invasions.  About  14  local  plant  species  were  surveyed  and  have  been  recorded  which  have  become  scarce  in  recent  years  due  to  foreign  invasions.  Six  species  belong  to  family  Fabaceae,  two  to  family  Moraceae  and  one  each  to  family  Ramnaceae,  Capparaceae,  Lamiaceae,  Sapotaceae,  Boraginaceae  and  Rutaceae.   

Table  1:  List  of  14  local  plants  studied  in  the  Aravallis  which  have  become  scarce  due  to  invasions  by  alien plants.

S.No.	Species  Name	Common  Name	Family	Habit
1	Dalbergia sisoo	North  Indian  Rosewood	Fabaceae	Tree
2	Zyzipus nummularia	Jujube	Rhamnaceae	Shrub
3	Cassia fistula	Golden  Shower	Fabaceae	Tree
4	Capparis  decidua	Kair	Capparaceae	Shrub
5	Tectona grandis	Teak	Lamiaceae	Tree
6	Acacia nilotica	Gum  Arabic	Fabaceae	Tree
7	Butea monosperma	Flame  Tree	Fabaceae	Tree
8	Bauhinia variegata	Mountain  Ebony	Fabaceae	Tree
9	Madhuca indica	Mahua	Sapotaceae	Tree
10	Ficus religiosa	Sacred  Fig	Moraceae	Tree
11	Ficus benghalensis	Banyan  Tree	Moraceae	Tree
12	Ehretia laevis	Chamror	Boraginaceae	Tree
13	Aegle marmelos	Golden  Apple	Rutaceae	Shrub
14	Tamarindus indica	Tamarind	Fabaceae	Tree

Hansa Meena  in  2017  examined  the  effects  of  climate  change  on  biodiversity,  as  well  as  investigated    biodiversity  protection  and  the  implications  of  government  policies  in  the  Thar  Desert.  R.  Bhardwaj,  S.  Dutta K.  Sharma,  M.  Dayanand  in  2011revealed  that  unrestricted  harvesting,  overexploitation,  early  harvesting,  overgrazing,  burning,  and  other  factors  have  caused  a  number  of  economically  and  medicinally  significant  plants  in  the  central  aravalli  region  to  become  rare,  vulnerable,  and  endangered.  Gaury&  Devi  (2017)  gave  precise  information  on  the  composition  of  each  plant  species  at  the  Aravalli  Mountain  Range  in  Haryana,  India  ,  which  is  necessary  for  developing  conservation  strategies  for  plant  biodiversity  preservation  and  restoration.

Table  2:  Plant  population  density  and  percentage  frequency  of  the  above  mentionedplants  were  analysed  as  follows:

 

From  the  above  table  it  is  interpreted  that  Aegle  marmelos  shows  100%  frequency  and  hence  is  widely  distributed  in  the  Aravallis  whereas  the  distribution  of  other  species  like  Zyzipus nummularia,  Cassia  fistula,  Capparis  decidua,  Tectona grandis,  Acacia  nilotica,  Butea  monospermaand  Bauhinia  variegatais  comparatively  less (75%) and  Dalbergia sisoo, Madhuca indica, Ficus religiosa, Ficus benghalensis, Ehretia laevis, Tamarindus indica are  even  lesser  (50%).

The status of biodiversity of a country determines it’s ecology and economy. Natural resources are under increasing strain as the human population grows and socioeconomic development accelerates. This has resulted in habitat deterioration and the extinction of species. Sharma and Upadhyay in 2014 pointed out the role of a botanist in conservation of biodiversity in Rajasthan. He said that it is easy for a botanist to fight against biodiversity as he has a proper understanding of the physiological and ecological requirements of plants, their distribution status, importance, and the species that require immediate measurers and conservation methods, they would play a critical role in conservation, bio-prospecting, and sustainable utilisation of plant diversity. AndrewWarren and Clive Agnew in 1988 talked of land degradation and desertification in the arid and semi-arid areas and said that these are serious menace to sustainability. The conservation of biodiversity is a collective responsibility of all citizens. Government has planned and adopted many conservation strategies to protect the flora of Aravalli ranges. Biodiversity, in all of its forms, including wild and domesticated animals, is currently under decline. Despite the fact that residents of the region face problems due to a lack of resources, villagers' attitude toward protection of nature and existing biodiversity are ambivalent. People in general do not appear to be concerned about the region's loss of biodiversity. This could be attributed to a loss in biodiversity's direct contribution to promoting people's quality of life. It is concluded that habitat loss and fragmentation, over-exploitation and alien species invasions are the basic causes of biodiversity loss in the Aravalli ranges. Looking at the present scenario, when the indigenous flora of various localities in the hill tracts of Aravallis is declining, immediate understanding for it”s conservation and sustainability, is the need of the hour. We humans get countless and direct or indirect benefits from nature and plants with whom we share this planet. It is our moral responsibility to care of their good health so that sustainability is maintained. Furthermore, prompt efforts are intended in this direction so as to preserve what is left with us as these plants are important for many ecosystem functions. This highlights the importance of biodiversity as a driver of ecosystem functioning also in real-world systems. Petra Mass in 2008 looked into the role of indigenous people and their unique knowledge systems in the environmental issues discussion. Nature has the ability to revive itself if left alone.Hence it is concluded that in the past years the local plants (as mentioned in the table) have become meagre and the finger directly points out to human intervention.

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