The resilience of Rubiaceae to anthropogenic factors: a case study from the Himalayan range of Western Bhutan

Abstract The study about the resilience of Rubiaceae to the influence of anthropogenic factors was conducted along the altitudinal gradient of 300–3900 m asl. in Western Bhutan. The survey covered three types of forest, categorized based on the prevalence of anthropogenic disturbances and assessed the diversity of Rubiaceae species in each forest type. The study recorded a total of 54 Rubiaceae species belonging to 41 genera from the study sites. The high diversity of Rubiaceae in the intermediately disturbed forest as revealed by Simpson and Shannon-Wiener diversity analysis and further strengthened by a between-group one-way ANOVA analysis contradicts the presumed description of Rubiaceae as ecologically sensitive. The wider adaptability range exhibited by Ceriscoides (Hook.f.) Tirvendadum, Himalrandia Yamazaki, Uncaria Schreber, and Leptodermis Wall. showing presence in all the forest categories indicates a higher survival rate of these genera. On the contrary, the species showing a higher rate of confinement to a specific habitat bears higher risk of extinction due to ever-rising anthropogenic disturbances. As such, an exhaustive research assessing the impact of different categories of anthropogenic factors on different species of Rubiaceae is required to understand the overall resilience of the family to the anthropogenic disturbances.