Dihang-Dibang Biosphere Reserve

About Dihang-Dibang Biosphere Reserve

The Biosphere Reserve constitutes an area of 5112 Sq. Km in the district of West Siang, Upper Siang and Dibang valley of Arunachal Pradesh.
Due to the steep terrain combined with difficult weather as well as the lack of communication, the area has a very sparse human population.
The approximately 10,000 people who live here are primarily of the Adi, Buddhist and Mishmi tribes with ten sub tribes including the Paris, Padams, Karkos, Pangis, Simongs, Ashings, Tangrams, Komkars, Millangs, Dalbings, Membas, Khambas and Idu Mishmis.
The Biosphere Reserve area is almost totally under the cover of vegetation with villages and cultivations located on lower slopes and terraces edging the major river systems.
Two of the most exciting facts relating to the forest here is that in most of the Himalayas outside of Arunachal Pradesh one does not find natural vegetation stretching in an unbroken sequence from the tropics to the mountain tundra.

Flora

The vegetation varies according to habitat.
Various factors like climatic, edaphic and biotic factors attribute the condition of forming such habitat.he BR has an altitude range from 500 to 6000 mtr and a major factor in determining the plant community.
The type of vegetation can such be grouped as
- Subtropical broad leafed forests.
- Subtropical pine forest.
- Temperate broad leaved forests.
- Temperate conifer.
- Sub-alpine woody shrub.
- Alpine meadow (Mountain tundra)

Bamboo brakes.

Grasslands.
The Biosphere Reserve forms a part of one of the world’s “Biodiversity Hotspots”.
Tremendous speciation occurs here with over 1500 species of flowering plants expected. There is a rich representation of orchids, Rhododendrons and Primulas.
The rare orchid, Vanda strangeana, lives here as do over 50 species of rhododendrons.
The BR provides the rich for all organisms like saprophytes, as Monotropa uniflora, Epipogium spp and Gastrodia spp and parasites such as Boescheckia spp, Galeola spp.

Fauna

This BR is very rich and diverse in the population of animals.
Some of the species here are endemic to the eastern Himalayas, many of these as well as others are listed as endangered.
Some of the species as recorded are insects of 45 species including moths and butterflies are documented Hill trout has been observed among the fishes.
There is an impressive array of forest frogs. It is noticed that a wonderful chorus of frogs at some part of the BR forests breaks out just after the dark, often with four or more species calling at the same time.
Snakes are present there, mostly non-poisonous except the poisonous green pit vipers (Trimeresurus), cobras (Naja and Ophiophagus) and kraits (Bungarus). The Indians rock python is also known.
About 195 species of birds had been recorded. Of these, the sclater’s Monal and Blyth’s Tragopan are among the most interesting. These beautiful pheasants live in a limited range of the eastern Himalayas and are very much threatened.