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Updated: 09-12-10

IMPACT OF SALINITY ON SPECIES ASSOCIATION AND PHYTOSOCIOLOGY OF HALOPHYTIC PLANT COMMUNITIES IN THE CHOLISTAN DESERT, PAKISTAN

NARGIS NAZ¹, MANSOOR HAMEED^1*, MUHAMMAD ASHRAF¹³, MUHAMMAD ARSHAD² AND M. SAJID AQEEL AHMAD¹

Abstract: Five distinct habitats in the Cholistan desert were explored for phytoecological attributes and species association. Community structure and distributional pattern of the species was mainly dependent on the salinity gradient. Relatively more salt tolerant species viz., Sporobolus ioclados with Aeluropus lagopoides, Haloxylon recurvum and Suaeda fruticosa were the dominant components of highly saline sites, whereas, moderately saline habitats supported less tolerant species Fagonia indica, Cymbopogon jwarancusa and Ochthochloa compressa. The distributional pattern of individual species was affected by the salinity level of the habitats. The association of the species was dependent on the degree of salinity tolerance of individual species. Relatively high salt tolerant species like A. lagopoides, S. ioclados, S. fruticosa, and H. recurvum, showed a broad range of association as compared to the moderately salt tolerant species.

¹Department of Botany, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad-38040, Pakistan

²Cholistan Institute of Desert Studies (CIDS), Bahawalpur, Pakistan

³Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia 

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