PJB-2019-325
Ecological evaluation of existing plant resources of Manrai hills, Swat, Pakistan using multivariate analysis
Muhammad Ilyas, Rahmatullah Qureshi, Ziaul-Haq, Izhar Ul Haq, Mubashrah Munir, Mehmooda Munazir and Muhammad Maqsood
Abstract
Like other montane temperate forests in Pakistan, vegetation of Manrai hills, Swat is declining at an alarming rate due to anthropogenic pressure, although they represent abode of plant biodiversity and need special care and attention. Keeping this motive in mind, the area was studied to evaluate the existing vegetation during 2012-2016. Species and environmental data from 50 quadrats by using stratified random sampling viz., 1x1m2, 2x2m2 and 10x10m2 for herbs, shrubs and trees, respectively were placed in TURBOVEG (v. 2.101) software and transferred to JUICE (v. 7.0.102) software for establishing reliable clusters. From the sampled area, a total of 270 species of vascular plants were recorded. Three communities viz., 1) Quercus-Sarcococca-Pinus, 2) Iris-Poa-Arenaria and 3) Abies-Picea-Viburnum were determined through standard default parameters of modified TWINSPAN. All communities showed distinct strata with clear demarcation of tree, shrub and herb layers. On an average, tree, shrub and herb layers were occurred at 13.52±7.62m, 0.90±0.39m, 35.0± 7cm, respectively. Average Species richness (21.38±5.29), Shannon-Wiener (2.56±0.32), Simpson (0.88±0.05) and evenness (0.85±0.06) indices were comparatively higher in comparison to other studies from Pakistan. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) run through PC-ORD (v.6) indicated that topographic, edaphic and anthropogenic factors as the main determinants of community types. Lopping, deforestation and overgrazing are serious ecological threats to the vegetation of the area. Practical and workable measures for conservation of this valuable bio-resource are suggested considering our findings
To Cite this article:
Ilyas, M., R. Qureshi, Z. Haq, I.U. Haq, M. Munir, M. Munazir and M. Maqsod. 2020. Ecological evaluation of existing plant resources of Manrai hills, Swat, Pakistan using multivariate analysis. Pak. J. Bot., 52(5): DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.30848/PJB2020-5(43)
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