Composition, structure and regeneration dynamics of Olea ferruginea Royle forests from Hindukush range of Pakistan

Khan, Nasrullah; Ali, Fayaz; Ali, Karamat; Shaukat, S. S.

doi:10.1007/s11629-013-2831-1

Cited by 23 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…At the sample sites, N. officinale was often found with several associated species, including Polygonum glabrum, Cynodon dactylon, and Digitaria sanguinalis. The same environmental factors and nutritional requirements might cause their communities' association, as reported by Khan (2012); Khan et al (2014); Muhammad et al (2016); Nasrullah et al (2015), and Shah and Hussain (2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Environmental and anthropogenic drivers of watercress (Nasturtium officinale) communities in char-lands and water channels across the Swat River Basin: implication for conservation planning

Khan,

Ullah,

Okla

et al. 2023

Front. Plant Sci.

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Recent anthropogenic sources and excess usage have immensely threatened the communities and habitat ecology of this region’s medicinally and economically significant crops. Therefore, our study aims to evaluate the community structure and related environmental characteristics sustaining Nasturtium officinale communities along the river basin (RB) in Northwest Pakistan, using the clustering procedure (Ward’s method) and Redundancy analysis (RDA). From 340 phytosociological plots (34 × 10 = 340), we identified four ecologically distinct assemblages of N. officinale governed by different environmental and anthropogenic factors for the first time. The floristic structure shows the dominance of herbaceous (100%), native (77%), and annual (58.09%) species indicating relatively stable communities; however, the existence of the invasive plants (14%) is perturbing and may cause instability in the future, resulting in the replacement of herbaceous plant species. Likewise, we noticed apparent variations in the environmental factors, i.e., clay percentage (p = 3.1 × 10−5), silt and sand percentage (p< 0.05), organic matter (p< 0.001), phosphorus and potassium (p< 0.05), and heavy metals, i.e., Pb, Zn, and Cd (p< 0.05), indicating their dynamic role in maintaining the structure and composition of these ecologically distinct communities. RDA has also demonstrated the fundamental role of these factors in species–environment correlations and explained the geospatial variability and plants’ ecological amplitudes in the Swat River wetland ecosystem. We concluded from this study that N. officinale communities are relatively stable due to their rapid colonization; however, most recent high anthropogenic interventions especially overharvesting and sand mining activities, apart from natural enemies, water deficit, mega-droughts, and recent flood intensification due to climate change scenario, are robust future threats to these communities. Our research highlights the dire need for the sustainable uses and conservation of these critical communities for aesthetics, as food for aquatic macrobiota and humans, enhancing water quality, breeding habitat, fodder crop, and its most promising medicinal properties in the region.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Environmental and anthropogenic drivers of watercress (Nasturtium officinale) communities in char-lands and water channels across the Swat River Basin: implication for conservation planning

Khan,

Ullah,

Okla

et al. 2023

Front. Plant Sci.

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“…6.0, were used for further categorization of vegetation communities and was assessed using Ward's agglomerative approach by selecting Euclidean distance (McCune, 1997). After the numerical categorization based on IVI, each species in each community was given a phytosociological category if a particular species might be regarded as dominant in a community and of a group in each community (Curtis and Mcintosh, 1950;Nabi et al, 2012;Khan et al, 2013;Biondi et al, 2015;Nasrullah et al, 2015). Each community's environmental and soil variables and diversity indices (Table 1) were subjected to descriptive statistics and analysis of variance (ANOVA) to assess the variation among the non-native invaded communities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial distribution of the four invasive plants and their impact on natural communities’ dynamics across the arid and semi-arid environments in northwest Pakistan

Khan,

Ullah,

Okla

et al. 2023

Front. Plant Sci.

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IntroductionNon-native species are globally successful invaders with negative impacts on vegetation communities’ social, economic, and ecological values. Hence, the current research was carried out to assess the spatial distribution patterns and vegetative diversity of the four non-native species in severely invaded areas of the semi-arid parts of northern Pakistan.MethodsThe research was conducted using data from 1065 plots spread across 165 sites. These sites represented habitats throughout Northern Province, such as farm countryside, highlands, and abandoned places in rural and urban areas.Results and discussionThe communities were floristically diverse, represented by 107 plant species, and dominated mainly by annual and perennial life forms with herbaceous habits. Similarly, the floristic structure shows significant variation tested by the χ2 test (P< 0.05) for plant status, life forms, life cycle, and habitat base distribution. In addition, the diversity indices show significant variation having the highest diversity in C-III (P. hysterophorus-dominated sites) and lowest in C-IV (S. marianum-dominated sites, i.e., primarily pure communities), indicating non-native species may increase or decrease site diversity. The diversity communities were further supported by higher quantities of soil nutrients, i.e., organic percentage (2.22 ± 0.04). Altitude, soil nutrients, and texture were shown to be the environmental factors most associated with communities that non-native species had invaded.RecommendationIt is recommended that relevant, additional soil and climatic parameters be integrated into species distribution models to improve our understanding of the ecological niches of different species and to make a collective approach for preserving and conserving native plant communities.

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“…Remote communities have established a connection to their immediate plant resources, which not only provide them with medicines but also act as an important resource of income generation, and are therefore of great significance to be understood, documented, and conserved [9–11]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ethnobotanical domain of the Swat Valley, Pakistan

Ali

Khan

Rahman

et al. 2018

J Ethnobiology Ethnomedicine

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BackgroundThis study contributes to the current ethnomedicinal knowledge of the Swat Valley, Pakistan. District Swat possesses remarkable biodiversity owing to its varied topographical and climatic conditions, prompting a distinct human-plant association. Our hypothesis is that the presence of such a great biodiversity has shaped into a formal ethnobotanical culture in the area transmitted through generations. We suspect that the versatility of some plant species has greater influence on the culture. Therefore, the prime objective of the study is to understand this unique human-plant relationship in the valley and to create scientific roots for the selection and practice of herbs in the ethnobotanical domain of the district.MethodsPrimary data were collected using questionnaires and face-to-face interviews with the locals. The data collected were used for calculating some important indices, i.e. relative frequency of citation (RFC), participant agreement ratio (PAR), frequency of citation (FC), Smith’s Salience Index (SI), Relative Importance Index (RII), Cultural Value Index (CVI) and a newly proposed, Ali’s Conservation Priority Index (CPI). Index scores were used as key identifier of the ethnobotanically important plants of the area.ResultsResidents of the Swat Valley have listed plant uses in 15 use categories. Around 9% of the respondents have a common consensus on the selection and use of plants for the treatment of evil eye with similar results for body cuts (8.2%) followed by psychological/neural ailments (8.0%). Respondents agree that Berberis lyceum Royle. dominates in all five indices. Skimmia laureola Franch. also constitutes one of the central plants of the ethnobotanical domain, ranking second in the SI, fifth in the RII, seventh in CVI, and third in the Cultural Importance Index. It holds the thirty-fifth position in the CPI. Over 80% of the population treat different diseases with herbal remedies. In the common ethnobotanical domain of the area, plants like Mentha longifolia L., Berberis lyceum, and Skimmia laureola are very important and have high salience and importance values, thus suggesting these plants are versatile for their uses in the study area.ConclusionIn conclusion, only some plant species are prioritised for their use in the ethnobotanical domain of the community. Medicinal and aromatic plant (MAP) usage is widespread in the Swat Valley. The ethnobotanical knowledge could be used as a tool to understand the adaptability of a specific taxon in the area and the possible conservation risk to their existence.

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Composition, structure and regeneration dynamics of Olea ferruginea Royle forests from Hindukush range of Pakistan

Cited by 23 publications

References 33 publications

Environmental and anthropogenic drivers of watercress (Nasturtium officinale) communities in char-lands and water channels across the Swat River Basin: implication for conservation planning

Environmental and anthropogenic drivers of watercress (Nasturtium officinale) communities in char-lands and water channels across the Swat River Basin: implication for conservation planning

Spatial distribution of the four invasive plants and their impact on natural communities’ dynamics across the arid and semi-arid environments in northwest Pakistan

The ethnobotanical domain of the Swat Valley, Pakistan

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