Floristic Diversity and Distribution Pattern of Plant Communities along Altitudinal Gradient in Sangla Valley, Northwest Himalaya

Abstract

Himalayas are globally important biodiversity hotspots and are facing rapid loss in floristic diversity and changing pattern of vegetation due to various biotic and abiotic factors. This has necessitated the qualitative and quantitative assessment of vegetation here. The present study was conducted in Sangla Valley of northwest Himalaya aiming to assess the structure of vegetation and its trend in the valley along the altitudinal gradient. In the forest and alpine zones of the valley, 15 communities were recorded. Study revealed 320 species belonging to 199 genera and 75 families. Asteraceae, Rosaceae, Apiaceae, and Ranunculaceae were dominant. Among genera, Artemisia followed by Polygonum, Saussurea, Berberis, and Thalictrum were dominant. Tree and shrub's density ranged from 205 to 600 and from 105 to 1030 individual per hectare, respectively, whereas herbs ranged from 22.08 to 78.95 individual/m2. Nearly 182 species were native to the Himalaya. Maximum altitudinal distribution of few selected climate sensitive species was found to be highest in northeast and north aspects. This study gives an insight into the floristic diversity and community structure of the fragile Sangla Valley which was hitherto not available.

Plant diversity patterns and conservation status of eastern Himalayan forests in Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India

“…In general, tree density varies with forest community type, forest age class, tree species and size class, site history, site condition, and other factors. The recorded tree density (465 individuals per ha) in the present study is comparable with the reported value from other tropical forests (Saxena and Singh 1982;Singh et al 1984;Parthasarathy et al 1992;Swan Jr, 1988;Sharma et al 2014), but it is lower than the recorded density of Northeast Indian forests (Bhuyan et al 2003;Duchok et al 2005;Kumar et al 2006). However, the reported 3237.58 m 2…”

“…Apart from microclimatic factors, plant species may respond to fine-scale variation in pH (Jansen and Oksanen 2013), and soil moisture and nutrients (Fischer et al 2014). A higher diversity of woody plants was observed in the present study, as compared to herbaceous species; however, reverse data (herbaceous plants > trees and shrubs) was presented from Northwest Himalayan forests of India (Sharma et al 2014). The greater richness of woody plants, particularly observed in the trees, could also be the result of the succession process that tends to increase species diversity in the studied forests.…”

“…and 49 monotypic families, whereas Asteraceae was the dominant family with 49 spp. and 28 monotypic families in the Western Himalayan forests of India (Sharma et al 2014). This difference may be due to the variations in terms of growth forms, as trees and shrubs are dominant in the Eastern Himalayan forests, whereas herbs are dominant in the Western Himalayan forests.…”

Observations on traditional usage of ethnomedicinal plants in humans and animals of Kangra and Chamba districts of Himachal Pradesh in North-Western Himalaya, India

“…The state forest department has enlisted 91 commercially exploited non-timber forest product's species and 57 threatened wild medicinal plants (Anonymous, 2010). The biodiversity of the Indian Himalaya region is well known as an important source of traditional medicines since million of years and has been explored by people from across the world (Sharma et al, 2014a). Notable studies in respect of distribution and uses of ethnomedicinal plants in different parts of the state have been conducted by Arya et al (2012) in Kangra; Sharma and Sood (2013) in Solan; Singh and Thakur (2014) in Shimla; in Chamba; Rani et al (2015) in Chamba, Kangra, Hamirpur and Mandi.…”

Energy determines broad pattern of plant distribution in Western Himalaya

“…In contrast, the northern part is species poor due to the very low rainfall it receives (10-70 mm) and extremely cold temperature (≤45°C). The published literature focuses on the species diversity, community structure, and distribution pattern of its different forest types (Khan, Page, Hahmad, & Harper, 2013;Shaheen, Khan, Harper, Ullah, & Allem Qureshi, 2012;Sharma, Rana, Devi, Randhawa, & Kumar, 2014;Singh, 2008). Some studies have been carried out on species-environment relationships in adjacent areas (Oommen & Shanker, 2005;Wang, Tang, & Fang, 2007;Yan, Yang, & Tang, 2013).…”