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Agglomerative clustering, Two Way Indicator Species Analysis (WINSPAN), and Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) were used for the plant community analysis. Remotely sensed data was used as a surrogate in identifying and locating field sites from where floristic composition, environmental and spatial data were collected. Characteristic plant spe...
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... classification. Therefore, the analysis employs the presence/absence data and not the cover value of each species. Classification by TWINSPAN was stopped at the 3 rd level so that the size of stands would demonstrate ecological meaning through their floristic structure. This resulted in four distinct groups, which are presented in dendrogram (Fig. 2), together with the indicator species used by the software for every level of division. Although the dendrogram is not as detailed as the TWINSPAN table, it summarizes the results in a more convenient ...
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... dendrogram ( Fig. 2) was produced using different similarity indices and the sorting strategies were evaluated for their differences, and their usefulness for plant community analysis and satellite data interpretation. The results were compared with the classification produced from the TWINSPAN clustering ...
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... Unweighted Arithmetic Average (UPGMA) and Proportional Link Linkage (connectedness 0.50) clustering methods were probably the best and also produced higher cophenetic correlations (Table 3). The TWINSPAN analysis divided the field plots into four vegetation clusters, each cluster representing a specific community type with characteristic species (Fig. 2). Three clusters had a single characteristic species, while the other was characterized by the presence of four species which were restricted mostly to it. TWINSPAN classification initially separated all the plots into two broad groups: groups of 65 and 25 plots with Salix tetrasperma as a key indicator species. The second level of ...
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... decidua-Eleusine compressa (Group 1 in Fig. 2 and referred to as Capparis-Eleusine community type) community type is heavily grazed and subject to uncontrolled cutting for a long period. Due to biotic pressures, all trees have been completely eliminated. This community type is represented by few open scattered shrubs, which include Capparis decidua, Otostegia limbata, Tamarix ...
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... juliflora-Chrysopogon montanus (Group 2 in Fig. 2 & referred to as the Prosopis-Chrysopogon community type) is characterised by the presence of Prosopis juliflora, which covered a large area of Compartments 1 and 2 of the previously declared reserve forest. This community type is formed as a result of complete cutting of native forest vegetation for the construction of new housing ...
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... nummularia-Malcolmia africana (Group 3 in Fig. 2 & referred to as the Ziziphus-Malcolmia community type) covers a large area of the reserve forest. Acacia modesta forms the main canopy. Due to heavy biotic pressure, such as grazing, unpalatable species such as Justicia adhatoda, Withania somnifera and Lantana camara are conspicuous with thorny Gymnosporia royliana, Woodfordia ...
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... This community type was found mostly along west facing slopes on dissected rolling plains. Chrysopogon montanus, Heteropogon contortus, and Desmostachya bipinnata are among the main grasses recorded in this community. Broussonetia papyrifera, Lantana camara and Prosopis juliflora were three invasive species recorded in this community type. Fig. 2 & referred to as the Saccharum-Salix community type) was found growing along streams and river beds, adjoining slopes, edges, and flood plains that are annually/seasonally flooded. The vegetation is highly influenced by the flooding. Saccharum spontaneum, a plant along the streams, rivers and their banks, dominated this community. ...
Citations
... While the translocation factor (TF) is the ratio of the HM content in a plant's above-ground and underneath regions that is used to assess the ability of HMs to move between below and above the surface (Were et al., 2017). Plant species having BCF and TF values >1 are generally used in phytoremediation because high TF values in plant species are regarded as appropriate for phytoextraction because it depends on the flow of HMs into the parts of plants that are readily harvestable, such as bamboo shoots (Malik & Husain, 2006). Despite its low BCF value in all parts of the plant, P. edulis has a high TF value with enormous potential in the remediation of HM-polluted soil (Fan et al., 2018). ...
Phytoremediation is a green and environmentally friendly technology for the removal of chemical pollutants and heavy metals (HMs) from soil using a variety of natural or genetically modified plants to protect ecosystems. Currently, few high-accumulating, fast-growing plants have been identified for phytoremediation purposes. Therefore, some non-hyperaccumulator plant species, which grow faster and have significantly higher total biomass yields despite lower extraction capacities than hyperaccumulator plants, can be used as an alternative to this technology. Bamboo is a promising candidate for phytoremediation due to its fast growth and harvest, greater production of biomass, well-defined root system, and high resilience to abiotic challenges with minimal maintenance. Bamboo and its various parts, such as roots, shoots, rhizomes, leaves and fibres, are very effective in removing HMs such as Pb, Cd and As and various other chemical contaminants from soil and compounds such as benzene and toluene from wastewater. However, excessive HM stress can affect bamboo plants negatively by causing oxidative stress. Therefore, different management techniques have been recognized to improve the phytoremediation capacity of bamboo species, like intercropping, additive use, transgenic crops, microbial phytoremediation and surface cover. Meanwhile, bamboo can serve as a sustainable source of biomass and bioenergy while providing a variety of ecological and economic benefits. Therefore, the present chapter summarizes the mechanisms of the phytoremediation performed by various species of bamboo and their efficiency.
... The distribution of plant species within communities are often regulated by climate or climate-influenced ecological factors (Shaheen et al. 2011a, b). Therefore, diversity tends to increase as the environment becomes more favorable and more predictable (Ahmad et al. 2022;De Bello et al. 2013;Hassan et al. 2022;Ilyas et al. 2020;Khan et al. 2014;Kumar and Sharma 2014;Majeed et al. 2021b;Malik and Husain 2006;Nisar et al. 2014;Pande et al. 2002;Qureshi et al. 2012;Rashid et al. 2018;Shah et al. 2014;Shaheen et al. 2012;Ter Braak 1987;Tiwari and Mishra 2016;Wang et al. 2016). It may be attributed that differences in the altitude, aspect and topography results in the variations in species diversity (Moeslund et al. 2013;Dar and Sundarapandian 2016). ...
Background
The present study was conducted to explore the diversity pattern of spring vegetation under the influence of topographic and edaphic variables in sub-tropical zone, District Malakand. In the present vegetation study, 252 species of 80 families were recorded in the study area. It included 39 species of trees, 43 species of shrubs, 167 species of herbs and 3 climber species. As a whole, 12 communities were established on the basis of topographic and edaphic characteristics in 12 different stations.
Results
The results of the present study revealed that all diversity indices (species diversity, evenness index, species richness index, maturity index) during spring showed that the communities in plains lying at lower altitudes had higher diversity while the communities formed at high altitudes had lower diversity. The results of the similarity index showed that there was low similarity (below 50%) amongst the communities in different stations.
Conclusions
It can be concluded that variations in topographic and edaphic factors affect species diversity and communities pattern.
... The summers produce more rain than the winter due to the monsoon season (July-August). The average rainfall in Islamabad Capital Territory is about 940 mm, in areas of Rawalpindi, Gujar Khan and Taxila ranges from 970-990 mm and in Murree, Kotli Sattian, and Kahuta is 1249 mm [26][27][28]. ...
The lack of information regarding biodiversity status hampers designing and implementing conservation strategies and achieving future targets. Northern Pakistan consists of a unique ecoregion mosaic which supports a myriad of environmental niches for anuran diversity in comparison to the deserts and xeric shrublands throughout the rest of the country. In order to study the niche suitability, species overlap and distribution patterns in Pakistan, we collected observational data for nine anuran species across several distinct ecoregions by surveying 87 randomly selected locations from 2016 to 2018 in Rawalpindi District and Islamabad Capital Territory. Our model showed that the precipitation of the warmest and coldest quarter, distance to rivers and vegetation were the greatest drivers of anuran distribution, expectedly indicating that the presence of humid forests and proximity to waterways greatly influences the habitable range of anurans in Pakistan. Sympatric overlap between species occurred at significantly higher density in tropical and subtropical coniferous forests than in other ecoregion types. We found species such as Minervarya spp., Hoplobatrachus tigerinus and Euphlyctis spp. preferred the lowlands in proximal, central and southern parts of the study area proximal to urban settlements, with little vegetation and higher average temperatures. Duttaphrynus bengalensis and D. stomaticus had scattered distributions throughout the study area with no clear preference for elevation. Sphaerotheca pashchima was patchily distributed in the midwestern extent of the study area as well as the foothills to the north. Microhyla nilphamariensis was widely distributed throughout the study area with a preference for both lowlands and montane terrain. Endemic frogs (Nanorana vicina and Allopaa hazarensis) were observed only in locations with higher elevations, higher density of streams and lower average temperatures as compared to the other seven species sampled. It is recommended to provide legal protection to amphibians of Pakistan, especially endemic species, through revision in the existing wildlife laws. We suggest studying the effectiveness of existing amphibian tunnels and corridors or designing new ones tailored to the needs of our species to prevent their local extinction due to ongoing or proposed urban development which might affect their dispersal and colonization.
... The alteration was substantial across the five study sites. The main invasive plant in the Attock region was previously recognized as L. camara along with two other species, Prosopis juliflora and Xanthium strumarium (Malik and Husain, 2006). SIMPER analysis revealed a total dissimilarity of 65.56 percent between the invading and control plots. ...
... Ordination and ANOSIM showed that the invaded and control plots' diversity indices differed significantly from one another. X. strumarium invasion was previously recognized as the most invasive plant in the Rawalpindi district, along with two other species, Prosopis juliflora and Lantana camara (Malik and Husain, 2006). The SIMPER analysis found that there were overall changes of 53.90 percent between the invaded and control plots. ...
The threat of invasion is growing globally and endangers biodiversity. Exotic invasive plants are putting a harm to the vegetation of Pakistan’s Pothwar region, which is a biodiversity hotspot. In the current study, the effects of Broussonetia papyrifera, Parthenium hysterophorus, Xanthium strumarium, and Lantana camara on the local flora in the Pothwar area were examined. Two categorical groups (invaded and non-invaded) were used in a dichotomized experimental design to collect data. Using the software PRIMER-7 and IBM SPSS v. 21, different diversity indices including Margalef’s index of species richness, Shannon index of diversity, and Simpson index of dominance were measured and compared between invaded and control plots. In comparison to the experimental plots, the control plots had an average of more individuals and diversity. On a multivariate scale, non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) and analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) revealed higher species richness in control plots. The invasion effect of L. camara was the highest, followed by X. strumarium, P. hysterophorus, and B. papyrifera.
... January is the coldest month with mean temperature of 0.6°C while June is the scorching warmest (mean maximum temperature 45°C). The highest relative humidity of 83% is recorded (Malik and Husain, 2006). ...
... The key flora of the area are mulberry ( (Malik and Husain, 2006;Bilal et al., 2020). The crops sown in the area maize (Zea mays), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), barley (Hordeum vulgare), wheat (Triticum vulgare), groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), brassica (Brassica rapa), chick pea legume (Cicer arietinum), lentilspecies (Lens culinaris) and Red millet (Panicum miliaceum) (Amiret al., 2019). ...
The jungle cat (Felis chaus) is documented from the riverine, semi-gregarious and territorial felid and this species is well adapted to live in plantations around water sources or in agrarian areas. F. chaus is documented in Palearctic and Oriental regions. Main aim of the study is to document the habitat analysis and first record of jungle cat frim Rawalpindi. During the study we documented topography, ecology, distribution, behaviour and food in their habitat as well as conservation and management issues of this specie. We believe that in Pakistan, a little or few records are known on the population ecology and habitat characterization of this rare wild cat.
Keywords: Cat, Ecology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
... January is the coldest month with mean temperature of 0.6°C while June is the scorching warmest (mean maximum temperature 45°C). The highest relative humidity of 83% is recorded (Malik and Husain, 2006). ...
... The key flora of the area are mulberry ( (Malik and Husain, 2006;Bilal et al., 2020). The crops sown in the area maize (Zea mays), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), barley (Hordeum vulgare), wheat (Triticum vulgare), groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), brassica (Brassica rapa), chick pea legume (Cicer arietinum), lentilspecies (Lens culinaris) and Red millet (Panicum miliaceum) (Amiret al., 2019). ...
The jungle cat (Felis chaus) is documented from the riverine, semi-gregarious and territorial felid, and this species is well adapted to live in plantations around water sources or in agrarian areas. F. chaus is documented in Palearctic and oriental regions. Main aim of the study is to document the first record of jungle cat (Felis chaus) from Rawalpindi. During the study we documented topography, ecology, distribution, behaviour and food in their habitat as well as conservation and management issues of this species. We believe that in Pakistan, a little or few records are known on the population ecology and habitat characterization of this rare wild cat.
... In case of the majority of the phytosociological investigations, only qualitative characteristics of the vegetation are reported or have recorded species importance value indices. Most of the phytosociological study were limited to low altitude areas (eg., [19,50,70,77]). Only a few research workers have used modern techniques for quantification of vegetation especially in inaccessible and remote areas of the Himalaya. ...
District Tor Ghar is phytosocilogically unexplored region in the western Himalaya. Present study was conducted in district Tor Ghar during the summers of 2012 and 2013 to study floristic diversity of herbaceous flora in the region. The district Tor Ghar is located on 34 • 32 ′-34 • 50 ′ N, and 72 • 48 ′-72 • 58 ′ E. A total of 229 herb species belonging to 168 genera and 66 families were identified. Herbaceous vegetation was sampled from 1 × 1 m quadrats. For vegetation classification into plant communities, presence, absence (1,0) data on 229 herbaceous species and 64 locations were analyzed in PCORD version 5 via Cluster and Two Way Cluster Analyses. Six plant communities were established. Plant abundance data were treated in CANOCO version 4.5 to measure the ecological gradient of plant species and communities of the region. Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) a type of indirect gradient analysis reconfirmed the results of Cluster and Two way Cluster Analysis. Moreover the study furnishes useful information for improvement, protection and management of present vegetation status for future generation. A comprehensive conservation measure with practical implementation is utmost necessary for conservation of rapidly depleting plant resources of the area.
... Ali et al. (2011), Butt et al. (2015, and Hassan et al. (2016) also observed that the constructional activities in the water catchment areas are responsible for the ecological degradation, disturbances in the flow of water, impeding ground water recharge, and aquatic pollution. In addition, the planned and regulated urban expansions are exerting their own pressures on the ecological resources (Malik and Husain 2006;Ali and Malik 2010a). The resultant LULC transformations in the study area are accelerating urban ecological degradation, increased soil and land erosions, urban flooding, and reduction of ground water recharge (Ali and Malik 2010b;Ali et al. 2011). ...
Urbanization is proving stressful for the supply-demand budget of ecosystem services (ESS) and a real challenge of the present times. The process is accelerating in Pakistan and demands enhanced focus on ESS research. Keeping in view the contextual constraints, the land cover–based Matrix Model was relied upon for assessments regarding ESS in the present study. The model links the land use/land cover (LULC) types of a contextual setting for the assessments of ESS. The model amalgamates local ecological knowledge (LEK) and expert-based judgments for considerations. The findings of the study divulge that ecological resources are the most proficient contributors to the ESS; their main beneficiaries are the built-up areas. The degeneration in the performances of the ecological infrastructure is more acute in Rawalpindi as compared to Islamabad. The observed variations are rooted in the diverse sociodemographic aspects, planning, and management paradigms. The findings confirmed that the Matrix Model is a pragmatic option for assessing the supply-demand potentials of ESS in the developing regions.
... The mountainous ecosystem of ANP has similar distribution pattern observed in studies of (Elith et al. 2006). Many researches have also worked on impact of ecological factors such as altitudinal range, temperature, topographic, edaphic, and rainfall on flora diversity along with its communities (Karr and Freemark 1983;Rickart et al. 1991;Parmesan and Yohe 2003;Wazir et al. 2008;Khan et al. 2011b;Malik and Husain 2006;Saqib et al. 2013). However, other environmental factors have also significant effect on floristic composition. ...
The national parks are the fountains of all sort of life forms that play a substantial role in species conservation and sustainability of ecosystem. This chapter revealed phyto-diversity along with ethno-medicinal uses of plant species in the Ayubia National Park (ANP), Pakistan. A total of 298 plant species were recorded of which 34 (11%) were trees, 50 (17%) shrubs, 198 (67%) herbs, 9 (3%) climbers, and 7 (2%) ferns, belong to 85 families. The dominant family was Asteraceae followed by Poaceae. A total of 80 plant species were reported as medicinal that are being used for treatments of various diseases by the local inhabitants. The most common among the used parts as medicines reported during current study, were leaves (35.80%). The local inhabitants depend upon natural resources due to nonavailability of proper medical facilities. As a result, the precious flora of the park is continuously diminishing. It is suggested that local communities must be involved in efforts for management of park in order to conserve biodiversity effectively. It is also mandatory to increase awareness in native people and parks management teams and arrange workshops and training programs on conservation and sustainable utilization of natural resources within and around the park.
... The mountainous ecosystem of ANP has similar distribution pattern observed in studies of (Elith et al. 2006). Many researches have also worked on impact of ecological factors such as altitudinal range, temperature, topographic, edaphic, and rainfall on flora diversity along with its communities (Karr and Freemark 1983;Rickart et al. 1991;Parmesan and Yohe 2003;Wazir et al. 2008;Khan et al. 2011b;Malik and Husain 2006;Saqib et al. 2013). However, other environmental factors have also significant effect on floristic composition. ...
District Poonch was investigated for ethnopharmacological studies, and a total of 121 plants was recognized. Both open-ended and closed-ended questionnaires were developed, together with data from local inhabitants about the medicinal uses of plants, and 100 key informants were selected. The largest plant families according to the number of medicinal species present were Asteraceae (12 species), followed by Rosaceae (11 species), Apiaceae (6 species), Brassicaceae (5 species), Solanaceae (5 species), Cucurbitaceae (4 species), and Chenopodiaceae and Poaceae (3 species each). Acanthaceae, Amaranthaceae, Araliaceae, Moraceae, and Buxaceae were represented by 2 species, and Fabaceae, Geraniaceae, Oleaceae, and Piperaceae were represented by only 1 species. The most widely utilized plant parts were leaves (27%), natural products (29), and the entire plant (36%), followed by flowers (16%), seeds (8%), roots (7%), stems (5%), aerial parts (1%), and bulbs (1%). The best known techniques for producing homemade cures were powder (50%), decoction (30%), juice (19%), glue (13%), and implantation and poultice (11% each). The highly medicinal plants included Artemisia vulgare, Berberis aristata, Artemisia dubia, Cannabis sativa, and Saussurea lappa. Diospyros kaki was used for liver and carcinogenic ailments. Berberis lyceum (95%) was utilized for typhoid, tuberculosis, jaundice, hepatitis, and fever, followed by Dioscorea bulbifera and Impatiens glandulifera (90%), utilized for joint pain, and Artemisia vulgaris (90%), utilized for liver issues. Species uses demonstrated that Olea ferruginea was versatile when comparing therapeutic utilization development and cash profits, and for firewood, fodder, and construction of fences and hedges. Other tree species were Pinus roxburghii, Juglans regia, and Populus alba.
