PJB-2019-735
Vegetation classification of the Margalla foothills, Islamabad under the influence of edaphic factors and anthropogenic activities using modern ecological tools
Majid Iqbal, Shujaul Mulk Khan, Zeeshan Ahmad, Murtaza Hussain, Syed Nasar Shah, Saqib Kamran, Fazal Manan, Zahoor Ul Haq and Saif Ullah
Abstract
The Margalla Hills falls in moist subtropical ecosystem with rich floristic diversity. Frequent field trips were conducted to record the floristic and ecological characteristics of vegetation. A total of 360 quadrats were laid down along 12 transects (8 on dry and 4 on the foothills' wet sites). Quadrat size was kept 10 x 10 m2, 5 x 5 m2 and 1x1 m2 for trees, shrubs and herbs, respectively. Phytosociological attributes were determined for each plant species. Cluster, Two-way Cluster and Indicator Species Analyses of PCORD Version 5 were used to classify potential Landscape types and their respective indicators. Canonical Corresponding Analyses (CCA) and Detrented Corresponding Analyses (DCA) analyses were applied using CANOCO software to determine the significant effect of various environmental and edaphic variables on indicator species distribution patterns. Preliminary, a total of 187 plant species were recorded belong to 57 families. The topmost dominant families were Poaceae (27 species), followed by Leguminosae (17 species), Lamiaceae (11 species) and Moraceae (8 species). Therophytes (40%) followed by Phanerophytes (28%) were the region's dominant life forms. Microphylls leaf form was dominant (38%), followed by Mesophylls (30%). Six landscape types were identified after the Cluster Analysis with Sorenson distance measurements in the region. Environmental gradient analyses showed that the low potassium concentration, higher electrical conductivity, moderate organic matter, clay loam soil condition, anthropogenic activities, and grazing pressures significantly affect plant species distribution, composition, abundance, and different landscape type formation and their respective indicators
To Cite this article:
Iqbal, M., S.M. Khan, Z. Ahmad, M. Hussain, S.N. Shah, S. Kamran, F. Manan, Z.U. Haq and S. Ullah. 2021. Vegetation classification of the Margalla foothills, Islamabad under the influence of edaphic factors and anthropogenic activities using modern ecological tools. Pak. J. Bot., 53(5): DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.30848/PJB2021-5(22)
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