Phytosociological Studies on Vegetation of India Morr District Kotli, Azad Jammu & Kashmir

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1 BIOLOGIA (PAKISTAN) 2014, 60 (2), PKISSN (Print) ISSN X (On-Line) Phytosociological Studies on Vegetation of India Morr District Kotli, Azad Jammu & Kashmir *SHOUKAT HUSSAIN 1, ZAHID HUSSAIN MALIK 1, NAFEESA ZAHID MALIK 1 & MUHAMMAD AJAIB 2 1 Department of Botany, University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir 2 Department of Botany, GC University Lahore, Pakistan ABSTRACT In the investigated area, i.e., India Morr, District Kotli, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, ten plant communities were recoded, viz. 1. Pinus Community 2. Acacia-Themeda Community. 3. Themeda-Ficus-Mallotus community. 4. Themeda-Carissa Community. 5 Themeda-Dalbergia-Carissa Community. 6. Myrsine-Carissa-Themeda Community. 7. Themeda-Carissa-Mallotus Community. 8. Themeda-Dodonaea-Pinus Community 9. Olea- Taraxacum Community. 10. Pinus roxbughii Community. Among all these communities 49 species are being reported. It was also noticed that soil in these communities was loamy with acidic (6.4 ph) to basic (7.5 ph). Organic matter varied from %, nitrogen contents ranged from ppm where as phosphorus and potassium contents were ppm and ppm respectively. Environmental factors such as soil, climate, temperature, rain fall, humidity and biotic factors were studied and discussed in relation to vegetation. Key words: Plant Communities, Soil, Phytosociology, India Morr, District Kotli INTRODUCTION Vegetation is a characteristic feature of the flora and it responds to changes in the habitat. When repeatedly mowed, scraped, trampled and grazed, most of the components species are reduced until some of them disappear which may or may not be replaced by the others. Hence, the distribution of the vegetation of a certain area can be accessed by its chance of occurrence (frequency). As an important index reflecting species spatial patterns, density and frequency reflects not only the importance of species, but also the evenness of spatial distribution in community. Therefore the physical variations among the density and frequency of different plant communities indicate the specific vegetation of a particular habitat (Dale, 1999; Magurran, 1988). The investigated area is situated in District Kotli Azad Jammu & Kashmir and lies between longitudes / to / and latitude / to / (Topo sheet No. 43 G /15). It is bounded on Northern by Boluch District Sadnuti AJK, on East by Hajira District Rawalkot AJK, South by Kotli City and on West by Tesil Sehnsa District Kotli. The climate of the area is subtropical type where maximum rain fall occurs in the months of March and August, i.e., mm to mm. Minimum rain fall occurs during November and May, i.e., 32 mm and 29.9 mm respectively. June and July were hottest months of years with temperature 37.9 C to 38.0 C. Minimum temperature was recorded during January and December, which was 2.4 C to 4.3 C (Table I). In the study area no detailed work on vegetation was carried out so for. Only some references exist on different areas of Azad Jammu & Kashmir. Following studies have been carried out on various aspects of vegetation, phytosociology and ethnobotany such as Malik et al. (1990a,1990b); Dastagir et al. (1999); Shahzad et al. (1999), Ajaib et al. (2008, 2010 & 2012) on different parts of Azad Jammu & Kashmir. MATERIALS AND METHODS The Area was divided physiognomically into ten stands on the basis of altitude. Quadrat method was used for sampling the vegetation. Trees, shrubs and herbs were sampled by 10x2 m, 5x2 m and 1m 2 quadrat, respectively (Malik & Hussain, 1987). Density, frequency and cover of each species were recorded and converted into their relative scales and these three parameters were added to get Importance value (I.V.) (Table II) following Curtis & Mclntosh (1950). *Corresponding author: shoukatch2013@yahoo.com

2 268 S. HUSSAIN ET AL BIOLOGIA (PAKISTAN) Table I: Climatic data of District Kotli Azad Jammu & Kashmir ( ) MONTH RAINFALL TEMPERATURE HUMIDITY cm Max.ºC MinºC Max.% Min% January February March April May June July August September October November December Courtesy: Pakistan Meteorological Centre Jail Road Lahore Table II: Height wise importance values of different plant communities recorded from India Morr during monsoon. S. No. Species Minimum I.V Maximum I.V Average I.V Presence in stands 1. Acacia modesta Wall Acacia nilotica (L.) Willd. ex Delile Adhatoda zeylanica Medic Adiantum incisum Forssk Agrostis viridis Gouan Aristida adscensionis Linn Asparagus gracilis Royle Boerhavia procumbens Banks & Roxb Carissa opaca Stapf. ex Haines Chrysopogon aucheri (Boiss) Stapf Colebrookea oppositifolia Sm Cynodon dactylon (Linn.) Pers Cynoglossum lanceolatum Frossk Cyperus rotundus Linn Dalbergia sissoo Roxb

3 VOL. 60 (2) PHYTOSOCIOLOGICAL STUDIES ON VEGETATION OF INDIA MORR Dichanthium annulatum (Frossk.) Stapf Dodonaea viscosa (Linn) Jacq Eriophorum comosum (Wall ex Roxb) Nees Euphorbia helioscopia Linn Euphorbia indica Lam Euphorbia prostrata Ait Ficus palmata Forssk Fragaria nubicola Lindl Geranium nepalense (Edgew.) Hook Heteropogon contortus (L.) Beauv. ex Roem. & Schult Mallotus philippensis (Lam). Muell Malvestrum coromandelianum (Linn.) Gracke Maytenus royleanus Wall ex Lawson Micromeria biflora Benth Myrsine africana Linn Olea ferrugenia Royle Oxalis corniculata Linn Pinus roxburghii Sargent Poa annua Linn Punica granatum Linn Rubus fruticosus Linn Rumax hastatus D. Don Saccharum spontaneum Linn Sauromatum venosum (Ait) Schott Setaria glauca Auct Setaria palmifolia (Koen) Stapf Solanum nigrum Linn Solanum Xanthocarpum (Schard) Wendle Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers Taraxacum officinale Weber Themeda anathera Nees ex Steud Woodfordia floribunda Salisb Zanthoxylem alatum Roxb Ziziphus nummularia Wight & Arn

4 270 S. HUSSAIN ET AL BIOLOGIA (PAKISTAN) Plant communities were recorded on the basis of highest importance values of species and were named after the two or three leading dominants. Details of this method have been reported by Malik & Hussain (1988). Nomenclature followed here is that of Stewart (1972). Soil sample from each stand were collected up to the depth of 15cm and were analyzed physically and chemically in the soil testing laboratory of Agriculture Department, Muzaffarabad. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Following ten plant communities were identified from India Morr, District Kotli, Azad Jammu & Kashmir. 1. Pinus roxburghii Community: This community is being reported from India Morr at an altitude of 710 meter (m). Pinus Roxburghii with I.V was dominant. Codominant species were Themeda anathera and Adhatoda zeylanica. Remaining 15 species are rare. Soil in this community was loamy with basic ph. Phosphorous contents are medium and Potassium was low. Organic matter was very high 4.3% and Saturation percentage was 30 (Table III). Table III: Physico-chemical characteristic of soil of 10 plant communities of India Morr recorded during monsoon Community Locality Height m Texture Soil ph Saturation % Nitrogen ppm. Phosphorus ppm. Potassium ppm. Organic matte % 1. Gujar Morr 710 Loamy Chamba 735 Loamy Chamba 755 Loamy Gharataan 770 Loamy Gharataan 795 Loamy Gharataan 815 Loamy Saroota 835 Loamy Saroota 860 Loamy Peetian 885 Loamy Lahsa 925 Loamy Acacia Themeda Community: At an elevation of 735m Acacia nilotica and Themeda anathera community was recognized with importance values of and respectively. Co-dominant species were Adhatoda zeylanica and Carissa opaca while Dodonaea viscosa and Fragaria nubicola was associated species. Remaining 9 species were rare. Soil in this community was loamy with basic ph. Phosphorous and Potassium contents were medium. Organic matter was low 0.86% and Saturation 36% (Table III). 3. Themeda Ficus Mallotus Community: This Community is being reported at an altitude of 755m. There were 16 species in this community out of which Themeda anathera, Ficus palmata and Mallotus philippensis were dominant species with importance values 83.76, 43.07, and respectively. Co-dominant species were Adhatoda zeylanica and Carissa opaca. Remaining 11 species were rare. Soil in this community was loamy with basic ph. Phosphorous and Potassium contents were medium. Organic matter was 1.72% and Saturation was 31% (Table III).

5 VOL. 60 (2) PHYTOSOCIOLOGICAL STUDIES ON VEGETATION OF INDIA MORR Themeda Carissa Community: At an altitude of 770m. Dominant species in this community were Themeda anathera with I.V and Carissa opaca with Woodfordia floribunda, Dalbergia sissoo and Dodonaea viscosa were co-dominant species. Malvestrum coromandelianum, Oxalis corniculata and Rumax hastatus were associated species. Remaining 7 species were rare. Soil in this Community was loamy with basic ph. Phosphorous contents were low while Potassium contents were medium. Organic matter was 0.86% while Saturation was 33% (Table III). 5. Themeda Dalbergia Carissa Community: This community recognized at an elevation of 795m and was dominated by Themeda anathera with I.V , Dalbergia sissoo and Carissa opaca Agrostis viridus and ziziphus nummularia were Co-dominant species. Remaining 8 species were rare. Soil in this community was loamy with slightly acidic ph. Phosphorous contents were low while Potassium contents were medium. There were low Organic matter and Saturation percentage (Table III). 6. Myrsine Carissa Themeda Community: At an altitude of 815m Myrsine Carissa Themeda Community is being reported. Myrsine Africana with an importance values with I.V. Carissa opaca with I.V and Themeda anathera were dominant species. Pinus roxburghii and Dodonaea viscosa were co-dominant species. Remaining 8 species were rare. Soil in this Community was loamy with least basic ph. Phosphorous contents were medium while Potassium contents were low. Organic matter was low and Saturation was 41% (Table III). 7. Themeda Carissa Mallotus Community: This community was recognized at an elevation of 835m. Themeda anathera with I.V was dominant species while Carissa opaca with I.V , Mallotus philippensis with I.V and Dodonaea viscosa with I.V were Codominant species. Woodfordia floribunda and Agrostis viridus were associated species. Remaining 12 species were rare. Soil was loamy with basic ph. Phosphorous and Potassium contents were in medium amount. Organic matter was 1.72% while Saturation was 35% (Table III). 8. Themeda Dodonaea Pinus Community: This community was recorded at an elevation of 860m. It was dominated by Themeda anathera with I.V. 65.9, Dodonaea viscosa with I.V and Pinus roxburghii Carissa opaca and Eriophorum comosum were co-dominant species. Remaining 8 species were rare. Soil in this community was loamy with slightly basic ph. Phosphorous and Potassium contents were in medium amount. Organic matter was low and Saturation was 34% (Table III). 9. Olea Taraxacum Community: This community was recorded at an altitude of 885 m. This Community was dominated by Olea ferrugenia with I.V and Taraxacum officinale with I.V Carissa opaca and Themeda anathera were co-dominant species. Remaining 15 species were rare. Soil in this community was loamy with least basic ph. Phosphorus and Potassium contents were in a medium amount. Organic matter was low and Saturation was 33% (Table III). 10. Pinus-Themeda Community: At an elevation of 925m. Pinus-Themeda Community was found. It was dominated by Pinus roxburghii with I.V (Table 2) and Themeda anathera with I.V Micromeria biflora with importance value was associated species. Soil was loamy with slightly acidic ph. Organic matter was high and Saturation point was 38% (Table III). In the investigated area Themeda anathera was recorded as dominant species in five stands while Carissa opaca in 3 communities. Themeda anathra is a fine fodder grass in Azad Jammu & Kashmir. It increases under grazing. It is an allelopathic grass which reduces germination of other species. Similarly Carissa opaca was dominant in 3 stands due to its spiny nature while its leaves are palatable. The soil of the area was loamy. The localities were dominated by arid conditions that supported Dodonaea viscosa to be dominant in one stand. Salim & Rashid (1973) reported it to be a plant of arid area. Pinus roxburghii was present from 0 to 140cm DBH while Olea ferrugenia was present upto 60 cm and then starts declining & again some plants of this species were recorded from 100 to 140cm which was the maximum girth class in the area.

6 272 S. HUSSAIN ET AL BIOLOGIA (PAKISTAN) Deforestation, overgrazing and soil erosion were the main factor that are changing the community structure. Similar finding were reported by Nazir et al. (2012) during the Phytosociological studies of Sarsawa hills District Kotli, Azad Jammu & Kashmir. The area needs complete protection for at least 50 years, so that original vegetation can start functioning, which can be a source of medicinal plants, rangelands and Agroforestry. REFERENCES Ajaib, M., Khan, Z. & Siddiqui, F.M., Ethnobotanical Study of Useful Climbers/twiners of District Kotli, Azad Jammu & Kashmir. Int. J. Biol. & Biotech., 9(4): Ajaib, M., Khan, Z., Khan, N. & Wahab, M., Ethnobotanical Studies on useful Shrubs of District Kotli, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan. Pak. J. Bot., 42(3): Ajaib, M., Khan, Z., Muhammad, S. & Mahmood, R., Biological Spectra of Saney Baney Hills District Kotli Azad Jammu & Kashmir. Pak. J. Science, 60(1-2): Curtis, J.T. & Mclntosh, P.R., The interrelations of certain analytic and synthetic phytosociological characters. Ecology, 31: Dale, M.R.T., Spatial Pattern Analysis in Plant Ecology. Cambridge University Press. Dastagir, G., Haq, I.U. & Malik, Z.H., 1999, Phytosociology of Mai Dhani Hill near Muzaffarabad Azad Kashmir. Pak. J. Bio. Sci., 2(1): Magurran, A.E., Ecological Diversity and Its Measurement. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. Malik, Z.H., Awan, A.A., Murtaza, G. & Hussain, F., 1990b. Phytosociological studies of Sudhan Gali near Muzaffarabad Azad Jammu and Kashmir. J. Sc. & Tech., 14: Malik, Z.H., Shakeel, M. & Hussain, F., 1990a. Phytosociological studies of Badana and Palana Hills near Kotli, Azad Jammu and Kashmir. J. Sci. & Tech., 12: Malik, Z.H. & Hussain, F., Phytosociological studies of the vegetation around Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Mod. Trends Plant Sci. Res. Pakistan, pp Malik, Z.H. & Hussain, F., Phytosociological studies of Badana and Palalan Hills near Kotli Azad Kashmir, J. Sci. & Tech.,12: Nazir, A., Malik, R.N. & Ajaib, M., Phytosociological Studies of the vegetation of Sarsawa Hills District Kotli, Azad Jammu & Kashmir. Biologia (Pakistan), 58 (1&2): Salim, K.M. & Shahid, R.G., A winter flora of the Cherat hills. Part II, Pak. J. Forest, 23(3): Shehzad, K.R., Malik, Z.H. & Qureshi, R.A., Phytosociological survey of Samahni Valley, Bhimber Azad Kashmir. Pak. J. Forest., 49(1-4): Stewart, R.R., An Annotated Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of West Pakistan and Kashmir, Flora of West Pakistan, E. Nasir & Ali, S.I. (Eds.), Fakhri Printing Press Karachi.