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Abstract
Floristic analysis has been carried out separately for the plain area on the sides of a small stream (Kangi nallah) and mountainous region flanking the stream on both the sides in Chiktan valley of Kargil district in Ladakh region of J&K. A total of 79 plant species belonging to 65 genera and 36 families were recorded from the whole study area which included 48 species (40 herbs and 8 shrubs) from the plain area and 37 species (18 herbs and 19 shrubs) from the mountainous area. Six species had exhibited their presence in both the plain as well as the mountainous region. There were 23 families which were monotypic i.e. these are represented by single genera and single species in the area. Asteraceae has been found to be the dominant family with 16 species and 14 genera followed by Fabaceae (8 species and 7 genera) and Rosaceae (7 species and 3 genera). Dominant genera present in the area are Potentilla with 4 species followed by Draba and Pedicularis (3 species each). Analysis of floristic composition further revealed that the ratio of family to genera is 0.55, family to species is 0.45 and genera to species is 0.82. Comparison of diversity indices of the two regions showed that species richness and dominance is more in plain region and species diversity is more in mountainous region.
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References
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References
Bowman, W. D. and Damm, M. 2002. Causes and consequences of vascular plant diversity in the Rocky Mountains. In: Korner Ch, Spehn EM (eds). Mountain Biodiversity: A Global Assessment. New York: The Parthenon Publishing Group, pp.35-48.
Buntaine, M. T., Mullen, R. B. and Lassoie, J. P. 2007.Human use and conservation planning in alpine areas of north-western Yunnan, China. Environment, Development and Sustainability. 9: 305-324.
Jaccard, P. 1901. Distribution de la flore alpine dans le Bassin des Dransesetdans quelques regions voisines. Bull. Soc. vaud.Sci. nat. 37, 241-72.
Kachroo P, Sapru, B. L and Dhar, U. 1977. Flora of Ladakh: an ecological and taxonomic appraisal.Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehradun, India.
Khan, S. M., Page, S., Ahmad, H., Shaheen, H.and Harper, D. 2012. Vegetation dynamics in the Western Himalayas, diversity indices and climate change. Science, Technology and Development. 31(3):232-243, 2012.
Korner. C. 2003. Alpine Plant Life In: Functional Plant Ecology of High Mountain Ecosystems, 2nd edn. Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag.
Kumar, R. 2009. Environmental Impact Assesment of Chutuk Hydroelectric Project on phytodiversity. Ph.D. thesis. University of Jammu, Jammu. (J&K) India.
La Sorte, F. A. and Jetz, W. 2010. Projected range contractions of montane biodiversity under global warming. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 277: 3401–3410.
Margalef, R. 1968. Perspectives in Ecological Theory. University of Chicago Press.Chicago, pp. 111.
Menhinick, E. F. 1964. A Comparison of Some Species Diversity Indices applied to Samples of Field Insects. Ecology. 45: 858-862.
MoEF, 2010.India & the convention on biological diversity (cbd) Cop-10. Nagoya,Japan.
Sorenson, T. 1948. A method of establishing groups of equal amplitudes in plant society based on similarity of species. Content. K. DanskeVidensk, Selask. 5:1-34.
Rhoades, R. E. and Thompson, S. I. 1975. Adaptive Strategies in Alpine Environments: Beyound Ecological Particularism. American Ethnologist. 2(3): 535-551.
Rodgers, W. A. and Panwar, H. S. 1988.Planing a Protected Area Network in India.The Report.Wildlife Institute of India. Dehra Dun.
Shannon, C. E. and Weiner, W. 1949.The Mathematical Theory of Communication.University of Illinois press, Urbana, USA.pp. 117.
Simpson, E. H. 1949. Measurement of diversity. Nature.163: 688.
Shaheen, H., Khan, S. M., Harper, D. M., Ullah, Z. and Qureshi, R. A. 2011. Species Diversity, Community Structure, and Distribution Patterns in Western Himalayan Alpine Pastures of Kashmir, Pakistan. Mountain Research and Developmen. 31(2):153-159. 2011.
Sharma, E., Chettri, N. and Oli, K. P. 2010. Mountain biodiversity conservation and management: a paradigm shift in policies and practices in the Hindu Kush-Himalayas. Ecological Research. 25: 909–923.
Srivastava, S. K. 2010. Floristic diversity and conservation strategies in cold desert of western Himalaya, India. Journal of Plant Science. 7: 18–25
Walker, M. D., Webber, P. J., Arnold, E. H., and Ebert-May, D. 1994. Effects of Interannual Climate Variation on Aboveground Phytomass in Alpine Vegetation. Ecology. 75(2): 393-408.