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Pak. J. Bot., 41(5): 2115-2127, 2009.

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FLORISTIC COMPOSITIONS ALONG AN 18 – KM LONG TRANSECT IN AYUBIA NATIONAL PARK DISTRICT ABBOTTABAD, PAKISTAN

SHEHZADI SAIMA¹, ALTAF A. DASTI¹, FARRUKH HUSSAIN², SULTAN MEHMOOD WAZIR³ AND SAEED A. MALIK¹

Abstract: The floristic variation in Himalayan moist temperate coniferous forests in Pakistan is poorly understood. Wet temperate forests of Pakistan are interesting because at suitable elevations it merge downward with the tropical thorn forests and upward with the alpine meadows. The very situation of these forests thus make making them a sort of enclave in which the diversity of natural sites has allowed a number of relict species to persist. We recorded the vegetation pattern along a continuous 18 Km long transect that crossed a mixed coniferous forest. Vegetation data was analyzed by multivariate statistics including cluster analysis, Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) and Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficient to detect relationship between environmental factors and species distribution. Soils were physically and chemically analyzed. Soil texture, pH and tree density were the major determinant of vegetation pattern in these forests. Plant diversities and assemblage with respect to environmental features in these broad forest categories were discussed.

¹Institute of Pure and Applied Biology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan

²Department of Botany, University of Peshawar, Pakistan

³Department of Botany, University of Science and Technology, Bannu, Pakistan.