PHYTOSOCIOLOGICAL AND ETHNOBOTANICAL APPRAISAL OF KABAL VALLEY SWAT WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO PLANT BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION

Abstract

Kabal valley, district Swat, Pakistan is rich in plant biodiversity, but little attempt has been made to evaluate it scientifically. To fill this research gap, the present study was conducted for phytosociological and ethnobotanical enumerations of the existing plant wealth of the study area. The vegetation was surveyed through random stratified sampling during September 2010 to July 2013. In all, the data of 314 relevés were stored in the database software TURBOVEG version 2.101 and analyzed through Two Way Indicator Species Analysis (TWINSPAN) by using the host program JUICE version 7.0.99 and correlated with edaphic, topographic and environmental variables using Detrenched Correspondence Analysis (D.C.A). Nine different plant communities such as 1) Nasturtium-Paspalum-Veronica in Wetland, 2) Abies-Picea-Viburnum Coniferous Forest, 3) Pinus-Quercus-Berberis Mixed Forest, 4) Pinus-Indigofera Blue Pine Forest, 5) Celtis-Olea-Cynodon Sacred Groves Broad Leaved Forest, 6) Diosperos- Pinus-Quercus Mid Hill Degraded Forest, 7) Dodonaea-Isidon-Berberis Xeromorphic Scrub, 8) Pinus-Quercus-Galium Protected Chir Pine Forest and 9) Isodon-Berberis- Indigofera Montane scrub were established influenced by different topographic and edaphic factors. The pattern in the species and relevés data set and its relationship with the environmental variables was determined by Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) in Canoco 4.5. Therophytes (43.94%) and Hemicryptophytes (21.31%) were the dominant life forms while Nanophylls (33.72%), Microphylls (28.32%) and Leptophylls (24.53%) were the dominant leaf size classes of the area. Biodiversity was assessed by using species richness, Shannon-Wiener diversity index, species evenness; while the conservation status of useful plants was ascertained according to IUCN categories. In all, 820 species distributed across 497 genera and 136 families were identified during the study period. Besides, some of the interesting flora such as Silene indica var. 1 2 cashmeriana, Geranium Swatense, Impatience pallida, Gratiola officinalis and Vernoca hederifolia are reported for the first time from Swat, Pakistan. The flora includes 31 ferns, 8 gymnosperms, 184 monocots and 597 dicots. With reference to ethnobotanical study, local inhabitants utilized native flora to fulfill their eight major use categories. Most of the species were used as folk medicine (344 spp., 75.94%), miscellaneous 216 spp., 47.68%), food (205 spp., 45.25%), fodder (153 spp., 33.77%), fuel (94 spp., 20.75%), ethno-veterinary (90 spp., 19.87), tools (63 spp., 13.91%) and construction (41 spp., 9.05%). The findings of the study will help foresters, range land managers, medicinal plant growers and collectors, ecologists and conservationists to improve the bioresource base and socioeconomic conditions of the people.