Abstract
This study presents a checklist of the flora of three coniferous forests of the Himalayan biodiversity hotspot in Kashmir: low-level blue pine (BP), mixed coniferous (MC) and subalpine (SA) forests. The list includes altitudinal distribution and conservation status of 272 vascular plant species representing 196 genera and 64 families. Excluding neophytes (70 taxa, 62 genera, and 27 families), Magnoliophyta comprised 190 taxa, 139 genera, and 50 families; Pinophyta seven taxa, six genera, and three families; and Pteridophyta three taxa, three genera, and two families. Most speciose families from Magnoliophyta include Compositae, Apiaceae, and Rosaceae. Genera such as Artemisia, Potentilla, Viola, and Saussurea contributed the maximum number of species. In case of Pinophyta, the principal families are Pinaceae with four taxa followed by Cupressaceae (2 taxa), whereas genus Juniperus comprised two species. In Pteridophyta, Pteridaceae (2 taxa) formed the most speciose family. The herbs contributed 177 taxa, followed by tress (15 taxa), shrubs (8) and subshrubs (2). The maximum number of taxa belongs to SA (136 taxa) followed by MC (134 taxa) and BP (83 taxa) forests. The species distribution reveals 20, 30, and 46 taxa are exclusive to BP, MC, and SA forests. More than 16% of taxa are categorized in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, and 24 taxa are endemic to the Himalayan landscape. The checklist provides a roadmap for research, protection and conservation of plant diversity, especially the threatened taxa.
Highlights
Research on biodiversity became an essential aspect of biological research immediately after the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), with the goal of determining the implications of rapid depletion, management and climate change on species composition and diversity
Species composition and distribution A total of 272 taxa belonging to 196 genera and 64 families were recorded across the three Kashmir Himalayan coniferous forests (Table 1)
The number of taxa reported in the present study was greater than most of the floristic studies in temperate Kashmir Himalaya (Shaheen et al 2012; Mir et al 2019; Malik et al 2021) and other Himalayan studies (Ahmad et al 2020; Asif et al 2020; Tiwari et al 2020) and elsewhere (Bai et al 2011)
Summary
Research on biodiversity became an essential aspect of biological research immediately after the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), with the goal of determining the implications of rapid depletion, management and climate change on species composition and diversity. Diverse habitats supporting distinct flora are experiencing the threat of destruction due to fragmentation, rapid human population growth and climate change (Janssen et al 2016; IUCN 2017). Consistent reductions in plant diversity call for continuous exploration of the population status of flora using systematic (IUCN) criteria, as this is acknowledged as the most rigorous strategy/technique for evaluating the global status of biodiversity and categorizing plants based on their projected risk of extinction (Maes et al 2015; Orsenigo et al 2018; Nowak et al 2020)
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