Assessment of resource-use strategy of some common woody plant species grown under semiarid climatic condition of Quetta Balochistan-Pakistan

Mahjabeen Jaffar

doi:10.19045/bspab.2019.80127

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the resource use strategy of some woody plants in semi-arid climatic condition of Quetta, Balochistan Pakistan. The plant sample were collected from eleven selected different woody plant species namely; Fraxinus xanthoxyloides, Robinia pseudoacacia, Ficus carica, Morus alba, Morus nigra, Ailanthus altissima, Melia azedarach, Pinus halepensis. Malus domestica, Prunus armeniaca and Tamarix sp. during three seasons spring, summer and autumn, in 2017-18. The resources-use strategy of the selected plant species was determined by commonly used indicators such as Leaf Relative Water Content (LRWC), Leaf Dry Matter Content (LDMC) and Live Fine Fuel Moisture Content (LFFMC). Data regarding annual average RWC, LDMC and LFFMC in all the investigated plant was found in ranged between 25.12-73.89 %, 0.21-0.40 mg/g and 58.0-221.0 mg/g, respectively. The maximum annual average RWC, LDMC and LFFMC was reported in Ficus carica, Pinus halepensis and Melia azedarach, while the minimum was found in Alianthus altissima, Fraxinus xanthoxyloides and Alianthus altissima, respectively. Among seasons; the highest RWC was found during spring which followed by summer and minimum was originated in autumn season. The higher LDMC was recorded in autumn season as compared to summer and spring, suggesting a more efficient conservation of nutrients and the maximum LFFM contents were found in autumn followed by summer and lowest was in spring. Keywords: Balochistan; Plant species; Relative water content; Live fine fuel moisture content; Dry matter content http://dx.doi.org/10.19045/bspab.2019.80127

Highlights

The study of relative water content (RWC), leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and live fine fuel moisture (LFFM) dynamics are important to understand the water use/resources use efficiency, cause of the flammability of flora and to assess fluctuations in measured wetness inside the background of variations both in real water content of leaf and in dry weight of leaf
It has been used in defining the aspects of explosion and scattering of the fire [13]. This investigation was conducted to develop a method for assessing the resource use strategy of plants under semi-arid climatic condition and environmental variability as well as identify production pressures which are controlled by different plant leaf parameters such as relative water content, dry matter content and live fine fuel moisture content
The consequences of present study highlight the significance of periodical RWC, leaf dry matter contents variations and LFFM differences in 11 woody plant species grown in semi-arid climatic condition of Quetta Baluchistan Province of Pakistan

Summary

Introduction

The study of RWC, LDMC and LFFM dynamics are important to understand the water use/resources use efficiency, cause of the flammability of flora and to assess fluctuations in measured wetness inside the background of variations both in real water content of leaf and in dry weight of leaf. The main objective of the study was to assess the resource-use strategy of some common woody plant species growing in semiarid climatic condition of Quetta, Balochistan through relative water content (RWC), leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and live fine fuel moisture (LFFM) contents and their seasonal variation. Materials and methods Five replicate leaf samples from eleven different woody plants species (Figure 1), were collected from Quetta and its surrounding during spring, summer and autumn season Three leaf variables such as leaf relative water content (RWC), leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and live fine fuel moisture (LFFM) contents were measured from selected plant leaves throughout the study period. The samples were together between 11AM to 2PM as the method used by Leghari et al [1]

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Conclusion