Abstract
A survey was conducted from March to September 2012 along the altitudinal gradient of the Jomokungkhar trail in the Merak Himalaya of Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary to study the floristic compositions and the patterns of alpine vegetation of Eastern Bhutan. The vegetation of the sampled plots is classified into five types of communities based on the hierarchical cluster analysis at similarity index 63% viz., (1) Riverine Community; (2) Abies–Rhododendron Woodland Community; (3) Juniperus Scrub Community; (4) Rhododendron Krummholz and (5) Alpine Meadow, based on the floristic compositions. In addition, it was noticed that the fragile alpine environment of the Merak Himalaya has high plant diversity and important plants that are susceptible to the anthropogenic pressures.
Highlights
The Bhutan Himalaya is the main part of the Eastern Himalaya, which spans ca. 700 km (Oshawa 1987), located at the junction of two major biogeographic realms of the Indo-Malayan and the Palearctic
The forests of Bhutan are still well managed under the strict rule of conservation policies, its success is likely to become a questionable issue owing to ever increasing pressures on natural environment from the increasing population and associated anthropogenic disturbances
The vegetation of Merak is apparently composed of three types of forests: cool-temperate forest, subarctic forest, and dry alpine scrubs (Oshawa 1987; Grierson and Long 1983), with the major forest type composed of Abies densa Griff
Summary
The Bhutan Himalaya is the main part of the Eastern Himalaya, which spans ca. 700 km (Oshawa 1987), located at the junction of two major biogeographic realms of the Indo-Malayan and the Palearctic. Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary (referred to as SWS hereon) was declared as a protected area of Bhutan in 2003 It is located in Trashigang district in the east of Bhutan and shares border with the adjacent Himalayan Range of Arunachal Pradesh in India. The mountainous Merak has been known to have the rich diversity of species of Rhododendron L. and many other endemic, rare, and threatened plants (Wangchuk 2010). The vegetation of Merak is apparently composed of three types of forests: cool-temperate forest, subarctic forest, and dry alpine scrubs (Oshawa 1987; Grierson and Long 1983), with the major forest type composed of Abies densa Griff This area is one among the scientifically unexplored areas, which is pressurized by anthropogenic disturbances. This work tried to evaluate the vegetation structure, composition and the distribution patterns along the altitudinal gradient ranging from the riverine forest of 3,320 m to the alpine meadow zone of 4,510 m of the Merak Himalaya, Trashigang district in East Bhutan
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