Floristic analysis of Chiktan Valley in Kargil district, Jammu and Kashmir

Abstract

Floristic analysis has been carried out separately for the plain area on the sides of a small stream (Kangi nallah) and mountainous region flanking the stream on both the sides in Chiktan valley of Kargil district in Ladakh region of J&K. A total of 79 plant species belonging to 65 genera and 36 families were recorded from the whole study area which included 48 species (40 herbs and 8 shrubs) from the plain area and 37 species (18 herbs and 19 shrubs) from the mountainous area. Six species had exhibited their presence in both the plain as well as the mountainous region. There were 23 families which were monotypic i.e. these are represented by single genera and single species in the area. Asteraceae has been found to be the dominant family with 16 species and 14 genera followed by Fabaceae (8 species and 7 genera) and Rosaceae (7 species and 3 genera). Dominant genera present in the area are Potentilla with 4 species followed by Draba and Pedicularis (3 species each). Analysis of floristic composition further revealed that the ratio of family to genera is 0.55, family to species is 0.45 and genera to species is 0.82. Comparison of diversity indices of the two regions showed that species richness and dominance is more in plain region and species diversity is more in mountainous region.