Floristic composition and biological spectrum of Keran - a remote valley of northwestern Himalaya

Abstract

The Himalayas are one of the youngest and richest ecosystems on earth with a variety of species and forest types due to the varying altitude, topographic, and climatic conditions. The present study was aimed to investigate the floristic composition and biological spectrum of Keran valley, a region nestled in the northwestern frontiers of Himalayan biodiversity hotspot. Floristically, a total of 183 species were recorded, out of which 55 were aliens. Herbaceous growth form was dominant (67%) and therophytes were the dominant (37%) life form. Likewise, mesophylls (34%) followed by nanophylls (29%) and microphylls (27%) were major leaf size categories; and the simple leaf lamina type was recorded in majority of the species (65%). Almost 1/3rd of the total species pool was growing in the forest habitats, while as the 2/3rd occur within the rest 9 habitat types which were largely human-modified. The vegetation phenology observed during different seasons revealed that most of the species were dominant in summer season (37%), followed by spring (29%), autumn (21%) and winter (13%). The present study provides baseline information on the plant diversity in this hitherto unexplored region of northwestern Himalaya.