Plant Species Diversity in Abies pindrow (Royle) Spach. Forest in Garhwal Himalayas, India

Abstract

Present study was conducted in Abies pindrow forests of Uttarakhand of Western Himalayas with the aim to analyse the diversity of plant species. The altitudinal range of the different sites varied between 2200-3300 m above mean sea level (msl). The analysis of species revealed that the generic spectrum belonged to 73 families, comprising of 204 genera with 315 species of trees, shrubs and herbs which highlights the rich species diversity of higher plants in the Abies pindrow forests of the Western Himalaya in India. Maximum number of species belonged to family Asteraceae (29 species), followed by Poaceae (23 species), Rosaceae (21 species), Lamiaceae (17 species), Orchidaceae (15 species), Ranunculaceae (13 species), Apiaceae (12 species), Caprifoliaceae (11 species) and Polygonaceae (10 species) whereas other families had less than 10 species. Most of the forests in the present study were pure Abies pindrow forests. Tree species primarily belonged to family Pinaceae, shrubs to Rosaceae, Berberidaceae and Caprifoliaceae whereas; herbaceous flora primarily belonged to Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, Orchidaceae, Ranunculaceae, Polypodiaceae, Aspleniaceae, Poaceae and Cyperacae. A total of 198 species were present out of which 5 were trees, 50 shrubs and 143 were herbaceous species. The herbaceous species comprised of 103 herbs, 4 climbers, 21 ferns, 11 grasses and 4 sedges..