Abstract
The present study has been carried out in the Ponda watershed of district Rajouri (J&K), northwestern Himalaya to analyze local importance of tree species by quantitative ethnobotanical approach and their status of availability in the study area. Data was analyzed using relative frequency of citation (RFC) and use value (UV) index along with Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients. A total of 34 tree species were encountered represented by 31 genera and 22 families. All identified tree species were classified into 10 general use categories. As per indigenous use, 27 tree species are exploited for firewood followed by 15 for fodder, 12 each for fruits and making agriculture tools whereas very few tree species are being utilized by local people for various other uses. The UV and RFC of different tree species ranged from 0.02 to 0.12 and 0.04 to 0.80, respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficient was found to be higher (0.60) than the Spearman’s rank correlation (0.54), which reflects high linear relationship as compared to monotonic relationship between RFC and UV. The present study showed that Pinus roxburghii was an abundant species, whereas 3 tree species, i.e. Juglans regia, Ficus religiosa and Ulmus wallichiana were observed to be rare. However, according to the IUCN conservation status of the various trees observed in the study area, Juglans regia and Ulmus wallichiana are near threatened and vulnerable species, respectively, which are also exploited for their multiple uses by the locals.
Published Version
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