Vegetation composition and ecological characteristics of the forest in the Shawilks Mountain Range from Western Himalayas

Abstract

A vital criterion for the accurate assessment of biodiversity is the qualitative examination of vegetation, which provides essential data for comprehending the general structure and function of any ecosystem. There has been a lot of research on documentation criteria, but in many tropical and subtropical locations, like the Shawilks Mountain Range (a part of the Western Himalayan region), there are still few qualitative studies of forest biodiversity. Qualitative characters indicate how species are grouped or distributed or described. Documenting higher economically valued plants with commercial potential in forest biodiversity is essential to creating a more thorough and useful understanding of the flora for future survival. The current paper is built on the scientific characterization of the floristic, functional, and habitat diversity components of the forest flora found in the Shawilks hills in India. For the floristic studies, a random sampling technique was utilized to choose sites so that plant species in diverse habitats had an equal chance of being sampled. A total of 116 species from 99 genera and 46 families were identified from the study area. The patterns of species distribution among the families were unbalanced, with 24 families being monotypic and eight families contributing half of the species. The largest family, Asteraceae, contained 11% of all species, followed by Fabaceae, (10%). Twenty-four percent of the species were found growing in forests, while 17% were found in widely dispersed habitats along roadsides and 8% were found on pedestrian trails. The leading growth form was herbaceous (53%). Therophytes, indicating disturbed vegetation, were found to be the predominant life form according to the biological spectrum. According to the phytogeographical investigation, 67% of species were native, and 33% were alien. Twelve of the 38 alien species were invasive, 17 became naturalized, and nine were causal. Research on these patterns of functional and habitat variety can greatly advance our understanding of the ecological features of the local flora. Developing management strategies to enable sustainable use and improved management of the forest landscapes in this Himalayan region may also benefit from the information.