Plant Species Classification and Diversity of the Understory Vegetation in Oak Forests of Swat, Pakistan

<p dir="ltr">The forest ecosystem has understory vegetation that plays a vital role in sustaining diversity, providing nutrients, and forming a useful association for developing a balanced ecosystem. The current study provides detailed insights into the plant biodiversity and species...

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محفوظ في:
التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
المؤلف الرئيسي: Ataur Rahman (11044485) (author)
مؤلفون آخرون: Nasrullah Khan (13778350) (author), Kishwar Ali (14581226) (author), Rafi Ullah (8146836) (author), Muhammad Ezaz Hasan Khan (17541807) (author), David Aaron Jones (17541492) (author), Inayat Ur Rahman (3769120) (author)
منشور في: 2021
الموضوعات:
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author Ataur Rahman (11044485)
author2 Nasrullah Khan (13778350)
Kishwar Ali (14581226)
Rafi Ullah (8146836)
Muhammad Ezaz Hasan Khan (17541807)
David Aaron Jones (17541492)
Inayat Ur Rahman (3769120)
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author_facet Ataur Rahman (11044485)
Nasrullah Khan (13778350)
Kishwar Ali (14581226)
Rafi Ullah (8146836)
Muhammad Ezaz Hasan Khan (17541807)
David Aaron Jones (17541492)
Inayat Ur Rahman (3769120)
author_role author
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Ataur Rahman (11044485)
Nasrullah Khan (13778350)
Kishwar Ali (14581226)
Rafi Ullah (8146836)
Muhammad Ezaz Hasan Khan (17541807)
David Aaron Jones (17541492)
Inayat Ur Rahman (3769120)
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2021-12-01T00:00:00Z
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv 10.3390/app112311372
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Plant_Species_Classification_and_Diversity_of_the_Understory_Vegetation_in_Oak_Forests_of_Swat_Pakistan/24717600
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv CC BY 4.0
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Agricultural, veterinary and food sciences
Forestry sciences
Biological sciences
Plant biology
Environmental sciences
Ecological applications
biodiversity
Quercus
floristic composition
Raunkiaer classification
chorology
species diversity
environmental variables
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Plant Species Classification and Diversity of the Understory Vegetation in Oak Forests of Swat, Pakistan
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Text
Journal contribution
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
text
contribution to journal
description <p dir="ltr">The forest ecosystem has understory vegetation that plays a vital role in sustaining diversity, providing nutrients, and forming a useful association for developing a balanced ecosystem. The current study provides detailed insights into the plant biodiversity and species classification of the understory vegetation of Swat, Pakistan. The floral diversity of the area was comprised of 58 plant species belonging to 32 families. The physiognomy of the studied area was dominated by herbaceous growth form with 47 species. The dominant life-form class was hemicryptophytes with 19 species (33%), followed by nanophanerophytes with 15 species (26%) and therophytes with 13 species (22%). Of the 58 species, 43 plant species were associated with group III clustered by applying Ward’s agglomerative clustering that indicated wide sociability of the species in the studied oak-dominated forests. Group III had higher species richness (10.3), α-diversity (2.74) and β-diversity (9.85), and Margalef index values (3.95). While the group I had maximum Pielous and Simpson index values of 0.97 and 7.13, respectively. Redundancy analysis revealed that seven variables (i.e., latitude, elevation, clay, wilting point, bulk density, saturation, and electric conductivity) were significantly influential concerning the understory vegetation of oak-dominated forests. The understory vegetation of these forests plays an important role in the forest ecosystem of the region. The present study reveals floral divergence and physiognomic scenario of the unexplored study area, which could be an important reference for future ethnobotanical, phytosociological, and conservational endeavors. Moreover, this information is important to the success of efforts intended to prevent the loss of species diversity in these forests by destroying their natural habitats.</p><h2>Other Information</h2><p dir="ltr">Published in: Applied Sciences<br>License: <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app112311372" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app112311372</a></p><p dir="ltr">Disclaimer: The University of Doha for Science and Technology replaced the now-former College of the North Atlantic-Qatar after an Amiri decision in 2022. UDST has become and first national applied University in Qatar; it is also second national University in the country.</p>
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identifier_str_mv 10.3390/app112311372
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spelling Plant Species Classification and Diversity of the Understory Vegetation in Oak Forests of Swat, PakistanAtaur Rahman (11044485)Nasrullah Khan (13778350)Kishwar Ali (14581226)Rafi Ullah (8146836)Muhammad Ezaz Hasan Khan (17541807)David Aaron Jones (17541492)Inayat Ur Rahman (3769120)Agricultural, veterinary and food sciencesForestry sciencesBiological sciencesPlant biologyEnvironmental sciencesEcological applicationsbiodiversityQuercusfloristic compositionRaunkiaer classificationchorologyspecies diversityenvironmental variables<p dir="ltr">The forest ecosystem has understory vegetation that plays a vital role in sustaining diversity, providing nutrients, and forming a useful association for developing a balanced ecosystem. The current study provides detailed insights into the plant biodiversity and species classification of the understory vegetation of Swat, Pakistan. The floral diversity of the area was comprised of 58 plant species belonging to 32 families. The physiognomy of the studied area was dominated by herbaceous growth form with 47 species. The dominant life-form class was hemicryptophytes with 19 species (33%), followed by nanophanerophytes with 15 species (26%) and therophytes with 13 species (22%). Of the 58 species, 43 plant species were associated with group III clustered by applying Ward’s agglomerative clustering that indicated wide sociability of the species in the studied oak-dominated forests. Group III had higher species richness (10.3), α-diversity (2.74) and β-diversity (9.85), and Margalef index values (3.95). While the group I had maximum Pielous and Simpson index values of 0.97 and 7.13, respectively. Redundancy analysis revealed that seven variables (i.e., latitude, elevation, clay, wilting point, bulk density, saturation, and electric conductivity) were significantly influential concerning the understory vegetation of oak-dominated forests. The understory vegetation of these forests plays an important role in the forest ecosystem of the region. The present study reveals floral divergence and physiognomic scenario of the unexplored study area, which could be an important reference for future ethnobotanical, phytosociological, and conservational endeavors. Moreover, this information is important to the success of efforts intended to prevent the loss of species diversity in these forests by destroying their natural habitats.</p><h2>Other Information</h2><p dir="ltr">Published in: Applied Sciences<br>License: <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app112311372" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app112311372</a></p><p dir="ltr">Disclaimer: The University of Doha for Science and Technology replaced the now-former College of the North Atlantic-Qatar after an Amiri decision in 2022. UDST has become and first national applied University in Qatar; it is also second national University in the country.</p>2021-12-01T00:00:00ZTextJournal contributioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersiontextcontribution to journal10.3390/app112311372https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Plant_Species_Classification_and_Diversity_of_the_Understory_Vegetation_in_Oak_Forests_of_Swat_Pakistan/24717600CC BY 4.0info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:figshare.com:article/247176002021-12-01T00:00:00Z
spellingShingle Plant Species Classification and Diversity of the Understory Vegetation in Oak Forests of Swat, Pakistan
Ataur Rahman (11044485)
Agricultural, veterinary and food sciences
Forestry sciences
Biological sciences
Plant biology
Environmental sciences
Ecological applications
biodiversity
Quercus
floristic composition
Raunkiaer classification
chorology
species diversity
environmental variables
status_str publishedVersion
title Plant Species Classification and Diversity of the Understory Vegetation in Oak Forests of Swat, Pakistan
title_full Plant Species Classification and Diversity of the Understory Vegetation in Oak Forests of Swat, Pakistan
title_fullStr Plant Species Classification and Diversity of the Understory Vegetation in Oak Forests of Swat, Pakistan
title_full_unstemmed Plant Species Classification and Diversity of the Understory Vegetation in Oak Forests of Swat, Pakistan
title_short Plant Species Classification and Diversity of the Understory Vegetation in Oak Forests of Swat, Pakistan
title_sort Plant Species Classification and Diversity of the Understory Vegetation in Oak Forests of Swat, Pakistan
topic Agricultural, veterinary and food sciences
Forestry sciences
Biological sciences
Plant biology
Environmental sciences
Ecological applications
biodiversity
Quercus
floristic composition
Raunkiaer classification
chorology
species diversity
environmental variables