DIVERSITY AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF FLORA OF MASTUJ VALLEY, DISTRICT CHITRAL, HINDUKUSH RANGE, PAKISTAN

摘要

This study revealed that the floristic diversity consisted of 571 species belonging to 82 families including 65 dicots, 13monocots, 2 gymnosperms and 2 pteridophyte families. There were 334 genera including 3 Pteridophytes, 2 gymnosperms,54 monocot and 275 dicot genera. Asteraceae (91 Spp., 15.95 %), Poaceae (58 Spp., 10.16 %), Papilionaceae (38 Spp., 6.65%), Lamiaceae & Rosaceae (each with 26 Spp., 4.55 %), Polygonaceae (25 spp; 4.38), Caryophyllaceae (23 spp.; 4.03%),Apiaceae (21 Spp., 3.68 %), Boraginaceae and Brassicaceae (20 Spp., each with 3.50 %) were the leading families. Therewere 45 (13.47%), 32 (9.58%), 19 (5.69%), 18 (5.39%) and 16 (4.79%) genera respectively in Asteraceae, Poaceae,Brassicaceae, Apiaceae and Papilionaceae. Flora consisted of 91.59% wild species, 92.64% deciduous species, 92.12% nonspinyspecies, 80.04% mesophytes and 94.57% heliophytes. Biological spectrum was dominated by therophytes (234 spp.,40.98%), followed by hemicryptophytes (154 spp., 26.97%), geophytes (82 spp., 14.36%), chamaephytes (44 spp., 7.71%),nanophanerophytes (31 spp, 5.43%) and megaphanerophytes (24 spp., 4.20%). The leaf size spectra was dominated bynanophylls (40.98%), leptophylls (24.87%), mesophylls 18.56%) and microphylls (9.11%). Further plant exploration issuggested in this remote inaccessible valley in the Hindukush Range, Pakistan.