Vegetation patterns and composition of mixed coniferous forests Seite 159 135. Jahrgang (2018), Heft 2, S. 159–180 Vegetation patterns and composition of mixed coniferous forests along an altitudinal gradient in the Western Himalayas of Pakistan Vegetationsmuster und Zusammensetzung gemischter Nadelwälder entlang eines Höhengradienten im westlichen Himalaya Pakistans Shehzadi Saima 1,2, Adeela Altaf 2, Muhammad Hashim Faiz 2, Fozia Shahnaz 2, Guang Wu 1* Keywords: Western Himalayan, vegetation composition, multivariate analysis, species distribution, correlation, Pakistan Schlüsselbegriffe: Westlicher Himalaya, Vegetationszusammensetzung, multivariate Regression, Artenverteilung, Korrelation, Pakistan Abstract The present study was conducted to quantify the diversity of species, boundaries of the plant communities along the altitudinal gradient and correlation between en- vironmental factors and plant assemblage as little is known about the diversity and overall vegetation pattern of the study area. The study sites were located inside the Western Himalayan mixed coniferous forest at latitude ranging between 34°47'22"N 73°32'58"E in the Kaghan Valley (Pakistan). Altitude of the study sites ranges from 2100-3000 m a.s.l. The study area is characterized by having extensive development 1 College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xian Shaanxi Province, 710119 P.R. China *Corresponding author: Guang Wu (
[email protected]) 2 Institute of Pure and Applied Biology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan Seite 160 S. Saima, A. Altaf, M. H. Faiz, F. Shahnaz, G. Wu of coniferous species which follows a typical structural sequence along the altitudi- nal gradient. Vegetation parameters were recorded from 20 sites during field survey. Soil samples from each site were collected for determining soil physical and chemical properties.