Plant Communities and Vegetation Ecosystem Services in the Naran Valley, Western Himalaya
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PLANT COMMUNITIES AND VEGETATION ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IN THE NARAN VALLEY, WESTERN HIMALAYA A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Leicester, UK by Shujaul Mulk Khan Department of Biology, University of Leicester England, United Kingdom May, 2012 a Declaration I hereby declare that no part of this thesis has been previously submitted to this or any other university as part of the requirements for a higher degree. The content of this thesis is the result of my own work unless otherwise acknowledged in the text or by reference. The work was conducted in the field at the Naran Valley Himalayas and Department of Biology University of Leicester during the period September 2008 to May 2012. Shujaul Mulk Khan i Dedicated to my Loving Parents, Affectionate Teachers, Serene Wife, Divine Daughters, Sincere Sisters, Respectful Brothers & Amazing Friends ii Supervisors Dr David M Harper1, Prof Dr Sue Page2, Prof Dr Habib Ahmad3 1Department of Biology, University of Leicester, United Kingdom 2Department of Geography, University of Leicester, United Kingdom 3Department of Botany & Genetics, Hazara University Mansehra, Pakistan Internal Examiner/Assessor Prof Dr Pat Heslop-Harrison Professor Department of Biology, University of Leicester, United Kingdom & Chief Editor Journal of Annals of Botany External Examiner Prof Dr Des B.A. Thompson Principal Adviser Biodiversity Scottish Natural Heritage Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom iii Abstract Plant communities and vegetation ecosystem services in the Naran Valley, Western Himalaya By Shujaul Mulk Khan The Naran Valley, western Himalayas, is of high floristic interest owing to its geographic location and altitudinal range. It represents other remote Himalayan valleys where rugged terrain and geopolitics restrict plant biodiversity and conservation assessment, but has experienced no previous quantitative ecological or ethnobotanical research. This study had three objectives: (i) assess species distributions and plant communities using phytosociological techniques; (ii) identify environmental gradients responsible for vegetation variation; (iii) quantify vegetation ecosystem services for indigenous people. Species attributes were measured along altitudinal gradients using transect and quadrat methods on slopes with different aspects (elevation range 2400-4100 m). One hundred and ninety-eight plant species from 68 families were quantified along 24 transects. Classification and ordination techniques (PCORD & CANOCO) identified 5 major plant communities. Indicator Species Analysis (ISA) and assortment of fidelity classes identified indicator/characteristic species. Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) and Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) showed altitude and aspect to be the strongest drivers of community classification. The vegetation changed from a moist-cool temperate community characterised by woody species, to dry-cold subalpine and alpine herbaceous communities both along valley sides and at higher elevations. Plant species diversity reached an optimum at mid-altitude (2800-3400 m) as compared to lower (2400-2800 m) and higher elevations (3400-4100 m). Questionnaire methods were used to record and quantify plant uses and indigenous ethnobotanical knowledge. Plant Use Values (UV) were calculated using quantitative ethnobotanical techniques while the phytosociological data yielded Importance Values (IV). UV and IV data were combined to illustrate anthropogenic influences, with a focus on rare, endangered and endemic species. This study contributes to an enhanced understanding of (i) plant diversity in the Western Himalayas; (ii) ethnobotanical and ecosystem service values of mountain vegetation within the context of anthropogenic impacts; (iii) local and regional plant conservation strategies and priorities. iv Acknowledgements Thanks to almighty ALLAH who helped me step by step in the journey of life till today to achieve the higher level in academic hierarchy. I profoundly acknowledge the financial support of Hazara University Mansehra and Higher Education Commission, Pakistan (HEC) for my PhD studies. At the same time it was impossible to continue the work without the intellectual support of my supervisors Dr David Harper and Dr Sue Page from the very beginning with email correspondence, enlightening discussions on my topic and proposal, helpful advices on the field work, data processing and analysis. They provide the immediate response to the solution of any inconvenience ever raised up during this whole journey. They always managed to find time for looking at and discussing the improvement of the texts in annual reports, publication and then dissertation in hand shape. Beyond their determined supervision they established a friendly environment during our communications. The list what they did for me is very long but I would simply say they are extraordinary and very exceptional thanks to them. I am also thankful to my field supervisor Prof Dr Habib Ahmad (Tamgha-i-Imtiaz) on the manifold assistance during my field work and processing of herbarium specimens. To Professor Pat Heslop-Harrison, my assessor, I am thankful for the kind help, his productive comments and valuable discussions on questionnaire preparation, results of the vegetation analysis, ecosystem services, and his kind attitude all the years in University of Leicester. I will not forget a figure without whom it would extremely difficult to achieve the goal was Mr Zahidullah Lecturer in Botany and PhD Scholar at Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad, Pakistan and a best friend of mine who was with me in the harsh, rough and lofty mountains of the Himalaya and then in the Herbarium for identification of specimens. My brothers Muhammad Imran, Muhammad Jahangir and Jahansher Khan also provided me company in the field work - Special thanks to them. I am grateful to my lab fellow Emma Tebbs, for helping me in generating GIS map for my research area the Naran Valley. I would like to express my appreciation to Mr Abdul Majid and Mr Ishtiaq Ahmad, Faculty members of Botany, in the Herbarium of Hazara University Mansehra Pakistan for their kind support and providing facilities during drying, processing and mounting the plant specimens. Dr Muhammad Sajid, Hazara University Mansehra and Dr Muhammad Asif, Agriculture Research Station Abbottabad are highly acknowledged for facilitating my stay in the Naran Valley. I am thankful to Gawhar Zaman, Shabir and all those who helped me as guides during data and specimens collection in the rough mountainous terrain of the Naran Valley. I warmly thank the inhabitants of the Naran Valley for permitting me to their settlements, their priceless hospitality and cooperation during the field work and interview surveys. I cannot forget the help of supporting staff especially Steve Ison, Penny Butler, Lesley Barnett, Jacqueline Frost and Ceinwen Tilley for their speedy assistance in official matters. I am thankful to Rasha Ibrahim PhD Scholar in the English literature for her caring guidance on my language pronunciation. I would also like to thank all the faculty members of Biology department, for their friendly and knowledgeable conversations during my four year stay at University of Leicester, UK. Furthermore, I would like to express my appreciation to the colleagues both from University of Leicester, UK and Hazara University Mansehra, Pakistan for providing friendly atmospheres during this period. In particular, I would like to thank Niaz Ali, Ed Morrison, Waseem Ahmad, Muhibullah Kakar, Muhammad Adnan, Hamayun Shaheen, Naveed Alam, Nouf Al-Sayed, Abdur Rauf, Muhammad Sangeen, Muhammad Naeem, Abdul Samad, Mumtaz Hussain Shah, Isfahan Tauseef, Kashif Haleem, Tauseef Qureshi, Azam Hayat and Kafeel Ahmad, for the kind and pleasant company, cooperation and advices all the way through this long journey. At last but not the least, the present project would not obtained present shape without the precious and multi fold support of my father, mother, wife, sisters and brothers to whom I would like to express my deepest feelings and gratitude as all of them want me a successful person in life. I pay unique commendations to my little flowers like daughters Humera Shuja and Lubna Shuja who used to say each weekend “Abbu! Come home by next Sunday” but I did not comply with, due to my engagements. Shujaul Mulk Khan v Publications arising to date from this thesis The following papers have been published based on some results presented in Chapters 4, 5 & 6; i. Khan, S. M., S. Page and H. Ahmad, D. M. Harper, 2012. Phyto-climatic gradient of vegetation and habitat specificity in the high elevation Western Himalayas. Pakistan Journal of Botany, (Special Issue for ICB conference in September 2012, under review). ii. Khan, S. M., S. Page and H. Ahmad, D. M. Harper, 2012. Linking plants abundance with human uses to assess anthropogenic pressures on vegetation of the western Himalayas. Journal of Environmental Management, (submitted; manuscript number- ENM-12-0159, under review). iii. Khan, S. M., S. Page and H. Ahmad, D. M. Harper, 2012. Ethno-ecological importance of plant biodiversity in mountain ecosystems with special emphasis on indicator species; a case study of the Naran Valley in the Western Himalayas. Journal of Ecological Indicators (submitted; manuscript number- Ms. Ref. No.: ECOLIND-2235, under review). iv. Khan, S. M., S. Page and H. Ahmad, D. M. Harper, 2012. Plant species and communities indicate environmental gradients in the Western Himalayas. Journal of Ecological