The World Journal of Engineering & Applied Science ISSN 2349-4514 ICV Impact Factor 2.05 PHYTOSOCIOLOGICALLY UNCOMMON PLANT SPECIES OF PETLAD TALUKA, ANAND DISTRICT Article Kamlesh S. Patel1 & Kaushik C. Patel2 Received on 1 Research Student of Botany, 9 Dec 2017 Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University, Patan - 384265, North Gujarat, India Accepted 2P. G. Centre in Botany, Smt. S. M. Panchal Science on: College, Talod - 383215 Dist. Sabarkantha, North Gujarat, India 19 Dec 2017 Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT Present paper deals with distribution pattern, population structure and conservation status of rare plant species in the Petlad Taluka, Anand district, Gujarat, India. Uncommon plant species is a group of species that are very rare. The quantitative study of vegetation which aims to describe vegetation & biodiversity in terms of number of species may extinct is known as the Phytosociology. List count quadrate method was implemented for studying the phytosociology of plant species. In every study site, we randomly studied 20 quadrats of 10,000 × 10,000 cm2 (100 × 100 m2) size for tree species, 30 quadrats of 500 × 500 cm2 (5 × 5 m2) size for shrub species and 50 quadrats of 100 × 100 cm2 (1 × 1 m2) size for herb species. Total 38 plant species belonging to 33 genera and 18 families have been considered as a rare species of Petlad taluka. Among all plant species Bidens biternata (Lour.) Merr. & Sherff, Heliotropium ovalifolium Forsk. in herb, Abelmoschus manihot (L.) Medic., Crotalaria burhia Buch.- Ham. ex Bth. in shrub and Annona reticulata L., Bombax ceiba L. in tree species were very rare. Their Raunkiaer’s frequency class was “A’. This study trends will assist in the proactive conservation of areas harbouring large number of uncommon plant species and these data provide the first step towards an integrative understanding of the evolutionary ecology of endemic floras. www.twjeas.org | Online International Research Journal Vol: 04 Issue: 01 (Jan.) 2018 Page 1 of 9 The World Journal of Engineering & Applied Science ISSN 2349-4514 ICV Impact Factor 2.05 INTRODUCTION India is the country of various plant species. We can find more than 5000 species of Angiospermic plants belonged to 141 genera and 47 families. In the global biodiversity India is on the high rank as a mega biodiversity. Each bio geographical zone has characteristic biota, broadly represents similar climatic conditions and constitutes the habitat for diverse species of flora and fauna. According to the report of Ministry of Forest and Environment, presently India has about 45,000 plants and 77,000 of animal species representing about 7% of the world flora and 6.5% of the world fauna respectively (GOI,2000), representing about 6.5% of the global biodiversity. Biodiversity is also one of the responsible factors for the regulation of nutrient cycle. Phytosociology means the distinctive field of study of plant society with respect to their classification, structure and components forms the basis of division of ecology. (Srinivasa Rao et al., 2013). The structural property of a plant community is the quantitative relationship among the species growing in the particular area. The quantitative study of vegetation which aims to describe vegetation & biodiversity in terms of number of species may extinct is known as the Phytosociology. (Swaine et al., 1987; Abdulhadi et al., 1987). On the opinion of the many authors plant sociology (or phytosociology) is described as the discipline which concerns itself with the study of vegetation as such, with its floristic composition, structure, development and distribution (Tansley, 1920). Behind selecting the topic of road side phytosociology in all over the world, especially in developing countries, roads are continuously increasing at a fast rate; and recognized as a primary influence on plant community composition and spread of invasive exotics (Larson, 2003). The main aim of this article is to complete the classification of uncommon plant species formation of Petlad taluka, and providing a guide for managers to use in determining vegetation types and their potential based environmental factors such as climate and soil properties. STUDY AREA Petlad Taluka is situated in Anand district nearby Borasd Taluka. Anand district is situated in the middle of Gujarat state, India. Anand district was established in the year 1997. The district of Anand comprises of 8 Talukas, i.e. Umareth, Petlad, Sojitra, Borsad, Anklav, Khambhat and Tarapur. Its population is about 2,092,745 people. It is located 21 km towards west from district Anand and 100 km far from state capital Gandhinagar towards North. Petlad Taluka is bordered from Borsad Taluka towards the South, Sojitra Taluka towards the North, Tarapur Taluka towards the west, Khambhat Taluka towards the south. Such Taluka has 56 villages. Petlad has been the main industrial contributor in the history of Gujarat. Petlad is located at 22o28’ N 72o48’ E / 22.47o N 72.8o E. It has an average elevation of 30 meters (98 feet). Economy depends on farmers from surrounding villages. Total population www.twjeas.org | Online International Research Journal Vol: 04 Issue: 01 (Jan.) 2018 Page 2 of 9 The World Journal of Engineering & Applied Science ISSN 2349-4514 ICV Impact Factor 2.05 of Petlad Taluka is 2,87,924 out of these 2,32,594 persons live in urban and 2,32,5948 live in rural areas (Census, 2011). METHODOLOGY The study area was divided in such 20 sites as we could study phytosociology of all the villages of Petlad Taluka (Table-1). Study of uncommon plant species of Petlad taluka was done in rainy and winter season. There were three types of quadrat methods such as list quadrat, list-count quadrat and chart quadrat. Out of these three methods we applied list- count quadrat method for phytosociological study. In every study site, we randomly studied 20 quadrats of 10,000 × 10,000 cm2 (100 × 100 m2) size for tree species, 30 quadrats of 500 × 500 cm2 (5 × 5 m2) size for shrub species and 50 quadrats of 100 × 100 cm2 (1 × 1 m2) size for herb species. All plant species were identified with the help of Gujarat flora. Table-1: List of the sites of the Petlad Taluka Site No. Site Name Length (km) 1 College chokdi to Bandhni chokdi 8 2 College chokdi to Dharmaj chokdi 7 3 Vav chokdi to Santokpura Sim 6.5 4 Petlad bus stand to Amod 6 5 Rangaipura to Shihol 6.8 6 Jesarva railway crossing to Nar 9.7 7 Petlad bus stand to Palaj 5 8 Vatav to Morad 5.6 9 Bamroli to Ghuteli 6.5 10 Padgol to Demol 7.6 11 Bandhani to Padgol 5.9 12 Dantali to Ashi 5 13 Ashi to Virol 5 14 Ashi to Boria 5 15 Boria to Petlad college chokdi 8.5 16 Sasaj to Manpura 5.5 17 Manpura to Sundra 10.1 18 Vadadla to Jogan 7.3 19 Bharel to Sudarna 7 20 Sudarna to Davalpura 5.5 The phytosociological attributes: Frequency, density and abundance were calculated according to the principles of Curties and McIntosh (1950), Curtis (1959) and Misra (1968). The following were the different parameters for calculation of relevant attributes: Number of quadrats in which the species occurred Frequency (%) = × 100 Total number of quadrats studied www.twjeas.org | Online International Research Journal Vol: 04 Issue: 01 (Jan.) 2018 Page 3 of 9 The World Journal of Engineering & Applied Science ISSN 2349-4514 ICV Impact Factor 2.05 Total number of individuals of a species in all quadrats Density = Total number of quadrats studied Total number of individuals of a species in all quadrats Abundance = Total number of quadrats in which the species occurred Raunkiar’s frequency After determining the percentage frequency of total numbers of species are distributed among Raunkiaer’s (1934) five frequency classes and values (Table-2). Table-2: Raunkiaer’s frequency values and classes Frequency % Frequency class 0 to 20 A 21 to 40 B 41 to 60 C 61 to 80 D 81 to 100 E For the calculation of all the phytosociological data we used Microsoft excel-2007. RESULT & DISCUSSION A total of 38 plant species belonging to 33 genera and 18 families were recorded which were not common in this taluka (Table-3). Out of 38 plant species 14 belongs to herb, 10 belongs to shrub and 14 belong to tree species. The result shows that all of above species were very rare and not frequently found from this study area. Table-3: Frequency, Density, Abundance and Raunkiar's frequency of uncommon plant species at Petlad Taluka. ) 2 No Name of the species . Habit studied Density (R. Class) Abundance (Sp./Quadrate) Frequency (%) (%) Frequency (100 × 100 cm Frequency Class Class Frequency which the species which the species No. of quadrates in of sp. inquadrate all Total no. of quadrates Total no. of individual www.twjeas.org | Online International Research Journal Vol: 04 Issue: 01 (Jan.) 2018 Page 4 of 9 The World Journal of Engineering & Applied Science ISSN 2349-4514 ICV Impact Factor 2.05 0.2500 0.0050 2.0000 1 T Annona reticulata L. 2 1 400 A 0 0 0 Bergia suffruticosa (Del.) 100 0.2000 0.0780 39.000 2 H 78 2 A Fenzl 0 0 0 00 Abelmoschus manihot 0.8333 0.0200 2.4000 3 S 12 5 600 A (L.) Medic. 3 0 0 Hibiscus ovalifolius 100 0.2000 0.0100 5.0000 4 H 10 2 A (Forsk.) Vahl. 0 0 0 0 100 0.2000 0.0120 6.0000 5 H Pavonia zeylanica Cav. 12 2 A 0 0 0 0 0.2500 0.0025 1.0000 6 T Bombax ceiba L. 1 1 400 A 0 0 0 Murraya koenigii (L.) 1.0000 0.0100 1.0000 7 T 4 4 400 A Spr.