ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Unraveling Vegetation Diversity and Environmental Influences in the Sultan Khail Valley, Dir Upper, Pakistan: An Advanced Multivariate Analysis Approach
 
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1
Department of Botany, Islamia College Peshawar, 25120 Peshawar, Pakistan
 
2
Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
 
3
University Public School, University of Peshawar, 25120 Peshawar, Pakistan
 
4
Department of Crop and Animal Production, Sason Vocational School, Batman University, Batman 72060, Turkey
 
5
Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
 
6
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 11A, Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China
 
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Department of Horticulture, Agricultural Faculty, Ataturk University, Erzurum 25240 Turkiye
 
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HGF Agro, Ata Teknokent, TR-25240 Erzurum, Turkiye
 
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Department of Botany, Hindu College Moradabad (Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkh and University Bareilly), 244001, India
 
10
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, College of Dentistry, King Saud University, PO Box-60169, Riyadh -11545, Saudi Arabia
 
 
Submission date: 2023-12-13
 
 
Final revision date: 2024-02-23
 
 
Acceptance date: 2024-03-28
 
 
Online publication date: 2024-07-30
 
 
Corresponding author
Sarah Abdul Razak   

Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
 
 
Alevcan Kaplan   

Department of Crop and Animal Production, Sason Vocational School, Batman University, 72060, Batman, Turkey
 
 
 
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ABSTRACT
Both environmental and edaphic variables play an important role in the structure, composition, and distribution of plant communities. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the major plant associations along the altitudinal gradient and the effects of various topographic and edaphic variables on the distribution of vegetation in the Sultan Khail Valley in the Hindu Kush range of Pakistan. The data was collected between 2017 and 2019. For field data collection, the valley was divided into various ecological zones based on altitude, aspect, physiognomy, and geographical coordinates. Two hundred vineyards were established for the data collection. The canopy cover and the number of vascular plant species were determined using the Braun-Blanquet scale. Soil samples were collected and analyzed for various physicochemical properties. In the JUICE host program, the modified Two Way Indicator Species Analysis (TWINSPAN) was used to do a multivariate analysis of vegetative data. To emphasize diagnostic, constant, and dominant species, a threshold of 40% was set for the fidelity, frequency, and cover of species in each association. For vegetation ordination, DCA ordination was performed using R Project version 3.6.1. Modified TWINSPAN results in the formation of 5 associations of vegetation: i. Abies- Picea- Sibbaldia Association (APS), ii. Pinus- Wikstroemia- Galium association (PWG), iii. Ajuga-Artemisia-Quercus association (AAQ), iv. Cotoneaster- Quercus- Indigofera association (CQI), and v. Conyza- Juglans- Dicliptera association (CJD). The results of DCA ordering showed that elevation, slope angle, clay content (%), potassium, and pH of the soil were the most important factors for the distribution of species in different associations in the Sultan Khail Valley of Pakistan. The soils in the study area were loamy, silty-loamy to loamy-sandy, alkaline to acidic. and contained varying amounts of lime, organic matter, as well as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. In conclusion, the study successfully employed advanced multivariate analysis techniques to uncover the complex relationship between vegetation diversity and environmental conditions in the Sultan Khail Valley of Pakistan, a part of the Hindu Kush Range. The detailed analysis of the study revealed the complex interplay of numerous environmental variables and provided important insights for the conservation and sustainable management of this ecologically important region.
eISSN:2083-5906
ISSN:1230-1485
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