Species Distribution Pattern and Their Contribution in Plant Community Assembly in Response to Ecological Gradients of the Ecotonal Zone in the Himalayan Region

The ecotonal zones support populations that are acclimated to changing, fluctuating, and unstable conditions, and as a result, these populations are better equipped to adjust to expected change. In this context, a hypothesis was tested that there must be vegetation dominated by unique indicator plan...

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Autores principales:	Inayat Ur Rahman, Aftab Afzal, Zafar Iqbal, Abeer Hashem, Al-Bandari Fahad Al-Arjani, Abdulaziz A. Alqarawi, Elsayed Fathi Abd_Allah, Mohnad Abdalla, Eduardo Soares Calixto, Shazia Sakhi, Niaz Ali, Rainer W. Bussmann
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	transition zone oak forest community assembly environmental gradients vegetation analysis Himalayas Botany QK1-989
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/efb619a1204d415eb4e28f655fd11175
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:efb619a1204d415eb4e28f655fd11175
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:efb619a1204d415eb4e28f655fd111752021-11-25T18:45:57ZSpecies Distribution Pattern and Their Contribution in Plant Community Assembly in Response to Ecological Gradients of the Ecotonal Zone in the Himalayan Region10.3390/plants101123722223-7747https://doaj.org/article/efb619a1204d415eb4e28f655fd111752021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/11/2372https://doaj.org/toc/2223-7747The ecotonal zones support populations that are acclimated to changing, fluctuating, and unstable conditions, and as a result, these populations are better equipped to adjust to expected change. In this context, a hypothesis was tested that there must be vegetation dominated by unique indicator plant species under the influence of ecological gradients in the ecotonal zone of Manoor Valley (northwestern Himalaya), Pakistan. Keeping the aforementioned hypothesis in mind, detailed field studies were conducted during different seasons in 2015-18. Line transect sampling and phytosociological characteristics (density, frequency, cover, and their relative values and Importance Value) were implemented as ecological methods. This investigation documented 97 plant species recorded from seven sampling sites. The community distribution modelling revealed that the ecological variables separate the seven sampling sites into two major plant communities (<i>Indigofera-Parrotiopsis-Bistorta</i> and <i>Ziziphus-Leptopus-Quercus</i>) recognized by TWINSPAN. The IBP communities showed a positive and significant correlation with altitude (1789.6–1896.3 m), sandy soil texture with a slightly acidic pH (6.4–6.5), and higher phosphorous (9–13 mg kg<sup>−1</sup>). In contrast with this, the ZLQ community was recognized on the southern slope under the strong influence of high electrical conductivity (2.82–5.4 dsm<sup>−1</sup>), organic matter (1.08–1.25%), calcium carbonate (5.8–7.6 mg kg<sup>−1</sup>), potassium (202–220 mg kg<sup>−1</sup>), and temperature (28.8–31.8 °C). Hence, both communities were found on opposite axes with clear differences based on the ecological gradients. NMDS clustered different species with similar habitats and different stands with common species, showing that plant species and stands were in a linear combination with ecological gradients. The IPB community has the maximum number of plant species (87 species), Shannon value (H’ = 4), Simpson value (0.98), and Pielou’s evenness value (0.96). Thus, the multivariate approaches revealed unique vegetation with sharp boundaries between communities which might be due to abrupt environmental changes.Inayat Ur RahmanAftab AfzalZafar IqbalAbeer HashemAl-Bandari Fahad Al-ArjaniAbdulaziz A. AlqarawiElsayed Fathi Abd_AllahMohnad AbdallaEduardo Soares CalixtoShazia SakhiNiaz AliRainer W. BussmannMDPI AGarticletransition zoneoak forestcommunity assemblyenvironmental gradientsvegetation analysisHimalayasBotanyQK1-989ENPlants, Vol 10, Iss 2372, p 2372 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	transition zone oak forest community assembly environmental gradients vegetation analysis Himalayas Botany QK1-989
spellingShingle	transition zone oak forest community assembly environmental gradients vegetation analysis Himalayas Botany QK1-989 Inayat Ur Rahman Aftab Afzal Zafar Iqbal Abeer Hashem Al-Bandari Fahad Al-Arjani Abdulaziz A. Alqarawi Elsayed Fathi Abd_Allah Mohnad Abdalla Eduardo Soares Calixto Shazia Sakhi Niaz Ali Rainer W. Bussmann Species Distribution Pattern and Their Contribution in Plant Community Assembly in Response to Ecological Gradients of the Ecotonal Zone in the Himalayan Region
description	The ecotonal zones support populations that are acclimated to changing, fluctuating, and unstable conditions, and as a result, these populations are better equipped to adjust to expected change. In this context, a hypothesis was tested that there must be vegetation dominated by unique indicator plant species under the influence of ecological gradients in the ecotonal zone of Manoor Valley (northwestern Himalaya), Pakistan. Keeping the aforementioned hypothesis in mind, detailed field studies were conducted during different seasons in 2015-18. Line transect sampling and phytosociological characteristics (density, frequency, cover, and their relative values and Importance Value) were implemented as ecological methods. This investigation documented 97 plant species recorded from seven sampling sites. The community distribution modelling revealed that the ecological variables separate the seven sampling sites into two major plant communities (<i>Indigofera-Parrotiopsis-Bistorta</i> and <i>Ziziphus-Leptopus-Quercus</i>) recognized by TWINSPAN. The IBP communities showed a positive and significant correlation with altitude (1789.6–1896.3 m), sandy soil texture with a slightly acidic pH (6.4–6.5), and higher phosphorous (9–13 mg kg<sup>−1</sup>). In contrast with this, the ZLQ community was recognized on the southern slope under the strong influence of high electrical conductivity (2.82–5.4 dsm<sup>−1</sup>), organic matter (1.08–1.25%), calcium carbonate (5.8–7.6 mg kg<sup>−1</sup>), potassium (202–220 mg kg<sup>−1</sup>), and temperature (28.8–31.8 °C). Hence, both communities were found on opposite axes with clear differences based on the ecological gradients. NMDS clustered different species with similar habitats and different stands with common species, showing that plant species and stands were in a linear combination with ecological gradients. The IPB community has the maximum number of plant species (87 species), Shannon value (H’ = 4), Simpson value (0.98), and Pielou’s evenness value (0.96). Thus, the multivariate approaches revealed unique vegetation with sharp boundaries between communities which might be due to abrupt environmental changes.
format	article
author	Inayat Ur Rahman Aftab Afzal Zafar Iqbal Abeer Hashem Al-Bandari Fahad Al-Arjani Abdulaziz A. Alqarawi Elsayed Fathi Abd_Allah Mohnad Abdalla Eduardo Soares Calixto Shazia Sakhi Niaz Ali Rainer W. Bussmann
author_facet	Inayat Ur Rahman Aftab Afzal Zafar Iqbal Abeer Hashem Al-Bandari Fahad Al-Arjani Abdulaziz A. Alqarawi Elsayed Fathi Abd_Allah Mohnad Abdalla Eduardo Soares Calixto Shazia Sakhi Niaz Ali Rainer W. Bussmann
author_sort	Inayat Ur Rahman
title	Species Distribution Pattern and Their Contribution in Plant Community Assembly in Response to Ecological Gradients of the Ecotonal Zone in the Himalayan Region
title_short	Species Distribution Pattern and Their Contribution in Plant Community Assembly in Response to Ecological Gradients of the Ecotonal Zone in the Himalayan Region
title_full	Species Distribution Pattern and Their Contribution in Plant Community Assembly in Response to Ecological Gradients of the Ecotonal Zone in the Himalayan Region
title_fullStr	Species Distribution Pattern and Their Contribution in Plant Community Assembly in Response to Ecological Gradients of the Ecotonal Zone in the Himalayan Region
title_full_unstemmed	Species Distribution Pattern and Their Contribution in Plant Community Assembly in Response to Ecological Gradients of the Ecotonal Zone in the Himalayan Region
title_sort	species distribution pattern and their contribution in plant community assembly in response to ecological gradients of the ecotonal zone in the himalayan region
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/efb619a1204d415eb4e28f655fd11175
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Species Distribution Pattern and Their Contribution in Plant Community Assembly in Response to Ecological Gradients of the Ecotonal Zone in the Himalayan Region

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