ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Floral Diversity and Vegetation Dynamics of the Sino-Japanese Vegetation Type in Ashoran Hills, Pakistan
 
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1
Department of Botany, Islamia College, Peshawar, 25120 Peshawar, Pakistan
 
2
Department of Botany, Government Afzal Khan Lala Post-Graduate College, Matta, Swat, Pakistan
 
3
Department of Crop and Animal Production, Sason Vocational School, Batman University, Batman 72060, Turkey
 
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Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing China
 
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Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science and Art, Bingol University, 12000 Bingol, Turkey
 
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Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
 
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Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
 
 
Submission date: 2024-06-20
 
 
Final revision date: 2024-08-20
 
 
Acceptance date: 2025-02-16
 
 
Online publication date: 2025-04-22
 
 
Publication date: 2026-04-21
 
 
Corresponding author
Roohul Amin   

Department of Botany, Islamia College, Peshawar, 25120 Peshawar, Pakistan
 
 
Alevcan Kaplan   

Department of Crop and Animal Production, Sason Vocational School, Batman University, Batman 72060, Turkey
 
 
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2026;35(2):2075-2094
 
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Between 2021 and 2023, a botanical survey was conducted in the Hindukush Mountains of Ashoran, Kalam, Swat District, Pakistan. As part of this study, 282 plant species from 206 genera and 73 families were cataloged. The major families include Asteraceae (24 species), Poaceae (22), Rosaceae (17), Fabaceae (14), Lamiaceae (14), Polygonaceae (10), and Ranunculaceae (10). Dicotyledons dominated with 219 species, followed by monocotyledons (39), pteridophytes (13), and gymnosperms (11). Herbaceous plants were the most common (188 species), followed by trees (35), subshrubs (24), and shrubs (23). Perennials were predominant (217 species), with annuals and biennials accounting for 59 and 6 species, respectively. Therophytes were the most common life form (85 species), followed by geophytes (54) and hemicryptophytes (52). Analysis of leaf size revealed that nanophylls dominated (37.23%), followed by microphylls (25.88%), mesophylls (18.79%), and leptophylls (14.89%). Quantitative ecological techniques were used, with quadrats of 1 m2 for herbs, 5 m for shrubs, and 10 m for trees. Data on the 282 species and environmental parameters were analyzed using Two-way Indicator Species Analysis and Detrended Correspondence Analysis using Juice software version 7.1 and R program version 3.6, identifying five distinct plant communities. The Cedrus-Polygonum-Quercus community was located at an altitude of 2062-2112 m (18 territories, 25 species). The Quercus-Sorberia-Indigofera community was located at an altitude of 1982-2560 m (17 plant species, 101 species). The Origanum-Quercus-Seriphedium community was found at an altitude of 2281-2560 m (21 quadrats, 146 species). The Thymus-Rumex-Poa community was located at 2596-3115 m (17 quadrats, 127 species). The Abies-Betula-Picea community was located at 2405-3009 m (33 quadrats, 170 species). Vegetation was variably disturbed due to deforestation, overgrazing, and agricultural expansion, with some areas heavily impacted by human activities.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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