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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Unraveling Vegetation Diversity
and Environmental Influences in the Sultan Khail
Valley, Dir Upper, Pakistan: An Advanced
Multivariate Analysis Approach
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
7
Department of Horticulture, Agricultural Faculty, Ataturk University, Erzurum 25240 Turkiye
8
HGF Agro, Ata Teknokent, TR-25240 Erzurum, Turkiye
9
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
Publication date: 2025-01-02
Corresponding author
Sarah Abdul Razak
Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
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
Department of Crop and Animal Production, Sason Vocational School, Batman University, 72060, Batman, Turkey
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2025;34(1):777-789
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
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.
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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