NATIVE VEGETATION CORRELATION WITH ENVIRONMENTAL GRADIENTS BY MULTIVARIATE APPROACHES IN VARIOUS MICROHABITATS OF SEMIARID SUBTROPICAL REGION, DISTRICT MANDI BAHA UDDIN OF PUNJAB, PAKISTAN - Muhammad Danish Jamil; Shamim Akhtar; Muhammad Azhar Ali (Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences, 2025)
Documentation of vegetation is aimed at conservation of geographical ecosystems, and it is determined by its environmental dynamics. To fulfill this research gap in term of exploration of wild native flora and its association with environmental features in semiarid subtropical region, district Mandi Baha Uddin (MB Din) of Punjab, Pakistan is comprehensively explored. To record the vegetation and related environmental data, MB Din district was surveyed for three years during 2021 to 2023. Native plant species of target district were taken as sample for present study. The data was collected through random sampling method from 90 sampling stations having 270 quadrates among dynamic microhabitats (microclimates) Canoco ver. 4.5 and R ver. 4.4.2 software packages were practiced to measure the diversity indices and link the vegetation with environmental features. Diversity indices analysis by PAST software ver. 4.10 indicated that leading values of Simpson and Shannon diversity were observed in diversity rich habitats including grassland (0.0986 and 4.44) and forest land (0.0985 and 4.40) habitats, whereas same Simpson and Shannon diversity least diversity values were recorded in barrage land (0.9455 and 3.038) and Wetland land (0.9498 and 3.057) habitats. Recording of least diversity indices values indicated that these habitats are vulnerable for native species distribution. Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) depicted the dissimilar vegetation distribution in various elevations. PCA (Principal component analysis) depicted that various microhabitats including Forest land, Roadside, Graveyards, Riverine land, Sandy land, Dry land and Waste places inhabit resembling species distribution whereas Grassland inhabit different flora. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) depicted that variation were recorded in ascending order with percentages of 18.8<30.9<42.5<52.5 for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th axis of the whole variation. Edaphic environmental features including N, SOC, K, P, Sand and SOM depicted dominant association with native species distribution. This research highlighted the requirement for making conservation efforts and events to endorse vegetation in the target area.
Keywords: journal article; Native vegetation; Multivariate approach; Environmental features; Mandi Baha Uddin; PCA; CCA