Medicinal plants diversity and abundance in moist temperate forests of Dunga Gali Forest Sub-division, Galies Forest Division, Abbottabad
Medicinal plants diversity and abundance in moist temperate forests of Dunga Gali Forest Sub-division, Galies Forest Division, Abbottabad
Muhammad Muslim and Hafiz Muhammad Sufyan Babar
ABSTRACT
Medicinal plants are major source of ingredients being used for basic health care needs. A great proportion of people use medicinal plants to cure their ailments globally. Present study was conducted to assess the medicinal plants diversity and abundance in moist temperate forest of Dunga Gali forest sub-division, Galies Forest Division, Abbottabad. The study recorded 22 plant species belonging to 20 families. The highest (Relative Density) RD was 13.6% for Valeriana wallichii while the lowest was 0.1% for Arisaema wallichianum and Podophyllum emodi. The RF 12.6% was highest for Adiantum capillus-veneris followed by 10.9% for Viburnum nervosum. Lowest (Relative Frequency) RF was found to be 0.4% for Podophyllum emodi. The maximum (Relative Cover) RC was 11% for Valeriana wallichii and Viburnum nervosum while the minimum RC was 0.3% for Arisaema wallichianum and Podophyllum emodi. The values of (Importance Value Index) IVI and (Summed Dominance Ratio) SDR were highest for Valeriana wallichii, 34.3 and 11.4, respectively while the lowest were 0.8 and 0.3 for Podophyllum emodi. Perhaps, the most important thing for local people is that the abundance of the most valuable medicinal plant species Valeriana wallichii and Bergenia ciliata is significantly higher on many areas. The study has suggested that protection from grazing, logging, firewood collection and plantation/reforestation may be a source of improvement of ground vegetation.
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March 2018
Vol. 68, Iss. 1
