Phytoecological and Ethnobotanical Studies of Kalash Valley, District Chitral, Hindukush Range, Pakistan.

The present study was conducted to document the plant resources and their ecological characteristics in Kalash valley, district Chitral during years 2013-2015. The floristic composition revealed 389 species belonging to 273 genera and 88 families. It includes 62 dicots, 11 monocots, 7 pteridophytes, 4 bryophytes and 3 gymnosperms families and one fungus family. The species diversity showed 307 dicots, 55 monocots, 12 pteridophytes, 10 gymnosperms, 4 bryophytes and one fungus species. Asteraceae was leading family with 49 species followed by Poaceae 36 species, Brassicaceae 25, Lamiaceae and Rosaceae 22 species each, Fabaceae 16, Apiaceae 13 and Boraginaceae and Polygonaceae 12 species each. The remaining families have 10 or less species. Biological spectra showed that therophytes were dominated with 205 species followed by geophytes 56 species and hemicryptophytes 46 species. Nanophylls were dominating leaf size spectrum with 178 species followed by mesophylls with 72 species, leptophylls 53 and microphylls 44 species. 328 species of the valley were deciduous, 48 evergreen and 13 were leafless species. The simple leaved species dominated with 266 species followed by 66 species with compound leaves and 44 with dissected leaves. 369 species were spineless and only 20 were spiny species. There were 291 terrestrial and 98 wet/moist habitat loving species. The result showed 363 heliophytes and 26 sciophytes. 340 species were wild and 49 were cultivated. Ethnobotanical studies of the plants showed that all the species have some kind of local uses i.e. 338 species were used as fodder, 93 medicinal, 63 firewood, 27 vegetables, 32 fruit species, 23 timber woods, 21 for thatching purpose, 20 condiment, 08 ornamental and 5 species were used for making snuffs. Phytosociological studies were carried out in all the three sub-valleys viz: Bumburet, Rumbor and Birir and each sub-valley was divided into two portions like Foothills/plains and uphill mountains/alpines. Total of 21 plant communities were established 7 in each sub-valley including 3 in foothills and 4 in uphill mountains. Similarly, 3 associations were established in the entire valley to group all the 21 plant communities through cluster analysis. Edaphology of the valley showed that the soil was mostly sandy loam with poor organic matter, normal or slightly alkaline and low nutrient status. The palatability studies of the valley showed that cow grazed on 47 species and were mostly (59.57%) herbaceous. Of them, 20 species were highly palatable, 18 mostly palatable and 9 less palatable. Parts of the plants grazed showed that 25 whole plants species, leaves of 19, shoots of 2 and flowers of one species were used as forage. Goats grazed on 65 species having mostly (50.76%) herbs. Of these, 20 species each were highly palatable and less palatable, 21 mostly palatable and 4 species were rarely palatable for cow. Whole plants of 26 species, leaves of 24, shoot of 14 and fruit of one species were grazed by goats. Sheep grazed on 42 species and mostly (61.90%) were herbs. 18 species were mostly palatable, 13 highly palatable, 10 less palatable and one species was rarely palatable. The whole plants of 17 species, leaves of 13, shoots of 10 and fruit of one species was preferred by sheep for grazing. The total biomass productivity of the valley was 127484 kg/ha. Shrubs/ trees having more contribution and yielded 79649 kg/ha of the forage, herbs to 46595 kg/ha and grasses to 1240 kg/ha. Highest productivity (9445 kg/ha) was recorded for the community Salix-Salix-Ailanthus followed by Salix-TamarixMentha community (9065 kg/ha) and Artemisia-Rosa-Quercus community (8775 kg/ha). Thirteen medicinal/palatable plant species were selected for chemical analysis at three phenological stages. The elemental analysis showed the presence of micronutrients i.e. Al, Fe, Si, S, Cd, Zn, Cu and Mn and macronutrients N, O, C, P, Mg, Na, P and Ca in different proportions at different phenological stages. Nutritional analysis of these plants indicated a slight variation in the quantity of moisture, ash contents, crude protein, crude fiber, crude fat, carbohydrate and NFE contents at three phenological stages. Conservation study of 323 wild plant species of the Kalash valley revealed that 8 species were rare, 60 were endangered and 255 were vulnerable species. The plants of the valley are facing great pressure due to over grazing and browsing, over exploitation for fire and timber wood, over collection for medicinal purposes, floods, land sliding and habitat loss.