Floristic composition of alpine grassland in Gulmarg, Kashmir

Abstract

Floristic composition of high-altitude alpine grassland, located in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, was investigated under three different seasons. The grassland comprised of two sites- protected and grazed site with diverse habitat types and seasonal effect. The disturbance was severed on the protected site, while at grazed site, grazing was main disturbance factor. A total of 64 species belonging to 23 families and 56 genera were recorded in Gulmarg grassland. The dominant families were Poaceae (14 spp.), Asteraceae (6 spp.), Lamiaceae (6 spp.), Fabaceae (5 spp.), Polygonaceae (5 spp.), Caryophyllaceae (4 spp.), Plantaginaceae (4 spp.), Rosaceae (4 spp.) and Apiaceae (2 spp.). The number of species were found higher (42) in the protected site, while it was lower (21) in grazed site. In terms of life form spectrum, the vegetation was characterized by high proportion of hemicryptophytes indicating a heavy biotic interference in the form of overgrazing. The maximum similarity index value (74%) was found in the autumn seasons. Although the species richness was found highest in protected site and occurrence of some rare and useful herbaceous species in this site demands a long term conservation plan, if their survival was to be continued in this grassland.