Ecological Distribution Patterns of Wild Grasses and Abiotic Factors

Syeda Saba Tassadduq, Shamim Akhtar, Muhammad Waheed, Nazneen Bangash, Durr-e- Nayab, Muhammad Majeed, Sanaullah Abbasi, Murad Muhammad, Abed Alataway, Ahmed Z. Dewidar, Hosam O. Elansary () and Kowiyou Yessoufou
Additional contact information
Syeda Saba Tassadduq: Department of Botany, University of Gujrat, Hafiz Hayat Campus, Gujrat 50700, Pakistan
Shamim Akhtar: Department of Botany, University of Gujrat, Hafiz Hayat Campus, Gujrat 50700, Pakistan
Muhammad Waheed: Department of Botany, University of Okara, Okara 56300, Pakistan
Nazneen Bangash: Department of Biological Sciences, COMSATS University, Park Road, Islamabad 45550, Pakistan
Durr-e- Nayab: Department of Botany, University of Gujrat, Hafiz Hayat Campus, Gujrat 50700, Pakistan
Muhammad Majeed: Department of Botany, University of Gujrat, Hafiz Hayat Campus, Gujrat 50700, Pakistan
Sanaullah Abbasi: Department of Biochemistry, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur 66020, Pakistan
Murad Muhammad: Department of Botany, University of Peshawar, Peshawar 25120, Pakistan
Abed Alataway: Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water Chair, Prince Sultan Institute for Environmental, Water and Desert Research, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Ahmed Z. Dewidar: Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water Chair, Prince Sultan Institute for Environmental, Water and Desert Research, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Hosam O. Elansary: Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water Chair, Prince Sultan Institute for Environmental, Water and Desert Research, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Kowiyou Yessoufou: Department of Geography, Environmental Management, and Energy Studies, University of Johannesburg, APK Campus, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 18, 1-17

Abstract: Documentation the relative influence of ecological dynamics on species diversity patterns can help us better understand spatial distribution patterns and devise a systematically comprehensive base for carrying out environmental explorations. The current attempt aimed at exploring the distribution patterns, diversity and richness of wild grasses with respect to climatic dynamics in the Gujrat district of Punjab, Pakistan. For this purpose, we applied the randomized sample method and sampled a total of 90 sites across the Gujrat district between 2019 and 2021 to document data on wild grasses and related ecological conditions. After assessment of the significant value index of each grass species with ecological records, we evaluated the data by ordination and cluster analysis. A total of 57 wild grasses from 37 genera were documented from the Gujrat district. The leading genera were Brachiaria , Cenchrus and Setaria , each accounting for 7.02% of all documented species, followed by Aristida and Panicum , each representing 5.76% of the species. Dactyloctenium , Dichanthium, Eragrostis , Polypogon , Poa and Saccharum each accounted for 5.26% of the species, and Digitaria , Pennisetum , Eragrostis , Chrysopogon Poa and Setaria each accounted for 3.51% of the species. Other genera each had a single species. Among all grasses, 75.44% of the species were native and 24.56% species were exotic and introduced to the study area. The leading life forms were therophytes (56.14%), followed by hemicryptophytes (42.11%) and geophytes (1.75%). Microphylls, with a 54.39% share, dominated the leaf size spectra of the wild grasses flora in this research. Other frequent classes included nanophylls (21.05%), macrophylls (19.3%) and leptophylls (5.26%). Flowering phenology of wild grasses showed that mainly species at the flowering phase were recorded during the months of June to August (40.35%) and July to September (19.29%). By applying Ward’s agglomerative clustering method, we classified the ninety transects into four major groups. Ordination analysis showed that different ecological factors had significant ( p ≤ 0.002) effects on vegetation relations. The present endeavor provides a basic way to understand the impacts of ecological variables on the structure, diversity, composition and associations of wild grasses, which are helpful to improve the scientific-informed conservation and management measures for the environmental reestablishment of degraded habitat in the studied region.

Keywords: wild grasses; climatic factors; ecological techniques; Gujrat; Pakistan (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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