Temporal Assessment of Plant Community Attributes of Arid Saline Habitats

Krishna Sodha, Manish Mathur, S. Sundaramoorthy

Abstract


We quantified the seasonal variations in the phytodiversity and related parameters at saline patches located in the western hot arid parts of the Rajasthan, India. High phytodiversity was recorded during the rainy season which gradually decreased from winter to summer seasons. Log-normal, broken-stick and geometric dominance diversity curves were observed during three sampling periods that showed the changing behavior of communities in response to seasons. Presence of generalized and or specialized species affected the community specialization index that can be used as an important ecological indicator compared to traditional indictors. We found only random and clumped distribution of species. Finally, groups of specific saline grass with woody perennials during resourceful (rain), moderate (winter) and non-resource (summer) conditions were identified through Agglomerative Hierarchical Cluster analysis. This study would help us to develop more resilient saline arid lands as well as for bioremediation of such lands.

Keywords


Phytodiversity; Community Specialization Index; Cluster Analysis; Aeluropus lagopoides; Salsola baryosma; Suaeda fruticosa, Rajasthan

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