Question

sketch of different levels of vegetation in Himalayas

Answer 1

Vegetation provides the first tropic trophic level in mountain ecosystems and hencerequires proper documentation and quantification in relation to abiotic environmental variablesboth at individual and aggregate levels. The complex and dynamic Himalayas with theirvarying climate and topography exhibit diverse vegetation that provides a range of ecosystemservices. The biodiversity of these mountains is also under the influence of diverse humancultures and land uses. The present paper is not only first of its kind but also quite uniquebecause of the use of modern statistical techniques for the quantification of Diversity Indices of plant species and communities. The vegetation was sampled in three categories, i.e., trees, shrubs and herbs, as follows: a height of ≥ 5m were classified in the tree layer, shrubs were allwoody species of height 1m and 5m and, finally, the herb layer comprised all herbaceousspecies less than 1m in height. The presence/absence of all vascular plants was recorded on pre-prepared data sheets (1, 0 data). For the tree layer, the diameter of trees at breast height wasmeasured using diameter tape. Coverage of herbaceous vegetation was visually estimatedaccording to Daubenmire and Braun Blanquet methods. It gives overall abundance of vascularplants on one hand and composition of these species on the other. Data was analysed inCanonical Community Coordination Package (CANOCO) to measure diversity indices of plantcommunities and habitat types.

Answer 2

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