INTRODUCTION: Neelum valley, known as a valley of fountains, springs, waterfalls, flowering trees and plants was drastically affected by the October, 2005 earthquake. Geographically too, it is a hospitable valley. This ninety-mile long kingdom of vegetation is accompanied by the indigo-blue river Neelum which flows down hills to merge itself into the river Jhelum at Domail on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad city. The valley, starting from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Kashmir, is about 150 miles long. It lies on both sides of the river Neelum. The geographical features enhance the natural beauty of the valley. Its elevation, a mere 186m at the start, gradually rises till it attains a height of 750m. On both sides of the river there are high mountains and peaks. Nearly all the forest wealth of Azad Kashmir is to be found in this part of the State. In Neelum valley from Patikka forest one reaches Nosari, 24 miles ahead of Muzaffarabad. Next comes Chaliana (height 3,200 feet), Qazi Nag, Barian, Salkhala, Kundal Shahi, Athmaqam on this road. On a number of places, the local population has built rope crossings on the river. Tao Butt is an example of vegetation generosity of nature. The forest wealth abounds in the Neelum Valley. Deodar, pine, fir, walnut, strawberry and hosts of other high statured trees and other types of wild growth and herbs are the treasure of the valley (Pakistan & Gulf Economist 2005). Besides being invaluable in economic terms, the variety of natural growth offers a captivating scenery. Shunder Hill tops are covered with green forests and the fields are lush green with crops. An artifical lake at Subri was created due to a cloud burst over the surrounding hills during 1975. Further along the road, 24 km from Muzaffarabad is located the small town of Ghari Dupata. Other notable places of interest in the valley are Chakothi, Chikar, Loonbagla, Lungian and Danna, all known for their scenic beauty and healthy climate. The altitude of Jhelum valley varies from 1930 at Gari Dopatta to 2120m in Chekar (Awan at al 2004). This study was conducted to analyse the current status of flora both the vallies after earthquake and also to observe the difference in vegetation in both the vallies.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Study area The area covered in Neelum valley include Kahoripul, Batean Chilpani, Karka and Patikha. In Jhelum valley Tandali, Gari dupata, Chinarri, Chekothi and some portion of Chikar were also covered.
Vegetation Sampling and Analysis The phytosociological analysis of the forests of study areas of these two vallies i.e. Neelum and Jhelum was carried out during September to November 2008 by using 10 x 10 m quadrats for trees. Each quadrat was subdivided in to 5 x 5 m sample plot for recording shrubs and saplings and 1 x 1 m for herbs and seedlings. The quadrats were laid out randomly throughout the study area. Forty quadrats were randomly placed in the entire area, representing all the vegetation types and localities. In each quadrat, maximum 4 strata existed i.e. trees were recorded with dbh = 8 cm, sapling/shrub = 1m tall but with a dbh < 8 cm, herb < 1m. tall and woody vine = 1 m tall (Meiyin et al. 2007; Munesh Kumar and Vishwapati Bhatt, 2004). The relative values of density, frequency and cover were summed up to represent Importance Value Index (IVI) as per Curtis (1959) for each valley and strata individually (i.e. tree, shrub, herb). On the basis of IVI dominants were defined in each strata as well as in the valley.
RESULTS Phytosociological analysis of 4 main localities of Neelum valley was carried out using quadrate method (Table I). In localities like Kohripul, Batean Chilpani, Karka and Patikka, Pinus roxburghii (IVI-68.24) and Pinus wallichiana (IVI- 42.16) were dominant tree species and shrub cover included Debregeasia saeneb (IVI-27.6), Dicliptera bupleuroides (IVI-24.2) and Justicia peploides (IVI-20.03) were dominant and co dominant. Mentha rolyeana and Aristida cyanantha were dominant herbs with IVI values 53.26 and 26.27 respectively. The value of Ph ranged from 6.9 to 7.2 and moisture observed varied from 10-35 %. Mostly rocky and light colored soil was observed (Fig.1). Similarly in Jhelum valley the five localities were covered viz. Tandali, Gari dupata, Chinarri, Chekothi and some portion of Chikar (Table II). The average IVI value from these sites showed that Olea ferruginea and Populus nigra with IVI-56.2 and 48.8 respectively are dominant on low altitude with co-dominant Aillanthus altissima (IVI-32.1). While on steep mountain and high altitude Pinus roxburghii (IVI-38.02) was prominent. In shrub strata Sarcococca saligna, Skimmea laureola and Justicia adhatoda were dominant and co-dominant with IVI 40.19,28.47 and 23.01 respectively (Table I). The herbs layer included two dominants viz. Swertia paniculata (IVI-38.33) and Origanum vulgare (IVI-33.56). The value of Ph and moisture ranged from 6.8-7.1 and 12-22% respectively (Figure1). The soil colour varied from light to dark color in different localities.
DISCUSSION This short study of both the vallies was undertaken for the assessment of the current status of the vegetation after the earthquake and also observing some details relating to their difference in their flora due to difference in altitude as well as the ability to resist naturals disasters like the 2005 earthquake. The phytosociological habitat analysis of four localities of Neelum valley for the importance value (dominant and co dominant vegetation) of each plant species were recorded (Table I ). These values show that the habitat had relatively thick cover of trees, patchy distribution of grasses and under storey of Dicliptera bupleuroides. Shrub locality is open, with thick cover of Aristida cyanantha, patchy distribution of other grasses and with stunted trees of Pinus wallichiana. Most of the localities are steep slopes. The forest area is subject to heavy human pressure in the form of wood cutting and grazing and the area is has no sanctuary status (Malik and Malik 2004; Qureshi and Gilani, 2005). Along with the shrub, thick layer of herbs like Mentha, Aristida were also recorded. Among other herbs recoded in the area were Celosia argentea, Rumex hastatus, Oxalis corniculata, Boerhavia procumbens, Fragaria nublicola, Launaea procumbens, Sida cordata and Amaranthus hybridus. It was observed that mostly the herb layer was affected due to earthquake and that is why they are able to regrow in next season as well. In Jhelum valley in comparison to Neelum valley, at the low altitude mostly broad leaved trees were observed with dominants like Olea ferrigenia, Populus nigra and Aillanthus altissima, while on high altitude and steep slopes Pinus roxburghii was dominant. Similarly the shrub layer is also different from that of Neelum valley, because here the dominant cover is occupied by Sarcococca saligna and Skimmea laureola. The same difference was observed in the third layer i.e. herbs and mostly Swertia paniculata and Origanum vulgare were dominants. Other herbs were Gerbera gossypina, Micromeria biflora. These values also showed that the later valley i.e. Jhelum have less variety of species in terms of herbs. Thus from this study we can asses that although the earthquake caused much destruction in these both vallies, the natural balance will be going on to manage the vegetation soon. It was also observed that mostly the second and third layers i.e. shrub and herbs were affected. Secondly there is great difference in the vegetation layer of both the vallies, the reasons could be geographical and ecological. There is need to conduct detailed study of this area to observe changes at micro level, which were not revealed in this surface study. REFERENCES Curtis, J.T. 1959. The Vegetation of Wisconsin: An Ordination of plant communities. University Wisconsin Press, Madison, Wisconsin, 657pp. Awan, M.S., Khan, A. A., Qureshi, M.A., Ahmed, K.B. and Mustafa, G. 2004. Habitat utilization of cheer pheasant in Jhelum Valley, Muzzaffrabad, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. Journal of Applied Sci..4(2):250-256. Wu, M. and Kalma, D. 2008. Vegetative Assessment of Wetland Sites Quadrant Sampling Protocol . Kumar, M. and Bhatt, V. 2006. Plant Biodiversity and Conservation of Forests in Foot Hills of Garhwal Himalaya. Lyonia Online Journal of Ecology, 11(2): 43-59. http://www.lyonia.org/
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