Open AccessIDENTIFICATION OF PLANT SPECIES AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH ALTITUDE AND SLOPE ASPECT: A CASE STUDY FROM NAINI LAKE CATCHMENT, CENTRAL HIMALAYA
Author(s) -
Anil Fartiyal,
Masoom Reza,
R. C. Joshi,
I. P. Tiwari
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
geography, environment, sustainability
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 2542-1565
pISSN - 2071-9388
DOI - 10.24057/2071-9388-2018-11-5-56-66
Subject(s) - altitude (triangle) , microclimate , habitat , physical geography , structural basin , drainage basin , geography , ecology , arid , hydrology (agriculture) , cupressus , geology , environmental science , geomorphology , biology , cartography , geometry , mathematics , geotechnical engineering
In the Himalaya diversity of plant species is very rich in length and breadth of its spatial extent. Study area forms a part of the Central Himalaya where altitude is varying in between 1940m to 2615m. Changing slope aspect and altitude (microclimate) have a close bearing on the distribution of species. Distribution of plant species was identified with the help of quick bird data with detailed goundtruth verification. Whereas, habitat characteristics i.e. altitude and slope aspect are identified using Survey of India topographical map. Finally, the analysis and interpretation part is carried out with the help of GIS software. Study reflects that Cupressus torulusais found above 2190m concentrating in the southern and south eastern slope aspect areas only. However, presence of Quercus Leucotricophorais found everywhere without having any control of altitude and slope aspect. Earlier workers reported that picea smithian (Spruce) growth is limited from 2400m to 3600m. In the Himalayan region but in the study area we found its natural growth in the height of 2005m.