In the summers of 2012 and 2013, vegetation of Thandiani in the Western Himalayas of Pakistan was surveyed and quantified. We took evidence from relationships between 252 species and 11 measured environmental factors as well as changes in the associations’ structure among 50 analysed stations with 1500 m2 plots. | Turkish Journal of Botany Turk J Bot (2017) 41: 253-264 © TÜBİTAK doi: Research Article Ecological gradient analyses of plant associations in the Thandiani forests of the Western Himalayas, Pakistan 1 2, 3 4 5 Waqas KHAN , Shujaul Mulk KHAN *, Habib AHMAD , Aamir SHAKEEL , Sue PAGE 1 Department of Botany, Hazara University, Mansehra, Pakistan 2 Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan 3 Islamia College University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan 4 Department of Geography, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan 5 Department of Geography, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK Received: Accepted/Published Online: Final Version: Abstract: In the summers of 2012 and 2013, vegetation of Thandiani in the Western Himalayas of Pakistan was surveyed and quantified. We took evidence from relationships between 252 species and 11 measured environmental factors as well as changes in the associations’ structure among 50 analysed stations with 1500 m2 plots. We analysed how the plant associations differ and develop under the influence of their respective ecological gradients. Preliminary results showed that the family Pinaceae was the most abundant family with a family importance value (FIV) of , followed by Rosaceae with FIV = . Rosaceae, represented by 20 species, was the most dominant family, followed by Asteraceae and Ranunculaceae with 14 and 12 species each, respectively. Analyses via CANOCO software version and GEO database demonstrated strong correlations among species distributions and environmental variables, . elevation, topography, and edaphic factors. Our findings show an increase in species diversity and richness from lower elevation (1290 m at sea level (m asl) to higher elevation (2626 m asl). It is evident that aspect, elevation, and soil factors were the decisive variables affecting qualitative and .
