EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF EDAPHIC VARIABLES ON VEGETATION DYNAMICS IN THE PROXIMITY OF MANGLA DAM, PAKISTAN: A COMPREHENSIVE GEOENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

Edaphic factors play a significant role in generating and sustaining the different vegetation species in an arid ecosystem and it is also helpful for vegetation restoration and management. The current study is aimed to scrutinize the growth patterns and spatial distribution of herbaceous plant life in response to the existing environmental gradients in the vicinity of Mangla Dam on the Jhelum river, Pakistan. Soil and herbaceous plants were randomly collected using 1*1 square meter quadrat. In total, 37 plant species from 17 distinct families were identified. The Generalized Additive Model, employed through the CANOCO program, is utilized for quantitative predictions of species distribution, and stress condition in vegetation distribution is analyzed using a non-metric multi-dimensional scaling technique. The results showed that only one specie Cynodon dactylon has tolerance at all micro and macro-nutrient concentrations, depicting higher predictive values. This study is very helpful in monitoring the complex relationship between the predictors and vegetation in the conservation of biodiversity.