ASSESSMENT OF FLORAL DIVERSITY IN NORTH WESTERN HIMALAYAS - A CASE STUDY FROM KOL DAM WATERSHEDHukam Chand, K. S. Verma, S.K. Bhardwaj and Milkuri Chiranjeeva ReddyAbstract Detailed survey of native flora was done in Kol-dam watershed area, which falls partly in the Bilaspur and parts of Mandi districts of Himachal Pradesh with objective of studying local flora. Vegetation analysis of flora was done by quadrat method for determining the floral diversity of the region. Overall 54 floral species were recorded from five sites, comprising 27 trees, 13 shrubs and 14 herbaceous species. The study revealed that maximum Importance Value Index (IVI) was recorded for Acacia catechu (41.15), Princepia utilis (53.76) and Chrysopogon montanus (37.08) among tree, shrubs and grasses, respectively while Ficus religiosa (1.18), Xanthoxylum alatum (7.03) and Centella asiatica (3.79) were the least dominant tree, shrubs and grasses, respectively. Maximum diversity for trees (1.21), shrubs (0.92) and herbs (0.94) was recorded at Ropa, Harnora and Kasol sites respectively, whereas minimum was recorded from Harnora (1.01), Kyan (0.69) and Jamthal (0.88).
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