Estimation of the Current Status of Floral Biodiversity at Surroundings of Integrated Industrial Estate - Pantnagar, India

Gradual decrease of biodiversity related to the rapid industrialization and urbanization is stimulating the fundamental research towards a better understanding of the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Present study emphasizes the nature and status of floral diversity in the vicinity of Integrated Industrial Estate-Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India (IIE-Pantnagar).Three monitoring locations were selected in the vicinity of industrial estate and data were collected to compute species richness, evenness, Importance Value Index (IVI), Shannon and Wiener Species Diversity Index and Simpson’s Index of biodiversity. Cynodon dactylon was found to be major dominant species among all three monitoring locations, followed by Sorghum halepense and Parthenium sp. The Simpson’s index of biodiversity varied at a range of 0.28 to 0.41, signifying the presence of less biodiversity. Species evenness, a measure of relative abundance of the different species was at a range of 0.36 to 0.46. Monitoring location outside industrial area (site-2) revealed slight higher diversity with Shannon and Wiener Species Diversity Index of 0.742 in comparison to other monitoring locations inside the industrial area. Mostly the encountered vegetation were found as invasive species, therefore, recommendations were hereby made to take precautions regarding its further spread. Development and maintenance of greenbelt in and around industrial area were also suggested.