BIODIVERSITY AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE FLORA OF GADOON RANGELAND, DISTRICT SWABI, KHYBER PUKHTUNKHWA, PAKISTAN

This study was conducted to examine plant diversity and its ecological characteristics in Gadoon Hills, District Swabi, Pakistan during 2009 and 2010. The area is under heavy biotic pressure due to deforestation and over grazing. The vegetation presents a wide physiognomic range, from grasses to tall trees. There were 260 plant species belonging to 211 genera and 90 families. Of them 77 families were Dicots, 7 Monocots, 4 Pteridophytes and 2 Gymnosperms. Asteraceae was the dominant family followed by Poaceae. Forty five tree species associated with 30 taxa of shrubs and 185 herb species were recorded during the study. Viscum album and Korthalsella opuntia were the mistletoes and Cuscuta reflexa was the only parasite. Only twenty eight species were spiny. The biological spectrum showed that therophytes and megaphanerophytes were the most abundant life forms, followed by nanophanerophytes. Microphylls dominated the investigated area which was followed by leptophylls.