Classification of meadows of the South Siberian uplands and mountains

The classification of South Siberian meadows using the Braun-Blanquet approach was carried out on the basis of a geographically wide-ranging data set from the West Siberian Plain and the Altai-Sayanian mountain systems. Two main phytosociological types of meadows were distinguished within the classMolinio-Arrhenatheretea. The natural Siberian forest meadows were included in the orderCarici macrourae-Crepidetalia sibiricae comprising two alliances (Crepidion sibiricae, Aconito barbati-Vicion unijugae) and 7 associations. The anthropogenic types of dry meadows were included in the European-West Siberian orderArrhenatheretalia, comprising one alliance (Festucion pratensis) and 5 associations. DCA ordination revealed clear differences in the floristic composition of the higher units and in the diagnostic importance of the main ecological and phytosociological species groups.     

Rescaling of ecological gradients. I. Calculation of ecological distance between vegetation stands by means of their floristic composition

Geometric models of vegetation (conceptual spaces) are reviewed. Spaces with samples or species as axes are termed flortistic spaces, as opposed to ecological space with environmental gradients as axes. The terms floristic and ecological relationships are defined as relationships in floristic and ecological spaces, respectively. Compositional turnover is pointed out as the essence of ecological gradients, and arguments in favour of measuring ecological distance in units of compositional turnover are given. The most important criteria for evaluation of ecological distance measures are considered to be linear response to separation along ecological gradients and robustness. Theoretical disadvantages of measures of floristic relationships used as ecological distance measures are discussed. A new measure of ecological distance, separation along a DCA ordination axis, is proposed. This measure and four measures of floristic relationships were tested on four simulated coenoclines (high and low beta diversity, high and low noise) using four weighting functions. The new measure was generally superior, particularly with noisy data. The distance measures generally performed best with intermediate weighting of a percentage cover scale. Application of DCA to calculation of ecological distances in multi-gradient systems is briefly discussed. The potential of DCA for rescaling of ecological gradients is emphasized, and some possible applications of rescaling are suggested.     

Composition Patterns of Caribbean Limestone Forests: Are Parsimony,Classification, and Ordination Analyses Congruent?1

This study presents an analysis of floristic composition patterns for limestone vegetation from three Caribbean islands: Hispaniola, Mona, and Puerto Rico. The physical setting of these communities varies from very dry to wet climates, and from ridgetops, slopes, to plateaus. Consequently, vegetation communities have variable species composition. The questions addressed were: (1) What are the patterns of species composition among limestone vegetation types based on a parsimony analysis of species assemblages (PASA) and how congruent are they widi geography, climate, topography, and vegetation physiognomy? and (2) How do PASA patterns compare to floristic patterns obtained with a classification (UPGMA) and an ordination (NMS)? The main distinction of floristic categories was between communities of humid and dry climates, followed by a finer separation of communities congruent with topography; vegetation physiognomy corresponded with both. PASA, UPGMA, and NMS produced highly coincident floristic groups; however, affinities among groups were different. Advantages of PASA over UPGMA and NMS are that PASA produces groupings strictly based on the shared species and provides different measures of support for floristic groups. The three techniques indicated that the humid and dry limestone areas of Puerto Rico had floristically divergent dry‐type vegetation, even when they were structurally and physiognomically convergent. Also, floristic affinities of dry communities in Puerto Rico were stronger with dry communities on other islands than to more humid communities on the same island; thus, humidity regime is stronger than geography in promoting floristic links among limestone vegetation communities of die Caribbean. Almost every conclusion obtained from UPGMA and NMS was also taken from PASA, and so all diree techniques are compatible. The methodological, theoretical, and interpretive simplicity of PASA is what makes it an attractive procedure for studies that examine composition patterns.     

Gradient analysis of dry grassland vegetation in Denmark

Abstract. We present a gradient analysis of 620 vegetation samples covering most of the floristic and environmental variation in semi‐natural grassland vegetation on well‐drained soils in Denmark. Vegetation was sampled using frequency in subplots. Explanatory variables were surface inclination, aspect, pH, geographical co‐ordinates together with indications of soil type. Detrended Correspondence Analysis revealed four floristic gradients that could be interpreted in ecological terms by measured variables supplemented with site calibrations based on weighted averaging of Ellenberg's indicator values. All four axes were interpreted using rank correlation statistics, and linear and non‐linear multiple regression of sample scores on explanatory variables. The first gradient was from dry calcareous to humid acidic grasslands; the second reflected an underlying gradient in fertility; the third reflected regional differentiation and the fourth was associated with variation in intensity of competition as indicated by association with calibrated Grime‐CSR values for the plots. We applied subset ordination to the data as a supplement to traditional permutation and correlation statistics to assess the consistency of ordination results. DCA axes 1 and 2 were consistent in space and time. This gradient analysis is discussed in a context of plant strategy theory and species diversity models. Ecocline patterns lend support to the view that grazing not only favours the ruderal strategy but also the stress‐tolerant strategy. The low rank of competition as an explanatory variable for the floristical gradients supports the notion that competitive effects play a subordinate role for species composition compared to microclimate and soil conditions in infertile semi‐natural grasslands.     

Trends in structural compositional attributes of dune-interdune vegetation and their edaphic relations in the Indian desert

Vegetation of 127 sites on different aspects of dune-interdunes in the Indian Thar Desert was classified using TWINSPAN. TWINSPAN groupings of sites separated better vegetated dunes of the northeast form the poorly vegetated dunes of the northwest and the southwest. Of the different ordinations using noncentred, centred and centred and standardized principal component analysis, reciprocal averaging and detrended correspondence analysis (DCA), the site and species classes in DCA correlated well with ten edaphic and ten vegetational attributes of each site. Strong correlation of vegetation groupings with soil texture, moisture holding capacity and low correlation with pH and electrical conductivity revealed the possible importance of soil physical properties in affecting vegetation composition.The 11 species classes in TWINSPAN were regrouped into 18 species classes in DCA, which separated highly frequent species from those of less and least frequent species. Based on dominance-diversity attributes, Calligonum polygonoides-Lasiurus sindicus was brought out as bioedaphic climax stage. Correlation of ordination scores in different site groupings with vegetational attributes showed specific trends: From the zero of x, y and z axes to their maximum, the ordination scores of grasses and browse species declined while score of spinous species increased. The sites near the origin of the x, y and z axes were therefore least degraded and those at or near the maximum of x, y & z axes were most disturbed as was confirmed by the dominance diversity trends. Thus trends of compositional and functional attributes of vegetation of sites in different groupings helped in inferring a site's degradation status.Abbreviations RIV Relative importance value - TWINSPAN Two Way Indicator Species Analysis - PCA Principal Component Analysis - RA Reciprocal Averaging - DCA Detrended Correspondence Analysis - EC Electrical Conductivity - WHC Water Holding Capacity - BD Beta Diversity - DC Dominance Concentration - WWS Windward slope of the dune - LWS Leeward slope of the dune - ID Interdune Nomenclature: Bhandari, (1990)     

Compositional gradients in the forest vegetation of Finland

Abstract. Compositional gradients of forest vegetation in Finland were determined using detrended correspondence analysis, and ecologically interpreted with regression analysis. The data were collected in association with the 8th National Forest Inventory, and they comprised 1514 samples and 472 species, covering the whole forested land area of Finland. In the ordination space the first, very stable axis (DCA1) was much stronger than the following three, more unstable axes (DCA2 - 4). Site fertility (reflected by the forest site type series) and latitude had strongest covariation with the ordination space, followed by a number of variables primarily related to forest age or tree stand volume. Fertility variables were most closely parallel with DCA1, latitudinal ones with DCA1 and DCA2, and successional variables with DCA3. The results indicate that compositional overlap of sites classified into different Caj ander site types is considerable.     

Grazing in remnant woodland vegetation: changes in species composition and life form groups

Abstract. Grazing by domestic livestock in native woodlands can have major effects on ecosystem functioning by the removal of plant species that form important functional groups. This paper documents the changes in floristics in a large group of remnants of native woodland left after agricultural clearing in southwestern Australia. Species richness and diversity were significantly reduced in remnants and the proportion of exotic species increased. Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) was used to identify floristic and environmental patterns among plots and identified two distinct groups based on grazing intensity. This indicated that the significance of the relationship between grazing effects and DCA floristic axes was greater than edaphic characteristics that normally influence floristic patterns. Floristic characteristics of sites that were influencing the position of plots on the ordination diagram included proportion of exotic species and proportion of native perennial shrubs and herbs. Numbers of species of native shrubs and perennial herbs were significantly reduced in grazed plots and numbers of exotic annual grasses and herbs were significantly higher. Other life form groups such as native perennial grasses and geophytes were not significantly affected by grazing. Reproductive strategies of perennial species showed a significant decrease in numbers of resprouters and a significant increase in numbers of facultative seeder/sprouters. Exclosure plots showed increases in number and cover of perennial shrubs and herbs after three years whereas number and cover of exotic species did not change. Time series DCA showed that the floristic composition of exclosure plots in grazed sites became closer to that of the ungrazed sites.     

中条山中段植物群落数量分类与排序研究

在群落样方调查基础上,采用双向指示种分析法（TWINSPAN）和除趋势对应分析（DCA）对中条山中段植物群落进行了数量分类和排序。TWINSPAN将53个样方分为14组,根据植被分类的原则划分为14个群丛,论述了各群丛的群落学特征。53个样方的DCA排序结果反映了植物群落类型与环境梯度之间的关系,表明影响群丛分布格局的主导生态因子为海拔高度、水分和热量。DCA排序将65个种分为5个种组,各种组在排序轴上的位置反映了种组成员的生态适应性及其在群落中的重要性和更新生态位。     

香港大榄郊野公园的植物组成与植被数量分类

通过对香港大榄郊野公园森林群落的样地调查,利用组平均法和除趋势对应分析两种方法,对样方进行聚类与排序分析。把35个样地划分为11个植被类型,森林群落可划分为台湾相思（Acacia confusa Merr．）林、红胶木（Lophostemon confertus（R．Br．）PeterG．Wilson ex J．T．Waterh．）林、木荷（Schima superba Gardner ex Champ．）林、柠檬桉（Eucalyptus citriodora Hook．）林、湿地松＋鸭脚木（Pinus elliottii Engelm．＋Schefflera octophylla（Lour．）Harms．）林、土沉香（Aquilaria sinensis（Lour．）Spreng．）林、毛叶桉（Eucalyptus torelliana F．Muell．）林;灌木群落分为山油柑＋越南叶下珠（Acronychia pedunculata（L．）Miq．＋Phyllanthus cochmchinensis（Lour．）Spreng．）矮树灌丛、豺皮樟＋桃金娘（Litsea rotoundifolia（Nees）Hemsl．var．oblongifolia（Nees）C．K．Allen＋Rhodomyrtus tomentosa（Alton）Hassk．）矮树灌丛、大头茶（Gordonia axillaris（Roxb．ex Ker Gawl．）D．Dietr．）矮树灌丛、桃金娘＋芒萁（Rhodomyrtus tomentosa （Alton）Hassk．＋Dicranopteris dichotoma（Thunb．）Bernh．）灌草丛。DCA排序结果反映海拔高度与各个森林群落的分布格局和物种组成关系不大,而环境湿度是影响森林群落物种组成的主要因素。多样性分析结果显示,台湾相思林和土沉香林多样性指数最高,说明台湾相思林逐渐向次生林演变,除了红胶木林和少数郁闭度低的台湾相思林中有强阳生性树种外,大部分人工林下植物以阳生性稍耐阴的树种为主。调查结果显示,大榄郊野公园植物生长条件东部优于西部,西部的物种丰富度和多样性指数较低,主要以人工林和灌丛为主,加上山火频繁发生,导致长期处于先锋阶段。     

Relationships between environmental variables and vegetation across mountain wetland sites,N. Iran

The mountain wetlands studied represent a unique habitat on the southern slopes of the Alborz mountain range, the second largest range in Iran. In comparison with other parts of this range the western section is ecologically and botanically unknown. Floristic and vegetation variation were assessed using diverse environmental variables along a broad altitudinal span (350 m to 3200 m a.s.l.). Using both statistical and ordination analyses floristic variation was assessed on three defined altitudinal belts which were delimited based on Alborz macro-climatic boundaries. The distribution of individual wetland plant species, of phytogeographic elements and of life-forms all differ among altitudinal belts. This result is also shown in both direct and indirect analyses of ordinations. The proportion of geophytes significantly increases with altitude and geophytes are very well represented in the upper altitudinal belt. The number of species of a narrow phytogeographical distribution (e.g. endemics) increases with altitude, soil pH and EC declined with altitude. The first axis of DCA ordination with passively projected environmental variables indicates that, organic matter and concentration of Fe²⁺ are increased toward higher altitude. The second axis of ordination is related to both soil texture and slope inclination. The distribution of species in the CCA species plot is also close to the distribution of those in the DCA ordination. This study indicates that altitude and slope together with other dependent environmental variables (pH, EC, Ca²⁺ and soil texture) are the main ecological factors controlling species distribution across the Western Alborz wetland sites.     

香港大榄郊野公园的植物组成与植被数量分类

通过对香港大榄郊野公园森林群落的样地调查, 利用组平均法和除趋势对应分析两种方法, 对样方进行聚类与排序分析。把35个样地划分为11个植被类型, 森林群落可划分为台湾相思(Acacia confusa Merr.)林、红胶木(Lophostemon confertus(R. Br.) Peter G. Wils on ex J. T. Waterh.)林、木荷(Schima superba Gardner ex Champ.)林、柠檬桉(Eucalyptus citriodora Hook.)林、湿地松+鸭脚木(Pinus elliottii Engelm.+ Schefflera octophylla (Lour.) Harms .)林、土沉香(Aquilaria sinensis (Lour.) Spreng.)林、毛叶桉(Eucalyptus torel liana F. Muel l.)林; 灌木群落分为山油柑+越南叶下珠(Acronychia pedunculata (L.) Miq.+ Phyl lanthus cochinchinensis (Lour.) Spreng.)矮树灌丛、豺皮樟+桃金娘(Li tsea rotoundifol ia (Nees) Hemsl . var. ob longi folia (Nees) C. K. Allen+Rhodomyrtus tomentosa (Al ton) Hassk.)矮树灌丛、大头茶(Gordonia axillaris (Roxb. ex Ker Gawl .) D. Dietr.)矮树灌丛、桃金娘+芒萁(Rhodomyrtus tomentosa (Alton) Hassk.+Dicranopteris dichotoma (Thunb.) Bernh.)灌草丛。DCA排序结果反映海拔高度与各个森林群落的分布格局和物种组成关系不大, 而环境 湿度是影响森林群落物种组成的主要因素。多样性分析结果显示, 台湾相思林和土沉香林多样性指数最高, 说明台湾相思林逐渐向次生林演变, 除了红胶木林和少数郁闭度低的台湾相思林中有强阳生性树种外, 大部分人工林下植物以阳生性稍耐阴的树种为主。调查结果显示, 大榄郊野公园植物生长条件东部优于西部, 西部的物种丰富度和多样性指数较低, 主要以人工林和灌丛为主, 加上山火频繁发生, 导致长期处于先锋阶段。     

Predicting the species composition of Nardus stricta communities by logistic regression modelling

Question: Predictive models in plant ecology usually deal with single species or community types. Little effort has so far been made to predict the species composition of a community explicitly. The modelling approach presented here provides a conceptual framework on how to achieve this by combining habitat models for a large number of species to an additive community model. Our approach is exemplified by Nardus stricta communities (acidophilous, low‐productive grassland). Location: Large areas of Germany, 0–2040 m a.s.l. Methods: Logistic regression is applied for individual species models which are subsequently combined for an explicit prediction of species composition. Several parameters reflecting soil, management and climatic conditions serve as predictor variables. For validation, bootstrap and jackknife resampling procedures are used as well as ordination techniques (DCA, CCA). Results: We calculated significant models for 138 individual species. The predictions of species composition and species richness yield good agreements with the observed data. DCA and CCA results show that the community model preserves the main patterns in floristic space. Conclusions: Our approach of predicting species composition is an effective tool that can be applied in nature conservation, e.g. to assess the effects of different site conditions and alternative management scenarios on species composition and richness.     

Relating variation in the understorey of beech forests to ecological factors

A data set of beech (Fagus sylvatica) forests in the Basque Country (Northern Spain), including biotic (floristic relevés) and environmental data (pH, organic matter, slope, altitude, rock cover), is analyzed in order to describe the relationships between understorey composition and environmental parameters. An ordination technique (DCA) is used to display the floristic gradients, and the interpretation of the floristic space in environmental terms is carried out by a spatial analysis technique (kriging). The composition of the beech forest understorey responds to a complex environmental gradient in the study area. Forests growing on acid substrata differ markedly from those growing on soils with higher pH, as the sharp transition between the pH 5 and 6 isolines reflects. When pH values exceed 6, organic matter content becomes the most important factor explaining the vegetation pattern and the rate of change is greater as organic matter content tends to change at a smaller scale than sample size and, as a consequence many transitional forms are found.     

Geographical and ecological differentiation in Greek Fagus forest vegetation

Question: Which are the gradients of floristic differentiation in Greek beech (Fagus sylvatica) forests? Which is the role of geographical and ecological factors in this differentiation? Location: Beech forests of the plant geographical regions Northeast, North Central and East Central Greece. Methods: A total of 1404 published and unpublished phytoso‐ciological relevés were used in the analyses. TWINSPAN and DCA were applied to classify and ordinate the relevés. Altitude, Indicator Values of relevés and their X and Y coordinates were used in a posteriori interpretation of the ordination axes. Kendall's correlation coefficients were calculated between DCA relevé scores and explanatory variables. Multiple linear regression was used to partition the variation explained by the first two DCA axes, between the geographical and the ecological variables. Results: Classification resulted in 14 vegetation units defined by species composition. Two types of gradients, ecological and geographical, were revealed by the DCA of all releves. The partition of the variation accounted for by the first and second DCA axis was attributed mainly to ecological and geographical variables, respectively. Conclusions: Beech forests of northeast and Central Greece show phytogeographical differences, while ecologically similar vegetation units occur in both regions. A west‐east gradient is revealed in Greek beech forest vegetation. The extent of the study area, its position along regional gradients and the comprehensiveness of the data set that is analysed determine the types of the gradients which can be revealed in a vegetation study.     

山西北部地区沙棘群落的数量分类和排序研究

采用双向指示种分析法对山西北部地区沙棘群落进行分类和排序研究,结果将山西北部地区沙棘群落划分为14个群系,并论述了各群系的特征。DCA排序进一步说明了群系的分布格局与水分和土壤的密切关系,结果表明组成沙棘灌丛的种群对群落生境具有指示作用,能客观反映群落的生境特征．     

Mapping gradual landscape-scale floristic changes in Amazonian primary rain forests by combining ordination and remote sensing

Aim We present a new method to economically map gradual changes in plant species composition in lowland rain forests using field data and satellite images. Such a method will be a useful tool in planning the sustainable use and conservation of Amazonian rain forests. Location The study covered an area of c. 700 km² of primary rain forest in Amazonian Ecuador. Methods We field inventoried the species composition of pteridophytes and Melastomataceae in 340 inventory plots (5 m × 50 m), described the prevailing topography and analysed soil cation concentration and texture. We used non‐metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) to summarize the floristic variation among the inventory plots in three ordination dimensions. The scores of the three ordination axes were predicted to non‐visited places using a Landsat TM (thematic mapper) satellite image and the k nearest neighbours (knn) estimation method. To avoid extrapolation, we excluded from the analysis those pixel windows whose spectral values were not represented in the areas covered by field sampling. The accuracy of the predictions was evaluated by cross‐validation and by comparing the predictions based on spectrally nearest neighbours to the predictions based on random neighbours. Results The floristic gradients presented by NMDS ordination were interpretable in terms of topography, drainage and soil cation content. Thirteen percent of the cloud‐free pixels were excluded from the knn analysis to avoid extrapolation. The estimates of the floristic ordination scores based on spectrally nearest neighbours were always more accurate than estimates based on random neighbours. Main conclusions The presented method needs a relatively small input of work and resources, is mechanistic and produces maps that give relevant information on floristic variation over forest areas that are traditionally considered essentially homogeneous. Therefore, the method appears to have a great potential for use in mapping large areas of Amazonian rain forests.     

桂林岩溶石山青冈栎群落的数量分析

应用双向指示种分析(TWINSPAN)和除趋势对应分析(DCA)方法对桂林岩溶石山青冈栎群落进行数量分类与排序。通过TWINSPAN分类,将青冈栎群落60个样方划分为8个群丛类型,探讨了各群丛类型的基本特征。结果表明:DCA排序与TWINSPAN分类结果较一致,DCA排序较好地体现了各群丛类型与环境因子的相互关系,DCA第一排序轴主要反映了坡度的变化梯度;DCA排序图的对角线基本体现了坡向的变化梯度。坡度的变化是影响岩溶石山青冈栎群落物种组成与分布的重要生态因子。     

Biogeographical relations of a hyperarid desert flora in eastern Egypt

The floristic composition and geographical elements of the study area were analysed resulted in 328 species representing 206 genera in 55 families. This study confirmed the record of fourteen species, mostly weeds, which can be considered as new additions to the flora of the study area. Therophytes were the dominant life form, while mono‐ and bi‐regional Saharo‐Sindian geoelements were the most represented. Ten species showed dominancy with their Q‐values ranged between 0.802 and 0.2, where Zilla spinosa and Zygophyllum coccineum were of common occurrence. Application of cluster analysis and DCA ordination techniques produced four major floristic groups (A–D) comprising seven subgroups. The correlation coefficients (r) between the different subgroups revealed high significant correlations (P = 0.01) between floristic group (B) and subgroup (C₂) and between subgroups (D₁) and (D₂). Significant correlations (P = 0.05) occurred between subgroup (D₁) and both of (A₁) and (C₂). Comparing the floristic similarities between this investigation and other relevant studies were presented and discussed. On the other hand, the low similarity index between the study area and Sinai may be attributed to the geographical position of both deserts where Sinai desert is part of the Irano‐Turanian region, while the Eastern Desert is a part of the Saharo‐Sindian region.     

Soil seed bank in different habitats of the Eastern Desert of Egypt

The floristic composition and species diversity of the germinable soil seed bank were studied in three different habitats (desert salinized land, desert wadi, and reclaimed land) in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Moreover, the degree of similarity between the seed bank and the above-ground vegetation was determined. The seed bank was studied in 40 stands representing the three habitats. Ten soil samples (each 25 × 20 cm and 5 cm depth) were randomly taken per stand. The seed bank was investigated by the seedling emergence method. Some 61 species belonging to 21 families and 54 genera were identified in the germinable seed bank. The recorded species include 43 annuals and 18 perennials. Ordination of stands by Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) indicates that the stands of the three habitats are markedly distinguishable and show a clear pattern of segregation on the ordination planes. This indicates variations in the species composition among habitats. The results also demonstrate significant associations between the floristic composition of the seed bank and edaphic factors such as CaCO₃, electrical conductivity, organic carbon and soil texture. The reclaimed land has the highest values of species richness, Shannon-index of diversity and the density of the germinable seed bank followed by the habitats of desert wadi and desert salinized land. Motyka’s similarity index between the seed bank and the above-ground vegetation is significantly higher in reclaimed land (75.1%) compared to desert wadi (38.4%) and desert salinized land (36.5%).     

Multivariate approach to the classification and ordination of the forest ecosystem of Nandiar valley western Himalayas

QuestionsDoes the vegetation composition of the forests of Nandiar Valley correlate with climatic, topographic and edaphic variables? Is it possible to identify plant communities through indicator species in relation to environmental gradients? Can this approach of classification and ordination will be helpful for conservation planning?LocationForests of Nandiar Valley, Moist temperate Western Himalayas Pakistan.MethodsEighty stands were selected for quantitative and qualitative characteristic of vegetation between an elevations of 525–3817 m. Species composition was recorded by using 400 m long transects. GPS, climatic, edaphic and topographic data were recorded for each sampling site. The relationship between habitat types, species composition and distribution along with climatic, edaphic and topographic variables were analyzed using TWINSPAN, Cluster analysis and DCA ordination.ResultsSum 325 vascular plants species belonging to 97 families were recorded. Diversity index and species richness was maximum in the moist temperate zone. Classification and ordination showed that the variance in species data was 7.07. Two-ways indicator species analysis classified the vegetation into eight plant communities. Indicator species analysis revealed that slope aspect, wind speed, temperature, dew point, wet bulb, pH, organic matter and phosphorous were the strongest parameters (p ≤ 0.05) determining plant community composition and indicator species in each habitat. The results also show the strength of the environment – species relationship using Monte Carlo procedures. DCA ordination grouped different species having similar habitat and habitats having common species.ConclusionsThe multivariate analysis of the vegetation along with environmental variables of Nandiar valley confirmed the indicators of each sort of vegetation communities/microclimatic zones which could further be used in conservation planning and management not only in studied area but also in the adjacent regions as well as in the areas exhibit similar sort of climatic, edaphic and topographic conditions.