Vegetation Characteristics and Community Structure of forests of Kathua District (j&k)

District Kathua is endowed with unique topography which supports rich floristic diversity. The climate of the area ranges from subtropical to alpine. The present study deals with the various parameters like floristic composition, forest types, biological spectrum and the threat status of species. A total of 469 plants have been collected from the study area which belong to 308 genera and spread over 112 families (2 families belonging to gymnosperms, 9 to ferns and rest 101 being angiospermic families). Among the angiospermic families, Asteraceae has maximum representation and has 30 genera and 48 species. 41 families exhibit monotypic represented by a single genus and single species. Seven forest types have been found to be distributed in the study area. The biological spectrum of the study area indicates the phytoclimate to be that of thero-phanerophytic type.