Abstract
Soil erosion negatively affects vegetation that brings deteriorating changes in the structure and composition of plant communities. Present study investigated the impact of soil erosion on vegetation along Jhelum valley road District Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Phytosociological attributes were measured by using quadrat method. Geographical characters of each site were recorded including slope, aspect and elevation of eroded sites. Five sites were selected three were disturbed and two were used as control sites for general comparison. At disturbed sites Average Shannon diversity was 2.47; Simpson diversity was 0.94; Species richness was1.75; Evenness was 0.7. At control sites. Average Shannon diversity was 2.95; Simpson diversity was 0.97; Species richness was 2.02; Evenness was 0.72. Maximum similarity was 66.13 recorded between Control site 1 and Control site 2 while minimum similarity was 22.98 recorded between disturbed site 1 and Control site 1. There was a general trend of low diversity of trees and shrubs at disturbed sites as compared to control sites. Therophytes were dominant at disturbed site and regeneration pattern was high at disturbed sites. A total of 99 plants representing 91 genera belonging to 45 families were recorded from investigated area. The dominant family was Poaceae followed by Asteraceae, Lamiaceae and Rosaceae. At disturbed sites Shannon diversity was 2.47; Simpson diversity was 0.94; Species richness was1.75; Evenness was 0.7. At control sites Shannon diversity was 2.95; Simpson diversity was 0.97; Species richness was 2.02; Evenness was 0.72. At control sites, more diversity and richness was observed as compared to disturbed sites.