Environmental and anthropogenic drivers of watercress (Nasturtium officinale) communities in char-lands and water channels across the Swat River Basin: implication for conservation planning
Recent anthropogenic sources and excess usage have immensely threatened the communities and habitat ecology of this region’s medicinally and economically significant crops. Therefore, our study aims to evaluate the community structure and related environmental characteristics sustaining Nasturtium o...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Plant Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2023.1225030/full |
| _version_ | 1797671007317655552 |
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| author | Nasrullah Khan Rafi Ullah Mohammad K. Okla Mostafa A. Abdel-Maksoud Ibrahim A. Saleh Hashem A. Abu-Harirah Tareq Nayef AlRamadneh Hamada AbdElgawad |
| author_facet | Nasrullah Khan Rafi Ullah Mohammad K. Okla Mostafa A. Abdel-Maksoud Ibrahim A. Saleh Hashem A. Abu-Harirah Tareq Nayef AlRamadneh Hamada AbdElgawad |
| author_sort | Nasrullah Khan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Recent anthropogenic sources and excess usage have immensely threatened the communities and habitat ecology of this region’s medicinally and economically significant crops. Therefore, our study aims to evaluate the community structure and related environmental characteristics sustaining Nasturtium officinale communities along the river basin (RB) in Northwest Pakistan, using the clustering procedure (Ward’s method) and Redundancy analysis (RDA). From 340 phytosociological plots (34 × 10 = 340), we identified four ecologically distinct assemblages of N. officinale governed by different environmental and anthropogenic factors for the first time. The floristic structure shows the dominance of herbaceous (100%), native (77%), and annual (58.09%) species indicating relatively stable communities; however, the existence of the invasive plants (14%) is perturbing and may cause instability in the future, resulting in the replacement of herbaceous plant species. Likewise, we noticed apparent variations in the environmental factors, i.e., clay percentage (p = 3.1 × 10−5), silt and sand percentage (p< 0.05), organic matter (p< 0.001), phosphorus and potassium (p< 0.05), and heavy metals, i.e., Pb, Zn, and Cd (p< 0.05), indicating their dynamic role in maintaining the structure and composition of these ecologically distinct communities. RDA has also demonstrated the fundamental role of these factors in species–environment correlations and explained the geospatial variability and plants’ ecological amplitudes in the Swat River wetland ecosystem. We concluded from this study that N. officinale communities are relatively stable due to their rapid colonization; however, most recent high anthropogenic interventions especially overharvesting and sand mining activities, apart from natural enemies, water deficit, mega-droughts, and recent flood intensification due to climate change scenario, are robust future threats to these communities. Our research highlights the dire need for the sustainable uses and conservation of these critical communities for aesthetics, as food for aquatic macrobiota and humans, enhancing water quality, breeding habitat, fodder crop, and its most promising medicinal properties in the region. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T21:09:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ad6460948d2b4a3783ab44ae2e1b61b0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-462X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T21:09:11Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Plant Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-ad6460948d2b4a3783ab44ae2e1b61b02023-09-29T08:20:04ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Plant Science1664-462X2023-09-011410.3389/fpls.2023.12250301225030Environmental and anthropogenic drivers of watercress (Nasturtium officinale) communities in char-lands and water channels across the Swat River Basin: implication for conservation planningNasrullah Khan0Rafi Ullah1Mohammad K. Okla2Mostafa A. Abdel-Maksoud3Ibrahim A. Saleh4Hashem A. Abu-Harirah5Tareq Nayef AlRamadneh6Hamada AbdElgawad7Department of Botany, University of Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, PakistanDepartment of Botany, University of Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, PakistanDepartment of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaFaculty of Science, Zarqa University, Zarqa, JordanDepartment of Medical Labortory Sciences, Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences, Zarqa University, Zarqa, JordanDepartment of Medical Labortory Sciences, Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences, Zarqa University, Zarqa, JordanIntegrated Molecular Plant Physiology Research, Department of Biology, Univeristy of Antwerp, Antwerp, BelgiumRecent anthropogenic sources and excess usage have immensely threatened the communities and habitat ecology of this region’s medicinally and economically significant crops. Therefore, our study aims to evaluate the community structure and related environmental characteristics sustaining Nasturtium officinale communities along the river basin (RB) in Northwest Pakistan, using the clustering procedure (Ward’s method) and Redundancy analysis (RDA). From 340 phytosociological plots (34 × 10 = 340), we identified four ecologically distinct assemblages of N. officinale governed by different environmental and anthropogenic factors for the first time. The floristic structure shows the dominance of herbaceous (100%), native (77%), and annual (58.09%) species indicating relatively stable communities; however, the existence of the invasive plants (14%) is perturbing and may cause instability in the future, resulting in the replacement of herbaceous plant species. Likewise, we noticed apparent variations in the environmental factors, i.e., clay percentage (p = 3.1 × 10−5), silt and sand percentage (p< 0.05), organic matter (p< 0.001), phosphorus and potassium (p< 0.05), and heavy metals, i.e., Pb, Zn, and Cd (p< 0.05), indicating their dynamic role in maintaining the structure and composition of these ecologically distinct communities. RDA has also demonstrated the fundamental role of these factors in species–environment correlations and explained the geospatial variability and plants’ ecological amplitudes in the Swat River wetland ecosystem. We concluded from this study that N. officinale communities are relatively stable due to their rapid colonization; however, most recent high anthropogenic interventions especially overharvesting and sand mining activities, apart from natural enemies, water deficit, mega-droughts, and recent flood intensification due to climate change scenario, are robust future threats to these communities. Our research highlights the dire need for the sustainable uses and conservation of these critical communities for aesthetics, as food for aquatic macrobiota and humans, enhancing water quality, breeding habitat, fodder crop, and its most promising medicinal properties in the region.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2023.1225030/fullphysical environmentvegetation structureanthropogenic factorscharlandNasturtium officinale |
| spellingShingle | Nasrullah Khan Rafi Ullah Mohammad K. Okla Mostafa A. Abdel-Maksoud Ibrahim A. Saleh Hashem A. Abu-Harirah Tareq Nayef AlRamadneh Hamada AbdElgawad Environmental and anthropogenic drivers of watercress (Nasturtium officinale) communities in char-lands and water channels across the Swat River Basin: implication for conservation planning Frontiers in Plant Science physical environment vegetation structure anthropogenic factors charland Nasturtium officinale |
| title | Environmental and anthropogenic drivers of watercress (Nasturtium officinale) communities in char-lands and water channels across the Swat River Basin: implication for conservation planning |
| title_full | Environmental and anthropogenic drivers of watercress (Nasturtium officinale) communities in char-lands and water channels across the Swat River Basin: implication for conservation planning |
| title_fullStr | Environmental and anthropogenic drivers of watercress (Nasturtium officinale) communities in char-lands and water channels across the Swat River Basin: implication for conservation planning |
| title_full_unstemmed | Environmental and anthropogenic drivers of watercress (Nasturtium officinale) communities in char-lands and water channels across the Swat River Basin: implication for conservation planning |
| title_short | Environmental and anthropogenic drivers of watercress (Nasturtium officinale) communities in char-lands and water channels across the Swat River Basin: implication for conservation planning |
| title_sort | environmental and anthropogenic drivers of watercress nasturtium officinale communities in char lands and water channels across the swat river basin implication for conservation planning |
| topic | physical environment vegetation structure anthropogenic factors charland Nasturtium officinale |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2023.1225030/full |
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