Check List 20(4): 915-939, doi: 10.15560/20.4.915

Floristic diversity in high-altitude wetlands of Ladakh Union Territory, Trans Himalaya, India

Puja Bhojak^‡, Dipti Dey^§, K. Chandra Sekar^|, Neha Thapliyal^|, Hemlata Danu^¶

‡ Govind Ballabh Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Kosi-Katarmal, India§ Botanical Survey of India, Howrah, India| Govind Ballabh Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Srinagar, India¶ Pandit Badri Dutt Pandey Government Post Graduate College, Bageshwer, India

Corresponding author: K. Chandra Sekar ( kcsekar1312@rediffmail.com )

Academic editor: Arjun Prasad Tiwari

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Citation: Bhojak P, Dey D, Chandra Sekar K, Thapliyal N, Danu H (2024) Floristic diversity in high-altitude wetlands of Ladakh Union Territory, Trans Himalaya, India. Check List 20(4): 915-939. https://doi.org/10.15560/20.4.915

Abstract

This study records a total of 212 taxa (201 species and 11 varieties) in 131 genera and 37 families of flowering plants. The family Asteraceae dominated with 32 species and 17 genera, followed by Poaceae with 31 species and 21 genera. Twenty‑five species are recorded under different threat categories and 22 are native to the Himalayan region. Lancea tibetica Hook. f. & Thomson and Waldheimia stoliczkae (C.B. Clarke) Ostenf. are endemic to the cold desert areas of the Indian Himalayan Region. This study provides baseline data on floristic diversity for effective implementation of conservation approaches in selected high‑altitude wetlands of the Ladakh region.

Keywords

Chushul Marshes, cold desert, flora, Pangong Tso, Tso Kar, Tso Moriri, wetlands