ABSTRACT

Medicinal plants are known for their traditional and modern medicinal values to treat health disorders. Dactylorhiza hatagirea (known as Hattajari and Salampanja) is one of these medicinal plants, which is highly praised and valued medicinal plant in alpine regions. The plant has been widely used by the local inhabitants for treating various ailments due to which its demand has increased in the herbal industries. The present study evaluates the distribution and threat status using extensive field surveys and MaxEnt computer package. The distribution was assessed using environmental variables derived from WorldClim data set and slope, aspect, elevation, drainage, soil, geomorphology, land use/land cover (derived from IRS Landsat-8), and 53 well-dispersed field and literature survey species occurrence points. Phyto-sociological information collected using Rapid Mapping Exercise (RME) (50 transects of 500 m in length, each transect having four plots of 1 × 1 m in size at every 50 m distance in east, west, north, and south direction, with a total of 40 plots in one transect) were laid in 26 population sites. The results reveal that the highly suitable habitat of D. hatagirea is only ~177.13 km² where the species ranges between 0.1 and 2.2 individual/m² in the alpine regions of Uttarakhand Himalaya. However, about 740 km² area was found less suitable. Mean diurnal range, aspect, and slope were the most predictor variables for the species occurrence. The collection for domestic use, trade, and habitat loss due to excessive grazing by the heavy-bodied animal was recorded as the major reasons behind the population decline of this medicinally important plant. These findings assist in the identification of new populating and suitable areas for monitoring and in-situ conservation using field survey and range of environment factors that determine the distribution of species.

摘要

药用植物以其治疗健康障碍的传统和现代药用价值而闻名。龙根草（被称为 Hattajari 和 Salampanja）是这些药用植物之一，在高寒地区是备受推崇和重视的药用植物。该植物已被当地居民广泛用于治疗各种疾病，因此其在草药行业的需求量有所增加。本研究使用广泛的实地调查和 MaxEnt 计算机包评估分布和威胁状态。使用来自 WorldClim 数据集和坡度、坡向、海拔、排水、土壤、地貌、土地利用/土地覆盖（来自 IRS Landsat-8）以及 53 个分散良好的野外和文献调查物种发生的环境变量评估了分布点。使用快速制图练习 (RME) 收集的植物社会学信息（50 条 500 米长的横断面，每个样带在东、西、北、南方向每 50 m 距离处有 4 个大小为 1×1 m 的地块，一个样带共有 40 个地块）分布在 26 个人口点。结果表明，高度适宜的生境D. hatagirea只有约 177.13 km ² ，在北阿坎德邦喜马拉雅山的高山地区，物种数量在 0.1 到 2.2 个/m ^2之间。然而，发现约 740 km ²区域不太适合。平均昼夜距离、坡向和坡度是物种出现的最预测变量。由于这种体型庞大的动物过度放牧而导致的家庭使用、贸易和栖息地丧失的收集被记录为这种具有重要药用价值的植物种群数量下降的主要原因。这些发现有助于通过实地调查和确定物种分布的一系列环境因素来确定新的人口聚集区和适合监测和就地保护的地区。