Seasonal variation of herbaceous plant diversity along the urban - rural landscape in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India

The present study aimed to understand the variation in herbaceous plant species diversity in urban (UR) and agricultural (AG) ecosystems of Aligarh. Data on herbaceous plant species richness (no. of species), diversity (Shannon-Wiener’s 'H) and spices dominance (1-D) were collected by laying 270 plots of 0.5*0.5 m at each stratum. We recorded a total of 81 plant species belonging to 75 genera and 29 families. Among them, 62.5 % of species were found in the AG sites and 37.5% in the UR sites. Herbaceous plant richness, and spices dominance were higher in AG in comparison to UR. Conversely, species evenness lower lower in AG compared to UR. At both the strata, species richness was the highest during the monsoon season. The mean Shannon diversity (AG = 1.25±0.03, UR = 0.78±0.03) and dominance (AG = 0.64±0.01, UR = 0.48±0.01) were the highest during the monsoon season, whereas evenness (AG = 0.87 0.01, UR = 0.93 0.007) had maximum value during the summer season. The study concluded that human stresses and disturbance have a greater impact on herbaceous plant diversity in urban areas (UR). These conclusions may have consequences for the planning of green areas in urban landscape and the conservation of plant diversity. However, more research into the processes related to urbanization and plant diversity is required.