Vegetation of Ranikot Fort Area, a Historical Heritage of Sindh, Pakistan ()
Pteridophyta (S.F. Gray) Gandich.
4. Results and Discussion
The field survey reveals the presence of twenty-nine angiospermic families including five monocotyledons and twenty four dicotyledons. Besides these, pteridophytic species of Adiantum has also been reported. Tamerix and Salvadora species are dominant in depressions. Rizastricta is very common on both side of the road leading to Ranikot Fort from Sunn.
The great diversity of Ranikot’s natural environment includes about 30 km area. The species composition and vegetation cover are profoundly affected by the Ranikot rocks and their derived soil. The plants growing on the top hills have mostly exposed roots.
Some of the species are directly threatened by human activates which includes the construction of roads, bridges overgrazing by animals and had great effect on biota. Majority of the species reported in Mohan-JoDaro are present in present study area.
5. Conclusion
During this research it has been observed that the vegetation of this important historical fort, which is claimed to be the largest fort of the world, is totally neglected. No research has been done in past. The current condition of the vegetation is critical. During survey it was observed that members of the Poaceae family were found dominating among all plant families throughout the year. Majority of the plants are herbs that belong to Poaceae family. It is also reported, that there are only a few trees present in Ranikot Fort area e.g. Salvadora oleoides, zizphusjujube, Acacia nilotica. In the beginning when I first visited this area for collection, Acacia tree was dominating species of the area amongst all tree species. Now, it has become endangered as just a few trees are surviving with poor condition. They are being chopped by the local people for different purposes like fuel, shelter; they use Acacia trunk and branches for making house boundary. They remove bark to make raw wine, which results in the disappearance of Acacia from Ranikot Fort area. The other disappearing species is Commiphora wightii Vern. Gugur. Only a few trees of Gugur are left, which are in very poor conditions as well, this will lead to total disappearance of the plant from this particular area.