Conservation Prioritization of Agroforestry Tree Species in District Ganderbal of Jammu and Kashmir, India

The present study entitled “Conservation Prioritization of Agroforestry tree species in District Ganderbal” was conducted in Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir. A total of 89 species were recorded from the study area in which 19 were forest trees, 17 were fruit trees, 29 were crop components and 24 were grasses, belonging to 27 families. Among the families, Poaceae was recorded as dominant family followed by Rosaceae with 18 and 12 species, respectively. Among trees Salix alba, was found to be the dominant tree species in the study area. Among fruit trees Punica granatum, was found to the dominant. Among the recorded species, notable Endemic species to Indian Himalayan region were Aesculus indica, Ulmus villosa and Cupressus torulosa. Most of the recorded species were found to be used as multipurpose (fuel, fodder, food, timber, medical etc.) by local communities. Ailanthus altisimmia and Ulmus villosa were found to be under threat status, while as, all other species were found to be in least concern status as per IUCN Conservation categories.