Morphological traits characterizing environmental adaptation of some wild plants collected from the Sibi and Quetta Regions of Balochistan

Abstract

This research explored the Morphological traits of some wild plants of Sibi and Quetta region. The study included three wild plant species, namely Alhagi mourarum Medic., Amaranthus viridis L., and Heliotropium europaeum L. from both sites. Selected study sites were different in their elevations, temperature, rainfall pattern and other abiotic factors. This research therefore, was conducted to understand plant adaption under these varying environmental conditions while perceiving morphological traits of selected wild species in their adapted habitats. Among morphological parameters, Shoot and Root Length, Above-ground (Shoot) Fresh weight, Below-ground (Root) Fresh Weight, Above-ground (Shoot) Dry weight, Below-ground (Root) Dry Weight, Inflorescence length, Spine length, Number of leaves par plant and Leaf Area were evaluated. Results indicated a clear variation in all studies morphological traits between selected plant species of contrasting study sites. Overall finding showed that among morphological traits, leaf area showed a clear and significant difference ((P≤0.05) for all selected plant species while among selected plant species A. mourarum samples collected from both sites viz., Quetta and Sibi showed a significant difference (P≤0.05) in their morphological traits. It was therefore concluded that plants growing under different environmental conditions exhibit changes in their morphological traits to adapt and these findings may serve as a basic information to identify ecophene species in a population within a particular habitat. This data may further be used collect these species viz., Alhagi mourarum, Amaranthus viridis, and Heliotropium europaeum to find underlying physiological and biochemical and even genetic traits aiding these species to adapt in different habitats.