Department of Botany, Nagaland University, Lumami-798 627, India
Study was carried out to understand the life forms and biological spectrum of plants in Zanübu mountain ecosystem of Phek district of Nagaland. A total of 118 plant species belonging to 60 families and 95 genera were recorded. The life forms in order of importance were phanerophytes chamaephytes cryptophytes, hemicryptophytes and therophytes with 79, 12, 11, 10 and 6 species. The dominant two groups i.e., phanerophytes and chamaephytes constituted 77.12 % of the total plants' life, and thus exhibited a “Phanero-chamaephytic“ phytoclimate. The climate is ideal for sustaining the forest trees, which in turn influence many ecosystem processes. The study revealed that hemicryptophytes and cryptophytes showed an increasing trend towards high altitude while therophytes and chamaephytes showed a decreasing trend. This indicates that some anthropogenic activities are operating in the lower altitude.
Life form, Biological spectrum, Phytoclimate, Zanübu mountain ecosystem, Nagaland
