Population status and habitat modelling of high value vulnerable Ferula jaeschkeana for conservation in North-Western Himalaya

Ferula jaeschkeana is one of the threatened medicinal plants belongs to Apiaceae family and distributed in Trans and North-Western Himalaya. Continued over-exploitation and habitat degradation of the species for medicinal and food purposes may lead to the extirpation from the area. Therefore, twenty three populations of the species were studied in Lahaul & Spiti, Kinnaur, Chamba and Kullu districts of Himachal Pradesh, North-western Himalaya. F. jaeschkeana populations were represented by 05 habitats between 1724–3917 m with density range 0.35–3.00 Ind m⁻². The density of F. jaeschkeana had a significant positive correlation with altitudinal gradient (r=0.64, P < 0.05 and n=23). For the conservation of species, potential suitable habitats for re-introduction were predicted using Maximum Entropy distribution modelling algorithm. The model calibration test for F. jaeschkeana yielded satisfactory results (AUC test = 0.950±0.042). The distribution of potential habitats was strongly influenced by precipitation of driest period. The model output showed that 23.06% area of Himachal Pradesh is suitable for F. jaeschkeana and 3.79% area suitable for the reintroduction of species. Therefore, mass multiplication using seed-germination protocol, their establishment in identified habitats and regular monitoring of the habitats are suggested to facilitate conservation of this species in natural habitat.