Abstract
A phyto-sociological study of grasses vegetation was undertaken in Cholistan desert during 2010-11. Twenty releves were
recorded from twenty different sites. The analysis of twenty releves delineated three plant associations inhabiting the sandy
dune, inter-dune sandy and clayey saline habitats. Overall, twenty grass communities were documented based on importance
value index of each species. Out of which eight were inter-dune sandy communities and four were sandy dune and clayey
saline communities each. Physio-chemical analysis of soil has revealed that texture of sandy dune habitat was sandy; interdune
was sandy loam while clayey saline was clayey. Results exposed that organic matter, and soil nutrients were better at
inter-dune sandy habitat whereas pH, EC, Na, and soil moisture were high at clayey saline habitat and minimum at sandy
dune habitat. Further, climatic extremities, overgrazing and anthropogenic actions were observed to be continuous threats to
indigenous species. It was also observed that the studied rangeland was unstable, degraded and would vanish if not
maintained properly. So, this needs proper protection, management and rehabilitation through ecological approaches. This
would be only possible with the participation of government and native peoples to make these range resources sustainable.
