Plant Biodiversity of Hajipur Block, Bihar: A Descriptive Floristic Survey and Conservation Perspective

Abstract

Hajipur Block in Vaishali District, Bihar, is situated within a predominantly cultivated Gangetic alluvial landscape in which agricultural fields, orchards, homesteads, roadsides, ponds and wetland-associated vegetation collectively contribute to local plant diversity. A descriptive survey conducted from December 2023 to June 2026 recorded 109 plant species belonging to 47 families. The family-level composition, based on the total number of recorded species, showed that Asteraceae was the most species-rich family with 12 species (11.01%), followed by Solanaceae with 11 species (10.09%). Amaranthaceae and Fabaceae each contained six species (5.50%), Arecaceae and Moraceae each contained five (4.59%), and Asparagaceae and Euphorbiaceae each contained four (3.67%). Twenty-four of the 47 families were represented by a single recorded species; this pattern is interpreted as low family-level representation in the inventory and not as evidence that those species or families are ecologically rare or threatened. The survey indicates that plant diversity in Hajipur is distributed across a mosaic of human-managed and semi-natural habitats. Conservation should therefore combine protection of existing habitat elements, sustainable management of medicinal and useful plants, maintenance of wetland and roadside vegetation, cultivation of appropriate native species, and local participation. Conservation status is discussed only for explicitly named taxa whose records could be checked against current taxonomic and Red List-linked resources. The findings provide a family-level baseline while highlighting the need for future voucher-linked, species-level and quantitative vegetation surveys.