Shedayi et al., 2016. 9:21-27. Journal of Environmental and Agricultural Sciences (ISSN: 2313-8629) (21) Journal of Environmental & Agricultural Sciences (JEAS) . Volume 9 Plant species consumed by Ibex and chemical analysis of Saccharum ravennae L. from three different locations of Gilgit, Pakistan Arshad Ali Shedayi¹ ’ 2 , Sajida Begum¹, Sehrish Sadia 3 , Ming Xu 2 , Ihsan Ilahi¹ ¹Department of Biological Sciences, Karakoram International University Gilgit, Pakistan 2 Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China 3 College of life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China Article History Received March 13, 2016 Published Online October 30, 2016 Keywords: Ibex, Saccharum ravennae, Palatable, Khunjerab National Park Abstract: The present study focused on the plant species consumed by Ibex in Khunjerab National Park (KNP). Among which the most palatable grass Saccharum ravennae L. was collected from KNP, Sost and Gilgit to analyze protein, carbohydrate, amino acids, and crude oil. The data about the plant species consumed by Ibex was collected through simple questionnaires and direct interviews from the shepherds, KNP staff and local inhabitants. A total of 17 plant species belonging to 15 families were being consumed by Himalayan ibex in KNP. All families having one species each, except Asteraceae which have three species. Saccharum ravennae is one of the most palatable grasses establishes itself by growing on harsh substrates like gravel, cliff and stream banks and is much taller than the surrounding vegetation. The oven dried shoots of all samples were analyzed for the qualitative detection of proteins, carbohydrates, amino acids, and crude oil. These three samples of Saccharum ravennae collected from three different elevation and topographic areas contained carbohydrates and crude oil, whereas proteins and amino acids were found to be absent. To improve the productivity and forage utilization, it is necessary to have knowledge of nutritive value of range species and their germination under harsh conditions. In-situ and Ex-situ conservation of the important plant species is recommended as most of the highly palatable plant species are rapidly declining due to anthropogenic and climate change pressures and also due to high intra-specific and inter-specific completion among wildlife and livestock species for forage. Previously, there was no research focused on chemical analysis and nutritive value of Saccharum ravennae. *Corresponding author: Arshad Ali Shedayi: arshadbio@kiu.edu.pk Cite this article as: Shedayi, A.A., S. Begum, S. Sadia, M. Xu and I. Ilahi. 2016. Plant species consumed by Ibex and chemical analysis of Saccharum ravennae L. from three different locations of Gilgit, Pakistan. Journal of Environmental and Agricultural Sciences. 9: 21-27. Copyright © Shedayi et al., 2016 This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium provided the original author and source are properly cited and credited. 1. Introduction Khunjerab National Park (KNP) is the one of the high altitude parks in the world and is a habitat of many wildlife species especially the Himalayan ibex with abundant population size due the available food for their consumption. This park has unique and rare plant species due to its unique climatic and topographical features. Among all the plants found in KNP, 27% and 39% were found to be highly palatable and palatable (Shedayi et al., 2016). Saccharum ravennae is among one of the most palatable plant species consumed by ibex in the Karakoram mountain ranges. Saccharum ravennae L. commonly known as Ravenna grass established itself in KNP with relatively more disturbed by natural disasters. It produces copious biomass, especially by growing on harsh substrates like gravel banks, and being much taller than the surrounding vegetation. It can anchor soils and act as a physical barrier to stream flow through its biomass and accumulation of flotsam, thatch and sediment. This may shift erosion locations (Carlson, 2009).Removal of soil moisture and nutrients by Ravenna grass roots is also possible competitive impact that may be harmful to native seedling growth and health for established native plants (Warner et al., 2003). The most important factors affecting forage quality include forage species, maturity and fertilization (Arthington and Brown, 2002). Screening of high yielding perennial grasses of enhanced nutritional worth is essential for improving the ruminant animal productivity in range areas. It has been documented that with advancing age, the percentage of crude protein and non-structural carbohydrate contents decreased while the dry matter (DM) and cell wall contents increased in all range forages. From the aspect of animal feed quality, protein which is obtained from the stem is of much lower quality in relation to that provided by leaves partitioned in higher percentages (Stanisavljevic et al., Research Article Open Access