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Recognition the most important factors of physiography, topography and soil on plant diversity (Case study: Namin mountain rangelands, Ardebil)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 M.Sc. in Range Management, Ardabil Bureau of Natural Resources and Watershed Management, Ardabil, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Rangeland Research Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Range and Watershed Management, Faculty of Natural Resources, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran

Abstract

Information of plant diversity and its relationship with environmental factors are necessary requirements for rangeland rehabilitation techniques and priority of biodiversity conservation in local habitats. To collect vegetation cover data, the Namin mountainous rangelands were selected and systematic random sampling in ecological units was used. The relationship between plant diversity and ecological unit’s characteristics (Sub-basins) was studied by recording the data in physiographic, topographic, chemistry and physics in the soil. To investigate the relationship between species diversity and environmental factors, the redundancy analysis (RDA) method was used as linear method based on gradient length. Based on the results, the physiographic and topographic had significant effect on the richness of the species. On the other hand, soil chemical properties had the greatest impact on the amount of species evenness and diversity of the ecological units and explained 89.64% of the variations. In general, slope, organic carbon amd EC are the most important effective characteristic on the enhancement species diversity idexes and the length parameters. It was also indicated that area and direction of sites are the most important factors on reduction of diversity indices. Therefore, in situations where the purpose of the management to be improve species diversity, places where are in endanger in terms of chemical properties of the soil (organic matter and, consequently, organic carbon) should be prioritized. If the aim of management to be increase in vegetation structure and percentage of plant protection from splash erosion, in this case, places where are in the southern direction and have a steep slope should be prioritized. Furthermore, rangeland rehabilitation techniques are a priority in larger-scale units due to the lower species richness, and smaller units, due to the high plant species richness, should be prioritized of conservation and protection.

Keywords

References
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Iranian Journal of Range and Desert Research
Volume 26, Issue 4
December 2019
Pages 838-854
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