Alpha and beta species diversity of plants and Noctuidae Moths along an elevational gradient: A Case Study of Bagheran Protected area, south Khorasan, Iran
Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Department of Rangeland and Watershed Management and Research Group of Drought and Climate Change, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran.
2 Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Birjand, Birjand.
10.22059/jne.2026.405435.2858
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate patterns of alpha and beta diversity of plants and Noctuidae moths along an elevational gradient in the Bagheran Protected Area, South Khorasan Province. Field sampling was conducted during 2023–2024 at 27 stations distributed across three elevation classes (1500, 2000, and 2500 m), with three stations and three sampling replicates for plants and Noctuidae moths at each elevation. Alpha diversity indices included taxa richness, Shannon and Simpson diversity indices, evenness, dominance, and the Menhinick and Margalef indices, whereas beta diversity was assessed using the Whittaker, Cody, and Harrison indices, as well as Jaccard and Sørensen dissimilarity measures. Permutation tests indicated that taxa richness differed marginally between plants (48 taxa) and Noctuidae moths (42 taxa) (P= 0.0525), whereas the number of individuals differed significantly (plants: 512; Noctuidae moths: 1046; P= 0.0001). Noctuidae moths exhibited higher species diversity and evenness than plants, whereas plant communities showed greater dominance by indicator species (P= 0.0001). The highest species richness and diversity for both groups occurred at 2000 m elevation, and species compositional heterogeneity was greater in plants than in Noctuidae moths. The Jaccard and Sørensen indices revealed increasing compositional dissimilarity with increasing elevational distance. Venn diagrams further showed that the highest number of unique species for both plants and Noctuidae moths occurred at 2000 m, while the lowest number was observed at 2500 m. Overall, the results indicate that elevation plays a significant role in shaping plant and animal community structure, with a stronger and more pronounced effect on plant communities.
Keywords
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