Journal of Natural Environment

Composition and biodiversity of understory plants in natural forest and plantations of Kelarabad, Chalus

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 1- Ph.D student environmental science, faculty of natural resources and environment, science and research branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of environmental science, faculty of natural resources and environment, science and research branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

3 Department of Wood and Paper Science and Technology, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran

4 4- Professor of Tehran university, faculty of natural resources, Department of environmental science and engineering

5 Professor, Department of wood and paper engineering, faculty of natural Resources and environment, Tehran science and research branch, Islamic Azad university, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the composition and biodiversity of herbaceous cover and regeneration in natural forest (dominated by hornbeam-iron tree), plantations (pure and mixed alder and maple) and degraded forest areas (without tree cover) in the Kelarabad of Chalus. A total of 16 large sample plots (20 × 20 m2) to record the vegetative characteristics of the trees and 144 small sample plots (1 × 1 m2) to record the number of regenerated woody species, type and percentage of herbaceous species. The variety of indices were used to compare biodiversity. The highest percentage of herbaceous species belonged to the Brachypodim pinnatum L., while in the degraded area the percentage of Rubus caesius L. was dominant. Among the understory herbaceous plants, hemicryptophytes and cryptophytes were the most abundant biological form. Also, according to the results, the highest percentage of regeneration species was related to the dominant tree species in each forest stands, and among regeneration species, Phanerophytes were the most abundant biological form. Investigation of biodiversity indices in both herbaceous and regeneration layers indicates the negative effects of forest degradation as well as the positive role of natural forest in the study area. As a general conclusion, the present study demonstrates the protective role of temperate broadleaf mixed forest stands for the richness and diversity of herbaceous plant species and the sustainable regeneration and conservation of understory communities.

Keywords

Adel, M. N., Pourbabaei, H., Omidi, A., Dey, D., & Omidi, A. (2015). Evaluation of herbaceous species diversity in not harvested beech forest, case study: Roudbar of Guilan. Journal of Plant Research, 27(4), 681–690.
Ampoorter, E., Baeten, L., Vanhellemont, M., Bruelheide, H., Scherer‐Lorenzen, M., Baasch, A., Erfmeier, A., Hock, M., & Verheyen, K. (2015). Disentangling tree species identity and richness effects on the herb layer: first results from a German tree diversity experiment. Journal of Vegetation Science, 26(4), 742–755.
Barnes, B.V., D.R. Zak, S.R. Denton, and S.H. Spurr. (1998). Forest ecology, John Wiley and Sons. INC., New York. 773 pp.
D’Amato, A. W., Orwig, D. A., & Foster, D. R. (2009). Understory vegetation in old-growth and second-growth Tsuga canadensis forests in western Massachusetts. Forest Ecology and Management, 257(3), 1043–1052.
EshaqiRad, J. (2014). Variations of understory vegetation composition and diversity in pure and mixed beech stands (Case Study: Kheyrud Forest- Noshahr). Iranian Journal of Forest, 6(1), 75–86.
Esmailzadeh, O., Nourmohammadi, K., Asadi, H., & Yousefzadeh, H. (2014). A floristic study of Salaheddinkola Forests, Nowshahr, Iran. Taxonomy and Biosystematics, 6(2), 37–54.
Fakhr Abadi, S., Jafarian, Z., Heidari, G., Ghelichnia, H. (2015). Studying of species diversity and richness indices in different utilization types in the Polour rangelands. PEC. 3 (6), 15-26.
Germany, M. S., Bruelheide, H., & Erfmeier, A. (2017). Limited tree richness effects on herb layer composition, richness and productivity in experimental forest stands. Journal of Plant Ecology, 10(1), 190–200.
Gheibi, F., Akbarinia, M., & Kooch, Y. (2015). Effect of Alnus subcordata, Acer insigne and Sequoia sempervirens plantations on plant diversity in Hyrcanian forest of Iran. Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity, 16(1).
Gutierrez Flores, I. R., & Becerra Osses, P. I. (2017). The effect of native forest replacement by Pinus radiata plantations on riparian plant communities in Chile. Plant Ecology & Diversity, 10(1), 65–75.
Haghverdi, K. (2016). Influence of Endemic and Exotic Afforestation (Chai Bagh district of Qaemshahr) on Biodiversity of Plant Species and Woody Regeneration. Journal of Plant Research, 28(3), 522–534.
Jahani, A. (2016). Modeling of forest canopy density confusion in environmental assessment using
artificial neural network. Iranian Journal of Forest and Poplar Research, 24(2), 310-322.
Jahani, A., Goshtasb, H., & Saffariha, M. (2020). Tourism impact assessment modeling of vegetation density for protected areas using data mining techniques. Land Degradation & Development, 31,1502–1519.
Mahmoudi, J. (2008). The study of species diversity in plant ecological groups in kelarabad protected forest. Iranian Journal of Biology, 20(4), 353-362.  
 MajdTaheri,  h. A. A. J. (1996). Comparative study of forestry effects with Tehran pine and acacia on some soil physical and chemical properties and underwater vegetation. Research and Construction, 2(15–6), (In Persian).
Mosaffaei, Z., Jahani, A., Chahouki, M.A.Z., Goshtasb, H., Etemad, V., & Saffariha, M. (2020). Soil texture and plant degradation predictive model (STPDPM) in national parks using artificial neural network (ANN). Modeling Earth Systems and Environment, pp.1-15.
Mohammadzadeh, A., Basiry, R., Dadashian, R., & Elahian, M. (2015). Evaluation of biodiversity of plant species in Arasbaran area using non-parametric measures with respect to topographic factor of slope: a case study of aquiferous land of Ilgina and Kaleibar rivers. Journal of Plant Research, 27(4), 728–741.
Nourmohammadi, K., & Esmailzadeh, O. (2018). Changes of plant biodiversity indices in ecological species groups along an altitudinal gradient. Journal of Applied Biology, 31(1), 303-321.
Ravan Bakhsh, M., Ejtehadi, H., Pourbabaei H., & Ghoreshi-Al-Hoseini, J. (2000). Investigation on plants species diversity of Gisoum Talesh Reserve forest, Gilan province, Iran. Iranian Journal of Biology, 20(3), 218.
Tadesse, E., Abdulkedir, A., Khamzina, A., Son, Y., & Noulèkoun, F. (2019). Contrasting Species Diversity and Values in Home Gardens and Traditional Parkland Agroforestry Systems in Ethiopian Sub-Humid Lowlands. Forests, 10(3), 266.
Yirdaw, E., & Luukkanen, O. (2003). Indigenous woody species diversity in Eucalyptus globulus Labill. ssp. globulus plantations in the Ethiopian highlands. Biodiversity & Conservation, 12(3), 567–582.
Yu, M., & Sun, O. J. (2013). Effects of forest patch type and site on herb-layer vegetation in a temperate forest ecosystem. Forest Ecology and Management, 300, 14–20.
Atashgahi, Z., Ejtehadi, H., Zare H. (2009). Study of floristics, life form and chorology of plants in the east of Dodangeh forests, Mazandaran province, Iran. Iranian Journal of Biology, 22(2), 193.
Zeng, X., Durka, W., & Fischer, M. (2017). Species-specific effects of genetic diversity and species diversity of experimental communities on early tree performance. Journal of Plant Ecology, 10(1), 252–258.
Journal of Natural Environment
Volume 74, Issue 1
June 2021
Pages 181-193