Effect of plantations on plant species diversity in the Darabkola, Mazandaran Province, North of Iran

Abstract

Pourbabaei H, Asgari F, Reif A, Abedi R. 2012. Effect of plantations on plant species diversity in the Darabkola, Mazandaran Province,. In this study, the effect of plantations on plant species diversity was investigated in Darabkola, Mazandaran province, north of Iran. To conduct the study, a natural mixed forest, a broad-leaved plantation (Alnus subcordata-Acer velutinum) and a coniferous plantation (Cupressus sempervirens var. horizontalis-Pinus brutia) were selected. 35 sampling plots were taken in systematic random method in each area. Data analysis was carried out using Simpson, Hill's N 2 , Shannon-Wiener and Mc Arthur's N 1 diversity indices, Smith and Wilson evenness index and species richness. Results revealed that there were 32 plant species in natural forest and 30 plant species were found in each plantation. Rosaceae and Lamiaceae were the main families in the studied areas. Diversity and evenness indices of all vegetation layers had the most values in the natural forest. Richness of woody plants had the highest value in the natural forest, while herbaceous richness was the highest in coniferous plantation. Mc Arthur's N1 had the highest value among diversity indices and followed by Hill's N 2 , Shannon-Wiener and Simpson indices, respectively. In addition, results showed that there were significant differences among diversity, evenness and richness indices in all vegetation layers in the three studied areas.

The Effect of Afforestation on Biodiversity in Malatya, Turkey

“…All the same, diversity index was found consistently and significantly greater in native Quercus forests than exotic coniferous plantations forest. This result is in line with the findings of a number of research studies where the negative effects of afforestation on species diversity was highlighted (Andrés and Ojeda, 2002;Pourbabaei et al, 2012). Because species richness of vascular plants is affected by exotic coniferous species.…”

“…Whereas some afforestation efforts are believed to harm ecosystem biodiversity and interfere with biodiversity conservation goals (Cao et al, 2009; Calvino-Cassela et al, 2012; Pourbabaei et al, 2012), a large number of studies in many countries has shown that the plantation of forests can provide habitat for a wide range of native forest plants, animals, and fungi and can support a diverse array of native understorey plants (Barbaro et al, 2005;Carnus et al, 2006;Brockerhoff et al, 2008;Juying et al, 2017).…”

Effects of timber harvest on structural diversity and species composition in hardwood forests

“…Basal area was considered for dominancy and relative dominance (RD) calculated by: RD = (basal area of a species × 100) / total basal area of all species. The species diversity index was computed using the Shannon-Wiener information function (Krebs 1999;Sharma et al 2009;Abedi and Pourbabaei 2010;Pourbabaei et al 2012) as: H'=-Σn i /n log 2 n i /n, where: n i = denote to the SIV of a species and n= denote to the sum of total SIV of all species. The species evenness index was computed using the Pielou's evenness index (J) as: J = H' / ln S, where ln is Natural logarithm, S is the total species number in each plot.…”

Short Communication: Floristic composition and relationships between plant species abundance and soil properties in common hazel (Corylus avellana) mountainous forest of northern Iran

“…We took a total of 30 sample plots (20 m × 20 m) selectively in the forest stand along an altitudinal range from 1300 m to 1800 m a.s.l. (Pourbabaei et al 2012;Zhang et al 2016). The forest stand was divided into five zones based on 100 m interval in the altitudinal gradient.…”