Population Structure and Regeneration Status of Woody Plants in Relation to the Human Interventions, Arasbaran Biosphere Reserve, Iran

Abstract

Proper understanding of the diversity and natural structure of woody species and the impacts of human interventions are prerequisites for maintaining the remaining forests as well as restoration of deforested and degraded areas. This research was conducted to document the impact of human interventions on the population structure and the species diversity in the Arasbaran biosphere reserve in Iran due to the limited research and insufficient knowledge. The study area was divided into three adjacent sampling areas of low, medium, and high destruction intensity. Thirty fixed area 0.1-hectare plots were sampled to evaluate the composition, diversity, and species richness. Oak (Quercus macranthera), hawthorn (Crataegus meyeri), and maple (Acer campestre) were the top three dominant tree species at all the sites. The relative dominance of the top three species comprised 87.8% of the basal area of all species. The relative abundance of the top three species accounted for 68.1% of the species. The mean density and basal areas per tree across all three destruction statuses were 145 ± 59 stems ha−1 and 0.01 ± 0.005 m2 ha−1, respectively. The mean height of trees was different at low and high disturbance sites (4.6 ± 0.96 m and 3.37 ± 1.74 m, respectively). Due to the impact of human interventions on forest structure, composition, and diversity, conservation programs are recommended for implementation and in collaboration with local communities to employ management aimed at providing services for local people while restoring these forests. Basic ecological studies such as this study are the foundation to begin developing policies and management that meet multiple ecological and social goals.

Effects of livestock browsing and illegal harvesting on natural regeneration and ecology of balanites aegyptiaca in dinder biosphere reserve, Sudan

“…The average DBH, H, and CW were calculated for each sample plot as a prerequisite for further comparison within and between the sites as recommended by Assogbadjo et al (2010), Gebeyehu et al (2019) and Ghanbari et al (2021). Further, the equations in (Table 1) were used to compute the tree density (# of trees/ha), basal area per tree (m 2 ), relative abundance (%), relative dominance (%), relative frequency (%), and importance value index (IVI) (Ghanbari et al, 2021;Idrissa et al, 2018;. Low IVI value shows that no significance and the higher ones illustrate the greatest importance of the species within the population (Hernández et al, 2018;Maua et al, 2020).…”

“…Biosphere reserves (BRs) host considerable biodiversity and play a core function towards the fulfillment of the daily local community needs as well as different ecological roles at regional and global levels (Ghanbari et al, 2021;John et al, 2020;Kim & Eltahir, 2004;Pfeifer et al, 2012;Reuter et al, 2018). These roles are important in Sudan, particularly in marginalized areas, remote sites, and forest-based villages (Elmekki, 2008;Mahgoub, 2014;Wassie, 2011).…”

“…Natural regeneration can be defined as a process through which new seedlings, coppices, or sprouts are emerging and growing to replace the destroyed and dead ones towards the restocking of the spaced sites and restoration of the degraded lands (Arosa et al, 2017;Ghanbari et al, 2021;Hammond et al, 2021). Therefore, it is a principal and core process by which most plants naturally recruit new generations, compensate for losses, and sustain their population dynamics (Hanief et al, 2016;Lacerda & Kellermann, 2019;Sukhbaatar et al, 2019).…”

“…I am thankful to the management of Dinder Biosphere Reserve for the study permit, my field assistant and close friend Mr. Abdelgaleel Mustafa for his gentle company, Prof. Tamera Minnick, Prof. Hisham Tahir, Prof. Hasabelrasoul Mustafa, Dr. Tawhida Yousif, Dr. Difo Harouna, and Dr. Kafula Chisanga for their help at different stages of data analysis and manuscripts drafting. (Assogbadjo et al, 2010;Fakhry et al, 2020;Ghanbari et al, 2021;Hofhansl et al, 2020;John et al, 2020;. On the other hand, forests, plantations, biosphere reserves (BRs), and other protected areas (PAs) as worldwide known as sites of diversified trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, and animal species have always supported human lives through the provision of food, wood, and non-wood products, medicine, recreation sites, and shelter (Asigbaase et al, 2019;Maua et al, 2020;Mukul et al, 2016;Powell et al, 2013;Treydte et al, 2007).…”

“…Tree seeds, seedlings, and saplings are the core constituents of the natural regeneration for various tree species, especially the species that rarely regenerate by coppicing (Ghanbari et al, 2021;Hammond et al, 2021;Lacerda & Kellermann, 2019;Negussie et al, 2008). Sufficient and effective natural regeneration of a tree species improves their population resilience, diversity, productivity, and sustainability (Arosa et al, 2017;Endale et al, 2017;Singh et al, 2016;Storch et al, 2018).…”