Spatial distribution pattern of plant species in mountain almond (Amygdalus scoparia Spach.) habitat in Shaskouh protected area, South Khorasan

Document Type : Scientific article

Author

Assisstant Professor, Department of Rangeland and Watershed Management and Research Group of Drought and Climate Change, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Birjand, Birjand, I. R. Iran.

Abstract

Background and objectives: The horizontal structure of a forest refers to how individual trees are distributed within a forest ecosystem. Spatial patterns of trees and shrubs provide important information about the integrity of forest community structure, plant community dynamics, succession processes, and species coexistence. Several studies have been conducted regarding the distribution pattern in the forest sciences, and the application of such studies in forest planning and management, evaluation and analysis, as well as forest restoration and development plans, has been reported. It seems that the distribution pattern of trees and shrubs is affected by the degree of plant dominance and growth form. In this research, in addition to determining the distribution pattern of 64 plant species in the mountain almond (Amygdalus scoparia Spach.) habitat on the southern slopes of the Shaskouh protected area in South Khorasan, the relationship between growth form, life cycle and the degree of species dominance with the distribution pattern of plant species was investigated.
Methodology: In the present study, four key areas of the mountain almond (Amygdalus scoparia) habitat were selected on the southern slopes of the Shaskouh protected area. In each key area, 20 quadrats were established (80 quadrats in total). Quadrats with dimensions of 1 × 1 m, 4 × 4 m, and 10 × 10 m were used to count individuals of grasses and forbs, bushes, shrubs, and trees, respectively. After identifying and counting plant species in the quadrat, species density, abundance and frequency were determined. Then, species dominance was evaluated based on Weigmann's classification method (1973) in five classes. In order to determine the distribution pattern, the indices of abundance to frequency ratio (A/F), variance-to-mean ratio (ID), Index of Cluster Size (ICS), Green's index (GI), and Index of Mean Crowding (IMC) were used. The coefficient of variation (CV) was used to compare the accuracy of the investigated quadratic methods to determine the distribution pattern. A chi-square test of independence was used to examine the relationship between plant growth form, life cycle and dominance degree with distribution patterns. The effect size and power of the chi-square test were calculated at the 0.05 level. Sampling adequacy was determined using the species accumulation curve.
Results: The results showed that in terms of the distribution pattern, based on the abundance-to-frequency ratio, about 97% of the studied species have a clumped pattern and 3% have a random pattern. Based on the quadratic indices: the variance-to-mean ratio (ID) and cluster size (ICS), 84% of the species have a clumped pattern, and 16% of the species have a random pattern. Based on Green's index (GI), 61% of the distribution pattern of plant species in the studied area is clumped, and 39% is random. The results showed that the prevalence pattern of the studied eudominant and dominant species is clumped. The single tree in the studied area, Pistacia atlantica Desf., has a random pattern. The result of the chi-square test of independence showed that there is no significant relationship between growth form, the life cycle and the degree of dominance of species with distribution pattern (p≥0.05). The results showed that the Fisher index, i.e. variance-to-mean ratio (ID), with the lowest coefficient of variation (1.86) has the most accuracy for determining the distribution pattern. Among the studied quadratic indices, the result of Green's index corresponds better to reality. The species accumulation curve showed that by increasing the number of quadrats to 80, 60 plant species were observed in the studied area, and this is enough to evaluate species richness.
Conclusion: The results of various indices showed that the distribution patterns of 61–97% of the studied species are clumped. Since a single index cannot provide accurate estimates of the distribution pattern, five common quadratic indices were used in the present study. Among the studied indices, the Index of Mean Crowding (IMC) found the distribution pattern of about 24% of the studied species to be uniform, which is not consistent with reality. The results of the present study showed that the distribution pattern of plants is independent of the vegetative form and the degree of dominance of plants. Nevertheless, the contribution of rare species in the random distribution pattern is greater than the cluster pattern. Finally, it is suggested to pay attention to the clumped pattern of the dominant plants in the region to determine the sampling strategy and choose the planting intervals.

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References

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Forest Research and Development
Volume 10, Issue 3
December 2024
Pages 295-322

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