Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Mahshid Souri ¹
• nadia kamali ²
• saedeh nateghi ³
• zhila ghorbani ⁴
• alireza eftekhari ³

¹ Assistant Professor, Rangeland Research Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, IRAN.

² Assistant Professor, Rangeland Research Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran

³ Assistant Professor, Rangeland Research Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran.

⁴ PhD student of rangeland, Faculty of Natural Resources, Sari Agricultural and Natural Resources University, Sari, Iran

Abstract

In order to achieve sustainable development of rangeland, it is necessary to study the role of different ecological factors, especially soil and their effect on the distribution of plant species. The present study was conducted to investigate the distribution of dominant species of Artemisia sieberi Besser and the soil factors affecting it. Sampling was done by a random-systematic method in exclousre rangeland of Ghoshchi area of Urmia. For this purpose, 6 transects with a length of 100 meters including 10 plots of 1m2 were established. In each plot, percentage of vegetation cover, density and abundance of A. sieberi were recorded. Also, inside each plot, soil samples were collected from a depth of 0-20 cm. Then, soil characteristics including; the bulk density, relative humidity, electrical conductivity, acidity, organic matter, carbon, nitrogen and soil texture of soil samples were measured. To determine the relationship between soil factors and the distribution of A. sieberi, multivariate statistical analysis was used. The ranking of A. sieberi was done according to the soil characteristics using the conventional comparative analysis method (DCA, RDA, and CCA). The results showed that the nitrogen factor was the most important factor affecting the distribution of A. sieberi. Also, relative humidity and bulk density were recognized as the most important factors affecting the distribution of A. sieberi. In addition, due to the high sensitivity of the particulate organic matter factor to management changes, this factor can be suggested to detect the changes resulting from other rangeland management methods.

Keywords

• Rangeland
• dominant species
• soil factors
• conventional comparative analysis

Main Subjects

• Natural resources