Evaluating changes in the plant communities after overgrazing in the Golbahar plain, northeast of Iran
Overgrazing affects plant communities, and is a significant disturbance factor in arid and semi-arid regions. The immediate changes of plant communities after overgrazing in the disturbed arid ecosystems of Iran have been poorly studied. We recorded data from 100 random samples before and after over...
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doaj-9cc82dc61a5d418895cd8a982284c8e62021-06-08T06:26:45ZengKharazmi Universityیافتههای نوین در علوم زیستی2423-63302476-71152021-02-0174431441Evaluating changes in the plant communities after overgrazing in the Golbahar plain, northeast of IranSarmad Mahdi Kadhum0Hamid Ejtehadi1Farshid Memariani2Mohammad Bagher Erfanian3 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran Department of Botany, Research Center for Plant Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran Overgrazing affects plant communities, and is a significant disturbance factor in arid and semi-arid regions. The immediate changes of plant communities after overgrazing in the disturbed arid ecosystems of Iran have been poorly studied. We recorded data from 100 random samples before and after overgrazing in the Golbahar plain located in the northeastern Iran to determine the changes in the plant physiognomic, species composition, and diversity after overgrazing. We compared life-forms spectra, change in the RIVI of the recorded plant species, species composition, and species diversity before and after the grazing. Our results showed that therophytes were the dominant life-form in the area, and decreased after overgrazing. The community composition of the area remained unchanged after overgrazing. Species diversity at the level of rare and frequent species reduced after overgrazing. Our findings implied that overgrazing could not immediately affect the community structure of degraded arid areas. However, it causes changes that might reduce ecosystem services in them. It is not possible to completely exclude grazers in such areas, fencing or reducing the number of the livestock entries should be applied to restore the vegetation in the area.http://nbr.khu.ac.ir/article-1-3333-en.htmlarid landslife-formspecies compositionspecies diversity |
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DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Sarmad Mahdi Kadhum Hamid Ejtehadi Farshid Memariani Mohammad Bagher Erfanian |
spellingShingle |
Sarmad Mahdi Kadhum Hamid Ejtehadi Farshid Memariani Mohammad Bagher Erfanian Evaluating changes in the plant communities after overgrazing in the Golbahar plain, northeast of Iran یافتههای نوین در علوم زیستی arid lands life-form species composition species diversity |
author_facet |
Sarmad Mahdi Kadhum Hamid Ejtehadi Farshid Memariani Mohammad Bagher Erfanian |
author_sort |
Sarmad Mahdi Kadhum |
title |
Evaluating changes in the plant communities after overgrazing in the Golbahar plain, northeast of Iran |
title_short |
Evaluating changes in the plant communities after overgrazing in the Golbahar plain, northeast of Iran |
title_full |
Evaluating changes in the plant communities after overgrazing in the Golbahar plain, northeast of Iran |
title_fullStr |
Evaluating changes in the plant communities after overgrazing in the Golbahar plain, northeast of Iran |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evaluating changes in the plant communities after overgrazing in the Golbahar plain, northeast of Iran |
title_sort |
evaluating changes in the plant communities after overgrazing in the golbahar plain, northeast of iran |
publisher |
Kharazmi University |
series |
یافتههای نوین در علوم زیستی |
issn |
2423-6330 2476-7115 |
publishDate |
2021-02-01 |
description |
Overgrazing affects plant communities, and is a significant disturbance factor in arid and semi-arid regions. The immediate changes of plant communities after overgrazing in the disturbed arid ecosystems of Iran have been poorly studied. We recorded data from 100 random samples before and after overgrazing in the Golbahar plain located in the northeastern Iran to determine the changes in the plant physiognomic, species composition, and diversity after overgrazing. We compared life-forms spectra, change in the RIVI of the recorded plant species, species composition, and species diversity before and after the grazing. Our results showed that therophytes were the dominant life-form in the area, and decreased after overgrazing. The community composition of the area remained unchanged after overgrazing. Species diversity at the level of rare and frequent species reduced after overgrazing. Our findings implied that overgrazing could not immediately affect the community structure of degraded arid areas. However, it causes changes that might reduce ecosystem services in them. It is not possible to completely exclude grazers in such areas, fencing or reducing the number of the livestock entries should be applied to restore the vegetation in the area. |
topic |
arid lands life-form species composition species diversity |
url |
http://nbr.khu.ac.ir/article-1-3333-en.html |
work_keys_str_mv |
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