A study on floristic composition, chorology and ecological structure: A case study from a small-scale forest reserve, Talesh, Iran

Abstract

This study, carried out on vegetation of the Gisoum forest reserve with 171 hectares area located14 km to Resvanshar city, Guilan province, was to examine the structure and composition of theforest vegetation. A first topographic map of the area with the scale of 1:10000 was prepared and thestudy area was delimited. Transect- quadrate method of sampling was used to record the floristic andphytosociological data necessary for the analysis in about 44 quadrates of 400 m2. Some vegetationparameters viz. density and diameter at breast height (DBH) for trees (over story vegetation) as wellas cover-abundance for under story vegetation were recorded, respectively. The life form spectrumof Raunkiaer, the dominant vegetation type of the area, is based on importance value and vegetationstructure based on frequency classes, also their chorology caring a central importance in vegetationdescription were determined. The study of the floristic list showed that 76 species belonging to 66genera and 45 families existed in the area.The largest families were Asteraceae and Rosaceae with 5species. Investigation of the geographical distribution of plant species indicated that 44 % belongedto the EuropeSiberian zone. Plant life forms by Raunkiaer method showed that phanerophytes with35.5 % and hemicryptophytes with 27.6 % were the most frequent life forms. Dominant vegetationtype based on importance value index was Buxus hyrcanus-Parrotia persica. Also the evaluation ofvegetation structure based on frequency class revealed that abundance-distribution was irregular inunder story and regular in upper story vegetation.