Folia Forestalia Polonica, series A, 2015, Vol. 57 (4), 245–250 SHORT COMMUNICATION

DOI: 10.1515/ffp-2015-0026

Plant ecological groups and soil properties of common ( L.) stand in Safagashteh , north of

Hassan Pourbabaei , Mohammad Naghi Adel

University of Guilan, Faculty of Natural Resources, Department of Forestry, Sowmehsara, P.O. Box 1144, Guilan, Iran, phone: +981344323599, fax: 981344323600, e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

In Safragashteh forest of Fuman in north of Iran, there is a hazel stand, which has grown naturally. The aim of this research was to evaluate the communities and soil characteristics in the area. This study included 50 ha of hazel protected area. A selective sampling method was utilized to record 30 400 m2 for and layers, and sub-plots of 100 m2 for herbaceous . Soil samples were collected at the 30 plots. We found three ecological species groups in the study area. Corylus avellana and pinnatum in first group, , Asperula odorata, Eu- phorbia amygdaloides, Carex sp., Fragaria vesca and Viola sylvestris in second group, and Crataegus microphylla, Ilex spinigera, Primula heterochroma, Sedum stoloniferum and Vicia crocea in thirth group were the indicator species. Sand percent was significantly highest in Corylus avellana group, while clay, nutrients elements, pH and SP were sig- nificantly highest in the other groups. Biodiversity indices in Corylus avellana group were significantly less than other stands. We recommend to provide comprehensive conservation and management programs in order to protect of com- mon hazel, associated plant species, and to prevent of human activities such as recreational use and livestock.

Key words

Corylus avellana L., ecological species groups, conservation, soil properties, north of Iran

Introduction sustainable use and natural reserve area planning and management (Lee and Chun 2015). The lack of detailed Mountains are generally biologically diverse, support information about spatial distribution of organisms of- a high proportion of endemic species and harbor most ten hampers an effective selection of conservation or of the world’s protected areas (Khuroo et al. 2011). The management activities. Complete inventories of genes, biodiversity of in mountain ecosystems and their species and ecosystems are almost impossible to be geographical distribution have received considerable achieved, given the time and cost constraints (Reyers interest from ecology and biogeography researchers et al. 2000). Despite a considerable amount of scientific over the last decade because understanding biodiver- efforts, quantifying biodiversity at coarse scales still re- sity patterns is important for biodiversity conservation, mains difficult, especially for rich communities such as

© 2015 by Forest Research Institute © 2015 by Polish Academy of Sciences Received 1 October 2015 / Accepted 16 November 2015 246 Hassan Pourbabaei, Mohammad Naghi Adel

tropical invertebrates or plants. Standards in measuring baijan, , Iran, Spain, China and French are the the completeness of species lists are still lacking and most significant countries producing the (Ho- this affects the capacity to assess and monitor biodiver- sein Ava and Pir Khezri 2011(. Due to its need to light, sity at coarse scales in short time periods. As a conse- this plant cannot survive inside the and it usually quence, biodiversity surrogates with easily recordable grows at the edge of the forests (Moraghebi et al. 2010). data are necessary to detect spatial and temporal pat- Native hazel species are grown in the northwest of Iran terns of biodiversity (Giorgini et al. 2015). and they are planted in north of Iran as garden products. Diversity relationships and interactions between In Safagashteh forest of Fuman in north of Iran, there is forest strata are currently an important research topic. a hazel stand, which has grown naturally. According to It is particularly crucial to study the effects of tree- the fact that no research has ever been conducted in this layer composition variations on herb-layer vegetation, region, the aim of this research was to determine plant since herb-layer vegetation contributes significantly ecological groups and soil properties in the study area. to the ecosystem functioning and biodiversity in for- ests (McEwan and Muller, 2011). Productive and spe- cies-rich herb-layer vegetation can contain significant Material and methods amounts of aboveground biomass and nutrients, during periods of high potential leaching, the temporary stor- Study area age of elements by ground-layer herbs reduces nutrient The study area (Safagashteh forest) is located in Ma- losses into surface water (Mölder et al. 2014). Further- souleh, near Fouman City, which is in Guilan Province, more, many forest plant species are specially protected north of Iran (37°09’13” N and 48°59’14” E). Elevation and high valued in conservation (Hermy et al. ranges from 950 to 1150 m a.s.l., with 55% slopes that 1999; Jolls 2003). In general, the tree-layer composition generally face east. Parent materials include limestone has an effect on ground vegetation due to its influence and shill. The mean annual precipitation and tempera- on various ecosystem processes, e.g. nutrient cycles, ture is 1200 mm and 12°C, respectively. light transmittance, and soil water supply (Chávez and Macdonald 2010). Data collection Understory plants provide a crucial role in main- This study carried out in 50 ha of hazel protected area. taining the structure and function of forest ecosystems. A selective sampling method was used to record 30 400 They contribute to forest biodiversity, generate the ini- m2. We recorded slope percentage, geographical aspect, tial competitive interactions with regeneration phases elevation, crown canopy percentage and individual of dominant canopy species, determine energy flow number of tree and shrub species in each plot. In addi- and nutrient cycling, and respond complexly to both tion, litter depth was measured within each plot. Sub- natural and anthropogenic disturbances (Gilliam 2007). plots of 100 m2 were utilized for herbaceous species The ecosystem integrity of temperate forests depends measurements, which consisted of percent cover of each on understory plant species conservation, as well as the species in the basis of the Domin criterion. Soil sam- stability and survival of other organisms, such us mi- ples were taken at these 30 sampling plots in the study cro- and meso-fauna (Clement 2001). However, under- area. At each sampling plot, soil samples were collected story plant species have heterogeneous abundance and from 0 to 20 cm depth to studying physical and chemi- distribution patterns, which depends on the over-story cal properties. Soil factors including soil texture, N, P, species and structure (e.g., site quality of the stands or K, pH, OC, OM, C/N were analyzed in the laboratory. gap presence) (Lencinas et al. 2011). Hazel with the scientific name of Corylus“ avellana Data analysis L.” is a shrub belonging to “” phylum, from “Bet- At first, TWINSPAN (Two Way Indicator Species Anal- ulaceae” family and “Coryluideae” subfamily. is ysis) was applied to classify the 30 sampling plots. The in the first position by producing 70 percent of hazelnuts cut-off level of ‘pseudo-species’ followed the software’s of the world, and is in the second position by pro- default. We then used ISA (Indicator Species Analysis) ducing 20 percent. After these countries, U.S.A, Azer- to extract those significantly associated with each group.

Folia Forestalia Polonica, series A, 2015, Vol. 57 (4), 245–250 Plant ecological groups and soil properties of common hazel (Corylus avellana L.) stand… 247

TWINSPAN and ISA were performed by PC-Ord 5.10. ues, which accounted for 60.5% of the change and vari- CANOCO 4.5 was performed to explore the relation- ation. The results of RDA indicated that only sand was ship between the soil factors and the plant ecological the most important factor in the first group. Phosphorus, groups in hazel forest. To evaluate herbaceous diversity, nitrogen, potassium, carbon, organic material, clay, silt, we used three indices. Species diversity was assessed BD, SP and pH were the most important factors in the with the Shannon–Wiener index, species richness was second and third group (Fig. 1). estimated according to the Margalef index. In addition, the Smith–Wilson index was utilized to calculate spe- 1.0 cies evenness. All three indices were computed using Ecological Methodology and PAST softwares. Signifi- cance of differences between means was analyzed by one-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey test at 95% confi- dence level. All statistical analyses were conducted us- ing SPSS software (version 22.0).

0 Results

TWINSPAN outputs –0.4 The outputs of TWINSPAN revealed three ecological –1.5 0 1.0 groups: the first group, was characterized by Corylus Figure 1. Result of RDA analysis of ecological species avellana and Epimedium pinnatum which were includ- groups and soil variables in the study area ed in sixteen sampling plots. The second group com- prised of six sampling plots in which Fagus orientalis, ANOVA results of soils Asperula odorata, Euphorbia amygdaloides, Carex sp., Clay, phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium, carbon, organic Fragaria vesca and Viola sylvestris were the indica- material, pH and SP were significantly the highest value tor species. The third group consisted of eight plots in in the second and third group. In contrast, Sand was sig- which Crataegus microphylla, Ilex spinigera, Primula nificantly the highest value in the first group. In addi- heterochroma, Sedum stoloniferum and Vicia crocea tion, BD and silt were significantly higher in first group were the indicator species (Tab. 1). than other groups (Tab. 2).

Table 1. Results of TWINSPAN and ISA analyses of study Table 2. Comparison of the soil variables amongst the area species groups

Species Number Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Indicator Species Group of Plots N 0.18b 0.29a 0.32a 1 16 Corylus avellana, Epimedium pinnatum P 6.5b 12a 11.8a Fagus orientalis, Asperula odorata, K 123b 180a 176a 2 6 Euphorbia amygdaloides, Carex sp., Fragaria vesca and Viola sylvestris OC 1.72b 2.73a 2.67a Crataegus microphylla, Ilex spinigera, OM 2.65b 3.88a 3.7a 3 8 Primula heterochroma, Sedum Sand 70a 54.5b 59b stoloniferum and Vicia crocea Silt 14c 18.5b 25a Clay 8.75b 18.75a 17.25a RDA ordination results BD 0.8c 0.93b 1.05a The RDA ordination was used because the length of the SP 40.37b 49.5a 51.6a gradient was calculated (2.94) to be less than 3. The first pH 6.62b 7.03a 6.92a (0.305) and second (0.173) axes had the largest eigenval-

Folia Forestalia Polonica, series A, 2015, Vol. 57 (4), 245–250 248 Hassan Pourbabaei, Mohammad Naghi Adel

ANOVA results of diversity indices communities. Coroi et al. (2004) observed that Corylus Biodiversity indices (diversity, richness and evenness) avellana. Is an indicator species in the area and inhabit for the second and third groups were significantly high- on sandy soils in south of Ireland. Adel et al. (2014) and er than first group, but there was no significant differ- Eshaghi Rad (2010) identified soil texture, pH, N, P, K, ence between second and third groups (Tab. 3). C and organic material as the main factors that affect the distribution of communities in northern Iran. Table 3. Means (±SE) of biodiversity indices in the study Diversity of herbaceous species in hazel stand was area lower than the two other ecologic groups. The most im- Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 portant reason of this seems to be the high percentage of canopy cover of hazel stand which doesn’t allow light Shannon-Wiener 1.09 ± 0.23 2.21 ± 0.65 2.14 ± 0.71 diversity reaches the ground well. Understory vegetation compo- sition in temperate forests is largely determined by soil Pielou evenness 0.56 ± 0.03 0.872 ± 0.18 0.858 ± 0.29 fertility, light conditions and water availability (Hardtle Margalef richness 1.3 ± 0.09 2.39 ± 0.52 2.26 ± 0.11 et al. 2005). In addition, woody plants also affect under- story composition by modifying the abiotic microcli- Discussion mate and resource availability (Augusto et al. 2003). For example, light is commonly an important factor which The results are evident that almost half of the study impacts on forest understory richness and composition, area is dominated by hazel species, and it has created and available light depends on canopy structure (Schel- a pure community of hazel. However, in other parts ler and Mladenoff 2002). The other reason might be they have grown sporadically and they are dominated presence of Epimedium pinnatum Fisch which is the in- by Fagus orientalis Lipsky tree and Ilex spinigera Loes dicator species in the understory of pure hazel commu- and Crataegus microphylla C. Koch shrub species. nity and it has a significant role in competition with oth- Pena et al. (2011) in the Basque region of the northern er species and to prevent in their growth. In a research Iberian Peninsula, and Boulanger et al. (2015) in the in Koeru, central Estonia, Koorem and Moora (2010) Haute-Marne administrative region in north-eastern found that indicator species composition in Corylus France found that Corylus avellana L. is an accompany avellana understory were different from other com- species with beech. Onaindia and Mitxelena (2009) munities. The other reason seems to be deficiency of showed that Corylus avellana is accompany species nutrient elements in this community. As a result, these with , Ilex aquifolium and Crataegus species prefer to grow in a more suitable environmental monogyna at the Ibaizabal river basin in Basque region condition with higher nutrient elements, as we can see in the north of Spain. In fact, hazel is not able to com- in Fagus orientalis and Ilex spinigera and Crataegus pete with other species and it grows in site where other microphylla sites which have a better situation than ha- species are present less. In the study area, Fagus ori- zel habitats. The presence of more indicator herbaceous entalis, Ilex spinigera and Crataegus microphylla were species in the two other ecologic groups might be the found the most of the forest, but hazel grew in higher indicative of this fact. Different tree and shrub species altitudes. influence on species richness and understory composi- The results of analyzing soil indicated that hazel is tion through modification of local soil properties (Wulf grown in habitats with sandy soil and little nutrient ele- and Naaf 2009). ments. As seen in Figure 1 and Table 2, Fagus orientalis In this research, we have conducted early identifi- and Ilex spinigera and Crataegus microphylla species in cation of the study area. Hazel forests play an impor- contrast to hazel, prefer more fertility soils. Moreover, tant role in protecting habitat against rockfall hazard, the hazel is usually found in soils with less nutrient ele- therefore conservation programs should be applied to ments such as NPK. On the other hand, results revealed it (Jancke et al. 2009). Considering the fact that hazel that hazel live in habitats with almost acidic condition. natural stands are rare in the forests of northen Iran, we Koorem and Moora (2010) showed that nitrogen, phos- recommend to provide comprehensive conservation and phor and pH in hazel community were less than other management programs in order to protect of common

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