Chapter 3 MATERIAL AND METHODS 3.1. Introduction The study of flora consists of plant and situation of plant habitat. There are many definitions for word "flora". The word "flora" refers to the plants occurring within a given region. A Flora may contain anything from a simple list of the plants occurring in an area to a very detailed account of those plants. Floras are different from popular manuals in that they attempt to cover all of the plants, rather than only the most common or conspicuous ones. When a researcher wants to study Flora he/or she can understand many things from that. A Flora ahnost always contains scientific names, and it may also include common names, literature references, descriptions, habitats, geographical distribution, illustrations, flowering times, and notes. Less often, Floras includes such specialized information as data on plant chemistry, reproduction, chromosome numbers, and population occurrences. Sometimes, the plants are listed alphabetically, and sometimes they are represented within a classification system that indicates which plants are most similar or are thought to be related. Floras often also include devices called "keys" that enable the user to identify an unknown plant. Floristic elements are most often defined subjectively by grouping plant ranges into types based on descriptions provided by floras and manuals (McLaughlin and Bowers, 1990). By study of floristic traits of an area, it is possible to describe floristic province and phytogeographical regions. The delimitation of floristic provinces and sub-provinces is mainly based on the distribution boundaries of vascular plant species (Yurtsev, 1994) which is known as true plants. Hence, phytogeographical region can describe plant, flora and environmental of flora. It can give us the plant community's limitation of an area. Plant communities can be considered real entities even if their boundaries in space and time cannot always be detected (Van der Maarel, 1996). The fundamental problem of plant ecology is the understanding of the close relationship existing between the vegetation and its 57 environment. All phytoecological research is directly or indirectly aimed at achieving this still-distant goal. Actually, it is impossible to separate environment and vegetation as two entities (Billings, 1941). Then, it needs to distinguish vegetation, flora and envirormiental properties to better description of an area simultaneously. The flora element is influenced by climatic, edaphic and management conditions which affect vegetation characteristics. On the other hand, the studies of flora give us a view of plants in a given area while vegetation traits' studies lead us to distinguish the management activities on the given area. The flora study, nowadays, is done by genetics traits which is more powerful in terms of traditional study. It, however, is one of the most expensive approaches to study the flora of given area. Feuerer and Hawksworth (2007), for example, have studied the biodiversity of lichens based on Takhtajan's floristic regions of the world and have shown that distinguished species of different regions on the basis of Molecular study and may be number of species in given regions be reduced. It, therefore, will well when genetic and Molecular analysis's instruments are cheaply employed by researchers to their research to better distinguish the flora, fauna, etc. Reviewing of the researchers studies' trend is always usable to carry out the current and future research and it gives us many views. The different approaches of study help to find the solution to the problems and sometimes, it leads to discover a new procedure to future studies. Hence, it is necessary to make apparent the methods of study. Some of them are as follows: 3.2. Flora of Alborz Mountain The floristic studies on the Alborz Mountain were so rare till 1976 based on Jager's world map (Fig 3.1). After that, as it is given in the literature review, The Alborz Mountain is studied by some researchers who worked on just the Central Alborz. There are many Floras studies that have been carried by some botanists and phytoecologists like Buhse (1860-99), Bunge (1860), Ehlers (1980), Fischer (1981), Freitag (1975-85), Gilli (1939), Hedge (1968-78), 58 Zohary (1967-1975), Klein (1991), Rechinger (1963-2005), Bobek (1937- 1953), Bor (1970), Takhtajan (1973-1986), Breckle (1975-2004), etc. The Alborz Mountain is formed by some phytochorion which is phytogeographically defined as a geographic area with a relatively uniform composition of plants species\ Hence, it is found the alpine vegetation and grassland habitats in these areas. From west to east and low to upland, the flora and vegetation are ecologically changing. The present study can provide collection of information to better management of this ecosystem. Each ecosystem element can be noted by researchers who act in different fields. Comparative ecology, therefore, is one of the successfiil approaches that explains differences among individual species and try to find general patterns in the world of organism diversity (Krahulec et al, 1999). The two given areas from central and west Alborz are for this type. The flora was denoted into a spectrum of biological forms (Smith, 1913; Raunkiaer, 1934; Safaian, 2004) as described in the following classes: Phanerophytes have their dormant buds on branches which project freely into the air; they are the trees and Bushy trees. Their buds are more than 25 cm above surface ground. Chamaephytes includes plants with their buds or shoot-apices perennating on the surface of the ground or just above it (not exceeding 25 cm.), so that in countries with snow they are protected in winter. Most cushion shrubs belong to this category. Hemicryptophytes have their dormant buds in the upper crust of the soil, just below the surface; the aerial parts are herbaceous and die away in the critical period, so that they form an additional protection to the earth-buds. The perennating parts may be long or short, laterally extended or forming compact root-stocks, hence the group includes a large number of our native woodland and hedgerow species, and many rosette or half-rosette species. This type may be subdivided to a considerable extent. Cryptophytes includes plants with their dormant parts subterranean in the case of geophytes with bulbs, rhizomes, tubers on stem and root, and root-buds. Another division is characterised by semi-aquatic dormant buds-helophytes and hydrophytes. The helophytes or marshplants do 1 - Online source: http://www.answers.com/topic/floristic-province 59 not include all so-called marsh species, but only such cryptophytes have their buds at the bottom of the water or in the subjacent soil. The hydrophytes (e.g. Nymphaea, Zostera, Hippuris, Elodea, Potamogeton) have either perermating rhizomes, etc., or winter-buds. Therophytes, or plants of the favourable season, live through the unfavourable season as seeds; hence they are annual plants. They are especially characteristic of deserts and of regions under high cuhivation. Plant species can be divided on the basis of life form into subclasses e.g. Annual, Biannual, Prennial species which can give us a frequency gradient in the study areas. Hence, the study area is also categorised by this classification. 3.2.1. Location of Study Area Iran, which is mostly located in arid and semi arid region of the globe (Raziei et al, 2005), is high plateau so that study areas are located on the highest mountain range (Alborz Mt. range) of this country (Fig. 3.2). The geographical position of study areas are 50° 26'00.4"Hand 36° 48'52.8'N (Fig. 3.3) for the Javaherdeh site which it's equal-rectangular position for 4 comers in clockwise are ( 36° 45' 22" N, 50° 22' 21.4" E), ( 36° 53' 28.7" N, 50° 22' 17.5" E ), (36° 53' 31" N, 50° 30' 22.3" E ), and ( 36° 45' 24.2" N, 50° 30' 25.4" E ) (Fig. 3.4). And the geographical position for the Polour site also is 35° 55'37.9" N and 52° 03'13.2"E (Fig. 3.3) which it's equal-rectangular position for comers in clockwise are also (35°52'12.3"N, 51° 59'47.8" E), (36° 00'19.2" N, 5r59'55.1"E), (36° 00'14.9" N, 52° 07'54.4" E), and (35°52'0.8"N, 52° 07'47.4" E) (Fig. 3.5). Actually, the Javaherdeh site is located on west Alborz and the Polour site is on central Alborz. 3.2.2. Study in vegetation kingdom zone It is long tune that the human has wished to describe the vegetation kingdom of earth basis of its vision and hypothesise. Many attempts are seen in the 60 books and articles. The most important of them are started by Martonne (1925). He recognized six main regions or groups of regions, as follows: Holarctic Region, Mediterranean Region, Desert Region of the Old World, Tropical and Intertropical Regions, Austral Temperate Regions, Antarctic Region. The best of next attempt is that of Engler (1936), which, with slight modifications, is, in outline, as follows: I. NORTHERN EXTRA-TROPICAL REALM. A. Arctic Region. B. Subarctic Region. C. Central European Region. D. Mediterranean Region (including the Macaronesian Islands). E. Central Asiatic Region. F. Eastern Asiatic Temperate Region. G. Pacific N. American Region. H. Atlantic N. American Region. IL PALAEOTROPIC REALM. A. N. Afi-ican-Indian Desert Region. (Probably in part best relegated to the Mediterranean Regions in the broad sense.) B. Afi-ican Forest and Steppe Region. C. S.W. Cape Region. D. S. Atlantic Island Region. E. Mascarene Region. F. Southern Indian Region. G. Monsoon Region. H. E. Chinese and S. Japanese Region. I. Sandwich Island Region. III. CENTRAL AND S. AMERICAN REALM. A. Central American Region. B. Tropical American Region.