Plant diversity of Hyrcanian relict forests: An annotated checklist, chorology and threat categories of endemic and near endemic vascular plant species

The combined effects of climate and canopy cover changes on understorey plants of the Hyrcanian forest biodiversity hotspot in northern Iran

“…Although thermophilous species are likely to start dominating in plots where they are absent at the time of survey (Figure S7; Table S4), generalists increase in the future, both in plots they are currently present and absent. This is in line with the expansion of a large number of invasive exotic species in these forests, which are also generalists (Akhani et al, 2010;Ghorbanalizadeh & Akhani, 2021).…”

First pollen record from the Late Holocene forest environment in the Lesser Caucasus

“…Located between the Black and Caspian Seas, the Lesser Caucasus was formed by the collision of the Arabian and Eurasian plates since the Neogene (Mitchell and Westaway, 1999;Sugden et al, 2021; Figure 1). The formation of the Lesser Caucasus offers varied and numerous topographies, climates, and landscapes (Karakhanyan et al, 2017;, conducive to floristic diversity (Volodicheva, 2002), many of these areas are classified as biodiversity hotspots (Connor and Kvavadze, 2009;Solomon et al, 2014) and today harbour relict Arcto-Tertiary vegetation (Ghorbanalizadeh and Akhani, 2022;Joannin et al, 2010). Trees are mostly confined to montane forest, an altitudinal zone embedded in lowland steppe and highland grassland.…”

Long-term vegetation dynamics along altitudinal and longitudinal gradients in the Hyrcanian forest region (northern Iran)

“…All assigned taxa were checked in the reference book of the flora of Iran (Rechinger 1963), as well as the recently reported paper of Ghorbanalizadeh and Akhani (2021) to find the taxa that are endemic or characteristic for Gilan province. Leroy and Arpe 2007;Leroy et al 2013a, b).…”