In order to obtain some measurements of the original variability of the soil profiles at two shapes (concave and convex) and five positions (summit, shoulder, back slope, footslope and toeslope) of slope, a study of a virgin area was made in a Beech stand of mountain forests, northern Iran. Across the slope positions, the soil profiles demonstrate significant changes due to topography for two shape slopes. The solum depth of convex slope was higher than the concave one in all five positions and it decreases from the summit to shoulder and increases from the mid to lower slope positions for both convex and concave slopes. The thin solum at the upper positions and concave slope demonstrates that pedogenetic development is least at upper slope positions and concave slope where leaching and biomass productivity are less than at lower slopes and concave slope. A large decrease in the thickness of O and A horizon from summit to back slope was noted for both concave and convex slopes, but it increased from back slope toward down slope for both of them. The average thickness of B horizons increased from summit to down slopes in the case of concave slope, but in the case of convex slope it decreased from summit to shoulder and afterwards it increased to the down slope. The thicknesses of different horizons vary in part in different position and shape slope because they have different plant species cover and soil features which are related to topography.
Understanding the factors that determine the distribution of understory plants is important because they represent the largest component of temperate forest plant diversity. We examined the influence of topographic gradients on the distribution of understory plants in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran. Our objective was to determine how the topography of the landscape influenced the composition of understory plant species (cover, diversity, richness, and evenness). We investigated two catena landscape shapes (K and V), several different slope positions and their subsequent effects on the composition of the understory herb layer. We established 120 plots that spanned six catenas that varied in shape and slope position (i.e, summit, shoulder, back slope, foot slope and toe slope). We measured the composition of understory plant species populations and calculated diversity using several indices. We found that plant distribution and abundance was strongly related to both catena shape and slope position. Statistical analyses revealed that plant species diversity and richness varied significantly with slope position of the catena, but only diversity varied with catena shape. In addition, significant interactions were found for both diversity and richness. Neither shape nor slope position had a significant effect on evenness alone. We concluded that catena shape and slope position both influence plant distribution, abundance, and biodiversity of the herb layer in these forests by affecting both understory light intensity and soil factors. Our results suggest that the herb layer on K-shaped catenas and V-shaped landforms were mostly controlled by topography and soil features, respectively.
Abstract. Mohammadi MF, Najafi A, Ahmadlo F. 2015. Using the Analytical Network Process (ANP) based on BOCR Model to select the most suitable region for forestation with almond species. Nusantara Bioscience 7: 118-127. Forestation is the answer not only to the growing demand for timber and wood fiber, but also to the problem of deforestation. Forests in arid and semi arid regions are in the specific conditions because of being in short of water and soil nutrition. Therefore, protection and rehabilitation of these forests is of very importance due to its environmental condition as well as selecting suitable species for forestation. Considering all aspects of forestation in an effort to improve forest practices requires an approach that addresses multiple criteria and incorporates a wide range of data. After that, the approach should provide a framework to evaluate both quantitative and qualitative criteria. In this study, the Analytical Network Process (ANP) is utilized to evaluate four existing site for forestation with Almond (Amygdalus scoparia) in Markazi province, central of Iran. The ANP framework helps forest managers to prioritizing all the alternatives and criteria with respect to each other and developing their corresponding preferences. This study is an analysis of the environmental, social-economic, and sustainability-genetic diversion context of forestation with the goal of making forest practices more sustainable. The results indicate that Risk and Cost priorities are more important in making decision (0.53, 0.47), compared to Benefits and Opportunities (0.29, 0.25). The final synthesis of the system shows that Sarabadan (B site) is the best choice among four potential regions which were evaluated for forest plantation based on judgment's comparisons.
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