Effect of forest management on density and species diversity of natural regeneration in Hyrcanian lowland forests, North of Iran

Abstract: The long term health and economic viability of forest ecosystems is dependent on sufficient tree regeneration. In this research effect of three different forest management methods (protected, selectively logged and open access forests) on density and species diversity of natural regeneration were studied in the hyrcanian lowland forests. The results showed density of natural regeneration in the protected, selectively logged and open access forests were 831, 597 and 109 stem per hectare. The Shannon-Wiener diversity index (Hʹ) was the highest in the fully protected forest (1.37) and was the lowest in the open access forest (0.91). But evenness value was highest in the selectively logged forest. The number of regeneration species in the protected, selectively logged and open access forests was 17, 12 and 11 species. The ratio of number of large sapling to number of seedling in fully protected, selectively logged and open access forests were 0.79, 0.36 and 0.10 respectively.