چكيده لاتين :
Species diversity is one of the most important indices used for evaluating the sustainability of forest
communities. This study aims to characterize the forest communities and to identify and compare the plant species
diversity in the study area. For this purpose, 152 relevés were sampled by a randomized-systematic method, using the
Braun-Blanquet scale. Classification of the vegetation was conducted by the twinspan algorithm. Four communities,
including Querco-Carpinetum betulii, Carpineto-Fagetum Oriental, Rusco-Fagetum Oriental and Fagetum Oriental
were recognized. Species richness, Shannon, and Simpson indices were applied to quantify diversity of the different
communities. Turkey test was used to investigate the differences in the species richness, diversity and evenness indices
among the different communities. The results illustrate that Querco-Carpinetum betulii and Carpineto-Fagetum Oriental
communities are significantly more diverse than Rusco-Fagetum Oriental and Fagetum Oriental communities. The
spatial structure of the releves becomes more ‘homogenous’ and the dominance structure changes: the proportion of
beech-forest species is gradually increasing. At the same time, the number of species per unit area decreases constantly,
reaching eventually the value comparable to that recorded for hornbeam forest. Generally, species diversity is inversely
correlated with the dominance of shade tolerant climax species.
