STUDYING BIODIVERSITY OF PLANT ASSOCIATIONS IN SUTAN-CHAY BASIN IN ARASBARAN, NORTHWEST OF IRAN

Investigation on plant biodiversity in associations (ecosystems) is necessary for understanding their stability. This study aimed to investigate biodiversity in the plant associations in Sutan-Chay Basin, and relationship of these associations with different biodiversity indices. The recognition of plant Associations in the study area was carried out based on Braun Blanquette method. The biodiversity of the relives comprising plant associations was calculated on the basis of different indices including richness, Shannon, Simpson, Margalef and Fisher. Canonical Corresponding Analysis (CCA) was used to study relationship between relevels distributions and indices of biodiversity, and to determine the most important biodiversity indices. The results show that the plant associations in the study area are completely differentiated from each other based on biodiversity indices. Pearson Correlations coefficient indicated the plant associations are correlated with each of ecological variables. Based on these correlation coefficients, species dominance are positively associated with soil pH and clay percentage, while negatively correlated with altitude. Studying of relationship between environmental factors and biodiversity variables and determining the most important factors on biodiversity of plant associations in a given region are essential for management of conservation programs.