Ethnobotanical study of wild edible plants in the mountainous regions of Semnan Province, Iran.

In mountainous areas, wild edible plants are an important part of the local diet. Climate change and anthropogenic activities have profound effects on wild edible plants in these areas. Ethnobotanical studies are important for understanding the use patterns and harvest impacts on these plants.

Relative contributions of taxonomic and functional diversity to the assembly of plant communities hosting endemic Dianthus species in a mountain steppe.

Plant community assembly is the outcome of long-term evolutionary events (evident as taxonomic diversity; TD) and immediate adaptive fitness (functional diversity; FD); a balance expected to shift in favour of FD in 'harsh' habitats under intense selection pressures. We compared TD and FD responses along climatic and edaphic gradients for communities of two species (Dianthus pseudocrinitus and D. polylepis) endemic to the montane steppes of the Khorassan-Kopet Dagh floristic province, NE Iran.

Does the intensive grazing and aridity change the relations between the dominant shrub and plants under its canopies?

The interspecific plant interactions along grazing and aridity stress gradients represent a major research issue in plant ecology. However, the combined effects of these two factors on plant-plant interactions have been poorly studied in the northeast of Iran. To fill this knowledge gap, 144 plots were established in 12 study sites with different grazing intensities (high vs.

Unpalatable plants induce a species-specific associational effect on neighboring communities.

In grazing conditions, unpalatable species may induce either associational defense or neighbor contrast susceptibility in neighboring communities. Using surveys from eight grasslands, we tested whether various unpalatable species have the same impacts on neighboring communities in response to grazing. The studied unpalatable species were: Phlomis cancellata (an unpalatable nonpoisonous plant), Euphorbia boissieriana, E.

Predicting range shifts of three endangered endemic plants of the Khorassan-Kopet Dagh floristic province under global change.

Endemic plants of the Khorassan-Kopet Dagh (KK) floristic province in northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, and northwestern Afghanistan are often rare and range-restricted. Because of these ranges, plants in the KK are vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Species distribution modelling (SDM) can be used to assess the vulnerability of species under climate change.

Climate change influences on the potential distribution of Dianthus polylepis Bien. ex Boiss. (Caryophyllaceae), an endemic species in the Irano-Turanian region.

Endemic and restricted-range species are considered to be particularly vulnerable to the effects of environmental change, which makes assessing likely climate change effects on geographic distributions of such species important to the development of integrated conservation strategies. Here, we determined distributional patterns for an endemic species of Dianthus (Dianthus polylepis) in the Irano-Turanian region using a maximum-entropy algorithm. In total, 70 occurrence points and 19 climatic variables were used to estimate the potential distributional area under current conditions and two future representative concentration pathway (RCP2.

Are endemic species necessarily ecological specialists? Functional variability and niche differentiation of two threatened Dianthus species in the montane steppes of northeastern Iran.

Endemic species are believed to converge on narrow ranges of traits, with rarity reflecting adaptation to specific environmental regimes. We hypothesized that endemism is characterized by limited trait variability and environmental tolerances in two Dianthus species (Dianthus pseudocrinitus and Dianthus polylepis) endemic to the montane steppes of northeastern Iran. We measured leaf functional traits and calculated Grime's competitor/stress-tolerator/ruderal (CSR) adaptive strategies for these and co-occurring species in seventy-five 25-m quadrats at 15 sites, also measuring a range of edaphic, climatic, and topographic parameters.

Effects of livestock grazing on soil, plant functional diversity, and ecological traits vary between regions with different climates in northeastern Iran.

Understanding the responses of vegetation characteristics and soil properties to grazing in different precipitation regimes is useful for the management of rangelands, especially in the arid regions. In northeastern Iran, we studied the responses of vegetation to livestock grazing in three regions with different climates: arid, semiarid, and subhumid. In each region, we selected 6-7 pairwise sampling areas of high versus low grazing intensity and six traits of the present species were recorded on 1 m plots-five grazed and five ungrazed in each area.

Plant community responses to environmentally friendly piste management in northeast Iran.

It is well-known that pistes have adverse effects on alpine ecosystems. Previous studies urged that pistes should be installed and managed in the ways to minimize negative impacts on natural habitats. However, the impacts of this type of management on the plant communities are not widely studied.