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Stand Structure and Spatial Patterns of Trees in Mixed Hyrcanian Beech Forest, Iran

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Survival and Sustainability

Part of the book series: Environmental Earth Sciences ((EESCI))

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Abstract

The mixed beech forests (Fagus orientalis) are the most important industrial forests with the highest degree of naturalness in Hyrcanian forest, Iran. These forests commonly dominate by shade tolerance species with irregular uneven age stand structure. The aim of this study was to analyze the stand structure and spatial pattern in order to identify specific structural patterns. We investigated the stand structure and spatial pattern of trees in mixed Beech forest in the Shastkolate Educational Forest to examine the coexistence strategies of different species. Data was collected from an 16 ha permanent plot on an 400 × 400 m quadrate area that divided to 64 micro-quadrate (50 × 50 m). We mapped all stems >7.5 cm in diameter at breast height (dbh) on permanent plot. The stand contained nine woody plant species and 4,901 living stems with a combined basal area of 32.8 m2 ha−1. The density of living trees >7.5 cm dbh averaged 291.7 ha−1. The six main species were divided into two groups based on density and stand structure. Group A (F. orientalis, Carpinus betulus and Parrotia persica) had higher density than group B, as well as reverse J or L-shaped dbh distribution of live stems. Species in group B (Alnus subcordata, Acer velutinum and Diospurus lotus) had bell-shaped dbh distributions. Species in group A have clump spatial distribution pattern in all layers but clump intensity is more than in under storey layer and size of patch clump is small in this group. This phenomenon for group A may explaining by having numerous coppice, sucker and patch regeneration in the under storey layer. Middle storey and under storey stems of the six major tree species were patchily distributed throughout the plot but for Alder and Maple species common pattern in canopy layer was complete spatial randomness. The distribution of Beech and Hornbeam trees were negatively associated with other species. These results suggest species differences in favorable canopy condition. Differences in life history strategies and site preferences may explain the coexistence of these species.

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Acknowledgements

We thank numerous institutions and persons for their contribution of the study: Educational Shastkolate forest, Gorgan University. Shaban Shataii, Habib Zare, Gholamreza Daneshvar, Alireza Aliarab, Mohamad Hadi Moayeri and Mr Mirzaii.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Resources Faculty, Tarbiat Modarres University, P.O. Box 46414-356, Noor, Mazandaran, Iran

    H. Habashi

  2. Natural Resources Faculty, Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran, Iran

    S.M. Hosseini

  3. Natural Resources Faculty, Gorgan university, Gorgan, Iran

    R. Rahmani

  4. Agriculture Faculty, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran

    J. Mohammadi

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  1. H. Habashi
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  2. S.M. Hosseini
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  3. R. Rahmani
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  4. J. Mohammadi
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Correspondence to H. Habashi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Civil Engineering, Near East University, Nicosia, Mersin 10, Turkey

    Hüseyin Gökçekus

  2. Dept. Civil Engineering, Near East University, Nicosia, Mersin 10, Turkey

    Umut Türker

  3. P.E.LaMoreaux and Associates, University Blvd. 2612, Tuscaloosa, 35403, Alabama, USA

    James W. LaMoreaux

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Habashi, H., Hosseini, S., Rahmani, R., Mohammadi, J. (2010). Stand Structure and Spatial Patterns of Trees in Mixed Hyrcanian Beech Forest, Iran. In: Gökçekus, H., Türker, U., LaMoreaux, J. (eds) Survival and Sustainability. Environmental Earth Sciences. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-95991-5_11

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