Investigation of Flora, Biological Form and Geographical Distribution of Plants in Robat Kouh Area, Bazoft County, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, Iran

Plants are among the most important units of natural ecosystem that are examined for natural resource management. Therefore, identifying the plant assemblage of each region is very important. The purpose of this study was to identify and introduce the floristic composition, biological form, species status and geographical distribution of plants in Robat Kouh area of Bazoft. According to results, 343 species, 238 genera and 63 families, including the largest families named Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, Poaceae, Brassicaceae and Leguminosae having 54, 35, 29, 23 and 22 species, were recognized, respectively. The Astragalus possessing 11 species, Centaurea with 9 species, Silene, Salvia, and Stachys with 6 species, and Allium with 5 species were the largest genera in the region. Hemicryptophytes with 51.31% had the most abundant biological forms followed by therophytes with 23.03%, cryptophytes with 13.41%, phanerophytes with 5.83%, and chasmophyte with 5.54%. In terms of geographical distribution, Iranian-Turonian elements had the highest number of species (66.18%) and other species belonged to two, three or more geographical areas. Conservation of plant elements was classified according to the principles of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), with 45 species in the low-risk class, 2 species in the vulnerable class, and 3 species in the endangered class. There was insufficient information about 6 species. Moreover, there were 45 endemic Iranian and 158 medicinal species. The results showed the importance of the plant species and the richness of the flora of the region.