نشریه تاکسونومی و بیوسیستماتیک
سال چهاردهم شماره 4 (پیاپی 53، زمستان 1401)

In the present study, interspecific morphological diversity and sexual dimorphism of Iranocichla spp. and their distinctness were investigated using the geometric morphometrics method in the water bodies of the Hormozgan Province, Iran. In this regard, 286 specimens of Iranian cichlids were collected from the Mehran, Rasoul, Shoor, and Khoor-e-Goor hot stream and transported to the laboratory. The geometric shapes of the fish were digitized using 17 landmark points and the data were analyzed after removing non-shape data. According to the results, the fishes of Mehran River showed deeper caudal peduncle, higher caudal-fine base, and longer body expressing their adaptation to lentic conditions. Fishes living in pool environments in Khoor-e-Goor have a shorter snout and deeper body showing adaptive phenotypic plasticity to lotic conditions. On the other hand, the fishes of Rasoul and Shoor rivers revealed common traits with other groups showing some morphological adaptations to lotic conditions during rainfall seasons and lentic conditions in dray seasons with rigid selective pressures. Sexual dimorphism of Khoor-e-Goor and Rasoul taxa in head traits may be related to mouth-breeding function in females that need a bigger buccal cavity. Finally, the observed differences between the studied groups can be related to ongoing adaptive phenotypic plasticity to the selective environmental pressures.

In the present study, the flora of Tange-Khoshk Forest Reserve of Semirom in Isfahan with two zones, the core zone (under protection) and the buffer zone, was investigated to introduce the floristic composition, life forms, and geographical distribution, and understand the effects of exclosure on the vegetation structure. In this region, a total of 194 species belonging to 45 genera of plants were identified, of which Asteraceae, Fabaceae, and Poaceae were the most abundant in terms of the number of species. In terms of life forms, hemicryptophytes were dominant in both core and buffer zones. The study of the geographical distribution of the species showed that in both core and buffer zones, most species belonged to the Irano-Turanian vegetation area. This research showed that the exclosure of the Tange-Khoshk forest reserve had increased the diversity of vegetation, especially the presence of various tree species in the core zone.

This study aimed to investigate the flora, life form, Chorology, and exclusive plants and their conservation class of plants in Garin Mountains Delfan County, Lorestan province. First, the plant samples observed in the area during the growing season were collected, and based on the common methods of plant taxonomy, the family, genus, and species of each of them were determined. Then, based on the classification of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Red Data Book of Iran, the Conservation classes of plants in the region were investigated. The results of this research indicated 212 species belonging to 150 genera and 46 families. The results showed that the largest families in terms of the number of species are Asteraceae with 34 species (16.04%), Lamiaceae with 30 species (14.15%), Poaceae with 29 species (13.68%), Brassicaceae with 22 species (10.38%), Fabaceae with 19 species (8.96%), and Apiaceae with 10 species (4.72%). The life forms of the plants in the region, which were determined based on Raunkiaer’s classification, include hemicryptophytes (42.92%), therophytes (35.85%), geophytes (10.85%), phanerophytes (5.66%), and chamaephytes (4.72%). In terms of geographical distribution, 51% of the species were from Iran-Turani elements. By reviewing Iran's rare exclusive species in the region, two types of conservation classes were identified for them, which include the Lower Risk (LR) with 14 species and Endangered (En) with one species.

Considering the significant damage caused by thrips species to the bean crops, population fluctuation, species diversity, and spatial distribution thrips’ relationship to the growth stages of red bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) was investigated in the bean farms of Selseleh county (Lorestan province, west of Iran). Sampling was done at the same time as the bean became two leaves until the leaves dried in two farms located in the villages of Cham-Takleh and Dartang during the year 2021. The sampling was done in the farms by moving in a W-shape. In each sampling, 20 leaves were selected and then the thrips were collected by shaking the leaves on a white tray. In this study, 12 species of thrips were collected and identified. Amongst them, the highest frequency was related to onion thrips, Thrips tabaci Lindeman (69.43%). The results of population fluctuation showed that in Cham-Takleh, the highest density of onion thrips and flower thrips was 166.35 ± 4.99 and 16.85 ± 1.38, respectively, and in Dartang, the highest density was 159.3 ± 3.61 and 22.6 ± 1.32 on average. Also, in both locations, the highest values of biodiversity indices were observed in the reproductive stage of the bean. The highest values of Shannon-Wiener, Simpson, Pielou evenness, and Margalef richness indices in Cham-Takleh were 2.94, 0.93, 0.95, and 2.98, and in Dartang were 2.89, 0.91, 0.94, and 2.74, respectively. In general, the results of this study showed that the population peak of onion and flower thrips was observed in the reproductive and development of pod stages of beans, and their density gradually decreased in the farms. Considering that at this stage of the bean, thrips can cause a lot of damage to the bean crops, so appropriate management measures can be provided for the farmers.

Tamarix species are tolerant to adverse environmental conditions and have significant distribution in dry and salty areas. Tamarix ramosissima is the most widely distributed species among Tamarix in Isfahan province and is mostly located in dry and desert areas. Due to the high morphological diversity of this species and the lack of population differentiation and in order to investigate the diversity in the populations of this species, 55 populations from 15 cities of Isfahan province were identified and one individual was sampled from each population. After extracting their genome, 10 CDDP marker primers were used to investigate the genetic diversity of the populations of this plant. NTSYS-pc, GenAlex and PowerMarker software were used for data analysis. The results showed 102 bands (80.168%) were polymorphic among the production of 124 bands. On average, each primer created an 7.85% polymorphic band. WRKY-F1 primer identified more gene locations than other primers by producing 16 bands. The average polymorphic information content (PIC) was calculated as 0.308. The indicator index for each primer was 3.865 on average. Molecular analysis of variance showed that intra-population variation was higher than inter-population variation. Cluster analysis and PCoA indicated the existence of two separate populations and three subpopulations among them. In general, the effectiveness of the CDDP marker in differentiating the populations of Tamarix ramosissima and the high genetic diversity within the populations, which is a valuable trait for breeding purposes, were confirmed.

The honey bee is one of the most important and economic species of insects due to its important role in the pollination of agricultural and non-agricultural plants and the products it produces directly. The western honey bee Apis mellifera, which is now considered a cosmopolitan species due to its widespread distribution by humans, originated in Africa, Europe, and West Asia. In order to evaluate the diversity of this bee in parts of the northwest of the country, worker bees were collected from 6 study stations in West Azerbaijan and East Azerbaijan provinces and evaluated using the geometric morphometric method. Changes in the size and shape of the forewing and hindwings were investigated using 16 homologous landmarks at the bifurcation of the wings. In terms of the size of the fore and hindwings, the Chahar Borj population of West Azerbaijan had the largest and the Malekan population of East Azerbaijan had the smallest fore and hindwings, and populations of all the study stations of East Azerbaijan had significant differences with West Azerbaijan. In terms of the shape of the forewing, all pairwise compared populations except for the population of Sahand mountain and Kordeh Deh village had significant differences, but in the hindwing, this difference was seen only in three pairwise comparisons. In addition, the regression analysis showed that, unlike the hindwing, changes in the wing size and wing shape in the forewing are dependent on each other, and allometry is also seen. This study showed that despite the proximity of the study stations to each other, diversity is observed in the bee populations.