فهرست مطالب احمد علیجان پور

Silviculture is considered one of the most important activities of forestry and includes all issues related to training and improvement of forest stands. The main goal and purpose of forest treatment is to strengthen and improvement of the quantitative and qualitative of forest stand and to keep it in health condition during the long life of forest. Different cuts in the forest as forestry tools play an important role in guiding the forest stand towards the desired goals. These cuttings are done to improve forest stands and to achieve the development and sustainability of forest ecosystems. Investigation the importance and impact of these cuts in the target forests of the region is vital for forest management. This research conducted with the aim to compare the quantity and quality of mature forest stands and the regeneration of improvement cutting stand (improvement cutting operation for 14 years) and the control stand (adjacent to the improvement cutting stand) in Makidi area of Kalibar city.

Makidi region located in the protected part of Arsbaran forests and in the southwest of Kalibar city. The altitude of this area is 1400-1500 meters above sea level and it is located in the western part of the middle Kliberchay river watershed. Both of the treatment areas were similar in terms of physiographic and ecological conditions and differed only in terms of the type of treatments. A total of 5% of the trees in the improvement cutting stand were harvested during the 14 years. In this operation, the trees that were weak or diseased in terms of their appearance, or the trunks of the trees that were attached to the elite trees or that had crown and root disturbances removed. The total surface area under study is 40 hectares, of which 20 hectares considered for each of the treatments. Using a 50x50 meter grid, 33 circular sample plots of 300 square meters were implemented in the control area (three sample plots located inside the uncovered area) 36 sample plots established in the improvement cutting area. Also, the regeneration of woody species in both stands investigated in circular sample plots with dimensions of 100 square meters centered on the main sample plot.

The results showed that the average d.b.h of the trees was 11.35 and 10.98 cm, the average crown diameter was 2.48 meters and 2.11 meters in the improvement cutting stand and control stand, respectively. The average height of the trees in the improvement cutting stand was 9.22 meters and, in the control, stand was 9.61 meters, and the difference between the two stands was not statistically significant. Regarding the number of trees per hectare in both stands, the highest number recorded in the 10 cm diameter class, and in the higher diameter classes, the number of trees decreases. The results show that the stand is immature and fewer trees are in higher diameters. Observing the state of the two stands shows the youth of these stands, and considering that they are at the age of growth, they are high in number per hectare, and the competition between the stands to obtain soil nutrients and light is high and the demand for more treatment interventions can be felt. The height-to-diameter ratio of two improvement cutting stand and control stands shows that the average height-to-diameter ratio in the control stand is higher than in the improvement cutting stand, which indicates the improvement of the ratio due to cutting operations and the better stability of the stands after improvement cutting operations. Among the most important trees and shrubs observed in the study area, species such as Quercus petraea, Quercus macranthera, Acer compestre, Carpinus betelus, Cerassus avium were recorded. The results show that in terms of species composition, Quercus petraea was 56% and cypress species 0.31% more than the control population in the improvement cutting stand. The percentage of trees with a healthy crown is 93.4% and 93.9% and the upright trunk angle is 68.7% and 43.5% in the improvement cutting stand and control stands, respectively. Examining the tendency of the trees shows that trees in the improvement cutting stand has a more favorable position than the control stand, However, the control stand also have a favorable condition. The stand origin observed in the study area is seedling. The correlation between the diameter and height of trees in both the improvement cutting stand and control stands shows a significant exponential relationship, and the coefficient of determination for the improvement cutting stand is better than the control stand. In terms of the frequency of regeneration, the control stand has a more suitable state of regeneration compared to the improvement cutting stand, and the highest number of regenerations observed in the 5 to 7.5 cm diameter classes, followed by the 2.5 to 5 cm and 0 to 2.5 cm diameter classes.

The summary of the obtained results shows that these stands need more intervention and subsequent cuttings to increase the amount of light and nutrient to the remaining trees which causes more diameter growth increment. It is recommended that these studies be repeated every five years to understand better the impact of this operation.

The variations in the number of six parameters of the landscape metrics in Arasbaran forests were explored in this study. Landsat 8 images from August 2015 were utilized for this purpose. For both protected and non-protected regions, forest and non-forest land use maps (kappa coefficient 0.9) were created, and necessary values were estimated using this map. According to the results, forest covers 34.98% of the protected area and 48.33% of the non-protected area, based on the index of the ratio of the area of the forest class to the surface of the land. In terms of the index of the larger patch of forest class, it was discovered that the largest patch of forest covers 22.0207% of the land in the protected region, while 41.3870% of the area in the unprotected area. In addition, the value of the index of the average area of a patch of the forest class in the non-protected area (8.4947 hectares) is more than twice that of the protected area (18.2241 hectares), and the value of both indicators patch density and edge density in the protected area is higher than in the non-protected area. According to the findings, the presence of processes of forest surface fragmentation is more visible in the protected area than in the non-protected region.

Various measures are considered to stabilize the erodible beds such as planting. Environmental variables in the canopy cover of plants, including soil temperature and moisture, are readily indicators of planting projects success evaluation. Therefore, this study was planned to evaluate the success of Tamarix (Tamarix ramosissima Ledeb.) plantation in modulating modifying soil temperature and moisture indices in the dried-up beds of Lake Urmia. To this endFor this purpose, 15 stands of seven-year-old Tamarix shrubs were randomly systematically selected and their heights and canopy area were measured. Additionally, in four cardinal directions, the top-soil temperature and humidity were also measured in the inside and outside of the under of canopy zones (120 points in total) following the prevailing erosive winds. Afterward, tThe results were then statistically analyzed. Two-way analysis of variance showed significant differences (p<0.01) for soil temperature and humidity among the sampling points (inside and outside of the microclimate zones) and significant differences (p<0.01) for soil temperature among the cardinal directions of sampling. The mean temperature and moisture content of the soil surface in the inside and outside of the Tamarix shrubs canopy were 23.77 and 34.78 °C, and 2.95 and 1.82%, respectively. So that, a significant decrease (p<0.01; 45%) in the soil temperature and a significant increase (p<0.01; 62%) in the soil moisture content were recorded in the inside of the canopy zones in comparison to the outside zones. The findings showed that the selection of Tamarix shrubs with larger canopy and planting with higher density should be considered to improve the environmental conditions in erosion-prone deserts management programs.

The aim of this research is to evaluate the characteristics of wild-type genotypes of Hackberry (Celtis australis) in the East Azerbaijan province in order to use in breeding programs. In this research, 22 genotypes were collected and physical characteristics of fruit, seed and leaf were examined. The results showed that the length of fruit varies between 8.29 to 10.01 mm and the largest fruit is related to the C10 genotype. According to the results of factor analysis, the six main factors were explained more than 88.3% of the total variance. In the cluster analysis based on ward method, genotypes were divided into three main groups. The first group consisted of 11 genotypes (C1, C11, C4, C9, C8, C15, C19, C21, C2, C10, C16) with the highest mean of fruit length, fruit width, seed width, fruit weight, sphericity, geometric mean diameter and hue index. In the second group, 6 genotypes (C3, C5, C14, C20, C22, C17) were located with the highest mean seed length, petiole length, seed weight, a* and chroma. The third group included 5 genotypes (C6, C7, C18, C12, C13), which the leaf length, leaf width, and surface area had the highest effect in separation of genotypes in this group. As a result, the obtained results of present study can be useful for breeding programs and introduction of cultivar in Celtis australis.

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of single-tree selection method on some quantitative and qualitative characteristics of Shafarood forest ecosystems and compare these indicators with control forest area in that area. Data collection was performed from four series (5, 8, 17 and 18) in four elevations of less than 600, 600 to 1000, 1000 to 1500 and more than 1500 meters. In each series, one managed parcel and one control parcel were selected and, in each parcel, 15 sample plots with an area of ​​1000 m2 were conducted. Five samples from each parcel were randomly selected and soil samples were taken. The results showed that the mean of both indices of diameter at breast height and basal area in the control area (32.11 cm, 1158.05 cm2) was higher than the managed area (25.93 cm, 724.94 cm2) and the density of trees in the management area (391/66) is more than the control area (317/50). Also, the average diameter at breast height in the altitude above 1500 is higher than the lower classes. It was observed that forest management by single selection method did not have a significant effect on any of the studied soil indices but elevation factor has a significant effect on all soil characteristics. The present study showed that conducting single-tree selection method improved quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the forest stands.

Knowing the habitat conditions of forest species is one of the primary principles for understanding forest ecosystems. This research aims to study the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of wild cherry (Cerasus avium L.) in ‎different aspects and elevations, and determine the most important ecological factors affecting ‎these characteristics. The study area is Kalibar Chay and Ilgenhe Chai of Arasbaran forests in ‎Kalibar county. According to the physiographic conditions of these regions in two elevation classes, ‎‎1000-1500 and 1500-2000 m.a.s.l., and in three main geographical aspects (north, east and west), 30 ‎circle sample plots with 500 m2 were selected in wild cherry habitats. Characteristics of wild cherry such ‎as physiographic features, diameter at breast height (DBH), origin, trunk quality and canopy diameter with a diameter ‎of more than 6 cm were recorded in each sample plot. Also, soil samples were taken ‎to determine some soil properties. Results showed that the DBH of trees in the altitude range of ‎‎1000-1500 m.a.s.l. is significantly higher than the altitude range of 1500-2000 ‎m.a.s.l. It can be concluded ‎that wild cherry stems have higher growth potential in terms of elevation class at low altitudes ‎and in terms of soil conditions in deep soils and high drainage with medium moisture retention ‎capacity. It was also found that the mean of both DBH and crown diameter and the density of wild cherry in the northern ‎and eastern aspects are higher than in the western aspect. Generally, wild cherry in this region prefers the northern and eastern slopes.‎Analysis of Relevance and Redundancy (RDA), Arasbaran, elevation, geographical aspect.

Woody rangelands are a combination of tree plants in the upper stratum and herbaceous plants in the sub-stratum, both of which are interconnected. Upper stratum coatings have different effects on subterranean plants. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of tree cover crown on the diversity of subspecies in the Nejdarre reserve. For this purpose, three tree species, Acer monspessulanum, Pistacia atlantica and Crataegus azarollus were selected, which have relative importance in the herbaceous composition of the upper stratum. Using one-square-meter plots, the percentage of vegetation covered under trees and rangeland open space between trees (micro sites) was recorded. Species diversity indices were then calculated for each of them. Data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA and Duncan tests. According to the results, open tree-free micro-sites have higher species diversity compared to tree-lined micro-sites. In addition, the north and south directions of the slopes were not significantly different in terms of species diversity. P. atlantica had allelopathic and depressive effects compared to other species and C. azarollus increased the diversity indices in some cases. The results of regression analysis between species diversity indices under morphological cover and morphological characteristics of trees showed that with increasing trees height and decreasing their shading diametre, the under-species diversity increased significantly. Therefore, in order to increase the diversity of under-species species, tree management should be carried out to increase height of tree. In breeding projects, measures should be taken to increase the species without allopathy in the tree plant community.

Among different methods for classification, clustering is commonly used methods. Flexible-Beta clustering is successful hierarchical agglomerative clustering which is employed by ecologists as effective clustering method. The aim of the research was to detect the suitable value of beta for flexible-clustering methods. For this purpose, two different forest regions from Hyrcanian and Zagros Oak regions were selected. The clustering algorithms included Flexible-beta algorithms with five value of beta (-0.1, -0.25-, -0.4, -0.6 and -0.8). Five evaluators (Silhouette, MRPP, PARATNA, Phi coefficient) were employed on each cluster solution to evaluate different clustering algorithms. Algorithms were ranked from best to worst on each clustering evaluator for each data set. The results showed that Flexible-beta clustering with beta value -0.1 had best performance and Flexible-beta clustering with beta value -0.25 and -0.4 were proper performance in Hyrcanian regions. Flexible-beta clustering with beta value -0.25 was superior to others and Flexible-beta clustering with beta value -0.1 had the second rank. Since, choosing the most suitable clustering method is critical for achieving maximally ecological interpretable results, therefore, we suggested using flexible beta clustering with beta value equal to -0.1 and -0.25 in the studies area.

Clustering task is optimized and summarized high dimensional vegetation datasets that indicator of environmental change and gathering to interpreting pattern form ecosystem. Variety clustering methods is available and the issue is chosen proper methods. The aim of the research was compared two non-hierarchical clustering as K-means and K-medoids in forest ecosystems. For this purpose, two real datasets from Hyrcanian and Zagros forests of Iran and six simulated datasets were applied. The Hellinger transformation was employed before calculating dissimilarity matrices. Euclidean distance, Manhattan distance and Bray-Curtis dissimilarity indices were then calculated on the transformed data sets. And three evaluators including silhouette width, phi coefficient and ISAMIC were chosen. The results show that combination of Bray-Curtis dissimilarity matrices and K-means and K-medoids have first and second ranks among other clustering methods. K-means clustering is more effective in heterogenous dataset as Zagros and simulated datasets. The weakest clustering algorithm was combination between Manhattan distance and K-medoids. Also results show that Hellinger data transformation cause to improve Euclidean distance matrix. Our results indicated that combination of Bray-Curtis dissimilarity with K-means is more significant and recommended.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between geographical and morphological changes on the production of phytochemical compounds in sumac (Rhus coriaria L.) using canonical correlation analysis. Canonical correlation analysis between four environmental variables (height above sea level, slope percentage, latitude, longitude) and 9 morphological traits (collar diameter, number of sprouts, stock height, great crown diameter, small crown diameter, leaf length, leaf width, leaflet length, leaflet width) with phytochemical components was investigated. Samples were collected from five geographical locations in the two provinces of East Azarbayjan and West Azarbayjan. Canonical correlation analysis showed that the samples from higher longitude (numerically higher values) and lands with high slope and low latitude (numerically lower values) had high levels of Ellagic acid 11.49. Results revealed that samples with high leaflet length and low leaf length had high levels of Mallic acid. With increasing leaflet length and great crown diameter, significant decrease in level of Quercetin and Mallic acid hexocide 6.11 was observed.

Land use changes and its patterns in spatial and temporal scales occur in a non-linear way. Therefore ‎to predict the potential and negative effects of these changes on forest ecosystem services in feature, ‎nonlinear tools such as Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are needed. In this study for forecasting ‎deforestation and recovery of Sardasht forests for 10, 20 and 30 years later, Land Transformation ‎Model (LTM) based on ANNs and GIS was used. For this purpose three different scenarios including ‎time periods of 1997-2007, 1997-2017 and 2007-2017 were used, and deforestation and forest ‎recovery of Sardasht using 14 variables for 2027, 2037 and 2047 were predicted. Results showed that ‎over 20-year studied time period (1997 to 2017) despite 2372.57 ha recovery of Sardasht forests, ‎‎10314.63 ha deforestation occurred. Deforestation and forest recovery modeling by all three ‎scenarios with good Receiver Operating Characteristic curve (or ROC curve) (more than 0.8) for all ‎scenarios, show a definite and increasing deforestation process in Sardasht over the next three ‎decades, so based on the 1997-2007 scenario, it is anticipated that 22296.24 ha of forests in the ‎region will be destroyed over the next 30 years. Also, spatial overlapping of models for forecasting ‎deforestation during the same period showed that 7.47% of Sardasht forests in identical locations, ‎have a high potential for deforestation and conversion to other land uses. The results of this research ‎can be used for proper conservation planning and increasing regulatory programs in areas with high ‎degradation potential.‎

Pistachia atlantica has inimitable stability and tolerance to unsuitable natural conditions. The study ‎aimed to investigate the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of P.atlantica stands in ‎altitude classes and to estimate the amount of fruit production in the studied stands. In this study, in ‎three altitude classes of Sardasht forests (less than 1400 m, 1000 -1400 m, and more than 1400 m), the ‎traditional utilization area of six villages was selected and in the forest stands of the mentioned villages, ‎‎27 transects of unequal length were randomly established. In the transects, characteristics such as ‎species type, tree height, d.b.h, small and large crown diameter, origin, health status, and distance ‎between trees were measured. Also, the amount of fruit of 89 individuals in different diameter classes ‎was measured. The results showed that in the studied stands, Pistachia atlantica accounted for 11.1% of ‎the mixture, and the average d.b.h and the height of trees were the highest in the elevation class less ‎than 1000 m and 1400-1000 m, respectively. The highest seed-originated tress percentage of Pistachia ‎atlantica individuals was observed in the altitude class of 1400-1000 m and the highest percentage of ‎healthy trees was observed in the altitude class of more than 1400 m. The two characteristics of height ‎and average diameter of the crown show a positive correlation with the amount of fruit produced in ‎each individual. This study showed that with increasing altitude, the abundance of Pistachia ‎atlantica reduced and the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of trees show significant changes.‎

This research was conducted to study the effect of implementation forest protected plan on quantitative and qualitative characteristics, extension of Loranthus europaeus and regeneration in Salas-babajani’s Forest stands. For this purpose, in the protected and unprotected region, 40 hectares area with similar physiography and floristic condition in a range of 1250 to 1550 meters above sea level, were selected. 40 circular sample plots with 1200 m2 area in a 100*100-meter inventory grid was established in each of them. In each sample plot, the general specification of the location of the sample plot such as slope, altitude, aspect, species type, quantitative characteristics of tree (diameter at breast height, small and large diameter of the crown) measured. Independent t-test and chi-square test were used to compare quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. According to the results of this study, Quercus brantii and Crataegus sp. had the highest and lowest percentage of mixing in the forest stands of the study area, respectively. The mean of crown diameter, the percentage of healthy trees, average sprout number and the average number of Loranthus europaeus in the polluted trees in protected area were higher than unprotected area. The results of this research indicated that the forest conservation-based management has positive effect on quantitative and qualitative characteristics in protected forests and emphasized the necessity of conservation, regeneration and development of these forests.

Nowadays, the application of clustering methods is widely increased, although choosing the right method due to the existence of different method and effective factors is difficult. The present study aimed to compare the results of widely used clustering algorithms and to determine the most effective methods according to the different evaluators and evaluate the effective distance measurement method for clustering algorithms. The data of Hyrcanian beech forests were examined in an area protected by the department of natural resources of Nowshahr. Random-systematic sampling method with regular grid of 100×200 m was used for determining the center of sample plots; 100-m2 (10×10 m) sample plots had been used to check the shrub species and 400-m2 (20×20 m) to check the herbaceous species. A total of 120 sample plots were measured. The abundance and coverage of tree, shrub and herbaceous species were estimated based on Braun-Blanquette scale. Three distance methods of measuring distance Bray Curtis, Hellinger and Manhattan were used and five clustering methods (Average method clustering methods, Ward method, flexible beta method with beta values ​​of -0.1, -0.25, -0.4) with six evaluation indicators (silhouette evaluation criterion, PARATNA criterion, Indval criterion, ISAMIC criterion, MRPP criterion and Phi correlation coefficient) were examined. Different clustering algorithms were arranged from best to worst for each dataset. The comparison analysis revealed that Ward’s and flexible-beta with beta value of -0.1 had the best performance. The present findings illustrated that Hellinger distance measurement method is better in homogeneous data than other distance measurement methods.

The Arasbaran vegetation community is an important source of biodiversity and one of the biosphere reserves in the northwest of Iran, which is influenced by different climates and special importance due to variations in altitude. Since an altitude is an environmental characteristic that affects the habitat of plant species, this study aimed to investigate the ecological role of altitude on the quantitative characteristics of caucasian oak trees (Q. macranthera Fisch. & C.A.Mey. ex Hohen.) and determine the best range for the natural growth of this species in Arasbaran forests. Three oak stands were selected in three altitude ranges including low (1200-1400 m a.s.l.), middle (1400-1600 m a.s.l.) and high (1600-1800 m a.s.l.) altitude. At each altitude, three plots were sampled with one-hectare area, and the quantitative characteristics of all trees, including diameter at breast height, basal area and trees canopy diameter were measured. Normality of data was verified by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, and the comparison of the mean of the characteristics was done using one-way ANOVA at a probability level of 0.05 and Duncanchr('39')s test. The results showed that there was a significant difference in diameter of the trees, the height of the trees and basal area per hectare among the three altitudes, but density per hectare had a significant difference between the first and second altitudes.  In addition, the canopy coverage had no significant difference among the three altitude ranges. The middle altitude was more favorable condition stand in terms of its quantitative characteristics. Therefore, the results of this study indicated that the middle altitude (1400-1600 m a.s.l.) is a more suitable habitat for caucasian oak species in Arasbaran forests, and doing more protection of the stands in this altitude can be created a seed bank for the production of high quality seedlings and forest plantations in the region.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the vegetative and soil characteristics of ‎natural and ‎plantation stands of Nitraria schoberi on the ‎western shore of Lake Urmia. In this study ‎in ‎natural stands of N. schoberi (Jabal Kandi region) 40 plants and in plantation stands of ‎N. ‎schoberi (Jabal Kandi and Seporghan regions) seven transects with unequal lengths (containing ‎‎15 ‎individuals) were randomly selected along the planting rows. The characteristics of total height, ‎collar ‎diameter, large and small diameter of the crown, and the health of seedlings were then measured. ‎In natural stands of N. schoberi, seven soil samples were randomly taken from ‎‎the vicinity of the seedlings. In plantations stands with sampling in each transect, adjacent to the ‎‎first, eighth (middle), and last seedlings of each sample line, soil samples were taken from 0-20 cm ‎‎depth, and after mixing these three soil samples, a sample was prepared, and soil physicochemical ‎‎properties were examined in the laboratory. Results showed that there was a significant difference ‎between the vegetative characteristics of total height (m) and the average crown diameter (cm) of N. ‎schoberi seedlings in Jabalkandi natural stand (7.1±3.0 m and 463.20±0.91 cm) with two other ‎plantation ‎stands, Jabalkandi (99.03±0.0 m and 287.5±87.37 cm) and Seporghan (50.01±0.0 m and ‎‎90.4±50.31 cm). Plantation ‎ and natural habitats of N. schoberi in Jabalkandi region had poor soil ‎fertility, high pH and lighter soil. The results of this study showed that in planting N. schoberi ‎species to control the wind erosion, it is very important to pay attention to the physical and chemical ‎properties of the stand soil, and this species reacts negatively to heavy texture and high amounts of ‎clay.

The forest structure and stand composition are controlled by several physiographic factors, because these factors play an important role in control the physical and chemical conditions of the environment, including access to light, soil moisture, and nutrients. In this study, the physiographic characteristics indices of the study area including landform index, terrain shape index and aspect slope index and the stand structural characteristics including density, basal area, canopy coverage, and the species important value index using the Detrended Correspondence Analysis and Redundancy Analysis studied in Arasbaran forests. The results showed that the highest altitude range (1600 to 1850 m a.s.l) had the highest amount of physiographic indices value. The Redundancy Analysis showed that the LI index had a positive correlation with the first axis and TSI and AS indices had a negative relationship with it. In addition, Caucasian oak was the most important species in terms of importance value index. Detrended Correspondence Analysis between species and sampling units showed that Caucasian oak had the smallest distance with sample units and followed by hornbeam. Correlation analysis of structural characteristics and physiographic factors showed that stand density had no significant relation with physiographic factors (p≤0.05), but the correlation of the canopy coverage area with the direction of slop in the first and second altitude ranges and basal area with the landform shape in the third altitude was significant (p≤0.05). This study showed that the trees structural distribution in the study area affected by the physiographic properties. Therefore, it suggested that the effect of other environmental factors to be investigated such as soil and climate on the forest structure.

This research was carried out with the aim of optimizing in vitro proliferation of J. foetidissima under various proliferations and rooting treatments. For this purpose, the plant samples were collected of healthy and young annual branches of this species without symptoms of disease and deficiency from Arasbaran forests. This experiment was conducted as a factorial experiment in a completely randomized design and data were analyzed using two-way GLM. In order to test micro propagation, well established explants were treated with BAP, KIN and TDZ growth regulators at 4 levels (0, 1, 3, 5 mg / l) individually or in combination with IAA at three levels (0, 0.1 and 0.5 mg / l). Various parameters such as survival percentages, regeneration percentage, number of shoots and shoot length were considered. Also in order to survey rooting in J. foetidissima, shoots over 1 cm height were cultured in OM, MS, DKW, WPM, 1/2 MS and 1/4 MS media containing IBA (0.5 mg/l) and rooting percentage was recorded. Results revealed that, there was a significant difference at 5% level between different experimental treatments. In BAP and IAA experiments, the highest shoot proliferation (3.82, 2.78 and 1.67 shoots per explant) were obtained in MS medium supplemented with BAP (1 mg/l) and IAA (0.1 mg/l), KIN (3 mg/l) and TDZ (3 mg/l) respectively.

The aim of this study was to investigate morphological diversity and canonical correlation analysis between four environmental variables (altitude, slope, latitude, longitude) and 10 plant characteristics (collar diameter, number of sprouts, diameter at breast height, main stem height, large crown diameter, small crown diameter, leaf length, leaf width, leaflet length) in sumac (Rhus coriaria L.). Plant samples were selected from five geographical locations with unique features in two provinces of East and West Azarbaijan. According to the results of descriptive statistics, the highest coefficients of variations were observed for diameter at breast height (61%), number of sprouts (52%), collar diameter (40%) and the lowest one was observed for leaf width (21%). The highest sprout was found in the plants sampled from Nizhdarreh that can be due to its bad growth conditions. Canonical correlation analysis revealed that with increasing the amounts of latitude and reducing the amounts of slope and longitude, the length of leaves increases.

Riparian forests in terms of plant communities, soil, topography and hydrological features are distinct from their adjacent areas. The aim of this research is to study some structural characteristics of Aras River riparian stand forests in Pars Abad Moghan region. For this purpose, 20 line samples (transect) with variable length perpendicular to the main axis of the Aras River within 200 meters interval, and to study regeneration on each line samples circular plots of 100 square meters at 50-meter intervals were established. In each transect, these characteristics for the trees that trunk or crown of them cut the sample line were measured: species type, trees distance from each other, diameter at breast height or DBH, crown diameter, origin (coppice or seedling), trees health, crown symmetry, tree tendency, buttress root presence and number of sprout. Also, regeneration of woody species were recorded in the relevant classes. Results showed that Populus caspica Bornm played the most important role in terms of abundance (i.e. 70.9%) in forest composition in the area. On the other hand, other species (Salix, Morus and Ficus) with 4.2%, had the lowest percentage of composition. DBH, height and crown percentage of trees have had significant changes in relation to the distance from the river. Also, there was a positive and significant correlation between distance from the river and crown percentage, seedling percentage and number of sprout. This study showed that riparian forests of Aras in Parsabad can be considered as uneven aged and irregular age.

According to important ecological roles of soil organic matter in stabilizing ecosystems, it is essential to consider soil organic carbon condition for managements of worldwide problems such as soil quality, carbon cycle and climate change. Also, organic matter is one of the main component of soil which have vital impress on its evolution. Therefore, assessing soil organic matter fate in various environmental conditions and its relation with environmental factors will be useful for management decisions. Determining soil organic carbon content, stocks and forms by the physico-chemical and micromorphological studies may respond to the question about soil organic matter evolution from the different point of views. Based on mentioned reasons, our research work focused on soil organic matter content, stocks and forms under various environmental condition of the forest ecosystem to find new aspects of its relation with environmental factors.

This research work was carried out in Arasbaran forest, northwest of Iran, which recognized as a part of the international network of biosphere reserves and has unique species of plants with special ecological properties. Sampling was carried out in a Kaleybar Chai Sofla sub-basin as a part of Arasbaran forest with eastern longitude of 46º 39´ to 46º 52´ and northern latitude of 38º 52´ to 39º 04´. Based on the Amberje climate classification, the climate of the region is semi-humid and moderate. The soil moisture and temperature regimes are Xeric and Mesic, respectively. Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) and Oak (Quercus petraea and Quercus macranthera) were identified as the main woody species in this area and volcano-sedimentary rocks were the geological structure. Primary site surveying showed 5 forest stand types such as Oak (Quercus macranthera), Hornbeam-Oak (Carpinus betulus-Quercus macranthera), Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus), Hornbeam-Oak (Carpinus betulus-Quercus petraea), Oak (Quercus petraea) along altitudinal transects, that used as environmental parts with different conditions. In each environmental part, a soil profile was described and sampling was done for physical, chemical and micromorphological analysis. After preparing soil samples in the laboratory, soil physico-chemical routine analyses were carried out by standard methods and then the studied soils were classified on the basis of 12th edition of soil taxonomy. To achieve the main aim of the study, various aspects of soil organic matter evolution were assessed. Soil organic matter content was determined according to the Walkley–Black wet oxidation method and using alteration factor f = 1.724 recommended by USDA. Variance analysis and means compare of soil organic matter content in surface horizons of different environmental parts were performed by using the SPSS software package and Dunkan's multiple range test, respectively. Soil organic carbon stocks were calculated for each soil horizon and weighted average based on profile depth was used to calculate this index for each soil profile. The prepared thin section for micromorphological study was examined under both plane-polarized light (PPL) and cross-polarized light (XPL) using a polarized microscope and explained based on standard terminology to identify various forms of soil organic matter all over the study area.

Results revealed increasing of soil evolution with decreasing of elevation. Entisols, Inceptisols, Alfisols and Mollisols with different families were the soil observed along altitudinal transects by decreasing elevation. According to the obtained results, environmental effects caused different soil organic matter content and evolution with various soil organic carbon stocks in each part. Improvement of environmental condition by decreasing elevation resulted in more evolution of soil organic matter, dominant of decomposed forms of organic matter and rise of soil organic carbon stocks from the highest part to the lowest one. Soil organic matter content in soil surface increased by elevation, although the main source of soil organic matter have better condition in lower parts due to ecological reasons. This inverse statue can be explained by special environmental conditions causing limited organic remnants decomposition in the highest parts. In the same trend with soil evolution, soil organic carbon stocks increased by decreasing of elevation. This trend refers to the relation of mentioned index ability with various soil-forming processes. Micromorphological study showed that organic intact remnants were the dominant forms in upper parts which changed to well-decomposed forms in the lowest parts. This observation revealed the occurrence of mechanical decomposition processes of organic remnants in high elevation while biochemical ones happen in the lower parts. Also, this distribution of soil organic matter decomposition processes can explain soil organic carbon content and stocks all over the study area.

Elevation was identified as an important environmental factor controlling soil organic matter in the studied scale. Generally, results confirm the same trend for soil organic matter evolution and soil organic carbon stocks with soil development, especially in pedogenesis processes in relation to organic matter. Thus, it can be recommended to use soil map for management of soil organic matter under various environmental conditions in large-scale studies.

It is important to determine the suitability of rangelands for the utilization of medicinal plants. The purpose of this study was to introduce some of the criteria and indicators, influencing the rangelands suitability for medicinal plants exploitation and to investigate the differences between the results of using different approaches of suitability determination. To this end, the suitability of the Arshad Chaman rangeland was evaluated in terms of the utilization of medicinal plants. The results showed that according to the limiting factor method (a common method of determining the suitability of rangelands), 2, 6 and 77 percent of rangelands had respectively good, moderate and low suitability and 15 percent were not suitable for utilization. The mathematical method (using hierarchical analysis process) showed 4, 26, and 45 percent of the rangelands as good, moderate, and low suitability, respectively, and 25 percent as inappropriate for exploitation. The application of the theoretical method (MSMPE) also showed that 39 and 61 percent of the rangelands had respectively good and moderate suitability. In general, it was observed that there were no significant differences between the classes of suitability obtained by the limiting factor and the mathematical methods; however, there was a difference between the classes obtained by the limiting factor and MSMPE methods, and different classes of suitability were obtained for a given area of rangeland in these three methods. Therefore, it is recommended to test the accuracy of the findings of the present study to achieve a practical result in different years in terms of climatic events and other locations with different physical properties. Overall, based on the combined results of different approaches and in terms of physical and environmental constraints, the study area had low suitability for the exploitation of medicinal plants. Therefore, to reduce the livestock pressure on rangelands and increase the diversity of medicinal plants, more attention should be paid to the other aspects of rangeland use such as beekeeping and free tourism.

This study was conducted to investigate the non-framed sampling methods for estimating the structure and spatial distribution pattern in Persian oak (Quercus macranthera) stands. Field sampling with distance method as a non-framed sampling methods was done in nine plots, each with one hectare, and totally by 81 points using systematic random network. Density, basal area, canopy of trees and spatial distribution pattern were calculated. According to the results, the Hopkins spatial pattern distribution indices were calculated. The results of Clump distribution, Eberhart and Johnson-Zimmer indices showed uniform distribution pattern for the species. In addition, structural indices showed that the value of the indices of distance to neighbor was 4.45, height difference was 0.28, diameter difference was 0.17, and the species interspecific index was 0.73 which indicate high composition of Q. macranthera with other accompanying species in the studied area. Also, the average value of the uniform angle index was 0.52. Density, basal area, canopy of trees resulted by sampling method had significant differenc with real amount that resulted from 100% inventory.

Marmisho region located in 70 km to the northwest of Urmia city is important silver birch site in Iran and encompasses considerable plant diversity. The study aims to determine the flora, life forms and chorology of the woody and herbaceous plants of silver birch site in the region. 30 sample plots were taken using of systematic random sampling method with 100 m× 200 m grid. The 400 m2 sample plot was considered to tree and shrub species collection and 100 m2 subplot was set up for herb species. The results showed that there were 251 plant species belonging to 51 families in the region in which 28 species were tree and shrub species. The maximum nuber of species belonged to Asteraceae with 40 species, Apiaceae with 22 species, Fabaceae with 21, Lamiaceae with each 20 species and Brassicaceae with 17 species. According to Raunkiaer classification, Hemicryptophytes (122 species), therophytes (51 species) and Phanerophytes (28 species) were the most important life forms. Furthermore, most species belonged to Irano-turanian (100 species), Irano-turanian /Euro-Siberianin (59 species) in the region.

By paying little attention to the process of organizational growth, the reason of the fall and end of the life-cycle of most organizations, non-update knowledge and data and lack of consistency with the world’s recent condition and on the other side, employees resistance against the change, carelessness of organization's Senior Managers about human capabilities for acquisition and application of up-to-date knowledge and exit of huge part of valuable and practical organizational knowledge because of experienced employee retirement, can be realized. This research aimed for studying factors influencing knowledge management of West Azerbaijan Province Natural Resources Administration. This research has been done in a survey and descriptive-analytical method using random sampling. 74 questionnaires based on The APO model (Its validity was proved by other studies) with Likert's five-option spectrum, were distributed and Reliability Analysis test and Cronbach's alpha statistic were used to determine reliability of the questionnaire. Data like: Information Technology infrastructure, funds, education and learning and innovation, key work processes, knowledge sharing incentives, organizational training, career development programs and etc, were asked by the questionnaire. The statistical population of this research includes employees of West Azerbaijan Province Natural Resources Administration. To determine the contribution of factors affecting knowledge management, multiple linear regression (stepwise) and SPSS23 software were used. Results showed that “employees” and “learning and innovation” are factors affecting knowledge management results and employees have positive and significant effect on learning and innovation. Also, from the point of view of knowledge management maturity, West Azerbaijan Province Natural Resources Administration is in the development phase.