Effects of some environmental factors on the distribution of Prangos ferulacea Lindl in rangelands of Ardabil province

This study aimed to study the effects of some environmental factors on distribution of Prangos ferulacea Lindl in rangelands of Ardabil province. The vegetation cover and density of the species were studied using 10 square plots (2×2 m) along three 100 meteres transects in all the seven studied sites. The soil samples from the presence and adjusent area with no Pr. ferulacea occurrence were collected from the beginning, middle and end of each transect. Altitude, slope and aspect of all samples were recorded. Soil properties including nitrogen, phosphorus, potasium, organic matter, pH, EC, and soil texture of the collected soil samples were determined in laboratory. Various analytical and classification methods (e.g. t test, ANOVA and cluster analysis) were used to compare the condition of presence and absence site of the species. According to the results, this species prefer habitats with high altitude, steep slope with high organic matter. More specifically, Pr. ferulacea habitats characterized by altitude of 1790m, slope more than 80%, precipitation of 227-358mm per year, average annual temperature of 9-11 cetigerade, and organic matter of 0.98-1.35%. The results indicated that the species prefer lomy soils with high nitrogen and potassium content. According to the disriminative analysis, the occurrence of Pr. ferulacea depends more on climate variables (e.g. precipitation and temperature), and physiographic condition (e.g. elevation and slope) than soil variabels. The results of this study can assist managers to identify appropriate sites for establishing the species in the field.