Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
u
Abstract
Intensive livestock grazing is one of the most important destructive factors in rangelands that leads to decrease of diversity and causes disappearance of sensitive plants. On the other hand, considering the scales in assessment of diversity is very importance to study the variability of plant diversity patterns in different scales. Therefore, current study aimed to investigate the impact of livestock grazing on diversity components in different scales using additive partitioning methods in western country rangelands in the Ilam province. Sampling was carried out in 40 plots of 4m2 in 8 rangeland sites including 4 exclosures and 4 grazing sites. Based on additive partitioning diversity methods, the total diversity was partitioned into additively components within and among samples. The results showed that diversity among sites (β2) had the highest contribution of total diversity that indicated the importance of this scale for conservation practices, and it was due to the variation of composition between sites. In addition, the results represented that exclosure in the semi-arid areas can increase diversity at plot scale, while in the regional scales (diversity among sites or β2) livestock grazing leads to increase in diversity. Therefore, exclosure of rangelands does not necessarily lead to increase in diversity. Also, long terms exclosure can lead to increase evenness that resulting in increasing competition among plants, therefore it could decrease plant diversity.
Keywords
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