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Classification of forest communities (co-)dominated by Taxus baccata in the Hyrcanian forests (northern Iran) and their comparison with southern Europe

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Abstract

English yew (Taxus baccata) is one of the few gymnospermous species present in the Hyrcanian forests, and it is listed as a rare and endangered species prone to extinction in Iran. This study aims to determine the ecological capability of Taxus baccata in the Hyrcanian region by identifying the diversity of plant communities dominated by this species, and to compare their floristic composition with the Taxus communities of southern Europe (Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia). We collected 408 relevés in the central and eastern part of the Hyrcanian forests. The classification of plant communities was performed using TWINSPAN. Phi-coefficient index, constancy ratio, and the ratio of average cover were used to determine diagnostic species in each vegetation unit. The expert system language of the JUICE program was applied to create formal definitions for syntaxa. The relationship between species and environmental factors were investigated with DCA. The environmental differences among the syntaxa were also tested with one-way ANOVA. Sums of constancy and average species cover of the diagnostic species of classes according to the EuroVegChecklist were computed. We distinguished five associations within three alliances. Of these, two associations and one alliance are new for science. Annual precipitation, elevation and annual temperature which are affected by elevational as well as longitudinal gradients were found to be important factors affecting the diversity of Hyrcanian Taxus communities. The constancy sum of diagnostic species was the highest for the class Carpino-Fagetea sylvaticae in all Hyrcanian and European units except for one Taxus community in Sardinia. We conclude that the Hyrcanian and southern European Taxus communities are similar in their floristically and ecological properties. Yew communities in the central Hyrcanian forests are associated with humid temperate diagnostic species, while semi-humid temperate plants are frequent in the eastern Hyrcanian forests, similar to the yew communities in southern Europe.

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Abbreviations

TWINSPAN:

Two-way indicator species analysis

DCA:

Detrended correspondence analysis around

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our thanks to the office of the Vice President for Research and Technology, Tarbiat Modares University for the financial support. We wish to thank the Iranian Department of Natural Resources for support and permission to work in the Hyrcanian forests. Many thanks also to Meysam Soufi, Mohammad-Reza Abaszadeh and Bakhtigol Saberi for field sampling and sharing data. We gratefully acknowledge Azam Hemmatzadeh, Morteza Rouki, Salman Masoudi and Akbar Masoudi for field work assistance, Dr. Tajedin Karami and Dr. Robab Chegini for helping us in preparing the maps.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forest Sciences and Engineering, Faculty of Natural Resources and Marine Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

    P. Karami-Kordalivand, O. Esmailzadeh & S. J. Alavi

  2. Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030, Vienna, Austria

    W. Willner & J. Noroozi

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  1. P. Karami-Kordalivand
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Correspondence to O. Esmailzadeh.

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Karami-Kordalivand, P., Esmailzadeh, O., Willner, W. et al. Classification of forest communities (co-)dominated by Taxus baccata in the Hyrcanian forests (northern Iran) and their comparison with southern Europe. Eur J Forest Res 140, 463–476 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-020-01343-y

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