Effects of forest roads on Vegetation Biodiversity and physical and chemical characteristics of soil in the Kalardasht forest

Subject Areas :

Afshin  Arjmand ¹ (Ph.D. Student of Environmental sciences, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.)
Hadi  Kiadaliri ² (Associate Professor, Department of Environment and Forest Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.)
Farid  Kazemnezhad ³ (Assistant Professor, Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, Chalus Branch, Islamic Azad University, Chalus, Iran)
Majid  Es-hagh Nimvari ⁴ (Assistant Professor, Department of Forestry, Chalus Branch, Islamic Azad University, Chalus, Iran.)

Received: 2023-10-24 Accepted : 2024-01-14 Published : 2024-03-16

Keywords: &quot, Road&quot, , &quot, Soil&quot, , &quot, Richness&quot, , &quot, Herbaceous species&quot, , ,

Abstract :

Road ecology studies are very important and valuable for monitoring the impact of forest roads on biodiversity. This study was conducted in order to investigate the effect of forest roads on the biodiversity of herbaceous species, tree regeneration and lichen in the Kalardasht forests. Sampling was done in the sample plots at distances of 0, 15, 45, 75, and 105 meters from the roadside in two controlled and harvested areas. The indices used were Margalf's species richness, Shannon-Wiener's biodiversity and Pielou's evenness index. The effects of roads on vegetation diversity in relation to soil characteristics were also investigated. The results showed that road construction in the harvested stand caused the destruction of tree regeneration, herbaceous and lichen, but the physical and chemical properties of the soil were not affected. By increasing the distance from the road, the diversity and richness of regeneration in both control and harvested areas has increased and the evenness index has decreased. On the other hand, the diversity and richness of herbaceous species has shown a significant decrease. This study reports the distance of 15 to 45 meters of the buffering effect of the roadside on the indices of biodiversity and the richness of tree regeneration, herbaceous cover and lichens. Most of the physical and chemical properties of the soil have also increased with increasing distance from the road. Also, there was a significant correlation between most of the physical and chemical properties of the soil with the regeneration of trees and herbaceous species.