Study of flora of Miandasht Wildlife Refuge in Northern Khorassan Province , Iran ( a )

A wide area of Iran is covered by arid and semiarid regions. In this survey, flora of an area of the Miandasht Wildlife Refuge, out of the safe part, was studied. This region covers 84435 Ha, situated in the west of Khorassan province in Iran. The climate of the area according to de Martone system is semiarid. The mean annual precipitation is 275 mm and the altitude varies from 931 to 1021 m above sea level. Plants were collected from 2008 to 2011. A total of 256 taxa belonging to 152 genera and 35 families from Angiospermae and Gymnospermae were found. Asteraceae, Chenopodiaceae, Brassicaceae and Fabaceae were the greatest families, respectively. Geraniaceae, Ixioliriaceae, Orobanchaceae, Plantaginaceae, Primulaceae, Resedaceae and Rosaceae, each included one species. Based on Raunkiaer life form classification system, majority of the species (55.86%) were therophytes. Other life forms in descending order were hemicryptophytes (15.62%), chamaephytes (10.16%), phanerophytes (8.6%) and geophytes (9.38%). Chorologicaly, most of the species were Irano-Turanian. Flora of Miandasht Wildlife Refuge include 20 low risk species and 29 (11.6%) endemic of Iran species. 67 pasture species and 38 medicinal species were distinguished. Most of the species were invasive plants. They are established in this area because of overgrazing and natural disturbance.


INTRODUCTION
Iran in terms of topography, climate, vegetation and geographical features is one of the most important and unique countries in the Middle East.According to a recent study (Mozaffarian, 2007), flora of Iran includes 8000 species belonging to 1450 genera and 150 families.These families include 124 dicotyledons, 22 monocotyledons and 4 gymnosperms.
One of the most extensive areas for speciation in holarctic kingdom is located in Iran (Akhani, 2006).Also, some studies in the field of semi deserts and deserts of Iran have been conducted.For instance, studies on the autumn plants of Kavir, Iran (Assadi, 1984), plants of the Kavir Protected Area, Iran (Rechinger and Wendelbo, 1976), Plants of the Touran Protected Area, Iran (Rechinger, 1977), Notes on the distribution, climate and flora of the sand deserts of Iran and Afghanistan (Freitag, 1986).Some case studies have been performed in deserts of Iran, for example: A contribution to the vegetation and flora of Kavire Meyghan, Iran (Akhani, 1989), floristic and cartographic study of protected area of Ghamishloo *Corresponding author.E-mail: noosha2@yahoo.com.Tel: (009821) 2208916.(Yousofinajafabadi, 1996), study of the flora of the Kabar dam of Ghom (Tavakkoli and Mozaffarian, 2005) and flora of halophytes in Iran (Asri, 2007).
A fundamental role of government conservation agencies is to set priorities for the conservation and management of biodiversity (David and Kenneth, 2001).To evaluate the status of biodiversity and to determine how current conservation efforts can be improved, biodiversity monitoring is crucial (Kerstin et al., 2013).The nature and quality of vegetation cover is an important factor for soil conservation through its role in reducing the erosive impact of precipitation degraded areas in semi-arid regions (Turan and Filiz, 2011).
The objective of this study was to provide urgently needed scientific support for programs of biodiversity conservation.The Miandasht Wildlife Refuge (MWR) covers 84435 Ha, and is located in North Khorassan province (56°, 26́ to 56°, 57́ longitude and 47°, 30, 36̋ to 37°, 30́ latitude) Figure 1.The mean annual precipitation is 250 mm and the altitude varies from 912 to 1085 m above sea level.The climate is semiarid and chorologicaly located in the Irano-Turanian region.A wide area of MWR is rangeland.Early and uncontrolled grazing in these rangelands led to the decrease of the production by pastured plants, imbalances in the ecosystem, disruption in water and food cycles, increasing the unfavorable species and decreasing the quantity of vegetation and soil erosion.Also, a wide part of this region is covered by sand and saline soils.Totally, approximately 40 to 50% of critical points of erosion around of Jajarm city is located in this area, and the plants are permanently exposed to environmental stresses.MWR is habitat for important animal species, such as: the Asiatic cheetah which is rare worldwide and its survival is one of the most important goals of the Environmental Protection Agency, so the study of various environmental aspects of this area is essential for the balance and stability of the ecosystem, particularly vegetation which is the first loop of the animal food chains.
Aims of this study were to introduce the flora of MWR, to detect endemism, vulnerability and chorology of species, and to distinguish medicinal and pasture plants in 12000 Ha out of the safe part of the MWR.This study is intended as a useful tool for policy markers and scientists to advocate for modifications in national legislation and policy aimed at conservation and combating desertification.Analyzing species richness, extinction level and distribution drivers are important preliminary steps to set conservation priorities and to test environmental policies (Giuseppe, 2013).
In order to determine the influence of protection from grazing on diversity of plant species, flora of the safe part was studied which will be written in another article.
Finally, names of all plants were confirmed by taxonomists in the research institute of forests and rangelands of Iran.The life forms of species were distinguished according to the life form classification (Raunkiaer, 1934).The geographical distribution of each species was assessed from reviews, monographs and distributional data in the floras, particularly Flora Iranica (Rechinger, 1963(Rechinger, -2005)).The terminology and delimitation of the main phytogeographic areas, that is, Euro-Siberian (ES), Irano-Turanian (IT), Mediterranean (M) and within Euro-Siberian region relate to standard works of reference, particularly those of Zohary (1973), Takhtajan(1986) and flora Iranica (Rechinger, 1963(Rechinger, -2005)).The IUCN Red List Categories (Jalili and Jamzad, 1999) are used to designate the threat categories.
Pasture plants were detected by asking the villagers by direct observations, and by using the Codes of Pasture Plants (Publication Committee and Propaganda of the Research Institute of Forestsand Rangelands of Iran 1982).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Totally, 256 taxa belonging to 152 genera and 35 families of Angiospermae and Gymnospermae were determined in the study area (Table 1, Figure 5-12).These families consist of 1 Gymnospermae, 29 Dicotyledons and 5 Monocotyledons.
Presumably uncontrolled grazing caused the maximum number of Asteraceae species (Tavakkoli and Mozaffarian, 2005).Since the studied area is at risk due to early and excessive grazing, the maximum number of Asteraceae species is justifiable.In the study of halophytes of Iran (Asri, 2007), the numbers of Chenopodiaceae species were large.The large number of this taxon species can be explained by saline soils which are widely spread in this region.
The large number of Chenopodiaceae, Asteraceae and Brassicaceae are indicator of desert conditions (Saberamoli et al., 2001).Table 1 illustrates that the genera of Astragalus, Salsola, Atriplex and Valerianella have the highest number of species with 17, 9, 6 and 6 species, respectively.Irano-Turanian region is the major origin of Astragalus, and 91% of Astragalus species Iran, grow in   this region (Maassoumi, 1986(Maassoumi, -2005)).Hence, the maximum number of Astragalus species was expected in Miandasht because it is situated in the Irano-Turanian region.
The floristic composition of the vegetation expressed the climatical and edaphical conditions of this region.In this composition, relatively high presence of certain groups of plants, that each of them grows in specific environmental conditions, could be observed.These  Aeloropus littoralis, Phragmites australis) and a large number of ruderals, for example: Buhsea trinervia, Cardaria draba, Launaea acanthodes,Peganum harmala, Sophora Pachycarpa, Acantholepis orientalis.Thelarge number of annual and perennial anthropogenicand ruderal plants in this area indicate excessive degradation, especially as a result of overgrazing and undermining by livestock.If rangelands are allowed to regenerate properly and grazing controlled in selected area, conservation can be achieved and the long term stability of the pastural life-style can be enhanced (Shahina and Ghazanfar, 1998).
The Orobanch picridis is a parasitic species that grows in this area.Among the geophytes, 8 (3.125%) rhizomous species, 8 (3.125%) tuberous species and 8 (3.125%) bulbous species were found.Therophytes are reproduced by the seeds.Compatibility of this procedure for reproduction in arid areas is more than other ways, because seeds are reproduced in small size and large number.So, they are distributed very easily.Seeds usually survived on unfavorable conditions.Also, genetic diversity of seeds which are produced through sexual reproduction leads to genetic flexible populations (Neishabouri, 1995).Most of the therophytes that grow in MWR are adapted with short duration of precipitation and high temperature, and they complete the life cycle and produce the seeds.Saberamoli (2001) said that when the numbers of therophytes exceed the other life forms it shows desert conditions.
According to Table 1, 29 (11.33%)Iran endemic species grow in MWR.The presence of endemic species is among the fundamental criteria for characterizing biodiversity of a territory (Giuseppe, 2013).On the other hand, there are no obvious correlation between modern climate and endemism (Linder, 2001).Iran is one of the main centers of endemism in the world (Saberamoli, 2001).Totally 2000 endemic species grow in Iran and Irano-Turanian region contain 85% of endemic plant species of Iran (Dehshiri, 2005).The results of this research show that in the MWR which is located in Irano-Turanian region grow 1.45% of all endemic species of Iran.Since extent of this area is much less than the Irano-Turanian region in Iran, the above result was justifiable.Chamephytes, for example Artemisia and some species of salsola, are relatively big shrubs and their production is more than that of therophytes.Also, they are significant component of vegetation in a long period of the year.By increasing drought trend from spring to late summer, also by decreasing temperature until autumn, dominance of the chenopodiaceae in the plant formation of the study area was clearly evident.They are resistant to salinity and drought.Therefore, they grow very well in spite of intense environmental conditions (Saberamoli, 2001).Chamephytes and Phanerophytes are resistant to drought and they are morphologically adapted instead of adaptation in life cycle (Saberamoli, 2001).Although these two groups were not large in the life form spectrum of MWR, they were the main component of vegetation.Also, most of them are  effective in preventing erosion.In addition to these, majority of them are pasture plants and provide food for wildlife.Therefore, these facts should be considered in management of this area.Because geophytes have underground organs like tubers, bulbs and rhizomes, they need suitable soil depth.Relatively high presence of geophytes showed that this area had capability of pedogenes.
Figure 4 show that the majority of species were Irano-Turanian elements.The remaining plants were common elements between Irano-Turanian and other regions.Table 1 shows that from the 256 species, 64 were pasture plants and 38 were medicinal.Shrubs like Artemisia, especially different shrub and herbal Chenopodiaceae species have high forage value.They were widely distributed in this area, and they had high production.Therefore, MWR is a good pasture.
As the number of rare and threatened species has multiplied, it has become increasingly important to select species for conservation management and to provide information on the causes of decline (Perrine et al., 2013).Fortunately, this study showed that any of the species existing in MWR were not at risk or vulnerable.The current picture of extinction risk is still incomplete because many species in flora of MWR were never assessed.
We concluded on the plant diversity of MWR, in spite of environmental stresses such as drought, salinity, erosion   and uncontrolled grazing by livestock is high.Moreover, this diversity is manifested not only in number of species   but also in terms of the chorotype and life-form presents.
In this region, the diversity of microclimates and the physiographic units of dry and saline areas as hillsides plains, sandy deserts, seasonal streamlets and Kavir areas have made many different local edaphic conditions.Among the plants, Chenopodiaceae species are very important for providing the food for wildlife.Specially, the shrubs which have large amounts of proteins and minerals are important.These plants are a valuable source of food for wildlife.Overall, the flora consists of plants that have adapted to climatic and edaphic conditions of the region in life-form or morphology or life cycle.Also, many plants are invasive.These plants are distributed in this area due to the natural erosion and degradation resulting from human interventions.So, proper management and protection of the existing sources can increase species richness.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Location of Miandasht Wildlife Refuge on Iran map (drawn using Adobe Photoshop CS4).

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Chart of the number of species belonging to families in flora of Miandasht Wildlife Refuge (out of the safe part).

Figure 4 .
Figure 4. Weight of chorotype on flora of Miandasht Wildlife Refuge (out of the safe part).

Table 1 .
List of plants in the Miandasht Wildlife Refuge (out of the safe part) and some of their features.