Diversity and distribution patterns of Solanaceae in Iran: Implications for conservation and habitat management with emphasis on endemism and diversity in SW Asia

The increasing rate of irreversible damages to natural habitats has reinforced the need for gathering biodiversity fundamental data to conservation. Priority setting is the most important step in protection programs. Solanaceae as the the one of important economic families of eudicots distributed throughout North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and the South Pacific. Up to now, little attention has been paid to the patterns and diversity centers of Solanaceae in Iran. The present study describes in as much detail as possible the spatial distribution, areas with greater species richness, and centers of diversity for taxa. An ecogeographical database was developed using the records that corresponds to 3123 herbarium specimens belong to 2560 localities. The localities were marked using ArcView version 3.2 (ESRI 2000) on geo-referenced maps (1/106) of Iran. The distribution patterns of the taxa were mapped per 1° × 1° universal transverse Mercator grid cells (100 km2 with the exception of boundary area). Threatened categories of Iranian Solanaceae, including CR (43.4%) and VU (34%), mainly (58.9%) distributed in Irano-Turanian phytochorion. Solanaceae represents the highest richness in the central Alborz, Zagros, Kopet Dagh and Makran Mountains based on recent criteria. The conservation value of habitats of Solanaceae in Iran ranges from 0.15 (in coastline of Persian Gulf) to 11.19 (in eastern Alborz).