1. A plant that causes specific changes to soil biota may either positively or negatively affect the performance of the plant that subsequently grows in that location. These effects, known as plant–soil feedback, can affect plant species diversity at multiple spatial scales. 2. It has been hypothesized that positive plant–soil feedback reduces alpha (local) diversity by allowing dominance by ea...

Janzen-Connell effects are negative effects on the survival of a plant's progeny at high conspecific densities or close to its conspecifics. Although the role of Janzen-Connell effects on the maintenance of plant diversity was frequently studied, only few studies targeted Janzen-Connell effects via postdispersal seed predation in temperate grassland systems. We examined effects of conspecific d...

Plants of Hashilan, a 260 ha freshwater wetland, located at 35 km northwest of Kermanshah, the provincial capital of Kermanshah Province, western Iran, were studied. Altogether, 116 species of plants (77 terrestrial and 39 aquatic) representing 96 genera and 42 families were identified. Asteraceae with 11 genera and 13 species, Poaceae 9 genera and 10 species, and Cyperaceae with 6 genera and 9...

An assessment of roles of rhizospheric microbial diversity in plant growth is helpful in understanding plant-microbe interactions. Using random combinations of rhizospheric bacterial species at different richness levels, we analysed the contribution of species richness, compositions, interactions and identity on soil microbial respiration and plant biomass. We showed that bacterial inoculation ...

Fungal plant pathogens are common in natural communities where they affect plant physiology, plant survival, and biomass production. Conversely, pathogen transmission and infection may be regulated by plant community characteristics such as plant species diversity and functional composition that favor pathogen diversity through increases in host diversity while simultaneously reducing pathogen ...

Background & Aim: The use of medicinal plants is an option for livestock farmers who do not want to use allopathic drugs under certified organic programs or cannot afford to use allopathic drugs for minor health problems of livestock. Thus, the main aim of this study is the identification of some ethnoveterinary medicinal plants of Tehran watershed and their medicinal effects on livestock.  Ex...

Background & Aim: A herbarium is a collection of preserved plant specimens. Herbarium specimens form an important recorded of what plants grew where over time. Kerman province with area about 171993 km2 has a lat of difference vegetation because of climatic and topography variations. It has different elevation (above sea level) from 300 m in Shahdad to 4420 m in Hezar mountains. Mat...

Background & Aim: Kazeroon, with an area of about 4060 km², is situated at 110 km in the west of Shiraz, Fars province, Iran. This area is important for plant biodiversity, due to the presence of some important habitats such as international Lake of Parishan in the southeast, woodlands of Quercus persica in the east and branches of Shahpoor river in the west of the region. Therefore, f...