during last two decades studies on endozoochorous seed dispersal indicated that a large numbers of plant seeds are potentially dispersed and suceefully germinated via animal dung. however, very little is known about the relative importance of endozoochory in germination success of plant species in semi-steppe rangelands. in this paper we examined dung germinating seed content, seed deposition p...

Biological diversity and species richness have been declined throughout the world as a result of human activities. Measuring species richness is important in rangeland conservation to evaluate the status and trends of native plant species, detecting non-native species invasion and monitoring rare species. However, heterogeneity in plant distribution makes inventories difficult. In this study tw...

Exotic plant invasions are especially problematic because reestablishment of native perennial vegetation is rarely successful. It may be more appropriate to treat exotic plant infestations that still have some remaining native vegetation. We evaluated this restoration strategy by measuring the effects of spring burning, fall burning, fall applied imazapic, spring burning with fall applied imaza...

Cattle grazing and invasion by non-native plant species are globally-ubiquitous changes occurring to plant communities that are likely to reverberate through whole food webs. We used a manipulative field experiment to quantify how arthropod community structure differed in native and non-native California grassland communities in the presence and absence of grazing. The arthropod community was s...

Human modification of the environment is causing both loss of species and changes in resource availability. While studies have examined how species loss at the local level can influence invasion resistance, interactions between species loss and other components of environmental change remain poorly studied. In particular, the manner in which native diversity interacts with resource availability...

Lycium species is a popular medicinal plant in the traditional Chinese medicine and Lycium ruthenicum is a native medicinal plant of Iran. Lycium genus has several biologically important properties too. Investigation of chemical composition of ethyl acetate extract of this plant is the goal of this study. Two coumarins (Scopoletin and Sculetin) and Methyl-2-hydroxy-4-undecanoxy-trans-cinamate w...

The highlands and mountains of Iceland are one of the largest remaining wilderness areas in Europe. This study aimed to provide comprehensive and up-to-date data on non-native plant species in these areas and to answer the following questions: (1) How many non-native vascular plant species inhabit highland and mountainous environments in Iceland? (2) Do temporal trends in the immigration of ali...

During the past centuries, humans have introduced many plant species in areas where they do not naturally occur. Some of these species establish populations and in some cases become invasive, causing economic and ecological damage. Which factors determine the success of non-native plants is still incompletely understood, but the absence of natural enemies in the invaded area (Enemy Release Hypo...

Iran is the largest producer of saffron (Crocus sativus) in the world. More than 80% of higher plant species have a mutual relationship with mycorrhizal fungi, which enhances the plant growth and its productivity. With identification of native arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and their application, it could be possible to expand saffron cultivated area and increase the performance of arable lands. ...

An increasing number of studies report plant range expansions to higher latitudes and altitudes in response to global warming. However, consequences for interactions with other species in the novel ranges are poorly understood. Here, we examine how range-expanding plant species interact with root-feeding nematodes from the new range. Root-feeding nematodes are ubiquitous belowground herbivores ...