Impact of wild boar (Sus scrofa) disturbances on diversity and richness indices of soil seed bank in the rangeland plant communities

In order to study the impact of wild boar (Sus scrofa) disturbances on plant diversity and richness of soil seed bank, five plant communities were selected i.e. Festuca ovina, Bromus tomentellus, Alyssum minus-Astragalus sp., Poa pratensis-Trifolium repens and Chenopodium folisom. In each plant community, one disturbed site was selected and 4 one square meters plots were established inside each disturbed patch and control patch (no sign of wild boar disturbance). Soil samples were collected using auger and transferred to the greenhouse, and seedlings were identified through seedling emergence method. Then Simpson and Shannon diversity indices and, Margalef and Menhinick richness indices of soil seed bank were calculated using PAST software. GLM and post-hoc tests were used to compare mean values of different diversity and richness indices using SPSS software. The results showed that there were significant differences between soil seed bank density, diversity and richness indices between disturbed and control patches in the all vegetation communities. Maximum value of Menhinick (1.28), Margalef (1.79), Simpson (0.64) richness indices, Shannon (1.72) diversity index and density of soil seed bank (46.25) was observed out of patch. In addition, minimum value of Menhinick (1.09), Margalef (1.36), Simpson (0.52) richness indices, Shannon (1.11) diversity index and density of soil seed bank (39.21) was observed in of patch. Generally, wild boar (sus scrofa) decreased diversity, richness and density of soil seed bank.