Influence of Elevation on Tree Species Biodiversity Indicators in Arasbaran Forest

Biodiversity estimation is one of the key issues in the management of the forest as one of the most sustainable and complete ecosystems and trees are considered the main members of forest ecosystems. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the elevation on the changes of tree species biodiversity in a part of the Arasbaran forest. For this purpose, species richness, Simpson and Smith-Wilson uniformity indices, and diversity indicators included Shannon, Simpson, N1, and N2 were calculated by using the data obtained from sampling plots in different elevation classes and measurement of various tree species. The results showed that species richness decreased with an increase in elevation but uniformity increased. Also, the Shannon and N2 indices in low elevation and the Simpson and N1 in high elevation showed the most diversity in the study area. The final results of the present study indicated that elevation is effective on a variety of indicators of diversity, richness, and uniformity and will reduce them. Therefore, this is recommended to the study of environmental factors affecting this reduction.