Reviewing Richness of Woody Species in Northern Forests of Iran and Temperate Broadleaf Forests of Central Europe

The northern forests of Iran are one of the most valuable forests of the world because of their unique and high genetic and species diversity. These forests are related to the Tertiary geological period which due to the absence of the Ice Age in them, there is unique diversity.

This study is a review article and was conducted to compare characteristics and species diversity of the northern forests of Iran and the temperate broadleaf forests of central Europe that two of which are temperate deciduous broadleaf forests. Also, the beech forests of Europe and their classifications have been investigated in this study.

The period of plant growth is 6-9 months in the northern forests of Iran, whereas this is 4-6 months in temperate broadleaf forests of central Europe. The number of tree species is 80 and 20 in the northern forests of Iran and temperate broadleaf forests of central Europe, respectively. Discussion and

54 tree and shrub species are in the northern forests of Iran that are not growing in temperate broadleaf forests of central Europe. 20 trees and shrubs are growing in both of these forests. In this study, it clearly was shown that the richness of woody species in the northern forests of Iran is richer than temperate broadleaf forests of central Europe.