Investigation of the most influential environmental factors on habitat preference of Stachys lavandulifolia Vahl in eastern Alamut rangelands (Qazvin province)

Identifying environmental factors affecting the habitat preference of medicinal species is a fundamental and valuable action for cultivation and domestication and reducing the pressure on natural resources is a fundamental and valuable action. This study was performed with the purpose of investigate the most important ecological factors affecting the habitat of Stachys lavandulifolia Vahl in eastern Alamut rangelands located in Qazvin province. For this purpose, the maximum entropy in MaxEnt software was used. Species presence points were recorded in field operations. Also, in the habitats of this species, soil samples were collected by random-systematic method (4 transects and 72 soil samples). soil variables were measured in the laboratory. Geostatistical methods were used to make maps of soil variables. Finally, 19 environmental variables maps were entered into MAXENT software including soil, climatic and physiographic. Based on the results, the accuracy of the habitat suitability map was 95%, Also, the most influential environmental factors on the habitat suitability of this species are soil magnesium (0.3-1.3 mM), organic matter, average annual rainfall (more than 400 mm), average annual temperature, altitude (up to about 3100 m). The optimal habitat of this species has been in soils with heavy texture, low electrical conductivity and neutral acidity (7.5) in this region. Also, increasing soil potassium has a positive effect, and increasing the soil sand and lime have a negative effect on the establishment of this species. The results showed that the favorable areas for the growth of the studied species is 5599.67 hectares, which covers 7.93% of the total study area.