Assessment of soil quality in different types of forests in north Zagros (Case study: Armardeh Baneh forests)

Soil is one of the important components of the forest ecosystem and can be affected by vegetation. Knowing the quality of the soil can be used as a guide to analyze the health of the forest ecosystem. Since soil characteristics are influenced by different forest types. The purpose of this study was to investigate the soil quality in four types of (Pure Quercus infectoria), (Quercus brantii-Quercus libani and other species) (Pure Quercus libani), and (Quercus infectoria-Quercus libani) in the forests of north Zagros. For this purpose, 15 physical, chemical and biological characteristics of soil from a horizon were selected as the Total Data Set. Then, using principal components analysis, 4 characteristics including nitrogen, phosphorus, soil absorbable potassium and the metabolic quotient were selected as the minimum data set. Soil Quality Index was evaluated in these two datasets. The results showed that the average soil quality index of four forest types was calculated from 0.23 (Pure Quercus infectoria) to 0.44 (Quercus brantii-Quercus libani and other species). The soil quality index was 0.25 and 0.24 for the pure Quercuslibani and Quercus libani- Quercus infectoria types, respectively. The coefficient of explanation between the Minimum Data Set and the Total Data Set is equal to 0.80, which indicates the reliability of using the Minimum Data Set instead of the Total Data Set Therefore, the use of the most effective soil characteristics in soil quality assessment studies, while reducing the time of soil science studies, provides the basis for economic savings in the discussion of forestry studies.