Study on the relationship between soil physico-chemical properties and plant communities parameters (Case Study: Ghareh Tappeh Area, Saveh)

As a fact, the soil properties are affected by geology, topography, climate and biology of areas. Therefore, soil properties are the important factors that influence plant distribution specially, in saline areas. To develop an efficient management it is necessary to have precise information on soil and vegetative cover relations in all areas. For this propose the relationship between soil physico-chemical properties and plant community characteristics in arid lands of Ghareh Tappeh, Saveh have been studied. The sample plots for data collection have been selected by random-systematic method. In this way ten number lines with five sample plots over all areas have been selected. The list of species, canopy cover, plant density, diversity and frequency of species were recorded. Also on each line soil sampling have been done in two depths; 0-30 cm. and 30-60 cm. Then soil texture, acidity, EC, PSW, OC, CaSO4, CaCO3 and SAR were determined in laboratory. Two plant communities have been recognized in the area; Salsola crasa and Salsola-Tamarix. The study showed that, the canopy cover and plant diversity were highly affected by soil properties. The amount of clay and EC were the most effective factors on plant characteristics.