Biodiversity of Tree Species in Different Plot Size in Zagros Forests (Case study: Baniloan Area of Javanrood)

One of the main factors affecting sustainable management in the forest ecosystem is the biodiversity conservation. For achieving this purpose, we need to estimate and determine the biodiversity. The efficiency of sampling depends to some extent on plot size in a study. Therefore, a study was conducted in the Zagros forest (Baniloan, Javanrood, Kermanshah) to assess the effect of plot size on the abundance and diversity of tree species. We measured the diversity indices e.g. (Shannon H), richness (Minhinick) and evenness (Sheldon) in our data. These indices were analyzed at 270 sampling points along 3 parallel transects which ran perpendicular to the slope. The distances between transects was 500 m. Each transect comprised 30 sampling points with 3 different sizes of plots (10m×10m-20m×20m and 30m×30m plots). Abundance and diversity of tree species, richness and evenness analyzed by ANOVA and Duncan. The results showed that abundance and diversity increased significantly by increasing the size of the plots. The maximum diversity was seen in 900m2 plot size. At 400 m2 plot, richness was higher than two other plot size. But evenness was not significantly affected by plot size.