Vegetation and plant species biodiversity variation after industrial logging in Shafaroud forest, Guilan

The aim of this study was to assessing the effects of forest logging on vegetation characteristics in forest of Shafaroud, Guilan. For this purpose, two similar regions (harvested and control regions) were selected at 9 Seri number of Shafaroud forest of Gulian province. In each region, the characteristics of vegetation were manifest, using 25 plots. Also, soil samples were taken in center of each plot for elements analysis. The vegetation sampling was done twice (one and five years after logging) at harvested region. The result showed that the control region had higher diversity and richness than harvested one. But the species dominance was low in control region. The Jaccard similarity index showed that the control and 5 years after logging have the most vegetation similarity. Also, the results demonstrate that the plant species aggregation tend to be in regions with high amount of N, P, organic matter and soil porosity.