Plant Diversity of Sarband Hunting Prohibited Area (Dibaj, Semnan Province)

The study is concerned with the floristic investigation of Sarband prohibited area (Dibaj). The region with an area of approximately 4000 hectares is located in 12 km northeast of Dibaj (52 km north of Damghan, Semnan Province) ranging from 2000-3650 m. Sarband area with an average annual precipitation of 137.5 mm a dry climate based on Domarten’s climate classification. A total of 285 species belonging to 178 genera and 45 families were identified. The richest families species were Asteraceae (22 genara, 40 species), Brassicaceae (25 genera, 32 species) and Poaceae (16 genera, 26 species), respectively. Also, the genus Astragalus with 12 species, Allium with 7 species, Cousinia and Alyssum each with 6 species and Gagea with 5 species, are the largest genera in the region. Phytogeographical distribution of plant species showed that 60.52% of species belong to the Irano-Turanian region, followed by Irano-Turanian/Europe-Siberia: 20.67% and etc. Hemicryptophytes (54.76% of all species) were the most common life form in the region. 36 Iranian endemic species and 44 medicinal plant species were recognized in the region. Moreover, 33 plant species were listed as threatened species, of which, four species including Cousinia rahbdodes, Astragalus catacamptus, A. megalocystis and A. perdurans were categorized as vulnerable species based on the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.