Study of vascular plant species diversity in Bidouiyeh protected area in Bardsir, Kerman

The Bidouiyeh protected area with 155383 ha and maximum altitude of 2734 meter above sea level, is located in 45 km SE Kerman. Floristic study of this region showed that 125 plant species, 102 genera and 32 families of vascular plants grow wild in this region. Most species-rich plant families are Chenopodiaceae, Brassicaceae and Asteraceae, and most species rich genera are Astragalus, Nepeta, Euphorbia, Tamarix and Salsola. Most of the species in this region are in form of therophytes (41%) and hemicryptophytes (26%), and most of the species (75%) belong to Irano-Turanian floristic region. Multivariate analysis of floristic data showed three major groups of local floras, in which the floristic affinities between regions showed affinities to geographic distances.