Investigating the relationship between plant diversity and annual production in semi-arid rangelands of National Park Khabr, Kerman province

The complexities of the relationship between biodiversity and human welfare can be simplified by identifying the impact of species diversity on ecosystem function. Since annual production plays an important role in the grazing management and sustainability of rangeland ecosystems, this study examines the relationship between species diversity and annual production of semi-arid rangelands in Khabar National Park under the hypothesis of ecological nest. The annual production of species in 1×1 square plots was estimated in two rangeland types of Artemisia sieberi and Artemisia sieberi- Stipa barbata using the cutting and weighing method. The results showed that although the two plant types differed significantly in terms of annual production (p < /em> <0.05), but there was no significant difference between the two rangeland types in terms of diversity indicators of Shannon, Simpson, Margalf, Manichae, and uniformity index. Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that annual production had a positive and significant relationship with species diversity indicators in Artemisia sieberi- Stipa barbata type; however, no significant relationship was observed in Artemisia sieberi. Contrary to the hypothesis of the ecological nest, species did not have the same contribution in annual production, and the dominant species of Artemisia aucheri had the highest contribution in production. According to the hypothesis of mass ratio, the diversity of functional traits in the dominant species has led to better success of rangeland type the Artemisia aucheri- Stipa barbata than the Artemisia aucheri in terms of annual production. In general, it is recommended that conserving of the composition of plant communities is more important to protect ecosystem services compared to maintaining the maximum number of species.