Role of physiography on vegetation cover using GIS (Case of Hezarjarib's Rangelands, Mazandaran province)

Managing rangelands appropriately and efficiently requires sufficient knowledge about environmental factors and their effects on vegetation. This study is focused on applying multivariate analysis to determine the relationship between plant properties (vegetation cover and density) and physiological parameters of rangelands. Study area which is about 460 ha is located at Hezarjarib, Mazandaran province. Slope, aspect and elevation maps were overlaid using a GIS environment to reach almost homogenous land mapping units in which samples could be taken. Then by completely random sampling some range plants were sampled. Multivariate analysis showed that variation in percentage of canopy cover and density of the species were influenced by aspect, slope and elevation. Integration of the maps resulted that each plant species grows in special morphological conditions which is different from other vegetation types.