Determination of correlation between the species of critical area in winter rangelands of Esfarayen

In water point، 8 transects of 1 Km were established randomly، and each 50 m of one transect was considered as treatment. In each treatment، one plot of 4 m2 was sampled for measurements of canopy coverage، species richness، and density. The association of the pairs of plant species was analyzed by using chi-square test. Multiple vegetation parameters of total coverage، richness and density were significant for all treatments. Density and total coverage were significant، and species richness was not significant by using ANOVA. The results were showed that by increasing distances from water point the palatability of plant species improved. There were negative associations between the two important species of Artemisia herba-alba and Acantholimon sp، but there was random association among other species. It can be concluded that the intensity of grazing was concentrated on 350-500 meters from water point which can be considered as critical area.