A survey on flora, life forms and geographical distribution of plant species in the protected forests of Fandoghlu (Ardabil province)

Fandoghlu forest is located in the north west of Ardabil city. The highest and lowest altitudes of the area are 1500 and 1850 m a.s.l. respectively. The studied flora included 191 species which belonged to 145 genera and 47 families. The families of Lamiaceae, Rosaceae, Asteraceae, Poaceae and Fabaceae were the richest families which constituted 47.6% of the total species. Hemicryptophytes (45.6%), Therophytes (24%) and Phanerophytes (16.8%) were the most important life forms according to Raunkiaer classification. The chorotype studies showed that the plants of the area belonged to Irano-Turanian region (29.8%), Irano-Turanian/ Mediterranean (17.2%), and Irano-Turanian/ Euro-Siberian (16.2%), Irano-Turanian/ Euro-Siberian/ Mediterranean (15.1%).