Effects of spacing and admixture of three leguminous species on above ground biomass on sandy hills of Khuzestan, Iran

In order to study the above ground biomass of three leguminous species in different planting (pure and mixed) for biological sand dune fixation, this investigation was carried out on sandy hills of Khuzestan province, located in southwest of Iran. This experiment was conducted in 1999 under rain fed condition and split plots method in frame of Randomized Complete Blocks Design with three replicates. The main treatments consisted of three levels of spacing (3 m×3 m, 4 m×4 m and 5 m×5 m), and the secondary treatments consisted of three species (Prosopis juliflora, Acacia victoriae and A. farensiana) in form of pure and mixed (50%) in six levels. The measured characteristic was biomass (total, forage and woody). After seven years, the data were analyzed, using Duncan test and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results showed that the maximum total woody biomass achieved by P. juliflora in pure plantation in all three planting spaces. The maximum forage biomass belonged to A. victoriae with 1719.67 kg/ha in 3 m ×3 m planting space, and the least belonged to A. farnesiana with 191.33 kg/ha in 5×5 m spacing, respectively.