نشریه تاکسونومی و بیوسیستماتیک
سال دهم شماره 1 (پیاپی 34، بهار 1397)

Echinops is one of the largest genera of the family Asteraceae in Iran which approximately distributed in all parts of country. Most species of genus are endemic to Iran and occurs exclusively in a very small area. Members of the genus are characterized by single-flowered capitula arranged into secondary inflorescences appearing as globose heads, which are easily distinguished from other genera of the family Asteraceae. In spite of taxonomic and phylogenetic studies, there are a few nomenclature studies regarding the genus Echinops. This research is the result of exact checking of species Echinops with International Code of Nomenclature. It was established that Echinops kurdicus Boiss. and Hausskn. (1875) is an illegitimate name as a later homonym of Echinops kurdicus Bunge (1863). So the name Echinops rahiminejadii Negaresh nom nov. is proposed here as a replacement name for Echinops kurdicus Boiss. and Hausskn. In addition, an image of the holotype is provided.

Rumex spp. is one of the most valuable medicinal plants. This genus has about 200 species scattered in most parts of the world. Iran is considered as one of the distribution points of this plant, 23 species of this genus have been reported in different regions of Iran. The genetic diversity among 10 accessions of Rumex spp., was analyzed in this paper using ISSR markers. PCR analysis was performed on genomic DNA using 15 ISSR primers. ISSR primers were screened and yielded to the total of 174 amplified products, 146 bands (85.31%) of which were polymorphic. The results showed that polymorphism information content (PIC) was 0.50. UBC826 primer had the highest PIC value of 0.50 and P7 primer had the lowest PIC value of 0.28. Also, the Rp values were 13.6, 12.4 and 12.2 for UBC833, IS12 and UBC810 primers, respectively. Cluster analysis based on Jacquard’s similarity coefficient using Unweight Pair Group Method with Arithmetic mean (UPGMA) indicated wide range of diversity across the studied accessions. Cluster analysis at distance of about 0.47 for ecotypes divided in 3 main groups. These results showed that great diversities exist in both of genetic and stomata structure in the ecotypes. Therefore, the possibility of using molecular data for varietal identification is a promising tool for applying in future breeding programs in the genus Rumex.

Rana macrocnemis, the Caucasian brown frog, is found in northwest and west Iran. Despite their vast distribution range, the Iranian populations of the brown frogs, with the exception of a limited number, have not been considered in studies. In this study, we used a broad sampling of these frogs across their distribution range to assess their morphological variation and structure of populations. In order to investigate the morphological variation in Caucasian brown frog, 13 morphological characters in more than 85 specimens from various regions of Iran were studied. Statistical significance for a hypothesis of sexual dimorphism of the frogs was tested using ANOVA to compare difference of means of each character between sexes and applying a multivariate analysis of variances (MANOVA) to compare vectors of means of the two sexes. Patterns of phenetic relationships between local populations were investigated by One-way ANOVA, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA) and clustering analyses with UPGMA algorithm. Results of ANOVA between sexes in R. macrocnemis showed statistical significance for six characters and Multivariate analysis of variances indicated difference between mean vectors of the males and females (P≤ 0.05). In the intraspecific level, based on morphometric characters, there are at least two main populations of R. macrocnemis in the northern Iran: a northern group (Tabriz, Ardebil) and a southern group (Lorestan, Kermanshah, Arak, Hamadan, Urmia, Kordestan and Esfahan).

Phytoplanktons are primary producers in aquatic ecosystems, and form part of the basis of the food webs in these ecosystems. Yamchi dam was constructed on Balikhlu River (northwest of Iran). Considering that there was no study of phytoplankton in Yamchi dam, While phytoplanktons are important in understanding the biological function of lakes and detect changes in them, this investigation was carried out to study the floristic composition of phytoplanktons in this lake. In total, 62 Phytoplankton taxa were identified. These belong to 50 genera, 39 families and 9 classes of the algae. Among classes identified in this study, most species were designated to 3 classes: Bacillariophyceae with 23 sp. Chlorophyceae with 12 sp. and Cyanophyceae with 10 sp. Bacillariaceae and Scenedesmaceae each with 6 sp. are the largest families and Nitaschia with 4 sp. is the largest genus identified in the lake, respectively. In the present study, the highest value of diversity was observed in late spring and summer months, which was due to the conditions suitable for growth and co-occurrence of green algae and cyanobacteria, rather than the good quality of water in these months. The lowest values of the diversity index were calculated in the autumn, that the growth condition was suitable for diatoms, with the dominant species of Stephanodiscus neostraea.

The aim of this study was to investigate the structure of flora composition in the elevation profile of 937-2162m a.s.l. over 29 Km in the QezelOzan to the altitudes of Kosar county rangelands. Eight habitats and in each three 100 to 500m transects with 10 plots varied from 1 to 25 m2 were selected. Species were collected from the plots, and life forms, growth types and their geographical distribution and conservation were determined. Results show that 32 families, 101 genera and 146 species are distrbuted at the selected areas. Asteraceae families with 39 species (27%), Poaceae with 18 species (13%), Fabaceae with 13 species (9%), Astragalus with 8 species (48.5%) and Centaurea with 5 species (42.3%) are the most important elements of the flora. Spermatophyta with 1 species, angiospermae dicotyledoneae with 27 families, 82 genera and 124 species, and angiospermae monocotyledoneae have 4 families, 18 genera and 21 species. Respectively, the highest and lowest ratio of the family to the genera is at 1583-1683m 1:3.27 and 2139-2162m 1:1.92; the ratio of the family to the species is at 1583-1683m 1:3.91 and 1635-1677m 1:2.11; and ratio of the genera to the species is at 1568-1609m 1:1.30 and 937-965m 1:1.03. For bs with 105 species (72%) is the dominant growth type and trophytes with 62 species (43%) is the most abundant life form. Sixty nine species (47%) belong to the Iranian-Turanian region. Also, 14 native species of Iran, 8 low risk species and 2 vulnerable species are distributed at the study area.

Biodiversity study in northern Zagros is important in many aspects and provides appropriate strategies for determining the potential of species and conservation status of species, and is also an effective factor in assessing and evaluating the area for ecological capability. Mirabad protected area in the Piranshahr-Sardasht axis is between the latitudes of 36° 23' and 36° 31' north, and the lengths 45° 15' and 45° 25', with an area of 11435ha, in the elevation range 1177-2068 m above sea level. The average rainfall and annual temperature of the area in the data of twenty years are 696 mm and 12.3°C, respectively. By distributing random samples of Whitaker multi-size units in different plant types in 2017, 447 plant species were identified from 81 families and 301 genera. The largest families in terms of species richness and genus were Asteraceae (57 species), Poaceae (48 species), Fabaceae (37 species), Lamiaceae (24 species), Asteraceae families with 35, Poaceae with 32, Apiaceae with 21, and Brassicaceae were with 19 genera. Hemi cryptophytes with 35.3%, Throphytes with 28.2%, Geophytes with 14.4% and Phanerophytes with 13%, of the life forms of the region were recorded. In terms of chorology, 210 species (47%) belong to the Iran-Turan zone. According to the IUCN criteria in the region, there were 33 species in lower risks (LR), 23 species data deficient (DD), 7 species vulnerable (VU), and one species endangered (EN) in this protected area. Also, there are 14 rare species and 167 medicinal species.