Effects of recreational activities on some stand parameters and biodiversity indicators in Fandoghlou forests, Northwestern Iran
Paper Details
Effects of recreational activities on some stand parameters and biodiversity indicators in Fandoghlou forests, Northwestern Iran
Abstract
In the current study, the impacts of different intensities of small-scale recreational activities, including no-impacted, slightly impacted, moderately impacted and severely impacted, were analyzed on some stand parameters and forest biodiversity indicators. The study was conducted in the Fandoghlou forest ecosystem in Northwestern Iran. Data was collected by a set of 120 circular plots with 5 m radius from both recreational and control areas. Number of trees, number of species, and canopy cover percentage were measured. In the biodiversity study, the Berger-Parker dominance index, Fisher alpha diversity index, Margalef richness index and Equitability J evenness index were used. According to the results obtained in this study, number of trees, number of species and amount of canopy cover on the recreational area was found considerably lower than that of control area. On the other hand, there were some crucial changes among different intensities of recreational activities regarding biodiversity indicators. Thus, studied forest parameters and biodiversity indicators in the recreational areas were negatively affected by recreational pressure.
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Farshad Keivan Behjou, Ehsan Zandi Esfahan, 2013. Effects of recreational activities on some stand parameters and biodiversity indicators in Fandoghlou forests, Northwestern Iran. J. Biodiv. Environ. Sci., 3(12), 13-19.
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