Comparison on phenology of Artimisia sieberi in different steppe regions of Iran
Paper Details
Comparison on phenology of Artimisia sieberi in different steppe regions of Iran
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to investigate the changes of different phenological stages of Artimisia sieberi. It is a shrub species with an appropriate forage value, widely distributed in arid and semi-arid steppes and Irano-Turanian regions as a dominant species in range composition. It grows in a wide range of shallow to moderately deep loamy, sandy and loamy clay soils and tolerates harsh environmental conditions. In this research, different phenological stages of Artimisia sieberi were investigated in six sites of different steppe regions. Therefore, data of phenological stages were measured and recorded for 15-day and 7-day periods in vegetative stage and reproductive stage, respectively. Meteorological data including temperature and precipitation were recorded from the nearest synoptic station for each site. Results of comparison of different phenological stages in the study years showed that the vegetative growth of Ar.sieberi started from early March to early April, and it continued until July in the presence of moisture. Flowering stage started from early July and continued until late October. Seeding stage gradually started from early October and continued until late January. Winter dormancy started in late January and continued until early March. According to the results, this species had a long phenology which indicates its tolerance and resistance to environmental conditions. Consequently, a complete understanding on phenological stages of Ar.sieberi enables us to plan grazing management in order to determine the time of livestock entry into and exit from rangelands, optimal number of livestock for grazing and proper grazing systems.
Ansquer P, Al Haj Khaled R, Cruz P, Theau JP, Therond O, Duru M. 2009. Characterizing and predicting plant phenology in species-rich grasslands. Grass and Forage Science 64, 57–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2494.2008.00670.x
Bertiller MB, Beeskow AM, Coronato, F. 1991. Seasonal environmental variation and plant phenology in arid Patagonia (Argentina). Journal of Arid Environments 21, 1-11.
Ehsani A. 2007. Determination of habitat indicators to estimate the long term production of rangeland in steppe regions of Iran, case study: Markazi province. PhD thesis, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, 301 p.
Frank A, Hofmann L. 1989. Relationship among grazing management, growing degree days and morphological development for native grasses on the northern Great Plaints. Journal of Range Management 42(3).
Frank A, Sedivec K, Hofmann L. 1993. Determining grazing readiness for native and tame pastures. North Dakota State University, Extension Service.
Frank AB. 1996. Evaluating grass development for grazing management. Rangelands 18(3).
Humphreys MO, Eagles CF. 1988. Assessment of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) for breeding. Freezing tolerance. Euphytica 38, 75-84. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00024813
Jafari M, Ali Akbarzadeh E, Arzani H, Malekpour B. 2003. Investigation on some ecological characteristics of Artemisia sieberi in rangelands of Ardebil. Journal of Environmental Sciences 32, 10 p.
Keith TW. 2001. A method to incorporate phenology into land cover change analysis. Journal of Range Management 54, A1-A7.
Mahall BE, Thwing LK, Tyler CM. 2010. A quantitative comparison of two extremes in chaparral shrub phenology. Flora 205, 513–526. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.flora.2009.12.011
Menke JW, Trlica MJ. 1981. Carbohydrate reserves, phenology and growth cycles of nine Colorado range species. Journal of Range Management 34(3), 262-277.
Pearce RS, McDonald I. 1978. The independent assessment of frost hardiness of excised laminae, excised roots and trimmed tillers of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea). Journal of Applied Ecology 15, 885-895.
Sekhwela MBM, Yates DJ. 2007. A phenological study of dominant acacia tree species in areas with different rainfall regimes in the Kalahari of Botswana. Journal of Arid Environments 70, 1–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2006.12.006
Smart SM, Bunce RGH, Marrs R, LeDuc M, Firbank LG, Maskell LC, Scott WA, Thompson K, Walker KJ. 2005. Large-scale changes in the abundance of common higher plant species across Britain between 1978, 1990 and 1998 as a consequence of human activity. Tests of hypothesized changes in trait representation. Biological Conservation 124, 355–371. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2004.12.013
Sparks TH, Jeffree EP, Jeffree CE, 2000. An examination of the relationship between flowering times and temperature at the national scale using long-term phenological records from the UK. International Journal of Biometeorology 44, 82–87.
Thompson JN. 1990. Coevolution and the evolutionary genetics of interactions among plants and insects and pathogens. p 249-271 in: Pests, Pathogens, and Plant Communities, J.J. Burdon and S.R. Leather, eds. Oxford, Blackwell.
Ali Ehsani, Ehsan Zandi Esfahan, 2013. Comparison on phenology of Artimisia sieberi in different steppe regions of Iran. Int. J. Biosci., 3(8), 97-103.
Copyright © 2013 by the Authors. This article is an open access article and distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license.