JOURNAL OF TAXONOMY AND BIOSISTEMATICS
Year:2011 | Volume:2 | Issue:5|Papers Count:7

Zangelanlo watershed is located in Northeast of Iran, 28 km of Southeast of Daregaz between 37o13' to 37o27' north latitude and 59o8' to 59o35' east longitude. The surface area of the region is approximately 2482 ha. This area is mountainous with mean annual precipitation of about 412.7 mm. The mean maximum temperature is 20.8oC in August and minimum temperature is -9oC in January. The flora of the area was studied and life forms and chorotypes of the plants were identified. In this research, 64 families, 238 genera and 286 species were identified among which 8 species were endemic to Iran. The largest plant family was Asteraceae with 40 genera and 51 species and the largest genus was Astragalus of Fabaceae with 7 species. Hemicryptophytes, therophytes and cryptophytes were the most frequent life forms 114 species (39.87%), 89 species (31.12%) and 44 species (15.38%), respectively. High percentage of Hemicryptophytes indicated that the area had a cold mountain climate. Irano –Turanian plants were the most frequent chorotype of the area with 146 species (51.05%).

This research was done to recognize different stomata types and to determine its position in comparison with epidermal cells in the genus Tilia. The results showed that the length, width and area of stomata had significant differences in the studied populations, while the density of stomata did not show any significant difference. The maximum and minimum stomata area were related to Loveh (the east of Hyrcanian forest) and Chamestan populations, respectively.Correlation analysis showed positive correlation between longitude and size of stomata, specially stomata area, and also negative correlation between latitude and size of stomata.Discriminate analysis indicated 60 percent correspondence between stomata characters and ecological condition of populations. Four stomata types of stomata including, Anisocytic, Parasitic, Anemositic and Anemositic with undulate wall identified for the Genus Tilia in hyrcanian forest. Also, regarding position of stomata in comparison with epidermal cells. Three types of stomata were recognized. Type1, stomata located in lower than epidermal cell, found in high altitude populations (>2000 m a.s.l). Type2, stomata located in upper than epidermal cell, found in eastern populations of hyrcanian forest (Loveh populations). Type3, stomata located as level as the epidermal cell, observed in middle altitude populations (including Valikbon, Vaz and Chamestan).

Genetic diversity of Vimba vimba persa was investigated using microsatellite markers from two regions of the Iranian coastline of southern Caspian sea (Havigh River in Guilan province, GorganRoud River in Golestan province). The purpose of this research was the study of Vimba vimba persa's possible populations related to genetic diversity and population structure in the Caspian sea and introducing the useful genetic markers. To investigate the genetic structure of Vimba vimba persa populations, we sampled 50 specimens of Vimba vimba persacaught by beach seine from GorganRoud River in Golestan Province (30 specimens) and Havigh River in the Guilan Province (20 specimens). Genomic DNA was extracted from fin tissue by phenol-Chlorophorm method and PCR reaction was accomplished with 17 microsatellite primers 10 of which were amplified with reasonable polymorphism. Means of alleles were on 6.75 averages, observed and expected heterozygosity averages were 0.817 and 0.735, respectively. Most cases, significantly deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (p≤0.01). According to the Fst values, there are two significant populations of Vimba vimba persa in the eastern and western coasts of the Caspian Sea which restocking of these species should be considered. Based on the survey revealed, since the population of this species is decreasing with its high genetic diversity, the Caspian Vimba had an enormous diversity in the past.

Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) is regarded as one of the economically important bony fish species in south Caspian Sea. In recent decades, stock rebuilding programs of common carp were carried out by artificial propagation of wild caught brood stocks that might disturb genetic diversity. In this study, 56 fish were collected from Gharahsu and Anzali regions (28 samples in each region) to investigate the populations' structure. DNA were extracted by phenol-chloroform method and investigated for 8 microsatellite loci. Results showed that the range of allel number, expected and observed heterozygosity, were 11-18, 0.90 and 1.00, respectively. The analyses of molecular variance showed high genetic diversity (99%) within populations. The Fst value was 0.017 which indicates the low genetic differentiation between the Gharahsu and Anzali populations that could be because of the natural migration of fish.13 out of 16 investigated tests showed significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (p<0.05), mostly due to the excess of heterozygosity. UPGMA cluster analysis based on Nei genetic distance showed there are two different populations inhabited in these regions. The results could be of interest for management and conservation programs of this valuable species in the Caspian Sea.

Faunal study of Odonata in Fars province began, in 1380 (2002) for the first time at the department of biology, Shiraz University, This article presents a part of the results of this study, which is related to their adult stage.According to accessible references, there was no other detailed study on this group of insects until this project started. In addition to some specimens which had been collected and kept at the Insect Collection of biology department, Shiraz University (CBSU), during the past few years, several new collections of Odonata were also added to this study from different habitats of the province.A total of 650 adults, 264 of the suborder Anisoptera (dragonfly) and 386 of the suborder Zygoptera (damselfly) were collected and identified during one-year sampling. Among 22 identified species, 15 species belonged to Anisoptera and 7 to Zygoptera. Nine species were reported from Fars province for the first time. Line drawings, photos and distribution maps of the species were prepared separately, some of them are presented in here as a sample.

Chahchaheh pistacia forest is located in northeastern of Khorassan-e Razavi province, between 36o35' to 36o36' northern latitudes and 60o21' to 60o23' eastern longitudes, with an area around 3000 hectares. The altitude of the area ranges from 450 to 1000 m, the mean annual rainfall is 254.8 mm and the mean annual temperature is 17.9oC. Based on collection of about 1536 specimens, a total number of 248 plant species and subspecies were identified from this area belonging to 159 genera and 36 plant families. The largest families were Asteraceae, with 47 species, Poaceae, with 30 species, Fabaceae, with 24 species, and Brassicaceae, with 23 species. The most diverse genera included Astragalus, Cousinia (8 species), and Alyssum, Bromus, Polygonum, Centaurea (5 species). Therophytes, constituting 55.6% of the biological types, were dominant, followed by hemicryptophytes and chamephytes with 26.4% and 9.2%, respectively. From the standpoint of vegetation types, 56.4% of the chorotypes belong to Irano-Turanian vegetative elements and the rest were related to one, two, three or various other vegetation regions or had a global distribution.Among the distributed species, six species were endemic to Iran which composed about 2.41% of the total number of species and 0.33% of the total number of Iran endemic species.

The Mazibon and Sibon forests with the area of approximately 15000 hectars are located in 60 kilometers south of Ramsar and between 300-2300 m a.s.l. The occurrence of a variety of riverine, forest, rangeland and ecotone ecosystems within the area provide well stablished habitats for different plants and animals. In orther to preserve biodiversity, this area was designated as no-hunting area since 2002. The current study was conducted during 2009 and 2010. Flora of Mazibon and Sibon was studied along a transect from lowland to upper mountain. Three plots were made in each 100 m elevation band thus the floristic data were collected 63 plots. Totally 339 plant taxa belonging to 235 genera and 80 families were identified in the area. The Dicots with 268 taxa were the richest group of flora followed by monocots with 58 taxa, Pteridophytes with 11 taxa and Gymnosperms with 2 taxa. The variation of proportion of different life forms across the four defined altitudinal belts was surveyd. Hemicryptophytes were the dominant life form and comprised 40% of the flora.Endemism rate among 339 taxa was 4.4% (n=15 taxa). The largest proportion of the flora is related to Euro-Sibirian region (23.8%) followed by Pluriregional elements (19.9%), Euro-Sibirian /Irano-Turanian (19.3%), Euro-Sibirian/Irano-Turanian/Mediterranean (16.6%).