Evaluation of Drought Impact on Tree and Shrub Species such as prosopisep, SalvadoraPersica, and CalligonumComosum in North of Iranshahr in Iran

Abstract

Iranshahr County with an area of about 30,000 km2 is one of the warm and arid regions of Iran. This region has faced a drought crisis in recent years that has caused irreparable damage to vegetation. Considering the necessity of awareness of the response of plant species to drought to preserve and restore the ecosystem, in this study, the effect of drought on the species of Prosopisesp, Salvadorapersica and Calligonumcomosum were investigated. In the present study, the drought trend and its periods were determined using the SPI index, and also the changes in the density of three plant species within plots of 50 × 50 m during two periods of wet and drought were investigated. Results showed that parameters of drought and species had a significant effect on plant density in all three species. In general, shrub species were more vulnerable than tree species and species with less root depth were deaden earlier in drought conditions than species with deeper roots.

Keywords

• wet year
• drought
• tree species
• iranshahr plain