A survey of agrobiodiversity in Gachsaran county and influence of climatic factors

بوم شناسی کشاورزی

Article 2, Volume 2, Issue 1 - Serial Number 3, March 2010, Pages 1-11   

Document Type: Scientific - Research

DOI: 10.22067/jag.v2i1.7591

Authors

Fakhrodin Hashemi Shadegani¹; Kouros Khoshbakht²; Abdolmajid Mahdavi Damghani^{* 2}; Hadi Veisi²; Hooman Liaghati²

¹Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

²Department of Agroecology, Environmental Sciences Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Iran

Abstract

Biodiversity is an important component in sustainability assessment of agroecosystems. Along with increasing or decreasing of biodiversity, ecosystem services in agroecosystems will be varied. Agricultural experts take into account different factors which affect agroecosystems variation. In this study, farming systems of two areas including a protected mountainous area and also a plain – hilly area in southwestern Iran from agrobiodiversity aspects are studied. In case of field crops species richness, plain – hilly area (average 4.35 versus 3.25 in mountainous area) and in horticultural systems, mountainous protected area (average 2.76 versus 0.9 species in plain area) had better situations. Shannon – Weiner index had the scores range from 1.25 to 1.87 in different villages which was harmonious with former estimations in Iran. Simple regression showed that mean horticultural species richness raised significantly with increasing altitudes, however in other systems, no significant trend were observed. It seems that in mountainous areas, investment on sustainable rural livelihood should be concentrated on gardening development. Homegardens species richness reduced significantly, in villages thar were far from urban centers. Results showed that there is significant and positive correlation between agronomic and horticultural systems regarding species richness and relative household income

Keywords

Agroecosystems; Income; Protected areas; Species richness; Sustainability

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