Floristic study of Sheet Mountain in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, Iran

Plant biodiversity in central Zagros region is important from different aspects and has been in the research spotlight. In this study, flora of Mt. Sheet located in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, between Shahrekord and Saman cities, with 1.100 hectares and 2110 to 2660 meter elevation above sea level, is investigated. Results showed that the vegetation of this area consists of 204 species, 143 genera and 35 families. Asteraceae (31 species, 15.1 %), Brassicaceae (30 species, 14.7 %), Poaceae (19 species, 9.3 %) and Fabaceae (18 species, 8.8 %) were the most important families regarding the number of species. The largest genera were Astragalus (13 species), Euphorbia (8 species), Centraurea (7 species) and Scorzonera and Salvia (5 species each). Determination of Raunkiaer life-forms showed that 51 % of the species (104 species) were Hemicryptophytes, 28 % (57 species) were Therophytes, 15 % (30 species) were Cryptophytes, 5 % (11 species) were Chamaephytes and 1 % (2 species) Phanerophytes. 150 species (74 %) belonged to Irano-Turanian region, 19 species (9 %) to EuroSiberian-Mediterranean-IranoTuranian regions, 17 species (8 %) to EuroSiberian-IranoTuranian regions, and 17 species (8 %) to Mediterranean-IranoTuranian regions. According to available literature, 30 species were located in low risk class and one species as vulnerable. Conservation status of 173 species was reported as “Data Deficit” (class DD). Comparative evaluation of this flora and other 16 floras in this region showed the presence of 17 unreported species from this region, and the multivariate analyses of presence/absence data determined the relative position of this flora among other floras in this region and further divided the floras into two clusters. Our results showed also the application of multivariate analyses in floristic studies.