Article,
Assessment of ecological and phenological traits of Prangos ferulacea (case study Barzok mountains and Naragh, Kashan, Iran)
Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences (JBES), Vol. 6 (No. 5): p. 162-170 (May 2015)
Abstract
In order to study ecological and phenological traits of Prangos ferulacea as an important medicinal plant, this research was conducted in Barzok Mountains and Naragh in Esfahan province, Iran. Random samples of this plant were taken and their vegetation habitat conditions and their growth characteristics including height of collar leaves, height of the flower stem, flower stem number and forage production were recorded and categorized. Physical and chemical soil characteristics (soil texture, acidity, soil Electrical Conductivity (EC), absorbable phosphorus and potassium, and the percent of organic carbon) were examined by monthly interval at a soil depth of 30 cm from March to September. All characteristics were analyzed using factorial experiment with two factors of sites and months. Results showed that this species grow quite satisfactorily in the foothills elevation of 2750 m to 3540 m above sea level as long as it received more than 200 mm annual precipitation. The soil EC was less than 1 ds/m and acidity ranged from 7.5 to 7.8. Canopy cover in Naragh and Barzok were 15.7% and 6.1%, respectively. Results showed that growth indices as the height of collar leaves and forage production were high at the Barzok sites, while the height of flower stem was important in Naragh. For phenological process, the results indicated that plant germination started from the end of March-April and continued to the end of summer; flowering started from May-June; seeding completed in June-July and dried out completely by the end of summer. Moreover, in winter, the plants were dormant.
