TITLE:
Investigating the Impact of Climate Changes on Qualitative and Quantitative Growth of Oak Trees (Case Study: Central Zagros)
AUTHORS:
Morteza Habibi
KEYWORDS:
Iranian Oak, Coppicing, Central Zagros, Diameter Growth, Slope, Elevation, Temperature, Rainfall, Haze
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Ecology,
Vol.6 No.6,
May
19,
2016
ABSTRACT: The present
study is an attempt to investigate the impact of climate changes on
quantitative and qualitative growth of oak trees in central Zagros region.
After we selected the study region, 35 discs were taken from trees felled in
each height class (e.g. 1400 - 1600, 1600 - 1800, 1800 - 2000 m above the sea
level). We used climate index spi. For the data analysis, we employed SPSS
software and inferential statistics tests of Kolmogroff Smirnov and the one-way
ANOVA. During the recent 15 years, rainfall has shown a decreasing trend and
amount of haze and frequency of occurring haze has been increased. The ANOVA
results indicated that diameter growth of trees in three height classes
revealed a significant difference. The average annual diameter growth in the
first, second and third classes were 1.8 mm, 2.5 mm, and 2.2 mm, respectively.
Additionally, the results indicated that hillsides and slope aspect has a
statistically meaningful effect on the size of canopy area, basal area and
number per hectare. Several different studies have reported that during the recent
15 years, qualitative and quantitative growth of central Zagros oak trees
strongly correlate with climate parameters in the three habitats.