EVALUATING THE COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT FOR WILD PISTACHIO (Pistacia atlantica Desf.) SEEDLINGS IN THE CENTRAL FORESTS OF IRAN
ABSTRACT Wild pistachio (Pistacia atlantica Desf.) is an important tree species from dry forests of Eurasia. Seedlings must usually compete with other tree and shrub species in the dry harsh environment of mountain forests. In this study, we identified the main competitor species and evaluated some widely used competition indices, including distance-dependent and distance-independent ones, to quantify the relationship between the reference seedlings and their neighbors. The results indicated that the main competitors are mountain almond (Amygdalus scoparia Spach.), thorny almond (Amygdalus lycioides Spach.), montpellier maple (Acer monspessulanum subsp. cinerascens Boiss.) and other wild pistachio seedlings. We found that competition increases the height growth but reduces the diameter, basal area growth and crown development of wild pistachio seedlings. Some competition indices had a noticeable correlation with seedling growth, indicating that competition does exist. A combination of log-transformed indices could explain 85% of the diameter growth variations, 46% of height growth, 76% of basal area growth and 72% of crown area development with a good precision.
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| Format: | Digital revista |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Sociedade de Investigações Florestais
2018
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| Online Access: | http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-67622018000600206 |
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