Investigation on Effects of Environmental and Soil Factors on Establishment of Vegetation Types (Case Study: Sabzdasht, Bafgh)

This research was conducted to investigate the relationships between soil(organic matter, potassium, phosphorous, sodium, fine gravel, soil texture, EC, lime,gypsum, nitrogen) and environmental (elevation, slope) factors with distribution ofvegetation types in rangelands of Sabzdasht, located in Bafgh, Yazd province at 2012. Forthis purpose, four vegetation types were selected as follows: Artemisia sieberi; Artemisiasieberi, Stipa barbata, Eurotia ceratoides; Dorema ammoniacum, Artemisia sieberi,Eurotia ceratoides; and Hammada salicornica. Minimal area was determined using nestedplots. Afterward, vegetation factors were measured and five soil profiles were dugrandomly in minimal area. In each profile, data for depths of 0-10 and 10-80 cm wererecorded. Principal component analysis was applied to analyze the data. Results showedthat soil texture, potassium, phosphorous, EC and lime had the most impact on variationand distribution of vegetation types.