Determining plant species diversity of Scots pine stands in the Bolu Aladağ region of Türkiye

Abstract

This study aims to determine how plant diversity changes at the alpha and gamma levels depending on stand type. Also, it tries to understand how plant diversity changes temporally and with relation to aspects during a given vegetation period. Sample areas were selected from pure Scots Pine stands with full canopy cover (70 - 100 %) and in different development stages (a, b, c, d) spread out within the Bolu Aladağ region of Türkiye. Field studies were carried out in 2016 from June-September. Sample stands were selected to cover two main aspects, north and south. The study was carried out by analyzing two repetitive and 10 quadrate samples in each stand. A total of 640 quadrate samples were analyzed, and the different plants were counted. In the study area, a total of 160 taxa were identified at the DUOF Herbarium. It was determined that while the stand type did not have a significant effect on taxon diversity, the effect of aspect and observation period was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Shannon index value was between 3.13 and 3.72 among the stands’ different development stages, with the highest values found in the young stands. Diversity was higher on Northern aspects than Southern and rose and fell throughout the observation period with the highest values in June and August. Interestingly, while there was no significant effect of stand development stages on taxon diversity, a significant but low correlation has been found between stand diameter and evenness.