@article{Jankju_Noedoost_2024, title={Species Richness, Evenness and Plant Community Stability 22 Years after Ploughing a Semiarid Rangeland}, volume={4}, url={https://oiccpress.com/journal-of-rangeland-science/article/species-richness-evenness-and-plant-community-stability-22-years-after-ploughing-a-semiarid-rangeland/}, abstractNote={Rangeland ploughing and cultivation using dry land farming crops may be a major reason for the destruction of natural resources in the semiarid and sub-humid regions which may significantly change the composition and reduce the stability of the affected communities. In present research, an abandoned ploughed site was compared with a nearby reference site in the semiarid rangelands of Baharkish, Quchan, Iran in spring and summer of 2010. Frequency and canopy cover of all plant species were recorded within 40 quadrates of 1m2 area. Simpson, Shannon-Weiner, Hill and Macintosh indices for biodiversity, Margalof and Menhening for richness and Camargo, Simpson, Modified Nee, Smith and Wilson for evenness were used. Floristic composition, plant life forms, and important value of major plant species were compared with respect to the sites. Land ploughing and subsequent abandonment had increased total number of plant species (richness) but decreased the species heterogeneity (evenness). It resulted to non-significant differences in species diversity between the ploughed and reference sites. Ploughing had increased (8%) the important values of respruting plant species. Therefore, patchy distribution of clonal plants had reduced species evenness within the abandoned site. Furthermore, there were some increases in number of therophytes (100%) but hemicryptophytes (24%), chamaephyte (33%) and phanerophyte (100%) species were reduced in the abandoned site. In conclusion, lower evenness and high proportion of annual plants should make the abandoned site more fragile and sensitive against the future environmental fluctuations.}, number={2}, journal={Journal of Rangeland Science}, publisher={OICC Press}, author={Jankju, Mohammad and Noedoost, Fariba}, year={2024}, month={Jan.}, keywords={Biodiversity, Vegetation dynamics, Disturbance, Abandoned field, Important value.} }