Investigation of chemical characteristics of aerial parts and litter in four range species of Astragalus albispinus, Artemisia aucheri, Artemisia sieberi and Stipa barbata

The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare chemical characteristics of aerial parts and litter of index species such as Astragalus albispinus, Artemisia aucheri, Artemisia sieberi and Stipa barbata for use in rangeland development projects. For this purpose, vegetation types of A. albispinus, A. aucheri, A. sieberi and S. barbata were selected in Poushtkouh rangelands of Yazd province. After recognizing the sites, samples of litter, aerial part of plants were taken using systematicrandom method. Results indicated that the C/N ratio of A. sieberi was higher than rest of the species. N and P values of S. barbata aerial parts were the lowest while A. sieberi and A. aucheri aerial parts had the highest values of N and P, respectively. Litter amount of understudy species did not had significant differences. In the aerial part of plant, C and C/N ratio of A. sieberi and P, K and N of A. aucheri are higher than other species. In case of litter, C, K and C/N of A. sieberi and N and P of A. aucheri showed higher values.