A Survey of Floritic, Life Forms, and Chorology of Plants in Akhardaghe Watershed (North Khorasan province, Iran)

Aims: Floristic surveys are essential methods for discovering new herb species and protecting natural ecosystems. Because there has been no report on floristic surveys in the Akhardaghe region, the goals of this study were to determine the floristic list, life forms, chronological analysis, protected status, and endemic status of plant species in the Akhardaghe Watershed in Bojnourd. Materials Methods: Plant specimens from the study area were collected from 2016 to 2020 during active growth periods. The life form was determined using the Raunchier category, the endemic, rare, and endangered species of Iran were determined using the Red Data Book of Iran, and the chorology of species is based on the vegetative regions classified by Zohary and Takhtajan. Findings: A total of 346 plant species were identified in the floristic survey, belonging to 234 genera and 63 families. The Asteraceae, which had 54 species, and the Lamiaceae, 36 species, were the most influential families. In terms of life forms, hemicritophytes and therophytes had the highest percentage (61 percent). According to chorology, there was a high proportion of Iran-Turanian elements (55 percent). Furthermore, 37 endemic species were identified. There are 53 threatened plant species in this area, according to the IUCN. Conclusion: The finding of the current floristic research revealed that the vascular plant flora in the area is rich in species and contains numerous endemic, rare, and medicinal plants species. However, most plants’ species are severely threatened by human overutilization. Therefore, conservation and protection management policies must be applied to the Akhardaghe Watershed vegetation. Copyright© 2021, the Authors | Publishing Rights, ASPI. This open-access article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License which permits Share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and Adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material) under the Attribution-NonCommercial terms.