A checklist of halophytes and salt-tolerant plants of Iran: characteristics, distribution and potential economic values

The climate of Iran is mostly arid or semi-arid, except for the coasts of Caspian Sea and northern forests and western parts of the country. These climatic conditions, along with other environmental and human factors, have created vast salt lands in Iran, so that ۴۰.۳% of Iran's total area is comprised of salt-affected soils. According to the collection of plants from the saline habitats of Iran during the years ۱۹۹۰–۲۰۲۳, ۴۶۰ taxa belonging to ۱۹۳ genera and ۴۹ families were identified. The largest families rich in species were Amaranthaceae with ۱۵۳ species and ۴۱ genera, Poaceae with ۵۶ species and ۲۹ genera, and Tamaricaceae with ۳۴ species and two genera. The genera with the highest number of species are Tamarix with ۲۸ species, Suaeda with ۱۷ species, and Halothamnus with ۱۵ species. The life form spectrum reveals that the highest number of species is assigned to therophytes (۳۳.۹%). Phytogeographically, Irano-Turanian elements had the highest contribution in the flora of saline habitats of Iran with ۳۸.۹%. In terms of ecological type, xerophytes and xerohalophytes were the most abundant species in saline habitats with ۲۷.۲ and ۲۳.۳%, respectively. The succulent and salt-exclusion plants constituted ۳۲.۷% and ۲۱.۶% of the flora of these habitats, respectively. Among the halophyte and salt-tolerant species of Iran, ۶۷.۱% are of economic importance.

کلیدواژه ها:

Ecological classification ، ecomorphological classification ، geographical regions ، Plant Biodiversity ، saline habitats