DOI: 10.5061/dryad.n5tb2rc2c
title: Effects of forest roads on vegetation biodiversity and soil characteristics in Hyrcanian forests

description: As one of the main components of forest operations and sustainable
 management, forest roads affect the vegetation communities around the
 road. In this study, the effects of the edge of forest roads were
 investigated to understand the changes caused by the network of forest
 roads on the Hyrcanian forest ecosystem in northern Iran. In order to
 investigate the impact of forest roads on the biodiversity of herbaceous
 species, tree regeneration and lichen. Sampling was used at different
 distances from the road in two control and harvested areas. The effects of
 roads on vegetation diversity in relation to soil characteristics were
 also investigated. The results showed that harvesting caused the
 destruction and reduction of tree regeneration, herbaceous and lichen, but
 the physical and chemical properties of the soil were not affected. The
 distance from the road has affected the diversity and richness of
 herbaceous and lichen, tree regenaration and all physical and chemical
 characteristics of the soil (except C). There was a significant
 correlation between most of the physical and chemical properties of the
 soil with the regeneration of trees and herbaceous species. Also, most of
 the physical and chemical properties of soil have increased with
 increasing distance from the road. Results showed that the buffering
 effect of the roadside in these forests up to a distance of 45 meters had
 an effect on biodiversity and richness. Also, the results of this study
 are consistent with the fact that the road affects the biodiversity and
 properties of the forest soil. 
description: In this study, the effects of the edge of forest roads were
 investigated to understand the changes caused by the network of forest
 roads on the Hyrcanian forest ecosystem in northern Iran. Field and
 laboratory data have been used for statistics and collection of vegetation
 and soil data. A 120-meter buffer was created on the side of the
 excavation shoulder for inventory and collection of vegetation and soil
 data. Then this buffer was divided into distances D0 (side of the road),
 D15 (15 meters from the roadside), D45 (45 meters from the roadside), D75
 (75 meters from the road side), and D105 (105 meters from the roadside).
 The length of the sampling line to the end of the selected road was
 determined on the map. Sampling lines were located with a width distance
 of 50 meters in the 2 harvesting and control forests. Then, perpendicular
 to the road, square macro-plots with an area of 400
 m<sup>2</sup> were located on these roads. Inside each
 macroplot, 4 rectangular microplots with an area of 4
 m<sup>2</sup> were created to collect and record the type of
 plant species, abundance of herbaceous cover, and regeneration and
 collection of soil samples. Identification of plant species was done based
 on common methods and using identification keys. To collect lichen
 samples, frames with dimensions of 40 * 60 cm were prepared. Sampling was
 carried out from a height of 1.30 meters. The Corticolous lichen samples
 were identified by reliable sources of lichenology and using laboratory
 studies and existing identification keys. The physiochemical properties of
 the soil were investigated at the sampling site and in the laboratory
 based on the instructions. Parameters of soil including of soil moisture
 percentage (SM), wet weight (WW), dry weight (WD), bulk density (BD),
 total porosity (TP%), soil penetration resistance (PR), C%, N%, P, K, Ca,
 Mg were measured. In the next step, Shannon-Wiener biodiversity index,
 Margalf richness index and Pielou evenness index of herbaceous cover, tree
 regeneration and lichen were obtained based on calculations. ANOVA
 analysis was used to compare the value of each biodiversity index at
 different distances from the road. The same test was used to investigate
 the effect of distance from the road on soil properties. Pearson
 correlation analysis was used to investigate the relationship between soil
 parameters and the abundance of tree regeneration, harbaceous and lichens.
 PCA analysis was used to investigate the relationship between vegetation
 and soil physical and chemical properties. 
description: # Effects of forest roads on vegetation biodiversity and soil
 characteristics in Hyrcanian forests In this study, the ecological effects
 of the road on some physical and chemical properties of the soil, and the
 biodiversity of plants (herbaceous cover, tree regeneration and lichen)
 with Shannon-Wiener diversity index, Margalf's richness index and
 uniformity index Pielou's evenness index was investigated in
 Hyrcanian forests in northern Iran. The dataset file includes the
 following: ### 1- Information on the physical and chemical properties of
 the soil (data soil file) The parameters include soil moisture percentage
 (%SM), bulk density (BD) (g/cm<sup>3</sup>), total porosity
 (TP%), Soil penetration resistance (PR) (Megapascal), Soil acidity (pH)
 (H2O 1:2.5), C%, N%, P: soil phosphorus (mg kg<sup>-1</sup>),
 K: potassium (mg kg<sup>-1</sup>), Ca: calcium (mg
 kg<sup>-1</sup>) and Mg: magnesium (mg
 kg<sup>-1</sup>) was taken. This information was obtained from
 sampling in plots along the line of transects at different distances from
 the road edge (0, 45, 75 and 105 meters) in two controlled and harvested
 areas. The samples were transferred to the laboratory and the values of
 the parameters were obtained based on the instructions. Soil data was
 entered into SPSS software (Ver 21), and statistical calculations were
 performed in it. The differences in the physical and chemical properties
 of the soil at different distances from the road and in both the harvested
 and control areas were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA)
 and Tukey's test (Table 1 in the article). Pearson's correlation
 analysis was used to investigate the relationship between soil parameters
 and the abundance of tree regeneration, herbaceous cover and lichens
 (Figure 4 in the article). PCA analysis and PC-ORD software were used to
 investigate the relationship between vegetation biodiversity indices and
 soil physical and chemical properties (Figure 5 in the article). ### 2-
 Biodiversity of plants (herbaceous cover, tree regeneration and lichen)
 (data biodiversity file) Information and numbers include Shannon's
 biodiversity index, Margalf's richness index, and Pielou's
 evenness index of herbaceous cover, tree regeneration, and lichen. This
 information was obtained from sampling in plots along the line of
 transects at different distances from the road edge (0, 45, 75 and 105
 meters) in two controlled and harvested areas. Biodiversity indices were
 calculated with PAST software. Data was entered in Excel and SPSS
 environment. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey's test
 were used to compare the value of each biodiversity index at different
 distances from the road in harvested and control areas. The results are
 shown in Figures 2 and 3 in the article. ### 3- Abundance and names of
 tree regeneration species, herbaceous cover and lichen (data Abundance
 species file) The names and information of the frequency and dominance of
 tree regeneration species (Table 1), herbaceous cover (Table 2), and
 lichen (Table 3) in the two regions were harvested and controlled. This
 information was also obtained from sampling in the plots at different
 distances from the road edge (0, 45, 75 and 105 meters) in two areas of
 harvested and controlled. After analyzing the information in Excel and
 SPSS software, the summary of the information is presented in the form of
 tables 1, 2 and 3 in the Appendix file. The results showed that harvesting
 caused the destruction and reduction of tree, herbaceous and lichen
 regeneration, but the physical and chemical properties of the soil were
 not affected. The distance from the road has affected the diversity and
 richness of herbaceous and lichen, tree regeneration and all physical and
 chemical characteristics of the soil (except C). There was a significant
 correlation between most of the physical and chemical properties of the
 soil with the regeneration of trees and herbaceous species. Also, most of
 the physical and chemical properties of soil have increased with
 increasing distance from the road. Results showed that the buffering
 effect of the roadside in these forests up to a distance of 45 meters had
 an effect on diversity and richness. Also, the results of this study are
 consistent with the fact that the road affects the biodiversity and
 properties of the forest soil. <br>