Abstract

Plants can be used for animal grazing, in wind erosion control, to reduce water flow rates, and increase evaporation and transpiration. In the NW of Iran (East Azerbaijan Province), rangelands previously used for animal grazing were changed to agricultural land use, in that this vegetation had unsuitable vegetation coverage. Althaea ficifolia was studied to determine its stem biomass characteristics. Data were collected using an accidental sampling methodology (1*1 m). In total, 6 plots were identified and 30 samples were collected for this research. The minimum, maximum and mean stem biomass for this plant, were found to be 23.1, 57.3 and 34.2 g, respectively.

Key words: Althaea ficifolia, Iran, rangeland, stem biomass.