Botany
Iran supports some 7.000 plant species, of which about 20% are endemics. Most
endemics are founded in mountains; centers of endemism include the peaks of the
Alborz massifs, solitary peaks in the central plain, the mountain ridges south
of Kashan and Yazd, and to the north and south of Kerman. The central plateau is
species-poor. Lying as a bridge between four major plants geographical regions (Irano-Turanian,
Euro-Siberian, Saharo-Arabian and Sudanian), Iran is one of the largest
speciation centers of Holarctic desert flora, with Irano-Turanian plants
predominating.
Approximately 60% of the country is classified as desert and
semi-desert. Hot desert in the south–east supports sparese open scrub of Acacai,
Zizphus and Prosopis on rocky slops; there are herbaceous communities with
Atriplex and Heliotroium in sandy depressions, and steppes and deserts with
Artemisia and Astragalus occur over most of the center and east of the country.
There are up to 3.75 million ha of woodland, with dry, deciduous forests in the
west, Pistacia-Amygdalus steppe forest in the south and west, Juniperus steppe
woodland in the north, and broad-leaved temperate forest with Alnus, Quercus,
fagus and Carpinus in the north up to 2.500 m, as well as c.8.900 ha of
Avicennia mangrove along the Gulf coast. Between 1967 and 1980, 12.000 ha of
forest plantation had been established and almost 70.000 ha of desert lands
planted or seeded. Up to 11.5% of the land area is under cultivation, although
more than half of the country is classified as uncultivable.
Botany Tour / Collecting and Observations
18 days - 17 nights
Tour Code: PGT 130
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Day 1
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Arrival Tehran, Transfer to
Hotel, P.M. city tour of
Tehran.
O/N Hotel.
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Day 2
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Hike in canyon north of
Tehran
with collecting opportunities.
O/N Hotel.
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Day 3
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Field trip to Alamut area of Alborz Mountains
with opportunities for collecting and observations of traditional
agricultural practices.
O/N Local House.
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Day 4
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All-day return from Alamut area, late at night flight to Mashhad.
O/N Hotel.
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Day 5
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Travel to Neishabour for tourist site with some collecting
opportunities en route.
O/N Hotel.
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Day 6
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Field trip to wild pistachio grove overlooking Turkmenistan
border with collecting opportunities en route, evening tour of AQR
Central Library and museum.
O/N Hotel.
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Day 7
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All-day drive from Mashhad to
Bobalsar with brief stops for botanizes en route.
O/N Hotel
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Day 8
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Field trip to Hyrcanian forest, with significant bryophyte
collecting.
O/N Hotel.
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Day 9
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Field trip to Miankaleh Wildlife Refuge on
Caspian Sea.
O/N Hotel.
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Day 10
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Drive from Babolsar to Tehran
with collecting opportunities in high Alborz Mountains.
O/N Hotel.
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Day 11
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Recuperation and personal business in Tehran.
O/N Hotel.
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Day 12
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Fly to Tabriz,
field trip to Kavandan (geologically significant village) with
limited collecting opportunities.
O/N Hotel.
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Day 13
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Morning, tour of herbarium and introduction to Flora of
Azerbaijan Province project, afternoon, fly to Esfahan, visit
tourist sites.
O/N Hotel.
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Day 14
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Primarily personal time, but including 1hour tour of natural
history museum with botanical display, evening flight to Shiraz.
O/N Hotel.
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Day 15
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Tour of herbarium and natural history collections, brief tour
of Eram
Botanical Garden,
afternoon, visit tourist sites including Persepolis.
O/N Hotel.
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Day 16
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All-day field trip to Bakhtegan
Lake to look for Hypericopis,
evening flight to Tehran.
O/N Hotel.
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Day 17
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Personal business in
Tehran.
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Day 18
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Morning: visit Research Institute of Forest & Rangelands
(between Tehran and Karaj), meet with research staff of botany
division, introduction to Flora of Iran project, tour herbarium,
tour botanical garden, afternoon: personal business, late at night
departure to Destination.
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