Comparing Artemisia sieberi Besser and Artemisia scoparia Waldst and Kit. Elemental Content Grown on Crusted and Uncrusted Soils

Abstract

Biological soil crusts occur as assemblage of lichens, mosses, liverworts, and cyanobacteria. Lichens and mosses are the two important components of biological soil crusts, especially in arid and semiarid rangeland environments, where vascular plants vegetation is poor. Biological soil crusts contribute to a variety of ecological functions. The current study was carried out to compare two native shrubs elemental content. For this purpose, aerial parts of two native annual and perennial shrubs, Artemisia scoparia and A. sieberi, were collected from crusted and uncrusted soils in Qara Qir rangelands, next to Iran - Turkmenistan border line. N, P, K, Zn and Fe of the samples were measured. Factorial experiment based on Completely Randomized Design (CRD) was used for data analysis. Results showed that N, Fe and Zn content of samples collected from crusted and uncrusted sites were significantly different. Different treatments showed different behavior for each of mentioned elements. A. scoparia related to crusted and uncrusted soils contained the highest and lowest nitrogen percent, respectively. Zinc of A. sieberi and A. scoparia both collected from crusted site showed the greatest and lowest amount, respectively. This status was true for Fe changes in understudy treatments, too.