Abstract
Endemism is one of the most important concepts in biogeography and is of high relevance for conservation biology. Nevertheless, our understanding of patterns of endemism is still limited in many regions of high biodiversity. This is also the case for Iran, which is rich in biodiversity and endemism, but there is no up-to-date account of diversity and distribution of its endemic species. In this study, a comprehensive list of all endemic vascular plant species of Iran, their taxonomic composition and their geographical distribution are presented. To this end, a total of 2,597 (sub)endemic vascular plant species of Iran were documented and their distribution in three phytogeographical regions, two biodiversity hotspots and five areas of endemism were analysed. The Irano-Turanian phytogeographical region harbours 88% of the Iranian endemics, the majority of which are restricted to the Irano-Anatolian biodiversity hotspot (84%). Nearly three quarters of the endemic species are restricted to mountain ranges. The rate of endemism increases along an elevational gradient, causing the alpine zone to harbour a disproportionally high number of endemics. With increasing pastoralism, urbanization, road construction and ongoing climate change, the risk of biodiversity loss in the Iranian mountains is very high, and these habitats need to be more effectively protected.
Highlights
The concept of endemism, which describes that a taxon is restricted in its distribution to a distinct area, is central in biogeography[1]
Despite its outstanding species richness, geographic extent, and evolutionary importance, and it has been the object of several studies on endemism, diversity and chorology of plants[17,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32], there is no updated and comprehensive work available summarizing the diversity and distribution of endemic vascular flora in Iran as a whole, in its phytogeographical regions, in biodiversity hotspots and in areas of endemism
Data on endemic genera need to be viewed with caution because of uncertainty in taxonomic circumscription, for example generic re-alignments in Brassicaceae[33,34,35,36] or addition of species to Parrotia[37]
Summary
The concept of endemism, which describes that a taxon is restricted in its distribution to a distinct area, is central in biogeography[1]. Iran is at the crossroads of three major phytogeographic regions (the Irano-Turanian, the Saharo-Sindian and the Euro-Siberian regions sensu White and Léonard18), covers parts of two global biodiversity hotspots, i.e. Irano-Anatolian and Caucasus[7], and harbours five areas of endemism[19] These areas of endemism are clearly associated with the major mountain ranges of the Iranian Plateau, harbouring the majority of the Iranian endemic flora[19]. Despite its outstanding species richness, geographic extent, and evolutionary importance, and it has been the object of several studies on endemism, diversity and chorology of plants[17,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32], there is no updated and comprehensive work available summarizing the diversity and distribution of endemic vascular flora in Iran as a whole, in its phytogeographical regions, in biodiversity hotspots and in areas of endemism. Documenting all vascular plant species endemic to Iran, we can (1) uncover the taxonomic composition of the Iranian endemic flora, (2) estimate the number of Iranian endemics per phytogeographic region, biodiversity hotspot and area of endemism, (3) assess the floristic connections between areas of endemism, (4) quantify the contribution of large taxonomic groups to each area of endemism, (5) record the elevational distribution of endemic species, and (6) construct life form spectra in the biogeographical regions of Iran
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