Diversity centers as well as conservation priorities of the genus Onosma L. (Boraginaceae) in Iran

Abstract

Conservation of biological diversity is one of the most important issues in conservation biology, so a wide range of quantitative spatial methods have been used to determine the biodiversity hotspots and the conservation priority areas. The main aims of the present study are determining the areas of endemism as well as the centers of diversity of the genus Onosma based on the GIE, IPAs, species richness, and AZE-like criteria approaches, to assess the status and priorities of conservation of the mentioned genus in Iran. Based on the findings of this research, centers of species richness, the main areas of endemism, top-ranked IPAs, and AZE-like criteria are situated in the Zagros ecosystems. The comparison of the four approaches used in this study shows that the IPAs and GIE techniques have succeeded in identifying the most important centers of diversity and endemism of Onosma in Iran. Considering that this genus with a high percentage of endemic species is one of the most important genera of Iranian flora and only 46 % of the IPAs and areas of endemism specified in the research are located in protected areas, identification and protection of the rest of these areas is one of the prevalent measures needed for conservation of Onosma species diversity in Iran.

Full text

ISSN 1560–7259 (print edition)
TURCZANINOWIA
ISSN 1560–7267 (online edition)
Turczaninowia 25, 2: 137–150 (2022)
DOI: 10.14258/turczaninowia.25.2.13
http://turczaninowia.asu.ru
Поступило в редакцию 24.07.2021 Submitted 24.07.2021
Принято к публикации 31.05.2022 Accepted 31.05.2022
УДК 582.948.2:581.9(55)
Diversity centers as well as conservation priorities
of the genus Onosma L. (Boraginaceae) in Iran
F. Khajoei Nasab1, 2, A. R. Mehrabian1, 3*
1 Department of Plant Sciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
2 ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2325-9555
3 E-mail: a_mehrabian@sbu.ac.ir; ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6633-3092
*Corresponding author
Keywords: areas of endemism, Boraginaceae, conservation, important plant areas, species richness.
Summary. Conservation of biological diversity is one of the most important issues in conservation biology, so a
wide range of quantitative spatial methods have been used to determine the biodiversity hotspots and the conserva-
tion priority areas. e main aims of the present study are determining the areas of endemism as well as the centers
of diversity of the genus Onosma based on the GIE, IPAs, species richness, and AZE-like criteria approaches, to assess
the status and priorities of conservation of the mentioned genus in Iran. Based on the ndings of this research, centers
of species richness, the main areas of endemism, top-ranked IPAs, and AZE-like criteria are situated in the Zagros
ecosystems. e comparison of the four approaches used in this study shows that the IPAs and GIE techniques have
succeeded in identifying the most important centers of diversity and endemism of Onosma in Iran. Considering that
this genus with a high percentage of endemic species is one of the most important genera of Iranian ora and only 46 %
of the IPAs and areas of endemism specied in the research are located in protected areas, identication and protection
of the rest of these areas is one of the prevalent measures needed for conservation of Onosma species diversity in Iran.
Центры разнообразия и приоритеты сохранения
рода Onosma L. (Boraginaceae) в Иране
Ф. Хаджойи Насаб, А. Р. Меграбиан
Университет Шахида Бехешти, г. Тегеран, Иран
Ключевые слова: видовое богатство, ключевые ботанические территории, области эндемизма, сохранение,
Boraginaceae.
Аннотация. Сохранение биологического разнообразия является одним из наиболее важных вопросов ох-
раны природы. В настоящее время для определения очагов биоразнообразия и ключевых природоохранных
зон используется широкий спектр аналитических методов. Основные цели настоящего исследования – выяв-
ление очагов эндемизма и центров видового богатства рода Onosma в Иране посредством географической ин-
терполяции эндемизма (Geographical Interpolation of Endemism, GIE) и определения ключевых ботанических
территорий (Important Plant Areas, IPA), а также оценка состояния и выработка стратегии сохранения рода на
территории страны с использованием критериев, разработанных Альянсом за нулевое вымирание (Alliance
for Zero Extinction, AZE). Результаты исследования показали, что центры видового разнообразия и основные
районы эндемизма рода Onosma в Иране расположены в пределах Загроса, что было выявлено главным обра-
зом методами географической интерполяции эндемизма и определения ключевых ботанических территорий.
Учитывая, что изучаемый род, характеризующийся высоким процентом эндемичных видов, является одним

138 Khajoei Nasab F., Mehrabian A. R.
Conservation priorities of Onosma in Iran
из важнейших родов иранской флоры, и только 46 % ключевых участков, в т. ч. очагов эндемизма, выявлен-
ных в настоящем исследовании, находятся под государственной охраной, включение максимального числа
остальных в сеть ООПТ является наиболее очевидной и действенной мерой для сохранения видового раз-
нообразия Onosma в Иране.
Introduction
Rapidly declining global biodiversity (Myer,
1980) has led to increased rates of permanent
damage to natural ecosystems and has reinforced the
need for biodiversity data banking (Mutke, Barthlott,
2005). Data banking is the most important step in
the planning of conservation priorities (Lovett et al.,
2000; Kier et al., 2009). Conserving biodiversity is
one of the most important targets of conservation
biology (McNeely et al., 1990). Regardless, experts
oen believe that protection is not possible only
through the creation of protected areas or reserves
based on classic methods (Wilcove, 1989), so a
wide range of quantitative methods has been used
to determine the conservation-priority biodiversity
hotspots (Myers, 1990).
Species richness (alpha diversity) is one of the
most widely used measures to evaluate biodiversity
hotspots. In addition to species richness, identifying
areas of endemism (AOEs) and endemic diversity are
among the most important approaches in evaluating
the value of areas for protection. Endemic plants
are the natural heritage of nations and represent the
phytogeographic position and evolutionary history of
the ora of each geographic area. Areas of endemism
(AOEs) as one of the main candidates for protection
of natural plant diversity have been evaluated by
diverse methods such as PAE (Morrone, 1994), AE
(Szumik, Golobo, 2004), and GIE (Oliveira et al.,
2015). e Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) sites
are including the Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) that
have one or more species listed as Endangered (EN)
or Critically Endangered (CR) in the IUCN Red List
of reatened Species. Using AZE-like criteria could
be another eective approach in determining pro-
tected areas at the regional levels. Recently the iden-
tication and conservation of Important Plant Areas
(IPAs) have been endorsed according to Target 5 of
the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC-
CBD). IPAs are identied at a national or regional
level basis of three consistent criteria: the presence
of threatened species, botanical richness, and the
presence of threatened habitats (Anderson, 2002).
Onosma L. is the third large genus of plants in
the borage family, Boraginaceae, with nearly 240
species of the biennial to perennial herbs (Popov,
1950, 1974; Zemskova, Popova, 1991; Jian-Chang
et al., 1995; Mehrabian et al., 2013; Cecchi et al.,
2016; Mehrabian, Amini Rad, 2018; Mehrabian,
Mozaarian, 2018; Khajoei Nasab et al., 2020a) dis-
tributed in mountain steppe of the Irano-Turanian
region of Asia along with the Mediterranean re-
gion, especially Iran and Turkey (Meusel et al., 1978;
Mehrabian, 2015; Cecchi et al., 2016; Khajoei Na-
sab et al., 2020b; Mehrabian et al., 2022a, b). So far
about 69 plant taxa of this genus have been reported
in Iran, many of which are endemic to the ora of
Iran (Mehrabian, Amini Rad, 2018; Khatamsaz,
2002; Attar et al., 2020). Despite the importance of
this genus in the world, there are few geographical
and ecological studies on Onosma in the world.
Mehrabian (2015) assessed distribution patterns and
diversity of Onosma in Iran. Recently, distribution
patterns, diversity, and conservation priorities
of Onosma in some sections of the northwestern
geomorphologic unit and Central Alborz of Iran
were investigated (Moradi Zeinab et al., 2019;
Khajoei Nasab et al., 2020a, b).
Iran has an exceptional plant species richness in
southwest Asia, but so far relatively few comparative
studies have been conducted using the IPA, AZE,
GIE approaches. Considering the importance of the
genus Onosma, comprehensive ecological and geo-
graphical studies in the species and habitat are nec-
essary to determine the important areas of the diver-
sity of this genus in Iran. e main aims of the pre-
sent study are to determine the areas of endemism
and centres of diversity based on IPAs and AZE-like
criteria, to assess the status and priorities of conser-
vation of this genus in Iran.
Materials and Methods
Study Area, Distribution and Ecology of the genus
Onosma
Iran as a known country in southwestern Asia
located in the dry belt of Asia between 24°–40°N
longitude and 44°–64°E latitude, with a total surface
area of 1.6 million km2 and a population of about 81/5
million in 2018. e average elevation of Iran is 1305
m a. s. l. and Damavand is the highest peak (5771
m). e country is mostly mountainous (55 %) and
is surrounded by several high mountain ranges (Fig.
1). e Zagros mountain range is 1600 km long and
is the longest mountain range in Iran. Iran's climate is

139
Turczaninowia 25, 2: 137–150 (2022)
very diverse due to the vast extension of latitude, the
existence of high mountains with extreme climate
changes over altitudinal gradients, and the position
of Iran between the Arabian desert areas and the
eastern Mediterranean regions (Roozitalab et al.,
2018). e desert and semi-arid climates are domi-
nant climates due to Iran being located in the Afro-
Asian desert belt. e average annual precipitation
and average annual temperature in dierent regions
of Iran are highly variable. Onosma is distributed
in the highland ecosystems of Iran, including the
Kopet Dagh in the northeast, the southern slopes
of the Alborz, the western and eastern slopes of
the Zagros, the Central Iran mountains and part
of the Makran Mountains (Mehrabian, 2015) (Fig.
1). e genus is completely absent in desert areas
in central Iran, as well as in the coastal areas of
Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf and Oman Sea. Onosma
species are oen found in four types of habitats:
1 – Woodland of Quercus or Pistacia-Amygdalus in
the Zagros. Species are found in this type of habitat
at altitudes between 1500–3100 m. Annual rainfall
is more than 300 mm. Mediterranean pluviseasonal-
continental and Mediterranean xeric-continental
bioclimates predominate in these habitats. Species
oen grow in alkaline and organic matter-rich
soils. O. marivanensis Moza. et Mehrabian,
O. mozaariani Mehrabian, O. sheidaii Mehrabian,
O. platyphylla Riedl, O. bakhteganensis Moza. et
Mehrabian, O. sarvestanica Moza. et Mehrabian
and O. sanandajensis Mehrabian et Moza. are
found in these habitats. 2 – Mountain shrub-steppe.
ese habitats are oen found in the mountain
ecosystems of northwestern (West Azarbaijan and
Ardabil provinces) and Central Iran (Fars, Kerman
and Yazd provinces). e altitude in these habitats
is between 2000–3500 m. Mediterranean xeric-
continental, Mediterranean pluviseasonal-oceanic
and Mediterranean pluviseasonal-continental
bioclimates constitute the dominant bioclimatic
units in these habitats. Onosma species are commonly
found in alkaline soils with sandy-loamy or sandy-
loamy-clay texture (Moradi et al., 2019). e most
prominent species of these habitats are O. subsericea
Freyn, O. stenosiphon Boiss., O. sabalanica Ponert.
and O. elwendica Wettst. 3 – Mountain shrubs-
meadow steppe. ese habitats harbor many species
of this genus in the uplands of Alborz, Kopt Dagh,
Zagros, and parts of Central Iran. Altitude in these
habitats varies between 300–3100 m and oen has
a gentle-steep slope. Mediterranean pluviseasonal-
continental, Mediterranean pluviseasonal-
oceanic, Mediterranean xeric-continental, and
Mediterranean desertic-continental bioclimates are
Fig. 1. Map of the study area and Occurrences points of Onosma spp. in Iran.

140 Khajoei Nasab F., Mehrabian A. R.
Conservation priorities of Onosma in Iran
found in these habitats. Species such as O. gaubae
Bornm., O. longiloba Bge., O. mousavi Mehrabian
et Amini Rad, O. pachypoda Boiss., O. rascheyana
Boiss. and O. sericea Willd grow in these habitats.
4 – Wasteland and agricultural habitat. A small
number of species such as O. straussii Khatamsaz
and O. bulbotricha DC. are found in this habitat.
Methods
Data banking
We prepared a geo-referenced database of Onosma
species from all sites of this genus reported in Iran.
e main distribution data sources include historical
data available in “Flora Iranica” (Riedl, 1967), “Flora
of Iran” (Khatamsaz, 2002), information provided
by recently published articles (Ranjbar, Almasi,
2015; Mehrabian et al., 2013, 2018a), and recent data
obtained from our eldworks during 2009–2018
(acronyms according to iers, 2019). In this study,
more than 400 surveys were conducted in 300 areas
across 27 provinces of Iran. e “Flora Iranica” as
well some new Iranian literature (e. g. Mehrabian et
al., 2013; Mehrabian, Amini Rad, 2018; Mehrabian,
Mozaarian, 2018) and the website of Tropicos
(www.Tropicos.org) and IPNI (www.IPNI.org)
were used to determine nomenclature and species
description information.
IPAs and AZE sites
In biological conservation studies, the grid-
based ranking system has been widely used to
determine the patterns of biodiversity (McAllister
et al., 1994), hotspots of species richness (Lawton
et al., 1994), areas of endemism and recently in
the identication of the important plant areas (Al-
Abbasi et al., 2010; Dagher-Kharrat et al., 2018).
e important plant areas (IPAs), total species
richness, and endemic species richness of the genus
Onosma were mapped in 0.25° × 0.25° resolution
Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) grid cells
using Geographic Information System (ArcView
vs.10.3). We applied the methodology available in
Plantlife International guidelines (Anderson, 2002)
and other methodologies used in the recent studies
(Marignani et al., 2014; Dagher-Kharrat et al., 2018)
to identify IPAs worldwide. Plantlife has established
three criteria to qualify IPAs following Criterion
A (threatened species), Criterion B (botanical
richness), and Criterion C (threatened habitats). We
used the scoring method to determine the rank of
each grid using the three calculated criteria (A, B,
C), combined all scores for each grid cell and ranked
them. One of the measured indices used here is
botanical richness (criterion B) which refers to the
number of plant species present in each grid cell
which is useful for measuring taxonomic diversity
(Gaston, 1996). e richness index was obtained
by calculating the species richness of each grid cell
and ranking the cells into ve levels from 0 to 5
using the Jenks natural breaks classication method
(Supplementary). e presence of threatened species
in each cell (specic index (SP_ index)) was also
calculated (Supplementary). e list of species that
satisfy criterion A or SP_ index was based on three
arbitrary scales: I. IUCN red list of species. II. Rarity.
III. Endemism. e red list of species was assessed
based on IUCN criteria at the regional scale (IUCN,
2011) calculated by Kew GeoCAT (http://geocat.kew.
org/; Buchman et al., 2011) and species were assigned
to one of the following categories: Least Concern
(LC), Data Decient (DD), Near reatened (NT),
Vulnerable (VU), Endangered (EN) and Critically
Endangered (CR) (Supplementary). en a dierent
score was given to each red-list category according
to their importance i.e. 0 = Least Concern (LC),
1 = Vulnerable (VU), 2 = Endangered (EN) and
3 = Critically Endangered (CR). Species rarity was
calculated using the index of species rarity (RI)
(Supplementary). e RI was computed as the
inverse of the cell numbers, including the target area,
as RI = 1/Ci, where Ci is the number of grid cells and
l is the number of taxa present (Selvi, 1997; Sapir et
al., 2003) (Supplementary). e three categories and
scoring based on this index were: very rare = 2, rare
= 1, not rare= 0. Endemism levels for any species
were as follows: endemic of three, two, and one
phytogeographical provinces in Iran were scored 3,
2, and 1, respectively, and non-endemic species were
scored 0 (Supplementary). e threatened habitats
or habitat index (HAB_index) was based on the
uniqueness and severity and the importance of each
habitat during our eldwork. Woodland of Quercus
or Pistacia – Amygdalus were scored 4, Mountain
shrub-steppe were scored 3, Mountain shrubs-
meadow steppe was scored 2, Mountain meadow
steppe was scored 1, Wasteland and agricultural
habitat were scored 0. Finally, the IPA index was
obtained from the sum of the points of these three
indices (Supplementary). We identied AZE sites
using three criteria Irreplaceability, Discreteness,
and Endangerment (Langhammer, 2007). AZE
sites were mapped using the number of endangered
and critically endangeredspecies in each grid cell
0.25° × 0.25° using Diva-GIS soware.

141
Turczaninowia 25, 2: 137–150 (2022)
Areas of Endemism (AOEs)
Most of the methods used to identify areas
of endemism like PAE (Morrone, 1994) and AE
(Szumik, Golobo, 2004) use grid cells as spatial
units that the size of these cells which can aect the
results. Also, when a species occurs at the edges of the
cells, assigning this species to a cell can also change
the results. Using neighboring grid cells grouping
techniques can solve the problems associated
with using grid-based methods. We applied the
Geographical Interpolation of Endemism (GIE)
method to delimit areas of endemism of Onosma in
Iran. is method was rst proposed by Oliveira et
al. in 2015. e GIE includes neighboring grid cells
methods and identies the areas of endemism by
estimating the overlap between the distribution of
species through a kernel interpolation of centroids
of species distributions (Oliveira et al., 2015). Areas
of endemism were identied using the GIE method
in the ArcGIS soware ver.10.3.
Results
In total, our database of Onosma populations
contained of 1625 entries recording the presence of
this genus in dierent parts of Iran (Fig. 1). e spe-
cies richness map shows that mountainous regions
of Iran such as Alborz, Zagros, Kopet Dagh, and the
mountain range of the central and southern Iran are
among the most desirable habitats of this genus (Fig.
2). According to our analysis the probability of the
presence of this genus in the lowland and desert are-
as such as the central parts of Iran and the northern
and southern coastal strip is zero, and so far no spe-
cies has been reported in these areas. We categorized
the species richness map cells into ve groups of 1 to
12 species. e highest species richness (12 species)
of this genus occurred in one grid cell in the parts of
the Central Zagros, namely, Dalahu County in Ker-
manshah province (Fig. 2). Also, two grid cells have
8 to 10 species: a cell located in Doruod of Lorestan
Fig. 2. Species Richness map of the genus Onosma in Iran.

142 Khajoei Nasab F., Mehrabian A. R.
Conservation priorities of Onosma in Iran
province and the other located at the border between
Tehran and Karaj. In addition, 19 grid cells have 6–7
species, oen concentrated in the northern, western,
northwest, and south-western parts of Iran. e Al-
borz and Zagros mountains in the north, northwest,
and parts of southern Iran contain 91 grid cells with
3–5 Onosma species. e map of endemic species
richness was categorized into four groups of 1 to 4
species (Fig. 3). e highest endemic species rich-
ness occurs in two cells (4 species) in Lorestan prov-
ince and followed by 4 grids in Lorestan province,
two cells in Kermanshah province, two cells in Cen-
tral Alborz, and two cells in Fars province each with
three endemic species. ere are also 22 cells in Za-
gros ecosystems, 3 cells in central Alborz, one cell in
Azerbaijan, and 2 cells in southeastern Iran, each of
which has two Onosma endemic species.
Fig. 3. Endemic Species Richness map of the genus Onosma in Iran.
IPAs and AZE sites
Based on the ndings of this research, the IPA
index values ranged between 2 to 28, which was clas-
sied into ve groups ranging from very high to low
values using the Jenks natural breaks classication
method (Fig. 4). According to this method, 12 grid
cells are in class 5 (very high value), 23 cells into the
class 4 (high value), 32 grids into the class 3 (im-
portant value), 89 cells in class 2 (medium value),
and the remaining cells into the class 1 (low value).
Information about the top-ranking cells are listed
in Table, and this table shows that 67 % of the grid
cells (8 cells) with very high IPA value are located
in the Zagros Mountains and Kermanshah prov-
ince has the largest number of grid cells of class 5.
Parts of the Central Alborz, i. e. Tehran and Alborz
provinces, include 0.25 % (3 grid cells) of the very
high value of the IPA index as well as a small part of
northwest Iran located between the Alborz and the
Caucasus Mountains in Ardebil province. We identi-

143
Turczaninowia 25, 2: 137–150 (2022)
ed AZE sites using the number of endangered and
critically endangered species in each grid cell. e
highest value of AZE sites exists in a cell at the bor-
der of Lorestan and Hamedan provinces (5 species)
followed by a cell in Fars province (4 species) and 7
cells in the Zagros Mountains with 3 species (Fig. 5).
Comparison of the map of protected areas of Iran,
IPAs, and AZE sites shows that only 6 top-ranked
IPAs and AZE sites (46 % of all) are located in the
ocially protected areas of Iran (Fig. 6). ere are
5 cells in protected areas and one cell in the wildlife
refuge.
Table
List of the 12 top ranked IPAs. Each IPA is characterized by its IPA-INDEX, species index (SP_INDEX);
species richness (SP_RICHNESS); RICHNESS_INDEX; habitat index (HAB_INDEX)
Grid
Number
IPA INDEX SP_RICHNESS Richness
INDEX
Sp-INDEX Hab
INDEX
Province
1 28 11 5 16 7 Kermanshah
2 26 3 2 17 7 Kermanshah
3 26 4 2 17 7 Kurdistan
4 23 7 3 15 5 Kermanshah
5 20 6 3 11 6 Kurdistan
6 19 4 2 14 3 Tehran
7 18 9 4 11 3 Alborz-Tehran
8 18 7 3 8 7 Kurdistan
9 16 6 3 10 3 Alborz
10 16 9 4 8 4 Lorestan
11 15 3 2 8 5 East Azarbaijan
12 15 5 2 9 4 Lorestan
Areas of Endemism (AOEs)
e GIE method was identied four main areas
of endemism for this genus in Iran (Fig. 7). e two
major areas of endemism of the genus Onosma are
situated in the Zagros Mountain, i.e. AOE1 and
AOE2. ese regions have the highest Kernel index,
and then the two areas in the Central Alborz (AOE3)
and Ardabil-West Azarbaijan provinces (AOE4)
have the highest rates of this index. AOE1 is located
in the middle parts of the Central Zagros. e
area covers the major parts of Lorestan, Hamedan
and Markazi provinces. AOE1 is inuenced by
seven endemic species. O. asperrima, O. kotschyi,
O. platyphylla, O. bilabiata Boiss., O. straussii,
O. chrysochaeta Bornm. and O. kilouyense Boiss. et
Hausskn. are found in this area. Moving northwest,
the next AOE identify in Kermanshah and Kurdistan
provinces. AOE2 is the richest area of endemism,
which harbors 10 species of all Iranian Onosma
endemics. All species in AOE1 present in this
area except O. asperrima and O. chrysochaeta. In
addition, there are ve local endemic species named
O. iranshahrii Ghahreman et Attar, O. bisotunensis
Attar et Hamzeh’ee, O.sheidaii, O. sanandajensis and
O. marivanensis in this area. AOE3 occupies most
of the Central Alborz region. is area is located in
the provinces of Alborz, Tehran and Mazandaran.
AOE3 is inuenced by four endemic species, i. e.
O. pachypoda, O. gaubae, O. chrysochaeta and
O. kilouyense. In this area, there are two endemic
species of Alborz, namely O. pachypoda and
O. gaubae. e northernmost area, named AOE4,
is located in the provinces of Ardabil and West
Azarbaijan. is area is dened by inuence from
four endemic species: O. chrysochaeta, O. ilabiate,
O. sabalanica, and O. assadi.
Discussion
e results of the present study show that high
species richness, the main areas of endemism, top-
ranked IPAs, and AZE sites of this taxon are situated
in the Zagros ecosystems. e Zagros mountains
have been identied as important centres of species
richness and areas of endemism for many important
plant species in Iran (Hedge, Wendlbo, 1978), in-
cluding some alpine plant species and subgroups of
true subnival and nival plants in Iran (Noroozi et al.,
2008, 2011), endemic trees and shrubs (Mehrabian et
al., 2020) and the genus Acantholimon (Khajoei Na-
sab, Khosravi, 2020). Special topographic heteroge-
neity, high annual rainfall, dominant Mediterranean

144 Khajoei Nasab F., Mehrabian A. R.
Conservation priorities of Onosma in Iran
pluviseasonal-continental (Djmali et al., 2011) in Za-
gros have led to high plant diversity and the creation
of various habitats including oak forests, shrubs and
grasslands and other types of habitats. e existence
of these diverse habitats across the high mountain
range has led to an increase in species richness and
the number of local endemic species of this genus
such as O. mozaariani Mehrabian and O. sheidaii
Mehrabian. In addition, three top-ranked IPAs and
one area of endemism are located in the central Al-
borz region. e Central Alborz ecosystems, includ-
ing important centers of speciation and endemism
in Iran (Hedge, Wendlbo, 1978). is pattern corre-
sponds well with the Alborz distribution pattern of
endemism of montane/Alpine area of Irano-Toura-
nian region (Hedge, Wendlbo, 1978; Noroozi et al.,
2008, 2011, 2018; Khajoei Nasab, Khosravi, 2020).
As well as one IPA and area of endemism have been
Fig. 4. IPA map of the genus Onosma in Iran.
identied in Ardebil province. Northwest Iran is an
important center of speciation of plants in the coun-
try which is considered as the Atropatanean prov-
ince of Irano-Turanian region. is area is located
in the intersection of the Alborz, the Zagros and the
Caucasus mountain ranges. In addition, mentioned
area covers two dierent bioclimatic zones following
Mediterranean xeric-continental (Mxc) and Medi-
terranean pluviseasonal-oceanic (Mpo) (Dajmali et
al., 2011), so mentioned conditions created special
habitats for various of the endemic species of Onos-
ma such as O. sabalanica Ponet. as well as the Aste-
raceae family (Noroozi et al., 2018). e compari-
son of the four approaches used in this study (IPAs,
AZE sites, GIE, and Species Richness) shows that the
IPAs and GIE techniques have succeeded in identi-
fying the most important centres of diversity and en-
demism of Onosma in Iran. e highest species rich-

145
Turczaninowia 25, 2: 137–150 (2022)
Fig. 5. AZE map of the genus Onosma in Iran.
Fig. 6. Comparison of the map of protected areas of Iran and IPAs, AZE.

146 Khajoei Nasab F., Mehrabian A. R.
Conservation priorities of Onosma in Iran
ness is associated with the highest IPAs index that
occurred in Dalahu county. However, in a number
of top-ranked IPAs, IPAs index does not show cor-
relation with species richness (see IPAs and richness
maps) due to the presence of grid with the high spe-
cies index or presence of important habitats in some
cells with lower species richness. Also by examining
IPAs, AZE sites, total species richness and endemic
species richness maps reveal that endemic species or
endangered and critically endangered species don't
necessarily exist where the total number of species
is greater, so it is natural that the high IPAs index is
not associated with the high richness index in some
cells. Some studies in this eld have the same result.
For example, a study done on bryophyte diversity in
the Peneda-Gerês National Park (Portugal) indicated
Fig. 7. Areas of endemism of Onosma in Iran, identied using GIE.
that high species richness associated with high IPAs
index, but this does not apply to all grid cells (Sér-
gio et al., 2012). Species richness is a key criterion in
biogeographical studies and conservation strategies
but alone is not enough to provide a comprehensive
assessment of plant diversity.
Conclusion
According to the ndings of this research, we
suggest that all the areas marked with these four
approaches should be protected. We consider that
this genus with a high percentage of endemic species
is one of the most important genera of Iranian ora
and only 46 % of the IPAs and areas of endemism
specied in the research are located in protected

147
Turczaninowia 25, 2: 137–150 (2022)
areas, therefore, identication and protection of these
areas are one of the most prevalent conservation
planning. Finally, we suggest that plant protection
research can not only be based on one approach and
a new combination of quantitative methods should
be used for conservation planning in the ora of
Iran.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to A. Nemati, S. Naghizadeh,
M. J. Nikjouyan, and H. Moradi for their help in
conducting eld studies.
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Supplementary
The list of species that satisfy criterion A or SP_ index was based on three arbitrary scale:
I. IUCN red list of species. II. Rarity III. Endemism.
Species IUCN
score
Rarity
score
Endemism
score
Endemism
chorology
e
extent of
occurrence
(EOO)
RI
Onosma albo-rosea Fisch. et C. A. Mey. 0 0 0 0 LC 0.1
Onosma ambigens Lacaita 1 2 0 0 VU 0.5
Onosma armena DC. 0 0 0 0 LC 0.09
Onosma asperrima Bornm. 0 0 1 3 LC 0.07
Onosma assadi Mehrabian et Moza. 2 2 3 1 EN 0.5
Onosma azarbaidjanensis Mehrabian. 2 2 3 1 EN 1
Onosma bakhteganensis Moza. et Mehrabian 2 2 3 1 EN 0.5
Onosma bilabiata Boiss. 0 1 2 2 LC 0.14
Onosma bisotunensis Attar et Hamzeh’ee 2 2 3 1 EN 0.5
Onosma bodeana Boiss. 0 0 0 0 LC 0.08
Onosma bulbotricha DC. 0 0 0 0 LC 0.03
Onosma caerulescens Boiss. 1 2 0 0 VU 0.5
Onosma cardiostegia Bornm 0 1 0 0 LC 0.12
Onosma chlorotrichaBoiss. 0 0 0 0 LC 0.07
Onosma chrysochaeta Bornm. 1 1 2 2 VU 0.33
Onosma cornuta H. Riedl. 0 0 0 0 LC 0.07
Onosma dasytricha Boiss. 0 0 0 0 LC 0.05
Onosma demawendica Riedl 1 1 3 1 VU 0.25
Onosma dichroantha Boiss. 0 0 0 0 LC 0.04
Onosma elwendica Wettst. 0 0 0 0 LC 0.03
Onosma gaubae Bornm. 2 2 3 1 EN 0.5
Onosma hebebulba DC. 0 1 0 0 LC 0.16
Onosma iranshahrii Ghahreman et Attar 3 2 3 1 CR 1
Onosma kerendica Attar et Mirtadz. 3 2 3 1 CR 1
Onosma khorassanica Attar et Joharchi 3 2 3 1 CR 1
Onosma khorramabadensis Attar, Mirtadz. et
Sotoodeh
3 2 3 1 CR 1
Onosma kilouyense Boiss. et Hausskn. 0 0 2 2 LC 0.05
Onosma kotschyi Boiss. 0 0 1 3 LC 0.06
Onosma kurdica Teppner. 3 2 3 1 CR 1
Onosma longiloba Bge. 1 1 0 0 VU 0.16
Onosma lorestanica Attar et Sotoodeh 3 2 3 1 CR 1
Onosma macrophylla Bornm. 0 0 0 0 LC 0.05
Onosma maculate Ranjbar et Almasi 0 1 3 1 LC 0.12

150 Khajoei Nasab F., Mehrabian A. R.
Conservation priorities of Onosma in Iran
Species IUCN
score
Rarity
score
Endemism
score
Endemism
chorology
e
extent of
occurrence
(EOO)
RI
Onosma marivanensis Moza. et Mehrabian 3 2 3 1 CR 1
Onosma microcarpa DC. 0 0 0 0 LC 0.02
Onosma mousavi Mehrabian et Amini Rad 3 2 3 1 CR 1
Onosma mozaariani Mehrabian. 3 2 3 1 CR 1
Onosma nervosa H. Riedl. 1 1 0 0 VU 0.16
Onosma olivieri Boiss. 1 1 0 0 VU 0.25
Onosma pachypoda Boiss. 0 0 3 1 LC 0.07
Onosma platyphylla H. Riedl. 0 1 3 1 LC 0.12
Onosma rascheyana Boiss. 0 0 0 0 LC 0.07
Onosma rostellata Lehm. 0 0 0 0 LC 0.08
Onosma sabalanica Ponert. 2 2 3 1 EN 0.5
Onosma sahandicaAttar et Sotoodeh 3 2 3 1 CR 1
Onosma sanandajensis Mehrabian et Moza. 3 2 3 1 CR 1
Onosma sarvestanica Moza. et Mehrabian 2 2 3 1 EN 0.5
Onosma sericea Willd. 0 0 0 0 LC 0.03
Onosma sheidaii Mehrabian. 3 2 3 1 CR 1
Onosma stenosiphon Boiss. 0 0 0 0 LC 0.04
Onosma straussii Riedl Khatamsaz 0 0 1 3 LC 0.08
Onosma subsericeaFreyn 0 1 0 0 LC 0.16
Onosma targevarensis Moza. et Mehrabian 3 2 3 1 CR 1
Onosma wendelboi Mehrabian et Moza. 3 2 3 1 CR 1
Onosma zagrica Dehshiri 3 2 3 1 CR 1