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 The Fagaceae (Dumortier. 1829) Family or beech family Belong to the class of Angiosperms and includes 9 genera and ca species of both evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs (Crepet, 1981; Jones, 1986; Borgardt and Pigg, 1999).  According to the latest classification of flowering plants, This family along with families (Myricaceae, Nothofagaceae, Betulaceae, Casuarinaceae and Juglandaceae Were classified in the order Fagales (APGIII).  Fagaceae dominates in forests of tropical, temperate and cold temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere (Nixon 1993). 7

 The members of Fagaceae Family are characterized by alternate simple leaves with pinnate venation, unisexual flowers in the form of catkins and fruit in the form of cup- like (cupule) nuts (Nandi et al.,1998 & Soltis et al., 2000).  Fagaceae family has the three genus Fagus L., Castanea L. and Quercus L. in Iran that Quercus genus because having cupul of fruit withoute gaps and only one seed per fruit is distinguished from other genera (sabeti 2002).  One of the major organs in the beech family, is the fruit and its traits which is used on Classification and identification of genus (Borgardt and Pigg, 1999). 8

This genus has two subgenera and several section include: Genus Quercus Subgenus Quercus Section Quercus Section Lobatae Section Mesobalanu Section Cerris Section Protobalanus Subgenus Cyclobalanopsis 11 Q.petrea Q.macranthera Q.castaneifolia

Section Lobatae Section Protobalanus Section Quercus Section Mesobalanus Section Cerris 12

 The Chestnut-leaved Oak (Q. castaneifolia) is a deciduous tree growing up to 35 m tall, with a trunk up to 2.5 m diameter. This tree has oblong leave with serrated margin and acut apex. The flowers are wind-pollinated catkins; the fruit is an acorn (Sabeti 2003; M|ozafariyan 2004).  Q. castaneifolia belongs to Cerris Section and has morphlogical variations in leaf characters.  this species distribute Gorgan, Mazandaran & Guilan province (Sabeti 2003). 14

 Q. macranthera- Caucasian Oak or Persian oak belongs to Mesobalanus Section and distribute from Gorgan to Arasbaran (Sabeti 2003).  Q. macranthera is a deciduous tree growing up to 25 m tall, with a trunk up to 2 m diameter. This tree has obovate leave with lobate margin and obtuse apex. The flowers are wind-pollinated catkins; the fruit is an acorn (Sabeti 2003; M|ozafariyan 2004). 15

 Q. petrea is a large deciduous tree up to m tall. oak tree that has obovate or eloptic leaves with lobate margin and Leather. The flowers are catkins.The fruit is an acorn.2003; Mozafarian 2004)  Q. petrea belongs to Quercus Section and distribute from Gorgan, Mazandaran, Guilan (Sabeti 2003; Mozafarian2004). 16

 In this research, we focused on the morphological characters leaf & fruit in three Quercus species and investigation effects ecological factors including (edafic, climate and physiography factots) on them.  In order to, samples were collected from 14 habitate in the forest of Guilan province and In each habitate were established average of 3-5 plates 100 m² and in each plat 5-8 samples were selected randomly. Addition 310 samples were collected. 14 habitate 22

24  After collective samples were measure 9 & 10 morphological special characteristics in fruit & leaf respectively. These characters include 6 qualitative & 13 quantitative attributes. Also in each tree sampel measure height, diameter and canopy percent.  Moreover Two soil samples were taken from each habitate and physiographical factores including (elevation of area & slope percent) recorded as well as. Climate information were recorded through the Department of Meteorology Goilan province.

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29 Table 1: the obtained result of analyze quantitative characters in the leaf Q. castaneifolia

Table 2: the obtained results of analyzing qualitative Characters in the leaf Q. castaneifolia 30

Table 3: the obtained results of analyzing quantitative Characters in the fruit Q. castaneifolia 31

Table 4: the obtained results of analyzing qualitative Characters in the fruit Q. castaneifolia 32

44 Table 16: Pierson 's Correlation coefficient in Q. macranthera morphological factors

45 Table 17: Pierson 's Correlation coefficient in Q. petrea

46 Table 18: Physiography & Climatic factors & canopy percent in Q. castaneifolia habitate

25  Ntsys-pc ver. 2 software was used for final analyses:  Data were standardized.  Dissimilarity matrix of Euclidian coefficient was calculated.  Tree was drown using UPGMA method.  Cophenetic coefficient were measured.  Principle Component Analysis (PCA) was performed.

26 R1: (Masoole) ، R2:(Lakan) ، R3 : (Roodbar) ، ) R4(Lahijan - zemeydan), R5: (Shanderman)R6: (Saravan)R7: (Lahijan- setan sar),R8: (Talesh)

27 Masoole Roodbar Lakan Lahijan –z-v Lahijan-ss Talesh Shanderman saravan

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The morphological study of three Quercus species  The morphological studies are appropriate in order to identify of different modes of qualitative and quantitative traits and determin their range(Kafash 2007).  The results of this study is mached to taxa distribution that was provided the by some botanists including (Rechinger 1971), (Ghahreman1990), (Sabeti2003) & (Mozafariyan 2004). 65

30 Principal Component Analysis of 8 area and 9 variables (x1,x3, x2, x4, x8,x17, x18, x19, and x21). Area elevation Tree diameter Sp Tree altitude Leaf length Leaf wide nut length Nut diagonal AP Q. castaneifolia

31 Principal Component Analysis of 4 area and 8 variables (x2, x3, x1, x4, x11, x17, x8, x19) Area elevation Tree diameter Tree altitude Leaf length Leaf wide nut length Nut diagonal Pedcel length

71 Climatic factors and other ecological factors over a long time, are responsible for various vegetation fotm and tree species adaptation, in large geographic areas. Distribution of forest communities and environmental factors have a significant relationship. so altitude are more important than other environmental factors, because changes in the elevation gradient will result to changes in humidity and temperature gradient (Zhang et. Al, 2006). Based on the results of our studies can be said that Q. castaneifolia is more Capable than other species for adaptation with the environment conditions. Among the ecological factors, altitude can play a decisive role in grouping and type of tree, so the other ecological factors such as climate and soil factors effect on distribution tree forest and qualitative and quantitative morfolpgical characterstraits (Salehi 2007).

 Anatomical study of species.  Medicinal properties study of species.  Karyological study for species determination and relationship.  Phylogeny study of species based on mitochondrial & chloroplastic markers.  Phytochemical study of species. 33

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My special thanks to: Dr. Saeidi Mehrvarz Dr. Asri Dr. Faghir Dr. Sarmad Dr. Noraste nia Dr. Afshar Mohamadian Dr. Sariri And Mrs. shahi.. Department Biology of University of Guilan

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Thank to Roommates:

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