Special Issue 1220 ICPASIH Ibn Al-Haitham Journal for Pure and Applied science https://doi.org/10.30526/2021.IHICPAS.2644 For more information about the Conference please visit the websites: http://ihicps.com/ B i o l o g y | 10 Notes on the ecology and distribution of the annual fern Anogramma leptophylla (L.) Link. (Pteridaceae) in Northern districts of Iraq Abstract The study involved the description of the environmental characters and distribution of Anogramma leptophylla (Annual Maidenhair fern) in Erbil and Garmian districts during May- 2017 in Kurdistan of Iraq. The geographical distribution of the taxa was recorded in Bani Bee region for the first time within the Garmian district but it was recorded before in the Zar Gali region within the Erbil district. The climatic characters of the studied site in Erbil district were: moist, cold and the elevation was up to 560 m above sea level with sandy clay soil texture whereas in the Garmian district: dry, hot, and the elevation was only 330 m above sea level with sandy stone soil. Plant up to 13 cm long, megaphyllous, fronds compound 3-6 cm long, divided into alternate petiolate pinnae. In the present work, some ecological, morphological, and geographical distribution for A. leptophylla is described for the first time in the Iraqi Kurdistan region. Keywords: Anogramma , Pteridaceae, Iraq, Ferns. 1. Introduction There are over 10,560 species of ferns and 1000 species of fern- allies, recorded in the world so far [1]. Seedless vascular plants have much more diversity over the world in contrast to other plants [2], whereas most previous studies have been carried out on the other vascular plants [3, 4]. Recently many scientific researches on phytochemical, morphological and anatomical features of ferns appeared [2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]. Pteridaceae includes over 1000 species which make up almost 10% of ferns [10], the members of this family have a world wide distribution in tropics and arid regions [11]. Anogramma is a genus of Pteridioideae, a subfamily of the Pteridaceae [12], which involves about ten species found in regions with alternating wet and dry seasons [13]. However, A. leptophylla has one of the widest ranges of distribution among all other fern species [14]. In the flora of Iraq, the authors referred to the geographical distribution and habitat of A. leptophylla only without any detail of its morphology or ecological features [8, 9, 15, 16] Figure (1a-b). The present study aimed to investigate the ecology and the geographical distribution of the annual fern Anogramma leptophylla L. as it is the first attempt in Iraq that deals with pteriodoflora in this respect. A.M. Ismail abbasmurtadeh@yahoo.com College of Science for Women- University of Baghdad- Iraq B. K. Maulood bahram.Khider@auis.org Precedency of Kurdistan regional government- Erbil- Iraq http://ihicps.com/ mailto:abbasmurtadeh@yahoo.com mailto:bahram.Khider@auis.org Special Issue 1220 ICPASIH Ibn Al-Haitham Journal for Pure and Applied science https://doi.org/10.30526/2021.IHICPAS.2644 For more information about the Conference please visit the websites: http://ihicps.com/ B i o l o g y | 11 Figure 2. a- Fern in Bani Bee b- Fern in Zar Gali 2. Materials Method Plant samples (mature sporophyte) have been collected from Erbil district within the Zar Gali region, geographical data were found to be as follows: GPS (36º 37. 490 N, 44º 26. 540 E), elevation up to 560 m above sea level whereas in Garmian district, the station was in Bani Bee region GPS (35º 02. 221 N, 045º 42. 650 E), elevation was only 330m above sea level. Voucher sample under the No. ( 4, 17, 2, An, le) of the ferns was deposited in the Herbarium of Howler Botanical Garden- Erbil City. Soil samples were collected from studied sites of both regions in plastic bugs and brought back to the laboratory, then the soil properties were estimated according to the standard procedure [17]. In addition, soil texture was also determined. The annual mean of metrological data for the two districts was; (1) in Erbil temperature 36ºC, humidity 65% and rainfall 120 mm, but in (2) Garmian temperature 40.5 ºC, humidity 55% and rainfall 90 mm. The morphological characters of the fern were studied using dissecting and light compound microscope in the advanced environmental postgraduate laboratory in Garmian University-Faculty of Science, Kalar. The classification was performed according to [11]. 3. Results and Discussion 3.1. Ecological Study Results of the present study showed a wide range of variation between soil samples of the two stations, in respect to pH, alkalinity, soil texture, chemical and physical properties of soil, plant nutrients were also estimated and documented in Tables (1 and 2). Table 1. Some chemical and physical characters of the soil in both studied sites. Sites pH EC µsem./cm CO3 ppm NO3 ppm PO4 ppm Ca ppm Mg ppm K ppm Na ppm Zar Gali 7.9 240 200 2.0 0.3 48 42 40 30 Bani Bee 7.8 400 145 0.8 0.13 41 37 28 60 http://ihicps.com/ Special Issue 1220 ICPASIH Ibn Al-Haitham Journal for Pure and Applied science https://doi.org/10.30526/2021.IHICPAS.2644 For more information about the Conference please visit the websites: http://ihicps.com/ B i o l o g y | 12 Table 2. Soil color, texture and total organic content of soil samples from the two sites. Sites Color Texture Total organic content % (TOC) Zar Gali Light brown Sandy clay 14.6 Bani Bee Light red Sandy stone 5.4 The result of the present investigation showed a wide range of variation between soil samples of the two stations in respect of both chemical and physical parameters. The outcome results of pH, electrical conductivity, bicarbonate, nitrate, phosphate, and major cations are represented in table (1) whereas Table (2) involved the result of soil texture, color, and total organic content of soil samples. It is found that soil color ranged from light brown in Zar Gali to light red in Garmian whereas total organic content in Zar Gali was more than double of that of Bani Bee (14.6% & 5.4%) respectively although soil pH in both sides was weak alkaline the electrical conductivity was almost half of that of Bani bee. Variation and difference between the two sites were quite evident in respect to elevation as it exceeded 560 m in Zar Gali- Rwanduz whereas it did not exceed 360 m in Garmian. However, the variation extended to the difference in metrological data also between the two sites as its shown in Table (3) where the amount of rainfall in Zar Gali exceed 120 mm with the temperature only 36ºC whereas in Garmian mean annual rainfall do not exceed 90mm and temperature normally exceed 40ºC. Table 3. Meterological data in the studied sites. Sites Temperature (°C) Rainfall (mm) Humidity (%) Zar Gali 36 120 65 Bani Bee 40.4 90 55 3.2. Morphological Study The fern morphologically is found to be herbaceous 8.5-13 cm long, petiole up to 4 cm long, brown near the rhizome and green near the blade, blade up to 3 cm long, frond up to 7 cm long, divided into pinnules with a short petiole, pinnule consist of four deltoid segment, smooth ad axial surface, venation is dichotomous, rhizome erect very short up to 0.5 cm long, roots are brown color up to 1-2 cm long, petiole dark brown, with a few small scales near the base, pinna is divided into trilobite pinnules, sori clustered on ab axial surface of pinna along the veins without indicium Figure (2). http://ihicps.com/ Special Issue 1220 ICPASIH Ibn Al-Haitham Journal for Pure and Applied science https://doi.org/10.30526/2021.IHICPAS.2644 For more information about the Conference please visit the websites: http://ihicps.com/ B i o l o g y | 13 Figure 2. Anogramma leptophylla (mature sporophyte in the laboratory). 3.3. Habitat and Distribution The concerned fern is known to be found in moist shaded rocky cliffs which was the case in the current study. In the present investigation, plant was recorded at different elevations (330-560 m) above sea level the habitat was either individual form among other plants or rarely found aggregate in groups. In the Erbil district, the associated taxa were Cheilanthes fragrance in the Zar Gali region. [15] had found the fern in moist and low-temperature climate in Derbendikhan region also they had recorded the fern even in Khanaqin region which is quite hot and regarded as a temperate climate, had also recorded the fern in Rawandoose and Iranian foothills regions which is characterized with low temperature and high humidity at an elevation of 800 m above sea level was recorded by [16]. The climate in the Iraqi Kurdistan districts characterized by Iran toraniane climate [15]. In New Zealand, the plant is normally reported to begin growth in late Winter and early Spring but the maturity has been found in August and September [18], had reported were the fern growth with aggregate form and associated with some bryophytes and grasses which inhabit sandy stone soil and moist environment this agree with present finding in Erbil (Zar Gali) whereas, the results from this work in Bani Bee region disagree with [18] and [19] study because the Garmian district characterized with high temperature and low humidity [8, 9] and the fern was found as individual plants along the area between stones and rocks. 4. Conclusion The fern Anogramma leptophylla have been recorded in a wide range of climatic environments in Kurdistan of Iraq the plant was found to be either a single individual or an aggregation group among the mosses or ferns. Description, habitat, and some ecological factors have been reported for the first time in Iraq in respect to this fern. http://ihicps.com/ Special Issue 1220 ICPASIH Ibn Al-Haitham Journal for Pure and Applied science https://doi.org/10.30526/2021.IHICPAS.2644 For more information about the Conference please visit the websites: http://ihicps.com/ B i o l o g y | 14 References 1. Christenhusz, M.J.; Byng, J.W. The number of know plants species in the world and its annual increase. Phytotaxa. 2016, 45, 3, 201-217. 2. Murtaza, G.; Asgher. R.; Majed. S.A.; Waheed. A.; Mirza. S.N. Aanatomical and palynological studies on some Fillicales from Neelum Valley, Muzaffarabad, Azad Kishmir. Pak. J. Botany. 2006 ,38, 4, 921-929. 3. Mir, S.A.; Mishra. A.K.; .Pala. S.A.; Reshi. Z.A.; Sharma. M.P. Ferns and fern allies of district Shopian Kashmir Valley, India. Biodiversity. 2015 16, 1, 27-43. 4. Javad, S. Sporulation and spore germination in the tissue culture of Cheilanthes fragrans. J. Appl. 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