VOL. 7, NO. 4, APRIL 2012 ISSN 1990-6145 ARPN Journal of Agricultural and Biological Science © 2006-2012 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved. www.arpnjournals.com 238 PROBABILITY MEASUREMENT TO ESTIMATE FOREST TREE DIVERSITY USING IRS-P6 SATELLITE IMAGES IN CASPIAN BROAD LEAVED FORESTS Mir Mozaffar Fallah Chai, Shohreh Bayat and Seyed Armin Hashemi Department of Forestry, Lahijan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Lahijan, Iran E-Mail: mir_mozaffar@yahoo.com ABSTRACT In present study, the ability of LISS III sensor data of IRS-P6 satellite to estimate species diversity of woody plant species of forest was studied in Gombol forests in Lahijan. Ground information was collected through selective sampling with sample plots of 900m 2 area. Geometric conformity was performed using 20 ground control points and mean root error of 0.32 in x axis and 0.37 in y axis. Chavez model was used for atmospheric correction of data. Shannon - veiner species diversity was used to study the species diversity. Amount of this index was calculated for each plot. Then amounts of spectral values for each sample plot were extracted in different bands. Best subset regression was used to analyze the relationship between species diversity and mentioned bands. Results of regression indicated that studied polynomial equations as independent variables could estimate species diversity of trees and shrubs better than other bands or compositions (R 2 = 0.449). Results indicate relatively low ability of IRS-P6 satellite data to estimate tree and shrub species diversity in study area. Keywords: species diversity, shannon - veiner, Gombol forests, IRS-P6 satellite, Lahijan. INTRODUCTION Given increasing population of the world and development of science and technology, burden of anthropologic destruction on the nature has increased and the nature is losing its initial natural status (Javanshir, 1372). Excess exploitation of natural resources during past years specifically during the 20 th century has led to gradual decline of many susceptible ecosystems world wide including forests (Pile var, et al., 2002). Forests are among most important genetic reservoir of the world where biodiversity is a fundamental factor for them to play their roles (Akhany, 2001). Term "Biodiversity" is abbreviation of statement “Biological Diversity”. According to United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), any variation between organisms in all resources including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and its ecological processes is called biodiversity (Mahmoudy, 2009). Understanding the fundamental concepts of biodiversity is very important for foresters, policy makers and other managers of natural resources since conservation of biodiversity is valuable and is considered as a major goal in management of landscape and natural resources. Conservation of biodiversity in forest ecosystems manages the forest sustainability (Pour Babaiy, 2009). Nowadays, diversity and composition of woody species are estimated in the forests world wide to understand the changes created in ecosystems (Poor Babayie, 2009). So far, many proposals have been prepared and performed for management of Northern Iran forest watersheds. Continuous administration of these plans has created changes in plant and animal species and their frequency. But no step was taken to estimate and record these changes. Therefore, estimation of forest ecosystems diversity is very important. So that, if such estimates are performed in parcel, forest types or series level, they may be very efficient and suitable to use in forest management projects (Aminy, 2002). Biodiversity discussion is often focused in species diversity of ecosystem diversity and most common of these is species diversity (Lust and Nachtergale, 1996; Dahiels et al., 1995). The aim of present study is to estimate species diversity which is including species number (richness) and relative number of each species individuals (frequency or evenness) in a given area or group of organisms. Usually 3 levels of species diversity are considered: their α diversity means diversity within ecosystem, ȕ diversity means diversity between two growing place or 2 neighboring ecosystems along the environmental gradient and Ȗ diversity means the diversity in a landscape (Poor Babayie, 1384). In present study diversity has been estimated using different indexes. Since using conventional methods to estimate forest biodiversity is very expensive and time-consuming, using satellite images may be considered as a effective means to continuous management of natural resources due to their unique properties such as rapid and conform covering, continuous imaging and being multi-spectral. Increasing abilities of data both in spectral and special viewpoint encouraged many managers and policy makers to replace this kind of data to previous techniques due to decreased cost and time and obtaining updates. To evaluate these changes and recognizing woody species status, it is required to obtain information on tree and shrub species types and their populations. And according to the fact that this is necessary in forest management, it is required to be performed with low cost and time and with acceptable precision. For this purpose, satellite data may be a useful means to meat this goal.