Journal of Rangeland
Year:2018 | Volume:12 | Issue:3 |Papers Count:11

This study aimed to investigate the effects of topographic, climatic and soil factors on the distribution of Agropyron libanoticum in the upstream rangelands of Amirkabir dam in Alborz province. We collected the environmental and vegetation data from 35 sites in the study area. In each site, 10 one square meter plot placed along a 100-meter transect, and the presence or absence of species was recorded. Moreover, canopy cover and density of other species, soil depth, stone and gravels percentage, and total canopy cover were recorded. Thirty-five soil samples from 0-30 cm of the soil surface were collected and their texture, phosphorus and organic matter contents were measured in a soil laboratory. Digital elevation model was derived from the topographic maps, and the elevation, slope, aspect maps were produced accordingly. Rainfall and temperature maps were produced using available data and their values for the studied sites were extracted. The independent T-test was used to compare sites with the presence or absence of the species. Cluster analysis was performed to grouping the sites based on environmental factors. Discriminant analysis was used to determine the importance of environmental variables on A. libanoticum distribution. Results revealed that elevation, rainfall, average temperature, stone, and gravel percentage, and organic matter varied significantly between the presence and absence sites of the species (P < 0. 05). According to the cluster analysis, A. libanoticum prefers habitats with an altitude of 1850 to 2600 m, rainfall of 500 to 680 mm and mean annual temperature of 7 to 11 ̊ C. Agropyron libanoticum is more abundant in soils with moderate texture, low depth, and high gravel percentage. Soil with 0. 5 to 1 percent organic matter and 3. 5 to 5. 5 ppm phosphorus contents provides more appropriate conditions for the growth of this species. The results of the discriminant analysis showed that rainfall, elevation, temperature, slope, soil texture (sand, loam and clay content), aspect, gravel percentage, phosphorus, soil depth, total canopy cover, and organic matter are the most important factors in the distribution of A. libanoticum in the study area. According to the results, this species is an appropriate species in restoration and reclamation programs of mountainous rangelands with steep slopes and low depth soils.

Various environmental, social and economic issues should be considered in the successful implementation of management practices in natural ecosystems. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of some social and economic issues on the success staus of biological and mechanical practices from stakeholder’ s perspectives in the Andabil watershed, Khalkhal, Ardabil Province. Descriptive and analytical approaches were used to conduct this study with a sample size of all heads of resident families in the study area. Cochran formula was used to calculate the appropriate sample size, and 100 people were randomly selected and interviewed. The Chi-square test (X2) and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient were used to analyze the data. Results indicated that the implemented management practices lead to improve flood control, increase the volume of groundwater and reduce the migration rate of people in the study area. The implemented projects had a significant positive impact on agricultural land, gardens, dry farming, vegetation cover, and livestock production (P < 0. 05). According to the results, the calculated average rating in the Likert scale responses was positive.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of altitude and aspect on the essential efficiency and the phytochemical properties of Artemisia aucheri and Artemisia sieberi in mountainous and Steppe rangelands of South Khorasan Province. Experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design (CRD) with two treatments of altitude in four levels (<1800, 2000-1800, 2200-2000, and > 2200 meters above sea level) for Artemisia aucheri and in three levels (1400, 1600, and 1800 m above sea level) for Artemisia sieberi and aspect in four levels (north, south, east and west) for Artemisia aucheri with three replications. Aboveground samples were collected in the flowering stage and their essential oils were extracted using the Hydrodistilation method. Phytochemical properties of the samples such as the amount of total phenol, total flavonoid, antioxidant activity, and total tannin were determined using the Spectrophotometer. The results showed that altitude had a significant negative and positive effects on the essential efficiency of Artemisia aucheri and Artemisia sieberi respectively (p ≤ 0. 01). The results of Pearson's correlation coefficient showed that there was a significant correlation between altitude and essential efficiency and total phenol content of Artemisia aucheri (-0. 94 and +0. 66, respectively), as well as essential efficiency, total phenol and total tannin of Artemisia sieberi (+0. 81, +0. 68 and-0. 86, respectively). The highest essential efficiency of Artemisia aucheri was observed in the eastern aspect (2. 63%) and the lowest essential efficiency was detected in the southern aspect (1. 28%). This study indicated that collecting the aerial parts of this species at low altitudes will yield a high percentage of the essential efficiency.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of various utilization methods on gum production from Ferula assa foetida in Tangsorkh rangeland, Kohgiluyeh and Boyerahmad province. A completely randomized approach with factorial design, ten replication, and three treatments including age of plants (5-6 years, 5-7 years and 9-10 years), method of cutting (one-sided (90° ), two-sided (90° ) and conventional), and the number of cutting (10, 15 and 20 cutting) was conducted for the current study. Comparisons of means were performed by Duncan's multiple range tests. The results showed that there is a significant difference between oleo-gum-resin productions in the species with various age classes. The greatest oleo-gum-resin was collected from the species of 9-10 years old with an average of 61. 38 gram per plant. Also, the gum production varied significantly between various utilization methods and the number of cutting per plant. The highest gum production per plant was observed in conventional method as well as 20 cutting treatments with 50. 91 and 56. 74 gr respectively. The interaction between the age of plants, utilization methods and the numbers of cutting treatments on the gum production were significantly different (P < 0. 05). The lowest and highest gum production were collected in 5-6 years old plant with 10 one-sided cutting (13. 61gr) and 9-10 years old plants with 20 cutting with the conventional method (93. 79 gr) respectively. Although the conventional utilization method yields the more gum production, the chance of plant survival after the cutting in this method is very low. We concluded two side cutting is an appropriate utilization method because it produces high amount of gum with low risk of dying for the species.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of some restoration practices including the planting of shrub seedlings, seeding with and without rainfall harvesting on some soil and vegetative characteristics in Chahmary-Behbahan rangelands. A random systematic approach was used to collect vegetation cover data in 60 plots of 1m2 in each site. Soil samples were collected from the two depths of 0-30cm and 30-60cm from soil surface and their physical and chemical properties were analyzed in soil laboratory. The T-test and one way ANOVA were used to analyze the data. According to the results, the sites that seedlings of shrubs were planted had the highest production, canopy percent, and plant density of species with range values of class I and II. The seeding site with no rainfall harvesting had the lowest production of range plants. Soil analysis revealed that soil nitrogen, phosphor, potassium and organic matter contents varies significantly between the treated and control sites.

Evaluating ecological and ecotourism capability along with proper planning can lead to sustainable utilization of natural areas. This study aimed to use five unique indicators of ecotourism including Wildlife Distribution Index (WDI), Ecotourism Attraction Index (EAI), Environmental Attraction Index (ERI), Infrastructure Facility Index (IFI), and the Ecotourism Diversity Index (EDI) to identify and prioritize potential ecotourism development in Dena County, with more than 90% of natural areas including rangelands and forests. Primary maps including altitude, habitat of wildlife, vegetation type and density, land use and land cover, slope, geographic aspect, rock and soil sensitivity to erosion, landslide and earthquake sensitivity, tourist attraction features and infrastructure along with maps of the specific hybrid indices of ecotourism potential assessment were produced in the GIS environment and classified based on the ecotourism capabilities. The relative importance of the indices on the ecotourism capability of the study area was determined using the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP), and linear weighting method of hybrid indices. The results showed that the percentages allocated to suitable classes (S1), relatively suitable (S2), to some extent suitable (S3) and unsuitable (S4) of ecotourism development in the study area were 7, 85, 7, and 0. 001 percent respectively. Some 12400 hectare as good potential for ecotourism development distributed evenly in the study area. Very low unsuitable class of ecotourism development of the study area implies the pristine and high capacity of this area for ecotourism purposes. This result indicates investment for ecotourism improvements in this area is highly required.

Evaluating the positive or negative effects of management practices in rangeland ecosystems is highly important for developing appropriate restoration plans. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of biological practices on species composition and diversity in semi-Steppic rangelands of Zagros in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province. A random systematic method was used to collect vegetation data from 120 quadrates of 1 m2 in the sites under seedling planting, pit-seeding and heavy grazing condition. The species composition, diversity (Simpson, Shannon-Wiener), richness (Margalef and Menhinick) and functional groups (e. g. longevity, growth form, life form, and family) of various range sites were compared. The result of this study showed that biological restoration practices significantly influenced diversity, species richness indices and some functional groups (P <0. 05). The sites under seedling planting and pit-seeding showed the highest species richness, diversity. The functional groups including perennials, Hemicryptophytes, grasses, forbs, Apiaceae, Poaceae, and Rosaceae family were more abundant in the treated sites compared to the heavily grazed site. RDA analysis showed that high range value species such as Ferula assa-foetida، Prangos ferulacea and Dorema aucheri were more abundant significantly compared to the control site. Overall restoration practices had positive effects on vegetation condition in the study area.

Assessing the effectiveness of rangeland projects assist managers to adopt their management practices. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of rangeland projects in Ilam province from the perspective of experts and pastoralists. According to the Morgan table, 210 pastoralist and 35 rangeland experts were randomly selected and interviewed. Factor Analysis and Mann-Whitney test were used to analyze the effects of rangeland project on the economic and social condition of ranchers and environmental condition. According to the Mann-Whitney test, the perception of ranchers and experts about the effectiveness of rangeland projects varied significantly (P <0. 05(. Factor analysis indicated that rangeland projects had the lowest impact on the management style of ranchers in the study area. Improving rangeland project effectiveness require considerable attention to enhance holistic management in the rangeland ecosystem.

The effectiveness of rangeland management and improvements projects are not satisfactory in many cases. Inappropriate site allocation for specific management practices is among the reasons for the failure of these plans. This study aimed to allocate management and biological practices based on some indicator and indices derived from scientific sources in mountainous rangelands of Hendowan, Khoy. Results indicated that 21. 4%, 38. 2% and 40. 4% of the study area are appropriate for equilibrium, natural, and artificial range management respectively. According to the results, 39%, 19% and 21. 4 % of the study area are suitable for seeding, inter-seeding, and fertilizer application respectively. Grazing systems proposed for the rest of 59. 6% of the study area to enhance the vegetation condition. Overlaying two range development plans derived from the executive plan and assessing ecological potential indicated that 62 % of the study area was allocated for rehabilitation programs similarly. This study showed that the range management plan outlines should be updated based on the climate and physical condition of each individual vegetation type.

A field experiment was conducted in a randomized block design with three replications in Arsanjan to assess the effects of different levels of water salinity on some physiological and biochemical traits of Melissa officinallis L. In this experiment, three levels of salinity were used including 1, 4 and 7 DS/m, induced by applying water of agricultural wells with natural salinity. Dry weight of stem and leaves, the amount of sodium, potassium, Proline, and active constituents were measured in the vegetative growth of the species. All transplants were dried in 7 DS/m salinity, therefore no data was obtained from this treatment. Data were analyzed in SAS software version of 9/1. The results showed that in salinity treatments 1 DS/m, there was a higher dry weight and Proline content but these characteristics were decreased by 4 DS/m. Although increasing the amount of salinity increased the sodium content, potassium content and the ratio of potassium to sodium decreased. Although increasing salt stress increase some compounds in the essential oil of the species, some other important compound decreased. Some of these compounds were not present in control treatment but produced at 4 DS/m. Some other compounds were produced in control treatment, but with increasing salinity stress at 4 DS/m their production was stopped. Since this plant was dried in 7 DS/m water salinity, and defense mechanism of plants was decreased in 4 DS/m water salinity, it can be concluded that this species is a sensitive species to salinity stress. This study indicated that 1 DS/m is the water salinity threshold for growing this species in rangeland ecosystems.