JOURNAL OF PLANT ECOSYSTEM CONSERVATION
Year:2020 | Volume:7 | Issue:15 |Papers Count:19

The aim of the study was to investigate affecting environmental factors on functional diversity indices and species diversity for the fluctuation of the management according to the ecological conditions in Raver rangeland. To determine the functional attributes of rangeland plants, 12 height points were selected along elevation gradient those were distance between them100 meters. 5 sampling plots were established at any point along transects perpendicular to the slope. 60 plots were harvested totally. 3 soil samples were taken from 10 to 20 cm depth in each point. Then soil properties including relative moisture, percent of silt, clay and sand, OM, N, P, K, EC, CaCo3 and pH were measured in laboratory. 6 functional traits including plant height, growth form, type of reproduction, longevity, life form and type of nitrogen-fixing measure. 8 functional diversity indices including Rao (Rao), multiple convex (Rao), Functional richness (FRic), Functional Eveness (FEve), Function Divergence (FDiv), the distribution function (FDis), a variety of features function (FAD1) index modified variety of performance characteristics (FAD2) and four species diversity indices were calculated with software FDivrsity. To investigate the relationship between environmental factors, plant species and functional and species diversity indices were used multivariate analysis (DCA, CCA, and RDA). The results showed that factors such as altitude, the percentage of lime, organic matter and moisture have the greatest impact on plant. The results of the correlation between environmental variables with functional variation showed that the highest correlation for the first axis is related to the initial moisture content of 0. 44 and the second axis with respect to silt with a value of 3817. 0. Also, the correlation between environmental factors indicated that high correlation between moisture (r = 0. 61), EC (r = 0. 75), pH (r = 0. 68), organic matter (r = 0. 78), silt (r = 0. 72) and elevation of sea level (r = 0. 77) with the first axis of the species. The correlation between functional diversity varieties and species richness indicates that most of the indicators have increased with increasing species richness. Only the CHull index has been reduced with increasing species richness, and the uniformity of performance and richness of species richness have not been significantly correlated plant species.

Determination of vegetation and soil interaction is necessary for sustainable use of rangeland ecosystem. Soil-vegetation interrelationships in galbanum (Ferula gummosa) habitats of Ataeeye and Shoorrud-Khorasan-e-Razavi Province, Iran were studied using multivariate analysis. The stratified-random system of sampling was employed to randomly collect vegetation and soil samples from 46 quadrats of 3 m× 3 m. Data was analyzed by Principle component analysis (PCA), recognize variables with highest effect on total variance in soil and vegetation characters and Canonical correlation analysis (CCA) for determining of interrelationships between soil and vegetation variables. Result of PCA indicated that organic matter, soil texture, nitrogen content, water content in saturation point and soil cations content were the major soil properties contributed in total variance, and plant density, diversity, vegetation biomass and secondary metabolites concentration were the main vegetation parameters. Result of the first canonical variable indicated that 65 percent of the variance in vegetation characteristics was accounted for by the variability in soil. The correlation analysis indicated that organic matters and soil water content positively influenced vegetation biomass and diversity, while had negative association with phenolic content of galbanum. Soil Calcium content had negative correlation with biodiversity and vegetation biomass. It was concluded that soil and vegetation components of the galbanum habitats in study area were mutually dependent and Calcium and organic matter content were the most important and effective variables on galbanum establishment.

In recent years dieback and decline of oak trees in Zagros forests as an important environmental issue was raised and in many areas has been destroyed trees. In this regard, in order to provide operational strategy to manage this problem and use of the resprouting ability of oak trees. Four hectares of Brant`s oak (Quercus brantii Lindl. ) stands in Dasht-e Barm basin of Kazeroon, Fars province, were selected and the improvement cuttings were done. Sample trees were studied based on factorial experiment in a completely randomized design. The first treatment was stump diameter (less than 15, 15-30, and more than 30 cm) and the second treatment was dieback level of crown (full dieback and mid-dieback). Sample trees were cut during the winter of the first year of the study. Resprouting ability, height and diameter growth of sprouts and their survival were recorded every year. The results showed that 82% of the stumps produced sprout. There was no significant difference between diameter and height growth of the sprouts among diameter classes, dieback classes and their interaction classes. Based on the results, cutting of declined oaks in damaged areas (especially before crown full dieback) is one of the most important strategies for survival of oak trees.

Smyrniopsis aucheri BOISS is an herbaceous species of Apiaceae family which seed germination is difficult. Therefore, to restore the natural habitats of this plant, it is necessary to provide information about the length and the factors that affecting seed dormancy of this plant. In order to study effect of the duration of chilling and temperature on seed dormancy and seedling establishment of Smyrniopsis aucheri, this experiment was conducted as factorial in a randomized design. Factors were included the pre-chilling duration in 7 levels (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 days), level of chilling (with and without chilling) and temperature in 4 levels (5, 10, 15 and 20 ° C). The results showed that the combination of chilling and temperature treatment had the highest effect on stimulation of seed germination under certain conditions, and chilling treatment less than 30 days had no significant effect on seed germination. The results showed that chilling at 5 ° C for 60 days, was the most effective treatment on breaking dormancy in S. aucheri. Germination percentage (51. 9%), germination rate and seed vigor increased significantly in this treatment, compared to control treatment. In relation to growth indices, the results showed that chilling 20 ° C for 60 days was the most effective treatment on seedling growth indices. Overall, according to the results, In order to improve the seedling establishment of Smyrniopsis aucheri, the use of chilling for 60 days, which markedly enhanced all of the seedling establishment indices, is recommended.

An attempt to estimate the real value of a set of environmental goods and services, particularly forests are needed that at present, various pressures from economic incentives and goals have been the basis for their destruction and deterioration. Therefore, this study tries to investigate the amount of degradation of vegetation and fixed organic carbon per hectare and its value with social cost approach in the Chuman and Kani Goizhan Dams and the water transfer system between them, as part of study of environmental impact assessment. In this study, sampling was done by random block method. 18 pieces of sample with size of 20 × 60 meters were taken in Chuman and Kani Goizhan and for the water transfer system, 8 pieces of 10 × 60 meters sample were harvested. Empirical formula were used to estimate carbon storage and sequestration based on dry biomass of trees. The results showed that the amount of carbon sequestration in Chuman and Kani Goizhan and the water transfer system between two regions were 0. 336, 0. 37 and 0. 44 ton /hectare/year, respectively. Considering 132. 12 dollars per tons of carbon sequestration, as social cost of 2015 year, the carbon sequestration value of each section is estimated to be 44. 39, 48. 88 and 58. 13 dollars/ hectare/year respectively. In general, it can be said that the value of the dam damage is 45418. 89 dollars annually due to the destruction of forests and lack of carbon absorption and sequestration (about 343. 67 tons per year) in the study area with 852. 41 hectares, which should at least be offset by creating suitable forests in suitable areas with appropriate species selection.

Today, modeling and determination of allometric equations of forest trees, especially Junipers trees, are very important for determination of biological status and carbon storage capacity of forest species. The aim of this study was to determine the most suitable allometric equations for estimating the biomass of leaf, sub branch, main branch, trunk, and biomass of total Juniperus excelsa trees in Chaharbagh region of Golestan province. For modeling, at least 3 trees were selected in each diameter class for harvesting leaf and branch samples. A total of 35 sample trees were harvested and in the laboratory after weighing and drying samples, the biomass of leaf, branch, trunk and total was calculated. Allometric equations were obtained based on power, exponential and polynomial regression models. For validating the models, the criterion of determination coefficient, standard deviation of fitted model, regression analysis, and compliance with the distribution of residual values from normal distribution were used. The results showed that independent variables, diameter at beast height, crown surface and mean diameter of the crown produced equations with better modeling indices. Also, the power and polynomial models of the exponential model were more appropriate. The correlation coefficient obtained from regression models showed that these allometric equations are suitable for estimating the biomass of Junipers trees in the study area.

The purpose of this experiment, evaluating hetrotoxicity potential of aqueous extract of various organs of medicinal plant of Malva sylvestrisa L. on morphological, physiological characteristics and biochemical of total phenols of Cichorium intybus L. and Echinochloa crus-galli L. under hydroponic culture as two separated experiments in completely randomized design in botanical laboratory of Gonbad Kavous University in 2017. For experiment, aerial parts of M. sylvestrisa were collected in flowering stage from Ramian fields and then various organs such as stem, leaf and flower was divided and finally were powdered. At the end, 5% suspension from each organ and a mixture of organs were supplied and added to hydroponic culture containing 7 days old seedlings of C. intybus and E. crus-galli. The results showed different responses C. intybus and E. crus-galli to aqueous extract of various organs of M. sylvestrisa. So that studied treatments had a different additive effect on morphological characteristics, photosynthesis pigments and total phenols. The highest additive effect on root length, plant height, leaf area, dry weight per plant, content of chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll were obtained for extract of flower organ. In case of chlorophyll a, carotenoids and total phenols content, the most of this amount were found for extract of leaf, leaf and mixture of organs respectively. Although had no significant difference with some other treatments. In case of C. intybus, aqueous extract of M. sylvestrisa leaf only had a significant inhibition effect on leaf area, dry weight per plant, content of chlorophyll a, total.

Vegetation indices have been developed to characterize and extract the Earth's vegetation cover from space using satellite images. For detection of vegetation changes, usually temporal images are independently analyzed or vegetation index differencing is implemented. A review on previous studies reveal that, in spite of developing several vegetation indices, to extract vegetation cover or vegetation changes usually NDVI and EVI are used. Therefore, the aim of this study is to compare and investigate the applicability of these indices in detection of vegetation changes in different climate and environmental conditions. For this purpose, several test sites in Malaysia, Iran and Italy with different environmental conditions including Tropical, Subtropical and Mediterranean were selected. Then, index differencing method using temporal Landsat-7 ETM+ and Landsat-8 OLI images belonging to the years of 2001 and 2014 were applied. In order to evaluating the accuracy of the output maps, confusion matrix was made to calculate overall accuracy and kappa index. Subsequently, commission and omission errors were calculated to assess nature of the errors in the results. Accuracy assessment analysis indicated that however the results of EVI in some of the test sites were acceptable, but in all of the test sites with variety of weather and environmental conditions, NDVI provided higher accuracy outcomes in detection of vegetation changes.

In this study 30 coppice oak trees(Quercus brantii Lindl. ) with least diameter of 5 centimeteres were chosen with random classification. Characteristics such as the number of sprouts, the diameter, total height, and the large and small diameter of crown were measured. For this purpose, the diameter ranges of the oak trees were devided into 5 cm classes and at least the growth factors of 3 trees from each class were measured. The wet weights of different organs including leaf, branch and trunk or main stem were also measured. Soil samples of all plots were analysed in the laboratory and the amount of carbon in these samples were measured. Also samples of the different organs of the trees were analysed to estimate the amount of net Carbon. The results of this study showed that the amount of percent net Carbon sequestrated was 27. 81 tons/ha, of which 16 tons belonged to soil and 11. 82 tons was sequestrated by the trees' organs. There figures are equivalent to 102. 09 and 43. 14 tons/ ha of Co2, respectively. There was significant differences between the trunks and the other organs as well as between diameter classes of sprouts in terms of the amount of sequestrated Carbon. The economic value of the sequestrated Carbon amounted to 6193. 94 US$, its yearly value was about 154. 84 US$. This study showed that Kamfirooz forest area has a great potential for Carbon sequestration.

Due to the extensive area and biodiversity, rangelands contribute to meeting the nutritional requirements of grazing livestock; Therefore, a study was conducted to investigate the nutritional value of four range species including Malcolmia africana, Plantago lanceolata, Phlomis cancellata, and Klasea latifolia in the mountainous rangelands of Torbat-e Jam. The sampling of plants was randomly done before flowering stage. A culture medium prepared from sheep's rumen fluid was used to estimate some of the fermentation parameters and dry matter or organic matter degradability of these plants, and their chemical and mineral compositions were determined using common laboratory methods. These plants had different chemical and mineral compositions which the highest amount of dry matter, crude protein and magnesium belonged to Phlomis concellata, the highest amount of organic matter, Nitrogen-free extract, non-fiber carbohydrates, calcium and sodium related to Klasea latifolia, as well as the lowest amount of neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, and acid detergent lignin, all belonged to Klasea latifolia. Among the measured minerals, potassium was the highest percentage. The highest amount of phosphorus and potassium belonged to plantago lanceolata. The highest amount of Fe was found in Malcolmia africana. The highest amount of different gas production parameters, degradability of dry matter and organic matter, dry matter intake, relative feed value, relative forage quality, metabolizable energy, net energy for lactation, total volatile fatty acids, and the lowest amount of NH3-N were related to Klasea latifolia. With consider to the obtained findings, it seems that all four studied plants have a potential nutritive value for ruminants, but the nutritional value of K. latifolia was higher among the studied plants.

In this study, soil fungal isolated from Helianthemum ledifolium root and around of desert truffles were identified from ten different regions in Gonbad Kavoos in Golestan province. Desert truffles samples, were identified by morphological and molecular methods. Twenty one species of the fungal belonging to thirteen genera were isolated. Most of the fungal isolates were recovered from soil around desert truffle T. claveryi ascocarps and H. ledifolium rhizosphere respectively. Aspergillus and Fusarium were the predominant species which were isolated from soil around desert truffles. Acremonium, Paecilomyces, Polyschema and Ulocladium species were isolated with least abundance for the first time from desert area of Gonbad. Also Polyschema sclerotigenum was recorded for the first time in Iran. The results of the soil analysis collected from different regions showed that there was little difference in the structure and amount of lime in the soil. Most of the collected desert soil was alkaline, non-saline, with low organic matter, low phosphorus, sand and high lime. Amount of phosphorous was not significantly different in various desert soil samples.

Study of vegetation and environmental factors is considered as one of the important aspects in the management and conservation of natural ecosystems. This research investigates the effect of altitude from sea level (ASL) (in four classes: less than 1600 m, 1600-1800, 2000-1800 and more than 2000 m) and the direction of slope (in four main directions: north, south, east and west) on vegetative and Propagation Characteristics of Amygdalus scoparia includes density, average height, diameter of crown, number of sprouts, the thickest sprouts diameter (TSD), trunk health and natural regeneration. In order to study the effects of altitude and direction of slope on vegetative characteristics, one-way ANOVA and LSD tests were used and to determine the correlation between altitude with vegetative characteristics and natural regeneration of Amygdalus scoparia, Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients were used. The results showed that altitude had significant effects on the all vegetative characteristics of Amygdalus scoparia. The results of mean comparison indicate that the highest density and natural regeneration on 1800-200 meter level and the lowest on less than 1600 meter level. The maximum shrub height of the s and diameter of crown are on less than 1600 meter level, and the lowest are on 1800-2000 meter level and more than 2000 meter level. The effect of the direction of slope was significant only on the thickest sprouts diameter (TSD) (p≤ 0. 01). The results of correlation analysis showed that there is a positive significant correlation between altitude and number of sprouts and there is a negative significant correlation between altitude and height, diameter of crown and trunk health of Amygdalus scoparia.

Haloxylon salicornicum (Moq. ) Bunge ex Boiss is a shrub that grows in large parts of the central regions of Iran. Due to the high adaptability of this species to the severe environmental conditions and its importance in the stabilization of sand dunes, Dust control and medicinal functions recognition of its genetic diversity and the selection of superior genotypes is very important. A set of 12 inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers were used to evaluate genetic variation of 30 genotypes from 3 locations in Yazd province. Out of 12 primers, 4 primers were able to produce 39 reproducible bands that out of which, 32 bands were polymorphic (79. 5%) with a mean PIC value of 0. 39. The number of alleles in each individual locus varied in the range of 7-15 with the mean of 9. 75. Primers ISSR 826 and with 9 alleles and ISSR7 with 7 allels showed the highest and lowest number of loci, respectively. The mean average rate of Nei’ s gene diversity (h') and Shannon’ s diversity index (I) were 0. 451 and 0. 643, respectively Using cluster analysis based on UPGMA algorithm and Jaccard's similarity coefficient, the isolates with 45% similarity level were divided into 5 groups. Shanon index, Principal coordinates analysis (PCoA), and analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed significant difference among isolates selected from three regions. Analysis of molecular variance showed that the highest genetic diversity rate (89%) was disturbed between isolates and genetic variety within different isolated was determined as 11%. Based on these results in this work it can be demonstrated a high genetic diversity within the populations will be due to the closely distributed Haloxylon community in these studied regions.

Road transportation is one of the most important needs of villagers, which is considered as one of the important infrastructures in the development of a region. Undoubtedly villages are better equipped with the development of communication routes, especially highways, and their problems and problems are reduced. In this research, the most important consequences and factors affecting the Khoramzal highway on the condition of foresters was using SWOT analysis method. To this purpose, using the experts' opinion, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of highway construction were gathered using the SWOT method, and it was determined that the region is in a competitive strategy and can use the strengths to identify the effects of the leading threat points. The results of this study showed that facilitating traffic (the final weight of the factor =245. 04) is the most important factor affecting the condition of foresters. Destruction of forest cover of the area (final weight of the factor=192. 09) and decreasing of forests (final weight of factor=176. 8) and attracting tourists (final weight of factor=103. 2) are the most important weaknesses, threats and opportunities. Regarding the development of the study area, despite having a weak and simple road network (α =-0. 25 β = 0. 5), it has high services.

While in recent years, due to numerous reasons, the amount of travel and tourism has increased, the amount of problems caused by this activity is also considered by managers. By using presence points of tourists in Javanrud County, Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and Random Forest (RF) models, the conditions of establishment of tourists from the aspect of land use planning was investigated. In the RF model, using the presence points of tourists and the 9 effective variables on establishment of the tourist, desirable areas for deployment in the entire the County were investigated. Then, using AHP, suitable areas for the establishment of tourists from the viewpoint of land use planning was investigated. Validation of models was done using ROC statistics. Identification of the threshold of suitability was performed using a Yeadon index. Based on the results of sensitivity in the RF model, the variables of distance from the road, distance from the city and distance from the security benchmark (police and rescue station) have had the greatest impact on the establishment of the tourist. Based on the results of AHP model, distance from the city, slope and distance from the road have involved in developing of the model. The results of model validation were calculated equal to 0. 92 for the random forest method and 0. 93 for the AHP. 73. 14 km2 in random forest, 53. 203 km2 in a hierarchical analysis method and 67 km2 in common has suitability for the establishment. Also, an area equal to 6 km2 based on results of random forest model lacks the required criteria for establishment.

Anarshitan is almost evergreen tree which due to its beautiful flowers, high temperature and drought tolerance, sand fixation, treating some diseases and making wood is of great importance. This study was conducted to evaluate the morphological and physiological characteristics of Tecomella undulate in 7 habitats of Jiroft city in Kerman province. The results showed that most traits were significant in terms of genotype, confirming the presence of diversity in each trait. As the altitude increased, plant height, leaf length and width, fresh and dry weight and stem diameter showed a decreasing trend. The most activity of antioxidant enzymes was recorded in the leaves of Amberabad and Gomrokan areas. The correlation coefficients between the traits showed a significant positive or negative relationship between some vegetative and physiological traits. Finally, this diversity among the sample population in the southern regions of the country can be regarded as a valuable genetic source for plant breeding.

Investigating the sustainability of vegetation changes is one of the most important issues of vegetation management in the direction of sustainable development. It is necessary to conduct studies in this regard to select appropriate management for greater compatibility with new conditions. In this research, changes in the vegetation dynamics trend of Fars province were studied using the NDVI index obtained from MOD13Q1 during the period 2001 to 2017. Mann-Kendall and Thiel-Sen tests in the Earth Trends Modeler of TerrSet software and the Hurst index in the ArcGIS software were calculated, then the results were combined with each other. Theil-Sen trend for statistical analysis of the changes slope, and Mann-Kendall test to determine the significance of these changes are a new approach to investigate the analysis process of NDVI time series data. Overlaying the results of the trend analysis and Hurst index, the future sustainability in the NDVI changes was calculated. According to analysis of the Horst index, the trend of vegetation changes in the future is contrary to the changes that have taken place in the past. . In addition, the results of total trend analysis indicate that plant growth in mountainous areas continuously improves at a higher rate than the plains. Finally, the results of analyzing the Horst index and the process of vegetation changes showed that the highest number of pixels is for the month of May with 41. 1% located in Class B. Class B represents that the rehabilitation trend has replaced the degradation trend in the region and this trend will not continue in the future. This month, the northern and southern strips of the province have a maximum value.

To understand the effects of forest degradation and their conversion to farmlands, the current research was conducted with emphasis on some soil biological indexes. In this regard, two different land use including an oak natural stand and a farm next to the forest and under cultivation since 20 years ago were surveyed. Within the each land use, three sampling plots with 10×10 meter dimension were randomly set and the soil was sampled form 0-10 cm depth and transformed to the laboratory. Afterwards, some biological variables such as soil basic microbial respiration, substrate induced respiration, microbial biomass carbon and microbial biomass nitrogen, metabolic quotient, carbon availability index, Cmic/Corg, urease, alkaline and acid phosphatase and dehydrogenase enzymes were measured on the sample soils. The data were statistically analyzed by independent t-test. The results indicated that all of the microbial variables in the natural forest were higher around 2-3 folds than those in farmland. Although value of Cmic/Corg in the forest land use was higher around 10% than the farmland, the values of metabolic quotient, carbon availability index were same for the both land use. On the other hand, activity of alkaline phosphatase, due to phosphate fertilizers, was higher in the alfalfa cultivated farmland. According to our results, protection of the natural oak ecosystems can maintain soil quality.

In environmental models, Vegetations are considered as an important part in controlling environmental changes. To determine the importance of vegetation on land surface temperature (LST), preliminary preprocessing was performed on Landsat 8 image and a split window procedure was used to determine surface temperature. Temperature difference with the surrounding synoptic stations was estimated to be about 2. 5 ° C, which confirmed the accuracy of the computational temperature. In addition to Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), other variables such as Normalized difference water index (NDWI), elevation, Aspect, Landuse/Landcover (LU/LC) and heat loading index were used to show the effect of vegetation on temperature. LU/LC map of city area was obtained by using a 7 categories training samples by Neural Network Classification (MLP). Total Kappa index was calculated 0. 82. Then, the points were randomly extracted by stratified sampling method separated for 7 LU/LC categories and divided into two groups of testing and training. Values of the mentioned variables were extracted for these points and random forest regression was used to investigate their effect on surface temperature. Performance of the model was evaluated and validated using mean absolute error (MAE), mean square error (MSE) and root mean squared error (RMSE). Based on sensitivity analysis by Mean decrease accuracy, NDVI, Aspect and NDWI had the most effect on surface temperature distribution. Highest surface temperature with 29 ° C was for uncoated rangelands and its lowest with 25 ° C was for human-made areas, including Javanrud and peripheral villages. The results of this study showed that the NDVI plays a very important role in land surface temperature changes.