Iranian Journal of Forests and Rangelands Protection Research
Year:2020 | Volume:17 | Issue:2 (34)|Papers Count:10

In recent years, many attempts have been made to manage and control wildfires. Modeling and mapping wildfire probability across fire-prone landscapes is one of the most important measures. In the present study, the capability of frequency ratio and weight-of-evidence models for predicting the probability of wildfires occurrence in the Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province were investigated. The modeling process and prediction of future fires were based on an analysis of the relationship between 271 historical fires occurred during the 2002-2014 period and 10 predictor variables including slope degree, aspect, altitude, temperature, wind speed, land use, NDVI, and proximity to rivers, roads, and human settlement. During the modeling process, the significance of each variable class on wildfire occurrence was quantified. The model results were used to produce distribution maps of wildfire probability. The results of the evaluation and comparison of the models, which were carried out using the receiver operating characteristic method, success rate, prediction rate, and Wilcoxon test showed that the weight-of-evidence model with success and prediction rates of 0. 886 and 0. 821 performed better than the frequency ratio model in both training and validation datasets. Overall, the results revealed that approximately 30% of the forests and rangelands of the province fall within the high and very high probability to wildfire occurrence, which requires prudent management measures to mitigate the risk of fire.

Evaluating ecological potential means to obtain the natural potential of the land, which by using this process, the land degradation proceeds less slowly. Ten percent of the Fars province's forests are located in Firozabad city. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the ecological potential for commercial and conservational forestry use in Firoozabad city using common methods in the country along with a new method in GIS. Conservational forestry land use evaluation was done in this study in two ways: first, the threshold of evaluation (quantitative) of the main topographic criterion of the model was changed and the next time, it was not included in the topographic benchmarking process. In commercial forestry, the topographic criterion was taken as the initial classification. In order to evaluate the potential for commercial and conservation forestry use, the following methods were used: Makhdum, Maximum Limition, Arithmetic Mean, EMOLUP and its Calibration and the Simple Weighting Mean and Weighting Arithmetic Mean with considering limiting factors and its calibration. The results showed that the best evaluation model for both forests is its Geometric Mean model and its calibrated model in Firoozabad city. In the process of evaluating the accuracy of the evaluation models by changing the range of the topographic criterion and the second time afterwards by removing the topographic criterion, the accuracy was increased for most models. By comparing all three forestry uses, the conservation forestry showed a better capability by removing the topographic criteria in the area, which reflects the forestry conservation potential in Firouzabad. Finally, for the ecological evaluation of forestry in Firouzabad city, EMOLUP method using topography criterion removal is recommended.

One of the new and safe methods for controlling plant diseases is the use of herbal essences and extracts. It has been determined that the extracts from oak galls have multiple medicinal and therapeutic properties and also have high antimicrobial properties. The present investigation aimed to evaluate the antifungal activities of compounds extracted from oak (Quercus brantii var. persica) gall formed by Aphelonyx persica wasp against a number of important phytopathogenic fungi (Phytophthora, Pythium, Fusarium and Alternaria). After preparation of the aqueous, acetone and methanol extracts of A. persica galls, in different assays, the appropriate agar and liquid media containing various concentrations of extracts were prepared and weight average, growth and sporulation of fungal colonies were evaluated and then compared with the controls. Findings of this study demonstrated that the antifungal properties of the A. persica gall extract were concentration-dependent where its antifungal effect was increased with increasing the extract concentration. The data analysis revealed that none of the gall extracts concentrations significantly affected the growth and weight of fungal colonies, while the alcoholic extract in high doses (50 and 70 mg/ml) inhibited sporulation significantly; therefore, more comprehensive research is needed in future studies on its drug use.

In this study, the accumulation of heavy metals included iron, manganese, lead, and cadmium in a native species of Christ's thorn jujube (Ziziphus spina-christi) was investigated. To this end, random samples were collected from tree leaves and soil at the bottom of the trees from five stations in Khouzestan Oxin Steel Company. Station 1 was located in the company center and adjacent to the source of pollution. Station 2 was situated 100 m away from the company and in the path of wind direction. Stations 3 and 4 were located approximately 200 meters from the source of pollution and in the direction of the prevailing wind direction. Station 5 was placed three kilometers from the company in the opposite direction of the prevailing wind (as a control station). The results showed that the lowest concentrations of all elements in the leaves of the trees and the soil of the trees were found to be at station 5 and the highest at station 1, therefore, it can be concluded that the distance from the company and the dominant wind direction were effective for this results. The calculation of the bioconcentration factor (BCF) for four heavy metals showed that the trees were only able to absorb cadmium from the soil with a BCF value of more than one. Considering the usefulness of this tree in absorption of cadmium and direct use of fruit and leaves of trees, it is suggested that this tree can be used in areas with cadmium contamination in Khuzestan and areas with similar climate and soil conditions with considering environmental conditions.

In this study, species diversity of sawflies (Hymenoptera: Symphyta) was investigated in northern forests of Iran. Eight Malaise traps were installed in Mazandaran and Golestan at different forest sites from March to November, 2016. Sampling procedures were similar in all regions. The collected specimens were identified to species level and the number of each species was counted. A total of 37 species were collected and identified. The species diversity was calculated using SDR4 software. The results showed that based on the indices of evenness, richness and diversity, Shamooshak forest in Golestan and Haftkhal forest in Mazandaran with 18 and 14 species, respectively, had the highest diversity. Moreover, Golestan province had more species diversity and uniformity than Mazandaran province. Among all species, Tenthredopsis ornata with 127 specimens (37. 79%), Cladius pectinicornis with 58 specimens (17. 26%), and Allantus didymus with 34 specimens (10. 12%) had the most abundant species, respectively.

To determine the spatial pattern of the probability of fire in the forests of Boyerahmad city, Belife evidence function models and support vector machines were used. First of all, 145 past fire positions were reported, MODIS data and field surveys were recorded using GPS, of which 70% were used for modeling and 30% for model validation. Next, 15 factors (altitude, slope gradient, slope direction, topographic position index, topographic moisture index, surface curvature, distance from village, distance from river, distance from road, geological formations, NDVI, land use, evapotranspiration annual, annual rainfall and annual temperature) were selected to assess the fire risk and maps were prepared. After performing a linear test between the independent variables, the Belife evidence function and the support vector machine models based on the relationship between the occurrence of the fire occurrence and the predictor variables were used to create the fire zoning map. Also, past fire locations were identified and 70% of the collected data were used as training data for modeling and 30% for model validation. The results of the fire map study showed that areas with very high sensitivity cover 40%of the region. Also, the validation of the performance of the Belife evidence function models showed that the area under the curve was equal to 72. 2% and the support vector machine with the area below the curve was 83%. Predication. Therefore, the results of the current research can be used to plan and manage future fire hazards in the study area.

The parasitoids of Anastatus acherontiae Narayanan, Subba Rao & Ramachandra bees are the parasitoid stage of the two-leaf moth, Streblote siva (Lefebvre) and the stinging butterfly egg, Acherontia atropos (L. ). The colonies of this parasitoid were composed of two-leaf mackerel eggs and were reared under a light-temperature period at 16 h at 26 ° C and 8 h at 18 ° C. The egg of A. acherontiae is elliptic and has a stem with 0. 654 ± 0. 004 mm. It has five larval instars. The average female adult insect length was 2. 678 ± 0. 014 mm. There was a significant difference between the lifespan of honey bees fed with water solution (109. 25 ± 1. 47 days) and the bees fed with water and host (21. 63 ± 0. 34 days). The developmental stage of the bee egg lasted 3. 80 ± 0. 12 days. Larval activity lasted until 25. 40 ± 0. 58 days for adult insects. The pupal stage of the bee lasted 9. 80 ± 0. 26 days. From hatching of A. acherontiae until hatching of adult wasps 37. 40 ± 0. 30 days. The average number of eggs laid was 60. 56 ± 1. 74 eggs. A. acherontiae bee in Bushehr has two to three overlapping generations per year. The activity started in early October and continued until December. The second generation of the bee parasitized the host spring in March. Overwintering occurred in the pre-hatching stage within the host egg and adult insect. Obtaining this valuable information is a step towards mass production of parasitoids and their use in bio-control programs. Anastatus acherontiae Narayanan, Subba Rao & Ramachandra is the native egg parasitoid of Streblote siva (Lefebvre) and Acherontia atropos (L. ) in Bushehr, Iran. The A. acherontiae colony was originally established in 2017 from mass eggs of S. siva. These rearing containers were placed in an incubator set at a light/temperature cycle of L16h/26° C and D8h/18° C. The body of the egg is 0. 654± 0. 004 mm and it is elipsoidal and bears a stalk. The wasp has five larval instars. The average length of the female wasp is 2. 678± 0. 014 mm. There was a significant difference between the lifespan of females fed with honey water solution (109. 25± 1. 47 days) and females provided only with water and host (21. 63± 0. 34 days). The egg development was 3. 80± 0. 12 days. Development from larva to adult was 25. 40± 0. 58 days. The pupal stage lasted 9. 80± 0. 26 days. From the oviposition of A. acherontiae to the emergence of adult was 37. 3± 0. 30 days. The mean of eggs laid was 60. 56± 1. 74. A. acherontiae was able to complete 2 to 3 overlapping generations. In early October, the adult’ s wasps appear gradually and this trend continued until December. The second generation of the parasitoid wasp appeared in March and it attacked to the host's spring generations. The overwintering was as prepupa into host egg and adult wasp. The valuable data gained on the biology and population dynamism of A. acherontiae could help in developing a release strategy of this parasitoid against S. siva.

The introduction of pathogens, infections and environmental pollutants into the insect hemolymphs, thermal stresses and nutritional diet changes, affect the insect immune system. Insect immunity consists of the components among which the hemocytes are the main ones. In the present study, the morphology and changes in density of the hemocytes in the hemolymph of the Cossus cossus L. were studied against thermal stresses. The hemocytes of all larval stages of C. cossus were examined by Giemsa and the response of these cells was evaluated at temperatures of 4 ° C and 30 ° C. Five identified types of hemocytes in this insect were; Prohemocyte, Plasmatocyte, Granulocyte, Oenocytoide and Spherulocyte. All hemocyte types were detected in each stage but frequency of them in each stage was different. Total Hemocyte Count showed that by increasing larval instars and body size, hemocyte rate increased gradually. Differential hemocyte counts indicated that plasmotocytes and granulocytes were the most abundant in the fifth and sixth instar larvae compared to other growth stages. So, the fifth and sixth instars larvae have the highest blood volume and hemocytes count. Granulocytes showed the highest abundance variation under heat and cold stresses, and plasmatocytes also decreased significantly under the influence of cold stress. It seems that understanding the hemocyte characteristics of this pest and the frequency of immunocyte changes in response to thermal stresses can be considered as an introduction on immunological studies of this pest. Certainly, further investigation is needed to study the interaction of the immune system of C. cossus with pathogens and to evaluate the efficacy of microbiological control.

The fauna of ground beetles (Carabidae) in Alborz province were studied in 2016. The beetles were collected either directly or using pitfall and optical traps from rangelands. The first visit to the traps was on the fourth week of April and then every two weeks until the end of August. In June and June due to the overheating of the air, the collecting was done every ten days. In this study 26 species belonging to 17 genus and 9 subfamilies were collected. Among them 6 species are reported for the first time from Alburz province that marked by asterisk as follow: Calomera fischeri fischeri (Adams, 1817)*, Calomera sturmi (Menetries, 1832), Cylindera (Cylindera) germanica germanica (Linnaeus, 1758), Scarites (Parallelomorphus) terricola terricola Bonelli, 1813*, Distichus (Distichus) planus Bonelli, 1813, Brachinus (Brachynolomus) explodens (Duftschmid, 1812)*, Bembidion (Nepha) menetriesii Kolenati, 1845, Bembidion (Peryphus) obscurellum turanicum Csiki, 1928, Bembidion (Peryphanes) dalmatinum haupti Reitter, 1908, Bembidion (Peryphus) subcostatum subcostatum (Motschulsky, 1850)*, Bembidion (Ocydromus) siculum durudense Marggi & Huber, 1999, Bembidion (Nepha) caucasicus (Motschulsky, 1844), Perileptus (Perileptus) areolatus areolatus (Creutzer, 1799), Deltomerus (Deltomerus) davatchii Morvan, 1970, Lionychus (Lionychus) orientalis K. Daniel, 1901, Chlaenius (Chlaeniellus) laetiusculus Chaudoir, 1856, Chlaenius (Chlaeniellus) vestitus Paykull, 1790, Harpalus (Harpalus) oblitus oblitus Dejean, 1829*, Harpalus (Harpalus) distinguendus (Duftschmid, 1812), Harpalus (Harpalus) affinis (Schrank, 1781), Harpalus (Pseudoophonus) rufipes (Degeer, 1774), Pterostichus (Pseudomaseus) fuscicornis (Reiche & Saulcy, 1855), Amara (Amara) aenea (DeGeer, 1774), Agonum (Olisares) lugens (Duftschmid, 1812)*, Anchomenus (Anchomenus) dorsalis (Pontoppidan, 1763), Calathus (Calathus) syriacus Chaudoir, 1863.

The Heart moth had outbreaks in the forest regions of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province in recent years. During, 2011-2012 biological aspects of this moth were studied in both field and laboratory conditions. To this end, from the first of February to the end of June twenty trees were selected in this province and eggs, different larval stages and pupa on four twigs in four geographical directions were surveyed weekly. The adults’ emergence and fly peak were determined by light trap and adult fly peak were recorded. Surveys were conducted to pest overwintering determination. The results indicated that different larval stages feed on buds and leaf. The larval longevity were 22± 0. 26 and 29± 0. 14 days and pupal longevity were 8± 0. 3 and 11± 0. 16 days in laboratory and field conditions, respectively. The adult longevity were 7± 0. 2 and 9± 0. 11. Then the adults mated and females laid eggs in group on the end of top twigs under scales that caused by females. The pest in the study area has one generation per year and overwintered as egg. The moth was identified by the late Dr. abaei in last years.