Yaser Ghasemi Aryan; Firoozeh Moghiminejad; Mohammadreza Shahraki; Alireza Yari
Volume 31, Issue 3 , September 2024, , Pages 232-247
Abstract
Abstract:Background and purpose The cooperative institution is considered the first and most essential pillar of strengthening social capital, whose stability guarantees the survival and continued participation of local communities in natural resource management projects. Village Development Group ...
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Abstract:Background and purpose The cooperative institution is considered the first and most essential pillar of strengthening social capital, whose stability guarantees the survival and continued participation of local communities in natural resource management projects. Village Development Group and Microcredit Fund are two important social and economic institutions in the implementation of the international project of revitalization of forested and degraded lands with special emphasis on lands sensitive to saline soils and lands prone to wind erosion (RFLDL) in Sarayan city of Khorasan province. It has been the southern region that has brought valuable lessons from the participation of users in the more effective implementation of projects to combat desertification. The stability of these institutions depends on the participation and activity of the members in the decision-making meetings of the development groups in order to strengthen the social, economic, human, natural and physical capital of the village, as well as complying with the regulations of the microcredit fund and depositing monthly small amounts. However, the low activity or liquidation of some of these institutions has become one of the important challenges and concerns of project executive experts. The current research was carried out with the aim of explaining the main factors of the instability of these institutions.MethodologyThis research is descriptive-analytical in terms of method, practical in terms of purpose, and the method of gathering information is two documentary and survey methods. The target community is all the members of the village development groups and micro credit funds in the target villages of the implementation of the RFLDL project in Sarayan city. The measuring tool of the research was a researcher-made questionnaire, based on Cochran's formula and matching with Karjesi and Morgan's table, 96 people were selected as a statistical sample. After validating the validity with the opinion of experts, the reliability of the questionnaire was 0.83, which shows that it is reliable. Data analysis was done using 22SPSS software. The relationship between variables was investigated using Smart PLS3 software. For this purpose, the factor load of each item was obtained.Results The results related to the explanation of the main components of the sustainability of cooperative institutions were classified and prioritized in the form of 4 groups of social-cultural, economic-household, educational-promotional and policy-management factors. Based on this, in the socio-cultural factors, the items "lack of attention to the structural characteristics and composition of groups", "lack of commitment and sense of responsibility among group members" and "lack of a specific pattern for the preservation and survival of groups", in the economic factors, the items " The fund's small financial capital", "low amount of fund facilities" and "the inability of the fund to conclude contracts and attract funds from other sources", in the educational-promotional factors, the items "non-simultaneity of skill training with granting loans" and "insufficient training for effective use" of facilities" and in policy-management factors, the item "non-provision of government facilities to support the funds" had the highest priority. The results of the hypothesis examination and path analysis also showed that the management-policy component with a coefficient of 0-0.581 had the strongest negative and significant effect on the sustainability of cooperative institutions at the level of 99%.Conclusion In general, the results of this research show that policy-management factors and social factors (especially the structure and composition of institutions) are considered as the most important factors of the stability of cooperative institutions. Therefore, it is suggested that experts and facilitators first strengthen organizational coordination and coherence at the level of government officials and, while securing appropriate credits, remove the legal obstacles to the participation of local communities in the implementation of projects to combat desertification. It is also necessary to consider network analysis studies, in order to achieve the appropriate composition of members, in the stage of establishment and establishment of institutions.
Jalil Farzadmehr; Yaser Ghasemi Aryan; Reza Yari
Volume 29, Issue 2 , July 2022, , Pages 156-165
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the effect of restoration projects on soil surface indicators and performance characteristics in Taherabad rangelands of Ferdows. The Landscape Function Analysis method was used to determine soil surface properties and yield potentials. In this regard, in the representative ...
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This study aimed to investigate the effect of restoration projects on soil surface indicators and performance characteristics in Taherabad rangelands of Ferdows. The Landscape Function Analysis method was used to determine soil surface properties and yield potentials. In this regard, in the representative area of each treatment, three transects (each for 100-meter) were settled at specified distances along the main slope. Along each transect the length and width of plant spots and the length of the inter-spot distance were measured. Excel and LFA (Landscape Function Analysis) instructions were used to calculate the performance potentials. To examine the significance of the performance potentials, SAS software was used in this study. According to the results, there is a significant difference between the treatments. The highest percentage of stability was estimated in the arc basin + exclusion and the lowest was in the treatment of the control area; also, soil infiltration of different restorative treatments, significant differences, and the highest and lowest percentages of soil infiltration was estimated in the arc basin + exclusion and control projects, respectively. The results showed no significant difference in the Nutrient Cycling Index and soil mineral elements in different rangeland restoration projects. Landscape Organization Index for arc basin + exclusion, planting + exclusion, exclusion and control were estimated to be 0.33, 0.22, 0.18 and 0.14, respectively. The Kruskal–Wallis test showed a significant difference (at a 5% level) between the soil surface indicators at different rangeland restoration projects. It is concluded that there are significant differences among soil surface indicators, collar and canopy, litter, soil surface fragility, erosion type and intensity, eroded materials, nature of soil surface and wetting test at 5%, and texture at 1% in different restoration treatments. Different treatments have caused differences in these indicators. Also, there is no significant difference between cryptogam and microtopography indicators. In general, arc basin +exclusion construction in arid and semi-arid regions is a useful restoration activity and increases soil stability and infiltration.
Yaser Ghasemi Arian; Hosein Azarnivand; Firoozeh Moghimi Nejad; Mohammad Jafary; Esmaiel Filekesh
Volume 21, Issue 3 , December 2014, , Pages 394-408
Abstract
This research was aimed to determine the rangeland suitability for sheep grazing in Chahtalkh-Sabzevar rangelands using FAO (1990) method. Initially, the DGN maps, including six sheets of 1:25000, topographic map of 1:50000, and geological map of 1:100000 of the study area were prepared and the vegetation ...
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This research was aimed to determine the rangeland suitability for sheep grazing in Chahtalkh-Sabzevar rangelands using FAO (1990) method. Initially, the DGN maps, including six sheets of 1:25000, topographic map of 1:50000, and geological map of 1:100000 of the study area were prepared and the vegetation types were detected. In each vegetation type, range condition, range trend and production were determined to produce the production suitability map. Then, the soil erosion sensitivity map was prepared using EPM method. To study the suitability of water, water sampling was done and the quantity of water was determined. Water samples were transferred to the laboratory to measure TDS, EC and Mg+2 for each sample. Finally, the suitability map of water resources was produced by combining the layers (provided for four slopes including 0-10%, 10-30%, 30-60% and >60%). The final model of rangeland suitability was prepared by overlaying the maps of production suitability, soil susceptibility to erosion and water. According to the obtained results, there is no suitability S1 class in the region and 23.7%, 18.92%, and 56.9% of the study area have S2, S3, and N suitability classes, respectively. Generally, it can be said that the conversion of rangeland to dryland, overgrazing and early grazing, formations susceptible to erosion, low vegetation cover, salinity, and improper distribution of drinking water sources for livestock are considered as the most important limiting factors for sheep grazing.
Yaser Ghasemi Aryan; Hossein Arzani; Esmaiel Filekesh; Reza Yari
Volume 20, Issue 1 , June 2013, , Pages 1-10
Abstract
Determination of grazing capacity is considered as one of the most fundamental aspects of range management and understanding the effective factors on it is of utmost importance. Since the amount of forage production in a growth period is the basis for calculation of grazing capacity, in this research ...
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Determination of grazing capacity is considered as one of the most fundamental aspects of range management and understanding the effective factors on it is of utmost importance. Since the amount of forage production in a growth period is the basis for calculation of grazing capacity, in this research the estimation of production through the measurement of plant’s dimensions was investigated. For this purpose, the habitat of Artemisia siberi was determined and then 8 transects of 50 m length were established with 10 m intervals by random-systematic method. The height and diameter of 40 species of Artemisia siberi with different dimensions were recorded and the production of each species was clipped and weighted after drying. All data were analyzed by SPSS. Results showed that there was a significant linear correlation between production as a dependent variable and volume, canopy cover and height of Artemisia siberi as independent variables (R2= 0.88, 0.84, and 0.74, respectively) at 1% probability level. Finally, the relationship between production and volume was identified as the best linear relationship.
Esfandiar Jahantab; Yaser Ghasemi Aryan; Adel Sepehri; Bahareh Hanafi; Enayat allah Yazdan panah
Volume 19, Issue 3 , December 2012, , Pages 482-489
Abstract
Knowledge of the plant distribution pattern in each region is of principles and fundamentals of vegetation survey and measurement that plays an important role in the selection of management approaches. A study was performed to determine the distribution pattern of three dominant species of Artemisi aaucheri, ...
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Knowledge of the plant distribution pattern in each region is of principles and fundamentals of vegetation survey and measurement that plays an important role in the selection of management approaches. A study was performed to determine the distribution pattern of three dominant species of Artemisi aaucheri, Kelussiao doratissima and Prangos ferulaceae in Dyshmuk region in northwestern Kohgilouyeh and Boyer Ahmad province. One hundred quadrates of 2×2 m were randomly located along six transects of 100-m length and the number of each species was recorded. Using this information, the most appropriate and accurate quadrate-based distribution indices (Green and standard Morisitat indices) were calculated. According to the results, Kelussia odoratissima and Prangos ferulaceae showed a random distribution pattern while distribution pattern of Artemisia aucheri was uniform to random.
Hosein Azarnivand; Yaser Ghasemiaryan; Reza Yari; Mohammad Ali Zare Chahouki; Esfandyar Jahantab
Volume 19, Issue 2 , September 2012, , Pages 297-305
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate allelopathic activity of aerial and underground organs of mountain sagebrush (Artemisia aucheri) on seed germination features, root length, shoot length and seed vigor of Festuca ovina.For this purpose, species of mountain sagebrush were collected from Taleghan ...
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The aim of this study was to investigate allelopathic activity of aerial and underground organs of mountain sagebrush (Artemisia aucheri) on seed germination features, root length, shoot length and seed vigor of Festuca ovina.For this purpose, species of mountain sagebrush were collected from Taleghan rangelands in Tehran Province and then were dried in direct sunlight and grinded.Powder derived from aerial and underground organs to the amounts of 3, 6 and 9 grams were separately mixed with 900 grams of sand in completely randomized blocks with four replications. In each pot, 10 seeds were planted at a depth of 2-3 cm. Germination percentage, germination velocity, seed vigor, root length, and shoot length were measured. Data analysis was performed using MSTATC software and mean comparisons were carried out using Duncan's test. Results showed that there were no significant differences among measured factors. Also, the shoot and root lengths showed significant differences at probability levels of 5% and 1%, respectively. According to the results, Artemisia aucheri caused a reduction of root length in Festuca ovina.