Ali Mohebbi; Moslem Mozafari; Ehsan Zandi Efahan; Ali Ashraf Jafari
Volume 26, Issue 3 , September 2019, , Pages 543-550
Abstract
A significant area of the country's rangelands is degraded due to various factors and an important part of rangeland species is endangered or their population is severely reduced. Rangeland improvement and reclamation through selecting suitable species and finding the best cultivation methods are of ...
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A significant area of the country's rangelands is degraded due to various factors and an important part of rangeland species is endangered or their population is severely reduced. Rangeland improvement and reclamation through selecting suitable species and finding the best cultivation methods are of utmost importance in these rangelands. Therefore, according to the results of the research project performed in the Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, the seeds of Sa.arbuscula were collected from different rangelands of Semnan province along with the existing populations. The study was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications at Semnan Research Station since 2011 for five years. The data were analyzed using SAS software and the means were compared with Duncan's test. Our results clearly showed that among the study accessions of Sa. arbuscular, the genotypes 230 and 234 with an establishment percentage of 86.67% and 84.02% were superior, respectively. Therefore, the genotypes 230 and 234 could be recommended for rangeland improvement and reclamation.
Hosein Arzani; Jalal Abdollahi; Mehdi farahpour; Mojganolsadat Azimi; ali Ashraf Jafari; Mahmoud Moalemi
Volume 12, Issue 3 , August 2019, , Pages 263-286
Farhad Fakhri; Seyed Hassan Kaboli; Ali AShraf Jafari; Parviz Bayat
Volume 26, Issue 2 , July 2019, , Pages 388-399
Abstract
Capparis spinosa plays an important role in the ecosystem dynamics of arid and semi-arid regions. The development of cultivation of this plant requires optimal conditions to produce seedlings in simple, practical and inexpensive ways. Low germination percentage is one of the most important ...
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Capparis spinosa plays an important role in the ecosystem dynamics of arid and semi-arid regions. The development of cultivation of this plant requires optimal conditions to produce seedlings in simple, practical and inexpensive ways. Low germination percentage is one of the most important barriers to the mass production of Capparis spinosa. In this study, the best strategies for increasing seed germination were investigated using inexpensive and simple scientific methods. For this purpose, after seed collection from local accessions of different areas in Bushehr province, seed preparation treatments were applied for germination. The treatments included scarification with sandpaper, potassium nitrate, hot water, and concentrated sulfuric acid, compared to the control. Seed germination was done by Petri dish in incubator and culture tray in greenhouse. The results showed that potassium nitrate treatment caused the highest germination percentage in Talheh local accession (86.7%) by culture tray method, which showed more than 41% increase compared to control. The highest germination was obtained to be 68.3% in the scarification with sandpaper in the Konari local accession. The germination rate in potassium nitrate treatment in both tray and Petri dish treatments increased significantly compared to other methods. In addition, application of concentrated sulfuric acid and hot water decreased germination percentage and rate compared to the control. Therefore, potassium nitrate solution was the best treatment for increasing the seed germination of the study species.
Robabae Farahdoust; Ali Ashraf Jafary; Siroos Mansourfar; Mina Rabiee
Volume 24, Issue 4 , January 2018, , Pages 853-869
Abstract
In order to study of drought stress in four sainfoin species (Onobychis Spp.), a factorial experiments was conducted based on completely randomized design with four replications in glasshouse condition in research institute of forest and rangelands, Tehran, Iran in 2015. The factor A was four species ...
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In order to study of drought stress in four sainfoin species (Onobychis Spp.), a factorial experiments was conducted based on completely randomized design with four replications in glasshouse condition in research institute of forest and rangelands, Tehran, Iran in 2015. The factor A was four species as: O. michoxii O. cristagalli, O. sativa and O. sabnitens and factor B was four levels of drought stress: 100% field capacity (FC) as control, 75% FC, 50% FC and %25 FC. Seeds were sown in the pots and irriation was conducted based on drought stress levels. After 45 days from sowing date, data were collected for seedling fresh and dry weight, physiological traits as: chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, carotenoids, proline, water soluble carbohydrate, relative water content (RWC) and analyzed using SAS9 software. The results of analysis of variance showed significant effects of species, drought stress, and species by drought interaction (P<0.01) for all traits except chlorophyll a. According to the results, seedling fresh and dry weight decreased by increasing of drought stress, while chlorophyll a and RWC increased. Overall, O. michoxii with higher values of chlorophylls, carotenoids, water soluble carbohydrate and seedling weight was more tolerant to drought stress, followed by O. sativa. These two species were introduced as relatively drought tolerant species. In order to study of drought stress in four sainfoin species (Onobychis Spp.), a factorial experiments was conducted based on completely randomized design with four replications in glasshouse condition in research institute of forest and rangelands, Tehran, Iran in 2015. The factor A was four species as: O. michoxii O. cristagalli, O. sativa and O. sabnitens and factor B was four levels of drought stress: 100% field capacity (FC) as control, 75% FC, 50% FC and %25 FC. Seeds were sown in the pots and irriation was conducted based on drought stress levels. After 45 days from sowing date, data were collected for seedling fresh and dry weight, physiological traits as: chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, carotenoids, proline, water soluble carbohydrate, relative water content (RWC) and analyzed using SAS9 software. The results of analysis of variance showed significant effects of species, drought stress, and species by drought interaction (P<0.01) for all traits except chlorophyll a. According to the results, seedling fresh and dry weight decreased by increasing of drought stress, while chlorophyll a and RWC increased. Overall, O. michoxii with higher values of chlorophylls, carotenoids, water soluble carbohydrate and seedling weight was more tolerant to drought stress, followed by O. sativa. These two species were introduced as relatively drought tolerant species.
Kazem Saedi; farhang ghasriani; Ali Ashraf Jafari; mohamad fayaz
Volume 24, Issue 3 , October 2017, , Pages 676-684
Ehsan Zandi; Ali Ashraf Jafari; rasoul mirakhorli
Volume 24, Issue 2 , July 2017, , Pages 464-473
Abstract
Due to the adaptability to arid and desert conditions, halophytes could supply a part of livestock forage requirement in early spring, summer, and especially autumn. However, there is little information on the forage quality of these plants. On the other hands, halophytes vary considerably in their nutritive ...
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Due to the adaptability to arid and desert conditions, halophytes could supply a part of livestock forage requirement in early spring, summer, and especially autumn. However, there is little information on the forage quality of these plants. On the other hands, halophytes vary considerably in their nutritive value not only among species but also among phenological stages. Therefore, knowledge on forage quality of halophytes at each phenological stage could help the beneficiaries in arid regions to opt proper species for cultivation in haloculture programs as well as determining the suitable time for livestock grazing. In the present study, the effects of phenological stages on six forage quality traits were investigated for two halophytes ie., Atriplex leucoclada and Suaeda fruticosa. Plant samples were collected from saline lands in Garmsar, Semnan Province. The study was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications. The results showed that the effects of phenological stages and species on forage quality were significant (P<0.01).The highest forage quality was obtained at vegetative growth stage and then it declined at the seeding stage. Overall, our results clearly indicate the higher forage quality of Suaeda fruticosa as compared with Atriplex leucoclada. Therefore, Suaeda fruticosa could be introduced as a new source of forage in saline lands on which other conventional fodders have no chance to grow and yield.
shahram schafiee; mohammad khosroshahi; Hassan Rouhipour; ali ashraf jafari; farhad khaksarian; leila kashi zenouzi
Volume 24, Issue 1 , May 2017, , Pages 224-237
Abstract
Due to the limited water resources and low rainfall, finding proper solutions to reduce the water consumption for vegetation production in natural areas has received attention more than ever before. For this purpose, this research was aimed to investigate the effects of superabsorbent polymer and Plantbac ...
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Due to the limited water resources and low rainfall, finding proper solutions to reduce the water consumption for vegetation production in natural areas has received attention more than ever before. For this purpose, this research was aimed to investigate the effects of superabsorbent polymer and Plantbac panels on the efficient use of water on Saxaul (Haloxylon persicum) growth. The study was conducted in the Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Station in Semnan province, Iran. Irrigation in this study was performed according to the soil water suction, reaching to pressures of 1.0, 5.0, and 15.0 bars. The water consumption in each of the aforementioned suctions was to reach the field capacity of the same soil. In addition to the above treatments, rainfed treatment was also considered. Before planting the seedlings, the superabsorbent polymer was mixed with the soil of seedling pits at a weight ratio of 0.6%. The Plantbac panels were placed in the bottom of the pits at dimensions of 60×60×50 cm. Therefore, treatments consisted of superabsorbent polymer and Plantbac panels. The experiment was conducted as a split plot design based on randomized complete block, in which soil water suctions levels were considered as main plot and superabsorbent polymers as sub-plot. The results of the combined effect of both water suctions and superabsorbent polymer showed that the water consumption at these suctions was reduced by prolonging the irrigation intervals to reach higher suctions (more negative). At a soil water suction of 5.0 bars, the water consumption for each seedling was 157 liter, showing 33% decline as compared to the soil containing polymer at the same suction. However, at a suction of 15.0 bars, water consumption in the Plantback declined to 34%. Our results clearly showed that the Plantbac panels could significantly increase the Saxaul growth in different irrigation levels more than that recorded for the control and polymer treatments.