Mohammadreza Shahraki; Khadijeh Mahdavi
Volume 27, Issue 4 , December 2020, , Pages 763-771
Abstract
A number of factors cause negative changes in the quality and quantity of rangelands, which leads to downward sloping and severe soil degradation, vegetation cover, and ultimately decrease the income of stakeholders. Stakeholders and ranchers have an indigenous managerial experience at their rangelands ...
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A number of factors cause negative changes in the quality and quantity of rangelands, which leads to downward sloping and severe soil degradation, vegetation cover, and ultimately decrease the income of stakeholders. Stakeholders and ranchers have an indigenous managerial experience at their rangelands because of their dependence on rangelands. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effective indices of rangelands downstream from the viewpoint of stakeholders in northeastern Golestan province. This research was a descriptive- applied one in terms of purpose, and it was surveyed by random stratified sampling method among the stakeholders in the study area. Questionnaires were used to collect data. The validity of the research instrument was evaluated using the experts' viewpoints and its reliability was evaluated based on Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the main variables of the study. The statistical population of the study consisted of 461 stakeholders in two rural and nomadic farming systems that 182 of them were selected by Cochran formula as sample size. The results showed that the downward trend of rangelands is more often detected by stakeholders with livestock indices than by vegetation and soil indices. According to the findings of the study, there was a positive and significant relationship between age and past livestock variables with stakeholder's view of rangeland's downward signs at 99 and 95% confidence level. According to the research findings, there was a positive and significant relationship between age variables and stakeholder's pastoral background with their view of detecting the downward trend of rangelands at 99 and 95% confidence level. Also, the results obtained from comparing the stakeholder's views in the two rural and nomadic systems showed that the nomadic stakeholder were more familiar with the indicators of the downward trend of the rangelands to rural stakeholder.
Mahshid Souri; Seyedeh Khadijeh Mahdavi; Valiolah Asadi; Rostam Khalifehzadeh
Volume 26, Issue 3 , September 2019, , Pages 731-740
Abstract
The present study was conducted to compare the parameters of vegetation in two sites grazed by livestock and wildlife (whole and goat) in Arasbaran rangelands of East Azarbaijan. After determining the key vegetation type, sampling of vegetation parameters was carried out on both sites using a systematic ...
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The present study was conducted to compare the parameters of vegetation in two sites grazed by livestock and wildlife (whole and goat) in Arasbaran rangelands of East Azarbaijan. After determining the key vegetation type, sampling of vegetation parameters was carried out on both sites using a systematic random sampling. Within each region, five transects of 100 m were established and ten plots of two square meters were systematically sampled on each transect. In each plot, along with each transect, the palatability class of the existing species, vegetative form, cover percentage, density, and production were measured. Results showed that canopy cover percentage, density and production were higher in wild life grazing site than in livestock grazing site and were statistically significant. On the other hand, because of their agility and mobility, wildlife has greater selectivity and a wider range of grazing than livestock. The results also showed that the canopy cover percentage, density and amount of forbs production were lower in the livestock grazing site as compared with the shrubs, due to the concentration of sheep grazing on forbs (generally legume family plants).
Seyedeh Khadijeh Mahdavi; Faramarz Ghafouri; Ahmad Abedi Sarvestani; Mohamadreza Shahraki
Volume 26, Issue 1 , June 2019, , Pages 73-88
Abstract
Considering the importance and basic role of participation and social cohesion of beneficiaries in the success of reclamation and improvement projects, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of rangeland beneficiaries' social cohesion on their participation in reclamation and improvement ...
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Considering the importance and basic role of participation and social cohesion of beneficiaries in the success of reclamation and improvement projects, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of rangeland beneficiaries' social cohesion on their participation in reclamation and improvement activities in northeastern rangelands of Golestan province. This research was descriptive-survey, conducted with stratified random sampling. Questionnaires were used for data collection. The validity of research was examined by using the views of natural resources and social sciences experts and its reliability was assessed according to the Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the main variables. The statistical population of the study consisted of 461 exploiters in two nomadic and rural exploitation systems (N = 461), among which 210 beneficiaries were interviewed using Morgan table. According to the results, the interaction section with an average of 3.75 and the conflict section with an average of 3.73 had the most and least impact on the social cohesion of the beneficiaries, respectively. The findings indicate that the beneficiaries have more contributed to reclamation practices as compared with rangeland improvement projects.Also, there was a positive and significant correlation between the social cohesion and the participation rate of beneficiaries in reclamation and improvement plans with a correlation coefficient of 0.474 at a confidence level of 99%. Nomadic beneficiaries had more social cohesion than rural beneficiaries. Moreover, there was no significant difference in the participation rate in both nomadic and rural exploitation systems.Thus, the potential of local communities could be used in conducting range improvement and reclamation practices in areas where interaction and social cohesion are high.
Mahshid Souri; seyedeh Khadije mahdavi; sahra Tarverdizadeh saqzi
Volume 24, Issue 2 , July 2017, , Pages 360-369
Abstract
This research was aimed to investigate the effects of range improvement treatments on vegetation performance. The study was conducted in Silvana rangelands, West Azerbaijan province. In this study, four improvement treatments including contour furrow, pitting, gabion and mortar stone dams were selected. ...
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This research was aimed to investigate the effects of range improvement treatments on vegetation performance. The study was conducted in Silvana rangelands, West Azerbaijan province. In this study, four improvement treatments including contour furrow, pitting, gabion and mortar stone dams were selected. A control site (with no improvement treatment) was also selected. Vegetation sampling was done in a random-systematic manner in key areas of each site. Vegetation parameters including production, canopy cover percentage, litter and density were measured Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA. Then, the mean values of parameters were compared with each other using the Duncan test. Statistical analysis was done in SPSS software. The results of one-way variance analysis indicated that the study mechanical improvement treatments had significant difference in terms of performance of plant parameters. According to the results, among the study treatments, contour furrow and mortar stone dam had the most positive impact on increasing and improving the performance of plant parameters, compared to other treatments in Silvana region.
Mohammad Jafari; Hossein Azarnivand; Mahshid Souri; Seyedeh Khadijeh Mahdavi
Volume 21, Issue 1 , June 2014, , Pages 95-108
Abstract
Water deficiency and low soil moisture, are considered as limiting factors in rehabilitation and improvement of semi-arid rangelands. Considering the problem of water deficiency and low soil moisture in pastures discussed, rainfall storage projects can be one of suitable strategies to compensate for ...
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Water deficiency and low soil moisture, are considered as limiting factors in rehabilitation and improvement of semi-arid rangelands. Considering the problem of water deficiency and low soil moisture in pastures discussed, rainfall storage projects can be one of suitable strategies to compensate for water shortages in such areas. On the other hand, considering several criteria that must be considered in this selection, makes it difficult to choose the appropriate locations to execute projects such as pitting and furrowing. These factors include technical and social-economical criteria. Meykhoran region in Kermanshah Province was considered in this research. In this study, in order to locate suitable areas for pitting and furrowing projects, spatial decision support system were used in three stages. The first stage involves determining hierarchical levels consisting of object, criteria, sub-criteria, and factors. During the second stage, the standardization of criteria based on fuzzy logic, weighting criteria and sub-criteria based on analytical hierarchy process, and paired comparisons of criteria and sub-criteria, with preference values of one to nine and an inconsistency rate of less than one-tenth, were done in ARC-GIS software by using AHP subprogram. In the final step, after integration of these layers, the final maps of optimal sites for pitting and furrowing were prepared. Using this template to locate other natural resources projects will help to optimize use of spatial data, save time and costs.
Hosein Arzani; Khadijeh Mahdavi; Ali Nikkhah; Hosein Azarnivand
Volume 13, Issue 3 , February 2006, , Pages 236-247
Abstract
Information on animal daily requirement and forage quality for determination of rangeland grazing capacity is an essential task for range management. Animal requirement depends on factors such as weight, age, physiological condition as well as forage quality. There are more than 27 sheep breeds with ...
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Information on animal daily requirement and forage quality for determination of rangeland grazing capacity is an essential task for range management. Animal requirement depends on factors such as weight, age, physiological condition as well as forage quality. There are more than 27 sheep breeds with different body size in Iran. So it is not possible to represent a unique weight for animal unit in overall country. To overcome the problem live weight and daily requirement of each breed should be determined. In the present study, two herds of Dalagh sheep breed were selected with fifty head sheep in each including : fifteen head three years old ewes, fifteen head four years old ewes, ten head three months old lambs, ten head six months old lambs, five head three years old rams, five head four years old rams. They were weighed at three times (when grazing pasture, early and late winter in lowland). Average live weight of three and four year old ewes was considered as 51.75 kg. Equivalent animal unit for ram, three and six month lambs was obtained 1.37, 0.57 and 0.85 respectively. Animal requirement was determined based on forage quality in two phonological stages of vegetative and maturity. So, animal requirements were determined 1.2 and 1.53 kg dry matter per day at the times of vegetative and maturity stages respectively. Because of environmental condition and distance of watering point and sheep yard, metabolizable energy requirement per day was determined about 9/8 MJ. The SAS statistical software was used for data analysis according to factorial experiment in the form of completely randomized design. The result of analysis of variance showed herds, sex, age and location and also their interaction had significant effects on animal live weight (p<0.01).