zhila ghorbani; Kiumars Sefidi; Mahshid Souri; Mehdi Moameri
Volume 28, Issue 3 , October 2021, , Pages 395-409
Abstract
Awareness of the extent and impact of vegetation from livestock grazing disorders can be a solution to develop rangeland ecosystem management strategies to achieve sustainability and continuous production in these ecosystems. In this study, the production of aerial and underground organs of grazable ...
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Awareness of the extent and impact of vegetation from livestock grazing disorders can be a solution to develop rangeland ecosystem management strategies to achieve sustainability and continuous production in these ecosystems. In this study, the production of aerial and underground organs of grazable livestock species in the southeastern rangelands of Sabalan under the influence of different grazing intensities and distance from the village as the focus of the crisis was investigated. In addition, the development and evaluation of ANFIS model was presented in order to predict the production of aerial and underground organs of food species and compare the results with the regression model. For evaluation of regression and ANFIS models the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and correlation coefficient (R2) were used. The results showed that different grazing intensities, distance from village and interaction between them were significant effect on the production of aerial and underground organs of palatability species at (p≤0.01). Also, with increasing grazing intensity, the production of aerial and underground organs of these species decreased. The results of ANFIS section showed that in low grazing intensity and distance of about 400 meters, the highest amount of production of palatable species is observed. The lowest production of these species is predicted to be close to the village (200 meters). Moreover, the highest amount of underground biomass at farther distances (600 meter) and lowest amount of that was observed at 200 meter. In addition, ANFIS model with higher accuracy (R2 = 0.98 and R2 = 0.95) and lower error (RMSE = 0.9792 and RMSE = 1.168) than less accurate regression model (R2 = 0.92 and R2 0.77) which also had more errors (RMSE = 2.2835 and RMSE = 3.8954), predicted the production of aerial and underground organs, respectively.
zhila ghorbani; Kiomars Sefidi; farshad Keivan Behjou; Mehdi Moameri
Volume 25, Issue 3 , November 2018, , Pages 500-511
Abstract
This study was conducted to assess the effects of different grazing intensities on the biomass amount of Agropyron libanoticum and Festuca ovina in summer rangelands of southern Sabalan, Ardabil province. After determining three sampling areas as different livestock grazing treatments ...
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This study was conducted to assess the effects of different grazing intensities on the biomass amount of Agropyron libanoticum and Festuca ovina in summer rangelands of southern Sabalan, Ardabil province. After determining three sampling areas as different livestock grazing treatments (light, moderate, and heavy grazing), plant sampling was performed by a random-systematic method in 25 plots along 600-m transects. A linear regression was used to determine the relationship between aerial and underground biomass. To assess the effects of different grazing intensities on biomass of these species a one-way ANOVA and Tukey test were used. The results showed that there was a significant relationship between aerial and underground biomass of two species in different treatments. Moreover, increasing the livestock grazing intensity resulted in a significant decrease in the aerial and underground biomass and total biomass of both species. In addition, increasing grazing intensity leads to decreasing aerial biomass in moderate and heavy grazing treatments compared to the light grazing intensity (26.31% and 42.24, , for Festuca ovina, respectively, and 22.04% and 48.76% for Agropyron libanoticum, respectively. Increasing grazing intensity leads to decreasing underground biomass in moderate and heavy grazing treatments compared to the light grazing intensity (25.14% and 42.75 for Festuca ovina, respectively, and 9.39% and 35.30% for Agropyron libanoticum, respectively. Generally, grazing intensity reduced the aerial and underground biomass of Agropyron libanoticum and Festuca ovina.Therefore, grazing control in rangeland management is necessary to prevent the destruction of these species.
Amir Mirzaie Moousavand; Ardavan Ghorbani; Mohammad Ali Zare Chahooki; Farshad Keivan B ehjoo; kiomars Sefidi
Volume 25, Issue 2 , August 2018, , Pages 235-247
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of environmental factors on Prangos ferulacea Lindl. and P. pabularia Lindl. distribution in the rangelands of Ardabil province. Seven habitats of Prangos genus were identified, so that P. ferulacea was distributed in three ...
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The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of environmental factors on Prangos ferulacea Lindl. and P. pabularia Lindl. distribution in the rangelands of Ardabil province. Seven habitats of Prangos genus were identified, so that P. ferulacea was distributed in three habitats and P. papularia in two habitats. In each habitat, sampling sites were identified and in each site three transects of 100m were established, and the density of the study species were recorded in ten plots of 4m2. Soil samples were taken from the depth of 0 to 30 cm at the start, middle and end of each transect. In the vicinity of each habitat, sampling was done in the same way. In sampling plots, elevation, slope, aspect, and soil characteristics such as organic matter, N, P, K, pH, EC, and texture were measured. To investigate the effects of environmental factors on the presence or absence of the study species and to compare the characteristics of the variables measured one-way ANOVA and Tukey test were used.Discriminant analysis was used to determine the degree of importance of the environmental variables measured in the distribution of the study species. Results showed that P. pabularia was distributed in the habitats with the high content of P, clay, EC, rainfall, sand, slope and pH; while P. ferulacea was distributed where the elevation was high but rainfall and the content of K were low. According to the results of discriminant analysis, variables such as EC, organic matter, K, elevation, slope, aspect, silt, clay, rainfall, and temperature were effective in discrimination of sites and species distribution. The results of the present study could be useful to propose the species for range management, improvement and reclamation.
Maryam Asadi; Kiomars Sefidi; Mehdi Moameri
Volume 25, Issue 2 , August 2018, , Pages 417-426
Abstract
Livestock grazing is the most common type of rangeland uses that can affect the composition of rangeland vegetation, net primary production, stem to root ratio, and nutrient cycle. This research was conducted to study the impacts of various grazing intensities on nutrient allocation of phosphorus, calcium, ...
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Livestock grazing is the most common type of rangeland uses that can affect the composition of rangeland vegetation, net primary production, stem to root ratio, and nutrient cycle. This research was conducted to study the impacts of various grazing intensities on nutrient allocation of phosphorus, calcium, sodium, and potassium in aerial and underground biomass of Artemisia aucheri in the summer rangelands on the southeast slope of the Sabalan. In this study, a systematic-random sampling was employed. Three parallel transects of 200 m length were established in each grazing intensity. Then along each transect, one square meter plots with 50 m intervals were established to collect the aerial and underground biomass. Analysis of variance revealed that the allocation of phosphorus and calcium of the aerial organs were significantly affected by different grazing intensities. In addition, sodium and calcium of underground organs were significantly different at 1% level. The results of this research and the effect of different grazing intensities on nutrient allocation could be used in the identification and management of livestock grazing and rangelands.
Robab Bagherian; Kiomars Sefidi; Farshad Keivan Behjou; Ali Ashraf Soltani; Behzad Behtari
Volume 25, Issue 1 , April 2018, , Pages 183-190
Abstract
To evaluate the effects of grazing on some physical and chemical properties of soil, in the summer rangelands of southern slopes of Sabalan, three regions with different grazing intensity were selected after field observation and 27 soil samples were randomly taken along three 200-m transects. Soil samples ...
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To evaluate the effects of grazing on some physical and chemical properties of soil, in the summer rangelands of southern slopes of Sabalan, three regions with different grazing intensity were selected after field observation and 27 soil samples were randomly taken along three 200-m transects. Soil samples were taken from the depths of 15-0, 30-15 and 45-30 cm and transported to laboratory and soil properties such as texture, organic matter, organic carbon, phosphorus, potassium, EC and pH were measured. Analysis of variance and mean comparison were made using Duncan's test. Results showed that no significant difference was found for soil pH and phosphorus among the grazing intensity treatments and soil depths; however, significant differences were observed for other variables. The results showed that organic matter content decreased with increasing of grazing intensity and the lowest content was recorded for the 30-45 cm soil depth in the heavy grazing area. According to the results of this research it can be concluded that soil structure is degraded with increased grazing intensity; therefore, a balanced grazing need to be taken into account in summer rangelands to prevent soil degradation.
Amir Mirzaie Mousivand; Ardavan Ghorbani; Mohammad ali Zare Chahooki; Farshad Keyvan Behjoo; Kiomars Sefidi
Volume 24, Issue 4 , January 2018, , Pages 791-804
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of environmental factors on distribution of Prangos uloptera in rangelands of Ardabil province. The habitats of Prangos were identified and the habitats, in which the study species was present, were selected. Sampling was also carried out in the vicinity ...
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The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of environmental factors on distribution of Prangos uloptera in rangelands of Ardabil province. The habitats of Prangos were identified and the habitats, in which the study species was present, were selected. Sampling was also carried out in the vicinity of each habitat where the study species was not present. Three transects of 100-m length were established, on which canopy cover percentage and density of species were measured within 10 plots of 4m2. Soil samples were taken from the beginning, middle and end of each transect. In sampling places, altitude, slope, aspect, and soil characteristics were measured. Independent t test and cluster analysis were applied to comparison and classification of presence and non-presence areas and determination function was applied to determine the importance of factors affecting the presence of this species. The results of t test showed that there were significant differences between all variables except for temperature and precipitation. According to the results of cluster analysis, the studied species had more distribution in places with high altitude and steep slopes, high organic matter, and high nitrogen and sand. The results clearly showed that climatic parameters including precipitation and temperature as awell as altitude and sand percentage in the first grade and then aspect and soil characteristics including nitrogen and phosphorus in the second grade were the most important factors affecting the distribution of study species. According to the results, better decisions could be taken to use this species for range management, improvement and reclamation.
Shole Haj agha Memar; Farshad Keivan Behjou; Kiomars sefidi; Behzad Behtari
Volume 23, Issue 2 , September 2016, , Pages 343-330
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of ecosystem change on emissions and carbon mineralization rate in Fandoghloo region. Soil sampling was performed at three depths (0-30 cm) from the grazing rangeland ecosystem, degraded rangeland ecosystem, and agricultural, ...
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The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of ecosystem change on emissions and carbon mineralization rate in Fandoghloo region. Soil sampling was performed at three depths (0-30 cm) from the grazing rangeland ecosystem, degraded rangeland ecosystem, and agricultural, ecosystem. Carbon dioxide emissions were measured during incubation with alkali absorption method. The highest and lowest emissions of carbon dioxide and carbon mineralization rate were obtained in the grazing rangeland ecosystem (0.968 mg CO2 g-1 soil and 0.00314 mol C kg-1 soil d-1), and the degraded rangeland ecosystem (4693 mg CO2 g-1 soil, and 0.0015mol C kg-1 soil d-1), respectively, showing a significant difference with other ecosystems at different depth levels. According to the results, significant differences were found for the activity of microorganisms in decomposition of organic matter in the study ecosystems. The dynamics of vegetation and returned fine roots caused high emissions of CO2 in soil of grazing rangeland ecosystem. In the agricultural ecosystem, due to the relatively wet conditions and failure to return organic matter to the soil, the decomposition of inaccessible organic matter caused to decreased soil organic matter and low carbon dioxide emissions.