Azam Khosravi Mashizi; Mohsen Sharafatmandrad
Volume 28, Issue 4 , November 2021, , Pages 686-700
Abstract
Ecosystems’ cultural services, like beauty services, play an important role in human social well-being. Understanding the potential of ecosystems is essential in providing this service for sustainable ecosystem management. This study aimed to determine the beauty value of summer rangelands in Kerman ...
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Ecosystems’ cultural services, like beauty services, play an important role in human social well-being. Understanding the potential of ecosystems is essential in providing this service for sustainable ecosystem management. This study aimed to determine the beauty value of summer rangelands in Kerman province. Hence, the beauty value of ten rangeland types was determined through flowering plants in 200 plots in flowering season. The beauty value was estimated using four indexes, including relative Simpson diversity and relative canopy cover of flowering plants, relative flowering period, and relative maximum number of flower colors. The analysis of variance showed that rangeland types are different in terms of beauty value, and Astragalus gossypinus-Artemisia aucheri rangeland type had the highest beauty value and is a pioneer region for conservation programs. Salsola brachiata- Artemisia sieberi rangeland had the lowest beauty value due to severe grazing and vegetation degradation. Plant types were most beautiful in spring, summer and fall, respectively. Correlation analysis showed that relative Simpson diversity and relative maximum number of flower colors had the highest correlation with beauty value. PCA also showed that beauty value was positively correlated with the attributes, including species diversity and abundance of forbs. The beauty value can be considered a good indicator of the ecological value of ecosystems that should be considered in sustainable development.
Aezam Khosravi Mashizi; Mohsen Sharafatmand
Volume 26, Issue 4 , December 2019, , Pages 1020-1031
Abstract
In recent decades, roads construction has become a worldwide major challenge for natural ecosystems health. Therefore, the impact of road on rangeland health indexes in two steppe and semi steppe zones along Kerman-Taft road was investigated. 17 rangeland health indicators were evaluated on roadsides ...
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In recent decades, roads construction has become a worldwide major challenge for natural ecosystems health. Therefore, the impact of road on rangeland health indexes in two steppe and semi steppe zones along Kerman-Taft road was investigated. 17 rangeland health indicators were evaluated on roadsides and reference areas. Soil and habitat stability, hydrologic function, and biotic integrity were estimated using rangeland health indicators. The results indicated that in the steppe region, all three features are in a rather acute state, while in the semi-steppe area, stability, soil and habitat characteristics and hydrological functions are in a balanced state and the health of living organisms is in relatively acute condition. The results of Wilcox test also showed that there are significant differences between roadside rangelands and reference areas in terms of production, invasive species and structural-functional groups in semi-steppe rangelands (p<0.05). In steppe area, roadside rangelands with reference rangelands had significant differences either mentioned indexes or in bare soil and gully erosion indexes (p <0.01). In addition to vegetation, soil has also affected by road damage in the steppe area, which is a priority in future restoration and restoration plans.
Naser Baghestani Meybodi; Hosein Arzani; Mohammad Taghi Zare; Jalal Abdollahi
Volume 11, Issue 2 , August 2019, , Pages 137-162
naser baghestani; mohamad taghi zare; kazem dashtakian; mohamadreza ahmadi
Volume 22, Issue 4 , March 2015, , Pages 778-786
Abstract
Proper distribution of water resources in rangelands causes uniform grazing and optimal use of rangeland. Knowledge of the present status of water resources in rangeland is important to achieve this goal. For this purpose, the drinking water resources for livestock in the steppe rangelands of Nodoushan, ...
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Proper distribution of water resources in rangelands causes uniform grazing and optimal use of rangeland. Knowledge of the present status of water resources in rangeland is important to achieve this goal. For this purpose, the drinking water resources for livestock in the steppe rangelands of Nodoushan, Yazd Province with an area of 114836 hectares were studied in 2013. During the field visits, the location of water resources was determined with GPS device. The base maps of available wells-springs and water reservoirs were produced in ArcGIS 9.3 software using these data. Then, the maps of grazing territory within the wells-springs and water reservoirs were produced. The areas which were not suitable for grazing, due to the water resources limitations, were determined by matching these two maps. According to the results, the area of available springs-wells and water reservoirs was calculated to be 75692 ha and 65259 ha, respectively. However, an area equal to 16703 ha of the study area is located far from water resources that is not currently available for grazing. In the study area, 33 water reserviors have been already established and 13 others are still needed to cover the whole are of rangeland for livestock grazing. Whereas, by a proper site selection, 20 water reserviors would be enough to cover the whole area and it should be taken into account for the development of water resources in rangelands.
Ali Ehsani
Volume 19, Issue 4 , March 2013, , Pages 737-747
Abstract
The objective of study on phenology of range plant species is to assess the changes of different phenology stages (germination, flowering, seed maturity stages, autumn growth and winter dormancy) in order to adjust range utilization programs, prevention of early or late grazing, recognition of nutritional ...
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The objective of study on phenology of range plant species is to assess the changes of different phenology stages (germination, flowering, seed maturity stages, autumn growth and winter dormancy) in order to adjust range utilization programs, prevention of early or late grazing, recognition of nutritional value of the plant species, determining livestock entry and exit time and seed collection. Artemisia sieberi is a shrubby species with an appropriate forage value distributed as a dominant species in arid and semi arid steppe regions of Iran. It is resistant to drought and relative salinity which widely grows in loamy, sandy and loamy clay soils. In this study, phenological stages of Artemisia sieberi were investigated in six different sites of steppe regions of Iran. Accordingly, data of the phenological stages were recorded for vegetative and reproductive stages respectively in 15-day and 7-day intervals. With regard to the direct relationship between phenological stages and climatic factors especially temperature and precipitation, these data were taken from the nearest synoptic station for each site. According to the results, vegetative growth stage of Artemisia sieberi starts from early March early April and continues to July if moisture is available. The flowering stage starts from early July and continues to late October. Seed ripening stage gradually starts from early September to late January. The start of the winter dormancy is late January which continues to early February. Our results show a long-term phenology for Artemisia sieberi indicating its resistance to environmental conditions. Consequently, comprehensive recognition of phenological stages of Artemisia sieberi as a key species enables us to manage the grazing, adjust the entry and exit time for livestock, grazing intensity and appropriate grazing systems to be applied by range managers and utilizers.
Ali Ehsani; Hosein Arzani; Mahdi Farahpur; Hassan Ahmadi; Mohammad Jafari; Mortezah Akbarzadeh
Volume 19, Issue 1 , June 2012, , Pages 1-16
Abstract
In this study, potential and actual evapotranspiration were estimated by Penman- Matis using climatic data of Saveh Station, and plant and soil characteristics were estimated by Cropwat 8.0 software. Our results showed that potential evapotranspiration in growing season was 6.16 times greater than the ...
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In this study, potential and actual evapotranspiration were estimated by Penman- Matis using climatic data of Saveh Station, and plant and soil characteristics were estimated by Cropwat 8.0 software. Our results showed that potential evapotranspiration in growing season was 6.16 times greater than the average of actual evapotranspiration. Actual evapotranspiration was 1.18 times greater than the average precipitation of growing season. It means that plant species have used the stored moisture for actual evapotranspiration. According to the estimation of actual evapotranspiration in a ten-year period, a model was provided for forage production as Ya= 74.30+ 2.698 (ETact). Accordingly, average forage production of the studied site was estimated as 257 kg/hec. It could be said that actual evapotranspiration as an index for climate yield is one of the fundamental factors in improving water use efficiency. Application of the mentioned climate index in different estimation models of long term forage production could be considered in order to determine the rangeland grazing capacity and developing rangeland insurance as a replacement for the usual methods of production.