Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Mahshid Souri ¹
• Mohammad Fayaz ¹
• Nadia Kamali ²
• Saeedeh Nateghi ²

¹ Assistant Professor, Rangeland Research Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran

² Assistant Professor, Rangeland Research Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran.

Abstract

     The main objective of this research was to evaluate vegetation changes and soil indicators in the Kalat Sadat Sabzevar area under rangeland management practices. Vegetation factors including plant species production, vegetation cover, cover percentage, litter percentage, plant species density, and rangeland condition and trend were measured at the exclosure site and adjacent control site. The assessment was conducted using a random-systematic method with a sufficient number of samples and appropriate distribution of samples at the time of rangeland readiness. The rangeland trend was determined on the basis of two methods, and rangeland condition was determined based on the four-factor method. Soil sampling was carried out at a depth of 20 cm. A total of 12 soil samples were taken from the first, second and third transects (exclosure site), as well as fourth, fifth and sixth (control site). Data were analyzed by the independent t-test using SPSS software. According to the obtained results, the highest canopy cover percentage in terms of palatability belonged to class II plants (19.37), and in terms of vegetative form belonged to the perennial plants (16.2). Also, the largest share of production in the exclosure site and grazing site was related to shrubs and perennial grasses, respectively. The results showed that clay, silt, lime, organic carbon, nitrogen and electrical conductivity were significantly different at 5% level between the exclosure and grazing sites, but there was no significant difference between acidity and phosphorous. Therefore, exclosure could be recommended as an improvement practice to be carried out in more areas of the region.

Keywords

• Evaluation
• rangeland management
• vegetation
• soil properties
• Sabzevar