The Lattice Hexagon Approach Applied in Landscape Degradation Assessment (Case study: Shemiranat County)

The present study has been conducted on Shemiranat county landscape, using lattice hexagon approach, for the first time, in order to achieve homogeneous units in degradation model. To this aim, with respect to the extent of the studied area, a lattice hexagon composed of 36 units (cells) was created and each grid cell was considered as a sub landscape. Next, ecological vulnerability, degradation agents and their severity was calculated for each cell, using landscape metrics and then classified and standardized based on fuzzy logic. Eventually, according to the obtained degradation coefficients, landscape zoning and analysis was done. Overall, 73 percent of the Shemiranat County was identified as with low degradation area which is developable with paying attention to ecological restrictions and buffers (distance of river valleys, main faults and protected areas). Also, 23 percent and 4 percent of the studied area was determined as need rehabilitation and needs protection, respectively. Using the lattice hexagon as the basis of landscape degradation assessment, in addition to more accurate calculation of metrics and estimation of the degradation coefficient, separately for each homogeneous cells, landscape degradation status and future development potential will be determined.