Ecological Abilities of Desert Sandy Soils as an Opportunity for Use of Waters in Water Spreading System

Variations that occur in vegetation cover and ecosystem function can be discussed in terms of equilibrium and non-equilibrium theories. In this research, the variation trend of a desert ecosystem, affected by hydrologic regime, was investigated. For this purpose, we recorded floristic data and quantity characteristics of vegetation cover before management initiatives and monitored their trend along a year to identify the pattern of variations. Results indicated after 6 times water spreading and vertical water’s infiltration over 2 meters, plant composition change from perennial grasses to shrubs and finally to semi trees as a result of soil water storage development in the ecosystem. Also their vegetative cover has increased from below 1% in the primary condition of the ecosystem to 34.7% after 3 years of project implementation. The comparison of variations with existed ecological models indicated that variations can be explained based on State and Transition model because of three distinct states that were observed in the site. These states that were derived from the management of transition have led to stability of the area and improvement in environmental conditions.