Allowable use of plant types in mountainous rangelands of Hendovan in West Azerbayjan

Determining the allowable use is one of the basic requirements to calculate the grazing capacity in range management plans. In this study, initially, the range condition and trend of vegetation types and the suitability class of soil susceptibility to erosion were determined. Then, the allowable use was determined for each vegetation type regarding the mentioned indices and that the allowable use in each climate region is recommended differently to maintain rangeland health. The maximum allowable use for the study rangelands, representing mountainous semi-steppe, was calculated to be 40%. The allowable use of other vegetation types was determined regarding the limitations of indices. According to the results, the allowable use was calculated to be 40%, 30%, 25%, and 15% for 21.4%, 13.6%, 19.3%, and 27.6% of the study rangelands, respectively. Around 18.1% of the study rangelands were classified as non-utilizable due to the poor range condition, negative trend and the soil susceptible to erosion. In most areas, poor range condition and negative trend acted as a limiting factor and led to a low estimate of allowable use. Therefore, care must be taken in selecting the indices affecting the allowable use of range habitats and in addition to plant health, range condition and trend as well as ecosystem health should be considered.