Evaluation and zoning of land suitability for rangeland using AHP- FUZZY method )Case study: saghezchi chay catchment, Ardabil)

Conservation, exploitation sustainable management of watershed resources in order to meet the needs of the present generation and preserve these resources for future generations, are one of the main priorities. The purpose of this study is to determine the suitability of the land for rangeland using Multi Criteria Evaluation (MCE) based on fuzzy logic. Considering makhdoom ecological model for pasture land use nine factors include rainfall, elevation, slope, soil, sediment, soil hydrologic group, soil depth, vegetation density and current land use were evaluated and prepared from relevant agencies departments. To determine the weight of the factors analytical hierarchy process (AHP) was used and by ArcGIS9.3 software and using weighted linear combination (WLC) operator, all of the layers were overlaid and then, final raster map was created. Final suitability of the area for rangeland  were categorized to  very good, good, mediate, poor and very poor categories and zoning map was made. The results showed that 1186 ha (15.6%) of the area has a very good capability, 1677.7 ha (22.9%) has good capability, 1872.5 hectares (24.66%) has mediate capability, 2,176 hectares (28.63%) has poor capability and 680 ha (8.9%) has very weak capability for Range Management. The results show that the combination of geographic information system and multi criteria decision making in evaluation of the suitability of lands for agriculture and range land use is very efficient.