Short term grazing capacity of Middle Taleghan rangelands

Determining grazing capacity of rangelands is one of the main factors in range management so that, regarding this important factor, is one the main causes of range degradation in Iran. Middle Taleghan rangelands have utilized for many years thus, there aren’t preserved from degradation. The aim of this research was to determine the short term grazing capacity of these rangelands to show factors affecting grazing capacity and both preserve and improve the condition of them. During the field work was done in June 2013, sampling performed by random- systematic method using four 150 meters transects and 10 plots along each one randomly and current forage production was harvested in separation of each species form all three palatability classes. Then proper use factor was determined. Finally, short term grazing capacity was calculated through the computing daily requirement energy method and attending to forage quality for each type. The results are shown that grazing capacity range from 0 to 1534 Fashandi race adult sheeps for grazing period. Least required area for a sheep grazing range from 1.92 to 8.63 hectares for grazing period. Grazing capacity for all of studied rangelands is equal to 6802 Fashandi race adult sheep by 60.7 kg weight and least required area for a sheep grazing is 3.76 hectares in average, Whereas the actual grazing capacity in these rangeland is mostly 159 Fashandi race adult sheeps  per hectar  for good condition ranges ang 19 for poor condition ranges. So, For calculating grazing capacity it is also necessary to consider palatability, proper use factor, forage quality, animal weight and its daily requirement and its movment rate in addition to rangeland yield. Thus, current research is emphasizing on to pay attention toward all effective factors in evaluating rangeland grazing capacity.