ECOPERSIA
Volume:7 Issue: 3, Summer 2019

 Germination stage is one of the most sensitive stages to drought stresses and if the plant is able to tolerate stresses in this stage, it can pass the later growth stages. Priming could improve germination of seeds under stress.
Experiment was carried out using a randomized complete block design. 25 seeds were placed in petri dish under drought stress with polyethylene glycol 6000 in three levels of 0, -6 and -12 bar. After 14 days, it was found that the germination percent in these seeds was low (>40%). Then nano priming was used to improve seed germination attributes. Treatments were; control, silver nanoparticles with the concentrations of 25, 50 and 75%.
Data analysis of variance indicated that influence of nano priming, drought stress, and their interaction was significant on root and shoot length, wet and dry weight, vigor index, allometric coefficient and mean germination time (p≤0.01). Results showed that PEG stress had a negative effect on seeds germination. And an increase of silver nanoparticles concentration improves F. ovina seed germination and seedling traits. The maximum of GP (86%), SG (6N/D), Vi (5), AC (6) and MGT (7.08d) were recorded for seeds nano primed in the stress of 0 level.
Nano-priming is an impressive technique to the betterment of seedlings germination and growth of F. ovina. In the most studied indices, nano-priming 75% had the greatest influence. Before planting to restore of rangelands, to promote the establishment and growth of planted F. ovina it is recommended to prime seeds with nano-silver particles.

Changes in land use are considered as significant factors by decision makers which can be precisely evaluated by Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) techniques. However, land use alteration should also be evaluated for monitoring and curtailing the land degradation, especially deforestation and degradation of rangelands. The present research was then carried out in the Mahidasht Watershed, a western semi-arid region in Iran for evaluating land use change during 1955- 2017, using aerial photos (1955) and Landsat satellite images (TM 1989, ETM 2002 and 2017). The main land use types of the study watershed including agriculture, forest and, rangeland and mix land use boundaries were mapped for each period (1955, 1989, 2002 and 2017). Results showed that forests and rangelands suffered from accelerated destruction during 1955– 2017 period. The reduction rate in areas of forests and rangelands were 87 and 147 ha/y. In contrast, the area of rain-fed agriculture and mixed land use (mixed of the forest- rangeland, and rangeland- rain-fed) that are more vulnerable to degradation hazard were increased by 500 ha per year. Rill and gully erosion features were obviously found in converted areas, especially in the rain-fed lands, indicating siltation and other environmental problems such as deforestation and carbon dioxide emission. In addition, irrigated lands were increased by 59.8 ha annually due to enhancing groundwater extraction through water well drilling. Currently, excessive water extraction has resulted in a negative balance of groundwater table leading to water scarcity in this area. The mix land use were found more vulnerable to soil erosion and deforestation problems.

2005 DashteBarm forests of Fars province image is used to investigate and evaluate the capability of Quickbird satellite imagery to differentiate tree canopies regions from no-tree areas. the validity geometric correction of satellite image was assured. By systematic random sampling, 79 square footages of (20*20) in ARCGIS 9.3 software was designed and on the footages’ places of the combined image from Quickbird panchromatic band and multispectral band, the samples of no tree canopies and tree canopies areas was obtained. Then, 20% of the footages were considered as test samples and the rest was studied as training samples. In the next step, processes on a multivariate image were performed by ENVI 4.3 software and some indexes such as NDVI, GNDVI, RVI Partial Component Analysis (PCA) were created and integrated and were combined. Then, two classifications on the original image and processed bands with two methods of maximum likelihood and Support Vector Machine (SVM) were categorized, in which the images were classified into two classes of trees and non-trees. Evaluation of the classified images using the test samples showed that the accuracy and Kappa coefficient in the classified images of the original bands were 94.478% and 0.789 for the maximum likelihood method and 94.848% and 0.877 for the support vector machine, respectively. Also, the results of the processed band's classifications by maximum likelihood and support vector machine methods showed that these images have 94.274 and 94.683% accuracy and Kappa coefficient of 0.875 and 0.882, respectively. The results of this study show that the Quickbird satellite image is suitable for separating tree canopies and no tree canopies areas in Zagros forests and similar areas.

One of the herbal indices that effects on the livestock grazing behavior is the herbal compounds including the essential oils, so the aim of the present study is the comparison of three Artemisia species in terms of the composition of essential oils coincident and the relationship between livestock grazing time from these three plant species.
Three Artemisia species (Artemisia sieberi Bess., Artemisia kermanensis Podl., and Artemisia khorassanica podl.) in the natural from habitats with similar conditions were studied. Five plant stands were selected randomly from each species and the essential oils were obtained by SDE of air-dried samples and the essential oil were analyzed by GC-MS.
About 88% of essential oil compounds in these three Artemisia species were common and Artemisia kermanensis Podl. had more essential oil percentage (98.47%) and Artemisia sieberi had the lowest essential oil percentage (73.21%) while the rate of grazing on the Artemisia sieberi Bess. was higher compared to two other species in the same vegetative stage. Also, 6% of the compounds were observed only in the Artemisia kermanensis species, which is probably the presence of these compounds are the reason for the lack of feeding by the livestock of this species.
The selection of livestock for grazing of these three species to be highly relevant to their essential oil compounds, although the amount of these compounds has decreased in the third phenological stage, preventing livestock feeding on these species in the first and second stage of vegetation. Livestock grazing planning based on essential oil combinations can be a new horizontal in rangeland management. It seems the biochemical defense in the plants with essential oil is a way to combat animal grazing.

The present study has used results of the application of Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) in integrated with the economic cost of soil loss to prioritize sub-watersheds of Selj-Anbar Watershed in Mazandaran Province, northern of Iran.
Overlay of five input layers of RUSLE model, viz., rainfall erosivity (R), soil erodibility (K), slope length and steepness (LS), cover and management (C) and support and conservations practices (P) factors has been done in Geographical Information system (GIS) platform for the study watershed. Then, the soil loss and sedimentation cost have assessed using soil nutrient depletion analysis. In this method, monetary value to the depleted nutrients based on the cost of purchasing an equivalent amount of used chemical fertilizer in the watershed was assigned.
The average soil loss and sediment rates of 4.92 and 1.98 t ha-1, respectively was obtained for the study watershed. In addition, the direct and indirect costs caused by soil loss during the five-year period in the Selj-Anbar Watershed were obtained 4.32×105 and 6.40×105 US$ which was totally equal to 10.98×105 US$. The highest (5.59×104 US$) and lowest (1.16×104 US$) annual cost of soil loss was estimated in the sub-watersheds S1-1-1 and S1-1-2, respectively.
Spatial distribution of soil loss and erosion cost could provide a basis for comprehensive and sustainable watershed management. The sub-watersheds with high soil erosion and cost rates deserve superior priority for implementation of conservation activities.

So far there has not been any research on propagation of Tilia rubra subsp. caucasica form angulata (Rupr.) V. Engler in the world. In this research, for the first time, the rooting and early growth in cuttings of Tilia rubra subsp. caucasica form angulata (Rupr.) V. Engler was studied by applying various hormones of IAA, IBA, and NAA.
In the present study, experiments were conducted as completely randomized block design and three replications with indole-acetic acid (IAA), Indole-Butyric Acid (IBA) and naphthalene-acetic acid (NAA) with concentrations of 0 (Control), 50, 100 and 200mg/l for 115 days.
Based on the findings, compared to control, rooting percentage was enhanced about 37.5% in cuttings imbibed with 100mg/l IBA. Root number and root length respectively showed an increase of 28.6% and 22.3% in cuttings imbibed with 200mg/l IAA. The greatest root mass was perceived in IBA 200mg/l, which was about 2.5 times larger than that in control. In IBA 200mg/l, the increase in leaf mass and total plant mass was 51.4% and 36.2%, respectively. The hormone of 100 mg/l IBA performed an advancement of 37.5% in rooting, 42% in shoot length and 37.5% in seedling survival.
In total, it can be accepted that although hormones promoted rooting as well as early growth of seedling in Tilia; however, the 100mg/l IBA can be favored as a superior choice for seedling production of this species.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in several countries. Bioactive peptides have demonstrated their cytotoxic potential in numerous cancer cell lines. In the search for novel bioactive peptides for pharmacological properties, crab is noncommercial protein-rich species. Using enzymatic hydrolysis is an efficient way to recover potent bioactive peptides from marine sources.
The aim of this study was to isolate fractions from rocky shore crab hydrolysate with desired molecular weight by ultrafiltration and investigate their cytotoxic activities. Four fractions (>30kDa, 10-30kDa, 3-10kDa and <3kDa) were evaluated for cytotoxic activity against a 4T1 cell line by MTT assay.
The MTT assay showed that although all fractions from the crab hydrolysate showed some activity, the low molecular weight samples (3-10kDa and <3kDa) were more effective than high molecular weight fractions (>30kDa and 10-30kDa) while the 3-10kDa fraction proved to be the most effective. The low molecular weight fractions significantly reduced the viability of the 4T1 cell lines in a dose-dependent manner upon 24 and 48h. The results were recorded in IC50 values of about 0.40±0.063mg mL-1 for <3 and 0.25±0.026mg mL-1 for 3-10kDa fractions.
Peptide fractions were isolated from the protein hydrolysate of the rocky shore crab Grapsus albolineatus are able to inhibit cancer cells and can be considered as a novel agent in nutraceutical and pharmaceutical ingredient applications.