نشریه خشک بوم
سال دهم شماره 1 (بهار و تابستان 1399)

In order to reduce the damaging effects of drought stress under pretreatment of Marigold seed (Calendula officinalis L.), a factorial experiment under randomized complete block design with three replicates (in place replication) in the field of Urmia Agricultural Research Center and Salmas performed. Experimental factors included irrigation regimes and seed pretreatment, with the first factor irrigated at two levels of regular irrigation and non- irrigation at the beginning of flowering stage and the second factor are seed pretreatment at pre-planting at seven levels including primed seeds with nano fertilizers (Iron oxide, Zinc oxide, Bor oxide was concentrated at 2% per thousand) and primed with organic matter (72 mg humic acid, 2000 μmol salicylic acid and 200 ppm ascorbic acid) and control. Results of analysis of variance showed that the simple effects of seed pretreatment with organic and nano materials on drought stress were significant at 1% probability level. Based on the results of comparison of mean data, oil percentage, oil yield and the weight of one thousand seeds increased with Zinc nano oxide pretreatment by 16, 12 and 8% respectively under drought stress conditions compared to control treatment. Salicylic acid treatment significantly reduced proline accumulation by 13% and soluble protein by 18% compared to control. By applying pre-treatment of nano iron oxide the activity of catalase and peroxidase enzymes increased by 39% and 57% compared to control (non-treated), respectively. Generally, seed pretreatment with different levels of salicylic acid and iron and zinc nano oxide significantly reduced the adverse effects of drought stress on most of the studied traits. Shrubs obtained from seeds treated with salicylic acid, iron nano oxide and zinc nano oxide had higher drought stress tolerance. Results showed that drought tolerance and increase yield of Marigold under drought stress with seed priming with salicylic acid, iron nano oxide and zinc nano oxide are recommended in sustainable and organic farming.

Due to the scarcity of water resources, the use of saline water to cultivate forage halophytes is a practical solution. However, the main problem of forage of halophytes is their low energy content and high salt. In these conditions, mixed consumption and halophytes-crops intercropping can be useful. The current research was carried out in order to evaluate the effect of salinity of irrigation water on growth and some physiological characteristics in different ratios of sorghum-kochia intercropping in the National Salinity Research Center. The treatments included three levels of salt stress: 2, 7 and 14 dS m-1 in the main plots and five planting systems: sole sorghum, ⅔ sorghum (2 parts sorghum, 1 part kochia), ½ sorghum (1 part sorghum, 1 part kochia), ⅓ sorghum (1 part sorghum, 1 parts kochia) and sole kochia in the sub plots arranging in a split plot experiment based on randomized block design. Results showed that salinity, depended on the severity, significantly changed growth and physiological characteristics in both sorghum and kochia. Salinity at 14 dS m-1 was associated with reduction in dry weight (62%) and K+ concentration (22%) and increasing Na+ concentration (427%), Cl- concentration (175%) and activity of catalase (88%), peroxidase (77%), superoxide dismutase (86%) and ascorbic peroxidase (154%) in sorghum. These increasing and decreasing were less in kochia (23%, 22%, 37%, 105%, 237%, 77%, 406% and 294%, respectively); which indicated higher salinity tolerance of kochia. The optimum intercropping system for sorghum was ⅔ sorghum and were ½ and ⅓ sorghum for kochia; which reflected more sensitivity of sorghum to intra species completion in intercropping systems than kochia. According to the different reactions of two plants to salt stress, sorghum tolerated the salt stress probably via induced antioxidant system in order to ameliorate oxidative stress and kochia tolerated the salinity probably through ionic distributions in tissues via reduced transport to shoots and/or ions compartmentation in organelles. It seems that proper kochia density (⅓) enhanced salinity tolerance of sorghum, therefore, it is recommendable for saline conditions.

Wind erosion is an important cause of land degradation and desertification in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. This phenomenon occurs more severely in dry and bare soils. During wind erosion, soil particles are transported by three mechanisms known as creeping, saltation and suspension, which result in numerous on- and off-site damages. Wind erosion as a natural phenomenon, is affected by many factors. Our understanding of wind erosion is commonly constrained by the multiplicity and complexity of factors in this process. In recent years, solving pattern recognition and optimization problems with metaheuristic algorithms has received considerable attention among researchers. Genetic algorithms is a search technique inspired by the process of natural selection, which is well applied to multimodal, non-linear, and non-derivable objective functions. In the current research, for identifying the most important parameters affecting wind erosion rate, two GA-ANN and NSGA-II hybrid algorithms were developed using genetic algorithm and artificial neural networks. In order to prepare a suitable and reliable data set; after designing a grid sampling strategy, soil samples were collected from 51 study sites in the Narmashir plain, Kerman and then some soil parameters were measured. In addition, wind erosion rate was determined at each study site using a portable wind tunnel device. Based on the GA-ANN algorithm results, gravel coverage, sand, clay, aggregate stability, surface crust, moisture, and organic matter were identified as the main determinant features affecting spatial variation of wind erosion rate. However, the selected feature subset by NSGA-II algorithm included gravel coverage, sand, aggregate stability, surface crust, and moisture. The calculated error function for the GA-ANN algorithm performance was 3.58%. It was 1.70% for the NSGA-II algorithm performance. According to the results, both algorithms had acceptable performance to achieve the purpose of the present study. Therefore, the algorithms developed in this study can be applied to identify the most important parameters affecting wind erosion rate in other areas with similar challenges.

Dust storms create hazards for human society in numerous ways and are particularly significant to people who are living in the dust belt which stretches in the west to the southwest of Iran. Numerus studies have been performed by scholars in various ways on this phenomenon which is still hot research topics throughout the world because of its critically importance and adverse consequent impacts. The present research purpose is to identify the synoptic scale circulation patterns responsible for dust storm in Bushehr province. The studied stations include Bushehr synoptic Station, Deylam, Dayyer and Jam during a 17-year (2001-2017). Meteorological data (code 06 to identify the dust locality) and data from the ECMWF are used. Also, sea level pressure, Uwind, Vwind component, vertical velocity and wind velocity at 10 m as the meteorological parameters are considered. The number of recorded dusty days across all studied stations were 177 events during the study period. The results revealed that six synoptic scale circulation patterns influence Bushehr province in dusty days from 2001 to 2017. These patterns include one spring pattern, three winter and two summer patterns. Each pattern contribution to the occurrence of dust in Bushehr province was as follows: The spring pattern was 39%, the first, second and third winter patterns were 7.6%, 9.9%, 9.3% respectively, and also the first and second summer patterns were 18% and 16.2% respectively.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of logistic regression method in determining of the environmental factors effecting on the presence of Dorema ammoniacum D. DON, and to identify the habitat conditions of this species. Vegetation sampling was conducted random-systematically with establishment of plots along 9 transects in the presence region and 9 transects in the absence region. The size of plots was determined according to the type of existing species and using minimum area method and the number of plots (10 plots along each transect) was determined using statistical method. Data related to the presence and absence of the selected species (180 plot samples of each) was collected and environmental factors of the sampling sites including: topography, climate and soil were investigated. For soil sampling, profiles were drilled at the beginning, middle and end of each transect from two depths of 0-30 and 30-60 cm, then samples of each depth were mixed together and prepared as a composite sample, and the physical and chemical properties of the soil were measured at the laboratory according to the usual methods. Habitat prediction modeling was performed using logistic regression method and D. ammoniacum habitat predicted map was derived using the prediction model. According to the prediction model, slope of habitat, lime and clay of the second soil depth have the highest effect on the species distribution. After determining the threshold of optimal presence, the accuracy of the predicted map with the actual map was measured using the kappa coefficient. According to the optimal presence threshold (0.5), and the amount of kappa coefficient (0.5), the result of model evaluation was concluded as a good agreement. Results show that the logistic regression method is able to predict the habitat of D. ammoniacum, thus the distribution of this important and valuable species, and derived information from this study can be used in the locating of the areas prone to restoration of this species at the study area and the areas with the same ecological conditions.

Jiroft has different climate and special plant habitat. One of the 18 habitat in Jiroft with special edaphic caracteristic is Tecomella undulata in Golparak Dalphard that these habitats was degraded because of any reasons. If we monitor density and vegetative characteristic, it is an important step in more protection in these habitat. At first with minimal area we determine minimum area of plat in key area. Three key areas in habitat with High, moderate and low density, in every key area we put 5 transect with 500 meters and we determine our point in every 100 meters. The plot size was 100*200 meter such as control. Results show that the mean densities in high, moderate and low density areas were respectively 45.7, 17.89 and 11.09 and the average percentage of canopy cover was 19.84, 15.32 and 12.5 and there is a statistically significant difference between different sampling methods in estimating density. Based on the results obtained in the area with high density, the method of the second nearest neighbor with an estimate of 0.9827, had the lowest accuracy and the method of the nearest neighbor with an estimate of Cottam and Curtis 2, -0.0017 had the highest accuracy. Also in area with low density, the common point method with an estimate of 0.0057 and the nearest second neighbor method with an estimate of 0.305 have the highest and lowest accuracy, respectively. It is suggested to use the nearest neighbor method in areas with high density of Tecumella undulata and the nearest point method in low density areas.

Water and soil salinity is one of the important factors limiting the development of green space in arid regions of Iran .In this study, some morpho-physiological characteristics of Morus alba, Ailanthus altissima and Cupressus Sempervirens seedlings to water salinity stress in Sokan nursery of Semnan were investigated.Eight levels of water salinity treatment were considered as 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 ds/m and irrigation was performed twice a week in the amount of four liters from July to September.During the experiment, morphological characteristics such as height and collar diameter of seedling were measured every 15 days after the start of treatment.At the end of the experiment, leaf samples of seedlings were collected and transferred to laboratory and dry and fresh weight of roots, shoots, leaves, Rwc, amount of Na+ and K+ leaf with flammimetric method, Ca+2 and Mg+2 leaf was measured by the complexometry method, the leaf nitrogen level using titration and phosphorous leaf method by ammonium molybdate in the laboratory.The results showed that the traits of seedling height, collar diameter, number of leaves, fresh and dry roots and shoots and, Rwc, content of Na+, Ca+2, P, Mg+2, N and K+ of leaf in salinity and species treatments were significant at 1% percent level. However, the interaction effect of species and salinity were not significant for all the above traits at the level of 1% and for the trait diameter of the collar and the elements nitrogen and potassium of leaf were not significant. Results of comparison of means showed that with increasing salinity, the amount of leaf sodium increased, but others factor decreased. The critical point for the changes in the above traits was often at salinity 6 to 8 dS/m and above, which indicates that the studied tree species can tolerate salinity up to this level.In comparison, in terms of all seedling height, collar diameter, number of leaves, fresh and dry weight of roots and shoots and, Rwc, the amount of Na+, Ca+2, P, Mg+2, N and K+ in the leaves among the three species, respectively, Morus alba and Ailanthus altissima then Cupressus Sempervirens showed the highest salinity resistance.

Drought, as one of the most important natural disasters, has many economic, social and environmental costs. In this research, considering the problems of crisis management and the need to change the procedure from crisis management to risk management, assessment of drought risk in customary Kormanj nomadic territories of North Khorasan, is the main purpose of the research. Basically, drought risk is defined as a function of the risk index and vulnerability index. In this research, DI index is considered as a drought risk indicator. To calculate the index, monthly rainfall data were collected from 27 meteorological stations of the province during the statistical period of 26 years. A drought zone map was prepared on an annual basis. Finally drought hazard index map for the Kormanj nomads allotments were produced. Vulnerability analysis was carried out through socio-economic indicators and physical indicators. Weighted Linear Combination Method was used to integrate the vulnerability layers. For standardization and weighing, the criteria were used, respectively, fuzzy logic and analytical Hierarchy process. Based on the results, on an annual scale, the risk of occurrence of moderate droughts with 54.6% of the customary territories is first and the danger of severe and low drought occur in subsequent positions. According to experts, the factor of water holding capacity in the soil with 0.2444 has the highest impact weight among the factors. The map of vulnerability index showed that the most vulnerability is in the customary territories in the west, south-east of the province as well as in the northwest of Shirvan city. Altogether about 43.2% of the area of the customary territories of the province is in severe and very intense categories.

Protected areas are important for long-term conservation of plant and animal species. Understanding the opportunities and threats in these areas is essential for strategic planning to achieve sustainable development. Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats, and Opportunities (SWOT) is one of the most widely used strategic planning technique. The current study aimed to investigate the most important internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) and external factors (threats and opportunities) in Kahyaz protected area, Isfahan, using a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches including, SWOT, analytic hierarchy process and quantitative strategic planning matrix and to present the best management strategies to improve the status of the region. Results showed that high biodiversity, presence of key species such as Asian bustard and beautiful and unique landscapes were the most important strengths, and the proximity of Kahyaz to Kharoo wildlife refuge and Zawarah tourist area and its proximity to population centers were the most important opportunities. Lack of staff and protective guards, the presence of livestock and the lack of knowledgeable managers and conservation programs were the most important weaknesses. Illegal hunting and grazing, inadequate infrastructure and the lack of investments were the major threats in Kahyaz protected area. Quantitative strategic planning matrix showed that the best management strategy in this region is tourism development. The presence of ecotourism attractions in the region and a variety of natural and unique landscapes, provide suitable conditions for ecotourism tours in Kahyaz. While the lack of infrastructure and facilities, effective advertisement and the lack of appropriate investments were recognized as obstacles to sustainable ecotourism development in the area.

Dams are one of the largest man-made structures that severely affect the hydrology cycle. In general, their effects can be divided into positive and negative categories. Detecting the effects of these structures on wildlife habitat is one of the important aspects of development. Tang Hammam Reservoir dam located in west of Kermanshah province and Sarpol-e-Zahab country has effects on the Persian gazelle (Gazella S.Subgutturosa) habitat. This study aimed to quantify these effects on the habitat of the mentioned species and positive and negative effects were evaluated by affecting vegetation density and habitat suitability. Habitat suitability was determined using maximum entropy method. The TSS threshold was used to create binary maps. Quantification of the effect on vegetation was also performed using the normalized different vegetation index (NDVI) for the years 2014 to 2019 at different intervals between 0 and 500 m from the water body. Totally, from 2014 to 2019, the area of underwater habitat has increased in the study area. If water zones increase in the coming years, central patches of the region and communication with the Iraq country will be threatened. However, the effects on vegetation density indicate an increase in mean density index at distances up to 500 m relative to dam. Results showed that in the current conditions the dam has more positive effects but this increase of water behind the dam in future will not have any positive effects for the region.

Predicting the habitat suitability of wildlife in response to climate change is essential for their conservation and management. Wild sheepis a wildlife species native to Iran. Therefore, this study aimed at predicting the effect of climate change on wild sheep (Ovis orientalis) habitat suitability using ensemble modeling in Markazi Province. In this regard, Five modeling approaches suchas Surface Range Envelop (SRE), Multiple Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS), Random Forest (RF), Classification Tree Analysis (CTA), Flexible Discriminant Analysis (FDA) were used to determine relationships between the occurrence of species and environmental factors under the ensemble framework by using Biomod2 and R software. R results showed that AUC values greater than 0.9 and functioning of all models been excellent. The mean temperature annual range and Annual precipitation had the most important role for habitat suitability of this species and 113.1% changes in O. orientalis habitat suitability was justified. R results of the model showed that 1211316.19 ha, (41.55%) of in Markazi province for the O. orientalis have had high habitat suitability. Under RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 climate scenario O. orientalis might lose respectively 50.30% and 73.42% of its climatically suitable habitats due to climate change factors, by 2050, while in a number of areas 4.1% and 12.1%, the current unsuitable habitats may be converted to suitable. More habitat reduction in protected areas related to Varsan, Bazarjan, Mouteh, Jasb and Haftad-Gholeh areas. The lowest habitat reduction in the Razeghan and Chal-khaton areas. The results of this study can be used in planning, conservation and rehabilitation of O. orientalis and protected areas managemen.

Hunting is a social phenomenon. One way to protect the environment, create an environmental culture in the community is remorseful predators. These people as part of the community can have a key role to protecting and restoring wildlife. The population of this research, hunters in Yazd province. The findings related to motivation to quit hunting was made through a questionnaire. Type of survey research. To analyze the data, descriptive and inferential statistics were used. To determine the factors influencing the behavior of one-sample Wilcoxon test was used remorseful predators. SPSS 23 was used for data analysis software. The results showed that no significant relationship exists between hunters and hunted by different motives. Motivated individual and family, spiritual motivations, government, social factors and alternatives to hunting the view of respondents had a positive role in leaving their prey. With increasing environmental science hunters to protect wildlife, species, habitats and wild reduced. The law does not quit hunting.