مجله مرتع
سال پانزدهم شماره 4 (پیاپی 60، زمستان 1400)

The vegetation maintaining of rangelands and desertlands is one of the main techniques desertification and management. The best species for rangeland is native plants that adapted ecosystem with high forage quality and effective soil stability the same as Salsola orientalis and Kochia prostrata plant species in the east of Golestan province. The aim of this study is investigating the production and establishment plant growth of S. orientalis and K. prostrata. For this purpose the seed generation percentage estimated in four treatments including without treatment, washing, frosting (with -17 centigrade degree), frosting (with 11 centigrade degree during 24 hours), and frosting (with 11 centigrade degree during 72 hours) in completely random design with 30 replications after seed collecting and testing seed power. Production and seed establishment of these plants was measured at three treatments including cultivation region (Kechik and Chaparghoimeh), cultivation method (pot, band and hill method with two sub-treatments of primary irrigation and soil cover), and cultivation season (spring and winter) in a completely randomized block design with 30 replications. The seed generation speed and seed power estimated at 3 blocks and 100 replications. Also, the seed generation compared between two treatments including wing and without wing at 30 pots (3 replications). The mean of the seed generation compared by Dauncan method at SPSS23. The result showed that there is a significant difference between seed power in seed generation treatments (p-value>0.05). The seed generation speed and seed power in K. prostrata is more than the other plant. There is no significant difference between seed generation of K. prostrata between wing and without wing treatments and vice versa in S. orientalis. The best method to production and establishment of K. prostrata is winter season, Kechik region and band menthod. There is no difference between seed generating at cultivate season for S. orientalis (p-value>0.05). So that’s better to cultivate S. orientalis in seed production stations. Also, that’s suggested generation power with seed purity as a base for determination of amount of needed plant seed in a hectare.

Nowadays, mulch types are used to improve environmental conditions for plant growth in terms of irrigation water and soil quality. Production and cultivation of forage plants in arable lands, especially in arid and semi-arid regions, is very important, because it reduces grazing pressure on rangelands. In order to evaluate the effect of mulch types on some plant characteristics of forage maize at different salinity levels of irrigation water, this study was conducted in a factorial experiment based on completely randomized design with three replications. Treatments were consisted of four types of mulch, including acrylic resin, acrylic resin containing 3% nanoclay, plastic mulch and no mulch (control), and four salinity levels of 0.5, 2.5, 4, and 7 ds/m. The results showed that the application of mulches improved the plant characteristics of forage maize compared to the control treatment and reduced the severity of the negative effects of irrigation water salinity. The highest dry weight of shoot and total biomass were observed in acrylic resin treatment with nanoclay with salinity of 4ds/m compared to other treatments. Plastic mulch also affected the number of forage corn leaves. According to the results of the present study, it seems that these mulch types can be used to reduce the salinity effects of irrigation water on forage crop cultivation.

Primary production and the contribution of each of the life forms of rangeland ecosystems are key features. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of rainfall and temperature changes on the amount of total production and life forms: grasses, forbs and shrubs in Sabalan,s rangelands. For determining of annual primary production (Full bloom stage), different species using one square meter plots by cutting and weighting method in different elevation was harvested in 6 plant types (totally 216 plots). Rainfall classes and temperature parameters were determined using the data of weather stations and derived relevant gradient. Then, climatic parameters for plots was derived by considering the position of sampling plots. Correlation between the life forms and total production with rainfall and temperature parameters were analyzed using multivariate regression method in SPSS16 software. Results show that, climatic parameters with the life forms production of grasses (P<0.01), forbs (P<0.01) and shrubs (P<0.01) have significant relationship, however there was no significant relationship between total production and selected climatic factors. Moreover, results show that the production of grasses are more affected by climatic factors in comparison with the other two life forms and have significant differences in different classes. Additionally, forbs production is more than shrubs affected by the selected climatic factors. The result of study can be used for the calculate primary production in mountain region, supply-demand balance of forage, biomass, health Ecosystem, Ecological balance and carbon sequestration.

Climate change has far-reaching consequences on many ecosystems around the world and induced large-scale shifts in species distribution. Astragalus verus Olivier is a plant with medicinal, industrial, and soil protection value that its geographical distribution has declined considerably in recent decades. This study aimed to predict the distribution of A. verus under climate change scenarios in Isfahan and Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari provinces. The stratifiedrandom sampling method was used to collect the presence points of the species in different altitude levels in 83 rangeland places. The random forest model was used to model the species distribution in the study area. The Biomod2 package in R software was used to run CCSM4 general circulation model and assess the effects of climate change on the species distribution in the current condition and 2050 under two scenarios of RCP2.6 and RCP8.5. Bio1, Bio5, Bio19, and altitude were identified as the main predictive variables after performing the Pearson correlation test and removal of high correlated layers. The results showed that the random forest model had excellent performance, with AUC and TSS values of 0.9. The highly suitable habitat area of A. verus in the current condition 6917 km2, which occupies about 5.6% of the total study area. According to the results increasing temperature due to climate change will lead to a decrease in the highly suitable area of the species by about 56.5% under the optimistic scenarios and 88.3% under the pessimistic scenarios, respectively. The results indicated that the species habitat will move to higher altitudes with lower temperatures. The results of this study can be used for identifying threatened habitats and reintroduce this species to degraded habitats in the Zagros and Central Iran.

Quality and quantity of medicinal plants essential oils is significantly influenced under biological and ecological factors. The aim of the present study was to investigate the changes in the active ingredient of Anthemis wiedemanniana Holub (Fisch. & C.A. Mey.) In its different habitats in West Azerbaijan province at different growth stages. For this purpose, the main habitats of this plant in West Azerbaijan province (Qiz Ghaleh of Miandoab, Rajan, Oshnavieh, Qushchi and Anhar) and during three growth stages, including vegetative growth, flowering and fruiting, were identified in 2019. Then the aerial branches of this plant were harvested in each habitat. Essential oil extraction was performed using Clevenger apparatus and essential oils were analyzed using GC and GC/MS apparatus. Data were statistically analyzed in a completely randomized design with four replications. The highest amount of essential oil of apical shoots was obtained at the three stages of vegetative, flowering and fruit stage from Qiz Ghaleh of Miandoab, which was 0.70, 0.88 and 0.75%, respectively. Cluster analysis divided the studied habitats into two groups. Grouping of populations by cluster analysis showed that genetic diversity and geographical origin can be the reason for grouping the population of the south of the province (Qiz Galeh of Miandoab) in a separate group from the population of the north of the province (Oshnavieh , Anhar, Qushchi and Rajan). According to the results of this study, in order to obtain more active ingredient of essential oil, Miandoab habitat was the superior habitat and in order to obtain essential oil compounds with valuable medicinal properties, such as caryophyllene oxide, eudsemol and isoaromodendron, sampling of Oshnavieh, Qushchi and Anhar habitats in the vegetative growth stage; High levels of farnesene, Miandoob habitat in vegetative growth stage and high amount of T-cadinol and beta- Sesqui Phellandrene compounds, Rajan and Miandoab habitats in fruiting stage are recommended.

Drought as a complex ecosystem crisis can affect vegetation density and health. Iran with an arid and semi-arid climate is exposed to this phenomenon. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the effect of drought on vegetation. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of meteorological drought on vegetation dynamics in Iran. In this regard, using MATLAB software, SPEI index with time scales of 3, 6, 9, and 12 months years was calculated and zoned for 99 meteorological stations with a statistical length of 30 years in Arc GIS software. In the next step, the highest value of EVI index per month was obtained from MOD13Q1 MODIS sensor product for the period 2001-2019. Then, using Terrset software, the correlation and slope of EVI index changes were calculated based on SPEI index changes. The results showed that in 18.46, 22.63, 30.77, and 28.14% of the total area of Iran, the SPEI of 3, 6, 9, and 12 months have the highest correlation with vegetation, respectively. The results of linear regression analysis showed that in Lut plain and the heights of Alborz and Zagros mountain ranges, the sensitivity of vegetation to meteorological drought is much lower and the slope of the line has been negative. While the central, southwestern, southeastern, and coastal areas of the Persian Gulf have a positive line slope and vegetation has shown great sensitivity to meteorological drought. According to the obtained results, it can be concluded that climatic conditions, topography, type of vegetation, geographical location, and human management are effective in determining the relationship between the two indicators of vegetation and drought. As a result, it is suggested that in future studies on the effect of climate change on vegetation, factors such as topography, land use, etc. should be considered in modeling.

Spatial mapping of evapotranspiration (ET) rates can indirectly be very important for rangeland management and rehabilitation. The map of evapotranspiration can be an indicator of plant water requirement. Mapping of ET from remote sensing data is more appropriate than field methods, because the spatial and temporal coverage of this method is very extend and time and cost are optimized. Among the evapotranspiration mapping methods using remote sensing data, the FAO-56 model is one of the usual ones. Therefore, this study aimed to spatially estimate the amount of ET in semi-arid region of Isfahan province using the integration of FAO-56 and remote sensing techniques. To calculate ET, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Land Surface Temperature (LST) were obtained from geometrically corrected TM 2009 image and the standard crop evapotranspiration (ET0) was calculated using FAO-56 equation and then the crop coefficient (Kc), crop transpiration (Kcb) and soil evaporation (Ke) were extracted from NDVI data. Results showed that agricultural lands with 6/977 mm/day and bare ground with 0.012 mm/day had the highest and lowest ET in the study area. High relationships of ET map with well-known remote sensing maps such a NDVI (>99%) and LST (>92%) indicated that ET mapping in the region has been achieved with a high accuracy, therefore, it is a valuable supplementary technique to field methods in determining plant water requirements for rehabilitation purposes.

Rangelands, as one of the basic sources of production, have a special place in supplying livestock feed requirements. Considering the role of nutritive value characteristics on determining grazing capacity, the aim of this study was to compare nutritive value of Stipa barbata, Stipa capensis, Eryngium billardieri, Artemisia aucheri and Zygophyllum atriplicoides in rangelands of Kaja and Chahno ,Ferdows, South Khorasan province. For this purpose, in the representative area of ​​each plant type, 3 sites were selected and in each site, 10 replicates were sampled from the aerial parts of the plant species, in flowering stage. Then, nutrition value indices such as Crude Protein (CP), Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF), Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF), Dry Matter Digestibility (DMD), Metabolizable Energy (ME) and Digestible Energy (DE), as well as Sodium (Na), Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg) and Potassium (K) in aerial parts of the plant species were determined by conventional methods in the laboratory. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the studied characteristics between the plant species. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the amount of CP, Na, K, Ca and Mg in the studied plant species (p≤0.01). Average CP, ADF and ME values were higher than those of critical limits to meet animal maintenance. Artemisia aucheri has the highest amount of Ca (2.5%) and Mg (0.88%) and Zygophyllum atriplicoides has the highest CP (18.64%) and K (1.03%), so it is the highest quality plant species in the rangelands of Kaja and Chahno, Ferdows.

Range Seeding (Pit-Seeding) is one of the necessities of rangeland improvement in most of the semi-arid and temperate rangelands, which in many cases has not been very successful. Improving the growth and establishment of plants in these operations is very important. For this purpose, taking advantage of the coexistence of plants with arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi is one of the most effective methods in meeting the nutritional needs of plants and reducing environmental stresses such as drought stress. In order to investigate the effect of mycorrhiza fungus on morphological characteristics and nutrients of Bromus tomentellus, this study was conducted in the greenhouse and research farm of Malayer University. The experiment was performed randomly with 3 inoculation treatments with Rhizophagus intraradices and Funneliformis mosseae and no inoculation (control) and 30 replications in each treatment. Morphological factors studied in the plant included germination percentage, shoot and root dry weight, root and stem length and viability percentage. Nutrients included phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium, iron, manganese, zinc, copper and magnesium of plants, as well as plant protein and carbon were measured. The results showed that although inoculation with mycorrhiza had a positive and increasing effect on the studied factors, R. intraradices had a more additive effect on the factors than F. mosseae. So that for many factors, this increase was 2-3 times higher than the control treatment. Among morphological indices, stem height (51%), germination percentage (41%) and viability percentage (45%) had the highest and root length had the lowest increase compared to the control treatment. Also among the elements and nutrients Nitrogen (54%), phosphorus (24%) and protein (55%) showed the highest increase. Meanwhile, the element carbon in the treatment of R. intraradices like phosphorus had a significant increase (24%) but in the treatment of F. mosseae had the least increase compared to other elements (6.77%). Based on the results of this study, it is recommended to use R. intraradices in order to improve and increase the yield of planted species in rangeland rehabilitation and improvement operations.

The appropriate and permissible utilization of the rangeland causes stability, prevention of degradation, stability of high quality plants and improvement of its condition. Appropriate grazing intensity causes continuous and economic use in rangeland and to achieve stability and continuity of production in rangelands and determine the most appropriate level of exploitation, study the effect of different harvest intensities on forage production of three important species of Cenchrus pennisetiformis, Panicum turgidum and Sphaerocoma aucheri in Sirik region of Hormozgan province since 2006 for four years. Experimental treatments included four harvest intensities of 25, 50 and 75% and control (without harvest). In each treatment, 10 rootstocks of the species were considered as replicates, which were evaluated on each of the dependent variables. The results were analyzed in SAS software. The results showed that different harvest intensities, years and months studied and their interactions in species are very significant. Harvest intensity affected the amount of green forage and species height and all treatments were significantly different from the control. Therefore, an allowable harvest of up to 50% can be suggested for the above species.

Multipurpose use of rangelands is one of the new challenges facing rangeland users, according to which grazing pressure in rangelands can be reduced and an important step can be taken to increase the welfare and empowerment of rangelands, preserve ecosystems and improve ecosystem services related to them. Therefore, the present study aims to evaluate the potential of rangelands in the semi-steppe region, for the use of medicinal plants and forage production, in 12 habitats of the country (including: Arshad Chamanof Sahand, Shiveh Soor of Marghavar of Urmia, DoshKharat of Golestankooh, Derakhtak of Friedan, Aliabad Moshiri of Koohrang, Freeze heights of Binalood, Khoraklat of Razavi Khorsan, Joladak of Alamut, Sar Ali Abad of Gorgan, Rineh of Larijan, Otaghsara of Larijan and Kaboudcheshmeh of Savadkuh) were performed. For this purpose, after measuring the vegetation and estimating the production of medicinal plants; based on ecological, economic and social criteria and indicators; the suitability of each habitat for the use of medicinal plants was determined. Then, by comparing the suitability class of habitats for the use of medicinal plants and their suitability class for livestock grazing, a decision was made regarding the priority of the type of rangeland use. Overall; 17% of habitats, by all criteria, are unsuitable for the use of medicinal plants. 33% have good suitable, 25% have medium suitable and 25% have low suitable. The results suggest that not all rangeland habitats are suitable for the use of medicinal plants, and not all of them are suitable for the use of medicinal plants. This issue should be considered in the policies related to the harvest of medicinal plants from the rangelands, and the use of medicinal plants should be allowed, taking into account the suitability of the rangeland. In rangelands with potential for medicinal plants, it is possible to reduce the number of livestock and grazing livestock in accordance with ecological principles; he used medicinal plants along with livestock. This, in addition to compensating for the economic problems caused by reducing the number of livestock, will also restore vegetation and enhance the richness of medicinal plants.

Owing to premium properties such a transformation of forage with low quantity and quality into high quality dairy and meat products, compromising with arid and semi-arid rangeland and resistance against diseases, camel has basic function in extensive grazing systems. These properties have made camel herding as one of the strategies in sustainable development in natural resources management and sustainable livelihood of local communities. Nevertheless, camel herding is facing various challenges in Iran. This study aimed to strategic analysis of camel herding systems from Kalkooyi nomads and rangeland experts’ viewpoints in Qom Province. In this order, strength, weakness, opportunity and threat factors were identified using semi-structured interview. Then, weighting factors was done through designing and completing questionnaire based on two stakeholders. Data analysis was done using SWOT framework in Microsoft Office Excel. Result showed that the most important internal factors affecting camel herding in strength criteria was positive attitude and the interest and motivation towards camel herding among Kalkooyi nomads and in weakness criteria was shortage in suitable water sources for livestock drinking from both nomads and experts’ viewpoints. Also, between external factors as opportunity criteria, positive attitude of community members towards camel and its products and in threat criteria lack of comprehensive planning and roadmap for camel herding were the most important factors. Strategic position of camel herding was determined as offensive (SO) from nomads’ viewpoint with weights of 3.502 and 3.407, respectively. This position was determined as competitive (WO) from experts’ view point with weights of 2.073 and 2.517, respectively. Since both stakeholders assigned high weights to opportunity factors, the ultimate emphasis is on providing the condition for using opportunities of camel herding as well as strengthening the strengths and reducing the weaknesses. The result of this study helps executive managers and policy makers to plan and adjust camel herding roadmap with providing more information.

In this study, the ability of three rangeland species Atriplex halimus, A. canescens and A. lentiformis to remove nitrate from soil in vitro (greenhouse) in a completely randomized design was investigated. For this purpose, potassium nitrate salt (KNO3) was used in four treatments control, 6.3 ppm, 9.5 ppm and 14.5 ppm in three repetitions. Plant species used in this study with an approximate age of 6 months were prepared from the village of Chaparquimeh, Gonbad Kavous city in Golestan province. Selected species were cultivated in nitrate-contaminated soils with the concentrations mentioned and after a period of three and six months, the amount of dry weight and nitrogen of aerial and underground organs of the species and the amount of nitrate in the soil were measured. With increasing salt concentration from 6.3 ppm to 14.5 ppm, the amount of dry weight of aerial parts in A. canescens  has decreased from 28.31 ppm to 14.05 ppm, in A. halimus from 28.83 ppm to 11.75 ppm and in A. lentiformis from 39.17 ppm to 16.05 ppm . A downward trend was observed in the amount of dry weight of underground organs in the studied species, so that by increasing the salt concentration from 6.3 ppm to 14.5 ppm, the amount of underground dry weight in A. canescens  from 8.31 ppm to 5.05 ppm, in A. halimus from 6.83 ppm to 4.75 ppm and in A. lentiformis decreased from 10.17 ppm to 6.47 ppm. The results of study showed that the level of soil nitrate removal at different concentrations decreased in all three species. The percentage of soil nitrate removal efficiency by A. canescens at concentrations of 6.3 ppm, 9.5 ppm and 14.5 ppm is 71%, 52% and 37%, respectively, by A. halimus are reported to be 62%, 45% and 38%, respectively. However, A. lentiformis removed nitrate at a higher level than the other two species with 80%, 64% and 47%, respectively. The results showed that with increasing the concentration of this contamination in the soil, the phytoremediation capacity of the studied species decreased and A. lentiformis with high nitrogen storage in its tissues has an effective role in clearing nitrate-contaminated soils.

Forage quality is one of the most important factors that is necessary for proper nutritional management of livestock from rangelands. The most important quality factors of plants are crude protein, ADF, crude fiber, metabolic energy and digestible dry matter. The present study was conducted to evaluate the forage quality of high-yielding herbaceous species (Astragalus brevidens and Astragalus vegetus) grown in Homand Absard Research Station. The studied species are palatable species of rangelands of Khorasan, West Azarbaijan and Kurdestan provinces, which the seeds were collected and cultivated in 2010 at Homand station. In this study, sampling was performed in 2020 in three stages of vegetative growth, flowering and seeding in three replications and qualitative indices were measured. The results showed that the forage quality of these two species (four ecotypes) in the vegetative and flowering stages is higher than the seeding stage. In terms of crude protein content, digestibility and metabolic energy of all 4 ecotypes were very desirable in the vegetative and flowering stages (protein and metabolic energy above 8 and digestibility above 60%) and at the seeding stage. Also, there was no significant difference between the two species in terms of qualitative parameters. The highest amount of crude protein (16.24%) and the lowest amount of NDF (37.36%) belonged to Astragalus vegetus (Diwandare ecotype) in the vegetative stage. Due to the desirability of these two species in all stages of growth, these species can be used for livestock in spring and early summer.