نشریه حفاظت زیست بوم گیاهان
سال نهم شماره 2 (پیاپی 19، پاییز و زمستان 1400)

Aboveground net primary production (ANPP) is one of the crucially characteristics of rangeland ecosystems and it is importance in the cycle of materials and energy in these ecosystems. The aim of present study was investigate the ANPP of life forms (grasses, forbs, and shrubs), and total ANPP; then modeling of life forms and total ANPP by using precipitation and temperature in Siahpoush and Ganjgah mountain rangelands of Kowsar County, Ardabil Province. Seven sampling sites were determined at different altitudes and in each site according to the vegetation pattern of the representative regions were considered as three transects (100 m) in each site and 10 plots were considered for ANPP evaluation in each transects. The relationship between climate factors classes (precipitation and temperature), and the ANPP were analyzed using one way Anova and Duncan analysis. The ANPP maps were simulated using linear regression in ArcMap10.0. The results show a significant relationship (p>0.05) between the life forms and total ANPP with precipitation and temperature factors. The accuracy (RMSE) of simulated maps for ANPP of grasses, forbs, shrubs and total ANPP was 0.07, 0.08, 0.14 and 0.06, respectively. The present study results can be used in balance between supply and demand of rangelands production.

The increasing growth of human population and the number of livestock and wasteful has led to a rise in the trend of land degradation in the last few decades. Identifying the factors of destruction and sustainability of Rangelands is one of the first steps in reforming the exploitation of these resources and rehabilitating them. hence This study was done on the necessity of analysis and evaluation of the destruction of vegetation cover in Fars province. Effective choices were determined by reviewing the research resources and were grouped into Four indicators including: Hydrology (H), plant production (P), soil (S) and Atherogenic (A). The reference group of 45 experts familiar with the field of research consisted of all local operators and Operators available and a number of researchers determined in snowball method. The Questionnaires were Designed separately and scored by the reference group according to the two methods of Boolean evaluation and Fuzzy Delphi. The mean values of the indices and options were ranked and analyzed in a comparison method. Reliability was investigated by Cronbach's alpha test 0.88) and confirmed the existence of fit between Components of the questionnaire. the convergence of the results of the two above methods confirms the validity of the two methods, given that the two Boolean and Fuzzy methods were evaluated. the evaluation of Sustainability indices in fuzzy method showed that the human and soil indices have the highest relative weight, respectively, with the weight of 0.480 and 0.330 respectively. plant and climate production indices and hydrology are less important in terms of relative weight of 0.134 and 0.056, respectively. the weight and the Computational importance of indicators in the Boolean method is much less than that, and it can be said that in Comparison of the Boolean and Fuzzy methods, the fuzzy method has more performance and helps with a diverse Range of responses to provide clearer and clearer results for the evaluation of sustainability.

In order to investigate the effect of conservation on vegetation and biodiversity, two areas were studied. The main objectives of this study were to investigate the effect of conservation on biodiversity indicators. This study was conducted in two protected and unprotected areas with an area of ​​90 hectares. In order to harvest vegetation and biodiversity, systematic sampling method was used with the beginning of a random point with a grid size of 150 * 200 meters and a total of 60 samples were collected in two protected and unprotected areas. For harvesting in the tree layer, 400 square meters of sample pieces and for the grass layer, 100 square meters (10 * 10) quadrats were determined and used by the minimum surface method. Values ​​of diversity, uniformity and richness of plant species were obtained and SIV values ​​were calculated for tree, shrub and grass layers. The obtained results showed that the amount of diversity, richness and uniformity in the protected area in grasslands and trees is higher than the unprotected area. The highest SIV value was obtained for hornbeam and winter alder species in the tree layer and the lowest for Oja and Teda pine species. The highest amount of SIV for herbaceous species belonged to the family Asteraceae.

Over the last five years, restoration and rehabilitation projects in saline and alkaline rangelands at north of Golestan Province in Iran through plantation of Lycium depressum Stock. have not achieved any success. One reason behind this lies in the lack of knowledge about relations between the soil and plant. This study aimed at assessing and comparing soil physiochemical characteristics inside and outside of Lycium depressum Stocks. habitat in Aq-Qala county rangelands. Soil samples were collected from a 0-30 cm depth in three zones of a) next to the plant stand, b) between plant stands and c) outside of the habitat in 10 replications. Soil texture, bulk density, porosity, MWD, organic matter, nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, calcium carbonate, saturated moisture, pH and EC were measured. Data analysis was done using one-way analysis of variance through statistical packages in Rstudio software. The result showed that sand, clay, bulk density, porosity, MWD and EC were significantly different between inside and outside the habitat (p<0.05). On the other hand, there was no significant difference within the between plant stands zone and the outside of the habitat zone pertaining organic matter, nitrogen and saturated moisture (p>0.05). However, significant difference was observed between next to the stand and other two treatments regarding the same variables. In conclusion, it can be outlined that L. depressum Stocks. microhabitat has specific soil physiochemical characteristics which allow the presence, growth and natural regeneration of the species. Hence, it is recommended to consider soil characteristics particularly physical characteristics in finding the correct location for plantation.

One of the most important issue at natural resources management is plant diversity conservation and detecting the different effects of usage methods on the its quality and quantity. This research was done with the goal of investigating the disaster center (village) at evaluation of rangeland damage with the accent of plant cover combination and diversity in Sabalan mountain southeast rangelands. Plant cover sampling was performed at three villages named Alvares, Aldashin and Asbmarz with the grazing intensity low, med and high using 1 m2 plots in the route of 600 m transect. After the detection of plant combination from the analysis of variance and compare means, the diversity and unique indexes were extracted. Then, development and evaluation of regression and ANFIS models to predict of plant diversity was done and comparing the results was performed. RMSE and R2 indexes were used for evaluation of regression and ANFIS models. The results showed that with the increment of grazing intensity, the plant diversity decreased and the max plant diversity was happened at distance of 400 m plus min plant diversity was occurred at distance of 200 m near the village. Moreover, the prediction part results showed that ANFIS model predicted the plant diversity with higher accuracy (R2=0.91) and lower error (RMSE=0.601) relative to the regression model with lower accuracy (R2=0.83) and higher error (RMSE=1.230). Consequently, the ANFIS approach can predict the relations parameters to rangelands, accurately.

Afforestation has been one of the most effective measures to compensate for mangrove ecosystem loss across the world and requires a detailed understanding of all contributing hydrological and physico-chemical factors affecting their growth. In this study, the Maxent habitat suitability model was employed to identify suitable mangrove habitats in the ​​Hara Roud-e Gaz Protected Area. Presence data were collected through field surveys and 10 predictive layers were produced in two classes of structural-morphological and sediment physicochemical parameters. The area under the ROC curve of the Maxent model was 0.963, which indicates the high model potency in identifying suitable mangrove habitats. Based on the Jaknaif results, distance to mangrove communities, followed by distance from water canals and altitude were identified as the most contributing variables, respectively. The most suitable areas (255 ha - 3.1% of the total area of ​​the estuary) were located in the middle of the region, especially along the main estuarine canals towards upstream areas. Factors such as the imbalanced sedimentation, increasing erosive power of sea waves along with sea-level rise have shifted the mangrove suitable habitats to upstream areas and away from their historical range.

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of dominant tree species and their regeneration status in the Arasbaran forests. Data were collected by transect sampling and regeneration was assessed by plot with an area 100 m2. In the sample plots, we recorded information on species type, diameter at breast height, height, quality of seedlings and the presence of cut trees. Three customary areas, Hoosh, Dinehvar, and Aghamirloo villages were selected for study in Arasbaran protected area. The values ​​of species diversity were calculated using the species diversity indices of Shannon Weiner and inverse Simpson. The results showed that the number of trees per hectare in the customary areas of Hoosh, Dinehvar and Aghamirloo were 498, 388 and 260 trees per hectare, respectively. The basal area of ​​the trees was 10.77, 7.78 and 5.76 m2 per ha in the Hoosh, Dinehvar and Aghamirloo, respectively. The regeneration status showed that hornbeam (Carpinus betulus), oak (Quercus macranthera) and maple (Acer campestre) had 828, 506 and 360 seedlings per hectare, respectively. The volume of woody debris of hornbeam, oak and maple species were 2.56, 1.28 and 0.19 cubic meters per hectare, respectively. The stand regeneration were in the middle and good classes in terms of vitality. About 27.5% and 72.4% of the seedlings had good and medium quality, respectively. The crown cover percentage were between 50 and 90 percent, so the canopy of these areas was semi-closed. The results showed that in Aghamirloo and Hoosh customary area, the diversity of Shannon Weiner species and Simpson inverse index had the highest and lowest value, respectively. Uncontrolled human interventions and over harvesting in Arasbaran forests have caused significant quantitative and qualitative changes in these forests and the dependence of local communities on these forest have impacted on the species diversity.

Vegetation changes can change the rainfall and temperature cycle and also climate fluctuations, especially temperature and precipitation parameters, have significant effects on vegetation. Climate change causes restriction for plant activities which cause changes in vegetation indices including NPP. Considering that Qazvin plain has been affected by climate fluctuations and drought in recent years, in this study, the relationship between NPP and temperature, standard deviation of temperature, precipitation and standard deviation of precipitation was investigated in this plain. Annual NPP was gained using MODIS satellite imagery for 2001-2020 and using meteorological data, the average annual temperature, total annual rainfall and standard deviation of these two parameters were calculated for each year. Then using linear regression analysis in TerrSet, the relationship between NPP and meteorological parameters was determined. The results showed that the most important factor affecting NPP was related to the temperature and its standard deviation, when they are entered into the equation simultaneously which was effective in 48.8% of the area. The least effective variable was related to the entry of the precipitation and its standard deviation into the equation, which was effective in only 0.4% of the region. Due to the seasonal precipitation, it can be concluded that the standard deviation is not very effective on NPP. Among the land uses in the region, the sensitivity of NPP to temperature, precipitation and their standard deviation in agricultural lands was more than other land uses.

The climate changes have an important role in distribution of plant species. Statistical species distribution models (SDMs) are widely used to predict the changes in species distribution under climate change scenarios. In the peresent study, the distribution of Alopecurus textilis in the current and future climate condition (2050) under the influence of climate change and two scenarios of RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 with the GCM data series of general circulation models BCC-CSM1-1، CCSM4 and MRI-CGCM3 by using of Five species distribution models such as Generalized Linear Model, Generalized Additive Model, Classification Tree Analyses, Generalized Boosting Model and Random Forest method in Mazandaran province were investigated. For this purpose, the number of 92 species presence data was recorded using Global Positioning System and along with layers of environmental factors including six bioclimatic variables and two physiographic variables were used in modeling. Among the environmental variables, mean temperature of driest quarter, precipitation seasonality, precipitation of warmest quarter and precipitation of coldest quarter had the most impact on the habitat suitability. Modeling evaluation indicated that the random forest and generalized boosting model had better predictions of climatic habitat than other models. Results showed that in comparison with current conditions under the emission scenarios of RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 respectively 22.25 and 36.22 percent of the climatic suitable area for this species will be reduced by 2050. Finally, the results of the present study can be an efficient tool for biodiversity protection, ecosystem management, and species re-habitation planning under future climate change scenarios.

Determining the morphological characteristics of each plant is an important criterion in generating information for breeding programs. Understanding the vegetation of the region provides planners with a sound vision of the future. Zanjanchr('39')s Tarom Sheet area is a desert state and only allows certain species to grow. In this area, the plants are highly resistant to drought and with unpredictable rainfall. Capparis spinosa, one of the most important multifunctional plants, is of less concern to the inhabitants of these areas and grows in places with minimal rainfall and sandy soils. It is one of the rare plants that can withstand this harsh condition. Unfortunately, the plant is under threat from genetic erosion, pests and severe grazing. In order to preserve this valuable food, medicinal, industrial and cover crop and evaluate the genetic diversity of six blind populations of the region under 752 hectare conditions, the area was randomly selected. 18 phenotypic and quantitative traits and 4 qualitative traits were measured and analyzed. Multivariate analysis was performed using SAS 9.1 statistical software and one-way correlation coefficient was determined by Pearson method. Cluster analysis and principal component analysis were used to analyze the data. Data analysis using these methods showed the relationships between the studied populations. Principal component analysis helped to create patterns of diversity and identified germplasm of the studied populations in the blind, taking into account the main traits, the existence of blind diversity in the Sheet area. The analysis showed a significant difference (at 1% level) in all studied traits with the exception of width, petiole length, width of spleen and spine length which was significant at 5% level. Among 18 morphological traits by cluster analysis, four clusters were obtained by Euclidean square method using intergroup linkage method. The first three principal components accounted for about 81.34% of the total variation among the 18 traits. The results of principal components showed that traits such as flower and fruit size and their components, number of main and secondary shoots and leaf size were the main distinguishing traits in the blinds of Sheet area. The highest amount of total phenol and antioxidant activity belonged to region 6 and then region 2. In cluster analysis of phytochemical traits, in cut from 5 Euclidean units it was observed that Capparis spinosa growth sites are divided into three separate groups. In the first group are places 1, 4 and 3. 5th place in a separate group and 2nd and 6th place in the third group.

One of the key principles in rangeland management is determination of suitable times for exploitation and grazing of rangeland plants in summer and winter pasturelands. This determination of time not only prevents degradation of plant species, but also leads to optimal usage of plant yield. Multiple factors affect plant phenology among which temperature regime has the highest effect on plant development and consequently exploitation and grazing of the plant. In this study, we used growing degree days (GDD) model to assess the phenology of three key rangeland plants: Artemisia sieberi, Halocnemum strobilaceium and Poa bulbosa. Initially, rangeland types were identified and determined in each region, then phenology stage, plant height, cumulative temperature, soil moisture and precipitation were measured and collected. To pick the phenology stage data, 10 individuals were selected from each species in each region and field visits started from the early March. Result showed that the start and end of phenology periods were different between key plants in each region within different years. Plant phenology was affected by climatic condition particularly temperature and precipitation. According to the result, the beginning of vegetative period for A. sieberi and H. strobilaceium was from mid-March to the end of March and the beginning of the vegetative period for P. bulbosa was late-December. This variation in plants phenology lied behind the variation of average monthly temperature in different years. The result of current study is applicable in adjustment of exploitation and grazing periods from plant species in different regions as well as adjustment of pastoral calendar.

Vegetation in any landscape reflects its health condition. Monitoring land use change and land cover plays a key role in environmental planning and management. Mazandaran province has always been considered by tourists due to its high tourism potential and consequently the vegetation, especially the forest, has been damaged. In this study, vegetation Contiguity and integrity in Mazandaran using Landsat satellite data with the help of metrics: fractal dimension, continuity, distance from nearest neighbor, total patch density, number of patches, edge density and the largest patch index and were studied over a period of 30 years (1988- 2018). Using multi-criteria evaluation method, digital layers of quantitative metrics were prepared and metrics became spatial map. Then the vegetation change map was prepared. The results showed that during the mentioned period, the numerical value of number of patches, patch density, edge density and distance from nearest neighbor increased and the index of the largest patch as well as the NDVI index decreased. The area of ​​the city has tripled compared to the base year and has increased by 26,000 hectares. Simultaneously with the increase of urban area, more than three thousand hectares of forest and rangeland vegetation area has been reduced and the cohesion and integration of forest and rangeland vegetation has decreased. The high rate of destruction of vegetation in terms of area in the desired range is belong to the east of the Mazandaran. This area has the highest number of tourists and villas per year.

Astracantha gossypina (Fisch.) is one of the most important rangeland plants in the northeastern region of Iran and has a great role in soil conservation and the economy of ranchers. unreasonable uses and management of desire plant species usually led to species loss and the replacement of endemic and specialist species by invasive endemic or exotic species. This study was conducted to determine the potential habitat of As. gossypina species in the rangelands of Khorasan Razavi and North Khorasan provinces using MaxEnt model. In this purpose, 757 species presence points in 17 different areas recorded by GPSMap 60CSx in field sampling. Environmental variables including 19 bioclimatic layers, 3 layers of slope, direction and altitude, geology and soil data layers (texture, soil potential, hydrological groups) as predictor variables analyzed for correlation and corelated variables were removed. Analysis of prediction layers and presence points performed using Maxent 3.3 software. According to the results the area under the curve index (AUC = 0.98) showed, the maximum entropy model had good accuracy and efficiency in detecting the factors affecting the geographical distribution of the species. Based on the jackknife test results, environmental factors included DEM, SOILLAND, BIO1, geology, BIO17, BIO19 and BIO15 respectively had the most role in determining the habitat suitability of the species. Finally, the study area was divided into four suitability classes and more than 218 thousand hectares, equivalent to 1.52% had moderate to good potential for the growth and harvesting of the species.

Prunus eburnea (Spach) Aitch. & Hemsl. is an endemic plant species of Iran-Afghanestan, which has medicinal and nutritional value and distributed in extensive parts of arid and semi-arid ecosystems of Iran. The aims of this study were to investigate the life forms and chorology of associated perennial plant species and biodiversity indices in 52 habitats. Habitats were divided into ten main regions based on main climate, latitude, longitude, phytogeography, altitude, vicinity to other habitats and physiognomy. Some biodiversity indices such as species richness, uniformity, heterogeneity and dominance for each region were measured using PAST software. The results showed that the life form of phanerophyt (48%) and chamaephyt (40%) had the highest percentage of life forms of associated plant species with gray almond in the studied habitats. Perennial plants belonging to the phytogeography of Irano-Touranian region (64%) and Euro-Siberian (13%) had the highest abundance in the habitats of this species, respectively. In a general conclusion, the habitats of this species in the west of the country due to more rainfall and humidity have the greatest species diversity and the number of plant species bases than the central and eastern habitats of the country. In the habitats that are located near the Zagros region of the country, the diversity indices show greater values than the habitats that are located in the Iran-Turanian regions.

The present study aimed to model potential habitat distribution of A. sieberi, and its ecological requirements using generalized additive model (GAM) and classification and regression tree (CART) in in the Poshtkouh rangelands of Yazd province. For this purpose, pure habitats of the species was delineated and the species presence data was recorded by the systematic-randomize sampling method. Using DEM and geostatistical method, digital layers of environmental variables (soil and physiographic variables) were prepared with the same spatial resolution (pixel size 30×30 meter). Plant distribution modeling was conducted using CART and GAM models in the R.3.3.1 software environment. The prediction performance of the models was evaluated by the AUC (Area Under the Curve) In addition, The TSS (True Skill Statistic) was used to determine the optimal threshold limitof species presence. The classification accuracy of the presence/ absence map was investigated using the Kappa index. Based on the results, The CART model had a better predictive performance than the GAM models (AUC=0.97 and 0.89, respectively). Furthermore, the Kappa coefficient of the CART model was higher than GAM, based on the obtained Kappa coefficient values (0.97 and 0.89, respectively). This study concludes that the CART model were more accurate in estimating the distribution range of A. sieberi in comparison with the GAM model. The analysis of the importance of variables showed that the electrical conductivity (EC) and acidity (pH) of the first soil depth had the highest effect on the distribution of A. sieberi. In general, it can be concluded that application of data-driven methods, such as CART model, can be useful for accurate estimation of the potential habitat distribution of plant species on a local scale. Therefore, the application of these models to introduce the suitable species in vegetation reclamation plans of Iran's desert rangelands is recommended.

During the last few decades, one of the most important problems of Iran rangelands is how to manage ranch units, which are managed according to the grazing license, in one of the three common methods, council, collective and private exploitation. The most important tool for achieving sustainable development and natural resource management is property right. Considering the importance of rangeland management in exploitation systems, the present study tries to investigate the effective indicators on rangeland management in collective and private exploitation systems in Golestan province. The indicators used in this research include human, social, ecological and institutional-political. The research method is descriptive-survey and the respondent community in this research are competent rangeland users. The collected data were analyzed in two descriptive sections using central inclination and dispersion indices and the inferential section was analyzed using statistical tests in SPSS software version 22. The results of this study also indicated that rangelands have managed by private method, have a better situation in terms of the level of awareness of users, the tendency to carry out remedial work and the tendency to protect rangelands. The level of awareness of users was 3.40 and 2.54 in private and collective exploitation methods, respectively. Examining the type of rangeland utilization pattern shows that the tendency to breed in private rangelands with an average of 4.40 has been much higher than collective rangelands with an average of 3.12. The study of the tendency to protect rangeland and exploited areas indicates a greater tendency of private method users than the collective method users. The degree of tendency to protection in the two models of private and collective exploitation was 4.20 and 3.72, respectively. The results of the present study showed that by using the private method in management, it is possible to achieve natural resource conservation, sustainable development and optimal resource management.

There are various vegetation sampling methods regarding objectives of Management at forests. To aim of this study, we undertook a comparative study at Shineh Ghelaee protected forest at middle Zagros using single-scale sampling, single-scale sampling based on transects, and multi-scale sampling methods to investigate the herbaceous layer diversity. In order to know the situation of the region and compare the performance of different sampling methods, richness and diversity indices, the mean of conservatism coefficient and floristic quality index, and the conservation status of plant species in the region were calculated and compared with three sampling methods. The results indicated that Poaceae, Asteraceae, and Fabaceae were the most important families based on the number of species and chorological studies revealed that the most species belonged to the Irano-Turanian zone, The results also showed the life-form of plants dominated by therophytes in this region. Also, the results revealed that the greatest abundance of conservative species (Coefficient of conservatism:1-3 and belonging to the first category of coefficients conservatism), observed by three sampling methods, whereas the total number of plant species,  endemic vascular plant species, diversity indices, evenness index, mean CC and FQI were higher at single -scale sampling method results. In the percent study, it seems that different sampling methods can influence the identification of endemic species, mean CC and FQI, and diversity indices, As a result to study vegetation in areas we suggest that single-scale sampling, single-scale sampling based on transect, and multi-scale sampling methods have the same efficiency in small and homogenous areas with floristic surveying goals, whereas single-scale sampling methods are more appropriate to measure mean CC, diversity indices and FQI.