Delineating suitable sites for plantation of Nitraria schoberi in winter rangelands of Golestan Province, Iran

Rangeland improvement and restoration increases the quantity and quality of forage production and optimizes the amount of livestock products. Land suitability assessment is an activity towards selection of the best sites for a specific plant species plantation. Application of optimal methods for accurately locating places for rangeland plantation, considering rangeland potential and characteristics, leads to long-term sustainable economic benefits. Nitraria schoberi is a drought-resistant species that is important in stabilizing of sandy soils and soil erosion control. Finding appropriate plantation sites for this species can play important role in the improvement of degraded-winter rangelands. In this research, the geographic information system and two methods of classic and fuzzy logic were used to locate areas suitable for this plant. According to the ecological requirements of N. schoberi, the layers for the classic method were grouped into two suitable and not suitable categories but for the fuzzy method we defined four classes for the layers including not- suitable, moderately suitable, suitable and highly suitable. Then, by combining the classifieds layers, the final maps were obtained using Boolean and fuzzy logic method. The results demonstrated that low precipitation, as well as, high salinity and temperature are the most limiting factors that must be considered in N. schoberi plantation projects. We found that the fuzzy logic gives better and more accurate results than the classic method, so it is recommended for selecting suitable areas for rangeland species plantation.