فهرست مطالب شهریار صبح زاهدی

The current research aimed to assess the fluctuations of Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) variations in different types of forest stands along the gradient of altitude, and identify the influential factors for the its variations. Based on the random design, four plots with the surface area of 400 m2 in different stand types were established. Soil sampling up to 15cm depth in center and the corners of the each plots were taken. The biophysical attributes of trees as well as physiographical units were measured and recorded within each plot. The results of one-way ANOSIM analysis indicated the lack of similarity of SOC between pure and mixed beech stands (R≅ 0.5) and no significant difference between other stands. The results of the two-way PERMANOVA test also showed that the amount of SOC is independent of the effects of slope and the elevation gradient. The SIMPER test illustrated that the trends of soil organic carbon and soil bulk density were inverse among the stands and the gradient of altitude. However, their trends were not symmetric based on the pairwise comparisons. As a general conclusion, the fluctuations of soil organic carbon in the different types of forest stands are independent of the altitude gradient, stand type and biophysical factors, and the relative abundance of various tree species did not have a significant contribution to the variability of the soil carbon storage of the studied stands.

The method employed in this study was based on experimental research and field study. In this method, the stored radiocesium of the forest region which was supposed to be converted into Poplar plantation has been compared with the stored radiocesium of the reference region. 11 core samples were taken from reference region and then 7 core samples were selected from the transect which was a part of Poplar plantation that were taken by topographic characteristics in a depth of 25 centimeters, Having prepared the core samples according to the IAEA, they were packaged into the special Gama spectrometer containers. After that the amount of radiocesium of all samples has been measured by Bq kg-1 scale. The findings revealed that the amount of radiocesium in reference region was computed as 5894.1. Bq m-2 y-1. In the present study, soil loss rate during transect was estimated using proportional conversion models and mass balance I and II of 18.70, 22.72 and 18.64 ton / ha, respectively. These values were obtained for slope of 10-20%, canopy cover of 25% and clay loam soil under 1000 mm precipitation. This study recommended mass balance model II for estimation of erosion in changed land use areas and concluded that forest land use change to plantation due to reduction of long soil cover and plantation management by removing other seedlings and herbaceous cover increased the rate of soil erosion occurs. This process for many years has caused the erosion rate to exceed and has caused the loss of 0.1 cm of soil per year.

The present study reveals for the first time the rate of soil erosion using radioisotope method in the Hyrcanian forests, which were harvested three decades ago by strip harvesting. Based on the available records, the selected area in compartment 703 of Chafroud Guilan region was selected. In order to study the soil stability in field operations, a scraper plate was used to take samples in different depths of the reference area, from 2 centimeters depth up to 30 cm (maximum penetration depth of cesium). Then, in the reference, harvested and non-harvested areas, some samples were taken by core sampler. Samples were prepared according to IAEA guidelines and then, the quantity of their radiocesium was counted in the laboratory of Atomic Energy Organization. Finally, the mean 137Cs zones of the selected samples were 5894.1 Bq/m2. Therefore, in order to achieve the desired objectives of the study, three models named as MBI, MBII, and Proportional Conversion were used to reveal the erosion rate in which it was discovered that the non-harvested natural strips had some rates of 0.2, 0.7 and 0.6 t-ha-1-y-1, while in the harvested strips the rates were increased up to 8.87, 5.80 and 4.77 t-ha-1-y-1, respectively. Accordingly, it resulted in an average soil loss of 1.2 mm in the harvested strips and 0.9 mm in the natural parts per year and after 29 years of harvesting. Consequently, they can be considered as efficient methods in studying the forest hydrology and they also showed the protective role of forests in reducing the soil erosion.