فهرست مطالب azam khosravi mashizi

Successful ecosystem restoration requires the reproduction of valuable plant species in the plant community. This is more important for monocultures because the interaction between species changes more with the increase of a species. The planting of native species with highly competitive power is controversial in restoration operations, due to their highly competitive abilities, their dominance and persistence after restoration can make reproduction of other species difficult (9). Evaluation of the success of restoration operations has been done using various indicators. To examine the success of restoration operations or the intensity of ecosystem exploitation, species diversity is a suitable indicator (8). Margalef richness, Simpson diversity, and Shannon diversity indices are commonly employed to monitor changes in species diversity (5, 7). By studying the dynamics of plant communities, we can understand how the structure, composition, and function of plant communities respond to restoration operations. Plantation is a restoration operation that can have a significant impact on the composition of plant communities. Plantation can alter the interaction between species, which can lead to changes in the functioning of the ecosystem. To determine the success of a restoration operation, it is important to select species for plantation in degraded ecosystems, which will lead to the increase of other valuable species. Recognizing the success of restoration operations, particularly in plantation, can be achieved by identifying important functional types related to species diversity. Thus, this investigation is focused on the objectives listed below: 1) investigating the impact of the plantation of Assafoetida on the species diversity in semi-steppe rangelands, 2) identification of important functional traits in relation to species diversity in the degraded areas, and 3) examining the mediation role of Assafoetida in the relationship between plant functional traits and diversity.

The studied area is located in Tang-e Sorkh rangelands, 45 km from Yasuj city (Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad Province) and has the geographical coordinates of 51˚40'04" to 51˚46'08" E and 30˚22'35" to 30˚27'37" N. Due to the implementation of Tang-e Sorkh multi-purpose project, which aims to ensure continuity and sustainability of the rangeland, Assafoetida has been planted in this area. Ferula assa-foetida L. is the scientific name of Assafoetida. This plant is a significant native plant that grows in the rangelands of Iran. To conduct the present research, two areas were selected, including the exclosure area interseted by Assafoetida and the control area. Three 100-meter transects were laid out in each of the grazed and exclosure areas, according to the features of the area. Each transect consisted of ten plots that measured 1 square meter each. Each of the grazed and exclosure areas had thirty plots established. The canopy cover and density of plant species were recorded in every plot. Functional traits (growth form, life form, palatability, life span, leaf life span, root depth, woodiness, flowering start, length of flowering period, height, and stem density) were measured according to literature (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 11). The analysis of diversity indices in the grazed and exclosure sites was conducted using a T-test. To summarize the relationship between plant functional traits and ecosystem management, principal component analysis (PCA) was employed. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to evaluate the relationship between plant functional traits and diversity. SEM was employed to examine how Assafoetida mediates the connection between plant functional traits and diversity indices using variance-accounted for (VAF). The VAF parameter is calculated by dividing the indirect effect by the total effect of the variables.

The t-test results showed that the two grazed and exclosure sites had significant differences in terms of Simpson, Shannon and Margalef indices (P<0.05). PCA findings showed that the most significant functional traits associated with ecosystem management are growth form, life form, life span, leaf life span, and palatability. The most significant impact on species diversity was due to palatability (p< 0.001). Life form had a positive effect on species diversity, while life span and leaf life span had negative effects on species diversity (p< 0.01). However, growth form had no significant impact on species diversity (p>0.05). A VAF of 0.3 was obtained for the mediating role of Assafoetida in the relationship between growth forms and diversity indices, suggesting a partial mediating role. According to the findings, the development of Assafoetida has had an impact on mutual relationships between species. The success of ecosystem restoration cannot be attributed solely to the improvement in species diversity with the plantation of Assafoetida. The technique used to recognize the success of the restoration operations in this study was to increase the number of valuable species in relation to the diversity of species. Structured equation modeling allowed for the study of important individual species in vegetation composition with Assafoetida's mediating role.

Our findings showed that Assafoetida played a partial mediating role in the relationship between plant functional traits and diversity. Exclosure along with the Assafoetida plantation has caused the development of valuable species in the vegetation composition. The success of Assafoetida plantation in restoring semi-steppe rangelands can be determined by both species’ diversity and plant functional traits.

Economic valuation of rangelands is one of the best methods for conservation goals. A study was conducted to assess the economic value of forage loss under the two main forms of traditional pastoralism i.e. sedentary pastoralism and nomadism in historic grazing semiarid rangelands in Khabr National Park, Kerman province, Iran in 2019. Forage production was measured by clip-and-weigh method and forage quality was assessed using Crude Protein (CP) and Acid Detergent Fibre (ADF) indices. The replacement cost method was used for forage valuation and Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN) was used as the principal character of forage value. Forage production was decreased by 65% and 78% under nomadism and sedentary pastoralism respectively as compared to exclosure. Assessing species distribution along grazing gradient, using Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA), showed that forage quality decreased as grazing intensity increased due to plant composition change. Lathyrus annuus and annual grasses were the highest and lowest value forage, respectively. The forage values for exclosure area, near exclosure area and near village and pastoral tent were 75 $, 20-25 $ and 6-10 $.ha-1.year-1, respectively, indicating 65 to 92% reduction in the forage value in traditional pastoralism forms than to exclosure area. Therefore, there was priority to perform appropriate grazing systems such as rest rotational grazing to improve the condition of historic grazing lands and pastoral’s income.

A large area of Iran rangelands is located in arid and semi-arid areas which a significant percentage of them have been degraded and are not in good condition. In these areas, vegetation restoration is not easy due to the water scarcity. Water harvesting operations are among the necessary management measures to restore and develop the rangelands of these areas. Water harvesting operations improve the rangeland restoration conditions by increasing the available moisture for plants. But not all water harvesting operations are equally effective and may not have the same effect on rangeland restoration in different areas. Therefore, it is necessary to compare such operations in different areas to be able to choose the best water harvesting operations. Therefore, this study investigates the efficiency of two water harvesting methods in the rehabilitation of arid vegetation in Hormozgan province.

In this study, three treatments have been considered: control area, area under microcatchment operation and area under water spreading system. Systematic-random sampling method was used to measure vegetation. Three 100 m transects were laid out in each area. Vegetation attributes were measured in ten 2×2 m plots located along each transect. In total 90 plots, the percentage of canopy cover and the number of the plant species were recorded. The biological form of plant species was determined based on the Rankier classification method. In addition, the percentage of rocks and pebbles, litter and bare soil were determined in each plot. To study the flora of the study area, all plant species in the region were sampled and identified using reliable references. To evaluate species composition in all three sites, plant functional types were used. One-way analysis of variance followed by LSD were used to compare control area, area under microcatchment operation and area under water spreading system in terms of vegetation attributes. The rate of vegetation attributes change was also determined. Detrended correspondence analysis was used to investigate the relationship between plant species and water harvesting operations and control areas.

The results showed that there was a significant differences between water harvesting operations and control areas in terms of bare soil, litter and vegetation (P <0.05) The water spreading system and microcatchment operation had a significant effect on vegetation canopy and litter cover in the region (P <0.05). Examination of plant functional types also showed that palatability classes II and hemicryptophytes had more chance to develop under water harvesting operations respectively. In terms of life form, water harvesting operations had the most positive effect on forbs and grasses, respectively (P <0.05). The results also showed that the families Poaceae, Chenopodiaceae and Fabaceae were successful families in the sites under water harvesting operations, especially the sites under water spreading system. The rate of vegetation attributes change was increasing in the area under water spreading system compared to the area under microcatchment operation, except for the bare soil. The highest and lowest positive changes belonged to litter and Simpson index with a mean of 9.07±0.62 and 0.48±0.25, respectively. The results of DCA showed that Cenchrus pennisetiformis،، ‏Tephrosia persica، ‏Atriplex leucoclada‏ ، ‏Cornulaca monacantha‏ ,‎ ‎Cynodon dactylon were the most important species related to water spreading system and microcatchment operation.

Both water spreading system and microcatchment operations improved the quality and quantity of vegetation in the region, but the effects of water spreading system were greater than microcatchment operation in restoring vegetation. According to the ecological indicators considered in this study, water spreading system is recommended to restore vegetation in arid and semi-arid regions. In the end, it is suggested that economic and social indicators such as the cost of implementing various water harvesting operations should be also considered in future studies, to combine all ecological, economic and social indicators to suggest the best water harvesting operations for rangeland restoration.

IntroductionRangeland provides numerous ecosystem goods and services. Most rangeland management decisions focus on forage production, and this can lead to the loss of other rangeland ecosystem services. One of those services is carbon sequestration, the removal of carbon dioxide from the Earth's atmosphere and its storage in the ground. Rangeland, which covers approximately half of terrestrial ecosystems, is one of the most important sinks for atmospheric carbon dioxide. Photosynthesis, respiration and decomposition are the main processes in the ecosystem that determine how carbon is stored in the soil. Anthropogenic activities like livestock grazing can significantly alter soil carbon storage. Unfortunately, human activities have resulted in lower soil carbon and increased global climate change. Livestock grazing is one of the most significant factors affecting the structure and functioning of ecosystems. Grazing livestock can affect the amount of carbon in the soil through reduced vegetation cover, altered species composition, soil degradation, urination and defecation. On the other hand, changes in the quantity and quality of forage production by livestock grazing have a strong effect on the welfare of the beneficiaries. Consequently, knowledge of the relationship between forage production and other ecosystem goods and services such as soil carbon is essential to the sustainability of ecosystems. It is important to study the quantity and quality changes in rangeland production in relation to different livestock grazing intensities on soil carbon. However, this information can assist range managers in providing techniques to promote soil carbon storage. The purpose of the study is 1) to determine annual forage production in rangelands at different grazing intensities, 2) to study the quality of rangeland forages produced, 3) to assess soil carbon content at different grazing intensities, and 4) to assess the relationship between rangeland production and soil carbon content at different grazing intensities. Material and MethodsA rangeland adjacent to Khabr National Park in Kerman province was selected as the study area. The study area is shrub- dominated species Artemisia aucheri Boiss. Three sites with different grazing intensities (for example, exclosure, high grazing and moderate grazing) were sampled. At each site, three 100m transects with 50m intervals were set up. Ten quadrats were randomly assigned to each transect. For each quadrat, the species met were recorded and their number of individuals and the amount of forage produced were measured. The annual forage production (forage quantity) was measured using the clip and weigh method. To determine forage quality, crude protein, acid detergent fibre (ADF), dry matter digestion and metabolizable energy were estimated for each species. Additionally, a soil sample was taken from each of the quadrats. The samples were air-dried and sieved with a 2 mm sieve. The organic carbon of the soil samples was determined through wet oxidation with Walkley-Black chromic acid. Then, the species importance index (IVI) was estimated using relative frequency (Fr), relative density (Dr) and relative dominance (Dor). One-way ANOVA and LSD were used to compare different grazing intensities in terms of soil carbon, annual production, crude protein, ADF and metabolizable energy. Pearson's correlation was used to examine the relationship between soil carbon and annual production with the qualitative attributes of production, ie. The primary component analysis (PCA) was used to identify the most important species in terms of production at the three sites with different grazing intensities (exclosure, high grazing and moderate grazing). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to identify the most important species in terms of production at the three sites with differing grazing intensities (exclosure, high grazing and moderate grazing). Results and DiscussionThe quantity and quality of forage has been reduced in the livestock grazing sites. The study area has a long history of cattle grazing, which has significantly altered the composition of the vegetation. About 26% of the exclosure site species had been removed from the plant composition of medium pasture sites, most of which are appetizing species. Although the amount of organic carbon in the soil increased at the exclosure site, it was not significantly different from grazing sites. Therefore, despite the improvement in forage quality and quantity, soil organic carbon had shown a lower reaction to the exclosure. Due to the presence of acceptable species, there was a positive relationship between forage quantity and quality at the exclosure site. Although A. aucheri was still dominant shrub species in the site with medium grazing intensity, there was no significant relationship between forage quantity and quality due to the decrease of palatable species. With the increase in the number of non-platable species in the high grazing site, there was a significant negative relationship between forage quantity and quality. There was a positive and meaningful relationship between soil carbon and the amount and quality of forage at the exclos site. The relationship between soil carbon and forage quantity and quality was not significant on grazing sites because of a change in plant composition. In the sites under grazing, palatable forbs such as Tragopogon jesdianus Boiss. and Lathyrus annuus L. were not observed and perennial grasses were significantly reduced. It should be noted that forage production of forbs has not changed much on the site with average grazing compared to the exclosure site. Perennials, especially woody plants, were severely reduced at the site with high grazing intensity. There were no bushes observed at that location. Annual grasses had increased in the site with heavy browsing. As perennials decrease, space and resources become available for the invasion of annual plants, especially annual grasses. Therefore, Bromus tectorum L. had the highest forage production in the   high grazing area. In terms of crude protein, the high grazing area had low quality forage. Since livestock grazing and subsequent changes in plant composition do not greatly impact soil carbon, livestock management can contribute to the improvement of plant composition and forage production at this site. Taking into account the impact of grassland management on other ecosystem functions, it is suggested to explore the relationship between the amount of production and other functions of quality rangeland ecosystems in order to sustainably manage rangeland ecosystems.

Lack of rainfall and its high temporal and spatial variation are the main problems of vegetation restoration in Iran.  Rainfall harvesting methods can play an effective role in improving soil moisture. Rainfall harvesting operations have a great impact on the structure and function of ecosystems. Therefore, the present study investigates the changes of soil properties as a result of implementing two rainfall harvesting methods (water spreading system and micro-catchment) in arid rangelands of Hormozgan province. First, 45 soil samples were taken from control, micro-catchment and water spreading system sites and their physical and chemical properties were measured in the soil laboratory. One-way analysis of variance was used to compare the different sites in terms of soil properties. The rate of change index was used in order to assess the performance of soil properties and the overall performance of each of the rainfall harvesting methods compared to the control. Synergy and trade-off relations between soil properties were investigated using Pearson correlation coefficient. The results showed that except EC, pH, TNV, water spreading system had a significant effect on soil properties. EC, pH, TNV, calcium, magnesium, nitrogen and sand had negative performance in the water spreading system, and the rest of the soil properties had positive performance. The overall performance of soil properties was 31 and 11% in the micro-catchment, and 52 and 25% in the water spreading system. Sand had a significant trade-off relationship with most soil chemical properties. The highest trade-off was observed between sand and silt (p <0.01, R2 = -0.99). The highest synergy was observed between silt and phosphorus (p <0.01, R2 =+0.87), and next phosphorus and OC (p <0.01, R2= +0.72). In general, the positive impact of water spreading system on the soil properties of arid rangelands was greater than the micro-catchment in this region.

Biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services provision are of the main ecosystem management objectives. Despite the enormous importance of cultural services, they are often ignored in ecosystem management plans due to the difficulty in quantifying. This study was done to investigate the impact of exclosure on cultural services in semi-arid shrublands. Flowering plants were considered as a proxy for cultural services. The canopy cover and the number of plant species inside and outside the exclosure were recorded in two vegetation types Artemisia aucheri and Artemisia aucheriZygophyllum eurypterum. The results showed that exclosure significantly increased diversity, abundance and richness of plant species. The exclosure also significantly increased the diversity, richness and abundance of flowering species in both vegetation types. A positive relationship was found between diversity indices and flowering species diversity. The results also showed that perennial forbs had a greater role in providing cultural services. It can be concluded that exclosure can promote both plant species diversity and cultural services in semi-arid shrublands.

Ecosystems’ cultural services, like beauty services, play an important role in human social well-being. Understanding the potential of ecosystems is essential in providing this service for sustainable ecosystem management. This study aimed to determine the beauty value of summer rangelands in Kerman province. Hence, the beauty value of ten rangeland types was determined through flowering plants in 200 plots in flowering season. The beauty value was estimated using four indexes, including relative Simpson diversity and relative canopy cover of flowering plants, relative flowering period, and relative maximum number of flower colors. The analysis of variance showed that rangeland types are different in terms of beauty value, and Astragalus gossypinus-Artemisia aucheri rangeland type had the highest beauty value and is a pioneer region for conservation programs. Salsola brachiata- Artemisia sieberi rangeland had the lowest beauty value due to severe grazing and vegetation degradation. Plant types were most beautiful in spring, summer and fall, respectively. Correlation analysis showed that relative Simpson diversity and relative maximum number of flower colors had the highest correlation with beauty value. PCA also showed that beauty value was positively correlated with the attributes, including species diversity and abundance of forbs. The beauty value can be considered a good indicator of the ecological value of ecosystems that should be considered in sustainable development.

The complexities of the relationship between biodiversity and human welfare can be simplified by identifying the impact of species diversity on ecosystem function. Since annual production plays an important role in the grazing management and sustainability of rangeland ecosystems, this study examines the relationship between species diversity and annual production of semi-arid rangelands in Khabar National Park under the hypothesis of ecological nest. The annual production of species in 1×1 square plots was estimated in two rangeland types of Artemisia sieberi and Artemisia sieberi- Stipa barbata using the cutting and weighing method. The results showed that although the two plant types differed significantly in terms of annual production (p < /em> <0.05), but there was no significant difference between the two rangeland types in terms of diversity indicators of Shannon, Simpson, Margalf, Manichae, and uniformity index. Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that annual production had a positive and significant relationship with species diversity indicators in Artemisia sieberi- Stipa barbata type; however, no significant relationship was observed in Artemisia sieberi. Contrary to the hypothesis of the ecological nest, species did not have the same contribution in annual production, and the dominant species of Artemisia aucheri had the highest contribution in production. According to the hypothesis of mass ratio, the diversity of functional traits in the dominant species has led to better success of rangeland type the Artemisia aucheri- Stipa barbata than the Artemisia aucheri in terms of annual production. In general, it is recommended that conserving of the composition of plant communities is more important to protect ecosystem services compared to maintaining the maximum number of species.

Aesthetic is an added value to other precious values of rangelands and helps its ecosystem conservation. Unfortunately, there is not plenty of researches run on this issue and its probable value. Instead emphasis has put on ecosystem management especially on the basis of marketable products. In this study, the people willingness to pay for the aesthetic of Sarbijan rangeland landscapes and its affecting factors were investigated using 184 questionnaires, the contingent valuation method and logit regression model in 2018. The results showed that more than 78 percent of visitors and 86 percent of residents had high to very high aesthetic sense to the region’s rangelands. Vegetation diversity was the most important factor affecting the landscape beauty from their point of view. The results of economic valuation showed that proposed price negatively and homeland interests, educational level, monthly income, and beauty of land positively affect willingness to pay for the region aesthetic function. The willingness to pay for the aesthetic function has been estimated to be 28798 Rials, which shows the visitors and residents attention to the aesthetic function of the Sarbijan rangelands is high. Understanding of the value of aesthetic function of rangeland will increase moral responsibilities of people to the natural landscapes and greatly contribute to the development and implementation of natural ecosystem conservation programs with the public participation.

Plant species as the primary producers of ecosystems and important structural components play a major role in the ecosystems sustainability as well as feeding domestic and wildlife livestock. Determining the preference value of plant species is essential to maintain plant health and the balance of livestock in rangelands. Various plant species with different growth and phonological characteristics have different grazing values in rangelands. In addition to plant characteristics, preference value of plant species could also be affected by livestock and regional conditions. Sheep and goat livestock are physiologically different, displaying different behaviors as a result. While many studies in this field have been carried out on the preference value of species in summer rangeland, few researches have so far taken the winter rangelands into consideration. Therefore, this study set out to investigate the preference value of plant species in winter rangelands for sheep and goats in Jiroft city.

The study region is located in winter rangeland of the Baqer-Abad which is 10 kms off the Jiroft city. The Preference value of the plant species was assessed in autumn and winter for different age classes (one-year old ewe, three-year old ewe, and five-year old ewe) of sheep and goats, using filming method. For each age class, three livestock were selected and their grazing time was measured individually within an hour. Then the relative grazing time of the animal was calculated for each plant species. Two-way ANOVA and LSD test were applied to examine the effect of livestock type and age on the preference value of the species. One-way ANOVA was also used to investigate the effect of seasonal grazing on the preference value of species.

The results of the study indicated that the preference values of the plant species differed for sheep and goat animals. To be specific, 64% of the species were the same for sheep and goats in terms of palatability, and 36% of the species were different in this regard. Moreover, it was shown that annual plants and Jaubertia aucheri species had the highest preference value for sheep and goats respectively, and that the Ochradenus ochradeni had a very low preference value for sheep and goats, making them show a slight tendency to consume it during the grazing season. However, as found by the study, the abundance of thorns in Lycium shawii, Acantholimon scorpius and Cornulaca monacantha led to their considerable preference value reduction in such a way that the sheep did not consume Lycium shawii and Acantholimon scorpius. Furthermore, the findings suggested that Cornulaca monacantha had a lower preference value for goats and sheep, and that Rhazya stricta, as a poisonous plant, was not found in the sheep's diet, and the goats had little desire to graze it. According to the results, the type of livestock had no significant effect on the preference value of Hammada salicornica which was somehow palatable for both sheep and goat. On the other hand, although Ziziphus spina-christi was not grazed by sheep, it had a high preference value for goats. In this regard, the three and five-year old goats spent more time on grazing Ziziphus spina-christi compared to one year-old goats. It was also found that Preference value of plant species significantly changed during the grazing season except for Jaubertia aucheri and Ochradenus ochradeni.

The daily diet of sheep and goat in the winter rangeland in Jiroft was mainly comprised of Annual plants. Producing annual vegetation is highly dependent on climatic conditions, especially rainfall which is sharply reduced in October and November. Therefore, young livestock which are not capable enough to graze shrubs need supplemental diets in October and November. The Jaubertia aucheri, which is of high preference value for sheep and goats, has little fluctuations throughout the grazing season, playing a very important role in sustainable production of annual plants in the region. Moreover, as overgrazing may endanger this plant species due to the shortage of one-year-old plants, it should be taken into account in conservation management plans, especially in the beginning of grazing season.

Forage is one of the main products of rangeland ecosystems, which is threatened by different anthropogenic disturbances. This study was conducted to assess the impact of urbanization, rural development, agriculture extension, road construction and industry on forage production in an arid and semiarid rangeland using InVEST habitat quality model in spring 2018. In 14 rangeland types, thirty 2×1m quadrats were randomly located to measure forage production using double sampling method. Habitat quality was mapped based on the relative impact of each threat, the relative sensitivity of each rangeland type to each threat and the distance between the habitats and threats. The results showed that there is a significant relationship between rangeland condition and habitat quality (p<0.01). Habitat quality varied between 0 and 0.77 across the study region. Habitats with low quality comprised half of the total area (51%) where anthropogenic factors were concentrated. Habitat quality was significantly correlated with forage production (p<0.01). The dominant species Artemisia sieberi</em> was replaced by invasive species Salsola brachiata </em>and forage production was decreased to the minimum 21 kg ha-1 </sup>in habitats with low quality. Rangelands with medium habitat quality produced two and a half times more forage than the ones with low habitat quality and half of the ones with high habitat quality. Astragalus gossypinus </em>and Artemisia aucheri</em> in high habitat quality areas supplied the highest forage production (216 kg ha-1</sup>). Since the large areas of agricultural lands are in the low quality habitats, agriculture can be considered as the main threat of forage production. Hence, the extension of agricultural lands with short-term benefits should be controlled in order to improve ecosystem services which have long-term benefits in sustainable development.

Scientists predict climate changes and warmer conditions for the world in future. Predicting the warming effect on plant performance is one of the most important challenges in ecological sciences. In this study, the effects of short-term warming on physiological traits of Pteropyrum aucheri as one of the domain shrubs was assessed in riverside of semi-arid rangelands of Kohpanj region, Bardsir, Kerman province, Iran in 2014. Five 5×5 m2 blocks were selected with the same elevation, slope and aspect. In each block, mature individuals of Pteropyrum aucheri were studied in 10 circular plots with 2m diameter during spring and summer. For simulating the warming phenomenon, Open-Top Chambers (OTCs) were placed on 5 plots and other plots were considered as control plots. OTC is applied in natural ecosystems and provides nearly the same growth condition for species with higher temperature. Results showed that the OTCs enhanced monthly average of air temperature (5cm above soil surface) as 1.5 ºC, surface soil temperature of 2 ºC and soil temperatures (5 cm below soil surface) as 1.7 ◦C in warming plots. Results showed that photosynthetic pigments (Chlorophyll a, b and total) were significantly reduced and carotenoid was significantly increased with short-term warming in warming plots (p<0.05). Water content, leaf area and dry matter production were none significantly declined with warming. In general, short-term warming affected photosynthesis performance of Pteropyrum aucheri but biomass was not considerably affected by warming.

  lacking of the water and low availability of soil moisture are the subject matter of the dry and semi-arid areas of the world, which has caused the brittleness of the living conditions for plants. It is necessary the use of new technologies to solve the problem of water scarcity through storage rainfall methods in arid and semi-arid areas. Due to the variety of storage rainfall methods, the high cost of their implementation and their different performance, it needs to evaluate these methods base on different criteria to find the best and suitable method in dry and semi-arid climates. Since decisions will be faced with multiple criteria that they have a complex relationship In such a situation, decision is difficult to choose the best method. The use of multi-criteria decision-making methods is highly effective to solve this problem. This study was aimed to prioritize rainfall storage methods (flood spreading, pitting, turkey nest, arc basin and contour furrow) in rangelands of Jiroft plain according to ecological, economic, technical and social criteria using multi-criteria decision making Jiroft plain is part of the Jazmoriyan watershed in the south of Kerman province. Its height varies from a surface of 500 to 800 meters. The annual rainfall is 191.1 mm. Recent droughts and drainage of groundwater due to water abstraction in agricultural sectors are among the factors of water shortage in the region that have had adverse effects on vegetation in the region. Multi-criteria decision making methods AHP, TOPSIS, VIKOR and SAW were applied to select the best method for storing rainfall. Combined methods (Statistic, Borda, Copeland and Poset method) were used to unite ranks resulted by MSDM methods. Results showed that the economic criteria had the highest rank, the ecological, social and technical criteria were in the following order respectively. The relative weighting of different methods altered in different criteria. Hence, flood spreading was the best storage rainfall method based on all criteria. Turkey nest had the lowest economic rank. The lowest ecological and technical ranks belonged to Pitting. Contour furrow had the lowest rank in social criteria. Assessment of sub-criteria showed that flood control was the most important ecological factors, structural lifetime was the most important technical factor, the participation of people in the implementation was the important social factor and return on investment was the most important economical factor influencing storage rainfall methods. Flood spreading and pitting had the highest and the least amount of final weight in the AHP method, respectively. The results of the TOPSIS method showed that flood spreading had the highest relative proximity index. In the VIKOR method, the lowest Q value belonged to the flood spreading, so it was placed in the first rank. The highest Q was also for the turkey nest method. According to the SAW method, the best method was flood spreading. The combined methods showed that arc basin method was located in units 2 and 3, and each of the other methods had unique units. As the flood spreading was located in the first unit, the contour furrow, turkey nest and pitting were placed in unit 2, 4 and 5 respectively. Various factors can affect the failure or success of restoration operation in rangelands. The results of this study showed that the economic factor is the first criterion to be considered in choosing the best method to storage rainfall in jiroft plain. In economical criterion, return on investment should be measured based on incurred costs and the benefits derived from the ecological and social impacts of methods. People’s participation is the most important social factor in storage rainfall plans, because people’s acceptance and people's participation guarantee the sustainability of storage rainfall plans in the region. In general, various multi-criteria decision making methods showed that flood spreading has the highest priority for storing rainfalls in the Jiroft plain. Contour furrow, arc basin, Turkey nest and Pitting were in the next ranks for best method respectively. Flood spreading is not only a simple and inexpensive way to improve the quality of natural ecosystems but also has a high societal value by increasing groundwater and increasing the income of inhabitants through enhancing grazing and farming activities.