فهرست مطالب esmaeil sheidai karkaj

In temporal and spatial patterns, the critical (ecological) thresholds have rapid changes in ecological gradient. Determination of thresholds along the environmental gradients can help to control destructive factors and therefore, the success in restoration projects can be guaranteed. This study was conducted to evaluate the trend of changes in functional and structural indices along soil salinity gradient and to determine the ecological thresholds in saline habitats of Uremia Lake, Iran, in the growing season of 2019 and 2020. Landscape Function Analyses (LFA) guideline was used to evaluate the sites. The values of the indices were fitted with the pattern diagrams (S-shaped curves). The habitat restoration process after five years of range management and development projects was evaluated and ecological thresholds were determined. The results showed that the values of the functional and structural indices decrease along the salinity gradient and the lowest values were observed at the end points of the gradient. As a result, the success of range development projects was lower at salinity center. The results of the S-shaped curve models showed that the regression relationship between landscape organization index and nutrient cycle with eleven soil indices along the salinity gradient was not significant and their determinant coefficients were less than 50%. On the other hand, there was a strong relationship between the index of stability and permeability with the salinity gradient, with determinant coefficients of 83 and 63%, respectively so that the values of these two indices decreased significantly when approaching the salinity center. Regarding the PCA analysis, the first component justified 39% of the changes in the properties, and the values of Sand, Mg, and Ca increased as they approached the salinity center, and on the other hand, as they moved away from the salinity center, the values of Clay, N, OM, CEC, p, and Silt increased. The participation of the most soil parameters in the extraction of the first component of the decomposition of the physical and chemical characteristics of the soil along the salinity gradient and the separation of the sites from each other indicate the good ability of the LFA method in showing the ecological processes of nature. In this regard, to fit the data by the S-shaped curve, the distance of 1000 m far from the salinity hotspot was defined as an ecological threshold, through which sudden changes occur. At these thresholds, the functional differences of the habitat were more than the surrounding areas, so for controlling the dust centers, different projects such as drainage, windbreaks or planting dense vegetation cover are suggested to stabilize the thresholds. In such a case, the soil seed bank in the distance between the two thresholds could be regenerated and prevent the soil surface from eroding if grazing is prevented. Identifying thresholds as a transition zone and surrounding zones as state zones in this study will be a scientific and appropriate alternative to the conventional guidelines in executive organizations and will help them to zoning ecosystems according to nature and selection and prioritization of restoration sites in saline rangelands.

Aim Urmia Lake Restoration Headquarters has carried out actions since its establishment until now, and there are disagreements between supporters and opponents about its outputs. For this purpose, in the year 2021, this research was conducted to evaluate the environmental effectiveness of the actions of rehabilitation headquarters from the point of view of local communities. Materials & Methods an applied and fundamental research was done to reach the study golds. . In terms of method, regarding to the nature of the subject and research objectives, the descriptive-analytical and survey method (survey of local communities) has been used. The tool for collecting information and data was a researcher-made questionnaire that was randomly filled through interviews with residents. Findings The results showed that different actions have significant differences in terms of respondents' satisfaction, so the highest level of satisfaction, with a value of 2.89, is related to the non-living windbreak, and the lowest level is related to the Poly -Shrub Planting with the value of 1.67. Conclusion In general, despite the relative success of the actions of the rehabilitation headquarters, these actions have not been full effective in the proper management of surface and subsurface water resources, the modification of the cultivation pattern, and the prevention of the spread of soil salinity in agricultural lands. Therefore, to prevent the environmental disaster and its destructive consequences, it is suggested to take urgent action to save Urmia Lake by using all local and international capacities.

In a rangeland ecosystem, it is important to pay attention to environmental factors and their effect on the distribution and establishment of plants in order to plan exploitation. The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between the cover of some species and environmental factors in the north of West Azerbaijan province. For this purpose, in the period from mid-May to the end of June 2021, sampling of vegetation in eight rangelands sites with different vegetation combinations in Chaipareh and Khoy Counties in a systematic-random method with the establishment of transects and plots one square meter was done. In each of the rangeland sites, the percentage of rangeland species coverage was recorded. Topographical factors including elevation above sea level, slope percentage and geographical aspect of the range were recorded for each site. Soil samples were taken from each of the sites at five points from 0 to 20 cm depth and taken to the laboratory to measure soil parameters. The results of the use of detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) showed that the importance of the axes based on the specific value decreases from the first axis to the second and third axis, and as a result, the major contribution of changes in the distribution of plant species is related to the first and second axis. The results of DCA showed that the specific value of the first axis is (0.36) and the second axis is (0.23). Changes in species distribution due to soil and topography factors were investigated using the linear redundancy Detrended Analysis (RDA) method. The results of the redundancy analysis showed that the four axes explain a total of 83% of the variance of species composition changes by environmental factors, and therefore this indicates that the investigated parameters have a direct effect on the distribution of species, but because the first axis, it has the highest value (0.295) and is related to different soil parameters, and this indicates that the contribution of soil on the distribution of species in the study sites is more than the topographical parameters. The general results of this study showed that the distribution of rangeland species in the study sites is influenced by soil and topographical factors. It seems that the higher the altitude, organic carbon, saturated moisture, percentage of sand, silt and clay, the slope and direction of the range and calcium in the rangeland site, the more frequent the presence of some species such as Artemisia fragrans Willd, Antemis koteschyana Boiss, L., Cynodon dactylon and Ceratocephalus falcatus L. increases and as the amount of soil cations, electrical conductivity, lime percentage and soil acidity decrease, the abundance of some other species such as Phlomis olivieri Benth, Teucrium polium L., Alyssum minutum Schltdl. and Tanacetum polycephalum Sch.Bip is more common in study sites. Using the results of this research, the growth conditions of the existing species have been determined to some extent, and considering that some species have economic and medicinal value, if the user's goal is to use the species for planting of medicinal plants, it is recommended to pay attention to the soil and topography of the region if they are economic under the conditions of hand planting in similar areas.

Awareness of biodiversity status is one of the requirements for adopting a conservation approach in rangelands ecosystems. In this regard, the present research was conducted in order to investigate the effect of slope direction on the values of plant diversity indices in the Astraglaus shrubland of Nazluchai region in 2017. For this purpose, in total, with the use of 230 sample plots of one square meter, which were placed at a distance of five meters from each other, along 50-meter transects; the crown cover percentage of plant species were collected in each of the main directions of the range (eight northern directions, five southern directions, five eastern directions and five western directions). Then, with the PAST software, the most important and widely used indicators of species diversity (Margalef, Taxa, Menhinick and Berger-Parker as species richness indices, Dominance, evenness, Simpson and Pielo as species evenness indices, Shannon and Brillouin as heterogeneity indicators) were calculated. Finally, using the one-way analysis of variance method, statistical comparison of the averages was carried out. The results showed; A total of 41 plant species were identified in the studied areas, and Margalef, Taxa, Shannon, Brillouin and Fisher's Alpha indices had a significant difference at the five percent level in different geographical directions. So that the highest value of these indices was related to the western direction, respectively 2.55, 12.2, 2.1, 1.88 and 4.05. Simpson's, Menhenik's, Dominance, evenness, Pielo and Berger-Parker indices were also not significantly different from each other in different directions. Although the two western and southern aspects were significantly different from each other regarding most of the indicators, nevertheless, the clustering results of the plant composition of the sites classified these two domains in one cluster with high similarity rate (around 70%). This finding indicates that the diversity indices are not able to provide information about the plant composition and should pay attention to the plant composition when using these indices. Finally, it should be mentioned that although Margalef, Taxa, Shannon, Brillouin and Fisher's alpha indices were able to separate the sites, but the proposal of using these indices in the monitoring plans of rangleands with the dominance of Astragulus microcephalus species in the northwest of the country, requires another researches.

The presentation of management models in the natural area is of great importance due to the large extent and inaccessibility of the whole surface. In this regard, Imam Kandi mountain rangelands were targeted for presenting a spatial-ecological model. Homogeneous ecological units were prepared by incorporating layers of elevation, slope, geographical orientation and plant types. Considering the ecological and environmental characteristics of each homogeneous ecological unit and considering the criteria and index for evaluating rangeland utilization, we evaluated the power and suitability of using rangelands. According to the range condition and trend of the rangeland, the rangeland method and grazing systems were presented for each of the classes. Based on the results of 23 homogeneous ecological units, it was identified that many of them belong to rangeland lands with grades 1 to 3. Accordingly, equilibrium range management was considered in 26.9% (244.4 ha) of rangelands with good condition and class 1 power. In 37.4% (346.4 hectares) with moderate condition and class 2 power, natural range management was recommended. Artificial range management or range improvement were recommended for 35.7% (329.9 ha) of poor and class 3 land. In order to prevent erosion and increase forage production, artificial range management was recommended for abandoned fields. The results indicate that application of spatial-ecological model and consequently identification of ecological homogeneous zones as management and planning units at macro level as a cost-effective method, in addition to assessing rangelands power, can enable rangeland management in proposing the rangeland method and grazing systems and assist in localization of range improvement operations.

Stachys inflata Benth is a medicinal species widely used among people and industries, and its growth conditions and factors affecting its growth are important for principled management and multi-purpose exploitation of rangelands. This study aimed to investigate the effect of soil and topographical factors on the morphological traits of Stachys inflata Benth in the northern rangelands of West Azerbaijan province, Iran.

Eight rangeland sites in Chaipareh and Khoy counties were selected using a systematic-random method, and 80 plots were established along linear transects. The percentage of canopy cover, length of the flowering stem, length, width, and area of the leaf, length and width of the canopy, height of the plant, depth of rooting, number of main branches, root dry weight, and leaf and stem dry weight were measured. The topographical factors of elevation, slope percentage, and aspect were recorded, and the percentage of bare soil, litter, rock, and gravel was estimated. Soil samples were taken from each site to measure soil parameters. The effects of soil and topographical factors on the morphological traits of Stachys inflata Benth were analyzed using Redundancy Analysis (RDA) and clustering analysis (CA).

The results showed that the functional traits of Stachys inflata Benth are under the combined influence of soil and topographical factors. The amount of sand, electrical conductivity, and cations of the rangelands and less amount of elevation values, exposure of the range to the sun, organic carbon, silt, clay, lime, and acidity were found to be positively correlated with biomass production. The dendrogram related to the classification of traits showed the division of traits into 12 separate clusters based on the similarity of the traits.

The results suggest that Stachys inflata Benth prefers harsher environmental conditions for biomass production, and it can be recommended as a suitable species to increase its abundance in degraded sites. The findings of this study provide valuable information for the management and exploitation of rangelands in the northern region of West Azerbaijan province, Iran.

Plant functional groups are categories of species that exhibit similar responses to environmental parameters. The current research was carried out to evaluate factors that describe the distribution of plant functional groups in mountainous rangelands of Chaharbagh, Golestan.

Three transects of 300 meters were considered in the representative area of each plant type. Along each transect, 10 plots were considered in dimensions of 2 x 2 meters. The names of species, the percentage of vegetation, and the number of species were determined. Six soil samples were collected for each plant type. The biological form of each plant species was determined. Plants were classified based on edibility, vegetative form, biological form, and life span. To evaluate the relationship between environmental factors and plant functional groups, Redundancy Detrended Analysis (RDA) was applied.

The results showed that the occurrence of phanerophytes was affected by electrical conductivity and lime. With an increase in potassium, the frequency of camophytes increased. Palatability values of the first class were affected by direction, saturated moisture content, and organic carbon. Values of tree-type growth were affected by electrical conductivity and lime. Forb vegetation increased in correlation with clay percentage. Grass and pseudo-grass vegetative forms were affected by direction factors, soil saturated moisture content, and organic carbon.

Overall, a precise study of differences in plant functional groups can be an important approach for monitoring changes in rangeland under management strategies which require further attention in future research.

Rangelands and forest lands are crucial components of natural resources, and their preservation is essential for the survival of human societies. The improper use of land can lead to the devaluation and destruction of these resources, resulting in a decrease in the income of users. Hence, sustainable development and optimal use of natural resources are necessary for future generations. This study aims to develop an optimal utilization model that considers income maximization in rangelands in North Khorasan province.

The study was conducted in Dasht rangelands of Garmeh city in North Khorasan province. The required information was collected through face-to-face interviews with beneficiaries, and several representative beneficiaries were selected based on their available capital. The optimal combination of income sources for each representative was determined using a linear programming model. The planning model used in this study was a linear programming model that considered three decision variables related to the share allocated to each utilization (livestock grazing, apiculture, and medicinal plant breeding). The restrictions included capital, labor, and water. The goal was to maximize the household's net income. The model was solved using LINDO software, and linear programming patterns were implemented for all representative beneficiaries of Dasht rangelands.

The optimal patterns of utilization showed an increase in apiculture activity and a decrease in livestock grazing compared to the current patterns used by the representative beneficiaries. The efficiency of the optimal model increased by a significant percentage compared to the current model for all representative beneficiaries. The results indicated that apiculture activity provided the highest profit for all representative beneficiaries.

The study concluded that optimal utilization of rangelands and its optimization are crucial for income maximization. The results showed that apiculture activity should be considered as a significant income source. The study highlights the importance of sustainable development and optimal use of natural resources without damaging them for future generations.

Due to various reasons, Urmia Lake has been exposed to be dried in recent years and has severely affected the coastal areas and neighboring ecosystems and more importantly, the surrounding cities and villages. Considering that a large human population lives in the area around Urmia Lake and the livelihood of settlements in West and East Azerbaijan provinces is mostly based on agriculture, if the lake completely dries up and environmental and ecological crises occur, the economy of these areas will face with great problems. One of the basic solutions to reduce the vulnerability of social systems and thus strengthen the stability of local communities against environmental crises is to increase the resilience of these communities against the disturbance in ecological systems. Resilience is the ability of a social or ecological system to absorb and face disorder or disruption, so that it can maintain basic functional structures, re-organizational capacity, and adaptive capacity in the face of changes and tensions. The present study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the impact of Urmia lake restoration measures on the level of environmental resilience from the point of view of local communities.

The research approach is applied, descriptive, correlational and analytical. The method of data collection was carried out by using two methods of library studies and field monitoring and completing the questionnaire. The indicators for measuring the resilience of local communities were determined using exploratory interviews and review of literature (ethnography). The statistical population of the research is all heads of households living in Aghdash village. Aghdash village is one of the villages of Miandoab countyin West Azerbaijan province of Iran. The number of sample households was estimated through Cochran's statistic using the variance of the important characteristic and the calculated standard error of 62 households (utilizers). A questionnaire was used to estimate selected indicators from the point of view of local communities living in Aghdash village. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for different parts of the questionnaire was obtained on an average of 78%, which is in the desired range. It should be noted that the Likert scale was used to evaluate the impact of Urmia lake restoration measures on the resilience of local communities. In order to complete questionnaires related to households through the stratified random sampling method; with the priority of the village elders, local experts and active people related to the restoration of Urmia Lake were selected and finally, the household questionnaire was randomly completed for 62 household heads. Finally, the desired indicators were estimated using the usual methods.

From the point of view of local communities; in the environmental dimension, the actions of the restoration bureau of the Urmia Lake have resulted an increase in environmental awareness and an increase in the dry-farming. Also, in the field of livestock and rangeland management, the actions of the restoration bureau of the Urmia Lake have been evaluated as moderate. The average score of the examined indicators was 2.65, so the effectiveness of the actions of the rehabilitation headquarters in the environmental dimension is in the very low to medium range. Based on the results of the factor analysis model; the indicators of cropping pattern modification, modern irrigation systems, watershed management operations, water resources management, production performance, percentage of vegetation cover, land salinity control, environmental awareness and rangeland and livestock management were identified as 5 important factors, which in total explain 69.22 % of variance changes in the resilience of communities as a result of the actions of the restoration bureau of the Urmia Lake. It seems that considering the various consequences of the drying up of Urmia Lake in the region and the solutions proposed in various researches and considering the type of actions taken by the the restoration bureau of the Urmia Lake in the region; the indicators used in the research have been able to evaluate the actions of this bureau in order to improve environmental resilience. Executive organizations can use the indicators introduced in this research to improve the condition of villages affected by the water crisis and drought, and improve the resilience of local communities and move towards stability in all aspects of sustainable development.

One of the objectives in rangeland management is the accurate and rapid determination of forage production to determine grazing capacity. The relationship between forage production and morphological characteristics was investigated in this study. For this purpose, two grazed and non-grazed units were selected in the mountainous rangelands of Nazlouchay, Urmia. In each of them, the morphological characteristics of A. aucheri, as the only dominant plant species that accounts for more than 50% of the plant composition, were measured within 60 one-square-meter plots located along with 100-meter transects in July 2017. After cutting off bases growth, the dry weight of the samples was determined, and its regression relationship with morphological characteristics was examined using hierarchical regression. The results showed that it was possible to estimate A.aucheri  production in the unit where the plant bases were not grazed using multiple linear regression models based on diameter, average crown size (D1), collar diameter (D2), and height (H). In the grazed units, where plant bases were grazed in the fall of last year, only the average diameter of the crown (D1) and height (H) was validated with multiple linear regression models, as the best model with RMSE equal to 3.53 and coefficient of 0.52. Due to the relatively good performance of the model and the preference for combining several morphological features in production estimation, separating models into inside and outside the exclosure can play a role in rangeland monitoring and production estimation to calculate grazing capacity and assess the intensity of rangeland utilization.

Woody rangelands are a combination of tree plants in the upper stratum and herbaceous plants in the sub-stratum, both of which are interconnected. Upper stratum coatings have different effects on subterranean plants. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of tree cover crown on the diversity of subspecies in the Nejdarre reserve. For this purpose, three tree species, Acer monspessulanum, Pistacia atlantica and Crataegus azarollus were selected, which have relative importance in the herbaceous composition of the upper stratum. Using one-square-meter plots, the percentage of vegetation covered under trees and rangeland open space between trees (micro sites) was recorded. Species diversity indices were then calculated for each of them. Data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA and Duncan tests. According to the results, open tree-free micro-sites have higher species diversity compared to tree-lined micro-sites. In addition, the north and south directions of the slopes were not significantly different in terms of species diversity. P. atlantica had allelopathic and depressive effects compared to other species and C. azarollus increased the diversity indices in some cases. The results of regression analysis between species diversity indices under morphological cover and morphological characteristics of trees showed that with increasing trees height and decreasing their shading diametre, the under-species diversity increased significantly. Therefore, in order to increase the diversity of under-species species, tree management should be carried out to increase height of tree. In breeding projects, measures should be taken to increase the species without allopathy in the tree plant community.

Since the amount of species production and consumption varied at different grazing intensities, this study was conducted to determine the amount of production and consumption of Bromus tomentellus and Festuca ovina species in mountainous rangelands of Chaharbagh. Three sites with different grazing intensities (exclosure, moderate grazing and high grazing intensity) were considered and species production and consumption were measured at the end of grazing season. Five transects of 100 m were applied for each sites. Then, two random points were selected in each transect and sampling were carried out from 5 plants near these points. The growth values of plant inside the exclosure for the current year considered as the average production of the species. The difference between the mean biomass of plant inside the exclosure, and other sites, was evaluated as the amount of livestock consumption of the species. Thus, percentage of consumption (rate of utilization) of each species was obtained by dividing the amount of species usage in each site by the amount of production inside the exclosure. T-test was used to determine the differences of biomass of each site with the exclosure and also to compare the amount of species usage at different grazing intensities. Results showed that the highest density and production of B.tomentellus and F.ovina were 19000 stand per ha, 76 gr per stand and 25000 stand per ha, 50 gr per stand, respectively for exclosure site and the lowest density and production for high intensity grazing site. Most consumption rate of B.tomentellus and F.ovina species was observed in high and moderate intensity grazing sites, respectively. Due to the higher consumption of Br. tomentellus Compared to other species, conservation measures should focus more on this species.

The Glycyrrhiza glabra plant is a medicinal plant and it is used in pharmaceutical industries due to some compounds such as glycerolysis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different treatments on different germination indices of Glycyrrhiza glabra L. species under laboratory conditions. Boiling water treatments, seed storage in heat and cold, non-treated (control) and culture in soil with 5 replications were applied on sweet seeds of expression. During different days, the number of germinated seeds was counted to a constant. Results showed that there were in Root, Shoot and Plant Length; Germination Percent; Germination Speed; Mean Germination Time and Allometric Coefficient. Results in the soil showed that the Root, Shoot and Plant Length were the highest, Allometric Coefficient and Germination Percentage has the lowest , Allometric Coefficient determined that stem and root growth in soil are in equilibrium. In maintenance treatment in boiling water, Germination Percent; Germination Speed and Allometric Coefficient had the highest amount, Mean Germination Time has the lowest. The results of boiling Treatment indicated that more than 40% of seeds germinated and were ranked first compare to other treatments. Treatments in freezer and oven heating compared to control treatment did not affect the rate of seed germination characteristics. Therefore, in general, it can be said that the presence of soil has led to better rooting and plant growth than other treatments, and the treatment of water-boiling water for five minutes by softening the shell can improve the Performance of seed germination characteristics.

Measuring plant traits is one of the essential requirements for calculating functional diversity indices. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the changes of morphological characteristics of Astragalus brachyanus species under the influence of environmental and management factors. In order to measure plant traits, three transects of 50 m long were located in each location. On each transect, five random points were selected and the closest plant base to the random point was identified. Finally, 15 stands per plant were selected to measure plant traits. At each site, three composite soil samples were also taken to measure soil parameters. Some environmental and management factors such as slope, aspect, elevation and grazing intensity of locations were also noted. Data reduction was performed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Regarding the calculated gradient length, RDA was used as linear method to study the relationship between vegetation traits and environmental factors. The results showed that the mean traits of crown diameter, collar diameter, base height, branch length and biomass dry weight in A. brachyanus were significantly different among distribution sites. According to the ordination diagram, branch lenght is mostly influenced by the elevation; collar diameter, affected by soil silt percentage and dry weight of biomass is affected by modified azimuth aspect. The height of the stands was affected by the percentage of porosity and crown diameter is affected by the percentage of sand. The results indicate the influence of environmental factors on morphological traits of A. brachyanus.

In recent decades, the scientific community of the world has paid particular attention to ‎the local and indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants and ethnobotany science. The ‎purpose of this study was to introduce the culture of traditional use of medicinal herbs in ‎Meshginshahr city for treatment of diseases. For this purpose, local names, medicinal ‎properties, method of use and other information of medicinal species were collected at the ‎same time. In this study information of 25 families and 55 medicinal species was recorded ‎from the region. The Lamiaceae, Asteraceae and Fabaceae families had the highest ‎number of plant species, respectively. The most used medicinal plants in this region were ‎applied for treatment of different ailments including, gastrointestinal, infectious and anti-‎inflammatory and pain. Most herbal species were used to treat gastrointestinal diseases, ‎which 64% of informant people reported this. Maximum number of plant species was ‎used for treatment of gastrointestinal diseases (50%), which 64% of informants noted this ‎subject. In the otrher hand, the least used plants species were related to fungal and ‎parasitic diseases (8%). The most used medicinal organs were leaf, flowering shoot and ‎flower, respectively, which most of them were used as either boiled or bloated. Various ‎medicinal species in Meshkinshahr‏ ‏and the growing interest among people to use ‎medicinal herbs, gives the promise to take an important step in order to resistive economy ‎by developing employment projects based on the cultivation and processing of medicinal ‎plants.‎

To assess the effect of grazing gradient on some soil physiochemical properties in Incheh rangelands of Golestan province, soil properties such as potassium, organic matter, calcium, magnesium, calcium carbonate, electrical conductivity, bulk density, porosity, weighted mean particle diameter, saturation percentage and the percentage of soil particles at 50, 150, 350, 650 and 1050 meters was measured in the vicinity of pen. Systematic random sampling of soil from 0-15 cm depth was conducted and after soil characteristics measurement in laboratory, ANOVA test was used for data analysis and Duncan test was used for comparison of mean in five sites. Result showed that grazing intensity had an impact on some properties where soil organic carbon was increased, however, it was reduced again in the middle of grazing gradient. Moisture saturation percentage and magnesium followed the same trend, however, calcium and silt showed the reverse trend. As well as potassium, lime, aggregate stability, bulk density, sand, clay and electrical conductivity showed no significant difference in five sites. These factors indicate that soil in moderate grazing has the best condition.

Overgrazing affects the functionality of rangeland ecosystems. One method for monitoring an ecosystem is landscape function analysis (LFA). In this method, using 11 soil surface indices, three functional properties including soil stability (soil ability to resist erosion and reform after disturbance), infiltration (soil capacity to retain rainfall for plant-available water) and nutrient cycling (how efficiently organic matter is cycled back into the soil) are assessed. In this order, the current study aimed at assessing soil functional properties under various grazing intensities in Sahand mountains rangelands in East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 20. The result showed that soil stability, infiltration and nutrient cycling were significantly different in different grazing intensities (p < 0.01). An increase in grazing intensity led to the reduction of functional properties. In rangelands with hight, moderate and light grazing intensity, the average soil stability index was 36.66%, 48.26% and 52.85%, respectively, the average infiltration index was 31.11%, 34.9% and 37.62%, respectively. The average nutrient cycling index was 20.85%, 27.85% and 30.68%. In general, based on the results of the present study, with increasing the intensity of livestock grazing, soil functional properties decrease, so controlling the balance of livestock and rangeland and reducing the intensity of livestock grazing in the study area is recommended.

This study was conducted to study species diversity changes in Chaharbagh mountain rangelands of Golestan province in five different managed sites, including non-grazing (enclosure), intermediate grazing (key), and critical (village vicinity, watering point, and pen area). Numerical and parametric diversity indexes were calculated by collecting vegetation data. One-way ANOVA results showed that exclusion and key sites were better for the Shannon diversity index (2.6 and 2.1, respectively) than critical sites; however, no differences were found in the Margalef richness index. A higher ranking of diversity site of the key site indicates that it is more diverse than the restricted site. By fitting the frequency distribution models, it was determined that the exclusion and key site were related to the log series models (stable communities), and the critical sites were related to the geometric series model (unstable communities) at the 0.05 level. Frequency-rank curve plotting indicated that high grazing sites had rare and dominant species with high numbers indicating the effect of grazing pressure; however, moderate sites and high grazing sites have high evenness. Overall, the results showed that moderate grazing preserved the vegetation diversity, and exclusion had no significant effect on increasing vegetation diversity in rangelands. This result confirms the need to pay attention to moderate grazing in the field. Among the critical sites, the village privacy site is in a worse situation, and livestock grazing intensity should be reduced due to the proven effective role of medium grazing in the region to rehabilitate sites with high grazing intensity, especially in rural areas. Reducing livestock density in critical areas by increasing the number of water sources and rest areas in the field will be one of the methods to help reduce damage to plant diversity of critical sites.

In this study, the economic evaluation of carbon sequestration in plant biomass and soil under three types of livestock grazing intensity was investigated. Three area under light, medium and high grazing intensities in the Inchehbrun salt lands of Golestan province were selected. Soil and plant samples were taken in a systematic-random method. Three 100 meters length parallel transects were installed on the side which random points were selected as sampling points. Total shoot and roots biomass of selected plants were collected and then the amount of carbon stored in biomass was determined in the laboratory. Soil samples were taken at two depths, 0-20 and 20-40 cm. The amount of soil carbons later was measured in the laboratory. The results of statistical analysis showed a significant difference in the rate of carbon sequestration in plant biomass and soil foe all the three regions. The highest amount of precipitated carbon was seen in the soil. To evaluate the ecosystem service value, the method of avoided damage costs was used. The results showed that the economic value of light, medium and severe grazing areas in terms of carbon sequestration is 13.09, 10.67, 6.50 million Rials per hectare, respectively, and the highest economic value is related to light grazing sites, while the lowest belonged to the severe grazing sites. As the high level of carbon storage is in the soil it has more economic value, so the soil should be protected against erosion to maintaining the economic value of its sequestrated carbons.

The plant communities locating at the margins of the waterways play a vital role in the ecological processes and ecosystem services in the semi-arid mountainous regions. In this study, variations of plant diversity and composition at different distances from the waterway and its slope aspects were investigated. For this purpose, 15 sub-basins with a variety of area and length of waterway, in both northern and southern directions, were selected in the mountainous rangelands of Anbaran Chai. For measurements 20 plots of 1m2 in each sub-basin were established and vegetations were surveyed. Different distances from the waterway (0-25, 25-50 and 50-75 m) were selected for the measurements in the growing season in 2017. By grouping the species into scientific groups and calculating species diversity, statistical comparison of the parameters was performed by one-way ANOVA and t-test. The results showed that the highest diversity happens at the second distance group (25-50 m).This put emphasis on the hypothesis of occurring maximum diversity in the medium environmental disturbance conditions. In this regard, Shannon-Wiener species diversity index values ​​were 1.38, 1.40 and 1.39 for first to third distances, respectively. Northern slopes are more diverse (1.45) than southern slopes (1.30) due to high humidity. The results suggests that if the goal of range management is to prioritize the area on the basis biological practices emphasis should be put on the first and third distances from the waterway.

Allelopathy is one of the methods of interspecific communication in plant communities, the study ‎of which can help to understand the interactions of plants. Therefore, this study was conducted ‎to investigate the effect of allelopathy, antioxidant properties, phenolic and flavonoid ‎compounds of different concentrations of Achillea wilhelmsii‏ ‏and Salvia officinalis L. ‎extract on ‎the germination characteristics of two species of Onobrychis viciifolia and Medicago sativa ‎in a ‎completely randomized design with 9 treatments, and 5 repetitions were performed in 2018. ‎Measured parameters included percentage and germination rate, root length, stem and seedling ‎length, mean germination time, allometric coefficient, seed vigor index and seedling fresh and ‎dry weight. The results of one-way analysis of variance showed that different concentrations of ‎the mentioned extracts had a significant inhibitory effect on germination parameters of ‎O.viciifolia and M.sativa. Also, the results of the mean comparison index showed that increasing ‎the concentration of extracts significantly reduced the studied parameters, so that the highest ‎percentage of decrease was observed in the highest concentration of aqueous extract, which can ‎be the reason is the increase in allelopathic substances and consequently the increase in toxicity ‎on the traits.

Plant growth and yield in the environment is affected by numerous biotic and abiotic environmental stresses as well as seed dormancy. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of seed washing treatments with sulfuric acid and irrigation of seeds with saline water on seed germination of Zygophyllum fabago. According to previous relevant researches, for this purpose, three concentrations of 0, 10 and 20% were prepared for acid washing treatment. For salinity treatment, four levels were considered: 0, 60, 90 and 120 mmol / l. Irrigation with spray water was applied evenly on all pteridia when necessary. Germinated seeds were counted daily and continued until no increase in the number of germinated seeds was observed .Comparison of the mean of the main effect of different levels of acid treatment on the germination percentage of Z. fabago showed that zero and ten percent acid concentration treatments with 59 and 60 percent have a higher value. Regarding the comparison of the mean of the interaction effects of acid and salinity, the results showed that the best treatment combination is zero percent acid and zero salinity of ten and ten millimoles per liter. Therefore, Z. fabago species needs low concentrations of salinity and sulfuric acid for optimal growth. Therefore, it can be used to improve and rehabilitate rangeland ecosystems according to the salinity of the area.

This study was conducted to investigate the efficiency of taxonomic and functional diversity indices in explaining the amount of soil carbon storage of rangelands in the Nazluchay mountain area, Urmia province. For this purpose, soil and vegetation samples from nearly homogeneous map units were collected to calculate the amount of carbon stored in the soil as well as taxonomic and functional diversity. Climatic data were also recorded. The results of the study showed that there is no significant relationship between taxonomic diversity and soil carbon indicate. The results of the hierarchical regression showed the soil storage carbon has a significant linear relationship with silt characteristics, soil bulk density, modified aspect, CWMleaf length functional diversity index (as a representative of mass ratio hypothesis) and Feve and MFAD indicators (As a representative of the niche complementarity hypothesis). The resulting model has a coefficient of determination of 0.6. All parameters except soil bulk density have a positive relationship with carbon storage and in terms of standard regression coefficients, MFAD and CWMleaf length parameters with coefficients of 1.2 and 0.2 have the highest and least role in explaining soil carbon, respectively. In examining the hypotheses of how diversity affects the soil carbon, both the hypotheses of ecological niche complementarity and the hypothesis of mass ratio, are governing in the ecosystem of soil ecosystem storage, but the hypothesis of ecological niche complementarity plays a major role in relation to other hypotheses due to the high standard coefficients in explaining carbon. Based on the results, soil storage carbon increases based on increasing the frequency of long-leafed species, increasing functional evenness (uniform abundant distribution of species in the space of functional traits) and ultimately increasing the diversity of functional groups. In general, neglection of biodiversity reduction and weakening its condition will reduce soil carbon storage capacity.

Most of rangeland soils are limited in their ability to supply adequate nutrients to plants. Soil conditioners have been shown to alter soil fertility and plant characteristics. This investigation aimed to evaluate the influence of two soil conditioner on nutrition value of N. schoberi and A. podolobus. For this, two separate experiments for each species were carried out in greenhouse using completely randomized design with three replications during 2018 and 2019. Treatments were four levels of wheat straw Biochar (WSB), as well as, lignite at rates of 0, 1.25%. 2.5% and 3.75% w/w added to clay loam soil. In the end of vegetative stage and before flowering, plant samples were taken and their Crude protein (CP) and Acid detergent fiber (ADF) content were measured and then Dry matter digestibility (DMD) and Metabolizable energy (ME) were calculated. Data were analyzed by One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the means were compared using Duncan's test. The results demonstrated that WSB addition had no effect on nutrition value of both species. By application of Lignite, CP content of N. schoberi enhanced up to 44.45%, than that for control. The effect of lignite addition on nutrition value traits was high for N. schoberi. But this material had no effect on A. podolobus quality traits. Based on our findings, application of Lignite at 3.75 (w/w) recommended to improve soils of rangeland for cultivation of N. schoberi in dry-lands plantation projects or the conversion of dry lands to arable pastures.

Measuring this year's growth is one of the basic requirements for calculating the annual storage potential of carbon. On the other hand, shrub plants, and especially Astragalus, are considered to be the most prominent and dominant species of semi-steppe rangelands. Therefore, the present study was conducted in June 2016, with the aim of estimating the growth of storage carbon in the Astragalus microcephalus plant and its relationship with the distance from the crisis center (overnight livestock area) in the Nazluchai mountain rangelands. For this purpose, Chir rangelands in the north of Noushin Shahr with an area of 1332 hectares, which in terms of vegetation, soil and topography, represents a level of various species in the region, were selected and six ecological sites were surveyed. Given that almost all of A.microcephalus species grow this year, it will become a woody organ; within each site, this year's growth of 30 A.microcephalus plant bases is intended to determine the organic carbon conversion factor and estimate the amount of carbon stored, it was cut off. After calculating the organic carbon conversion factor for biomass of plant bases on each site, multiplying it by the dry weight of this year's growth, the amount of organic carbon stored in the aerial parts was determined. By calculating the average carbon content in the bases and A.microcephalus species density, the amount of stored carbon per unit area of the habitat was calculated.