shima nikoo

The human environment has experienced significant changes due to issues such as industrial development, technological advancement, population growth, and unsustainable extraction of non-renewable resources. Natural resource management includes the coordination of human interactions with the natural environment Desertification is a complex issue, which is caused by both natural processes and human actions. This includes land degradation due to various factors such as wind and water erosion, destruction of vegetation and reduction of water resources. The purpose of this research is to identify the criteria and indicators affecting the non-sustainable participation of rural communities in desertification projects, to prioritize these criteria and indicators based on the opinion of experts and to provide solutions to increase the participation of local stakeholders. 

Garmsar, which is located in the west of Semnan province, is one of its eight cities. The communities of this research, the villages of Ghiyath Abad, Shorkazi and Mohsen Abad are part of Garmsar city, which have desertification plans. Several factors are involved in the non-participation of people in desertification projects, which can be classified in the form of relevant criteria and indicators. These factors are identified and classified based on library studies, questions from regional experts. In order to prioritize the criteria and indicators effective in the non-participation of people in desertification projects, respectively, questionnaires related to the process of hierarchical analysis (AHP) and a questionnaire with a Likert scale were used as measurement tools. Also, before prioritizing the criteria of the relevant indicators, the validity of the questionnaire was approved by the experts. In this research, there will be a survey of experts from the departments of forestry, watershed management, pasture and desert, land assessment, etc., of the general natural resources department of the province and Garmsar city, with an experience of more than 15 years. After completing the hierarchical analysis questionnaires by 30 expert experts, the hierarchical analysis process was used to prioritize the effective criteria on people's non-participation in desertification projects. Finally, Friedman's test was used to prioritize the indicators and determine their relative importance on people's non-participation in the combating desertification projects. 

According to the results, the educational criterion is the most important criterion of people's non-participation in desertification projects from the point of view of experts (0.48), and the planning (0.29), economic (0.13) and social (0.07) criteria are in the next stages. are priority. From the point of view of experts, the index of "non-use of local promoter groups", with an average rank of 11.72, has the highest relative priority, and the index of "lack of trust in the results of projects" with an average rank of 6.15, has a lowest relative priority in the non-participation of people in the desertification projects of the region. Regarding the findings related to barriers to participation in Ghiyathabad village, the index of "non-use of local promoter groups" was identified as the first priority with a rank of 10.73. In the case of Mohsen Abad village, the index of "weak role of local media in promoting desertification projects and encouraging community participation" has been assigned the highest priority with a rating of 10.50. Also, the findings of Shur Ghazi village show that the index of "low level of literacy in the local community" with a rank of 9.88 is a major concern. 

In general, the successful implementation of desertification projects relies heavily on achieving maximum participation of local residents during the implementation and maintenance phases. This research was carried out with the aim of identifying factors affecting the non-participation of villagers in desertification projects. As a result, experts emphasize the importance of education and increasing public awareness to increase participation. Related educational videos, as well as visiting successful projects in other regions, accompanied by elders and members of the village council, and sharing their field experiences and observations with the villagers will increase their knowledge and awareness about the employment capacities in this project. It will be In addition, such initiatives will help reduce the adverse effects of floods, dust storms and droughts, thereby improving the overall well-being of residents.

Desertification occurs due to climate changes and human activities and can have irreparable effects on human life. The main steps in controlling and combating this phenomenon are knowing the dimensions and causes and determining their intensity and status. The purpose of this research is to identify the key human indicators of desertification and to evaluate desertification based on these indicators in the villages south of Semnan. First of all, a list of human indicators of desertification available in the methods and models of desertification assessment in Iran and the world were prepared and prioritized based on Analysis of Hierarchical Process in Expert Choice software according to the opinions of 50 experts from the Department of Agricultural Jihad and the Natural Resources Department of Semnan province. Then, desertification was evaluated using MEDALUS method based on the indicators that had a higher priority according to experts. The results indicated that the most important human criterion of desertification was water and agriculture, and the most important indicators were exploitation of underground water, poverty and land use change. Desertification was evaluated severe with score of 1.4 based on MEDALUS. Land use change without land use studies in the studied villages is one of the most important factors of desertification, which has caused excessive exploitation of underground water resources. On the other hand, traditional agricultural methods with high and unprincipled water consumption and traditional animal husbandry methods with excessive grazing of rangelands and low yield, in addition to the destruction of water resources, soil and vegetation has caused a decrease in the income of villagers, poverty and more pressure on natural resources. The consequence of this is migration to cities, followed by the intensification of desertification.

Land degradation, as one of the serious and common environmental problems in the world, has affected two billion hectares (22.5%) of agricultural lands, rangelands and forests in the world (Dregne et al., 1991; Oldeman et al., 1991; Reynolds and Stafford,2002). Land degradation indicators should be determined, selected and evaluated for the purpose of land management and used by researchers. Considering that in any region at risk of desertification, according to the specific environmental and management conditions governing it, it is necessary to identify the factors of desertification and the intensity of the effect of each factor in order to choose the appropriate measures to control and prevent degradation. In this research, the indicators of land degradation were determined using the RALDE model for the Pardisan watershed, which has sensitive and fragile environmental conditions against desertification factors and the risk of land degradation was determined.

Pardisan watershed with an area of 222.87 km2 is located in the northwest of Qom province. Its climate is arid and hyper-cold. Based on the RALDE model, eight main parameters of soil and land, climate, vegetation, underground water, population, grazing pressure, development and socio-economic were examined to prepare the land degradation potential map. After collecting data, existing maps and information on hydrology, soil, geology, vegetation, population, meteorology, etc. and their interpretation, field studies were conducted. Then scoring indicators and criteria of degradation and its evaluation was done based on natural factors, human factors and trend factor according to the quantitative tables of the RALDE model. Finally, by combining the information of the layers of human factors, environmental factors, the process of land degradation and the current state, a map of land degradation capability was prepared.

The results showed that the risk of natural factors is moderate in more than half of the area, and severe and very severe in 31% of the area. Also, in 38% of the area, the risk of human factors is medium, which especially this area should be considered for control measures and prevention of further degradation. Investigating the process of degradation using changes in the NDVI index in the period from 2002 to 2016 and field studies investigating the state of vegetation showed that in 55% of the area, the risk of degradation is moderate and in 12%, the risk is severe and very severe. The current state of land degradation in the region is mostly in the range of low risk with a probability of 80-100% and severe risk with a probability of 0-20%. Finally, in about three-fourths of the area, the risk of degradation is low and in one-fourth of the area, the degradation is moderate. Severe and very severe risk of destruction was observed only at less than one percent of the area.

Natural degradation risk factors have a greater impact on the destruction of the region compared to human factors. Among these, climate and soil are the most important limiting natural factors. Although only about 1% of the area is in severe danger of degradation due to various protection and restoration measures in a large area of the region, the investigation of the degradation process using the evaluation of vegetation changes showed that in 55% of the area, An average of 4% of the vegetation was destroyed during the years 2002 to 2016. These results show that in most of Pardisan watershed, land resources have not been properly managed and exploited, and if the current trend continues, we will see widespread degradation and loss of resources soon.

Investigating and revealing desertification problems, in addition to specifying the dimensions of this phenomenon, pays special attention to this problem and is effective in making the right decision for resource management. Therefore, the economic and social effects of desertification were studied in the Eastern Kalatea villages of Miami. This research was carried out in the first stage as a documentary and in the second stage as a survey method. The household population living in the area was selected as the statistical population of the research and based on Cochran's minimum sample formula, 318 household heads were determined as the minimum statistical sample. A questionnaire was designed with three axes of desertification, its social effects and its economic effects. The validity of the questionnaire was evaluated according to experts' opinion and finalized with modifications. The reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed with a pre-test based on Cronbach's alpha coefficient and was completed by referring to the villages based on proportional population distribution. The results showed that more than 90% of the respondents answered completely in favor of the region desertification in ways such as the reduction of vegetation, the water resources reduction, wind erosion and dust. The study of the economic effects of desertification showed that, more than 90 percent of the respondents agreed with the decrease in income and purchasing power, the decrease in job opportunities, and the increase in the costs of agriculture and animal husbandry as a result of desertification. Also, in the study of the social effects of desertification, more than 90% of the respondents chose the fully agree and agree options for all the items related to the increase in unemployment and youth migration, the decrease in the level of well-being, the decrease in the quality of life and life expectancy, and the increase in insecurity.

Most of the water needs in arid and semi-arid regions is supplied through groundwater, so it is important to study the quantitative and qualitative changes of these waters and the factors affecting them. Land use changes can cause changes in groundwater quality. Here, land use changes in the period 2003 to 2020 in Damghan watershed were studied using Landsat 8, 7 and 5 satellite images, eCognition software and GIS. 1760 wells data in Semnan province were used for intermediation and accurate preparation of groundwater quality maps and extraction of geostatistical maps. Also, the information of 58 deep wells inside the watershed was used to analyze and study the groundwater quality changes. The results showed that the area of rangelands, forests and agricultural lands decreased and the area of gardens, urban areas, barren lands and surface water resources (due to the construction of the dam) increased. During this period, groundwater quality changes included Cl increased by 1.01 mEq, SO₄-2, decreased by 0.34 mEq, HCO3- increased by 0.46 mEq, Mg increased by 0.32 mEq, Ca decreased by 2.25 mEq, Na increased 3.58 mEq, electrical conductivity increased  by 44.81 μmohs / cm, Total dissolved solids increased by103.88 mg / l and pH increased by 0.09. These changes were evaluated with R software and the results showed that changes in groundwater quality are related to land use changes.

Groundwater resources are the second largest freshwater source in the world after the polar glaciers. The study of groundwater fluctuations has significant importance in the planning and sustainable management of each region. The purpose of this study is to investigate the spatial and temporal changes in groundwater levels in Damghan watershed concerning land-use changes. This study is conducted using geostatistical methods and remote sensing and routing of changes using R software in the statistical period of 1994-2020.  Groundwater table data were collected for 1760 wells including deep wells, semi-deep wells, and main wells of qanats. After controlling the accuracy and quality of data and checking the data normality, interpolation was performed. The Kriging method was used for interpolation and Inverse Distance Weighting, and changes were routed using R software. Land-use changes for 2000, 2010, 2015, and 2020 were studied using remote sensing and their relationship with groundwater level changes was analyzed. The results show that the groundwater level has decreased in most parts of the basin, including the east, north, and southwest. In these areas, the groundwater level has decreased by 14.7 m, over 26 years, which means an average of 56 cm per year. Also, the most land-use changes have occurred in these areas in that the area of gardens has increased by 10016.37 hectares, urban areas have increased by 637.02 hectares, barren lands have increased by 76907.4 hectares, and surface water resources  -due to the construction of the dam - have increased by 453.15 hectares, and rangelands have increased by 30337.58 hectares, forests have decreased by 48325.86 hectares and agricultural lands have decreased by 90350.47 hectares for the time interval between 2000 to 2020.

Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide is one of the main causes of climate change and its devastating environmental consequences, such as global warming. Soils are the third largest carbon storehouse, and the amount of carbon storage is strongly influenced by the land use management. The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in carbon storage in different land uses included Punica granatum orchard, Medicago sativa farm, rangeland, Hordeum vulgare farm and fallow, under impact of soil properties such as sand, clay, silt, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, organic carbon, pH and EC, in Ala area of Semnan. In the selected land uses 30 soil samples were taken in both 0 - 5 and 5 - 30 cm soil depths in three. In order to investigate the effect of land use type in two soil depths studied on soil carbon content, analysis of variance and Duncan's test was used to compare the means. Pearson correlation was used to investigate the relationship between soil properties as independent variables and soil organic carbon as a dependent variable. Also, multiple regression analysis was performed to determine relationship type between the variables. According to the results, the type of land use in both soil depths has a significant effect on soil carbon storage. The highest average soil carbon storage in 0 - 5 and 5 - 30 cm soil depths in alfalfa and pomegranate orchard land uses are 16.14 and 68.11 t/ha, respectively. The lowest amount of carbon storage in 0 - 5 and 5 to 30 cm soil depths related to rangeland use are 6.23 and 16.58 hectare/ha, respectively. Pearson correlation coefficient between organic carbon and soil factors of nitrogen and phosphorus were statistically significant with r of 0.8 and 0.59, respectively. Since the correlation between organic carbon and phosphorus is low, it was omitted in the regression analysis. Finally, the percentage of soil organic carbon was obtained based on the percentage of soil nitrogen. In general, land use change from pasture to arable land and pomegranate orchard can have a significant effect on increasing soil carbon storage in the study area. Soil properties other than nitrogen have no significant effect on soil organic carbon.

Depletion of groundwater is one of the main challenges in Iran especially in the arid and semi-arid lands. The aim of this study is to identify the factors that affect the reduction of groundwater levels and provide a water police strategy for a better management and groundwater monitoring in Sorkheh city of Semnan province. The statistical population in the quantitative part of the research includes villagers living in Iij, Jouin and Sufi Abad. The sample size was determined 160 using Cochran's formula, and factor analyses were used for the data. In the qualitative section of the councils, the regional water company and village administrators were used to analyze the data, the design of mental mapping and content analysis. According to the factor analysis results, water police factor can determine 87.4 of variance compared with other factors which had a high influence on the finding. Based on the results of multi-criteria analysis, the most important reason for the reduction of groundwater aquifers in these villages is the overexploitation and drilling of unauthorized wells. Besides, farm cultivation with high water need can increase water consumption causing stress on the water resources in the study area. According to the conducted survey, the water police can be considered as an approach to monitor and control unconventional exploitation of groundwater resources. On the other hand, to achieve this goal knowledge and preparing the necessary equipment can play a key role in this section. Thus, it needs necessary plans to establish it in the related organization.
   

Desertification could be traced back to one or many factors. Thus, to cope with such a phenomenon, there exists a need for a profound understanding of the processes and the causes. The study area of the current paper is the extent of Shahrekord’s Marghzar as an important case amongst the important ones of the province. In order to evaluate the roots of desertification in the area, the Iranian model of desertification potential assessment (IMDPA) was used. Three criteria included are water resources status, soil and vegetation. These criteria were scored against the defined set of scores provided in the tables. According to the fact that in the model, each criterion is summed up by applying geometric average of the indices, the final map of the corresponding criterion was prepared by superimposing all the maps of the indices.  Next, the criteria were combined by applying geometric average and the final map was created. Based on the criteria, the severity of desertification in the region according to the IMDPA model is 1.61 which falls into the medium class. Results indicate that the vegetation utilization and water table drawdown indices, as the two most influential indices, are averaged around 4 and 3.23, respectively. The vegetation index acts as the most critical case defining the lion share of the desertification severity of the area. Of the total area, 3.1% is classified as low and 96.9% as medium severity classes. From the major causes of desertification in the region, one could point out to over utilization of the rangelands and intense livestock grazing which have imposed a downgrading force over the vegetation cover. Of the rest, over withdrawal from the underground reservoirs and the multiplicity of wells could be mentioned. These latter causes have the Marghzar dried and water tables drawn