زمین یکی از منابع اولیه طبیعی است که کاربری اراضی آن در طول زمان تغییر می کند. کاربری اراضی فرآیندی طبیعی بوده و نمی توان آن را متوقف نمود اما قابل کنترل می باشد. افزایش جمعیت و رشد شهرنشینی یکی از مهمترین چالش های مدیریت کاربری اراضی می باشد. تهیه نقشه کاربری اراضی و بررسی روند تغییرات آن یکی از ضروری‌ترین اطلاعات مورد نیاز برای مدیریت منابع طبیعی می‌باشد. در تحقیق حاضر جهت تهیه نقشه تغییرات کاربری اراضی در شهرستان نور از تصاویر سنجنده TM ماهواره لندست مربوط به سال‌های 1986، 2000 و 2013 طی یک بازه زمانی 28 ساله استفاده شد. در این مطالعه به منظور طبقه بندی تصاویر از روش حداکثر احتمال و GIS استفاده گردید. همچنین به منظور بررسی شدت و روند تغییرات کاربری از سه روش مقایسه پس از طبقه بندی ، شاخص شدت تغییرات و شاخص درجه پویایی در پایش تغییرات کاربری اراضی استفاده شد. نتایج نشان داد بیشترین تغییرات کاربری اراضی مربوط به تبدیل کاربری کشاورزی به کاربری شهری در منطقه نور بوده به طوری که روند تغییرات کاربری جنگل و کشاورزی منفی و کاربری مسکونی مثبت بوده است و وسعت مناطق مسکونی از سال 1986 تا 2013 پنج برابر شده است بطوریکه در حاشیه شهرها و روستاها بیشترین تغییرات بوجود آمده است. تفاصيل المقالة

گگل اروانه زیبا دارای خاصیت آنتی‌اکسیدانی، ضد قارچی و ضد باکتری و دارای روغن اسانس معطر، خوش‌بو و اثرات ضد میکروبی است. پژوهش حاضر با هدف بررسی ترکیب شیمیایی این گونه در منطقه بلده نور مازندران انجام شد. برای این منظور، اندام‌های هوایی گیاه در مرحله گلدهی جمع‌آوری و پس از خشک شدن در دمای محیط آزمایشگاه، و تجزیه و شناسایی ترکیبات اسانس با استفاده از دستگاه‌های گاز کروماتوگرافی (GC) و گاز کروماتوگراف متصل به طیف سنج جرمی(GC/MS) انجام گرفت. نتایج نشان داد که بیشترین میزان از درصد اسانس به ترتیب مربوط به ترکیبات Tetramethyl tricycle (49/27%)، Acetaldehyde Ethanal (64/21%)، Butenamide (47/21%)، Ethylamine (34/20%)، Methanonaphthalene (23/18%) و Labda (25/12%)، Cyclopropane,1-bromo (74/7%) بودند. با توجه به نتایج به‌دست آمده از این پژوهش و مطالعات قبلی درخصوص گونه گل اروانه زیبا و گونه‌های دیگر مربوط به همین جنس می‌توان گفت خصوصیات گونه‌های مختلف گیاهی حتی از یک گونه واز یک جنس در تغییر ترکیبات اسانس‌های استخراج شده از آن‌ها متفاوت است. بنابراین پیشنهاد می‌شود به منظور استفاده بهینه از گیاهان دارویی و استخراج بهتر ترکیبات شیمیایی به این عوامل توجه بیشتری گردد. تفاصيل المقالة

تغییرات شدید ساختار بهره برداری از مراتع باعث دگرگونی پوشش گیاهی مراتع شده است که هجوم گونه های سمی در مناطق عاری از پوشش گیاهان بومی بعنوان نمادی از این تغییرات مطرح است. آگاهی از درجات وضعیت مراتع باعث اتخاذ تصمیم درست مدیریت بهره برداری از مراتع می گردد. به منظور بررسی روند این تغییرات و ارتباط آن با حضور گونه های سمی، مراتع جواهرده رامسر تحت سه تیمار قرق بلندمدت (30 سال)، کوتاه مدت (7 سال) و منطقه چرایی انتخاب شد. به کمک پیمایش صحرایی اقدام به جمع آوری گونه ها و شناسایی آنها توسط منابع معتبر شد. تعدادی پلات به روش تصادفی در هر سایت به منظور تعیین وضعیت و گرایش انداخته شد. وضعیت مرتع به روش شش فاکتوره و گرایش نیز با استفاده از روش ترازوی گرایش تعیین شد. همچنین به منظور تعیین میزان مصرف گونه های سمی توسط دام، از روش شمارش لقمه استفاده شد. نتایج نشان داده است که در این منطقه 133 گونه متعلق 19 تیره و 56 جنس حضور دارند. همچنین با توجه به وضعیت خوب (قرق بلندمدت)، متوسط (قرق 7 ساله) و ضعیف (تحت چرا)، 39 گونه بصورت سمی بوده است. 46 گونه مورد مصرف دام قرار گرفت که از بین آنها 15 گونه دارای خاصیت سمی بوده اند. بنابراین مطالعه روند وضعیت مرتع در منطقه نشان داده است که در مواقعی که فشار چرایی شدید می گردد و یا اینکه مراتع تحت چرای مداوم قرار دارند، گونه های بومی عرصه را به نفع گونه های مهاجم (که اکثرا غیرخوشخوراک و سمی هستند) خالی می کنند. اما بعضی از گونه های سمی بومی نیز وجود دارند که با توجه به خاستگاه اکولوژیک خود، عرصه عاری از گونه های خوشخوراک را تحت اشغال خود درمی آورند. تفاصيل المقالة

Prof. Maryam Shokri was born in 1950, in Sari city, Iran, where she got her diploma certificate. She received her B.Sc. degree in Natural Resources from Tehran University during 1969 to 1973. She employed the Environmental Organisation as teacher in High School in Environment during 1973-1975. She received a scholarship position from the Buali Sina University to finish her M.Sc. degree from Montpellier, Science and Technique University, French in 1977. A PhD scholarship from the Buali Sina University to the same university in French was prepared for her who finished her PhD degree about phytoecology, in 1980. Prof. Shokri was employed by Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, in 1984 as lecturer and retired there as full professor in 2005. She had some great different positions such as a member of the Audit Board for universities of North of Iran (about 12 years), member of the Working Group on Research and Technology of Mazandaran province (2001-2005), Elite favorites of Mazandaran province (2004, 2007), and Head of Libraries and Publications, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences (1995-1999). She has taught several subjects in different universities as Golestan and Mazandaran regions through her 30-year official job and her scientific achievements were about 10 ISI articles and more than 50 ISC articles which were indexed some international and internal valuable journals. Along with teaching at universities, Prof. Shokri was continuous membership of some societies and journal members board including International Network Member of desertification in France, founding board and member of the Environmental Assessment of Iran, member of the editorial board of the Journal of Environment (2000-2009), Journal of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (1998-2008), Iranian Research Journal of Rangelands (2005-2011), Research Journal of Environment (2010-continoued), and Editor of Journal of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources of the Caspian (1999-2005). تفاصيل المقالة

Food security covers aspects at all spatial levels from local to global and from an interdisciplinary and systemic food systems perspective. This book aims to better understand environmental, nutritional, agricultural, demographic, socioeconomic, political, technological, and institutional drivers, costs, and outcomes of current and future food security. Interactions with contextual factors include climate change, urbanization, greening the economy, and data-driven technologies. Agriculture began some 12,000 years ago. Since that time, approximately 7000 plant species and several thousand animal species have been used for human food. Today, however, the worldwide trend is toward changing food habits and dietary simplification, with consequent negative impacts on food and nutrition security (Emadi and Rahmanian, this volume and Burlingame et al. 2012; Boye and Arcand 2012). Agricultural landscapes also suffer from genetic erosion as traditional landraces and “minor crops” are rapidly disappearing, replaced by modern varieties. Such genetic erosion means that future options for domestication, breeding, and evolution could be irreversibly lost, a fact that is being recognized through the development of “red list” for cultivated species. Agrobiodiversity is the subset of biological diversity important to food and agriculture. It is the human element that sets agrobiodiversity apart from “wild” biodiversity. Agrobiodiversity is the outcome of the interactions among genetic resources, the environment, and farmers’ management systems and practices. تفاصيل المقالة

This book, with a Foreword by eminent geographer and sand dune specialist, Professor Martin A.J. Williams, provides a synthesis of what is known about the diverse and fascinating topic of sand dune landscapes. Sand dunes occur in a wide range of places, from the high latitude (north Asia) and high altitude (Tibetan plateau) permafrost zones and to hot inland deserts, coastal foreshores and even source-bordering dunes around lakes and endorheic rivers. Wherever they occur they support a wealth of biodiversity, unique geological and geomorphological formations, diverse landscapes and a rich heritage of indigenous and non-indigenous culture and tradition. Sand dune-rich desert and coastal regions have provided livelihood to large number of people throughout history and continue to do so. Today dune landscapes support the mining industry, livestock production, biodiversity conservation sites and developing enterprises such as eco- and cultural tourism. The pressures brought about by these activities as well as inappropriate policies have raised concerns relating to overall management and sustainability of resources in these vulnerable regions.The 39 chapters, contributed to by 117 authors from 14 countries are organized into 2 volumes: Volume 1: Sand Dunes in the Northern Hemisphere: Distribution, Formation, Migration and Management and Volume 2: Characteristics, Dynamics and Provenance of Sand Dunes in the Northern HemisphereThe research on sand dunes that is reported here, much of it for the very first time, will provide fellow researchers, land managers, policy makers and decision-makers with vital data and interpretations that will lead to better outcomes. Sand encroachment and mobility is an age-old problem that has led to loss of vital infrastructure, abandonment of settlements and misery for local inhabitants. تفاصيل المقالة

Dr Victor Squires AM is a desert ecology explorer, educator and researcher. At a time when the world is crying out for a greater understanding of Food Security and Land Usage under conditions of Climate Change, Dr Squires’ work provides a depth and breadth of critical insight. A former Dean of the Faculty of Natural Resources in the University of Adelaide, Dr Squires is an internationally recognised dryland management expert with a focus on ecological restoration of degraded areas and on desert ecology. He has contributed his knowledge through academic and practical fields, working directly with peers and mentoring students in desert or degraded rangelands in most of the main dry-lands of the world, covering 35 countries on every continent except Antarctica.Dr Squires work extends across the environments of China, Mongolia, East Africa, North Africa, Iran and Central Asia. He has authored and edited more than 20 books and peer reviewed over 180 papers. He has undertaken more than 10 major projects in the north-west provinces of China, especially in Xinjiang, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Gansu, and in neighbouring Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. Having first travelled to China under the auspices of the Australian Academy of Science and the Academia Sinica in 1985, he lived in western China for 6 years. Dr Squires has been a regular contributor to the World Bank, to UN agencies including the United Nations Convention for Combating Desertification, and to the United Nations Environment Program. He has also contributed to the ‘World Atlas of Desertification’ and influential work with the Asian Development Bank. Another notable achievement during Dr Squires career was voluntarily editing, and commissioning the authors of seven volumes of the UNESCO Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems, involving over 1400 pages and 72 authors. تفاصيل المقالة

Range forage of Vicia variabilis, Astragalus spp., Medicago sativa, Prangos uloptera and Sanguisorba minor was sampled during three phenological stages from the controlled rangeland stations in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, Iran. Samples were analyzed for the determination of Crude Protein (CP%), Ether Extract (EE), Crude Fiber (CF), total Ash, Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF), Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF), in vitro Dry Matter Digestibility (DMD) and Organic Mater Digestibility (OMD). Higher and lower values of CP were obtained in vegetative stage of Medicago sativa and seed ripening stage of Prangos uloptera, respectively. The highest and lowest values of EE% were found in Prangos uloptera and Astragalus spp. respectively. The highest and lowest values of CF% were obtained in the vegetative stage of Prangos uloptera and ripening stage of Medicago sativa, respectively. For NDF and ADF, the lower values were found in the vegetative stage of Prangos uloptera and Sanguisorba minor, respectively and higher values were observed in the seed ripening stage of Asragalus spp. and Prangos uloptera. The highest values of DMD and OMD% were obtained in the vegetative stage of Vicia variabilis, but the lowest values were found in Medicago sativa and Sanguisorba minor respectively. Both DMD and OMD% values were reduced from vegetation to seed ripening stage in all the species. It was concluded that it is necessary to pay attention to the seasonal changes in order to conduct the quality study and determine the nutritive value and digestibility of range plants. Use of energy and protein supplement in late period of range plant growth has been recommended for the supply of essential requirements of rangeland animals. تفاصيل المقالة

Evaluation of range conditions and plant diversity circumstances can help to rangeland managers who establish their managerial approaches on the basis of ecological capabilities of rangeland ecosystems. Hence, surveying of rangelands was done in four sites of northern Alborz Mt. including western Alborz (Masooleh site), west to middle Alborz (Javaherdeh site), central area (Polour site), and eastern region (Ramian site). A 64 grid (1 m2) was laid down in stand area of each site and range condition was assessed by Daubenmire Method. Alpha, Beta, and Gama diversities, and plant richness and evenness were calculated in each grid using PAST v.2.03 software. Relationships between range condition and biotic and abiotic factors were done using stepwise regression method. Results showed that Ramian site had the most Beta and Gama diversities and the Javaherdeh and Masooleh sites had the most Alpha diversity as well. The Polour site had the least diversities indices because of overgrazing and poor rangeland condition. It however had high level of the plant evenness. Range conditions, soil conservation, and litter rate were the highest grades in the Ramian site than the others. Regarding the results, therefore, the rangers can be capable to balance the rangeland ecological conditions using desirable grazing capacity and pressure. تفاصيل المقالة

Harvester ants are known as one of the most renowned bio-disturbances in the arid and semi-arid ecosystems that affecte vegetation by collecting seeds and harvesting plants. It seems that physiognomy of plant association in steppe shrub land of Roodshoor, Saveh, Iran has been highly changed by harvester ants’ activities that caused to conduct this research. The study was carried out on active and inactive nests and control site from June to August 2012. Diversity indices and functional groups such as vegetative form, longevity, and photosynthesis type were analyzed as compared to criteria in three sites. Results showed that richness, diversity, and vegetation cover in the ant colonies through increasing the annual forbs and rare species (Campanula stricta and Lepidium vesicarium) were more than the control site. For evenness index, however, there was no significant difference between the control and nest sites. In contrast, the function of plant community in the active nests due to the decrease of dominant shrub frequency of the area that is Artimisia siberi by Messor spp. was less than the control site. Low diversity, richness, plant function, and high vegetation cover in inactive nests were also observed as the results of the presence and activities of the ants in the active nests. Hence, the ant activities in the active and inactive nests can bring out micro sites with different plant associations so that regarding high density and quantity of the ant nests in all the area, it can decrease the key plants and change their functions. It therefore will debilitate the stability and function of this rangeland ecosystem. تفاصيل المقالة

Mountainous rangeland ecosystems have a highly delicate position in ecologic areabecause of severe environmental conditions and having wildlife and livestock. Knowing andrealizing the biotic and abiotic components, which have an interaction with each other in thisecosystem, perform the most important role in to desirable management of it. The systematicmanagement is one of the managing features such as modern approach for land managementand suitable use of upland ecosystems. To reach that, mountainous rangelands of Javaherdeh(Ramsar) via 1:25,000 scale map were selected. Density, rangeland conditions, vegetationcover, gravel and grit were determined by Superficial and modified six-factor methods, ArcGIS v.9.3 software was employed to achieve land form map which was obtained by thecombination of altitude, slope, and slope aspect maps. First, basic and first environmental unitmaps were changed with land form map into soil type map, and first basic map intovegetation type map. The proposal map of systematic management of area was associatedwith final environmental unit map into landuse map via their attribute table. The establishedproposal map shows accurate position of different future land uses on the basis of currentecological capabilities of areas. Around Javaherdeh village is suitable for extensive outdoorrecreation (7.59%) and appropriate for the grazing of livestock (62.22%). Some areas(20.07%) also should be protected because of landslides and debris formation. تفاصيل المقالة

The diversity and richness of species are of important components to evaluate the health of ecologic system of rangelands. This research was conducted to investigate the biodiversity in riparian and neighboring areas via comparison of indices in Javaherdeh rangeland of Ramsar. Plot-transects was randomly used to estimate diversity, richness, dominance, and evenness indices in two regions. Multi Linear regression method was used to analyze the relationships of three indices to rangeland condition. Results of floristic list showed that there were 66 species belong to 19 families and 56 genera. Gramineae and Compositae families with values of (23.24 and 12.1%) had the highest and Boraginaceae and Hypolepidaceae with 2% had the lowest frequency, respectively. Result showed that richness species index in riparian area and diversity index in neighboring area had high correlation with the rangeland conditions. Hence, ecologic management could be used as a tool for evaluation of indices as reflectors of disturbance in rangeland. تفاصيل المقالة

Soil salinity is one of the important factors which can influence the growth anddistribution of plant species. Saline and alkaline rangelands of Golestan Province, Iran withlow-deep underground water level are considered as a halophyte plant species growing area.Attempts have been made to determine soil salinity and its relationship with Frankenia hirsutaL. In order to determine the Electrical Conductivity (EC) of soil, three soil samples had beentaken in the flowering stage of Frankenia hirsuta from the soil at depth of 0-30 cm in threeundergrazing, exclosure and control areas (where there was no Frankenia hirsuta). Data werecollected and analyzed for soil Electrical Conductivity (EC). Results showed that there was asignificant difference (P≤0.01) among three sampling areas (exclosure, undergrazing andcontrol). High EC values were obtained for control area. So, the presence of this species insaline and alkaline rangelands was highly affected by soil salinity. Soil salinity in the controlarea was 39% higher than undergrazing area. تفاصيل المقالة

The study of the relationships of the plant species with the soil in a salty ecosystem would play a significant role in the ecologic programming and management of these inhabitants. The saline and alkaline rangelands of the Golestan province are areas that contain salty soil with high underground crusts. The areas are covered by halophyte plants such as Frankenia hirsuta. This species is a perennial plant from the Frankeniaceae family. They could absorb salt from soil and store it in their organs in order to reduce soil saltiness and restore slat of lands. Thus, in order to determine the percentage of sodium chloride of such species, sampling was taken in the flowering stage from two exclosure and grazing areas by six replications. Then, the percentage of Sodium Chloride (NaC1) was measured in the lab using the titration method. The statistical analyses and the comparisons of the means of the collected data were made by the use of T-test. The results showed significant difference for NaC1% of the phytomass of the species (P≤0.01). The average value of NaC1 was 2.13% and 1.37% for the exclosure and grazing area, respectively. In the other word, the highest and lowest values of NaC1% were obtained for exclosure and the grazing area, respectively. It was concluded that Frankenia hirsuta can take in the soil salt and by gathering or grazing, it could led to reduction of soil saltiness. تفاصيل المقالة