This research is an integration of GIS and multi-criteria decision making into a joint framework for identifying suitable areas for rainwater harvesting structures. The Kavir National park in Iran has been evaluated for suitability of rainwater harvesting. To this end, slope gradient, distance to guarding stations, distance to watering points for transporting collected water, distribution of wildlife species of interest, access to roads, evaporation, elevation, water scarcity index, and annual precipitation during rainy season were incorporated. Data collection and field visits took place during 2014-2015. Rainwater harvesting in this area is primarily intended for Ovis orientalis, Gazella dorcas and Acinonyx jubatus known as Persian Cheetah. The primary layers were standardized using a proper Fuzzy Membership Function, which assigns a weight between 0 and 1 to each layer, to include the inherent tradeoff between data layers in producing the final suitability map. The results suggested that precipitation and water scarcity (each by the relative weights of 0.3 and 0.2, respectively) were the most influential factors. The northern foothills of the Mount Siahkouh have shown to hold the highest suitability for rainwater harvesting. The suitability changes from lower than 100 to the east to higher than 200 to the west. The result of this study might be used to guide future endeavors for rainwater harvesting for wildlife on the ground. The methodology adopted here could be replicated in other studies with respect to its simplicity and practicality. This is recommended to run pilot small-scale rainwater harvesting practices and receive the outcomes and then, in case of a positive feedback, extend its application to other areas identified in this research. Manuscript profile

One of the major issues examined in the quantitative ecology is the spatial distribution pattern of plant species. Knowledge of the spatial distribution patterns is essential to measure the level of uniformity in the surrounding environment, plant reproduction, and distribution of the seedlings, plant behavioral patterns, coexistence, allelopathic relations, and competition. Therefore, the aim of the present research is to select suitable indicators to determine the spatial distribution of three plant species namely Seidlitzia rosmarinus, Cornulaca monacantha and Stipagrostis plumosa and to evaluate their accuracy in arid and semi-arid rangelands of Birjand. Sampling was taken in the key area of ​​each site with four transects of 100 m using quadrates (with their size proportional to the vegetative form of the plant species) by a stratified random sampling technique in 2014-2015. At each point, the distance from the nearest neighbors, the closest species and species richness were recorded. S. plumosa and S. rosmarinus produced the largest and smallest values as 6.6 and 0.24 plant/m2, respectively. Our results suggested that S. rosmarinus, C. monacantha and S. plumosa follow regular and uniform distribution patterns. The results of the statistical analysis also showed the positive binomial distribution for these species, which further confirm our finding. In total, it has been found that quadratic indicators provide more accurate results regarding plant species distribution patterns as compared with the distance indicators. Manuscript profile