Roads and highways, as one of the biggest threats to wildlife survival, severely affect the ecological connectivity status of the landscape leading to the fragmentation of existing habitats. This research examines the effect of the Tehran-Mashhad bypass road through the More
Roads and highways, as one of the biggest threats to wildlife survival, severely affect the ecological connectivity status of the landscape leading to the fragmentation of existing habitats. This research examines the effect of the Tehran-Mashhad bypass road through the Golestan National Park on the movement of Ovis vignei arkal to identify the best point for locating a connectivity corridor. In this study, multiple scales and theories have been selected to analyze species connectivity. The circuit theory was used for the landscape scale by modeling the bottleneck index, and graph theory was used for the patch scale by calculating the betweenness centrality index (BC). The optimal place for locating the corridor was identified by overlaying the range of the bottleneck index and the shortest path to the patch with the highest BC value. By integrating the circuit and graph theories, the results demonstrated the higher movement patterns in the region's west side due to the higher habitat suitability. Installing a corridor in this spot will be increased the species' movement, maintain its population, prevent species isolation, and consequently improve the state of the downstream habitats.
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Introduction: Ferns and their species are mostly found in wetting zones, for this reason the forests located at the northern side of Iran are considered as a suitable provenance for their growing up. Some studies have been conducted on Pteridium Aquilinum (L.) Kuhn in I More
Introduction: Ferns and their species are mostly found in wetting zones, for this reason the forests located at the northern side of Iran are considered as a suitable provenance for their growing up. Some studies have been conducted on Pteridium Aquilinum (L.) Kuhn in Iran, but no comprehensive research has yet been done in the field of environmental factors effective on their dispersion. This research aims to study the environmental factors effective on dispersion of this specie of Pteridium Aquilinum (L.)Kuhn in different heights of Hirkani Forests. The present research has been done in the northwest side of Golestan National Park.
Methodology: Some plots containing Pteridium Aquilinum (L.) Kuhn have randomly been selected in various heights of the area under studying, and then the soil and other available plant species were sampled on field and random basis.
After registration of the available data, the soil of the center of the sample plot was sampled with a depth of 30 cm. Then the correlation between environmental variables and flora was specified using Principal Components Analysis (P.C.A) and the treatments were compared by Multiple Range Duncan - Tukey Analysis in SPPS environment.
Conclusion: The flora was classified using (TWINSPAN) analysis and consequently two ecologic groups were categorized. Some key species were introduced in each group and the result of (TWINSPAN) analysis is matrix 62 species and 18 plots measuring 100 Sqm.
(P.C.A) results show that groups have properly been separated based on soil fertility and dispersion of ecologic groups in the area under studying are influenced by chemical properties or fertility conditions of the provenance.
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Determining custom fuel models in forest and rangeland ecosystems is crucial to predict the potential fire behavior and spread, wildfire management, and ecosystem restoration. The objective of this study was to quantify the amount and structure of surface fuel available More
Determining custom fuel models in forest and rangeland ecosystems is crucial to predict the potential fire behavior and spread, wildfire management, and ecosystem restoration. The objective of this study was to quantify the amount and structure of surface fuel available for combustion in grasslands, shrublands and forests in Golestan National Park, NE Iran. All information related herbaceous vegetation and surface litter were collected from 1m × 1m, 10m × 10m, and 30m × 30m sampling plots, respectively in the grasslands (n=24), shrublands (n=8), and forest (n=22) fuel types based on Stratified Random Sampling. A fuel hazard rating is assigned to each fuel by assessing the key attributes including fuel load (t ha-1), fuelbed depth (cm), and litter cover (%). The results revealed that variation in surface fuel hazards among fuel types corresponded to patterns of fine fuel loading (1-hr). Broadleaves litter fuels had higher total fine fuel loads resulting from greater grass dominance, potentially providing higher surface fuel hazard. Differences in fuel structure between the existing fuel types also had an important effect. Determining custom fuel models and fire risk assessment in these models is important for natural resource managers to select methods to reduce fuel loads, fire mitigation, and retain the landscape resilience to future wildfires.
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