Shahbaz Mehrabi; Mohammad Reza Yazdani; Mehdi Ghorbani
Abstract
Prevention is the most appropriate way to deal with natural hazards. And resilience means maintaining the structure and function of the socio-ecological system in the face of unexpected events, one of the important branches of prevention. Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari province, due to its specific geographical ...
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Prevention is the most appropriate way to deal with natural hazards. And resilience means maintaining the structure and function of the socio-ecological system in the face of unexpected events, one of the important branches of prevention. Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari province, due to its specific geographical location, faces numerous environmental hazards annually. Therefore, in this study, the status of resilience in the face of environmental hazards in the governing system of this province was investigated. AHP method was used for this purpose. In the AHP process, based on the pairwise comparison of criteria and sub-criteria, the degree of association between both criteria and sub-criteria is compared and scores between 1-9 are assigned. The research data was analyzed based on Delphi method and hierarchical decision making process. The results showed that according to expert’s evaluation of resilience of socio-ecological systems of Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari province against climate change (4.51), drought (2.09) and soil erosion (2.02) were ranked first to third respectively. Because of this, climate change has attracted the attention of experts who have shifted the rainfall to snow ratio over the past two decades. So that from 70% snow and 30% rain, to 70% rain and 30% snow. However, much of the economic activity and livelihoods in the province depend on snow reserves.
Ali Asghar Naghipour; Maedeh Sharifi; Ataollah Ebrahimi; Elham Ghesareh Ardestani; Sina Nabizadeh
Abstract
Fire is one of the important ecological factors that affect the dynamics of rangeland vegetation. In recent decades, the incidence of wildfires in semi-steppe rangelands has increased significantly, challenging the adaptive capacity of plants for post-fire regeneration. In the present study, the germination ...
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Fire is one of the important ecological factors that affect the dynamics of rangeland vegetation. In recent decades, the incidence of wildfires in semi-steppe rangelands has increased significantly, challenging the adaptive capacity of plants for post-fire regeneration. In the present study, the germination response of eight annual and perennial herbaceous species of semi-steppe rangelands of Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari province to fire products treatments including heat (60, 80 and 100° C), smoke, ash, and the combined effect of heat and smoke treatments were investigated. Also, percentage cover change of studied species, one year after the fire were measured in the field. The results showed that the germination of seeds of eight studied plant species showed a significant positive or negative reaction to at least one of the fire product treatments. Combined treatment of smoke and 60° C caused a significant increase in the mean germination percentage of Heteranthelium piliferum. This treatment also significantly reduced the mean germination time of Cousinia cylindracea. Ash treatment also increased the mean germination percentage of Alyssum linifolium and Stachys lavandulifolia. Vegetation sampling results also showed that among the eight species studied, H. piliferum and Taeniatherum crinitum were fire adapted and six species were tolerant. The results of this study can be used as a potential factor to understand the dynamics of vegetation and restoration of degraded rangelands.