Ebrahim Karimi Sangchini; Iman Islami
Abstract
Evaluations of the threatening factors to wetlands are necessary to sustain these ecosystems and improving them. The main goal was to identify and prioritize the factors threatening the Choghakhor wetland watershed. This research has been consisted of a cohort of 315 participants in an exploratory mixed ...
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Evaluations of the threatening factors to wetlands are necessary to sustain these ecosystems and improving them. The main goal was to identify and prioritize the factors threatening the Choghakhor wetland watershed. This research has been consisted of a cohort of 315 participants in an exploratory mixed method. Data analysis was performed by One-Sample T-Test and non-parametric Friedman Test. Factors threatening were evaluated and prioritized in four areas including: natural disasters, and biological, cultural and socio-economic threats. Living in the area, threats to this wetland are in an undesirable and unacceptable state. Likewise, the greatest impact is associated with the cultural threats and the biological threats obtaining the lowest priorities. In the field of cultural threats, a lack of coordination between government agencies in matters relating to the wetland with a mean score of 2.35. In the field of socio-economic threats, inter-basin water transfer from the Mount Sabzkouh to Choghakhor wetland with a mean score of 11.69; in terms of natural disasters, climate change and the melting of mountain glaciers with a mean score of 6.04; and, in the field of biological disasters, unauthorized grazing (over the production capacity of rangelands) have been recognized as the first priorities with a mean score of 2.29. As the final statements, it appears that cultural, followed by socio-economic threats are the most significant factors contributing to the destruction of this ecosystem. In the perspective of the participants, cultural and educational-based management could be the ideal solution for the current condition of the wetland.
Fatemeh Salarian; Jamshid Ghorbani; Ghodratolah Heydari; Nosratolah Safaian
Abstract
Conservation and restoration of biodiversity is very important for degraded rangeland ecosystems. It is necessary to assess the potential of soil seed bank as a major source of species. In this study, the soil seed bank size and composition were compared between exclosure and grazed areas. This was done ...
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Conservation and restoration of biodiversity is very important for degraded rangeland ecosystems. It is necessary to assess the potential of soil seed bank as a major source of species. In this study, the soil seed bank size and composition were compared between exclosure and grazed areas. This was done in Chahar-Bagh rangelands in Golestan province. Soil was sampled in Exclosure and Grazing from 0-5 and 5-10 cm depths in 90 quadrates of 1 m2. Then seed bank composition was identified after seed germination in glasshouse. A total of 28 species from 15 families were found in soil seed bank flora of both exclosure and grazed areas. Compositae, Gramineae, and Rosaceae were dominant in soil seed bank. Also, hemicryptophyte, Forbs and perennials were abundant in the seed bank of both areas. Exclosure significantly increased the seed density of Digitaria sanguinalis, Potentilla canescens, Stellaria media, Sonchus oleraceusand Galium verum in the seed bank. The species richness and diversity indices were not significantly different between two areas. These indices significantly increased in upper soil layer in exclosure while these indices were not significantly different between two soil depths in grazed area. The result of this study showed that exclosure influenced the soil seed banks, however, there was no evidence of positive changes in species richness and diversity indices and also an increase of grasses in soil seed bank.
