2024-03-28T14:35:09+04:30 http://ijae.iut.ac.ir/browse.php?mag_id=19&slc_lang=fa&sid=1
19-838 2024-03-28 10.1002
Iranian Journal of Applied Ecology 2476-3128 2476-3217 doi 2017 6 1 Floristic Study of Buxus hyrcana Stands in the Western Forests of Haraz District, Amol S. Hosseinzadeh O. Esmailzadeh oesmailzadeh@modares.ac.ir Floristic composition of boxwood (Buxus hyrcana Pojark) stands in the forests of Western Haraz, distributed at the altitudinal range of 250 to 1,200 m asl, was investigated by field-walk method. Results showed that the flora of this area includes 50 families, 69 genera, and 78 plant species. Rosaceae, Orchidaceae, Dryopteridaceae, Lamiaceae and Aspleniaceae are the greatest families in this area. Chorological studies showed that the largest proportion of the flora is related to Euro-Siberian region (56.4%). Cryptophytes (32 species), Phanerophytes (26 sp.) and Hemicryptophytes (16 sp.), which are compromising 44%, 33.3% and 20.5% of the flora, were the most important structure groups of the biological spectrum. Abundance of Cryptophytes with Phanerophytes and Hemicryptophytes in these forests implys that there is a temperate climate with cold winter, frequently rainfall and relatively cool summer, which are suitable for growing temperate forest. Frequent occurrence of Prunus Laurocerasus trees with Daneae racemosa as a woody understory species especially in the upper parts of the studied area accompany by absence of Therophytes and relatively well distribution of ferns species, especially Asplenium scolopendrium, also implys high, favorable, moisture conditions without any disturbances in Box tree stands of these forests. Buxus hyrcana Chorology Flora Life form Western forests of Haraz district. 2017 6 01 1 13 http://ijae.iut.ac.ir/article-1-838-en.pdf 10.18869/acadpub.ijae.6.1.1
19-839 2024-03-28 10.1002
Iranian Journal of Applied Ecology 2476-3128 2476-3217 doi 2017 6 1 Risk Mapping of Wolf (Canis lupus) Attacks on Human and Livestock in Ardabil Province by Spatial Modeling Using Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) Method M. Naderi m-naderi@araku.ac.ir Based on historical data, wolf is one of the large carnivores which suffers from human-wildlife conflicts especially in the animal husbandry field. In this research we tried to model wolf attacks to the humans and livestocks in Ardabil Province, and give some relevant recommendations. Focusing on the wolf attacks data (both human and livestocks), recorded during 10 years (2004–2014), we carried out risk zoning by MaxEnt modelling approach. The results indicated that both models had an excellent performance for predicting the pattern of wolf attacks on human (AUC = 0.91) and livestocks (AUC = 0.89). Also, I found that 28 and 12 percent of the province face with the highest probability of wolf attacks on human and livestocks, respectively. MaxEnt model showed that variables including distance to irrigated farms, distance to human settlements and human density are the most important factors affecting the incidence of human-wolf conflicts in the study area. The results indicated that the areas of attack to the human are completely overlapped by areas where attacks to the livestock were recorded. The risk maps obtained in this study can be considered as a useful tool in the management of the human-wolf conflicts in the study area. Attack to the livestock Attack to the human Home range Max Entropy model Risk mapping Wildlife-human conflicts. 2017 6 01 15 27 http://ijae.iut.ac.ir/article-1-839-en.pdf 10.18869/acadpub.ijae.6.1.15
19-840 2024-03-28 10.1002
Iranian Journal of Applied Ecology 2476-3128 2476-3217 doi 2017 6 1 Effects of Forest Roads on Herbaceous Species Composition (Case Study: Asalem Forest) H. Tarverdizadeh tarvirdi.1368@gmail.com M. Nikooy H. Pourbabaei R. Naghdi Identifying herbaceous species and their composition at forest road edges and skid trails is an urgent task to prevent changes of natural and native composition of species and invasion of exotic species. The present study aimed to evaluate the herbaceous species cover grown on the forest road surface, cut and fill slopes and skid trail surface and their comparison with inside forest in order to investigate the effects of road construction in the 2nd district of Asalem Nav forest in Guilan province, north of Iran. For this purpose, a total of 30 randomly placed 1×1 m plots were established along the 1000-m transects within each habitat (150 plots in total). The differences between averages of groups were tested using ANOVA test for data with normal distribution and Kruskal Walis test was used for data with abnormal distribution. According to results, due to soil disturbance after road construction, the herbaceous cover of roadside road and skid trail surfaces had higher crown coverage than natural forest. This results varied among habitats and invasive species appeared in the main composition of herbaceous cover of studied habitats. Asalem forests Forest roads Herbaceous cover Skid trail Species composition. 2017 6 01 29 40 http://ijae.iut.ac.ir/article-1-840-en.pdf 10.18869/acadpub.ijae.6.1.29
19-841 2024-03-28 10.1002
Iranian Journal of Applied Ecology 2476-3128 2476-3217 doi 2017 6 1 Comparison of Random Forest (RF) and Boosting Regression Tree (BRT) For Prediction of Dominant Plant Species Presence in Polour Rangelands, Mazandaran Province Z. Jafarian z.jafarian@sanru.ac.ir M. Kargar For this study, Polour rangelands were chosen with an area of about 2017 ha in Mazandaran province. The purpose of this study was prediction of dominant species of the rangeland using random forest (RF) and boosting regression trees (BRT) models in the study area. Equal random sampling of vegetation and soil was carried out. 12 work units were obtained in the region that climatic, topography and soil factors were measured at each sampling unit.  Five dominant species in the area were Astragalus ochrodeucus, Ferula gumosa, Thymus kotschyanus, Onobrychis cornata and Agropyron repens. The Ten-fold method was used to evaluate the models in the package (caret). Also the statistical coefficients AUC, Kappa and TSS were used for evaluating the model prediction.The results showed that in the RF model of variables K and CaCO3, the presence of the plant species had the highest importance. Also in BRT model, the silt and aspect had the most importance in the model. The results of the function of the models RF and BRT showed that the highest AUC in the BRT model was related to the species Agropyron repens for 0.76 and in the RF model, it was related to the species Onobrychis cornata. The proposed models RF and BRT can be used for introduction of suitable species in range improvement programs. Environmental factors Predictable models Polour rangelands Spatial distribution. 2017 6 01 41 55 http://ijae.iut.ac.ir/article-1-841-en.pdf 10.18869/acadpub.ijae.6.1.41
19-842 2024-03-28 10.1002
Iranian Journal of Applied Ecology 2476-3128 2476-3217 doi 2017 6 1 Wildlife Habitats Suitability Modelling using Fuzzy Inference System: A Case Study of Persian Leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor) in Shimbar Protected Area Z. Obeidavi z.obeidavi@gmail.com K. Rangzan R. Mirzaei M. Kabolizade A. Amini Several modelling techniques have been developed for habitat suitability modelling. In the meantime, the Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) with ability to model uncertainty of input variables is an effective method to model wildlife species habitat suitability. So, Persian Leopard habitat suitability was predicted in Shimbar Protected Area using FIS. Therefore, the effective environmental variables were determined. We also defined and determined the linguistic variables, linguistic values, and range of them. Then, we designed the membership functions of the fuzzy sets of the input and output variables. Also, the definition of the fuzzy rules in the system was performed. Finally, the defuzzification of output was carried out. The accuracy of the predictive model was tested using AUC. Also, 11 FISs were developed to determine sensitivity of the models and important variables in modelling. The results showed that the predictive model was more efficient than the random model (AUC=0.960). In addition, the ‘distance to capra’ was the most important predictor. According to the success of FIS in Persian Leopard habitat suitability modelling, we suggest this method to improve and complete the existing spatial information of wildlife habitats in Iran, especially about regions and species that have been less studied. Fuzzy inference system Habitat suitability modelling Panthera pardus saxicolor. 2017 6 01 57 67 http://ijae.iut.ac.ir/article-1-842-en.pdf 10.18869/acadpub.ijae.6.1.57
19-843 2024-03-28 10.1002
Iranian Journal of Applied Ecology 2476-3128 2476-3217 doi 2017 6 1 Optimum Size of Range Management Units for Sustainable Utilization of the River Basin Rangeland in Margha, Izeh H. Alimohammadi Sarabi S. A. Mousavi sarmousavi@cc.iut.ac.ir S. H. Matinkhah M. Tarkesh Esfahani In order to determine optimum size of rangeland properties, range management units within Margha River area, Izeh, were selected and rangeland parts were separated from other types of land use as the study area. Different ecological and socio-economic criteria were used for calculations. Ecological criteria were adopted from range management plans, including forage production, grazing capacity and rangeland condition and trend. Socio-economic criteria were studied conducting a questionnaire-based survey by 62 questionnaires. Also some data about consumptive costs of households were obtained from the data center of Iran Statistics Center. Relative poverty line was calculated in two situations with /without considering the costs and revenues outside the rangeland. Ignoring the costs and incomes related to non-rangeland sources resulted in the optimal size of utilization units to be 146 animal units of sheep or 186 animal units of goats or 62 and 106 animal units of sheep and goats, respectively. Considering all the costs and incomes resulted in the optimal units to be 140 animal units of sheep or 178 goats or 70 and 89 animal units of sheep and goats, respectively. These results could be utilized for range management plans and policies within similar areas. Khuzestan Province Margha Optimum rangeland utilization units Relative poverty line Sustainable utilization. 2017 6 01 69 80 http://ijae.iut.ac.ir/article-1-843-en.pdf 10.18869/acadpub.ijae.6.1.69
19-844 2024-03-28 10.1002
Iranian Journal of Applied Ecology 2476-3128 2476-3217 doi 2017 6 1 Incorporating the Spatial Road Disturbance Index (SPROADI) in Ecological Impacts Assessment of Roads at Landscape Scale (Case study: Eastern Part of Isfahan Province) Sh. Nematollahi S. Fakheran fakheran@cc.iut.ac.ir A. Soffianian Development of roads can have deleterious effects on natural habitats containing species of conservation concern. Fragmentation of habitat into small, non-contiguous patches may result in dramatic population declines. Thus appropriate studies quantifying ecological impacts of roads at landscape scale are essential. In this study, the Spatial Road Disturbance Index (SPROADI) was applied for the ecological impact assessment of the roads network in Eastern part of Isfahan Province, including Abassabad wildlife refuge and Siahkouh National park, which are among the most important habitats for Asiatic Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) classified as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List. This new landscape index uses three sub-indices including traffic intensity, vicinity impact and fragmentation grade to calculate the ecological impacts of roads network. Results obtained through quantifying the Spatial Road Disturbance Index showed that the degree of disturbance by roads network is between 0 and 54.53. Our results also revealed that 12 percent of Abassabad wildlife refuge and wide range of suitable habitats for Asiatic Cheetah were affected by roads network, which presents a conservation concern for this critically endangered species. Conservation Habitat fragmentation Landscape Index Roads SPROADI. 2017 6 01 81 91 http://ijae.iut.ac.ir/article-1-844-en.pdf 10.18869/acadpub.ijae.6.1.81