Study the Effects of Range Management Plans on Vegetation of Summer Rangelands of Mazandaran Province, Iran

Journal of Rangeland Science

مقاله 2، دوره 6، شماره 3، مهر 2016، صفحه 195-204   

نوع مقاله: Research and Full Length Article

نویسندگان

Nemtollah Kohestani¹؛ Hassan Yeganeh^{* 2}

¹Expert Department of Natural Resources and Watershed Zanjan (formerly) is currently mazandaran

²Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

چکیده

Rangeland rehabilitation and optimum exploitation are the first scientific and technical efforts with various programs in range management plans (RMPs) in Iranian range management sector. The range management plans have important roles in the natural resources conservation and improvement. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of accomplishment of range management plans on vegetation cover of Mazandaran’s summer ranges over the past 22 years. First, twenty range management plans were randomly selected from 320 implemented ones in Manzandaran province, Iran. In order to collect the required data, field study was conducted to evaluate canopy cover percent, available forage, range conditions and trend before and after the implementation of range management plans. The data were analyzed and compared using parametric (t-paired) and non-parametric (Wilcoxon) tests. The results showed that the RMPs have increased the available forage production up to 14.7% (P<0.01). Also, range condition and trend had increased to 25% and 40% as compared to the control, respectively; but statistically, they had no significant effects. Although canopy cover percent of more range sites have increased, there was no significant effect. Thus, the execution of range management plans has relatively improved the range conditions but their positive effects were not clear for many range management plans.

کلیدواژه‌ها

Trend؛ condition؛ Forage production؛ Summer rangelands

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