plant cover is one of the most important factors affecting infiltration rate of water into the soil and decreasing runoff. distribution of plants in arid and semi-arid areas is almost patchy and form different patterns. one of the fascinating patterns is ring-shaped growth pattern. ring patterns of varying size are formed by clonally reproducing grasses, sedges and even shrubs growing in resour...

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are expected to be one of the key drivers determining the diversity of natural plant communities, especially in nutrient-poor and dry habitats. Several previous studies have explored the importance of AMF for the composition of plant communities in various types of habitats. Surprisingly, studies of the role of AMF in nutrient-poor dry grassland communities do...

The degradation rate of Mediterranean steppes, especially in North Africa is 1% per year, and this considered a high  rate of degradation. This study conducted in 2014 in the south slope of the Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar, northeast Libya to quantify the vegetation recovery rate and assess selected Vegetation Indices (VIs) for mapping rangelands degradation status using remote sensing technology. Throug...

the current study aims to ordinate ecological groups in the wetlands of northern and eastern slopes of the sabalan mountain and investigate their relationship with environmental variables. the location of wetlands was found using field surveys and satellite images. in total, 32 wetland sites were identified for the sampling purpose. 320 sample plots (relevé) were selected using the systematic-r...

Quantification of plant litter cover on the soil surface is necessary in both agricultural and natural systems because the presence of litter influences the flow of nutrients, carbon, water, and energy in terrestrial ecosystems. Although remote sensing methods for measuring plant litter cover provide both a wider area of coverage and a more objective estimate of the spatial variability of litte...

For an optimum use of natural resources in the sustainable development trend, there is a need to identify ecological resources in the shortest period of time and minimum possible cost. In this article, we aimed Management ecosystem by Assessment of plant covers changes at Taleghan Township in a twenty year period. Percentage of landscape and number of patch were among the metrics that were calc...

For an optimum use of natural resources in the sustainable development trend, there is a need to identify ecological resources in the shortest period of time and minimum possible cost. In this article, we aimed Management ecosystem by Assessment of plant covers changes at Taleghan Township in a twenty year period. Percentage of landscape and number of patch were among the metrics that were calc...

A novel method for measuring plant-plant interactions in undisturbed semi-natural and natural plant communities where it is difficult to distinguish individual plants is discussed. It is assumed that the ecological success of the different plant species in the plant community may be adequately measured by plant cover and vertical density (a measure that is correlated to the 3-dimensional space ...

Livestock grazing practices in rangelands are being recognized as management tool for environmental protection and increased livestock productivity. Continuous grazing has been largely reported to reduce pasture productivity and increase environmental degradation. Rotational grazing is an alternative to continuous grazing and is considered to reduce negative environmental effects and provide qu...