a r t i c l e i n f o Deserts are often neglected in what concerns conservation funding. Ecotourism, an alternative land-use with ability to preserve threatened biodiversity, is also less developed in these arid lands. Since ecotourism can constitute a complementary approach to natural and cultural resources and to local economy development, more investment should be allocated to desert ecotour...

Drought and salt stress, together with low temperature, are major problems for agriculture because these adverse environmental factors prevent plants from realizing their full genetic potential. Salt stress afflicts agriculture in many parts of the world, particularly irrigated lands [4]. Compared to salt stress, the problem of drought is even more pervasive and economically damaging [1; 3]. Te...

Growing pressure to develop public lands for renewable energy production places several protected species at increased risk of habitat loss. One example is the Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), a species often at the center of conflicts over public land development. For this species and others on public lands, a better understanding of their habitat needs can help minimize negative i...

desert and marginal lands of playas which are covered with halophyte shrubs, play a great role in supply of forage for livestock as winter rangelands. in this research, plant samples were collected from four palatable halophyte species for zandi sheep of qom desert rangelands including seidlitzia rosmarinus، halocnemum strobilaceum، alhagi camelorum and tamarix passerinoides in two phenological...

Species abundance distributions (SADs) are increasingly used to investigate how species community structure changes in response environmental variations. SAD models depict the relative of recorded a and express fundamental aspects structure, namely patterns commonness rarity. However, influence differences conditions on characteristics is still poorly understood. In this study we carabid beetle...