International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences

Int. j. adv. appl. sci.

EISSN: 2313-3724

Print ISSN:2313-626X

Volume 3, Issue 7  (July 2016), Pages:  54-59

Title: Assessment of vegetation degradation in arid regions by FAO/UNEP (Case study: Kashan Subbasin)

Authors:  Morteza Abtahi 1, *, Mohammad Darvish 2

Affiliations:

1Research Division of Natural Resources, Isfahan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Isfahan, Iran

2Desert Research Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, AREEO, Tehran, Iran

http://dx.doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2016.07.009

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Abstract:

The increasing trend of desertification during the twentieth century, especially in the years after World War II, caused that international specialized organizations tried to inhibit this trend by applying proper and scientific management. Presenting a model for desertification assessment and providing the map of land susceptibility to the processes, reducing the efficiency of land, by FAO/UNEP was among these actions. A provisional methodology for assessment and mapping of desertification was formulated (FAO/UNEP, 1984) and is now used for local and regional assessment and mapping. The aim of the present study was to assessment of vegetation degradation from the aspect of current status and inherent risk is one of the proposed processes, corrected by considering the conditions of the study area, available information, and several sessions with the experts of rangeland and desert research divisions, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands of Iran. From the aspect of current status, the vegetation degradation rate was calculated through measuring the canopy cover percentage of perennial species, rangeland quality, and forage production. From the aspect of inherent risk, it was calculated based upon the map of soil temperature and moisture regimes as well as information obtained from land capability map. Results showed that the degree of vegetation degradation in terms of current status for around 74% of the study area was very severe, while in terms of inherent risk it was severe and very severe for 84% of the study area. Our results clearly indicate the degradation of vegetation in northeast of Isfahan province, sounding the alarm. 

© 2016 The Authors. Published by IASE.

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Keywords: Desertification, Current Status, Inherent Risk, Vegetation, GIS

Article History: Received 2 June 2016, Received in revised form 25 July 2016, Accepted 25 July 2016

Digital Object Identifier: http://dx.doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2016.07.009

Citation:

Khan MA, Bonyah E, Ali S, Islam S, and Khan SN (2016). Stability analysis of delay seirepidemic model. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 3(7): 54-59

http://www.science-gate.com/IJAAS/V3I7/Abtahi.html

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