By-products and their exploitation methods
V. Abdollahi; H. Arzani; M.A Zare Chahuki; H. Movahed Mohammadi; Gh Haderbadi; J. Motamedi
Abstract
The utilization of medicinal plants based on the ecological principles is one of the aspects of multi-purpose use of rangelands. Therefore, the capability of Darmiyan mountain rangelands in the east of the country to exploit medicinal plants was evaluated. For this purpose, in addition to the ecological ...
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The utilization of medicinal plants based on the ecological principles is one of the aspects of multi-purpose use of rangelands. Therefore, the capability of Darmiyan mountain rangelands in the east of the country to exploit medicinal plants was evaluated. For this purpose, in addition to the ecological indicators, the economic, social, and environmental indicators related to the indigenous knowledge were also considered. In this regard, the vegetation inventory was performed inside the 60 two-square-meter plots located at a distance of 20 m from each other along the 200-meter transects, and the share of medicinal species in the plant composition was calculated. The limitations and potentials of the region to exploit the medicinal plants were also evaluated from the point of view of exploiters and experts by designing a set of questions in the form of Likert scale. The final suitability map to exploit the medicinal plants based on the good, medium, low, and non-suitable degrees of suitability was prepared by integrating the maps in the GIS and based on the FAO limiting factor approach. The results showed that 50.11% (6367.83 ha) and 49.89% (6341.44 ha) of the rangelands had medium and low suitability for exploitation, respectively. The canopy percentage had the highest share of limiting the suitability of plant types, in which the harvest of medicinal plants is less recommended to protect the soil and improve the rangeland conditions. The guaranteed purchase of medicinal plants from the exploiters and providing them with the necessary training on various aspects of this profession, will also increase the capability of this type of rangelands exploitation. Accordingly, they should be given more attention in designing the instructions to determine the rangelands suitability to exploit the medicinal plants.
M.A. Zare Chahouki; M. Abasi
Abstract
The purpose of this study was habitat suitability modeling for Thymus kotschyanus Boiss. & Hohen. using ecological-niche factor analysis. This model was implemented in the Biomapper software. The information layers included species presence map, soil map (gravel percentage, pH, electrical conductivity, ...
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The purpose of this study was habitat suitability modeling for Thymus kotschyanus Boiss. & Hohen. using ecological-niche factor analysis. This model was implemented in the Biomapper software. The information layers included species presence map, soil map (gravel percentage, pH, electrical conductivity, lime, organic matter, nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, soil depth, sand, clay and silt percent), and the topography map (slope, aspect and elevation). The accuracy of the model was obtained 89% using Boyce index, indicating the high accuracy of the model. The Kappa coefficient obtained from matching the prediction map with the ground truth map was calculated to be 0.73, which is at a good level. The results showed that T. kotschyanus preferred soils with a pH of 7.5-8, an electrical conductivity of 0.20-0.25 dS/m and less than 21.5 percent of lime. The optimal habitat of this species is located at an altitude of over 2000 meters above sea level and in the northern and eastern slopes. Furthermore, the results of this study showed that T. kotschyanus is a specialized species in the study area with a relatively narrow ecological niche, tending to live in its own special habitat conditions.
A. Assarzadeh; H. Azarnivand; F. Sefidkon; H. Arzani; M.A. Zare-Chahooki
Abstract
The essential oil yield and chemical composition of the aerial parts of Artemisia sieberi Besser were investigated in two sites of grazed and ungrazed rangelands. Plant sampling was performed from 2 sites in Ahmadabad, located in Semnan province at the beginning of flowering stage in October 2010. The ...
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The essential oil yield and chemical composition of the aerial parts of Artemisia sieberi Besser were investigated in two sites of grazed and ungrazed rangelands. Plant sampling was performed from 2 sites in Ahmadabad, located in Semnan province at the beginning of flowering stage in October 2010. The samples of inflorescences of plants were collected from 5 random points of each site. Then, air-dried parts of the plants were subjected to hydrodistillation using a Clevenger-type apparatus. Analysis and identification of chemical composition of the essential oils were performed by GC and GC/MS. There was no significant difference between the oil yields of Artemisia sieberi in 2 investigated sites. In ungrazed and grazed sites, the main components of essential oils were respectively, Camphor (48/03%), 1,8-Cineole (15/96%), Camphene (10/32%) and Camphor (51/82%), Camphene (10/86%), 1,8-Cineole (9/52%). According to the results, significant differences were recorded for Thuja-2,4(10)-diene (p<0.05) and α –Terpineol (p<0.01) between two studied sites. No significant differences were observed for the percentage of other componenets between 2 investigated sites. Also, comparison of the economic value of oil in one hectare with total area of the grazed and ungrazed rangelands showed that garzing caused a reduction in economic efficiency of oil.
