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Comparison of the effect of a semi-circular bunds system on vegetation and soil moisture levels in drought and wet conditions (Case study: Zirkouh rangelands - South Khorasan)
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Moslem Rostampour *    , Mohammad Saghari , Habib Chabok Estend |
| Assistant Professor, Department of Rangeland and Watershed Management and Research Group of Drought and Climate Change, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran, Email: rostampour@birjand.ac.ir |
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Abstract: (613 Views) |
The current research aimed to investigate the impact of a semi-circular bunds system on vegetation and soil moisture levels. This research was carried out in the plain rangeland of Ahangaran region, South Khorasan province. Rainwater harvesting projects with semi-circular bunds structure along with Haloxylon persicum planting have been done in the years 2018-2021 in four areas adjacent to each other. In this project, biological restoration including seed broadcasting in the inside and on the bund ridge have been carried out. In the four studied areas, the canopy cover area and plant height and production of Haloxylon persicum were estimated. To investigate the effect of the structure on the soil properties, in April 2022, soil samples were taken from inside and outside of the semi-circular bunds at a depth of 0-30 cm. Soil moisture levels, soil texture, Bulk density, and soil organic matter content were determined in the laboratory. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to investigate the effect of year on vegetation characteristics. Moreover, to compare the vegetation characteristics of the inside and on the bund ridge, as well as the soil characteristics of the inside and outside of the structure, the Student's t-test were used. The results showed that the location of seed broadcasting in semi-circular bunds systems has a significant effect on vegetation characteristics (p≤0.01), canopy cover area and plant height resulting from seeding on the ridge are higher than on the inside. The results showed that the effect of the semi-circular bunds on other soil moisture properties (except for saturation moisture), soil texture, bulk density, and soil organic matter was not significant (p≥0.05). Soil texture of both areas with sandy loamy has not changed after four years. In 2018 and 2019, as wet years, semi-circular bunds project in this region has increased the vegetation compared to the control region, but in 2020 and 2021, as drought years, this system did not play a role in the increase of quantitative of rangeland vegetation. |
Article number: 3 |
| Keywords: Drought, Haloxylon persicum planting, Production, Semi-circular bunds, Soil texture, Water storage |
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Full-Text [PDF 10401 kb]
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Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
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