Ecological stability based on the changes of biological and chemical soil parameters inside and outside the exclosure of Serdol Khalkhal rangeland

Yousefvand, Sanaz; Ghorbani, Ardavan; Rostamnejad, Vadod; Moamri, Mehdi; Sharifi, Jaber; Qavidel, Akbar; Rostami, Narjes

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Volume 13, Issue 26 (9-2025)

PEC 2025, 13(26): 119-138

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Ecological stability based on the changes of biological and chemical soil parameters inside and outside the exclosure of Serdol Khalkhal rangeland

Sanaz Yousefvand¹

, Ardavan Ghorbani ^*

, Vadod Rostamnejad³

, Mehdi Moamri⁴

, Jaber Sharifi⁵

, Akbar Qavidel⁶

, Narjes Rostami⁷

1- Mohaghegh Ardabili University
Department of Range and Watershed Management, Faculty of Natural Resources, Water Management Research Center, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran., Department of Range and Watershed Management, Faculty of Natural Resources, Water Management Research Center, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran. , a_ghorbani@uma.ac.ir
3- Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources; Mohaghegh Ardabili University
4- Department of Range and Watershed Management, Faculty of Natural Resources, Water Management Research Center, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran.
5- Forest and Rangeland Research Department, Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Training Center of Ardabil Province, Agricultural Research, Training and Extension Organization, Ardabil, Iran
6- Associate Professor, Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mohaghegh Ardabili University, Ardabil, Iran
7- Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.

Abstract: (1120 Views)

Soil is the substrate and checking soil health indicators is one of the basic necessities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in vegetation (density, canopy, lifeforms of each species, litters, stones and pebbles and bare soil), physical parameters (sand, silt and clay), chemical (soil reaction, electrical conductivity, absorbable potassium, absorbable phosphorus, organic carbon and total soil nitrogen) and soil biology (basic respiration, substrate-stimulated respiration, microbial biomass carbon, metabolic benefit and microbial benefit) inside and outside exclosure of Aqh Dagh rangelands in Khalkhal county in the year 2021. According to the pervious conducted studies, the conditions of vegetation and soil of Ardabil province, 6 sites (3 sites inside and 3 outside of exclosure) were random-systematically selected and three transects of 50 meters along each transect. Ten plots of 1x1 square meter with five meter intervals were established. Moreover, data analysis was conducted in two regions inside and outside exclosure using independent two-sample t-test in SPSSVer18 software environment. Based on the results, the percentage of species canopy and species density was higher inside than outside exclosure and there was a significant difference (p<0.05). The physical properties of the soil inside and outside the exclosure were not significantly different, while the chemical parameters of the soil, except pH, were significantly different (p<0.05) inside and outside the exclosure, so that the maximum amounts of organic carbon and total nitrogen, respectively (80 0.27 and 0.27 %), absorbable phosphorus and potassium (23.41 and 614.09 mg/kg) were observed in the interior of the exclosure and the maximum electrical conductivity (0.92 Dsm^-1) was exclosure outside. Moreover, there was a significant difference (p<0.05) between the biological parameters of the soil inside and outside of exclosure, so that the only metabolic benefit outside exclosure compared to inside exclosure was (0.10 mg CO₂ -C. g^-1 C_mic .hr^-1), which had an increasing trend, while the maximum amount of basic microbial respiration and microbial respiration stimulated with substrate (0.80 and 1.12 mg CO₂. g^-1. Day^-1), respectively, and microbial biomass carbon with an amount of (538.57 mg C_mic. g^-1), microbial benefit (1.92 mg C_mic. g^-1 C_org) was inside exclosure. Based on this, it is suggested that exclosure should be considered as a suitable, efficient and low-cost management parctice to improve the condition of vegetation, soil characteristics an ecological stability of Agh Dagh rangelands for the management perspective.

Article number: 9

Keywords: Aqh Dagh, Biological parameters, Exclosure, Microbial benefit, Soil stability indicators, Vegetation cover

Full-Text [PDF 1950 kb] (479 Downloads)

Type of Study: Research | Subject: Special
Received: 2024/10/7 | Accepted: 2024/11/26 | Published: 2025/09/15

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Yousefvand S, Ghorbani A, Rostamnejad V, Moamri M, Sharifi J, Qavidel A et al . Ecological stability based on the changes of biological and chemical soil parameters inside and outside the exclosure of Serdol Khalkhal rangeland. PEC 2025; 13 (26) : 9
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