Volume 18, Issue 3 (1-2025)
مرتع 2025, 18(3): 432-450 |
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Aghababaei M, Ebrahimi A, Naghipour A A, Asadi E. Mapping Plant Ecological Units to Quantify Ecosystem Services (Carbon Sequestration) in the Semi-Steppe Rangelands of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province. مرتع 2025; 18 (3) :432-450
URL: http://rangelandsrm.ir/article-1-1269-en.html
URL: http://rangelandsrm.ir/article-1-1269-en.html
Department of Nature engineering, Faculty of Natural Resources and Earth Sciences, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord
Abstract: (476 Views)
Background and objectives: Plant Ecological Units (PEUs) are distinctive land types capable of producing unique vegetation communities that differ in composition, structure, and carbon storage capacity, an essential ecosystem service. This research aims to accurately classify PEUs in semi-steppe rangelands to quantify ecosystem services, particularly carbon sequestration, as a critical ecosystem service.
Methodology: The Marjan-Borujen watershed in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province was selected as the study area. Following monitoring and field studies, four dominant PEUs were identified: Astragalus verus Olivier, Bromus tomentellus Boiss, Scariola orientalis Sojak, and Astragalus verus Olivier - Bromus tomentellus Boiss. Multi-temporal images were used for better classification, evaluation, and monitoring of PEUs' changes over the past thirty years. Additionally, Land Change Models (LCM) were employed to predict future changes in PEUs. Three-time periods were selected, each with a 16-year interval: the first period (1988-1986) with the TM sensor, the second period (2002-2004) with the ETM+ sensor, and the third period (2018-2020) with the OLI sensor. The Markov Chain (MC) modeler was used to model and predict future changes in PEUs (2036). Finally, ecosystem services (carbon storage and sequestration) between the present (T1) and future (T2) periods were quantified.
Results: LCM modeling results indicated that by 2036, PEUs 2 and 4 would increase by 4.3% and 0.07%, respectively, while PEUs 1 and 3 would decrease by 1.98% and 3.12%, respectively. The ecosystem services modeling (ESM) results showed that the current total carbon stored in the region is approximately 226,238 tons. Between the two periods T1 (2020) and T2 (2036), 463 tons of sequestered carbon will be lost due to changes in PEUs. The quantification of ecosystem services revealed that the hotspots of carbon sequestration reduction are primarily associated with areas affected by destruction, such as livestock grazing, bush cutting, and land plowing.
Conclusion: This research highlights the changes in PEUs from the past to the future, demonstrating the impact of human and management activities on ecosystems and plant communities within less than a decade. Implementing natural resource protection policies and appropriate management activities can reduce the destruction of plant communities, thereby enhancing their sustainability and future health. Vegetation changes are the primary drivers of ecosystem services changes. Carbon storage and sequestration, as key ecosystem services, have a direct relationship with vegetation, which is significantly affected by changes and reductions in vegetation. In the studied area, lands close to access roads or those that were plowed and abandoned eventually turned into uncovered lands and poor rangelands, resulting in decreased carbon sequestration and the emergence of carbon sequestration reduction hotspots.
Methodology: The Marjan-Borujen watershed in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province was selected as the study area. Following monitoring and field studies, four dominant PEUs were identified: Astragalus verus Olivier, Bromus tomentellus Boiss, Scariola orientalis Sojak, and Astragalus verus Olivier - Bromus tomentellus Boiss. Multi-temporal images were used for better classification, evaluation, and monitoring of PEUs' changes over the past thirty years. Additionally, Land Change Models (LCM) were employed to predict future changes in PEUs. Three-time periods were selected, each with a 16-year interval: the first period (1988-1986) with the TM sensor, the second period (2002-2004) with the ETM+ sensor, and the third period (2018-2020) with the OLI sensor. The Markov Chain (MC) modeler was used to model and predict future changes in PEUs (2036). Finally, ecosystem services (carbon storage and sequestration) between the present (T1) and future (T2) periods were quantified.
Results: LCM modeling results indicated that by 2036, PEUs 2 and 4 would increase by 4.3% and 0.07%, respectively, while PEUs 1 and 3 would decrease by 1.98% and 3.12%, respectively. The ecosystem services modeling (ESM) results showed that the current total carbon stored in the region is approximately 226,238 tons. Between the two periods T1 (2020) and T2 (2036), 463 tons of sequestered carbon will be lost due to changes in PEUs. The quantification of ecosystem services revealed that the hotspots of carbon sequestration reduction are primarily associated with areas affected by destruction, such as livestock grazing, bush cutting, and land plowing.
Conclusion: This research highlights the changes in PEUs from the past to the future, demonstrating the impact of human and management activities on ecosystems and plant communities within less than a decade. Implementing natural resource protection policies and appropriate management activities can reduce the destruction of plant communities, thereby enhancing their sustainability and future health. Vegetation changes are the primary drivers of ecosystem services changes. Carbon storage and sequestration, as key ecosystem services, have a direct relationship with vegetation, which is significantly affected by changes and reductions in vegetation. In the studied area, lands close to access roads or those that were plowed and abandoned eventually turned into uncovered lands and poor rangelands, resulting in decreased carbon sequestration and the emergence of carbon sequestration reduction hotspots.
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
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Received: 2024/06/12 | Accepted: 2024/08/25 | Published: 2025/01/29
Received: 2024/06/12 | Accepted: 2024/08/25 | Published: 2025/01/29
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