|
|
- Vegetation mapping through using satellite images of WorldView 2- A
case study of Haft Barm, ...
Abstract: Land cover maps are regarded one of the main inputs for land use planning and environmental modeling. One of the main reasons of unsuitable spatial array of the urban areas can be related to the rural communities' emigration, which in turn cause complete degradation of the farmlands and rural structures. Such event can be regards as a factor which is responsible for demolishing of the Haft Barm area an important recreational and touristic areas in the vicinity of Shiraz metropolis. Therefore, recognizing the natural conditions of the area, preparing resource maps like land use and land cover, and monitoring their changes during the time is critical issue in the environmental planning and management. To this aim, WorldView 2 images with eight bands were used and mentioned maps were produced. The mapping analysis way was relied on an object-based classification methodology and using a decision tree which was applied in the WorldView 2 images categorization. The process shall be as the following: a) segmentation, b) terrain selecting, c) creating a decision tree for images' classification, and d) ultimate classification and evaluation of the accuracy. The area was divided into 10 user classes. The results indicated successful classes categorization with overall accuracy of 87.45%. The highest accuracy of classification was obtained for water, forest, product, building classes respectively. Planted forests patches as well as natural forests were identified and classified using OBC approach (object-based method) while additional coastal bands were used to distinguishing among barren and covered lands. Distance to tree and shadow play an important role in identifying buildings.
PubDate: Mon, 05 Nov 2018 20:30:00 +010
- An Assessment of Eberhardt’s Ratio-Dependent Wolf-Ungulate Model
Abstract: A growing number of ecological studies suggest ratio-dependence may be common in many predator-prey systems. I assessed Eberhardt’s ratio-dependent wolf-ungulate model using 22 years of wolf (Canis lupus) and elk (Cervus elaphus) survey data, and 28 years of elk hunter harvest data from the northern range of Yellowstone National Park, USA. This model required estimation of eight parameters, of which four were determined from other studies and four were evaluated by statistical model fitting. Modelled trends in wolf and elk abundance were correlated with survey estimates, and modelled trends in wolf predation rates were correlated with empirical estimates. The equilibrium ratio of wolves to elk was 0.0063 and the equilibrium ratio of elk to habitat carrying capacity was 0.680. While this simple model provided a realistic portrait of wolf-elk dynamics in a complex predator-prey system, the performance of the model could be improved by including the sex and age structure of the elk population, a wolf functional response, and temporal variation in wolf and elk demographic rates. This model provides additional support for ratio-dependence in large mammal predator-prey systems.
PubDate: Sat, 27 Oct 2018 20:30:00 +010
- Habitat suitability modelling of Persian squirrel (Sciurus anomalus) in
Zagros forests, western Iran
Abstract: Habitat is one of the key parameters for species conservation and having adequate knowledge of the habitat requirements of a particular species is inevitable for developing conservation plans. In the current study habitat suitability of the Persian squirrel (Sciurus anomalus) was evaluated in four protected areas in southwestern Iran, using maximum entropy method (MaxEnt). We combined presence-only field data with nine environmental variables including aspect, slope, elevation, distance to river, distance to road, distance to village, climate type, landuse and vegetation types to map the species probability of presence and determine the factors limit its distribution. MaxEnt performed well at predicting the potential suitable habitats of the Persian squirrel with a mean AUC of 0.937. Results of the model indicated that landuse, climate type and distance from roads had the most contribution to the model performance. Persian squirrels have a strong preference for forests, therefore, land cover change due to human activities seems to be an important threat to the squirrel viability. Consequently minimizing anthropologic disturbances is required to maintain the number of Persian squirrels in the region.
PubDate: Wed, 08 Aug 2018 19:30:00 +010
- Studying the details of the life cycle and reproduction in the Tardigrade
of Mashhad
Abstract: Tardigrades are microscopic sized Ecdysozoans. In Iran, in the last year and for the first time, these animals were identified and reported in Mashhad, and it immediately became an important question that what is the extent of tolerance and biological and reproductive details of these animals in Iran. Therefore, in this study, it has been tried to study the mechanism of biological and physiological adaptations, especially to temperature and humidity stresses. Also, the development stages of the living details of these animals should be studied and compared with other studies in other climates. For this purpose, sampling was conducted from valleys and basins in Mashhad city during four seasons of 2014 to 2016. After identification of the species, films were recorded for these animals at least 6 hours per day, and the results of this study have been gathered on the favorable environmental conditions, reproductive details and development of eggs, nutrition, and other factors.
PubDate: Thu, 21 Jun 2018 19:30:00 +010
- Genetic diversity evaluation of Persian honeybees (Apis mellifera meda) in
North West of Iran, ...
Abstract: Using eight microsatellite markers and PCR method, the polymorphisms of three Persian honeybee, Apis mellifera meda, populations in North West of Iran (Ardabil, Azarbaijan-e sharqi and Azarbaijan-e gharbi) investigated and the genetic structure and diversity of populations explored. Total genomic DNA was extracted from thoraces of honeybees. PCR was conducted using eight pairs of microsatellite primers and its products were detected on 4% Nusieve/agarose. In total, seven, five and four microsatellite polymorphic loci were found in Ardabil, A. sharqi and A. gharbi populations, respectively and 42 alleles observed in 30 analyzed samples. A. sh honeybees showed high level of heterozygosity (0.563) and the lowest estimate was 0.438 for A. gh honeybees. Among three studied populations, Ardabil bees were containing maximum private alleles (17 alleles). Maximum genetic resemblance report was between Ardabil and A. sh corresponding to their geographical vicinity. In total, we detected low genetic divergence among honeybee populations of Iranian North West inferred from estimated total FST.
PubDate: Tue, 19 Jun 2018 19:30:00 +010
- Postnatal growth and age estimation in preterm infant of
long-fingered bat (Myotis ...
Abstract: Three Capaccinii’s bats (Myotis capaccinii) which were born and reared in a flight cage were subjected to a postnatal study. Length of forearm, body mass and length of the total gap at the fourth metacarpal- phalangeal joint of the neonats were measured in order to develop empirical growth curves and their derivatives. The pups at birth had a mean birth body mass of 2.6gr0.1 and forearm length of 18mm±1.5. At 54 days, mean body mass was 82.71% of adult mass (6.7gr ± 0.2) and mean forearm length was 80.37% of adult length (34.56mm ± 0.4). The length of forearm and body mass increased linearly during first, three weeks, and thereafter maintained in an apparent stability. The epiphyseal gap of the fourth metacarpal- phalangeal joint increased until 12 days, then decreased linearly until 50 days and thereafter fused. The rate of body mass gain and forearm growth during the first 24 days was 0.09 g/d and 0.6 mm/d, respectively.
PubDate: Wed, 06 Jun 2018 19:30:00 +010
- Potential use of brush-tailed mice for evolutionary developmental biology
studies: Calomyscus ...
Abstract: Rodents (mainly mice and rats) are the most commonly used animal models for studies of cancer biology, immunology, genetics, developmental biology and also embryo transfer techniques in domestic and endangered animal species, and even in humans. Herein, we aimed to evaluate Goodwin’s brush-tailed mouse (Calomyscus elburzensis) as a suggested model species for evolutionary developmental biology (Evo-Devo) studies. Trapping procedure was performed in Khaje-Morad rocky region, south center of Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan province, Iran between April and September 2014. Breeding procedure for 15 adult females and 12 adult males was conducted in captivity between 2014 and 2017. Brother × sister mating in each generation was used as laboratory rearing method for breeding three generations (F1-F3). The average of pregnancy period and the differences in the sex of newborns in different parturition were measured using descriptive statistical analyses (independent-sample t-test). We observed that Goodwin’s brush-tailed mice were relatively social rodents, and due to their high level of tolerance in harsh conditions, no hibernation, low cost, small size, the potential to be bred all round the year, nearly short pregnancy period (about 4.5 weeks) and long lifespan in captivity (generally between 4 to 5 years) have the potential to be bred and used in different fields of evolutionary studies. However, low reproductive output (known up to five till now) and late sexual maturity (at about four months) as compared with Mus and Rattus, are some drawbacks associated with Calomyscus, which might be improved by gradual genetic changes and artificial selection.
PubDate: Sat, 02 Jun 2018 19:30:00 +010
- Inventory of the quantitative characteristics of single oak trees with
nonparametric methods of ...
Abstract: In Iran's forests, forest inventory information is essential for land management, as less than 10% of Iran's forest is formed. So forest information is necessary, such as calculating the number, diameter, and volume for forest management. While traditional data is obtained using labor costs and time for ground measurements. New technologies, such as remote sensing, provide us with up-to-date information. Although many sensors extract the forest data for us, the WV-2 has very high resolution images. In the present study, we evaluated forest parameters estimation by focusing on single tree extraction by two decision tree methods and Support Vector Machines with complex matrix evaluation and AUC method with the aid of 4th UAV phantom birds in two distinct regions. The support vector classification has the highest accuracy in estimating the parameters of the single trees and then the tree is decided. This study confirms that using WV-2 data we can extract the parameters of single trees in the forest.
PubDate: Sat, 02 Jun 2018 19:30:00 +010
- Do Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) damage the unpalatable crops during
conflict with human' ...
Abstract: Human-Rhesus monkey conflicts were studied in the Rampur Village of Narsingdi District in Bangladesh. The village supports good homestead vegetations where three troops of Rhesus monkeys are living. Monkeys consumed plant parts of 10 species. Betel leaf vein (Piper betel), an unpalatable plant species of the monkey, was greatly damaged by them in this area but it is the main economic source for the local people. As a result, it is the major issue for human-Rhesus conflicts in this area. Local people are aggressive towards monkeys for damaging their major economic crops. For mitigating conflicts with monkeys, 60% people opined to strike them with stick and 30% preached to throw stones towards them. From this study, it indicates that unpalatable crops are not only damaged by Rhesus monkeys but also monkeys are injured during human-Rhesus conflicts. Scarcity of food and human aggression influence monkeys to invade and damage unpalatable crop of human settlements areas.
PubDate: Sat, 31 Mar 2018 19:30:00 +010
|
Open Access journal
