Survey of the Effects of Soil Properties on Land Degradation in Baghan Region, SW Iran

Soil is an effectual factor in arid, semi-arid and semi-humid/arid ecosystems, specially, with its effect on biomass production. Among the several aspects of land degradation, soil deterioration is one of the more serious consequences, so, desertification equivalent of soil degradation was known. Therefore, it is necessary to know the destruction factors of soil and its effects on desertification. Four soil parameters were considered at the current investigation (i.e. soil texture, electrical conductivity, soil depth and sub soil gravel percentage). A certain weight is assigned to each of these parameters based on the standard tables as proposed by IMDPA model (Iranian Model of Desertification Potential Assessment) in Baghan region, SW Iran. According to the factorial scaling technique, scores ranging from 0 (good conditions) to 4 (deteriorated conditions) is assigned to each index. Then, using the formula,final score of soil indicator (SI) was determined in the study area. Based on the results obtained, 28.86% and 71.72% of the study area are considered as low and medium desertification intensity classes, respectively. Quantitative value of desertification intensity for whole the study area was obtained as SI=1.88 on the basis of these four index that is indicative of medium desertification intensity in the region.

Keywords:

Land Degradation , Desertification , IMDPA , Assessment , IRAN