Evaluation of sustainable forest management of Iran's Zagros forests

Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) means management of forest resources that consideration the needs of the current generation without risking ability of future generations to attain their needs. Evaluation of SFM needs to design a feedback information system to monitoring of forest resources. In this research, sustainability indicators based on the SMART&D framework were prepared in Tange-Solak local area in Zagros forest, Iran. Based on this, 7 indicators of ecosystem features were provided for evaluation of SFM. Here, Sustainability Index (SI) was used in evaluating SFM via fuzzy membership function. The results reveal that, Forest SI was eventually obtained as 0.15. This number (0.15) was obtained from the Fuzzy approach used in this study for an SI value far lower for forest sustainability compared to the number 1 (maximum value).Keywords: Fuzzy logic, Criteria, indicators, Sustainability Index (SI

Comparative Study of the Shear Bond Strength of Flowable Composite in Permanent Teeth Treated with Conventional Bur and Contact or Non-Contact Er:YAG Laser

Introduction:The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the in vitro effect of the Erbium-Doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (Er:YAG) laser with different radiation distances and high-speed rotary treatment on the shear bond strength of flowable composite to enamel of human permanent posterior teeth .Methods : freshly extracted human molar teeth with no caries or other surface defects were used in this study (n=45). The teeth were randomly divided into 3 groups. Group 1: treated with non-contact Er:YAG Laser and etched with Er:YAG laser, Group 2: treated with contact Er:YAG Laser and etched with Er:YAG laser, Group 3 (control): treated with diamond fissure bur and etched with acid phosphoric 37 % . Then the adhesive was applied on the surafces of the teeth and polymerized using a curing light appliance. Resin cylinders were fabricated from flowable composite. Shear bond strength was tested at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min.Results: The amount of Shear Bond Strength (SBS) in the 3 treatment groups was not the same (P<0.05).The group in which enamel surfaces were treated with diamond fissure bur and etched with acid (conrtol group) had the highest mean shear bond strength (19.92±4.76) and the group in which the enamel surfaces were treated with contact Er:YAG laser and etched with Er:YAG laser had the lowest mean shear bond strength (10.89±2.89). Mann-whitney test with adjusted P-value detected significant difference in shear bond strength between the control group and the other 2 groups (P < 0.05).Conclusion: It was concluded that both contact and non-contact Er:YAG laser treatment reduced shear bond strength of flowable resin composite to enamel in comparison with conventional treatment with high speed rotary. Different Er:YAG laser distance irradiations did not influence the shear bond strength of flowable composite to enamel

MASTREE+: Time-series of plant reproductive effort from six continents.

Significant gaps remain in understanding the response of plant reproduction to environmental change. This is partly because measuring reproduction in long-lived plants requires direct observation over many years and such datasets have rarely been made publicly available. Here we introduce MASTREE+, a data set that collates reproductive time-series data from across the globe and makes these data freely available to the community. MASTREE+ includes 73,828 georeferenced observations of annual reproduction (e.g. seed and fruit counts) in perennial plant populations worldwide. These observations consist of 5971 population-level time-series from 974 species in 66 countries. The mean and median time-series length is 12.4 and 10 years respectively, and the data set includes 1122 series that extend over at least two decades (≥20 years of observations). For a subset of well-studied species, MASTREE+ includes extensive replication of time-series across geographical and climatic gradients. Here we describe the open-access data set, available as a.csv file, and we introduce an associated web-based app for data exploration. MASTREE+ will provide the basis for improved understanding of the response of long-lived plant reproduction to environmental change. Additionally, MASTREE+ will enable investigation of the ecology and evolution of reproductive strategies in perennial plants, and the role of plant reproduction as a driver of ecosystem dynamics

Impact of thinning on quantitative characteristics of Brant`s oak (Quercus brantii Lindl.) in Khorramabad Forests

This research aims at exploring 1) change in growth form in young coppice stands of Brant`s oak (Quercus brantii Lindl.) and 2) decrease in competition among individual sprouts in a sprout-clump as imposed by gradual thinning operation. We assessed the effect of different thinning treatments on growth of Brant`s oaks in Chegeni region-Khorram Abad along a 16-year period. The results of the first 4-years are presented here. Four thinning including increasing, decreasing, traditional and control treatments were established, each with 3 replications. The intensity of thinning in decreasing treatment was 32% of all sprouts in a sprout-clump. This was decreased in the next phases to 28%, 22% and 18%, respectively. The trend in the increasing treatment was vice versa. In traditional treatment, all sprouts except 1 to 2 in a sprout-clump were removed. The control treatment included no intervention. Prior to thinning, quantitative characteristics of sample trees were measured. In the last year of research, the measurements were repeated. The results showed that decreasing treatment imposed a considerably positive impact on growth in crown area and diameter of sprouts within the sprout clumps. In addition, traditional treatment was most influential in height growth of sprouts. This study proved the positive effect of thinning on quantitative characteristics of Brant`s oak. Furthermore, it showed that the more intensive the treatments are, the more positively they effect. As a conclusion, thinning operations can improve the unsustainable structural characteristics of young coppice stands within similar sites in Zagros forests of Iran

A Novel Method for Detecting and Delineating Coppice Trees in UAV Images to Monitor Tree Decline

Monitoring tree decline in arid and semi-arid zones requires methods that can provide up-to-date and accurate information on the health status of the trees at single-tree and sample plot levels. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are considered as cost-effective and efficient tools to study tree structure and health at small scale, on which detecting and delineating tree crowns is the first step to extracting varied subsequent information. However, one of the major challenges in broadleaved tree cover is still detecting and delineating tree crowns in images. The frequent dominance of coppice structure in degraded semi-arid vegetation exacerbates this problem. Here, we present a new method based on edge detection for delineating tree crowns based on the features of oak trees in semi-arid coppice structures. The decline severity in individual stands can be analyzed by extracting relevant information such as texture from the crown area. Although the method presented in this study is not fully automated, it returned high performances including an F-score = 0.91. Associating the texture indices calculated in the canopy area with the phenotypic decline index suggested higher correlations of the GLCM texture indices with tree decline at the tree level and hence a high potential to be used for subsequent remote-sensing-assisted tree decline studies

Effect of thinning on growth of coppice Brant`s oak (Quercus brantii Lindl.) trees (Case study: Chegeni forest of Khorramabad)

As the first phase of a 16-year project, this research was carried out in a section of coppice Brant`s oak (Quercus brantii Lindl.) trees in Chegeni, Khorramabad, Lorestan province. We assessed the effect of different thinning treatments on growth of Brant`s oaks during a 4-year period. Three treatments with 3 replications were used including heavy (decreasing 30 percent of basal area), medium (decreasing 20 percent of basal area) and light (decreasing 10 percent of basal area) thinnings. One treatment was considered as control with no intervention. Quantitative characteristics of sample trees were measured prior to thinning. The measurements were repeated during 4 years to calculate the growth values. Based on results, heavy thinning had considerably positive impact on growth of diameter, height and basal area of sprouts as well as on growth of sprout-clumps crown area. It is concluded that thinning operations can improve the unsustainable structural characteristics of young coppice stands within Zagros forests

Evaluation of acorn vegetative characteristics of Ouercus libani complex

Northern Zagros Forests has remarkable diversity of oaks (Quercus sp.) as one of the most important tree species in Iran. Based on the modern taxonomy of this genus, five species of Q. libani, Q. carduchorum, Q. ophiosquamata, Q. magnosquamata and Q. apiculata were recognized form Q. libani complex. In order to complete the previous studies, here we evaluated the vegetative characteristics of acorns for those five species. Acorns of studied species were gathered from native forest stands of Baneh Forests in Kurdistan province. The acorns were then planted in a fully-identical condition in greenhouse. A completely randomized statistical design with three replications and 50 acorns per replication was used for statistical analysis. The results showed that the acorn length, acorn width and germination rate were significantly different (p < 0.01) amongst the five species. Furthermore, seedling height, wet and dry mass of stem, dry mass of root and total biomass of seedlings showed significant differences (p < 0.05) amongst the five species. Based on cluster analysis, Q. carduchorum was separated from other species and categorized in different category

Forests of IranA Treasure from the Past, a Hope for the Future /

VIII, 152 p. 86 illus., 55 illus. in color.onlin

Individual and annual variation in acorn production of Brant`s oak (Quercus brantii Lindl.) in Darbadam Forest of Kermanshah Province

Production of tree seeds is associated with considerable variations within individuals and among years. In this study, individual and annual variation in acorn production of Brant`s oak (Quercus brantii Lindl.) was studied in Darbadam Forest, Kermanshah province during 2009-2011. A number of 40 sample trees were selected by stratified random sampling method, followed by measurement of their quantitative variables. Prior to acorn fall in early September, the number of acorns per tree was determined by crown count method. In addition, acorn density (acorn number/m2 crown area) was calculated to compare the potential of acorn production.  The result showed great variability within individuals and among years. Some sample trees had no acorns; meanwhile acorn density was more than 40 in some trees. The weakest and the best acorn production were observed in 2009 (mean acorn density= 1.6) and 2010 (mean acorn density=10.7), respectively. The last year of study (2011) showed a moderate condition. Significant differences (