Modeling Fire in Arid Rangelands of Northeastern Iran: A Case Study of Namakzar Watershed, Khaf, Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Postgraduate student, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Torbat Heydarieh, Torbat Heydarieh, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Torbat Heydarieh, Torbat Heydarieh, Iran

10.22052/JDEE.2024.253933.1097

Abstract

Arid regions’ ecosystems are known as delicate responsive environments, where the effective management and regulation of natural events are essential for maintaining their suitability and promoting sustainable practices. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the extent of fire propagation in the arid rangelands of the Namakzar watershed in terms of topographical (altitude, aspect, slope), climatic (precipitation, temperature), ecological (NDVI), and human factors (distance from the roadway and residential areas) using the geographical information system (GIS) and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. The findings revealed that southwestern and northeastern regions had a great potential for fire occurrences (8%). Moreover, it was found that the middle class (17%) was dispersed in patches, tending to move from the central region towards the eastern and southwestern areas. Moreover, the regions with low or very low-risk status were identified to have made up nearly 75% of the total area of the region. On the other hand, the results of the AHP indicated that temperature (0.20) contributed the most to the fire incidence, followed by aspect (0.17), vegetation (0.17), and distance from residential areas (0.16). Furthermore, the results suggested that modifications in the slope (0.017) and elevation (0.02) of the region exerted negligible influence on the incidence of fire. Therefore, to minimize the chances of the occurrence of such incidents, managers are recommended to employ nearby communities' local knowledge and cooperation in implementing new techniques to control fire incidence in pastures.

Keywords

References

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Desert Ecosystem Engineering
Volume 12, Issue 10 in English
October 2023
Pages 55-68

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