Assessment of ways to use pastures in semi-desert zone of West Kazakhstan

The authors presented research materials on the study of ways to use pastures in semi-desert zone of West Kazakhstan. Purpose. Study of ways of grazing farm animals to increase productivity and rational use of pastures. The research object is the pasture lands of “Miras” farm in West Kazakhstan region. The research tasks were to select the most effective way of grazing, ensuring preservation and improvement of quantitative and qualitative indicators of semi-desert zone pastures. The research scientific novelty is in the fact that the determined grazing methods allow rational use of pasture resources and increase feed capacity of pasture lands. The studies were carried out in a semi-desert zone of West Kazakhstan on a relief and sandy area of pastures. Results. Unsystematic use of pastures reduces quantitative and qualitative indicators. In summer studies, the highest content of weeds and poisonous plants (9 %) was found on a pasture of unsystematic grazing. When using this method, the proportion of cereals in the phytocenosis was at least 9 %. In the composition of the phytocenosis used in an unsystematic way, an increase in the proportion of wormwood was noted up to 15 %. Here, in comparison with the 2nd seasonal pastures, the share of herbs (poorly eaten) is also high – 21 %. On the pastures used in a unsystematic way in the spring, the yield of herbage reached only 3.81 c/ha, which is less than the seasonal pastures by 2.50–4.28 c/ha or 65.6–112.3 %. In a semi-desert zone, to provide agricultural animals with high-grade and high-quality fodder, as well as to create a stock and reduce the shortage of fodder, it is advantageous to use seasonal pastures with the inclusion of a distant pasture area in the pasture rotation. The use of distant areas for seasonal use of pastures, increasing the duration of the pasture period by 120 days, allows the farm to additionally create the volume of actual feed storage at the level of 5 499.5 centners, reducing the level of feed deficit by 2 119.7 centners or 81.03 %.

DESERT AND SEMI-DESERT VEGETATİON OF GARAGUSH MOUNTAIN

Desert and semi-desert vegetation It is observed in the form of a narrow strip from north to south, and local spots in the direction of Ordubad region after the Araz Lake. It covers the areas of 600-1000 meters in the plains of Sadarak, Sharur, Boyukduz, Nakhchivan, Gulustan, Yayji, Desta and Ordubad. Some of the typical desert elements have been found in the foothills of Mountain Garagush, especially in the Gendara zone. Of these species, Amaranthaceae Juss. , (Chenopodiaceae Vent.) Suaeda dendroides Mog, belonging to the genus Chenopodiaceae. - Woody herb, Halocnemum strobilaceum (Pall.) Bieb. - Condensed sorrel and Seidlitzia florida (Bieb.) Bunge are examples of flowering marigold species. However, it is possible to claim that the desert vegetation was not fully formed, but that the desert vegetation formed a transition to semi-desert vegetation. Demiler, Gendera, Sariagil, Ramlar and Lizbird valleys of Garagush Mountain have local salinity, ephemeral-gallant (colored soil), gamma (gypsum soil) and sandy areas. The latter sandy area is more noticeable in the Lisbird Valley.

Mapping Sandy Areas and their changes using remote sensing. A Case Study at North-East Al-Muthanna Province, South of Iraq

<p>Sandy areas are the main problem in regions of arid and semi-arid climate in the world that threaten urban life, buildings, agricultural, and even human health. Remote sensing is one of the technologies that can be used as an effective tool in dynamic features study of sandy areas and sand accumulations. In this study, two new indices were developed to separate the sandy areas from the non-sandy areas. The first one is called the Normalized Differential Sandy Areas Index (NDSAI) that has been based on the assumption that the sandy area has the lowest water content (moisture) than the other land cover classes. The second other is called the Sandy Areas Surface Temperature index (SASTI) which was built on the assumption that the surface temperature of sandy soil is the highest. The results of proposed indices have been compared with two indices that were previously proposed by other researchers, namely the Normalized Differential Sand Dune Index NDSI and the Eolain Mapping Index (EMI). The accuracy assessment of the sandy indices showed that the NDSAI provides very good performance with an overall accuracy of 89 %. The SASTI can isolate many sandy and non-sandy pixels with an overall accuracy about 86 %. The performance of the NDSI is low with an overall accuracy about 82 %. It fails to classify or isolate the vegetation area from the sandy area and might have better performance in desert environments. The performing of NDSAI that is calculated with the SWIR1 band of the Landsat satellite is better than the performing of NDSI that is calculated with the SWIR2 band of the same satellite. EMI performance is less robust than other methods as it is not useful for extracting sandy surfaces in area with different land covers. Change detection techniques were used by comparing the areas of the sandy lands for the periods from 1987 to 2017. The results showed an increase in sandy areas over four decades. The percentage of this increase was about 20 % to 30 % during 2002 and 2017 compared to 1987.</p>

The Influence of the Occipital Chamfer Inclination Angle on the Wedge-Ripper Force Loading

The tillage implement plowshare acts on the soil similarly to a wedge-ripper. This is the most loaded and fast wearing part. The wedge-ripper blade when worn usually becomes dull quickly, and an occipital chamfer is formed on the back side. It creates additional traction resistance, prevents the blade introduction into the processed area, reduces the productivity and quality of agricultural implements work. (Research purpose) To determine the occipital chamfer inclination angle influence of the wedge-ripper in the range of 5-25 degrees on the resultant loading force characteristics. (Materials and methods) The authors conducted laboratory tests of wedge-ripper experimental samples made with different occipital chamfer inclination angle on the blades edges back sides. The authors used installation for accelerated testing of soil-cutting parts and strain gauging equipment. On all samples, the wedge-ripper front surface inclination was set to 30 degrees. They changed the occipital chamfer inclination angle from 5 to 25 degrees. (Results and discussion). The authors found out that a change in the occipital chamfer inclination angle was accompanied by a change in energy indices during its movement in a sandy area. It was determined that the lower layer of the sandy area in the zone of the occipital chamfer did not fully penetrate the lower layers, and with an increase in the occipital chamfer inclination angle, a part of the sandy layer was unloaded in front of the blade and hit the wedge-ripper front surface. (Conclusions) The authors found out that with an increase in the occipital chamfer inclination angle at the blade edge, the wedge-ripper resistance increased when it was moved in a granular area. It was found out that in the contact zone between the occipital chamfer and the lower layers of the processed area at small inclination angles up to 5 degrees, the layer was crushed, and when the angle was increased to 25 degrees, additional unloading of the area in front of the blade was observed, which increased the working body resistance and the total energy consumption of the work process. The authors showed that for a direct wedge-ripper, the vector inclination angle of the resultant force to the horizontal decreased from 20 to 17 degrees.

Đặc điểm của thảm thực vật vùng đất cát nội đồng ngập nước tại huyện Phong Điền tỉnh Thừa Thiên Huế

Thảm thực vật vùng đất cát nôi đồng ngập nước theo mùa tại huyện Phong Điền tỉnh Thừa Thiên Huế dựa vào cấu trúc tổ thành được phân thành 4 quần xã đó là: Quần xã cỏ ẩm nằm ven các trằm; Quần xã cây bụi trên vùng cát trũng; Quần xã Tràm trên vùng ngập nước thường xuyên và định kỳ; Quần xã cây gỗ lớn trên đầm lầy than bùn.Mỗi một quần xã đặc trưng bởi một nhóm loài thực vật ưu thế khác nhau, cấu trúc khác nhau đặc thù cho dạng lập địa tạo nên sự đa dạng về thực vật vùng cát nói chung, và vùng đất cát nội đồng ngập nước nói riêng. Những kết quả đã đạt được là cơ sở dữ liệu về thực vật vùng cát, giúp cho công tác bảo tồn, phục hồi hệ sinh thái vùng cát sau này.Plants of submerged inner sandy area (coastal sandy and sandune areas) is divided 4 flora communities, they are Moist grasslands on the edge of the lake; Shrub community in low-lying inner sandy area; Melaleuca community on submerged inner sandy area and sandy seasonally inundated; Wood community on peat swamp, submerged inner sandy area. Site condition based causes flora communities with corresponding of species composition and ecological structures, make up the diversity of the submerged inner sandy flora system. These results contributed a database on the sandy plants for conservation, ecological based restoration in study sites.

Wind Erosion Changes in a Semi-Arid Sandy Area, Inner Mongolia, China

Wind erosion is one of the major environmental problems in drylands. Identifying the dominant natural factors of wind erosion and using targeted treatment measures are the key steps in wind erosion control. Using Horqin Left Back Banner in China as a case study, we applied the revised wind erosion equation to simulate the spatial distribution of wind erosion in the semi-arid sandy area. Contribution assessment and constraint line analysis were used to investigate the contributions of driving forces to wind erosion changes. The results showed that the wind erosion in the whole area was reduced by 0.35 t/hm2·a from 2005 to 2016. The wind factor and vegetation coverage factor had dominant contributions to the wind erosion modulus and accounted for the erosion in 49.87% and 50.13% of the total area, respectively. In addition, the average wind speed exceeding the threshold and the number of occurrences exhibited significant correlations with the wind erosion severity. Meanwhile, the mitigation effects of vegetation coverage on wind erosion decreased with the increase in wind speed. The temporal mismatch between the wind speed and vegetation coverage was the main reason for the frequent severe wind erosion in spring. Reducing the spring wind speed through adding windbreaks would be an effective method for decreasing wind erosion in semi-arid areas.