Landscapes Forest and Global Change - ESA - Escola Superior ...

Akbarzadeh et al. 2010. Ecotourism and controlling forest stand damages
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The area is located between 38 .38′
and 38 .52′
latitude and between 46 .03′
and 46 .15′
longitude. It covers diversity of elevation, slope, population and land use and includes a variety
of Seashore Rivers, etc. There are above 785 plant species in this forest that 97 species of them
are woody (Sagheb et al, 2004).
Arasbaran includes 11 basins. Varzegan is one of them, which is our study area. Aras river is in
the Northern boundary of the study area. Varzegan basin includes about 58500 ha, which is 9.40
percent of Arasbaran,s total area.
Temprate front Mediterranean and Siberian climate causes accumulation of snow in the crest of
the mountains in winter. The study area is under the influence of the Mediterranean climate and
also Caspian and Caucasus climates. Nearest meterology station to the area is kaleibar station
which is 1300 m, above the sea level. Average rain fall in this station in a 20- year period was
461mm.
45% of the raining was in spring, 23% in autumn, and 22% in winter and % 10 in summer.
Maximum monthly evaporation is %85 in spring. Average yearly temperature is different so
that it may be up to12 o c , it would be 17 o c in low elevations and 5 o c in high elevations.
Average temperature in the warmest days of the year is 24 o c in low land and 12 o c in high
lands. Average temperature in the coldest days of the year is 10 o c in low lands and − 2
o c in
high lands. Minimum temperature may be up to − 29
o c , in the study area . Based on Due
Martteene method the climate situation in Ilighinehchay Basin is: Semihumid with cold
summers (Akbarzadeh and Babie. K 2002) (Sagheb et al, 2007) (Sabeti.H, 1976).
The area is bounded among Ararat, Sahand and Sabalan mountains and their activities and
tectonical frequency formed collection of lime and igneous stones among them marn, shale, tuff
and conglomerate can be seen.
This collection belongs to tertiary which has been formed due to high motion alpine mountain.
There are a large amount of basalt and tracite among them.
There are lime pans in Ghare Dagh Mountains too.
Surface of lands are covered with brown soils. There are many springs in the study area which
are emerged from the crest of rocky mountain.
Raining mostly is snow in study area which its low evaporation has caused some rivers to
emerge from high land and enter to Aras river. The main river is ilghineh chay which is the
same name as the basin.
Quality of waters is so good that can be used for human being, wildlife and agriculture without
any limitation (Akbarzadeh, 2007) (Mukhdum, 2000).
2. Methodology
The socioeconomic analysis was aimed at examining current land-use practices and their spatial
distribution, as well as the different land-use strategies implemented by households within the
NPA (natural protected areas). This analysis was needed to identify the forces behind
LUCC(land use / cover changes) in VARZEGAN, since landscapes are transformed by natural
resources appropriation and implementation of productive activities, in addition to ecological
processes. Our intention with this analysis was to reveal the ecological, economic and social
conditions under which the VARZEGAN ecosystem is managed. Socioeconomic data was
collected between September 2008 and October2009.
Data collection was done via participant observation, informal and semi-structured interviews,
and a survey with semi-closed questions.
All the above were conducted with the assistance of a bilingual interpreter who was not from
VARZEGAN and whose native and second languages were Turkish and Persian, respectively.
Data collection was designed to gather both quantitative and qualitative information. Semi-
Forest Landscapes and Global Change-New Frontiers in Management, Conservation and Restoration. Proceedings of the IUFRO Landscape Ecology
Working Group International Conference, September 21-27, 2010, Bragança, Portugal. J.C. Azevedo, M. Feliciano, J. Castro & M.A. Pinto (eds.)
2010, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Bragança, Portugal.