Study the Effects of Range Management Plans on Vegetation of Summer Rangelands of Mazandaran Province, Iran

Rangeland rehabilitation and optimum exploitation are the first scientific and technical efforts with various programs in range management plans (RMPs) in Iranian range management sector. The range management plans have important roles in the natural resources conservation and improvement. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of accomplishment of range management plans on vegetation cover of Mazandaran’s summer ranges over the past 22 years. First, twenty range management plans were randomly selected from 320 implemented ones in Manzandaran province, Iran. In order to collect the required data, field study was conducted to evaluate canopy cover percent, available forage, range conditions and trend before and after the implementation of range management plans. The data were analyzed and compared using parametric (t-paired) and non-parametric (Wilcoxon) tests. The results showed that the RMPs have increased the available forage production up to 14.7% (P