DETERMINING THE QUALITY INDEX OF VEGETATION COVER USING THE MEDALAS MODEL FOR THE REGIONS OF WESTERN IRAQ
ANBAR JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES,
2022, Volume 20, Issue 2, Pages 235-246
10.32649/ajas.2022.176557
Abstract
Three sites were identified within the districts of Hit, Haditha and Anah from Anbar Governorate for the purpose of determining the quality of vegetation cover. The office work included obtaining topographical maps, Satellite imagery, digital elevation models, in addition to climatic data. The course of field work was determined on the basis of the geomorphological features within the terrestrial perspective and the nature of the ecosystem. A semi-detailed survey was conducted based on the networking method for the areas of Hit and Anah, while the free survey method was adopted for Haditha area. Soil texture classes for the study areas ranged from sandy loamy, sandy clay loam, clay loam and sandy clay. And the calcium carbonate content of the soils of the study areas ranged between 126- 495 g kg soil-1. As for the gypsum content of the soils of the study areas, it ranged between 68 - 480 g kg soil-1. And the content of the organic matter varied from 2.4-11.4 g kg soil-1. The results showed that the percentage of plant coverage was within the fourth class, as it ranged between 27.88% and 34.60% for all study areas. The drought index was within the fourth class, which is described as very dry, as its values are 5.31, 5.78 and 5.61 for the regions of Hit, Haditha and Anah, respectively. The classes of erosion guide are included in the first class with low erosion and the second class with moderate erosion. Vegetation quality index (VQI) values were distributed between the medium and low quality classes for the study areas.1- Afzali, S. F., Khanamani, A., Maskooni, E. K., and Berndtsson, R. (2021). Quantitative assessment of environmental sensitivity to desertification using the modified MEDALUS model in a semiarid area. Sustainability, 13(14): 7817.
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