Investigating the relationship between wind erosion and value of animal habitats in desert areas

Abstract

Animal species in desert habitats are taken into consideration because of their uniqueness and inherent value. However the added pressures from climate and human have made living conditions difficult and acute for them. Wind erosion is one of the common phenomena in desert areas; this phenomenon can affect biotic value of those areas. Climatic constraints along with human development in such areas result in enhancing the effect of wind erosion, and as a result, affect the value of animal habitats. Therefore, by estimating the rate of wind erosion in such areas, the capability of environment for providing appropriate conditions for animal species’ subsistence can also be estimated. The objective of this research is to find the relation between the rate of wind erosion and value of animal habitat in Sarakhs as a representative of Razavi Khorasan Province. This research has been carried out in four steps: a) Approximate identification of each animal habitat in the area. b) Estimating the wind erosion based on IRIFR model. c) Estimating the approximate value of each of the animal habitats in the area. d) Determining the correlation between the value of each animal habitat with the average rate of wind erosion in that habitat. Investigating the relation between the average rate of wind erosion and the value of animal habitats which indicates that there is a significant correlation between them, that is to say, effective factors in increasing the rate of wind erosion have affected the quality of animal habitats, and proportional to their intensity, decreased the value of habitat.