The EVALUATION of ecological characteristics of Wildlife species has fundamental role in species management, because taking a decision for proper method of management is only possible by characterizing of ecological requirements of a species. In this study, suitable HABITAT of Middle Spotted Woodpecker was investigated in Golestan National Park. Presence and absence of birds and environmental variables (forest cover types, topography, and structural characteristics of vegetation) were obtained within a 25-m radius of each of 106 sampling points distributed throughout the study area. Data analysis was conducted using binary logistic regression. The results showed that some HABITAT variables including the number of snags, tree species, height of trees, d.b.h of trees, and basal area were the most significant positive predictors affecting this species presence in Golestan National Park. Old and undisturbed forest HABITATs with characteristics such as high values of basal area, number of snags, d.b.h, and height of trees in Golestan National Park has the capability of supporting the ‘umbrella’ and sensitive species to the disturbance such as the Middle Spotted Woodpecker.

The aim of this study was to assess the rangeland health of North Sabalan in three-elevation classes (less than 1500, 1500 to 2100, and 2100 to 2700 meters), which were the representative of rural, rural-nomad, and nomad rangelands, using the landscape function analysis (LFA) in Ardabil province. For sampling, three 50-meter transects were established in each elevation class according to the uniformity of the HABITAT and distribution of patches. Using the LFA framework, three characteristics including stability, infiltration and nutrient cycling of soil surface were determined using 11 indicators. Statistical analysis of data was conducted using the LFA method and instructions of Tongway and Hindley in Excel software. The soil stability index for vegetation life forms in the elevation class of 2100 to 2700 m was more than that of the other two elevation classes, with significant difference (P>0. 05); however, there was no significant difference between the first and the second class. Comparison of the infiltration and nutrient cycling indices for vegetation life forms in the elevation class of 2100 to 2700 m was also more than those of the other two elevation classes with significant differences (P<0. 05). The stability index in the third elevation class (72. 35) and in the second class (48. 75), the infiltration index in the third elevation class (73. 31) and in the first elevation class (15. 99), and the nutrient cycling index in the third elevation class (78. 75) and in the first elevation class (10. 12) had the highest and least values, respectively. Overall, the health condition of the third elevation class was better than the other two classes. By examining the functional characteristics of ecological patches, we can identify the vegetation indicators affecting rangeland health, and then conduct proper management to protect that ecosystem.

Three major HABITATs in the Golestan National Park were selected to evaluate the Urial Sheep (Ovis ammon arkal) by filed observation during 3 critical seasons (breeding, mating and wintering seasons) in 1997.The parameters investigated were: aspect, slope, vegetation, weather condition, water accessibility, age composition, sex ratio, percentage of breeding, number in group. The ranking and weighting method were used to asses and compare 3 HABITAT types. It was found that solegerd ranked first among 3 selected HABITAT types. Almeh and Lohondor ranked second and third.

A B S T R A C T Green city is one of the approaches to sustainable development. “green city” is an environmentally friendly city compatible with the concept of sustainable development and can be used for the welfare and security of its inhabitants. Based on the concept of a “green city,” urban managers try to have the least destructive effect on the ecosystems upon which cities rely. Green city is one of the sustainable development approaches that reduce the environmental footprint of cities. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the situation of Mashhad metropolis in terms of the objective characteristics of the green city. In this study, 14 indicators of electricity consumption per capita, green space per capita, population density, water availability, sewage availability, superior public transportation network, urban mass transportation, traffic reduction, annual production waste per capita, carbon monoxide, concentration nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide concentration, particulate matter concentration, and air quality were exerted. To determine the importance of research indicators, the Shannon entropy method, and the status of Mashhad city areas in terms of green city indicators, the VIKOR multi-criteria decision-making method has been applied. The results showed that most areas of Mashhad are average and below average in terms of green city characteristics, and only District 9 is in very good condition (0.636). Also, based on the results of this part of the research, District 5, with the value of VIKOR index of 0.969, is in the last rank in terms of objective characteristics of the green city Extended Abstract Introduction Green city is one of the approaches to sustainable development. A “Green city” is an environmentally friendly city compatible with the concept of sustainable development and can be used for the welfare and security of its inhabitants. Based on the concept of a “green city,” urban managers try to have the least destructive effect on the ecosystems upon which cities rely. Green cities constantly try to manage their environmental effects by reducing waste, increasing recycling, reducing air pollution, increasing population density, developing open urban spaces, and encouraging the development of sustainable local businesses. Green cities were first used to evaluate 30 European cities by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in 2009 with the financial support of Siemens and the aim of reducing the environmental effects of human activities in cities. In that study, eight indices of carbon dioxide, energy, construction, transportation, water, recycling and land use, air quality, and environmental governance were used. Later, the Economist Intelligence Unit, with the financial support of Siemens, evaluated the status of the green city index in 17 Latin American cities, 15 African cities, 22 major Asian cities, and 27 cities in United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In recent years, even some Western Islamic scholars have, in various publications, shown that Islam is an ecological religion. In Iran, the issue of protecting the environment has not received much attention regardless of its rich cultural and religious background and its confirmation in Article 50 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Mashhad is the second metropolis of Iran, located in North-East of Iran, and is one of the counties of Khorasan Razavi Province. According to the 2016 Iranian Population and Housing Census, its population was 3057679 people (The Vice-Presidency of Planning and Development of Mashhad Municipality). In Mashhad, due to several reasons including the presence of Imam Reza Shrine (PBUH) and arrival of millions of pilgrims per year, population growth, increased garbage production (production of 896534 tons of garbage in 2016 (The Vice-Presidency of Planning and Development of Mashhad Municipality), air pollution (increased number of unhealthy days from 46 days per year in 2015 to 88 days in 2016 for sensitive groups and 4 days of unhealthy air for all groups in 2016 (Center for Monitoring Environmental Pollutants of Mashhad Municipality) the 2025 vision of the city has paid attention to the environment in the form of five general objectives; however, just like the national level, no specific pattern for environmentally-compatible urban development, such as green city, is determined. Analysis of the green city index in Mashhad metropolis can considerably contribute to urban managers and planners in addition to providing a pattern for evaluating the present situation in other cities of Iran and improving the quality of life regardless of the current status of the urban environment in Iranian cities; we can preserve these environments as parts of the natural environment for future generations.   Methodology In terms of its goal, the present study is an applied one; in the study, drawing upon other studies and library sources and considering the conditions of Iran and the metropolis of Mashhad in terms of green city, 14 quantitative indices were exerted. To this end, the required data for the quantitative indices was gathered by library research from the relevant institutions. Next, the weights of quantitative indices were determined using Shannon's entropy. Then, using the VIKOR method of multi-criteria decision-making, the status of various districts of the metropolis of Mashhad in terms of quantitative indices of green city was determined. Finally, the map of the spatial distribution of quantitative indices was drawn using the ARC GIS software package.   Results and discussion In this study, to analyze the status of the metropolis of Mashhad in terms of green city features, 14 quantitative indices were used. Considering the value of the VIKOR index ranges from 0 to 1, various districts of Mashhad can be classified into five categories; very satisfactory, satisfactory, average, unsatisfactory, and very unsatisfactory in terms of quantitative indices of green city. The results of the current situation of Mashhad showed that in terms of objective indicators of the green city, District 9 of Mashhad metropolis with a value of VIKOR index of 0.056 is in first place, and the seventh region with a value of VIKOR index of 0.433 is in second place. Also, based on the results of this part of the research, District 5, with the value of VIKOR index of 0.969, is in the last rank in terms of objective characteristics of the green city.   Conclusion Similarly, the results of studies by Afshar (2011) and Shabani et al. (2017) on Tehran metropolis are indicative of the unsatisfactory situation of Tehran (the biggest metropolis of Iran) in terms of green city features. Comparing the results of the studies by Afshar (2011) and Shabani et al. (2017) with the present study on Mashhad (the second biggest metropolis of Iran) reveals the necessity for a comprehensive plan toward achieving green cities. It should be mentioned that, due to the specific conditions of Mashhad metropolis and availability or unavailability of the required data, the indices used in the present study are somewhat different from the ones used by Afshar (2011) and Shabani et al. (2017).   Funding There is no funding support.   Authors’ Contribution All of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work.     Conflict of Interest Authors declared no conflict of interest.   Acknowledgments We are grateful to all the scientific

The effects of land use, crop type and crop management on soil fauna were investigated with survey of four HABITATs in Jajarm. The HABITATs included rangelands, alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) fields and low-input and high-input of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) fields, each with four sample units. In each sample unit, the macrofauna collected with pitfall traps, sorted and counted in terms of family. The analysis of data conducted using of contrast analysis, analysis of similarities and principal component analysis (PCA). In rangelands the taxonomic richness, Simpson diversity index and abundance of macrofauna families tremendously were lower than agricultural HABITATs. These were attributed to low of plant diversity and pressure of livestock grazing. In alfalfa fields, increased abundance of beneficial macrofauna than wheat fields due to use not of chemical inputs, low disturbance and perennial of alfalfa. The crop management dad not have any significant impact on soil macrofauna. However, soil important macrofauna showed great tendency to occupancy in low-input wheat fields.

Markazi Province with its extended deserts and plains provides a suitable HABITAT for the Persian Gazelle.The HABITAT fragmentation due to the human-initiated activities is one of the major threatening factors against the species viability, especially Persian Gazelle. The present study is conducted using the MaxEnt method based on the maximum entropy or near to reality approach with 10 different variables and 30 focal points of Persian Gazelle. The study results show that a 215150.6 ha area equivalent to 14% in the southern half ofMarkazi Province covers a favorable HABITAT for the Persian Gazelle.The ROC model specifies that the validity of HABITAT suitability model is 0.985, suggesting the superior performance of MaxEnt method.Among the development variables, the highest impact on the Persian Gazelle ecology is assigned to distance to mines variable (10 km) while the lowest impact is related to distance from unpaved road variable. Further, among the ecologic variables, the highest and lowest impacts were detected for slope (0-5%) and height variables, respectively. The main objective followed in the present work is the protection of the extant population, interregionalcorridors, as well as livecapturing, sending, and restoring thePersian Gazelle from other regions toHaftad Qolleh, West Haftad Qolleh, and Muteh.

Destruction and HABITAT fragmentation are considered as the most challenging issues of biodiversity and establishment of protected areas is one of preventive methods to reduce biodiversity. Therefore, there are different criteria to choose it. Kermanshah province has covered different HABITATs due to its diverse ecologic condition. The current study aims to evaluate and compare the distribution of effective indices on HABITAT diversity in protected areas of Kermanshah province. In this regard, Surrogates such as altitude, slope, aspect, roughness of altitude, Shortwave Infrared Water Stress Index (SIWSI), Compound Topographic Index (CTI), normalized different vegetation index (NDVI), vegetation type and Roughness of NDVI have been used as Biodiversity surrogates. Since the protected areas should be indicative samples of their surroundings, all the mentioned variables were prepared for Kermanshah province area and then all maps for slope and cover type were divided into 10 classes based on Jenks method. Shannon-Wiener (H), Simpson (D) and Macintosh (D) indices were used for diversity analysis, and Pielou (J') and Macintosh (E) indices were used for richness analysis. The results show that in terms of diversity indices for slope, CTI, altitude, NDVI, roughness of altitude, Roughness of NDVI, SIWSI and slope, Hashilan no hunting area, Ghalajeh protected area, Nava Koh no hunting area, Dalakhani and Amroleh no hunting area, Bistoon protected area and Bistoon Wildlife Refuge have the highest diversity indices, respectively. The slope and CTI variables share most similarity in terms of distribution of classes among the protected areas, and the vegetation type variable has had the least similarity among the protected areas. Among the hunting-banned and protected areas, the highest diversity exists in the Amroleh and Dalakhani and Bistoon protected area, respectively. The results of this study can be useful in choosing the correct complementary protected logic.

Small mammals, especially rodents, play an important functional role in the ecological processes of the landscape and food chain in the ecosystem. Water vole has a wide distribution and is considered as a pest in parts of its distribution range. The Valley of Shara is a suitable HABITAT for branch birds, especially of the Arvicola amphibious. This study was conducted from 2018 in the Shara river, Intermediate of between the Duab bridge and the Goshirvan bridge in 2.5km distance from the river, Using of HABITAT Biodiversity Modeler (HBM) method, With Modele of Maxent in the Terrset and Arc Gis13.1 softwares , and with variables 8 of such as: slope, elevation, proximity to the river, distance from the road, NDVI, water depth, land use, distance from the village. Results show, The Valley of Shara is the southeastern part of the HABITAT of the Arvicola amphibious in Iran. The validity of Maxent model is equal to (0.994), which indicates excellent performance. The most important variables affecting the desirability of the water vole HABITAT is the distance from river. And the variables of slope and distance from road are in the next ranks. The water vole is considered as a key species for Shara valley. that the destruction of the HABITAT of this species is aggravated by disasters and natural hazards in the valley. Therefore, that providing and protecting the HABITAT needs of this species will restore and protect the river.