Mansour Mesdaghi’s research while affiliated with Ferdowsi University of Mashhad and other places

On the Ground • Information on seasonal trends in quantity and quality of available forage for the goitered gazelle may be useful to wildlife managers in developing management practices to maintain healthy populations and reduce the consumption of toxic plants by protected wildlife. • Goitered gazelles in Golestan National Park in Iran relied on a variety of grasses, shrubs, and forbs, to meet their nutrituional needs across seasons. • Increased knowledge of the goitered gazelle’s diet is expected to assist wildlife managers in determining carrying capacity and assessing viable habitats for future reintroduction programmes, including overall successful management within the protected areas of Iran.

Effective management and conservation of wildlife populations and their habitats depend on understanding and predicting species-habitat interaction. The distribution of Persian gazelles, which is related to habitat structure and dispersal of food resources, has been studied by clearance transect pellet group counts during different seasons. This study of habitat use was conducted by recording pellet groups along 20 permanent 3 m × 210 m transects in five vegetation types in the steppe habitat of Golestan National Park. Pellet groups were counted and cleared every two months over one year. Habitat use differed between seasons and vegetation types. Types I and II which featured diversified plant species, higher forage quality, and were adjacent to agricultural fields were used the most in all seasons and especially in fall and winter. Vegetation types III and IV with higher forage production, canopy cover, and vegetation density showed the lowest rate of use among all seasons. This could be due to the high protein content forage favoured by gazelles. The minimal model using multiple regression analysis showed a number of plant species were the indicative variable in gazelle habitats during each season. Positive relationship was detected between pellet group density and canopy cover of annual forbs and grasses in spring, with Aellenia sp in summer, and with Salsola rigida in fall and winter. This indicated higher use of types I and II throughout the year. The pellet group density of gazelles was negatively correlated with canopy cover of Stipa barbata and Poa bulbosa in all seasons, which indicated lower use of vegetation types III and IV.

Agropyron cristatum L. Gaertn. is a native grass of semiarid region in Iran which is quit resistant to cool and drought climate and withstand heavy grazing. This species has close phylogenetic relationship with Triticum and Hordeum. In this research, the effect of seven different concentrations of growth regulator 2,4-D on callus production and somatic embryogenesis of A. cristatum was investigated on Murashige and Skoog medium. The results showed that the rate of callus, embryo and neomorph were highest in 1 mg L-1 2,4-D. Callus production was increased in 1 mg L-1 2,4-D but dramatically decreased at 5.5 and 9 mg L-1 2,4-D. The somatic embryos were observed at 1 and 4 mg L-1 2,4-D but matured embryos and plantlet were only occurred at 1 mg L-1 2,4-D. There were significant differences between 1 mg L-1 2,4-D and other treatments for producing globular and torpedo embryos, plantlet, rooted callus and number of roots (P<0.05) and there was not any callus production and embryogenesis in control treatment without growth regulator. Keywords: 2,4-D, Callus production, Somatic embryogenesis, Agropyron cristatum