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IntroductionFor optimal production and maintaining its stability, environmental and weather conditions must be determined from the perspective of capabilities and limitations. For this purpose, it requires reliable regional data such as planting date, ripening time, plant density, soil, and meteorological information, which are generally not available for most regions. Obtaining this information is very time-consuming and expensive in many areas and is often simply not possible. Therefore, zoning can facilitate access to this information on a large scale. In other words, if the regions that are similar in terms of climate, soil, and management conditions are identified, the time and cost needed to collect information on a wide scale will be minimal. Materials and MethodsThe present study was conducted for the agro-ecological zoning of the country. In this research, the existing climatic zones of the country were analyzed based on GYGA, and the existing soil zones of the country were analyzed based on the HC27 method.Results and DiscussionThe combination of climatic zones and soil, 198 polygons or agro-ecological zones were obtained for all agricultural lands of the country. The zones in which more than 1% of the country's agricultural lands are located include 28 zones, and in total, about 80% of the agricultural lands are located in these zones. The highest frequency percentage is related to agro-ecological zone 4103-5 with a frequency of 85.11%. Also, the frequency of agro-ecological codes (climate code 5003 with soil code 5) 5003-5 (28.7%) and (climate code 4003 with soil code 5) 5-4003 (93.4%) were placed next. Zoning can facilitate the selection of points for plant studies and other planning.ConclusionEach of these areas has a different climate and soil code, which indicates the specific production conditions of that area. From these agro-ecological zones, to improve studies and make agricultural management decisions, it is possible to prepare and complete the climate and soil information bank in each zone for use in simulation models of plant production, to facilitate the collection of information (such as management information, cultivar information plant) and the implementation of plant production simulation model to be used in studies related to the food security of the country. The current research was conducted to determine the main agro-ecological areas of agricultural production in the country so that simulation studies and other studies can be carried out in the main production location in each province. Therefore, it is necessary to know where the main production centers of each province were, what kind of climate and soil it has, and which meteorological station is the indicator of that region. In this research, the climate zones of irrigated, rainfed, garden, and pasture lands of the country were determined by using the Giga climate map. Based on this, more than 50% of water lands are located in climates 5003, 4003, 5002, 8003, and 6003, respectively. Also, the rainy lands are located in 4103, 4003, and 3103 climates respectively. Also, by using the HC27 soil map, the soil areas in the irrigated, rainfed, garden, and pasture lands of the country were determined. Therefore, more than 50% of water lands in soil codes 5 and 17; Rainy lands in Kodkhak 5 and 12; Garden lands were located in soil codes 5 and 12 and pastures were located in soil codes 5 and 17. By combining climatic zones and soil zones, agricultural-ecological zoning of the country was done, and finally, 198 zones were obtained. The zones in which more than 1% of the country's agricultural lands are located include 28 zones, in total, about 80% of the agricultural lands are located in these zones (Figure 7). The highest frequency percentage (11.85%) was related to the area with agroe-cological code 4103-5, which covered 1789965.8 hectares of agricultural land. Also, after that, the agro-ecological code 5003-5 has the highest frequency (7.28 percent), which covers 1100599.25 hectares of agricultural land in the country. In this research, after the agro-ecological zoning of the country's agricultural lands, several 198 zones were obtained, and after calculating the area covered by each zone, finally, 28 agro-ecological zones have an abundance percentage of more than 1%, and together they are about 80% (11813518.66 hectares). They cover the country's agricultural lands. These climate zones obtained can be used for food security studies and calculating and determining the production capacity of each region. On the other hand, considering that in agricultural studies, extensive and comprehensive information about climate and soil is needed for each region and access to this information is usually expensive and time-consuming, the use of agro-ecological zones resulting from this research can be necessary.

Literature and purpose: Failure to pay attention to the protection of water resources, soil and plant resources has caused the destruction of these resources. Among the effective factors in this destruction, we can point out land use conversion without a comprehensive approach, cutting down forests, destroying rangeland, drought, damage by pests and diseases. Pests and plant diseases in the forests and rangelands of the country are considered one of the most important factors of forest destruction. For the prevention and management of the outbreak of pests and plant diseases, there is a need for monitoring and a comprehensive management plan for pests and plant diseases. As the largest province in the country, Kerman province is part of the Turani, Iran zone, and out of the total area of 181737 square kilometers of this province, about 5% of agricultural land, 45% of rangeland, 13% of forest and 37% of desert. Methodology: To evaluate and monitor the status of the most important pests and pathogens of the main plants and considering the diversity of environmental conditions and the area of forests and natural rangeland in Kerman province, sampling was carried out during the years 2018 to 2020. The monitoring plan was implemented in Dehno, Babzangi, Kohpanj and Glochar stations as well as Yazdanabad and Raviz areas as two mountain almond tree habitats. The most important forest communities (trees-shrubs) and rangeland in the mentioned areas are Juniperus excelsa M.Bieb., Amygdalus scoparia Spach., Amygdalus elaeagnifolia Spach., Artemisia aucheri Boiss's, Artemisia siberi Besser, Stipa arabica Trin. & Rupr and Zygophyllum atriplicoides Fisch. & C. A. Mey. Periodic sampling of pests and pathogens was done in those plants in the desired parts. In sampling, the type and level of contamination with pests and pathogens were recorded. Due to the thinness of the almond forests in the investigated areas in Kerman province, the transect sampling method was used in the form of continuous lines. Data collection from rangeland areas was done during field visits of representative plant types. Sampling in this range was based on systematic random method. Result: Based on the investigations carried out at the Dehno Bardsir station as the habitat of Z. atriplicoides, the seed-eating moth from the Lepidoptera order, at the Dehno Bardsir and kohpanj Bardsir stations as the habitat of S. arabica, the Tranzscheliella iranica S. and Dehno Bardsir and Kohpanj Bardsir stations as habitats of A. aucheri and A. siberi, Gallfly from the family of Cecidomyiidae was isolated and identified with about 4% contamination, also from Yazdanabad Zarand region as a habitat of A. scoparia, wood-borer beetle capnodis tenebrionis with about 30% contamination and from Raviz area of Rafsanjan as a habitat of A. elaeagnifolia, mistletoe Loranthus grewinkii Boiss. & Buhse was detected with about 60% contamination. The population fluctuations of the pests of seed-eating moth, gallfly and woodborer beetle in mountain almonds and the the stipa smut pathogen in the years of monitoring of damaging agents in the studied areas was almost constant and no particular fluctuation was observed in these agents population. However, the population of mistletoe as a semi-parasitic plant based on A. elaeagnifolia decreased in the studied area in 2019 and again in 2020, it was returned to the level of the previous years. The reason for the decrease in the population of L. grewinkii in 2019 was the pruning of the infested tree branches to the mistletoe plant. Conclusion: Due to the unprincipled pruning, this semi-parasitic plant grew again from the previous contaminated places and reached the previous population level in the following year, according to the results of the seed-eating moth pests. The dormant Gallfly, and the stipa smut have a low population, and based on their population fluctuations in the studied years, they were in equilibrium with the host plants in their natural environment and do not have an overflowing state. Based on the results, the populations of C. tenebrionis and L. grewinkii are high in the host plants, causing severe damage and reducing the growth and reproduction of the host. It is necessary to continue detection pests and diseases in different regions in order to monitor the existing factors and the newfound factors to prevent their entry and spread. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives Detection of resistance to an herbicide in a putatively resistant accession requires a series of experiments which are capable of illustrating the response of the accession to various herbicide doses. Whole plant bioassay in pots usually takes approx. 2 months to obtain the results, thus, rapid tests were developed to accelerate the process. Although determination of discriminating concentration as well as conduction of rapid test for some ACCase inhibitors has been performed by various researchers, no reports are available in this regard for in clodinafop propargyl herbicide in rigid ryegrass from wheat field of Golestan province. Thus, the following study was conducted with the objective of rapid detection of resistance to the mentioned herbicide in this weed using the rapid test. Materials and Methods The experiments were conducted using the seeds of 30 putatively resistant rigid ryegrass accessions and a susceptible biotype gathered from wheat field of Golestan province in 2019. Rapid test in petri dishes was conducted as a completely randomized design with three replications, with each petri dish as one replicate. To determine the discriminating concentration, various concentrations of clodinafop propargyl was applied on the susceptible accession and then, all putative accessions were screened using this concentrations. The biotypes of the studied weed were exposed to various doses of the herbicide in the petri dish bioassay to determine the resistance factor. Also, another experiment based on a completely randomized design with three replications was conducted for screening of putative accessions in the greenhouse. Accessions which maintained their survival and dry weight respectively 50 and 80 percent compared to the unsprayed control were selected. A whole plant dose-response bioassay was also done separately for each biotype. Checking the distribution map of resistant biotypes indicated that these biotypes were not uniform in the wheat fields of Golestan province. During sampling, geographical coordinates of infected areas were recorded using GPS Map60 device and weed distribution map was prepared using ArcGIS software. Results Discriminating concentration of clodinafop propargyl for rigid ryegrass was obtained 0.0196 mg ai. L-1. According to the results, 25 out of 30 accessions were detected as resistant and underwent the concentration- response assay in petri dishes. Resistant factors of the biotypes in the rapid test ranged from 38.75 to 1756.20. According to the results of the greenhouse, 25 accessions were detected as resistant with resistance factors of 11.58 to 24.05. There was a positive and significant correlation between the results obtained from the rapid test with the greenhouse assay (%93). Investigation of distribution map of resistant biotypes indicated non-even distribution of these biotypes across wheat fields of Golestan province, with resistant and susceptible biotypes often observed in the west and east of the province, respectively. Conclusion Putative rigid ryegrass accessions collected from the region may be screened using 0.0196 mg ai. L-1 concentration and resistant biotypes may be detected more rapidly compared to greenhouse assays. Also, the results of the rapid test are in accordance with those of the whole plant assay in pots. Due to the swift development phenomenon of herbicide resistance issue, rapid detection of resistance is essential. Thus, using methods such as rapid test may be very feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Oilseeds are the second largest food sources in the world after cereals. Soybean (Glycine max L.) is the largest source of protein and oil in the world and is cultivated in some regions in Iran. Golestan province is one of the important agricultural regions in Iran with about 62.01% of the soybean cultivation area. Most of these areas are located in Gorgan County. There are a number of approaches that they use to management of weeds in agroecosystems. Management and protection of crops from weed damage depend on our knowledge about weed richness and their distribution status. For this purpose, generation of weed distribution maps provide very important information for weed management. Also, determination of weed flora help to managers and farmers to identify weeds and select the best method for weed control, especially invasive weeds in soybean fields. Therefore, the aim of study was to determination of flora and distribution of weeds in the current soybean fields in Gorgan County.Materials and Methods: This research was carried out in 48 soybean fields of Gorgan County, during 2015-2016. In the field section, the W method used to collect weed samples in order to calculate the number, frequency, species density, etc. The spatial information of the fields was recorded by GPS and sampling was done by 0.25*0.25 square meters quadrate. Total weed samples moved to weed research laboratory of Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (GUASNR) and identified in terms of scientific and family names based on taxonomical classification way. Then, all data entered to Microsoft Excel spread sheets var. 2010, and were averaged and arranged. In order to determine the weed flora status of these fields, some indices such as frequency, relative species frequency, species uniformity, relative species uniformity, density and relative species density were calculated. To better display of distribution maps, weeds were divided based on frequency index into three categories; 50-100%, 50-30% and less than 30% and weeds with a frequency of 50-100% were considered as important weeds of soybean fields in Gorgan. Finally, the data were processed in ArcGIS software var. 10.3, and then weed distribution maps of soybean fields were generated.Results and Discussion: In this study, 21 types of weeds were identified from 14 plant families, which 14.28% were belonged to perennials group and the rest amounts were annual weeds. Also, 76.19% were belonged to dicotyledons and about 23.81% were monocots. The highest density was related to ground cherry (Physalis divaricate L.) with 16.68% compared to other weed species in the measured plots. Crab grass (Digitaria sangunalis L. Scop.) with a density of 0.94 and sorghum (Sorghum halepense L. Pers) with a density of 0.78 had the highest density than other weeds. The weeds of the studied fields included 23.80% of narrow-leaved weeds and 76.19% of broadleaf weeds. In terms of photosynthetic cycle, 28.57% of weeds classified to C4 cycle and 71.42% to C3 cycle. Also, the most important plant family was Poaceae with 19.04% of the observed weeds in soybean fields, compared to other plant families. The most dominate species of this family are sorghum, cockspur grass (Echinochloa crus-galli L. P. Beauv) and crab grass. The weeds with a frequency of 50-100% were included ground cherry, sorghum and wild melon (Cucumis melo var. agrestis L.) with a frequency of 91.66, 54.16 and 52.08%, respectively. Results of weed distribution maps showed that weeds with frequency of 50 to 100% were observed in the most of surveyed field and they were distributed across the county, from east to west.Conclusion: In the study, the weed distribution maps showed the existence of broadleaf weeds such as ground cherry, sorghum and wild melon in the most of the studied fields. Also, we identified the large number of weed families in this study. Considering this high number of identified weed and the presence of some invasive weeds in the surveyed fields, these results can useful for weed management programs of soybean fields and other crops in Gorgan County. Therefore, it is necessary that farmers and agricultural managers of the Gorgan County care to distribution of invasive weeds. Finally, it concluded that a combination of local and longer-term weed management can possible to deliver reduced weed infestation levels. Also, integrated weed management is an essential practice for reducing the impact of pesticides in the agroecosystems.

The material belonging to the genus Asiotmethis (Pamphagidae: Thrinchinae) housed in the Hayk Mirzayans Insect Museum, Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection as well as the specimens that collected in 2018, were examined based on morphological characters. As a result, three species were identified, i.e., A. artemisianus Shumakov, A. turritus (Fischer von Waldheim) and A. Limbatus (Charpentier). The first species was previously reported from Golestan province (North of Iran) and Khorasan-e-Razavi province (North East of Iran). The second species was previously reported from Golestan province and Azarbaijan-e-Sharghi (North West of Iran). A. limbatus that was collected and identified in Ilam province, South West of Iran is new to the Iranian fauna. Morphological identification key to the Iranian species belonging to the genus ‌Asiotmethis, measurements data and major morphological characteristics of the three species are given along with original photographs and distribution map for the new record.

Plantago lagocephala is recorded as a new species for the flora of Iran from Razavi Khorassan Province. It is compared with the closely related species including P. lachnantha, P. ciliata and P. psammophila. Moreover, the diagnostic morphological characters and a distribution map are provided. The conservation status of the new record is evaluated based on the IUCN red list categories and criteria.

خزه‌ها، جزو رستنی‌های مهم در پهنه کشورمان می‌باشند که تاکنون در ایران، مطالعات فناوری نوین بویژه مدیریت نرم‌افزاری پیرامون این گیاهان ارزشمند انجام نشده است. از سوی دیگر، به دلیل فقدان امکان ارتباط رقومی و منطقی داده‌ها در این زمینه، کاربری و توانمندی آن‌ها در توسعه علمی و اقتصادی، هنوز این موضوع تا حدود زیادی ناشناخته و مبهم باقی مانده بود. بنابراین، طراحی یک الگوی نرم‌افزاری برای ارزیابی تنوع و پراکنش خزه‌های ایران بسیار ضروری به نظر می‌رسید. در این پژوهش، طراحی یک مدل نرم‌افزاری با عنوان "کاوشگر خزه‌های ایران" در راستای اهداف مذکور متعاقب یک پروژه تحقیقاتی که اخیرا توسط نگارندگان مقاله حاضر اجرا گردیده، با استفاده از قابلیت‌های برنامه‌نویسی به زبان Visual Basic انجام گرفت. به علاوه، طراحی یک اطلس الکترونیک در قالب یک موزه مجازی به‌ همراه تسهیلات کاوشگری و همچنین ترسیم نقشه‌های پراکنش خزه‌ها و مقایسه توصیفی و رقومی مختصات جغرافیایی آن‌ها به منظور استخراج گزارش‌های مستند، از اهداف و قابلیت‌های این پژوهش محسوب می‌شوند. با داده‌پردازی اطلاعات پیرامون تنوع زیستی خزه‌های شناسایی شده در هرباریوم "ایران" طی سال‌های 95-1363 (1984–2016)، براساس مستندات علمی معتبر و شناسایی نمونه‌های شناخته شده در هرباریوم مذکور، تعداد 250 شناسه (ID) جنس و گونه شامل 36 تیره، 85 جنس و 12 واریته می‌باشند. در این مجموعه، ضمن ارایه صفات کلیدی در فرایند شناسایی گونه‌ها و طبقه‌بندی اطلاعات پیرامون رویشگاه‌های مختلف، امکان ارزیابی رقومی نقشه‌های پراکنش برای یکایک شناسه‌های خزه‌ها نیز فراهم شده است.

Sabzevar is one of the most biologically diverse regions in northeast Iran, with the area of 19500 km2 and an elevational of 950-2977 m. During a long term study of lizards in this area which lasted 3 years, 21 species and subspecies of lizards belonging to 13 genera and 5 families were collected, recognized and reported. The families Anguidae, Eublepharidae and Uromastycidae were not represented in the area. The genus Eremias with 6 species was the most diverse genus in Sabzevar district. More emphasis was given to the syntopic reptiles. This showed that Trapelus agailis with having 18 syntopic species and Cyrtopodion caspium with no syntopic species were in the extreme sides. Due to our little knowledge on the distribution of reptiles in Iran, we designed a framework for providing a reptile's distribution map in Iran.

Rhizocarpon is a large lichen genus containing approximately 200 species worldwide that was, together with Catolechia, Epilichen, and Poeltinula, placed in the Rhizocarpaceae (lichenized Ascomycota). The genus is cosmopolitan and the species are mainly found in temperate, Arctic, and Antarctic areas. In the most widely-used classification, the genus has been divided into subgenus Rhizocarpon (yellow-green thallus containing rhizocarpic acid), and Phaeothalus (non yellow-green thalli lacking rhizocarpic acid). The taxonomy of the two subgenera occurring in the Razavi Khorasan province has been revised. 23 patches of thallus of Rhizocarpon disporum (Naeg. ex Hepp) Müller Arg. were taken from five localities in the altitudinal range about 1350-1730 meter of Razavi Khorsan province. The specimens were identified using a stereomicroscope, a normal light microscope with mounts in tap water, 10 % KOH and KI, the usual color tests and thin layer chromatography. Frequencies of Rh. disporum to the total number of the species of the genus with the quality of its distribution have been determined.

Sabzevar is one of the most biologically diverse regions in northeast Iran, with the area of 19500 km² and an elevational of 950-2977 m. During a long term study of lizards in this area which lasted 3 years, 21 species and subspecies of lizards belonging to 13 genera and 5 families were collected, recognized and reported. The families Anguidae, Eublepharidae and Uromastycidae were not represented in the area. The genus Eremias with 6 species was the most diverse genus in Sabzevar district. More emphasis was given to the syntopic reptiles. This showed that Trapelus agailis with having 18 syntopic species and Cyrtopodion caspium with no syntopic species were in the extreme sides. Due to our little knowledge on the distribution of reptiles in Iran, we designed a framework for providing a reptile's distribution map in Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]