Scrophularia striata, commonly known as figwort, is one of the most important medicinal plants that mainly grows in cold regions of the Zagros Mountains (West of Iran). Although the chemical composition of this plant species has not yet been explored, people living in Ilam province (W Iran) have used it for many years to treat different illnesses. The present study aims to analyze the effect of some ecological factors on the antioxidant potential and the amount of phenol present in this plant species, using a random factorial design with two factors (elevation and region) and three replicates. The fruits of the plant were gathered from three different elevations. They were collected from three regions of the Ilam province (Badreh, Dareshahr, and Dehloran) in June 2016, when the fruits appear. Moreover, to analyze different soil chemical and physical features, soil samples were gathered from a depth of 0.5 m under the shrubs. The antioxidant action of the methanol extract from the plant samples and the total amount of phenol compounds were measured using 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and the Folin-Ciocalteu method, respectively. The results showed that the effects of site and elevation, and the interaction between these factors, on the antioxidant potential and total phenol amount were significant with a probability of error of 1%. The maximum extract efficiency (19.37 ± 3.07%), antioxidant potential (126.5656 ± 0.96 µg/mL), and total amount of phenol (55.7689 ± 3.17 µg/mL) were obtained from Dareshahr at an elevation of 600 m above mean sea level. The minimum amount of total phenol (24.6544 ± 3.21 µg/ml) was recorded at the lowest elevation of Badreh, at which phosphorus, potassium, organic carbon, organic material, nitrogen, acidity, lime, and silt were present at the lowest amount. However, the antioxidant activity and total amount of phenol had a strong direct correlation in the two districts of Dareshahr and Badreh, but were reversely and strongly correlated in Dehloran. Therefore, it can be stated that Scrophularia striata has the potential for antioxidant activity, however, the complexity of the effect of ecological factors on one hand, and the emergence of different chemical processes in the plant under such effects on the other hand, has led to the synthesis of different compounds with antioxidant potential in the plant in different regions.

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Effects of the super absorbent polymer (SAP) were tested on both the soil attributes and growth properties of Seidlitzia rosmarinus in the arid Emrani region of Iran in a reclamation study. A SAP concentration gradient (SAP 0 ¼ SAP 0 g dm À3 , SAP 1 ¼ SAP 1 g dm À3 , and SAP 3 ¼ SAP 3 g dm À3 of soil) was coupled with 30-and 60-day irrigation intervals, and results were evaluated after two growing seasons. Results indicate that application of SAP 1 increased available water content up to 68.5% and decreased soil bulk density by 25.5% and soil infiltration rate by 21.5%. SAP enhanced growth indices and seedling establishment rates of S. rosmarinus under drought stress. In addition, the application of SAP 3 can significantly increased soil cation exchange capacity up to 31% compared to the control. This study demonstrated the increased water retention properties of SAP that leads to higher soil water storage capacity for S. rosmarinus seedlings during the first months of out-planting in arid regions. Overall, the used SAP enhanced soil and plant properties, but most assessed parameters did not differ between SAPs 1 and 3. Therefore, the 1 g application rate is recommended based on technical as well as economic considerations.

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The availability of Landsat data allows improving the monitoring and assessment of large-scale areas with land cover changes in rapid developing regions. Thus, we pretend to show a combined methodology to assess land cover changes (LCCs) in the Hamoun Wetland region (Iran) over a period of 30-year (1987-2016) and to quantify seasonal and decadal landscape and land use variabilities. Using the pixel-based change detection (PBCD) and the post-classification comparison (PCC), four land cover classes were compared among spring, summer, and fall seasons. Our findings showed for the water class a higher correlation between spring and summer (R = 0.94) than fall and spring (R = 0.58) seasons. Before 2000, ~ 50% of the total area was covered by bare soil and 40% by water. However, after 2000, more than 70% of wetland was transformed into bare soils. The results of the long-term monitoring period showed that fall season was the most representative time to show the inter-annual variability of LCCs monitoring and the least affected by seasonal-scale climatic variations. In the Hamoun Wetland region, land cover was highly controlled by changes in surface water, which in turn responded to both climatic and anthropogenic impacts. We were able to divide the water budget monitoring into three different ecological regimes: (1) a period of high water level, which sustained healthy extensive plant life, and approximately 40% of the total surface water was retained until the end of the hydrological year; (2) a period of drought during high evaporation rates was observed, and a mean wetland surface of about 85% was characterized by bare land; and (3) a recovery period in which water levels were overall rising, but they are not maintained from year to year. After a spring flood, in 2006 and 2013, grassland reached the highest extensions, covering till more than 20% of the region, and the dynamics of the ecosystem were affected by the differences in moisture. The Hamoun wetland region served as an important example and demonstration of the feedbacks between land cover and land uses, particularly as pertaining to water resources available to a rapidly expanding population.