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Abstract
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Rangelands are the largest natural ecosystems in the world, playing an important role in providing forage for food production, soil and water conservation, and biodiversity. Exclosure has been used as an important management tool for regenerating these ecosystems for many years. The effects of exclosurespecifically the length of exclosureon soil and plant factors, however, have not been uniform in different climates. In this study, we evaluate four vegetation factors including the percentage of vegetation cover, stone and gravel cover, litter, and bare soil in a paired watershed in Kurdistan province, western Iran .The control watershed was an openrange watershed and the sample watershed was closed (exclosure) for 5 years to any kind of animals. Statistical tests showed that none of the above factors is significantly different between the control and the sample watershed, implying the time length of exclosure has not been enough to regenerate the plants.
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