Evaluation and Analysis of Studies Focused on Economic Valuation of Soil Conservation Function of Plant Cover in Rangeland Ecosystems

Document Type : Review

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Department of Range and Watershed Management, Faculty of Natural Resources, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran.

2 Ph.D. Student in Watershed Science and Engineering, Faculty of Natural Resources, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran

Abstract

While soil erosion poses serious threats to global food security and the environment, vegetation in rangeland ecosystems counteracts the process by playing a key role in soil conservation. The present meta-analysis of economic valuation studies of soil conservation function of vegetation in rangeland ecosystems of Iran uses descriptive and meta-analytical methods to investigate the economic value of the soil conservation function of vegetation in Iranian rangeland ecosystems. For this purpose, the relevant literature published from 2003 to 2023 were solicited to extract data on soil erosion estimation and the economic valuation of these ecosystems from a soil conservation perspective. The results revealed that the methods employed to estimate average soil erosion in the studied regions included PSIAC, MPSIAC, EMP, RUSLE, and IRIF. Moreover, average soil erosion rates in the studied areas were found to range from 1.15 to 42.52 tons per hectare. Additionally, such methods as replacement cost, opportunity cost, direct valuation, and risk cost avoidance were found to have been used for the valuation of soil conservation function in rangeland ecosystems. The results indicate that the estimated erosion rates vary across the studies reviewed depending not only on the climatic and environmental conditions of the respective study regions but also on the methods employed, which collectively and ultimately lead to differences in the economic value per hectare of the soil conservation function of rangeland ecosystems. Another factor contributing to differences in the economic value estimations of the soil conservation function of these ecosystems involves price variations over the study years. It may also be noted that economic valuation of soil conservation services provided by rangeland vegetation is affected by the following nine principal constraints: methodological standardization gaps, challenges facing quantification of ecosystem services, climate variability effects, unsustainable land use conversion patterns, inadequate financial mechanisms, competing stakeholder agendas, regulatory implementation deficiencies, arid zone data paucity, and systematic disregard for traditional ecological knowledge. A set of key measures may be proposed for enhancing the impacts of soil conservation function of rangeland ecosystems; these include training and raising public awareness, strengthening local community participation, developing new technologies, formulating incentive policies, and reinforcing laws and regulations.

Keywords

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Land Management Journal
Volume 13, Issue 2
January 2026
Pages 249-263

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