Journal of Natural Environment

Journal of Natural Environment

Spatial zoning and analysis of the spatial pattern of multi-hazard environmental exposure intensity in mountain ecosystems: a case study of forest stands in Lorestan province, Iran

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Akram Nouri Kamari 1
Abolfazl Jaafari 2
1 Department of Geography Education, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran.
2 Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran.
10.22059/jne.2026.418553.2931
Abstract
The Zagros mountain forest ecosystems are among the most vulnerable ecosystems in Iran due to their exposure to a wide range of climatic, geomorphological, and anthropogenic stresses. Despite the increasing frequency and intensity of environmental hazards in recent decades, most previous studies have focused on individual hazards, while the spatial patterns of forest exposure to multiple interacting hazards have received considerably less attention. Therefore, this study aimed to spatially analyze and map the intensity of exposure to multiple environmental hazards across the forest ecosystems of Lorestan Province, western Iran. To achieve this objective, nine major environmental hazards, including drought, evapotranspiration, maximum temperature, wildfire, dust storms, high-speed winds, landslides, floods, and the spatial influence of rural settlements, were developed using remote sensing data, climatic information, and environmental datasets. After standardization and weighting, all hazard layers were integrated within a Geographic Information System (GIS) framework to generate a multi-hazard exposure index. The results revealed a pronounced spatial heterogeneity in multi-hazard exposure intensity, with index values ranging from 0.167 to 0.590. Areas characterized by high and very high exposure were predominantly concentrated in the southern, southwestern, and southeastern parts of the province and encompassed approximately 46.64% of the forest ecosystems, equivalent to nearly 568,000 ha. In contrast, areas with very low and low exposure intensities were mainly distributed across the northern and northwestern regions of the province. The findings demonstrate that a multi-hazard approach provides an effective framework for identifying environmental hotspots and prioritizing conservation and management interventions in the Zagros forests. Furthermore, the proposed framework can serve as a valuable decision-support tool for climate change adaptation planning and the sustainable management of mountain forest ecosystems.
Keywords
;">Multi-hazard assessment, Environmental hotspots, Forest vulnerability, ;">Mountain ecosystems, ;">Climate change adaptation.
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Journal of Natural Environment
Volume 79, Issue 3
Summer 2026
Pages 475-493