Conclusion
The increase in soil moisture and stabilizing sand dunes is the primary need/requisite to establish vegetation in arid regions, and short- and long-term monitoring of management practices could provide better insight into choosing the method. In the current study, an integration of ecological and remotely sensed approaches was used to monitor the short-term vegetation attributes and diversity and RCS.
Our results highlight the positive short-term effects of oil-mulch treatment on vegetation cover and RCS, while it is challenged by the negative effects of oil-mulch treatment on diversity. In addition, using the native palatable species to planting in an oil-mulched area with the exclusion of livestock grazing is likely to increase the benefits of oil-mulch treatment resulted in better RCS. Finally, we indicate the high potential of remotely sensed vegetation index in order to extend the monitoring of rehabilitation schemes.