Linear programming the Ramsar Convention’s Criterion IV in the Shadegan Wetland; enlisting the wetland should it support waterfowl and waders under extreme climate conditions

Wetland ecosystems around the world are of great importance in terms of providing valuable ecological services to people and wildlife. According to the Montreux Record, there is a list of wetlands which failed to fulfill the Ramsar Convention’s criteria. The Shadegan international site, registered in 1975 as a Ramsar Convention member, has been subjecting to the Montreux record since 1993 owning to the conditions change. The purpose of this study was to apply linear programming (LP) to measure the status of Criterion IV of the Ramsar Convention over the extent of Shadegan Wetland. Accordingly, Criterion IV was defined in mathematical language and run by the Excel software. The Lingo software was also used to verify the previously retrieved linear model by defining constraints for X variables. The constraints of this model were chosen based on the extreme events (i.e. evaporation threshold was determined based on water and energy limitations) of each variable during the study period considering the trend effect of each variable.