Original Article
somaye arazi; mohammadhosein irannezhadparizi; Ahad sotoudeh; bahman kiani
Abstract
Background: Landscape of an area consists of uniform parts of that land that have components of patchs, passages and bed of land landscape. Since the density and distribution of vegetation in the landscape of the land of the passage of time is affected by many variables and changes. Variety and uniformity ...
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Background: Landscape of an area consists of uniform parts of that land that have components of patchs, passages and bed of land landscape. Since the density and distribution of vegetation in the landscape of the land of the passage of time is affected by many variables and changes. Variety and uniformity of plants studies the effectiveness of the indicators of richness, diversity and uniformity of vegetation from the structure of the landscape.Materials and Methods: In this study, two variables of size and shape of patchs on the structure of the Adoroshk watershed were selected because these two variables are known as important components in the planning of areas for conservation purposes. For this purpose, first the identification and preparation of the map of the structure of the land address of Adoroshk was performed and then the desired map in Arc GIS 10.3 software with suitable image format and ready to enter FRAGSTATS 4.2 software and then two variables of ratio of environment to area and size The patchs in the structure of Adoroshk land were calculated. Data obtained from identification and counting of vegetation in the area, which were the result of linear transect and plot method, were also entered in SPSS software environment and through Shannon-Wiener, Simpson, Hill, Brillouin and MacArthur Plant diversity was measured using the Margalf, Mann-Henick index of plant richness in each spot of the habitat. The Pilo, Alatalo and Hip indices were also used to measure species uniformity. The correlation between the variables was determined from Pearson correlation.Results and Discussion: In this study, 60 plant species were identified and counted in 338 plots and the findings of this study indicate a significant relationship between the two physical variables of size and shape of habitat spots and richness. The diversity and uniformity of rangeland plant species in the Adoroshk watershed.Conclusion: The priority of paying attention to circular patchs that have a minimum ratio of environment to area in the design and management of Adoroshk watershed was proven during the planning and protection of vegetation.
Original Article
Jalalaldin Shahbaz; Zaniar Fatehi; Kamran Chapi
Abstract
Introduction: Global warming is the most important challenge facing man in the 21st century. Warmer weather will increase evapotranspiration, which will exacerbate droughts. One of the main causes of global warming is man himself. Humans have accelerated the Earth's climate change by producing large ...
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Introduction: Global warming is the most important challenge facing man in the 21st century. Warmer weather will increase evapotranspiration, which will exacerbate droughts. One of the main causes of global warming is man himself. Humans have accelerated the Earth's climate change by producing large amounts of greenhouse gases. For this reason, information about changes in the earth's temperature in the next decades has always been considered. The results of the researchers show that climate change has obvious and significant effects on temperature and rainfall in different parts of Iran in the next decades. By predicting and estimating the extent of these effects, climate change impacts can be mitigated with adequate preparedness, low cost, and greater speed.Material and methods: In this study, the effect of climate change on the mean maximum and minimum annual and seasonal temperatures in Arak under the emission scenarios of RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP8.5 for the 2040s was investigated. To use the output of General Circulation Models at regional and local scales is that they are using downscaling models, are downscaled. In this study, Statistical Downscaling Model (SDSM) to downscale output of General Circulation Models CanESM2 were used. This model had an acceptable ability to simulate the average maximum and minimum seasonal and annual temperatures in the study area. Results and discussion: According to the obtained results, the mean maximum temperature in winter and spring will decrease under all three scenarios RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP8.5, which can indicate that the daily temperature will be cooler in these seasons. However, the mean maximum temperature will increase in summer and autumn, which may indicate that the daily temperature will be warmer in these seasons. The mean minimum temperature in winter and spring under all three scenarios RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP8.5 will decrease and increase in summer seasons. These results show that in the 2040s, the city of Arak has colder night temperatures in winter and spring and warmer temperatures in summer and spring. Due to the fact that warmer weather increases the demand for water and electricity, and because Arak is an industrial city with a dry climate, it can face serious challenges of water and electricity shortage in the future.Conclusion: According to the results obtained in this study, in the 2040s, Arak will have colder winters and springs, and warmer summers and autumns. The highest effect of climate change on the temperature of Arak is related to the average minimum temperature in autumn, which under the scenarios of RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP8.5, the average minimum temperature in autumn increased by 206.88, 196.37 and 192.27 percent, respectively. The mean annual maximum and minimum temperature under all three scenarios will increase in the 2040s. The highest increase in the mean annual maximum and minimum temperature is related to RCP8.5 and RCP2.6 scenarios, respectively, which they are equal to 4.14 and 4.38.
Original Article
Mehrnaz Molavi; Ali Rahimi; Abdolbaset Dorzade mehr
Abstract
Problem Statement: Nowadays, the use of tourism as a driving force to serve economic and social development in human societies has become a pervasive thing. Creative tourism is a new and interesting topic in the field of tourism, which, by crystallizing the cultural values of the land in accordance with ...
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Problem Statement: Nowadays, the use of tourism as a driving force to serve economic and social development in human societies has become a pervasive thing. Creative tourism is a new and interesting topic in the field of tourism, which, by crystallizing the cultural values of the land in accordance with the existence of numerous sub-cultures in Iran, plays an essential role in the strategic plans of tourism in this land.Necessity of research: Regarding the change in the tourism trend and the importance of finding meaningful experiences for tourists, as well as paying attention to the effective factors in the direction of exploiting the existing geological, cultural, natural and biological capacities in the studied area, as well as using creativity and innovation in this field in order to Creating success in tourism businesses by providing a new solution doubles the necessity of conducting research and planning in this field.Objective: The creative and innovative strategy should examine the new trends of creative tourism in the domestic tourism market, both in supply and demand, and thus identify and create the most reliable future development trends. The creative development of tourism needs to be improved through learning, knowledge, skill and competence. The main goal of creative tourism is to provide active experiences to tourists through active participation in courses and learning experiences. Regarding the mentioned materials, the purpose of the current research is to evaluate the internal and external strategic factors and determine the appropriate strategy for the development of creative tourism in Zahedan city.Research method: The research method is descriptive-analytical and its type is applied-developmental. The information has been collected in two ways: documents and surveys (questionnaires and interviews). The statistical population of the research is 20 experts in the field of urban tourism, and the resulting data were analyzed using SOWT and QSPM models.Findings and Results: According to the results obtained from the SOWT technique, the overall strategy for the development of creative tourism in Zahedan is defensive (WT) with a final weight of 7.98. The results of the Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) also show that out of the 4 strategies of the WT Group, the priority is the strategy of "Creating cultural and artistic places for the supply of creative cultural products" (with an attractive score of 11.966).conclusion: In order to realize creative tourism in the studied area, according to the findings of the research, suggestions such as creative marketing through information and communication technology, training of local industries and products, holding a festival of local dialects, training in sewing local and native clothes, and also cooking food It is presented locally at the provincial and national level, etc., by using the methods of creating partnership between tourists and the environment.
Original Article
Alireza Amolikondori; Mohammad Feizian
Abstract
Introduction: Diverse gap sizes have formed in temperate Hyrcanian forests as a result of different silvicultural operations. Understanding the consequences of these practices on forest stand dynamics can help in deciding the choice of silvicultural methods. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to ...
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Introduction: Diverse gap sizes have formed in temperate Hyrcanian forests as a result of different silvicultural operations. Understanding the consequences of these practices on forest stand dynamics can help in deciding the choice of silvicultural methods. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of canopy gaps on the carbon stock of beech trees and compare it with the adjacent stand and also the interaction between tree attributes and their carbon stock. Material and methods: The created gaps from single-tree cutting were classified in three classes of small, medium and large area with five replicates for each. Trees were also identified in the adjacent forest to each gap at a distance of 20 m from four directions of them. Tree height, DBH, surface area, volume, length, diameter of crown and carbon stock of trees were measured. One-way analysis of variance was used to compare the average carbon stock index of beech trees in canopy gaps and in different situations as well as for large diameter trees. Independent t-test was applied to compare the average carbon storage in the height classes of the trees and also between the adjacent forest stands with the canopy edges. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to determine the correlation between the index of carbon stock amount with some structural features of beech trees in the edge of the canopy gaps and the adjacent forest stand.Results and Discussion: The findings revealed that the carbon stock of beech trees along the gaps' edges differed significantly (p≤0.05). No significant difference in carbon stock was observed for beech trees among different directions at the edge of the gaps (p≤0.05). There was no significant difference between the mean value carbon storage of trees at the edge of the gaps and the adjacent forest (p≤0.05). The highest mean of carbon was observed in the large-sized trees (3725.28 ± 584.49) at the large gaps. The results of correlation showed that with increasing DBH, height, length and diameter of the crown and the volume of the crown, the amount of carbon storage of trees increased at the edge of the gaps and also in the adjacent forest (p≤0.01). Conclusion: Findings indicate the effect of canopy gap area resulting from the implementation of single-tree selection method in beech forest. The correlation between the structural characteristics of beech trees such as DBH, height and crown area with carbon stock shows that when applying silvicultural methods (tending and logging) in Hyrcanian forests, structural characteristics Beech trees, especially the abundance of large-sized trees, should be considered with more carbon stocks in them.
Original Article
Mohammad Javad Amiri; Hamid Jourkesh; Ahmad Nohegar
Abstract
Introduction: Flood is caused by a sudden increase in the water level of a river due to heavy rainfall, in which excess water flows out of the basin and the riverbed and enters adjacent areas, causing extensive damage to the region's ecosystems and infrastructure. In order to determine and implement ...
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Introduction: Flood is caused by a sudden increase in the water level of a river due to heavy rainfall, in which excess water flows out of the basin and the riverbed and enters adjacent areas, causing extensive damage to the region's ecosystems and infrastructure. In order to determine and implement a strategic plan in the direction of crisis management, understanding the mechanism and development of the flood phenomenon and the amount of runoff created as a result is a priority.Material and methods: In this study, three events of flood on 16 February 2017, 26 March, 2019 and 23 January 2020, when the average rainfall in the Shiraz watershed was 100 mm every three days, were selected and interacted with a synoptic approach. Atmospheric conditions and flood patterns were identified. Next, using by HEC-HMS hydrological model, the amount of rainfall to runoff conversion in each of the sub-basins in the Shiraz watershed was simulated.Results and discussion: The results showed that the maximum precipitation occurs in February and the minimum in July. The maximum annual rainfall is 627 mm in the mountainous areas of Qalat and Golestan and the minimum is 245 mm in Maharloo lake. Synoptic results showed that the establishment of low altitude and cold-water trough at the level of 500 hPa in the eastern Mediterranean along with the establishment of dynamic low pressure system in Iran caused surface air instability in Fars province and by injecting moisture from the Persian Gulf to the massif. The weather has caused floods in Shiraz. The results of rainfall-runoff modeling showed that the highest runoff in Sadra and Qalat sub-basins were 5773 and 5076 thousand m3, respectively, and the maximum peak discharge in Sadra and Qalat was 666 and 389 m3/sec, respectively. It happened at 17:00. The highest volume of rainfall penetration in Qalat and Chenar Rahdar was 5423 and 2546 thousand cubic meters, respectively, and the lowest level of penetration in the Quran Gate was 247 thousand m3, the main reason being the high density of residential-commercial use in this sub-basin.Conclusion: Therefore, it is suggested that in order to manage the flood crisis in Shiraz, controlling runoff produced in northern sub-basins such as Qalat, Golestan and Sadra and increasing the level of permeability can be effective in controlling floods.
Original Article
zahra jafari; Amir Salemi
Abstract
AbstractIntroduction: Reaction of disinfection reagents, particularly chlorine, with natural organic material existing in raw water, results in production of a wide range of organic compounds, also known as disinfection byproducts. Despite their sever impacts on human health, only a tiny fraction of ...
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AbstractIntroduction: Reaction of disinfection reagents, particularly chlorine, with natural organic material existing in raw water, results in production of a wide range of organic compounds, also known as disinfection byproducts. Despite their sever impacts on human health, only a tiny fraction of disinfection byproducts is regulated and controlled.Materials and methods: In the present work, a novel solid-phase microextraction Arrow coupled with GC-MS has been developed, optimized and implemented for determination of seven non regulated disinfection byproducts; trichloroacetonitrile, dichloroacetonitrile, 1,1-dichloro-2-propanone, chloropicrin, bromochloroacetonitrile, 1,1,1-trichloro-2- propanone and dibromoacetonitrile. A central composite design was used to optimize the extraction parameters. Results and discussion: The method was sensitive enough to detect traces of the target compounds, with LOD values of 1.4-62 ng L-1. Also, quantitative analysis was possible over a wide linear range of about four orders of magnitude (50 to 100000 ng L-1 with R2 values of more than 0.997) with reasonable precision (RSD% values of less than 21.6% at 50 ng L-1. relative recoveries were between 60 and 95 %.Conclusion: The optimized technique was also successfully implemented for determination of the target compounds in ten drinking water samples and as result, most of them were observed in various concentration levels.
Original Article
Asghar Abdoli; Fahimeh Rashidabadi
Abstract
Quantitative assessment of fish abundance is the basis of scientific research and management of their population. Demographic studies of stream-dwelling salmonids have shown that variation in their abundance s on a spatio-temporal scale is common, and brown trout populations are no exception. Understanding ...
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Quantitative assessment of fish abundance is the basis of scientific research and management of their population. Demographic studies of stream-dwelling salmonids have shown that variation in their abundance s on a spatio-temporal scale is common, and brown trout populations are no exception. Understanding this variation is crucial for several reasons, including designing and interpreting environmental impact assessment studies and monitoring fishery management strategies. The present study aimed to estimate the spatial and temporal variations in the density of brown trout in some of the Lar National Park streams and investigate the relationship between the density of fish in these streams and the density of benthic invertebrates as their primary food sources. In general, the purpose of this study was to assess the status of trout for conservation planning and better management of its populations in the future against human impacts and climate change. Since the Lar National Park streams are small, fish densities were calculated using the Le Cren depletion method to achieve reliable population estimates. After two removal steps, the total number of fish caught was standardized and expressed as density per 100 m2 of the river channel. To investigate the temporal changes of fish abundance, the study results in 2009 were qualitatively compared with the results of another study in 2017.According to the 2009 results, the highest brown trout density was recorded in the Delichay (44 per 100 m2), Lar (43.2 per 100 m2), and Siah Palas sites (33.4 per 100 m2), respectively, and the lowest density were recorded in the Lar (Kharsang, 10.5 per 100 m2) and Lar (Sorkhak, 11.5 per 100 m2). In 2017, the highest density of trout was documented to Siah Palas (175 per 100 m2), Delichay (Vararo, 118 per 100 m2), and Elam (112 per 100 m2) streams, and the lowest density was recorded in the Delichay (downstream, 48 per 100 m2) and Absefid (49 per 100 m2) streams.The distribution and abundance of stream-dwelling salmons are primarily regulated by food and space. The abundance of brown trout on a local scale indicates variety in quality and habitat access for brown trout in the Lar National Park. We speculated that habitat diversity has influenced the density of brown trout in various streams in the region by affecting the abundance of aquatic invertebrates, which are the main source of prey. However, the results of regression (R2= 0.02, p value = 0.72) and correlation (Spearman, r = 0.24) analyses showed no significant relationship between the density of fish and benthic invertebrates in the Lar National Park streams. Despite the enough abundance of prey in the Lar streams, the fish were low in density. The cause of this incongruence is probably related to the salmon fishing in Lar National Park in the past.Comparing fish densities in 2009 and 2017 showed that the trout density in 2017 had a better condition than the trout density in 2009. Considering that in 2014, the Department of Environment stopped issuing fishing licenses in this area, one of the reasons for the increase in fish density is probably a positive effect of the fishing prohibition on this species.Since brown trout abundances in the Lar National Park streams are spatially-temporally variable, it is necessary to provide reasonable management strategies and continuous monitoring to prevent them from global warming and conserve them in the streams of the Lar National Park. Furthermore, due to climate change and being at risk of other populations of brown trout in different habitats in Iran, this population should be protected as a support population.
Original Article
Saleh Mahmoudi; Asghar Abdoli
Abstract
Introduction: Finding habitat requirements for fish in fluvial water ecosystems is a key factor in conservation and decision making for their management, which unfortunately does not have enough scientific information in this field. The purpose of this study is to identify the optimal range of habitat ...
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Introduction: Finding habitat requirements for fish in fluvial water ecosystems is a key factor in conservation and decision making for their management, which unfortunately does not have enough scientific information in this field. The purpose of this study is to identify the optimal range of habitat variables for Alburnus atropatenae in the Jajroud protected river and compare different composite approaches in the modeling of this species.Material and methods: In this study, the habitat of A. atropatenae sampled in the form of 71 points in the Jajroud river. Physical variables of habitat measured including depth, water velocity and substrate type. After sampling the fish by electrofishing, the total length of the fish measured. Habitat suitability curves developed by univariate method then combined habitat suitability calculated by multiplication, minimum, arithmetic mean and geometric mean methods. To validate the results, two statistical metrics of mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean square error (RMSE) used.Results and discussion: Overall, 235 individual of A. atropatenae caught including 221 adults and 14 juveniles whose total body length varied from 23 mm to 148 mm. Physical habitat variables included a depth of 6-56 cm, a flow velocity of 4-29 cm / s, and a riverbed with a particle size of "very fine gravel" to "small cobble". The preferred and optimal range habitat for this species included a depth of 16-25 cm, a flow velocity of 5-10 cm / s and a bed with small cobble structure. Among univariate models, the riverbed-based model had the lowest error. Among the models of combined habitat suitability, multiplication method had the lowest values of MAE and RMSE measures, and was low-error model. The arithmetic mean method had the highest values of these measures and had detected as the high-error model.Conclusion: This is the first study related to the ecology of A. atropatenae in Iran, which has identified the optimal habitat of this species. The variable of bed structure is determinative more than two variables of depth and flow velocity in habitat selection by this species. Also in combined habitat suitability modeling, the multiplication method has priority and importance.
Original Article
ehsan khodarezaie; Korous Khoshbakht; Hadi Veisi; Mohammad Reza Nazari
Abstract
IntroductionEnergy use in agriculture has grown faster than other sectors of the global economy. In developing countries, most agricultural systems consume significant amounts of energy to increase production and food security. Energy consumption leads to the emission of greenhouse gases and environmental ...
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IntroductionEnergy use in agriculture has grown faster than other sectors of the global economy. In developing countries, most agricultural systems consume significant amounts of energy to increase production and food security. Energy consumption leads to the emission of greenhouse gases and environmental pollutions in the agriculture sector. Besides, the use of fossil fuels in the production process and transfer of inputs emits greenhouse gases, which in turn cause global warming and climate change. Analyzing and good understanding of energy flow and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions in agricultural production systems can help to optimize crop management practices thereby reducing environmental problems. Iran's average energy consumption is three times higher than the world average.Groundwater is the main source of agricultural water in arid and semi-arid areas. Electricity used in irrigation pumps consumes a large of energy and emits GHGs. Qazvin plain is one of the most important agricultural plains in Iran, which along with the use of groundwater, has the largest irrigation canal network in the country. Differences in agricultural water supply sources can lead to differences in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions as electricity and other inputs may be affected. Wheat, barley, alfalfa and maize silage are major crops in Qazvin plain. Alfalfa and maize silage need relatively a high irrigation water requirement. This paper evaluates the energy flow and Global Warming Potential (GWP) of alfalfa and maize silage farms with two different water supply sources (well and canal) in Qazvin plain.Materials and MethodsThe data were collected through face-to-face interviews with farmers in the year 2018. Energy indices were estimated based on the analysis of farm inputs and outputs. Global Warming Potential was calculated using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method and SimaPro 8.2 software. GHGs were calculated using the conversion coefficients presented by the IPCC GWP 100 method. Results and DiscussionThe output energy values of maize silage and alfalfa were calculated as 232726, 191812 MJ ha-1 for well water irrigation system and 234167 and 248060 MJ ha-1 for the canal water irrigation, respectively. Results showed higher net energy values for alfalfa (172778 MJ ha-1) and maize silage (167618 MJ ha-1) in canal water irrigation system compared to well water irrigation (131300 MJ ha-1 and 60112 MJ ha-1 for corn silage and alfalfa, respectively) mainly because of the relatively lower input energy. The results showed that the highest and lowest values of input energy were related to alfalfa production with well water irrigation (131700 MJ ha-1) and maize silage with canal water irrigation (66548 MJ ha-1), respectively. Also, the energy use efficiency of maize silage (3.5) and alfalfa (3.3) were higher in canal water irrigation systems compared to well water irrigation systems (2.3 for maize silage and 1.46 for alfalfa). In the well water irrigation systems, GWP was calculated to be 7466.9 kg CO2-eq ha−1 and 7995.7 kg CO2-eq ha−1 for maize silage and alfalfa, respectively. These values were 5533.3 kg CO2-eq ha−1 and 4947.6 kg CO2-eq ha−1 for maize silage and alfalfa in the canal water irrigation systems, respectively. Electricity and direct emission showed the highest share of total energy consumption and GHG emission.ConclusionGenerally, our results showed that energy consumption and GWP were lower in the canal irrigation systems than well irrigation systems mainly as a result of electricity used for water pumping in well irrigation operations. It can be inferred from the present study that for efficient use of resources and decreasing environmental problems in the study area, practices such as optimal management of irrigation water, conservation tillage, and optimal management of chemical fertilizers can help to achieve these goals.
Original Article
samaneh habibi; Mahmoud Behrouzi; ahmad Nohegar
Abstract
Introduction: Emissions of particulate matter from car exhaust, tire wear, engine lubricants and street fence wear contain heavy metals which is dangerous for urban ecosystem; However, most of the particles are deposited on the canopy and soil of plant which absorbed by the plant. Pollution-resistant ...
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Introduction: Emissions of particulate matter from car exhaust, tire wear, engine lubricants and street fence wear contain heavy metals which is dangerous for urban ecosystem; However, most of the particles are deposited on the canopy and soil of plant which absorbed by the plant. Pollution-resistant species with high capacity to absorb suspended particles can be used to remove suspended particles from the urban environment. For this reason, in this study, concentrations of heavy metals in leaves and soil of tree species in Bandar Abbas were measured and evaluated. Also the species with the highest potential for adsorption of heavy metals were identified.Materials and methods: In order to achieve the research approach, at first three tree species including: Azadirachta indica, Conocarpus and Prosopis juliflora were selected as the dominant plants in Bandar Abbas and in 30 points of the fields with 5 points of non-polluted environment outside the city (control), and sampled from the surface soil and leaves of these species, and after preparing and digesting the samples, the concentration of heavy metals (cadmium, manganese, zinc and lead) emitted from urban traffic, were measured using atomic absorption spectrometry in soil and tree leaf samples. Next, the difference in heavy metal concentrations between tree species was analyzed by ANOVA and between soil and leaves and between urban and control environments was analyzed by t-student test. Then, to determine the tree species with high accumulation of heavy metals, two indices of heavy metal accumulation (BCF) and bioaccumulation index (MAI) were used.Results and discussion: The results showed that the pattern of heavy metals in soil and leaves of tree species was Mn> Zn> Pb> Cd. The maximum concentrations of heavy metals in the soil and leaves were Conocarpus, Azadirachta indica and Prosopis juliflora, respectively. Spatially, the highest concentration of heavy metals in the sampling points was related to Imam Hossein street, which has an east-west extension and passes through the north of Bandar Abbas and the north-south streets of the city are connected to it; However, the minimum concentration of heavy metals was observed in the Persian Gulf streets. The concentrations of Mn and Pb in the soil of plant species were different and their differences were significant at 95% level, but concentration of Cd and Zn wasn't different in the soil of tree species. in Pb, Mn and Zn concentrations weren't differences in the shoots of the studied tree species and their differences were not significant at 95% level; However, the concentration of Cd in the shoots of the species was different and the difference between the species was significant at 95% level. There was a significantly difference in the concentration of heavy metals between soil and leaves at 95 and 99%; Also, the concentration of heavy metals in soil and leaves between urban and control field was significantly different at 95%. The pattern of BCF index in all species was Zn> Pb> Mn> Cd and heavy metals had moderate accumulation for tree species. Bioaccumulation index (MAI) showed that Conocarpus has the highest adsorption potential of heavy metals and the lowest adsorption potential was observed in Prosopis juliflora. In the spatial distribution of this index, Imam Hossein street and the streets that originate from it, have the highest index of bioaccumulation of heavy metals.Conclusion: Conocarpus, by absorbing pollutants from urban traffic, purifies the polluted air of Bandar Abbas; but Prosopis juliflora, which is one of the migratory trees in the city of Bandar Abbas, with strong and deep roots, dries up the surface and groundwater of the region. On the other hand, its potential to absorb urban air pollutants is very weak. Therefore, Conocarpus despite their resistance to drought and heat, have a high potential in purifying urban pollution, can replace Prosopis juliflora.
Original Article
Adel Khazaei; Majid Abaspour; Sasan Babaei Kafaky; Lobat Taghavi; Yousef rashidi
Abstract
Introduction: The metropolis of Tehran as the largest capital of the Middle East is faced with phenomena such as environmental degradation, land use change and high concentration of agricultural and industrial disasters. Knowing the changes of land use in the past and predicting its future status is ...
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Introduction: The metropolis of Tehran as the largest capital of the Middle East is faced with phenomena such as environmental degradation, land use change and high concentration of agricultural and industrial disasters. Knowing the changes of land use in the past and predicting its future status is necessary in order to carry out a principled, dynamic planning. In this study, the spatio-temporal dynamics of land use changes in the Tehran in a 20-year period and the prediction of future changes in these land uses in the next 40-year were selected as the general objectives of this study.Material and Methods: After forming a database of Landsat 5 and 8 satellite images for three times of 2001, 2011 and 2021, the land use map of this times were prepared. For the validation of the maps Google Earth images, ground points and accuracy and Kappa coefficients were used. The time period from 2021 to 2061 was considered to predict future changes. In order to zoning and predict the future of land use changes, 6 land use change transfer sub-models with artificial neural network, Markov chain, and LCM model were used. Evaluation of the accuracy of the model was obtained from the comparison of the ground map of 2021, the future map of 2061, and the values of Null success, success, Miss and False Alarm were obtained.Results and Discussion: The results showed that the period from 2001 to 2021 was associated with the expansion of residential areas, the growth of urban areas and the reduction of green spaces including gardens and parks. The expansion of residential areas has been primarily in poor and barren soils and then in gardens and green spaces. This urban growth was clearly in region 5, 21, 22 and its physical development process was linear. The decrease in the level of gardens and green space is very catastrophic and this decrease is especially evident in the central areas of the city due to the high density of buildings. Urban parks are clearly in a complicated condition in the eastern areas of Tehran. The area of rain fed agriculture has increased and the area of barren soils and poor lands has decreased. Most of the changes in land use related to low capacity lands and agricultural lands have occurred. Studying the maps of the future of land cover showed the continuation of the same trend of the past 20 years. Although the growth of residential areas will be slower than the previous period, but the capacity and dimensions of the city will continue to increase, especially in the western, southern and southwestern regions. The decreasing trend of gardens, parks and urban green space is still observed. This process is more intense in the case of parks and they will be destroyed more quickly. The reason for this is besides drought and withering of trees due to climate change, pollution, and conversion of these green land uses to rain fed agriculture, parks, poor rangelands and urban areas. As for the urban green spaces, the 16 and 4 regions have the worst positions, and the 17, 19. 2, 5 and 22 regions will not be safe from this damage either. The decrease in the area of rangelands and cities moved to new areas will increase; the cycle of destruction of vegetation will increase from the outskirts of Tehran.Conclusion: Construction was more in the south of Tehran and the decreasing trend of urban green space will continue to be observed. The central areas of Tehran will be completely devoid of trees due to the predominance of the urban areas, and the point to consider is the destruction of the green belt in the north of Tehran in the future.
Original Article
Maryam Shariatzadeh; Masoud Bijani; Saeid Morid
Abstract
Purpose: Any long-term changes on the weather conditions are called climate change. The most critical environmental threat against the earth planet is the climate changes on these days. In other hand, the climate changes which has increased so fast in these decade has caused the water managers, the water ...
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Purpose: Any long-term changes on the weather conditions are called climate change. The most critical environmental threat against the earth planet is the climate changes on these days. In other hand, the climate changes which has increased so fast in these decade has caused the water managers, the water consumers and the all authorities and planners face with serious challenges and there is no clue. It does not seem there is logical way to assume that the climate changes and hydrological conditions are going to remain in the same structure as they have been before. Therefore, the important issue is making a useful plan to avoid and control effects of climate changes while we are facing serious challenges by the impacts of climate. The climate changes has made a bad impact on the agricultural part in the different regions of world, so farmers need to be adapted more with these changes to save their livelihood. This research is done based on understanding how the farmers are adapting with the climate changes by using of the behavioral model in Khoy Township. Materials and methods: The present quantitative research as an applied inquiry which has been done in the descriptive-correlational method in Khoy Township. The statistical population was 25811 households which 380 of them was selected based on Krejcie and Morgan sample size table and stratified random sampling method. The research instrument was a questionnaire which its face and content validity was confirmed by a panel of expert in the field of agricultural extension and education and its reliability was confirmed with Cronbach's alpha (0.72 ≤α ≤0.90) in order. The descriptive and inferential statistics is used for data analyzing. Results and discussion: The results showed that the level of adapting for the all farmer households is not equal. At the end we will provide the model of the farmer household adapting to the climate change and also useful and effective methods to reduce of the negative effects of climate changes on rural households. Based on the findings the most important effective factors on adapting are keeping the agriculture structure, living standards, social solidarity, using of various strategies for adapting, learning new ways to fight with crisis and keeping the power of decision that have most relation with adapting. On the other, maintaining the mood has less relation with the dependent variable. The independent variables anticipate 87% of the dependent variable's changes.Conclusion: The results show that households increase their ability to adapt to climate change economically by using different strategies and new crisis response strategies. Evaluating farmers' actions on climate change also shows that most farmers are aware of the effects of the climate change and are able to maintain and improve their livelihood. So we can create a sustainable situation for adaptation to climate change by presenting new techniques to local farmers and updating climate information.
Original Article
ramin alivand; Omid Noori; hadi veisi; reza deihim
Abstract
AbstractIntroduction:Beginning and developing community gardens in city by creating a healthy and intimate atmosphere, it has made people feel refreshed and by increasing social, cultural and political participation It can be helpful in solving people's problems in the region, city and even the country. ...
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AbstractIntroduction:Beginning and developing community gardens in city by creating a healthy and intimate atmosphere, it has made people feel refreshed and by increasing social, cultural and political participation It can be helpful in solving people's problems in the region, city and even the country. By creating a community garden, in addition to continuing to maintain the gardens, can also benefit from the services and functions of these gardens. In this research using Network analysis and ranking of indicators and their relationships in the decision-making process.Materials and methods:This research was conducted in Karaj city, based on different criteria and according to the opinion of framework experts to develop Community gardens Provide multi-function and multi-service. to reach this goal, used from the model provided for the services and functions of the community garden which has eight economic, political, social, cultural, ecological, environmental, educational and health dimensions, And with 125 components. In this research, data collection Using a questionnaire Based on ANP decision technique and pairwise comparisons by professionals with at least 15 years of experience which were selected by the snowball method. After calculating the geometric mean of the judgments made the information entered the software. The processing and analysis of the results of this research was done using Excel and Super decision software.Results and discussion:After measurement the weight of the used indicators, the final prioritization for the proposed functions and services was done by the super decisions software. Among the investigated indicators Stability index (2C) with a weight of 0.389 The most important indicator of choosing the services and functions of the community garden and after this index, Acceptability index (3C) with a weight of 0.228 and effectiveness index (1C) with a weight of 0.205 They were ranked next. Based on the calculation with weighted indicators, Among the functions of community garden dimensions The economic dimension of "Using Abandoned Lands", social dimension of "entertainment space", political dimension of "tourism", cultural dimension of "developing garden endowment culture", environmental dimension of "pollution reduction", ecological dimension of "biodiversity", health dimension "healthy body weight", educational dimension of "Environment for promoting agriculture" They got the highest priority.Conclusion:The results of this research can in showing the position of the community garden very useful by people and officials and to justify investment in order to benefit from the services and functions of the community garden. Due to the importance of the community garden, when designing the city, there should be a plan to provide urban green infrastructure. Based on the knowledge of services and functions of these gardens to be considered necessary in accordance with social preferences.
Original Article
Zohreh Talebi; Seyyed Ali Ayyoubzadeh; Hossein Mostafavi; Mohammad Mehdi Hoseinzadeh; Hossein Shafizadeh
Abstract
ABSTRACTBackground and Purpose: Change is an integral part of all river systems. Most rivers now operate under fundamentally different conditions to those that existed prior to human disturbance. Human interventions indirectly change geomorphic processes such as sediment transport, erosion and sedimentation ...
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ABSTRACTBackground and Purpose: Change is an integral part of all river systems. Most rivers now operate under fundamentally different conditions to those that existed prior to human disturbance. Human interventions indirectly change geomorphic processes such as sediment transport, erosion and sedimentation along the rivers, and the spatial distribution and rate of these processes often including profound changes to river morphology. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the morphological quality, especially for the rivers of Iran, which are characterized by a very high level of human pressure. For this reason, In this research, a morphological evaluation from the upstream to the middle of the Talar River (Northern Iran - Mazandaran) using the Morphological Quality Index (MQI) and with the aim of determining changes in its morphological quality has been considered.Materials and Methods: Talar River was divided into two landscape units, three segments and 23 reaches based on the hierarchical approach and according to the physiographic condition. The evaluation of Talar river has been done after drawing and analyzing the spatial units using Morphological Quality Index (MQI).Results and Discussion: The results obtained from 28 MQI parameters in 23 reaches show that about 15% of the reaches have a "good" condition, almost 35% of the reaches have a "moderate" condition, and more than 50% have a "poor" and "very poor" condition, which means significant damage to the river corridor in the reaches. The subject of investigation and the need to pay attention to the corrective solutions and restoration of the river and its banks. Along the Talar River, due to the large amount of agriculture, urban development and road crossing, the reaches that are in the urban area have poor and very poor morphological quality class, and the reaches that are in the forest area, virgin and untouched, have The morphological quality has been evaluated as good. Also, the results of the evaluation indicate that the average quality class of the investigated reaches is in "moderate" conditions.Conclusion: Considering that the urban and agricultural development and sediment collection takes place in the boundary of the river bed and the vegetation cover and the river corridor have been destroyed in most of the reaches, measures such as observing the boundary of the river bed and boundary as well as planting plants On the river bank and removing sediment based on annual yield will help to restore the river in many reaches. In addition, the results of this evaluation have shown that the MQI morphological quality index method can be a suitable and effective tool in diagnosing hydromorphological challenges. Also, the morphological quality index provides the conditions for evaluating the morphological condition, but it is not enough for the general hydromorphological classification alone, and it should be integrated through the use of a special method to evaluate the changes in the hydrological regime.
Original Article
Toktam Shahriari; Abdolreza karbassi; Maryam Shirazinejad
Abstract
Introduction: Industrial plating wastewater contains various types of detrimental heavy metals in high concentrations. One of this toxic metal is Nickel that its discharge into the surface waters and soil is considered as an environmental problem. Hence removing of this metal from wastewaters is crucial ...
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Introduction: Industrial plating wastewater contains various types of detrimental heavy metals in high concentrations. One of this toxic metal is Nickel that its discharge into the surface waters and soil is considered as an environmental problem. Hence removing of this metal from wastewaters is crucial and vital for protecting the environment and human health. Applying of nanotechnology in elimination of environmental contaminants is one of the methods which attracted a great deal of attention in recent years. In present research, nanographite was utilized as efficient adsorbent in order to remove Ni ions. Materials and methods: In order to investigate the adsorption process, nanographite with a purity of 99.9% and a specific surface area of 18-24 m2/g and a plate morphology was prepared from Pishgaman Iranian Nanomaterials Company and used as an adsorbent. Also, the wastewater used in the experiments was prepared from one of the plating workshops in Tehran, which contained 765 mg/L of nickel and a pH of about 1. The parameters of pH, time and amount of adsorbent were evaluated. In each experiment, one of the parameters was considered variable and the other two parameters were considered constant. The amount of nickel was determined before and after each test.Results and discussion: In this study, the parameters including pH, adsorption time and adsorbent dosage were investigated as effective factors on Ni adsorption process. In order to analyze the adsorption mechanism, the obtained results were examined by the Langmuir and Fruendlich isotherm models. In addition, pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models were studied to investigate adsorption kinetics. According to the results, the Ni uptake by nanographite was enhanced significantly with increasing of the pH value from 5 to 7. Thus the pH of 7 was determined as optimum pH for Ni removal. Investigations also showed that increasing the time up to the first 80 minutes had a relatively good effect on nickel adsorption by the nanoparticle, and after that the adsorption almost reached equilibrium. Finally, it was observed that in a constant time, increasing the amount of adsorbent led to an increase in adsorption, and to achieve the maximum adsorption of nickel, the amount of 2g was chosen for the adsorbent. Based on the obtained results, 97.52% primary nickel was adsorbed by nanographite. Results also revealed that the data were best fitted to the Fruendlich models. After determining the amount of nickel adsorption at different times, the resulting data were analyzed by the kinetic model.Kinetic studies also indicated that the adsorption data were described well by pseudo-second-order model. Conclusion: Examining the results showed that pH plays an important role in the adsorption process and the adsorption rate increases with increasing time until the equilibrium time is reached. One of the effective factors is the amount of adsorbent, which has a direct effect on adsorption. Following the Freundlich isotherm in this research indicates that the adsorption sites in the adsorbent have different energies. Also, the pseudo-second-order model in adsorption kinetics refers to the process of chemical adsorption in addition to physical adsorption.
Original Article
Farhad Hosseini Tayefeh; Saber Ghasemi; Mona Izadian; Seyyed Ghasem ghorbanzadeh Zaferani
Abstract
Background and purpose: Anatidae family is considered as a biological indicator of wetlands due to their migratory behavior, wide distribution and high population density. Three wetlands of the Bakhtegan basin, namely Bakhtegan, Tashk and Kamjan in Fars province, are important habitats for Anatidae in ...
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Background and purpose: Anatidae family is considered as a biological indicator of wetlands due to their migratory behavior, wide distribution and high population density. Three wetlands of the Bakhtegan basin, namely Bakhtegan, Tashk and Kamjan in Fars province, are important habitats for Anatidae in the central plateau of Iran. The purpose of this research was to evaluate fluctuations in the wintering population of the Anatidae family in wetlands of the Bakhtegan basin in a long-term period of 52 years from 1967 to 2018. Materials and methods: Data on the population and diversity of waterbirds were obtained from a 52-year census data of the Department of the Environmental of Iran. Results of field studies in 2019 were also used to investigate their current habitat condition, data validation and monitoring of Anatidae populations. Of 21 Anatidae species recorded in Iran, nine species with a population of more than 50 individuals per year and observed at least 20 years, were investigated along with the Vulnerable species (VU) of Common Pochard Aythya ferina. Annual changes in the total population of waterbirds, the number of species in each year, the proportion of Anatidae in the population and the diversity of waterbirds in Bakhtegan wetlands and the statistical trend of population changes of species were analyzed. Trend of long-term changes in the population of Anatidae species were calculated using the RTRIM statistical package and Multi-species Indicators (MSI).Results and discussion: A total of 21 of Anatidae species, including Endangered species (EN) of White-headed Duck Oxyura leucocephala, Marbled Duck Marmaronetta angustirostris (VU) and Common Pochard (VU) and Near Threatened species (NT) of Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca were identified in the wetlands of Bakhtegan basin. The average population of Anatidae in a 31-year period (1988–2008) was more than 169,000 individuals, but in the last ten years (2009–2018), it decreased to 6,623 individuals. The highest number of total population was in 1995 with 632,510 individuals and the lowest with 1,135 individuals in 2016. The highest and lowest number of species were in 2000 and 2010 with 13 and 3 species, respectively. The statistical trend of the population changes showed that the Greylag Goose Anser anser faced a steep decline in the long-term with a slope of -21%, the Shelduck Tadorna tadorna with a steep decline (-8.4%), the Ruddy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea with a stable population and zero percent, the Mallard Anas platyrhynchos and the Eurasian Teal Anas crecca with a steep decline and slope of -12.1% and -6.5%, respectively. Trend of changes in the last ten years for the Greylag Goose was stable (0.1%), Shelduck with an uncertain state (4.8%), Ruddy Shelduck and Mallard with a decrease and a slop of -3.8% and -9.4%, respectively, and Eurasian Teal with a strong increase (48.9%). The results indicate that Bakhtegan wetlands had a high proportion of waterbirds during the 1990s to the early 2000s, but it has lost its position in the last 15 years. Bakhtegan wetlands used to be the breeding habitat for Marbled Ducks, but there have been no reports of its breeding in recent years.The reduction of water level, drying wet areas and changes in habitat variables have been the most important factors in reduction of the population and diversity of Anatide species. Conclusion: The Anatidae family has more than 30% of species diversity and more than 53% of the total population of waterbirds in Bakhtegan wetlands. Currently, it is possible for birds to spend the winter in only a small part of Tashk wetland in the area of Gamban spring. Reconstruction, restoration and making continuous and effective protection of the wetland chain of Bakhtegan Basin requires allocating the required water from diverse water sources for its biological sustainability. In the case of increasing the level and depth of these water areas, the possibility of increasing the population and diversity of diving ducks and Mergus species is expected. Due to the importance of the participation of stakeholders in the protection and restoration of wetlands, it is necessary to take action regarding the allocation of biological water rights and participatory protection of wetlands according to the social, economic, cultural and political conditions.
Original Article
somayeh moharami; mahdi Sadeghi Pour Marvi; Rahman Sharifi
Abstract
Introduction: During the past two decades, computer aid models for simulation of heavy metals have been remarkably developed. Prediction of soil pollution plays an important role in pollution control and land management. But in large areas, collecting data in a direct way is challenging in terms of cost ...
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Introduction: During the past two decades, computer aid models for simulation of heavy metals have been remarkably developed. Prediction of soil pollution plays an important role in pollution control and land management. But in large areas, collecting data in a direct way is challenging in terms of cost and time. In recent years, the use of indirect methods such as artificial neural network (ANN) and other similar models to estimate heavy metals has been considered. There are 27 salt mines in Garmsar city. Of these, 16 mines are active. Salt extracted from these mines are used as one of the food spices. On the other hand, due to mining activities, the soils of this region may be contaminated with heavy metals. Therefore, in this study, the effectiveness of terrain and spectral indices for predicting total soil Cadmium (Cd) around the soils of Garmsar salt mines was evaluated by ANN – multilayer perceptron (MLP) model.Material and Methods: For this research, 49 soil samples were collected from the 0-20 cm Physicochemical properties of soil samples such as percentage of clay, sand, silt, soil acidity (pH), electrical conductivity (EC) and lime percentage were determined. Total Cd concentration was measured by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) (Varian, Spectra 220). All terrain attributes used in this study were derived from a digital elevation map (DEM) and to calculate the spectral indices, Landsat-8 OLI/TIRS bands image with a resolution of 30 meters were used. Twenty-five auxiliary data variables derived from a DEM and Landsat-8 were used to predict total soil Cd in the study area. Based on the auxiliary data obtained and the correlation coefficients between these data and the predicted total Cd value, 2 models were evaluated. The collected data were randomly divided into categories training and validation and were used to evaluate the MLP model. Results and discussion: The results of this study show that the auxiliary data extracted from landsat-8 bands (with the highest accuracy and lowest error rate) were the effective parameters in predicting soil contamination with Cd. Based on the results obtained from the evaluation of ANN performance in estimating total Cd, the value of root mean square error (RMSE) and coefficient of explanation (R2) were 0.05 and 0.95 for the first model and 0.10 and 0.80 for the second model. In model 1, saturation index (Sat I), grain size index (GSI), carbonate index (CrI), soil color index (color I) and gypsum index (GI) were important and main parameters in total Cd modeling. The results of the present study showed the high efficiency of the ANN model in predicting total soil Cd.Conclusion: Due to the development of machine learning models in the field of environmental engineering especially in simulation of heavy metals, having a turning point for their advancement is very important. The results of this research show that the MLP model is suitable for total soil Cd prediction and this method can save the cost of soil sampling and analysis. Therefore, it is recommended to validate the method applied in this study to prepare total soil Cd map in similar areas.
Original Article
Sara Ataei
Abstract
Introduction: The study of the world's environmental situation reflects that there is abundant evidence that many ecosystems have suffered from over-exploitation and mismanagement, to the point where their long-term viability, and thus their ability to provide services, is at risk (The Millennium Ecosystem ...
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Introduction: The study of the world's environmental situation reflects that there is abundant evidence that many ecosystems have suffered from over-exploitation and mismanagement, to the point where their long-term viability, and thus their ability to provide services, is at risk (The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). This is commonly explained by a lack of institutions, including markets, which could otherwise guide the supply and demand for ES (Arrow et al., 2000). Externalities, a lack of well-defined property rights and limited information hamper efforts to optimize ES provision between those who benefit from an ES and those who affect its provision (Engel et al., 2008; Ferraro and Kiss, 2002). Payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs are one potential solution to this problem. PES programs use conditional payments to encourage individuals and communities to undertake environmentally beneficial land management actions. They help internalize the benefits associated with enhancing or maintaining ES to ensure that land managers face incentives concordant with the interests of ES users (Arrow et al., 2000; van Noordwijk and Leimona, 2010). To improve the likelihood of achieving intended environmental benefits, PES programs should be designed to suit local circumstances, both in regard to the environmental problem at hand and the social context (Jack et al., 2008; Swallow et al., 2009). An important part of adapting PES to a particular circumstance is taking into account the preferences of those targeted for participation (Petheram and Campbell, 2010). Therefore, it seems to be possible to implement it in many plains and ecosystems of the country and minimize the problems of resource mismanagement.Materials and methods: Qazvin Plain because of a singular position of the susceptible areas of the country for agricultural production and hence it is important that unfortunately in recent years with the problems of the destruction of the ecosystem and the need for the proper management. In this regard, in this research, the priorities of land degradation in Qazvin plain are determined according to the guidelines of the Lada project, and the type of payment plan for this region is determined by different payment patterns for ecosystem services. Finally, using the SWOT approach, strategies for implementing the PES program are being developed to improve Qazvin plain.Results and discussion: firstly based on the guidelines of the Lada project, the priorities for land degradation in the Qazvin plain, water loss in the agricultural sector (inappropriate irrigation methods), excessive exploitation of wells and drilling of unauthorized wells and drought were determined. Then, through different payment patterns for ecosystem services, payment for Watershed services was identified as a suitable model for the region. Finally, SWOT methodology was developed to implement PES program in order to improve Qazvin plain watershed. The results show that suitable strategies for implementing ecosystem services in Qazvin plain watershed are: determining and implementing the appropriate cultivation pattern, providing appropriate irrigation methods, preventing excessive use of wells and eliminating unauthorized wells.Conclusion: Payment plans for ecosystem services between the two government groups or other stakeholders as ecosystem service shoppers and farmers are implemented as vendors of this service. Therefore, it is suggested that the government do haggle with farmers to implement proposed policies and provide incentives for their assistance in providing Services to Qazvin plain watershed via use of the below cases:Use the appropriate cultivation pattern; use the appropriate irrigation methods; preventing excessive use of wells and eliminating unauthorized wells.
Original Article
Amirhossein Nikfal; راضیه پیلهوران; زهرا کاظمی
Abstract
سابقه و هدف: پدیده گرد و خاک در سالهای اخیر یکی از مهم ترین چالشهای زیستمحیطی در غرب و جنوب غرب ایران میباشد. شناسایی منشأ گرد و خاک و پایش آن، در سطح وسیع با مدلهای ...
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سابقه و هدف: پدیده گرد و خاک در سالهای اخیر یکی از مهم ترین چالشهای زیستمحیطی در غرب و جنوب غرب ایران میباشد. شناسایی منشأ گرد و خاک و پایش آن، در سطح وسیع با مدلهای عددی هواشناسی و سنجش از دوری که از سرعت و دقت بیشتر و هزینه کمتری برخوردار میباشند، از اهمیت فراوانی برخوردار است.مواد و روش: در این پژوهش، از بین رخدادهای گرد و خاک در فصل گرم و سرد سال در نواحی غرب و جنوب غرب کشور، طی دوره آماری 15 ساله (2004-2018) به طور موردی تعدادی از روزهای حاد دارای گرد و خاک با شدت و تداوم زیاد انتخاب شدند. در گام نخست، به منظور بارزسازی و مشاهده شدت غلظت ذرات گرد و خاک در منطقه مورد مطالعه، محصول AODسنجنده Modis با استفاده از الگوریتم ترکیبی DeepBlueو DarkTargetکد 064 و الگوریتم DBکد 051، در تاریخهای منتخب با بررسی تحلیلی سنجش از دور بازخوانی شد و سپس تصاویر بارزسازیشده با استفاده از تحلیل سامانه اطلاعات جغرافیایی (GIS) تبدیل به نقشه شدند. در گام بعد، به منظور آشکارسازی چشمههای گسیل گرد و خاکشبیهسازی غلظت ذرات ، با استفاده از مدل عددی جفتشدهی WRF-Chem صورت گرفت. در نهایت برای ردیابی مسیر ذرات گرد و خاک مدل لاگرانژی HYSPLIT به کار گرفته شد.نتایج و بحث: نتایج ناشی از مطالعه همزمان بارزسازی گرد و خاک با استفاده از تصاویر ماهوارهای، شبیهسازی غلظت ذرات معلق و نحوه حرکت آنها نشان دادند که شرق سوریه و شمال عراق در نمونههای موردی فصل گرم و غرب و مرکز عراق در نمونههای موردی فصل سرد، به عنوان منشأهای اصلی رخداد پدیده گرد و خاک در غرب و جنوب غرب میباشند.نتیجهگیری: نتایج ناشی از مطالعه ی همزمان بارزسازی گرد و خاک با استفاده از تصاویر ماهوارهای، شبیهسازی غلظت ذرات معلق با استفاده از مدل جفتشده WRF–Chemو نحوه حرکت ذرات با مدل HYSPLITیافتن منشا و نحوه انتقال گرد و خاک را بهینه کرده و تصمیم گیری و تصمیم سازی بهتری را برای پیش بینی مسیر حرکت گرد و خاک برای مدیران بخشهای مختلف و محققین فراهم میسازد.
Original Article
Amir Bahrami; Fatemeh Ahadi; Mehdi Bahrami; Fateme Aghamir
Abstract
Introduction: Today, treated wastewater is widely used on agricultural soils adjacent to urban areas of developing countries to meet water shortages. On the other hand, due to the pollution increase, the limited available resources are threatened. For the production of crops, unconventional water is ...
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Introduction: Today, treated wastewater is widely used on agricultural soils adjacent to urban areas of developing countries to meet water shortages. On the other hand, due to the pollution increase, the limited available resources are threatened. For the production of crops, unconventional water is used in many countries of the world if it has the necessary standard, and municipal wastewater treatment plants are a very reliable source due to their ability to deliver sustainable water in all seasons. In recent years, several studies have been conducted in the field of the effluent quality of municipal wastewater treatment plants and the possibility of using them in various applications, including agriculture, in different regions of Iran. Due to the water crisis that has arisen, especially in arid and semi-arid regions of the country, it is necessary to study and analyze the possibility of further use of this unconventional water resource. However, wastewater recycling can have various health and environmental effects.Materials and methods: In this study, the effluent quality of the Shiraz municipal wastewater treatment plant was investigated using the daily data during 2018 and 2019 for use in various purposes such as irrigation of crops, irrigation of green spaces, drinking of livestock and poultry, fish farming, discharge into streams, artificial recharge of groundwater based on national and international standards. In this regard, at first, the values of various physical and chemical parameters such as acidity, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, total volatile solids, total solids, chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, detergents, phosphate, total phosphorus, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, Kjeldahl total nitrogen, free chlorine, and fat-oil-grease were determined in raw and treated wastewater. Then, while comparing the values of these parameters with the standard of the Environmental Protection Organization of Iran, the removal efficiencies of these parameters were calculated and finally, the quality of the effluent was investigated for use in various sectors.Results and discussion: The results showed that the removal efficiency of BOD5, COD, TSS, NH3, detergents, and fat-oil-grease in this treatment plant is 85, 85, 67, 64, 94, and 68.5%, respectively. The quality of the effluent is only suitable for agricultural purposes based on the standard of the Environmental Organization of Iran, and according to other standards, it is not capable of such use. This effluent can be used to irrigate ornamental fruit trees, fodder crops, plenteous trees and green spaces side of the roads outside the city, field crops, industrial crops, and forestry, as well as drinking livestock and poultry. However, there are limitations for urban green space irrigation, fish farming, discharge to surface waters (such as Maharloo lake in the vicinity of the wastewater plant), and groundwater recharge, although some of these limitations can be improved by upgrading the function of the treatment plant. By irrigating unfruitful plants and forest parks around Shiraz and even part of urban green space, the pressure on water resources can be reduced to a great extent. On the other hand, the continuation of irrigation with this effluent, which contains organic and nutritious substances in a large proportion, has caused an increase in soil nitrate, and it will be possible to leach and transfer it to surface and underground water sources.Conclusion: The amount of quality parameters of the treatment plant effluent is within the standard of Iranian Environmental Protection and can be used as a sustainable water source in areas that are not directly related to humans. In using this sustainable water source for permitted uses, all health issues for the workers of each sector must be observed, and the effluent must be continuously disinfected.
Original Article
Elham Pourmaafi Esfahani; Ali Almodaresi; Mohammad Mousaei Sanjerehei; Hamed Hghparast
Abstract
Introduction: Today, dust phenomena are among the most important environmental hazards and pose a serious threat to human health and the environment. Dust in barley as one of the pollutants has various adverse effects and negative consequences, among which can be reduced growth and yield of agricultural ...
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Introduction: Today, dust phenomena are among the most important environmental hazards and pose a serious threat to human health and the environment. Dust in barley as one of the pollutants has various adverse effects and negative consequences, among which can be reduced growth and yield of agricultural products, intensification of damage caused by pests and plant diseases, increased road accidents due to reduced visibility, The cancellation of flights and the resulting financial losses, increased treatment costs, closure of industrial units, pollution of water resources, increased erosion of buildings, decreased efficiency of solar photovoltaic systems due to turbidity.Objective: Therefore, due to the importance of dust and in order to predict how dust is spread, the artificial neural network model was used. This model can be useful and cost-effective information for future implementation of air pollution control strategies and cost reduction.Materials and Methods: To model the dust distribution using artificial neural network model, statistics and meteorological information of Kashan synoptic station, which were recorded daily by the Environment Department in 1996, were used. The proposed neural network model has four input layers that include humidity, temperature, wind speed, wind direction and an output layer, the daily concentration of suspended particles is 2.5 micrometers per cubic meter. The model training process was performed using multilayer perceptron neural network and post-diffusion rule and using sigmoid membership function in Matleb software environment. In the neural network model, the number of neurons in the hidden layer and the appropriate number of rounds or IPAC to achieve the best neural network structure, with the least error for each model, were determined using trial and error. The number of neurons and apex for the model in 2017 is 15 and 37,000, respectively.Results and discussion: The correlation coefficient of the model for predicting PM2.5 concentration is equal to 0.80 which is obtained by comparing real data with simulated data. The validation results of the model with real data are close to 80%, so the neural network model can be used to predict PM2.5 concentration. According to the average regression diagram, the predicted values obtained from the model are closer to the diagonal axis and have no dispersion. Also, based on the results of the step-by-step regression method, it was determined that among the four variables used for relative humidity modeling, it has the most impact and importance in dust emission modeling.Conclusion: According to the accuracy and the results, this method can be used to predict the air pollution of Kashan caused by suspended particles. Due to the high capability of the perceptron neural network in predicting the concentration and distribution of dust, the application of this model can be a suitable and fast solution for predicting the amount and spread of dust.
Original Article
Masoumeh Sharifi; Bagher Nezami Balouchi; Javad Ramezani; Behzad Rayegani; Ali Jahani
Abstract
Introduction: The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is the largest carnivore which has a wide range of distribution but like other large carnivores, there are low frequency in the country. Habitats of this species in the country, especially at the local level are very fragmented. Therefore, investigation and ...
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Introduction: The brown bear (Ursus arctos) is the largest carnivore which has a wide range of distribution but like other large carnivores, there are low frequency in the country. Habitats of this species in the country, especially at the local level are very fragmented. Therefore, investigation and recognition of the potentially suitable habitat regions are of great importance in the conservation of this species. Also, identifying the factors affecting the selection of habitat plays an important role in describing species behavior and allows to compare different habitats in terms of their quality and to use it in the effective management. Evaluating the response of models and impacts of the biogeoclimatic factors, on habitat suitability, are the other goals of this study.Material and methods: This study was performed in the northwestern part of Iran in the Arasbaran ecoregion, which is known as the Caucasian geographical climate. The Caucasus ecoregion part of Iran has two separate plant communities, Hyrcanian and Arasbarani. The definite presence points of this species were identified by conducting field visits and collecting confirmed observations and reports of game wardens and experts and 64 points were employed in modeling after validating the obtained points and applying the buffer. Six modeling techniques were used in the BIOMOD package of software to create an efficient species distribution model and identify potentially suitable regions. Finally, the habitat suitability map was acquired from the resulting outputs using the combined Ensemble method.Results and discussion: The results from the models’ outputs and overlapping the map of the protected areas indicated that more than two-thirds of these areas are suitable for the brown bears. based on results, the variables of slop percentage and vegetation index involve the largest share in determining habitat desirability, so moderate slop and higher vegetation density will lead to more suitability for the species. In determining the desirability of the habitat of the brown bear, the variable of distance from rivers has less effect, and distance from the village did not play an important role. The flatness of areas, as it increase human access, reduced the level of security and thus reduced the suitability of the habitat of this species. There is more probability of the presence of species in the slope range of 10 to 40% and the suitability of habitat was raised in the moderate slope and increased the vegetation density. Regions with moderate rainfall and higher altitudes also play an important role in attracting bears and increasing habitat suitability. On the other hand, rising temperature, congested roads, and increasingly concentrated human activities reduce habitat desirability with an almost steep trend. 67% of the identified suitable and preferred habitats of the species have been located within the four protected areas category and 33% of them are outside of these areas, which is an acceptable level for conservation. Although a wide range of the protected areas in the study area is suitable for the species, the density of the brown bears in this part of the country is much lower than in the north and west of the country. This is maybe due to the high number of human casualties and damages in these areas and that most areas are not broad and wide enough to cover the entire home range of this species in the northwest. The most common reason for habitat fragmentation is the local road network, dispersion of rural areas and dispersed villages, and scattered individual livestock farming.Conclusion: One of the most significant conservation strategies for the large carnivorous species, such as the brown bear, with high mobility behavior, low population density, high conflict, and extensive conservation requirements is connectivity between the species habitats by defining new protected areas according to the suitable habitats maps. Also, the most important actions to reduce conflict and retaliatory measures are organizing the scattered livestock farming, implementing the educational programs, and more importantly, compensating the damages caused by bears to rural communities.
Original Article
Hossein Moradi; Mojtaba Esmailzadeh; Fatemeh Davatgar
Abstract
Background and purpose: Free radicals are considered as harmful and damaging compounds to plant and animal cells with food spoilage and damage to human health. Phenols are a large group of hydroxyl compounds that include compounds such as flavonoids and anthocyanins. Mountain Dog-rose, red hawthorn and ...
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Background and purpose: Free radicals are considered as harmful and damaging compounds to plant and animal cells with food spoilage and damage to human health. Phenols are a large group of hydroxyl compounds that include compounds such as flavonoids and anthocyanins. Mountain Dog-rose, red hawthorn and black hawthorn are three medicinal fruits with valuable compounds such as polyphenols, flavonoids, vitamins, in the north of the country, they have very favorable vegetative and reproductive growth.Materials and methods: In order to investigate and determine the maximum amount of extraction of antioxidant compounds, different extraction methods were used in these three fruits. The fruits of these plants were collected from Nava area (52.209 and 35.854, altitude 2300 meters above sea level) located in Amol city and after drying with four solvents water, ethanol, hydroalcohol (water and ethanol 50:50) and methanol were extracted. Then the amount of phenol, flavonoid and percentage of DPPH free radicals were measured for each fruit and extraction method.Results and discussion: The results of this research showed that the different extraction methods of Dog-rose fruit have a significant difference at the level of 1% (p<0.01) on phenol and antioxidant and at the level of 5% (p<0.05) on flavonoid. Also, based on the comparison of the average extraction methods in the Dog-rose fruit, the use of hydroalcohol solvent (water and ethanol) caused a significant difference compared to other solvents and was able to show the highest amount of total phenol in this plant. The effects of different extraction methods on the fruit of the Red hawthorn; All extraction methods (water, hydroalcoholic, ethanolic and methanolic) were effective on the amount of phenol, flavonoid and antioxidant and were significant at 1% level. Based on the comparison table of the average extraction methods in the red hawthorn fruit, the extracts obtained from the hydroalcohol solvent showed the highest number in phenolic and flavonoid traits and were the superior treatment. Extraction methods were significant in flavonoid and antioxidant traits at the level of 1% (p<0.01) and in phenol at the level of 5% (p<0.05) in black hawthorn fruit. Also, based on the results of the comparison table of the average extraction methods in the fruit of black hawthorn, hydroalcohol solvent was the best solvent in extracting phenolic compounds compared to other solvents.Conclusion: The phenolic compounds of the three medicinal fruits of mountain Dog-rose, red hawthorn and black hawthorn were more favorable by hydroalcohol solvent than other solvents, i.e. water, ethanol and methanol. Also, the highest amount of phenol among the three tested fruits was observed in the mountain Dog-rose fruit. While in the red hawthorn, hydroalcohol (water and ethanol) and in the black hawthorn, methanol contained the most measured flavonoids. In general and considering the importance of phenolic compounds, it is suggested to use hydroalcohol solvent to extract these types of compounds in these plants.
Original Article
Keyvan Ezimand; Hossein Aghighi; Davod Ashourloo; Alireza SHakiba
Abstract
Introduction: The urban heat island (UHI) as a climatic effect of urbanization can negatively impact the flora and fauna involved in urban and suburban ecosystem, the presence of pollutants, air quality, energy and water consumption, as well as human health and economy. Therefore, spatiotemporal analysis ...
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Introduction: The urban heat island (UHI) as a climatic effect of urbanization can negatively impact the flora and fauna involved in urban and suburban ecosystem, the presence of pollutants, air quality, energy and water consumption, as well as human health and economy. Therefore, spatiotemporal analysis of the urban heat island changes has been considered as an effective approach to understand the impact of urbanization on the urban and suburban ecosystem, which also can support sustainable urban development and planning. Accordingly, this study contributes a novel approach to identify the trend and predict the pattern of UHI changes using statistical analysis, Shannon's entropy and chi-score statistics.Material and methods: The study area of this research is the city of Rasht and its surroundings, a region located in the north of Iran. This research was implemented using remote sensing imaged from 1991 to 2021 that was collected by LANDSAT 5 and 8 with a fixed time interval of 10 years. All those images captured in summer. In order to conduct this research in the pre-foresight stage, first, the required preprocessing, including atmospheric and radiometric corrections applied to the satellite images. Then, the surface biophysical characteristics of the study area were extracted from the satellite images. In the third step, the land surface temperature was computed using satellite images in 2021. In the fourth step, Multivariate linear regression between surface biophysical characteristics and the land surface temperature in 2021 was applied and then cellular automata-Markov chain model was utilized to predict the land surface temperature for 2031. Finally, the pattern of changes in urban heat island of Rasht city was investigated using statistical analysis in different geographic directions and different time periods.Results and discussion: The results of this study indicate that the highest positive correlation (R=0.89) was between NDBI and LST. Moreover, the highest negative correlation (R=-0.81) was between the greenness and LST. Our results also showed that the lowest correlation (R=0.42) was between the brightness and LST.The predicted LST corresponding to surface biophysical characteristics using Multivariate linear regression model illustrates the low error of this approach (RMSE=1.33K) in 2021. This means that the predicted values in 2021 are close to the real values, and therefore, this model can be trusted to predict LST in 2031. Statistical analysis of the pattern of observed and expected changes of UHI clearly illustrated that Rasht urban expansion and the UHI expansion will consistency continue to increase from 1991 to 2031. However, the expansion rate changes over time and space. Moreover, these analyses also showed that the UHI of Rasht city have a high degree of freedom and a high degree of sprawl. Thus, and as a result, its degree of goodness is negative.Conclusion: The pattern of UHI changes is highly dependent on the pattern of built-up land changes: as a result, sustainable development, resilience and environmental Protection of Rasht requires to directly monitor and control the pattern of urban growth, such as prevent changes in built-up areas and agricultural lands in suburban areas by incorporating a vertical form of development as well as constructing green roofs and walls and using high-reflectance building materials.
Original Article
Negin Fallah Haghighi; Ghasem Ramezanpour Nargesi; Gholamhossein Abdollahzadeh; Zeinab Sharifi
Abstract
Cultural development has been identified as one of the key requirements for promoting other aspects of sustainable development. On the other hand, recognizing the level of cultural development capabilities and facilities at the environmental level can be effective for planning to reduce inequality gaps ...
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Cultural development has been identified as one of the key requirements for promoting other aspects of sustainable development. On the other hand, recognizing the level of cultural development capabilities and facilities at the environmental level can be effective for planning to reduce inequality gaps among different areas. Therefore, the purpose of the present exploratory research, which was conducted through hybrid indexing, was to measure the environmental differences in the level of cultural development indicators of Iran's provinces. Accordingly, 31 provinces were examined based on 19 cultural development indicators. The research method was based on constructing a composite indicator. In the first step, the weight of the indicators was calculated by the principal component analysis and the composite indicator of cultural development at the provincial level was calculated by the TOPSIS method. The coefficient of variation and the Williamson coefficient were also calculated to investigate the inequality in the distribution of indicators. Finally, GIS software and hierarchical cluster analysis were applied to classify the level of cultural development of the provinces. The results indicate the existence of high inequality in the indicators related to book publishing. Furthermore, the provinces of Tehran, Mazandaran, Khorasan Razavi, Isfahan, Bushehr were in the best situation and Lorestan, Kurdistan, Sistan and Baluchestan, West Azerbaijan and Golestan, respectively, have the lowest rank in terms of the composite indicator. The findings of leveling the provinces and also cluster analysis confirmed the existence of gap in the level of cultural development of provinces. Therefore, improving the cultural development of provinces with low-level development should be taken more into account by the cultural planners.
Original Article
Zahra Dehghan Manshadi; Parastoo Parivar
Abstract
Introduction: The management of social-ecological systems such as cities is extremely complicated due to the interdependence of subsystems, the cause-and-effect relationships that exist between them, and the impacts on sustainability. The necessity of ecological capacity and the ability of cities to ...
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Introduction: The management of social-ecological systems such as cities is extremely complicated due to the interdependence of subsystems, the cause-and-effect relationships that exist between them, and the impacts on sustainability. The necessity of ecological capacity and the ability of cities to sustain their potential to provide goods and services to both current and future generations cannot be overstated. Understanding how arid ecosystems adapt to disturbances is critical for the sustainable management of such areas, given the global extent of this type of ecosystem and its fragility, both structurally and functionally. The purpose of this study is to assess the impacts of urban growth on the carrying capacity of Isfahan, which is located on Iran's central plateau.Material and methods: In this study, system dynamics modeling was used to determine the cause-and-effect relationships between variables affecting Isfahan's carrying capacity. After problem articulation, the model boundary was defined in the initial step of the modeling process by developing the subsystem diagram. After the population, environment, landscape, and carrying capacity subsystems were evaluated, a cause-and-effect diagram was made. The flow diagram and scenario were also made to evaluate the state of Isfahan's carrying capacity.Results and discussion: The pressure factors on the urban carrying capacity were detected and analyzed by assessing key variables in the system, such as water sustainability and air quality, as well as changes in the landscape structure of Isfahan using landscape metrics. The research findings indicate that approximately 90% of the urban water demand is dedicated to the domestic sector; therefore, the first scenario is related to the management of water consumption in this sector and its influence on the Water Supply–Demand Index. This scenario showed that if domestic water demand is not controlled, the result of this index will reach nearly 0.7 by 2040, indicating greater vulnerability to the region's water resources. The second scenario is related to the city's increasing trend of construction and the number of industries, the impact of which has been shown on the carrying capacity.Conclusion: The current study's findings, based on two enlarged scenarios, demonstrated that water demand, changes in the structure of the urban landscape, and the growth of industries all have a major impact on Isfahan's carrying capacity. Therefore, by controlling and managing water consumption in the domestic sector, limiting industrial growth, preventing the destruction of gardens, enhancing urban green and open areas, and limiting the increase of impervious urban surfaces, Isfahan's carrying capacity will improve.
