Original Article
Reza Tamartash; Fatemeh Montazeri; Mohamadreza Tatian; Ghorban Vahab Zadeh
Volume 15, Issue 4 , January 2018, Pages 1-14
Abstract
Introduction: Soil pollution by heavy metals in the soil due to long-term sustainability and ecologically harmful effects, has become an environmental problem. In the study of vegetation in polluted areas with heavy metals, plants have the ability to grow and absorption the heavy metals, viewpoint the ...
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Introduction: Soil pollution by heavy metals in the soil due to long-term sustainability and ecologically harmful effects, has become an environmental problem. In the study of vegetation in polluted areas with heavy metals, plants have the ability to grow and absorption the heavy metals, viewpoint the scientific aspects, functional and economically very important. Material and methods: In this study 500, 1250 and 2000 meter from the center Kiasar cement of sari in Mazandaran province, soil and vegetation sampling was conducted using systematic random. Plant species such as Astragalus, Artemisia and Convolvulus with 3 replications and 3 treatments (a total of 27 samples and 27 samples of soil from the plant Rhizosphere) in the form of randomized complete block design was tested. The collected Samples transported to the laboratory for testing. The concentration of Pb, Cu, and Zn of the samples were determined by using ICP Device. Results and discussion: Results of statistical analysis of this study showed that heavy metals in soil had difference was greater than the species studied. So compare means of data show amount of cu and pb in soil and species had significant differences with increasing distance (p < 0.05). Copper increased with increasing distance and lead showed decreasing trend. Zn did not show any significant differences with the changes of distance in soil but it was significant differences in species and does not follow the regular process. Conclusion: Correlation of heavy elements of species with soil elements showed that Astragalus and Artemisia have significant Correlation with Copper and lead but Convolvulus just significant positive correlation with the Zn.
Original Article
Ali Farmanesh; Seyed Saeid Mohtasebi; Mahmoud Omid
Volume 15, Issue 4 , January 2018, Pages 15-28
Abstract
Introduction: Industrial activities growth and increasing emissions getting attention to environmental problems in the world. Unpleasant smell (malodor) can be classified as pollutants that had negative impact on quality of life. About one third to half of animal products that are unusable for humans ...
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Introduction: Industrial activities growth and increasing emissions getting attention to environmental problems in the world. Unpleasant smell (malodor) can be classified as pollutants that had negative impact on quality of life. About one third to half of animal products that are unusable for humans are used as raw materials in the processing and recycling industry. One of the most important features of slaughterhouse rendering plants is the release of volatile compounds and unpleasant odors, which disturb the working people and the adjacent inhabitants of this industry. The purpose of this study was to evaluate an electronic nose system as a tool for displaying vapors from a slaughterhouse rendering plant, select an array of appropriate sensors and determine the fingerprint for this pollutant unit. Material and methods: The batch cooking was carried out at temperature 140 ° C under pressure 3 bar for 4 hours and uniformly stirred at a speed of 20 rpm (ISIRI 2389, 1995). A total of 30 liquid samples, each one with volume of 10 ml, were obtained from condensed vapors of batch cooker. Samples were transferred to the laboratory located at the Agricultural Machinery Department of the University of Tehran, and an electronic nose system was used for analysis and investigation. The electronic nose system was based on metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) sensors and included an array of six gas sensors. The principal component analysis (PCA) method was used to evaluate the sensors and select appropriate array of sensors. Results and discussion: Observation of sensor’s response until steady state with aim of reducing consumption of time and oxygen, showed that 30 seconds to reach sensors to their baseline (baseline time), 100 seconds to contact the vapors with sensors (injection and response time) and 40 seconds to clear the sensors (purging time) were suitable . Correlation analysis of the sensors showed that some of the sensors had a correlation higher than 0.85. The analysis of variance distribution of two primary principal components showed that these two components comprises for more than 99% of the total variance, and the primary component (PC-1) comprise over than 98% of the total variance. The highest effect on the first component was related to the MQ135 sensor, after that MQ136, MQ9, MQ131, MQ5 and finally MQ3 sensors were effective. The analysis of the principal components showed that MQ135 and MQ136 sensors with high sensitivity to ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and benzene were the most suitable sensors for detecting the unpleasant smell released from the poultry slaughterhouse waste batch cooking (rendering plant). Selection of MQ135 and MQ136 sensors as an array can be used to distinguish between pollutants from poultry rendering plant and pollutants released from other industries, and these sensors can be used to determine the fingerprint of the odor emitted from poultry rendering plant. Conclusion: According to the results of this research, the electronic nose system with array of MQ135 and MQ136 can be used to monitor and control the quality of pollutants from poultry rendering plant. Also, with referring to this fact that unpleasant smell in air quality control is not defined standardly in Iran, an electronic nose system could be used to control the air quality in terms of the presence of unpleasant odors in the environment.
Original Article
Hussein Valikhani; Asghar Abdoli; Bahram HassanzadehKiabi; Farshad Nejat; Mohammad Sadeghsaba; Milad Khosravi
Volume 15, Issue 4 , January 2018, Pages 29-44
Abstract
Introduction: Invasive fishes are a major threat to biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems. Tilapia species are invasive due to reproductive, diet and behavioral characteristics and high resistance to environmental conditions, pollution and diseases. So far, two exotic species Coptodon zillii and Oreochromis ...
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Introduction: Invasive fishes are a major threat to biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems. Tilapia species are invasive due to reproductive, diet and behavioral characteristics and high resistance to environmental conditions, pollution and diseases. So far, two exotic species Coptodon zillii and Oreochromis aureus and also a native species Iranocichla hormuzensis of these species were reported from Iran. In recent years, exotic tilapia species invaded Iran and its neighboring countries inland waters and have had significant ecological and economic impacts. The aim of this study is to do a preliminary survey on the status of exotic tilapia species in Khuzestan province, Iran. Material and methods: The present study was carried out from November 2014 to September 2015 to determine the abundance of tilapia species (C. zillii and O. aureus) in the Shadegan wetland and some local fishery markets in Khuzestan province. In addition to, we evaluated presence or absence of the species in some cyprinid fish farms in the province. Results and discussion: The results showed that the catchment and supply of C. zillii is high and the species is one of the dominated fish in the Shadegan Wetland. In this study, O. aureus was not caught from the Shadegan wetland but observations show that the species is dispersed to other areas, especially in rivers and its abundance is increased. The tilapia species especially C. zillii are pests in some fish farms and the reduction of fish production was noted. The presence of the species in some fish hatcheries is increased the possibility of their transfer to other regions. Conclusions: At the moment, it seems that the best course of action to take action against tilapia is to prevent them from entering to other bodies of water (especially by aquaculture). The continuous studies to determine various aspects of the introductions, potential range prediction, and regular monitoring should be also considered. Overall, a compilation method and also ecologically sustainable water management, reduction of water contaminants and decrease of fishing pressure on native species should be adopted for controlling and reducing of these species.
Original Article
Somayeh Bakhtiari; Sina Choghadi
Volume 15, Issue 4 , January 2018, Pages 45-64
Abstract
Introduction:
In recent years, zero-valent iron has drawn a great attention in wastewater treatment and ground water remediation. It can effectively remove priority water contaminants, but there are some disadvantages in the use of nZVI particles, such as high tendency to agglomerate, lack of stability, ...
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Introduction:
In recent years, zero-valent iron has drawn a great attention in wastewater treatment and ground water remediation. It can effectively remove priority water contaminants, but there are some disadvantages in the use of nZVI particles, such as high tendency to agglomerate, lack of stability, secondary iron pollution, separation and recovery of the fine nZVI particles after utilization. Using supporting material for nZVI is a promising way to solve these problems. Clay minerals as abundant natural resources are appropriate candidates to act as supporting materials. In this study, the use of fibrous clays-supported nZVI composite for the remediation of contaminated aqueous solutions will be discussed.
Materials and methods:
Sepiolite and Palygorskite- nano zero valent iron composites were made using green tea extract. In order to determine sorption capacity of nZVI - sepiolite and palygorskite composites for phosphorous, cadmium and nickle based on isotherm models, different concentrations of these ions were equilibrated with the composites in 1% suspensions for 24 h. After adsorption, the supernatant liquids were filtered and the residual pollutants concentrations were determined.
Results and discussion:
Results showed that Langmuir and Freundlich models were the best models describing p sorption on both composites. The estimated maximum adsorption capacity of the Sep-nZVI and Pal-nZVI using the Langmuir model (qmax) was 11.38 mg P/g and 8.57 mg P/g . The cadmium adsorption data of both sorbents best fitted to the Langmuir, Fruendlich and dubinin–radushkevich models. Results clearly demonstrateD the much higher Cd sorption potential of sepiolite compared to palygorskite. Sorption capacities (qmax) of Sepiolite- nZVI and palygorskite nZVI composite for Ni were 11.14 and 32.3 mgr/gr, respectively. The Ni sorption affinity (KL) of palygorskite nZVI was also greater than that of Sepiolite- nZVI. The favorability of a sorption system can be predicted by the constant separation factor RL. In the current study, RL values for palygorskite nZVI and Sepiolite- nZVI were greater than zero and less than unity indicating favorable sorption of P, Cd and Ni onto the two composites.
Conclusion:
Fibrous clays – nano zero valent iron can be used as efficient sorbents for phosphorus removal from urban wastewater and removal of cadmium and nickle from industrial wastewater due to their friendly environmental nature and high performance toward pollutants removal.
Original Article
Sasan Vadiea; Zahra Hazrati Somee; Zahra Azizabadifarahani
Volume 15, Issue 4 , January 2018, Pages 65-78
Abstract
Introduction: Urban planning for women can be seen as a kind of advocacy-based planning that recalls forgotten rights and the silence of women in the city. Urban space planning for women draws its original idea from feminist ideas. The theory of sustainable urban development focuses on the prevention ...
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Introduction: Urban planning for women can be seen as a kind of advocacy-based planning that recalls forgotten rights and the silence of women in the city. Urban space planning for women draws its original idea from feminist ideas. The theory of sustainable urban development focuses on the prevention of urban and regional environmental pollution, reducing local, regional and national production capacity, supporting recycling, failing to support harmful development, and bridging the gap between rich and poor. Sustainable urban development is a multifaceted phenomenon that considers environmental conservation, social justice and economic dynamism with optimal resource utilization. Urban and regional planning with a special futuristic perspective needs to be developed for the future of the city and analyzed using statistics and information. By using the facilities and reducing limitations through presenting a precise and comprehensive plan, that takes account of environmental considerations, can provide for sustainable urban development. Considering the importance of women's well-being and women's vulnerability, the issue of urban security with a gender approach has been investigated in this research. In this regard, the present study aims to evaluate urban planning with the approach of women to formulate a sustainable development pattern in Tehran. Materials and methods: The method of this research is descriptive-survey and, according to the research method, all women in Tehran have been considered in this study. The estimated size of the community is about one hundred thousand people. Using randomized systematic cluster sampling, 384 women in Tehran were selected as a statistical sample. After collecting data, a researcher-made questionnaire was used to analyze the statistical data using SPSS software. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to test the normal distribution of the main variables. Results and discussion: The results indicate that, women do not have much to gain in planning for sustainable development and they are not included in the socio-economic approach, planning approach, or participation planning and security approach to sustainable development in Tehran. Also, the results of the research showed that urban security is important for sustainable development, but women have a minimal role in this regard. Today, the world faces the fact that women can no longer be considered as hidden in the development process. Conclusion: The role and capacities of women in the success of developing countries will lead to state-level policymakers to make women inferior to the fence. It is also one of the most effective areas for promoting gender equality empowering women by educating them about imbalance and equality in power, and empowering women to manage their lives.
Original Article
Balal Oroji; Eisa Solgi; Asghar Sadighzadeh
Volume 15, Issue 4 , January 2018, Pages 79-100
Abstract
Introduction:
Despite past improvements in air quality, very large parts of the population in urban areas breathe air that does not meet European standards let alone the health-based World Health Organisation Air Quality Guidelines. Over the last 10 years, there has been a substantial increase in findings ...
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Introduction:
Despite past improvements in air quality, very large parts of the population in urban areas breathe air that does not meet European standards let alone the health-based World Health Organisation Air Quality Guidelines. Over the last 10 years, there has been a substantial increase in findings that particulate matter (PM) air pollution is not only exerting a greater impact on established health endpoints, but is also associated with a broader number of disease outcomes.
Materials and methods:
Recently, relatively good research has been done on the understanding of the nature of particles and their role in creating a problem in humans. A comprehensive study of this research and the analysis of their results, along with the comparison of the results of the research on health impact assessment were evaluated in Tehran.
Results and discussion:
Data strongly suggest that effects have no threshold within the studied range of ambient concentrations, can occur at levels close to PM2.5 background concentrations and that they follow a mostly linear concentration-response function. Having firmly established this significant public health problem, there has been an enormous effort to identify what it is in ambient PM that affects health and to understand the underlying biological basis of toxicity by identifying mechanistic pathways-information that in tum will inform policy makers how best to legislate for cleaner air. Another intervention in moving towards a healthier environment depends upon the achieving the right public attitude and behavior by the use of optimal air pollution monitoring, forecasting and reporting that exploits increasingly sophisticated information systems.
Conclusion:
Improving air quality is a considerable but not an intractable challenge. Translating the correct scientific evidence into bold, realistic and effective policies undisputedly has the potential to reduce air pollution so that it no longer poses a damaging and costly toll on public health.
Original Article
Mohammad Sadegh Oliaei; Javad Fasihi Ramandi; Mohsen Kakaie; Zoaeddin Almassi
Volume 15, Issue 4 , January 2018, Pages 101-112
Abstract
Introduction: Population growth and the increase of water demand in different sectors of agriculture, drinking, industry and health, groundwater resources have faced a lot of pressure. This issue along with severe and prolonged droughts has created the conditions for country particularly for arid and ...
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Introduction: Population growth and the increase of water demand in different sectors of agriculture, drinking, industry and health, groundwater resources have faced a lot of pressure. This issue along with severe and prolonged droughts has created the conditions for country particularly for arid and hyper arid areas which has encountered the serious challenges in the field of water quantity and quality. In this study, qualitative changes in the trend of drought and water resources in Hamadan - Bahar plain, as one of the most important Agriculture centers in Iran has been considered.Materials and methods: A number of 23 wells were sampled across the plain, on September 2015. To evaluate the strategic parameter in the study, the standard methods were used. All anions and cations in the water with fluoride, nitrate and nitrite were measured.Results and discussion: The results of the reduction of groundwater level decline by an average of 1 meter per year, respectively. The parameters measured from the adverse changes in the quality of underground water sources had indicated. The maximum measured nitrite and nitrate, respectively, 74.8 and 0.41 mg/L for the area. The collection of samples in about 27% of the samples close to the national standard of 43 milligrams per liter, and the average was alert at the border. However, the average total of 24.2 mg/L for nitrates. The amount of fluorine in most cases was lower than the international standard. In some cases the amount of sulfate that flows through the city sewage was being too standard.Conclusion: Considering the results, it can be concluded that the only basic principal method of preventing dangerous consequences of falling water table levels and reducing the quantity and quality of underground water resources is proper and lawful consumption of water to avoid uncontrolled withdrawal of groundwater.
Original Article
Reyhaneh Sadat Ghazi Marashi; Omid Noori; Reza Deihimfard; Amir Salemi
Volume 15, Issue 4 , January 2018, Pages 113-124
Abstract
Introduction:
Urbanization and population growth, in addition to its rapid development across the world, has caused a major demand for the food security and the self-sufficiency in terms of food production in many cities. According to the aforementioned circumstances, the activities in the basis of ...
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Introduction:
Urbanization and population growth, in addition to its rapid development across the world, has caused a major demand for the food security and the self-sufficiency in terms of food production in many cities. According to the aforementioned circumstances, the activities in the basis of urban agriculture with different traditional methods (e.g. planting on the ground surface with a soil bedding) or the modern ones (e.g. rooftop gardening with hydroponic cultivation methods) have been emerged and numerous studies regarding these methods have been accomplished. Likewise, a large number of farms in the urban areas came into existence worldwide. Nonetheless, there are yet various challenges to develop this type of agriculture. Moreover, only few numbers of studies were carried out to monitor the health and hygiene condition of the food productions grown in such places, especially in terms of air pollutants accumulation. The objective of this research was to study the hygiene of the plants cultivated in urban environment (rooftops and courtyards), and to determine the accumulation rates of pollutants in the eggplant fruit (Solanum Melongena var. depressum (L.)) and bell peppers (Capsicum fruitescens var. grossum (Mill.)).
Materials and methods:
Two types of vegetables; bell pepper and eggplant were cultivated in the rooftop and courtyard of a five story building in the 7th district of Tehran. The seeds were planted on the basis of a completely randomized design system using six times repetitions. Besides, in order to compare the hygiene of these fruits with those of the fruits cultivated in the countryside, similar samples of the same products were used in the farms located in the environs of Varamin and Karaj. Densities of heavy metals such as molybdenum, chrome, copper and manganese ( Mn, Mo, Cr and Cu) included in the fruits of belle pepper and eggplants cultivated in the urban areas of Tehran were compares with their amounts in the fruits cultivated in the farms located outside of the towns. Additionally, the amounts of heavy metals Lead and Cadmium (Cd, Pb) in the samples related to the city of Tehran were compared to the European Union Standards and the Iranian National Standard. The sample digestion was carried out using Microwave, and in order to analyse and measure the results, the device of ICP-MS was used. Data was analysed by the SAS and Microsoft Excel software and the means comparison was done through standard error.
Results and discussion:
The resulted data demonstrate that the densities of heavy metals in the most of the fruits grown in city showed significantly higher numbers in the range of 5% than those of plants grown in countryside, except the contents of chrome in eggplant which is higher in the samples of the farms located in the countryside than those of both urban areas. Moreover, the heavy metal pollutants of copper in both eggplant and bell pepper from the farms located in countryside were higher than the samples of the rooftop. The chrome density in the eggplants cultivated in farmland was 1.56 times more than that of courtyard, and 1.58 times more than that of rooftop. Densities of copper in the eggplant and bell pepper of countryside farm are respectively 1.22 and 1.24 times more than the samples of rooftop. Furthermore, except lead contents (Pb) being observed at three different levels 0.18, 0.63 and 0.14 milligrams per one kilogram of dry weight (mg/kgDW) in some samples, respectively for rooftop eggplants, rooftop bell peppers and bell peppers of courtyard, which showed significant variances to the permissible limits (in the range of 5%), other samples indicated acceptable amounts of lead and cadmium with respect to the European Union Standard and Iranian National Standard (under the limits of 5%).
Conclusion:
In general it can be concluded that all the samples cultivated in the urban areas of 7th district of the city of Tehran were healthy in terms of allowable amounts of Cadmium as an heavy metal. These density ratios fully complied with international standards, and were similar to those of the samples cultivated in the countryside. In contrast, most of the aforementioned samples contained the impermissible amounts of lead heavy metal. Likewise, the densities of other heavy metals included in products of urban farms were much higher than those of the city exteriors. As a matter of fact, this difference might be resulted from the effects of heavy traffic flow, geographic position and the unsuitable climate conditions on the air quality of urbanized areas.
Original Article
Hamidreza Pakzad; Hashem Bagheri; Farzaneh Teymouri
Volume 15, Issue 4 , January 2018, Pages 125-140
Abstract
Introduction:
Irankuh Pb-Zn mine is located in 20 km SW of Isfahan in the Zayandehrud river drainage basin. Shale and carbonate are host rocks of the ore deposits. High concentration of Pb and Zn formed ore complex in these rocks. Weathering and erosion of the host rocks of ore deposits, waste water ...
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Introduction:
Irankuh Pb-Zn mine is located in 20 km SW of Isfahan in the Zayandehrud river drainage basin. Shale and carbonate are host rocks of the ore deposits. High concentration of Pb and Zn formed ore complex in these rocks. Weathering and erosion of the host rocks of ore deposits, waste water and waste material arising from mining have made potential for pollution of running water, ground water and agriculture soils by the heavy metals. The main objectives of this investigation were to study the total concentration of Zn, Pb, Ni,Cu, Co, Ag, and Cd in the shale deposits of the mine and physicochemical factors on their distribution and pollution.
Materials and methods:
For measuring heavy metals values, twenty samples were taken from the shale deposits. For distinguishing the shale forming minerals, thin sections were prepared and studied by polarizing microscope. The rock forming clay minerals, after preliminary treatments (heating at 550oc, ethylene glycol solvation), were detected by XRD. Organic carbon, calcium carbonate and Eh/pH of the shales were measured. Heavy metals values in the sample were measured by AAS after mineralization. Correlation coefficient of organic carbon and Mn with metals and also metals-metals were calculated. For comparison of the heavy metal concentration relative to their natural amount (in shale), enrichment factor was applied.
Results and discussion:
The dark grey to olive colored shales in the studied area consist of clay to fine silt size. Quartz, biotite, muscovite, feldspar and clay minerals are the non-opaque minerals of the shales. The clay minerals are illit (60-70%), kaolinite (9-27%) and chlorite (7-22%) respectively. Sphalerite, pyrite and galena are the main opaque minerals of the mine. The mean OC content of the shale is about 2% (0.35-5.5%) and less than 1% calcium carbonate. The pH of the samples is nearly neutral (6.8-7.8) and they have an oxidizing to nearly reducing Eh (18 to -100 v).
Conclusion:
The average concentration of heavy metals in the shales are Zn=128.05>Pb=42.55> Ni=35.24> Cu=24.18> Co=7.4> Ag=3.33> Cd=0.79 in ppm, respectively. Highly positive correlation between Ag-Pb-Cd, Cd-Zn-Pb and Co-Ni-Mn and also positive correlation between Zn with organic carbon show geochemical convenient conditions for concentration of the metals. The calculated enrichment factor has revealed extremely high enrichment for Ag and average for Cd. Other elements are depleted in the sediments. Due to relative high concentration of the metals and their extent of the shales in the study area, activation of the heavy metals in suitable conditions can be a potential source for environmental contamination in the groundwater and runoff water of the basin.
Original Article
Hossein Varasteh Moradi; Meysam Madadi
Volume 15, Issue 4 , January 2018, Pages 141-154
Abstract
Introduction:
The goitred gazelle, which is classified as Vulnerable by IUCN has a very wide distribution across the Middle East, Pakistan, Central Asia, China and Mongolia. A few ecological studies have been conducted on some aspects of goitred gazelle, such as population dynamics, habitat selection, ...
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Introduction:
The goitred gazelle, which is classified as Vulnerable by IUCN has a very wide distribution across the Middle East, Pakistan, Central Asia, China and Mongolia. A few ecological studies have been conducted on some aspects of goitred gazelle, such as population dynamics, habitat selection, daily activity, and social organization. However, little is known about the population dynamics of Goitred gazelle in Iran. Among the artiodactyls in Golestan National Park, the Goitred gazelles have shown the most vulnerability to the poaching and increasing frequency and intensity of habitat destruction. The objective of this study was to determine the population dynamics of Goitred gazelle in different areas of Golestan National Park.
Materials and methods:
Fieldwork was carried out in Golestan National park, Iran. The transect line sampling method was used to survey the population dynamics of Goitred gazelle, during the survey at each of the 24 transects, in 3 visits were conducted between February 2016 and July 2016. Data (number of individuals, sex and age of gazelles) were collected at each of 24 transects. To calculate the density of gazelles we used the DISTANCE 6.0 program. Differences in the lambing rate were evaluated using non-parametrical Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U-test. All the statistical tests were performed using Minitab 15 and Ecological Methodology softwares.
Results and discussion:
The results of density analysis showed that the Goitred gazelles had the largest and the smallest population size in Kohne Mirzabaylu and Rabat, respectively. Sex ratio was varied from 1.33 to 1.86. Moreover, the results of sex ratio showed that Almeh and Soulgerd populations had the best sex ratio. The number of middle-aged and older males was low in all gazelle populations. It means that a high portion of females prone to fertility could not mate. Many management strategies offer increase of mature males in population that resulted in increases in reproduction rate of females (Bender, 2002). Due to a few numbers of qualified females (6 years old and older), a considerable number of females could not mate. It means the males spend more time to collect the females and ward off the rival males and consequently the reproduction rate of females decreases. Yearlings (consist of male and female) and very old gazelles (more than 11 years old) had the highest and the lowest percent of Gazelle population, respectively. The highest percentage of lambs was occurred in Soulgerd and Kohne Mirzabaylu populations. This pattern of age class in lambs was due to high security in vicinity of these two areas to wildlife guard stations. There was no significant difference among different areas in lambing rate. This pattern was consistent with Varasteh (2004).
Conclusion:
According to this study conducted on sex and age structure, lambing rate, and density of Gazelles in comparison with the past, it is quite obvious that the current trend of population dynamics is in decline and this is an alarm that indicate the need for urgent action to reduce the speed of population decline and for careful and long-term planning to management of Gazelles population.
Original Article
Narges Pourtoosi; Alireza Koocheki; Mehdi Nassiri Mahallati; Mohammad Ghorbani
Volume 15, Issue 4 , January 2018, Pages 155-176
Abstract
Introduction: Urbanization creates significant changes in global ecosystems (2), on the other hand, urban agroecosystems prepare valuable and demandable ecosystem services in human society(3). Understanding these services and keeping them into account is necessary for urban management of both current ...
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Introduction: Urbanization creates significant changes in global ecosystems (2), on the other hand, urban agroecosystems prepare valuable and demandable ecosystem services in human society(3). Understanding these services and keeping them into account is necessary for urban management of both current society and future generation(2,3). Materials and methods: So this study was conducted in 2015 in Mashhad parks. To evaluate services like carbon sequestration, oxygen production and pollutants removal, plants data in plots was entered in itree software and their values was calculate with international gases tax and also social values. In order to valuate services such as diversity in landscapes, water storage, soil formation, biologic pest control and cultural services, some questionnaire with choice experiment method was designed and the average of willingness to pay of landscape experts was analyzed. Results and discussion: The urban forest of Mashhad has a tree cover of 41.6 percent. The three most common species were Acer negundo (17.4%), Platanus orientalis (15.6%) and Robinia pseudoacacia (11.7%). Percent of young trees were more than others and so ecosystem services of parks is mostly from younger trees. Population of exotic tree species was more than native ones. Most exotic tree species had origin from North America (44.1%) and 15.9% with Asian origin. The gross carbon sequestration of trees was 1.0387 ton per hectare per year. Most of this amount belonged to Platanus orientalis. Oxygen production was 0.24656 and pollutants removal was 0.041 ton/ha/year. Carbon storage per hectare was 22.769 ton.Results showed that the value of regulatory services like (carbon sequestration, oxygen production and pollutant removal) in Mashhad parks was 4 million Rials in a year per hectare and carbon storage was 61 million Rials per hectare. As the atmosphere is a huge source of oxygen, this gas was not calculated in the monitory valuation. Amount of oxygen production in all parks that was 290 ton,can prepare needs of 115 persons. Species richness was 38 with 22 million Rials value. Total value of other regulatory services such as (diversity in landscapes, water storage, soil formation, biologic pest control and cultural services) was negative and among these services the questioners only have willingness to pay 365 million Rials per ha in a year for cultural and water storage services. From this amount 240 million Rials was for cultural services and 133 thousand Rials was for water storage. For other services there was not any willingness to pay and they consider it as one of the municipalities' tasks. Conclusion: More budgets is needed for increasing ecosystem services for saving urban ecosystem.
Original Article
Maryam Foroughedin; Mahdi Jalili Ghazizade; Maryam Mirabi; Mohammad Reza Nazari
Volume 15, Issue 4 , January 2018, Pages 177-192
Abstract
Introduction: Liner is one of the most important components of waste landfills, which its main function is to limit the penetration of leachate caused by the waste from landfill base. Since the cost of a lining system is a significant part of landfill’s total cost, therefore, it is necessary ...
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Introduction: Liner is one of the most important components of waste landfills, which its main function is to limit the penetration of leachate caused by the waste from landfill base. Since the cost of a lining system is a significant part of landfill’s total cost, therefore, it is necessary to design the compacted clay liner with environmental and economic considerations in the same way, which requires identification of factors affecting the construction cost of clay liner. Materials and methods: For this purpose, using the performance-based approach, the factors affecting the technical design and hydraulic performance of clay liners in preventing leachate leakage, four variables include of trench height, trench lifespan, land price and distance from the soil loanl, have been identified as the variables affecting the cost of clay liner construction. Using the HYDRUS one-dimensional model, the appropriate liner thickness was determined in the scenarios of 30, 60,180,360,720 and 1080 days for the trench lifespan. Then by defining design scenarios based on the effective variables, the cost of different parts is estimated. Results and discussion: Investigating the cost variations shows that increasing the height of the trench in different parts leads to lower costs of construction.While changes in the cost of liner construction over the lifespan of the trench first had a downward trend and then incremental pattern.The variations in total cost is affected by land cost variations and indicates the importance of land prices in assessing the overall costs of constructing the liner. Also an increase in the distance from the loan increases the cost of liner construction significantly, and if the suitable soil for lining to be located more than 100 km from the site, then the use of Geosynthetic clay liners is more cost-effective. The trench life time as a variable with less design constraint, can be considered depending on the cost of other parts. Conclution: Investigating costs in different parts of compacted clay liner construction shows the necessity of economic modeling and creation of cost functions for optimal design of compacted clay liners in every area.
Original Article
Mahda Foroughi; Saeid Norouzian-Maleki; Moeen Hajimaghsoudi
Volume 15, Issue 4 , January 2018, Pages 193-214
Abstract
Introduction: Nowadays, it is not acceptable to design an unchangeable plan, especially in landscape architecture where end-users should be at the center of any design. Much literature discusses the influence of public involvement in landscape design process and its necessity in today’s life. However, ...
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Introduction: Nowadays, it is not acceptable to design an unchangeable plan, especially in landscape architecture where end-users should be at the center of any design. Much literature discusses the influence of public involvement in landscape design process and its necessity in today’s life. However, the implementation of public participatory design has proved to be challenging and even problematic in many cases in the world. Initiated, civic leaders and professional experts generally develop and manage open space planning and design with a relatively limited depth of public participation considering what is possible. The range of creativity from those who participate is limited for a range of reasons, premises and constraints, which will be discussed in the literature review. The need exists for landscape architects to work from an understanding of the ranges of participation and the ranges of creativity that can be elicited in order to deliver sustainable designs. For several decades the theories of public participation were discussed in Europe and America, but the application of this in many other countries remained under-researched. Of specific interest in this article, public participatory design has been used in Iran for the past few centuries (until a few decades ago) as a common solution. This practice has continued in many villages, however, public participation is not practiced often in Iran’s cities anymore and the few attempts at using it were not successful. So the aim of this article is to find the public participation’s barriers specifically in Iran and to classifying these barriers by Iranians architecture designers. Materials and methods: A mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods has been used in this study. First, main barriers were extracted from different literature, then they classified to five groups contains technical, cultural, social, economic and political. After classifying the barriers, these barriers have been assessed by interviewing Iranian landscape designers, with the help of Delphi method. The Delphi method is a structured communication technique or method, originally developed as a systematic, interactive forecasting method which relies on a panel of experts. The experts answer questionnaires in two or more rounds. After each round, a facilitator or change agent provides an anonymous summary of the experts’ forecasts from the previous round as well as the reasons they provided for their judgments. Thus, experts are encouraged to revise their earlier answers in light of the replies of other members of their panel. It is believed that during this process the range of the answers will decrease and the group will converge towards the "correct" answer. Finally, the process is stopped after a predefined stop criterion and the mean or median scores of the final rounds determine the results. In this research Panel of Delphi involves ten landscape architectures, six architectures and four urban designers whom work at laboratories and companies which depended to landscape architecture. Their assessment emerged in a table and its content validity ratio (CVR) was calculated and interpreted. Results and discussion: Main barriers were extracted from different literature, then they classified to five groups contains technical, cultural, social, economic and political. Each of these groups contain a few barriers and there are twenty two elements entirely. Technical barriers contain finding the right members who represent people and end users, the age of step which participating people in the design process, lack of experts knowledge and experience in public participatory landscape design, lack of people knowledge and experience in public participatory landscape design, inefficiency of public participatory landscape design methods, uncertainty of how people ideas and decides affect the last decision and the design and not being a free and comfortable relationship between end users, employers and designers. Executive barriers contain increasing argues between participants of public participatory landscape design, inefficiency of executive systems and public participatory design time consuming. Cultural barriers contain unwillingness of people to involve in participatory design process, unwillingness of employers to involve in participatory design process, unwillingness of designers to involve in participatory design process. Social barriers contain lack of free time of contemporary society, divergent orientations and interests of contemporary society, division of contemporary society from social activity, lack of people power to prove what they want in participatory design process, selfishness at contemporary society and prioritization at making decision which depends on social outreach.Economic barrier contains high expense of participatory design process. Political barriers contain panic from public participation and wrong and inefficient policies. At last, technical and political groups of barriers got the highest rank in respect of experts’ opinions. From twenty two barriers, respectively, unwillingness of employers to involve in participatory design process, the age of step which participating people in the design process, not being a free and comfortable relationship between end users, employers and designers, wrong and inefficient policies and lack of people power to prove what they want in participatory design process distinguished as the most important barriers. Conclusion: Based on the research foundations, we presented a few suggestions to improve participatory design process in Iran. In one hand, unwillingness of employers to involve in public participatory design process distinguishes as the first and main barrier. In Iran employers of public landscape designs are almost government. In the other hand, wrong and inefficient policies distinguish as the third barrier and in Iran this refers to government regulations. So these statements emerge the important role of government and its regulations in improving participatory design process and it shows that there is a need of promotion and correction in government’s regulations and policies. Developed countries have special regulations and policies which encourage public participatory landscape design and guide the process to be more efficient.
Original Article
Faraham Ahmadzadeh; Elham Ebrahimi; Babak Naimi
Volume 15, Issue 4 , January 2018, Pages 215-232
Abstract
Introduction: Carnivores have always been exposed to threatening processes because of their placement at the top of the food pyramid. Nowadays, approximately 65% of carnivores are listed as Critically Endangered or Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of threatened species. On a global scale, in order Carnivora, ...
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Introduction: Carnivores have always been exposed to threatening processes because of their placement at the top of the food pyramid. Nowadays, approximately 65% of carnivores are listed as Critically Endangered or Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of threatened species. On a global scale, in order Carnivora, the Hyaenidae family is the smallest with only four species. Hyaena hyaena is the only member of the Hyaenidae faimly in Iran, which is listed as “Near Threatened” (NT) in the IUCN Red List. The current study aimed to model the species distribution of the striped hyaena (Hyaena hyaena), which has a wide distribution in Iran. Materials and methods: Using nineteen layers of climatic variables, the correlations between those variables were analyzed and then highly correlated variables were excluded from the modeling process. Finally, eight species distribution models from the sdm package (GLM, GAM, BRT, SVM, RF, MARS, CART, and FDA) in R software were used. Given that the output of species distribution models are often uncertain, which is an undeniable fact, one possible solution to estimate the difference between projections and reduce the uncertainty, is the use of ensemble prediction system instead of using a single modeling method. Therefore, after determining the potential habitats of the Hyaena hyaena with those eight mentioned models and by using the ensemble prediction system, the best regions for the distribution of this species in Iran were estimated. Results and discussion: The results of this study showed that annual mean temperature, seasonal precipitation and precipitation of the warmest season have the most influence on the distribution of Hyaena hyaena. In general, FDA, GAM, BRT, CART and GLM models are fairly reliable, the MARS model is very reliable, and SVM and RF models are completely reliable. The results showed that the GLM, GAM, BRT, MARS, CART, RF models demonstrate that the suitable areas for Hyaena hyaena are generally the central regions of Iran, while the SVM and FDA models predicted the southern margin of the Caspian sea to make the best regions for the distribution of this species. Conclusion: The difference in the predictions that each model makes confirms the uncertainty between models. Therefore, the necessity of using Ensemble method is revealed. The results of the Ensemble model showed that the most suitable regions for the Hyaena hyaena species distribution are semi-arid and central steppe regions of Iran.
