Original Article
Sohrab Mazloomi; Abbas Esmaeili Sari; Nader Bahramifar
Abstract
Introduction: Particulate matters are one of the most important air pollutants in Tehran and very dangerous for human health according to the epidemiological studies. The ambient particles contain heavy metals, some of which are toxic and carcinogenic components. Therefore, in this study, the content ...
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Introduction: Particulate matters are one of the most important air pollutants in Tehran and very dangerous for human health according to the epidemiological studies. The ambient particles contain heavy metals, some of which are toxic and carcinogenic components. Therefore, in this study, the content of heavy metals in airborne particulate matters (PM4) of Tehran was measured and the related health risk was assessed. Material and methods: Sampling of PM4 was conducted every six days using Chrono PM Sampler with a 10 L/min flow rate at two residential areas including Tehranpars in the east and Ekbatan in the west of Tehran. The concentration of PM4 was calculated with Gravimetric analysis. After the preparation of the samples using the extraction solution (HCl and HNO3), the concentration of heavy metals was measured by ICP-MS. The metal richness was assessed using the enrichment factor. For health risk assessment of heavy metals in PM4, excess cancer risk was calculated. Results and discussion: At both sampling stations, the highest concentrations in all PM4 samples were related to Al and Fe due to the high abundance of these elements in the earth's crust. The results of the enrichment factor indicated that Al, Fe, Ti and Mn in PM4 had low enrichment degree and the source of these metals might mainly be the earth's crust. Ni and Cr had a high enrichment degree. In addition, Zn, Pb, Cu, Sn, As, and Cd had a very high enrichment degree and were mainly anthropogenic. The concentration of PM4 was not significantly different between the two stations in the east and west, but the comparison of the mean concentration of metals in PM4 samples between the two stations showed that the concentrations of Mn, Cu, Sn, Ni, and As at the eastern station were significantly higher than the western station. The comparison of the enrichment factor between the two sampling stations also showed that the EF values of the studied elements at the eastern station were higher than those at the western station, which could indicate a higher contribution of anthropogenic sources in the east. Among the studied elements, the highest excess cancer risk was related to Cr(VI) due to its high toxicity. The total excess cancer risk based on the average concentrations of toxic metals in PM4 was 120.1×10-6 at the eastern station and 83.1×10-6 at the western station. Conclusion: Most of heavy metals in PM4in the east and west of Tehran had mainly anthropogenic sources and were generated by human activities, especially transportation. The average concentration of heavy metals in PM4 at the east of Tehran was higher than the west, and as a result, the excess cancer risk of toxic metals in PM4 was also higher in the east. The most dangerous carcinogenic element in particulate matters of Tehran was Cr(VI), which should be taken more under consideration and its anthropogenic emission sources must be controlled.
Original Article
Fatemeh Ghorbani Piralidehi; Azadeh Ghorbani Piralidehi
Abstract
Introduction: Aquaculture is an agricultural activity that can play an important role in supplying the nutritional needs and health of the world's population. Yet, this industry in the Guilan Province has widespread environmental problems that lead to instability such as the excessive use of hormones, ...
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Introduction: Aquaculture is an agricultural activity that can play an important role in supplying the nutritional needs and health of the world's population. Yet, this industry in the Guilan Province has widespread environmental problems that lead to instability such as the excessive use of hormones, antibiotics, and unhealthy fertilizers, releasing fish farms waste, and the lack of health certificate of farms. So, there are questions like how can aquaculture farmers be encouraged to act appropriately towards the environment? Which factors are effective in encouraging aquaculture farmers to have pro-environmental behaviors? So, using the planned behavior theory and technology acceptance model of Davis, the theoretical framework of this research was presented to investigate the factors affecting the pro-environmental behavior of aquaculture farmers in Guilan Province. Material and methods: The statistical population of the study consisted of two groups: hydrothermal fish farmers (5830 people), and cold water fish farmers (200 people). Overall, From 353 and 12 individuals from hydrothermal and cold water fish farmers, respectively, were selected as samples using the stratified random sampling method. To collect the required information, a researcher-made questionnaire was developed in nine sections. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed through a panel of experts and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha (0.73≤ α ≤ 0.89). Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to determine the structural validity and fitting of the designed model. Results and discussion: The results showed that the variables used in the research were good models for the occurrence of pro-environmental behavior in aquaculture farmers of the Guilan Province. Individual factors had a positive relationship with the perceived usefulness and easy understanding of the application. Also, social factors had a positive relationship with the perceived usefulness, but it had a negative and inverse relationship with an easy understanding of the application. Perceived usefulness and the easy understanding of the application to the attitude toward that behavior had a positive relationship. Also, perceived usefulness with more beta coefficients had a more effective relationship with attitude toward one's behavior. Attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control were effective on behavioral intention and behavior. The attitude variable had the most positive relationship with behavioral intention. Perceived usefulness had a positive and meaningful relationship with behavioral intention. Behavioral intention, with a beta coefficient of 0.78, had a positive relationship with the pro-environmental behavior of aquaculture farmers in the province, and this factor, with perceived behavioral control, explained 84% of behavioral changes. Conclusion: Our findings showed that if one considers the pro-environmental behavior useful and also finds it easy and understandable, it will improve their attitude toward the environment. In total, revising the courses and the content presented therein, and also the appropriate and desirable way of presenting them should be considered by the extensional authorities of the province's fisheries. Facilities and technical supports can create a sense of independence and freedom of action in aquaculture farmers for having pro-environmental behaviors.
Original Article
Ghasem Mohammadi Kashani; Ahdiyeh Abedini
Abstract
Introduction: Terrestrial isopods constitute the largest suborder in the order Isopoda and, as one of the main groups of soil decomposers, have an important role in acceleration of plant material recycling. Due to the shortage of studies on this taxon in southwestern Iran, the present study was carried ...
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Introduction: Terrestrial isopods constitute the largest suborder in the order Isopoda and, as one of the main groups of soil decomposers, have an important role in acceleration of plant material recycling. Due to the shortage of studies on this taxon in southwestern Iran, the present study was carried out for the evaluation of terrestrial isopods biodiversity in Cheharmahal-va-Bakhtiyari Province. Material and methods: Sampling was performed throughout the province wherever potentially appropriate habitat for isopods existed. The collected specimens were preserved in 96% ethanol, and were then transported to the laboratory for further investigations. The isopods were dissected and micro-preparations of their diagnostic characters were slide-mounted in Euparal. Type material or original descriptions and illustrations of the species were used for species identification. Results and discussion: In the present work, totally 10 terrestrial isopod species were identified. Koweitoniscus tamei Omer-Cooper, 1923 from the family Eubelidae Budde-Lund, 1899 and Armadillidium vulgare Latreille, 1804 from the family Armadillidiidae Brandt, 1833 were reported. The species Agabiformius lentus Budde-Lund, 1885, Porcellionides pruinosus Brandt, 1833, Porcellio evansi Omer-Cooper, 1923 and P. mehrdadi Kashani et al., 2017 belonging to the family Porcellionidae Brandt & Ratzeburg, 1831 and Protracheoniscus major Dolfuss, 1903, P. ehsani Kashani, 2014, P. sarii Eshaghi, Kiabi & Kashani, 2015 and Mongoloniscus persicus Kashani, 2014 belonging to the family Agnaridae Schmidt, 2003 were identified. All species except Porcellio evansi and P. mehrdadi that were recently reported are new records for the province. Conclusion: the present study indicated that biodiversity of terrestrial isopods is relatively high in the province of Cheharmahal-va-Bakhtiyari, and further researches is essential for more precise estimation of the number of terrestrial isopod species in the province.
Original Article
Behzad Sanatinia; Mohammad Hadi Abolhasani; Atefeh Chamani
Abstract
Introduction: Significant changes have been occurred in human life along with industrialization and an increase in production and consumption. Demand for energy and the use of fossil fuels, such as coal, petroleum, and gas, led to a great dispersion of CO2 in the atmosphere. The aim of this study was ...
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Introduction: Significant changes have been occurred in human life along with industrialization and an increase in production and consumption. Demand for energy and the use of fossil fuels, such as coal, petroleum, and gas, led to a great dispersion of CO2 in the atmosphere. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of various factors on the production of carbon dioxide in industrial units. Material and methods: A questionnaire was developed based on industrial units characteristics such as sampling place, chimney cross-section, ambient temperature, relative humidity level, selected nozzle diameter, the temperature of chimney output gas, speed and discharge of output gas, discharge of output gas under standard conditions, suctioned volume, suctioned volume under standard conditions, filter initial weight, filter secondary weight, the weight difference between filters, suspended particles amount in the dry chimney, and suspended particles amount in the wet chimney. Samplings were done in the middle of each season i.e. 5 May, 6 August, 6 November, and 4 February. The effects of the mentioned factors were investigated on CO2 and surplus air. Results and discussion: The results showed that CO2 and surplus air levels increased along with an increase in the chimney cross-section. In addition, CO2 and surplus air levels decreased as humidity increased, Indicating optimal environmental conditions in terms of pollution. In the chimney outlet, a shorter nozzle diameter resulted in lower CO2 and surplus air levels. CO2 and surplus air levels decreased when temperature or the speed of chimney output gas increased. Finally, the increase in suctioned volume under standard conditions led to an increase in CO2 and surplus air levels. Conclusion: According to the results, The results of this study showed that with increasing chimney cross section, the amount of carbon dioxide and excess air has also increased and are directly related to each other. also, boundary line analysis is a suitable model for the determination of the effects of the mentioned factors on CO2 and surplus air levels.
Original Article
Faezeh Alizadeh; Samereh Falahatkar; Afsaneh Afzali
Abstract
Introduction: In the past three decades, dust has become a global concern for global societies. Due to Iran’s location in an arid region, it is severely influenced by this phenomenon. This phenomenon usually carries a huge mass of particle matters that can be clearly detected by satellite images. ...
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Introduction: In the past three decades, dust has become a global concern for global societies. Due to Iran’s location in an arid region, it is severely influenced by this phenomenon. This phenomenon usually carries a huge mass of particle matters that can be clearly detected by satellite images. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the time series changes of absorbing aerosol index using satellite images at a national scale. Material and methods: In order to study the trend of monthly changes in dust phenomena in Iran, the data of Absorbing Aerosol Index (AAI) of SCIAMACHY sensor, which was taken during 2002-2012, and GOME-2 during 2007-2017 were evaluated using non-parametric Man-Kendall test. The variation rates for different sectors were estimated using Theil-Sen slope. Results and discussion: The results showed an increasing trend in the western, southwest, center, and northeastern regions of Iran during 10 years based on Z statistics SCIAMCHY. The results also showed an increasing trend of GOME-2 Aerosol Absorbing Index in some parts of Markazi, Isfahan, Hamedan, and Fars provinces, and Lake Urmia and completely in Chaharmahal & Bakhtiari, and Kohgilouyeh & Boyerahmad provinces. Also, Golestan and Semnan provinces didn’t show any specific trends. According to P statistic, the trend of change in most regions of Iran was significant. Based on the results of Theil-Sen slope, the western, southern and central regions of Iran showed the most changes in atmospheric aerosol concentration. Conclusion: The high compatibility between the present results and the reports of meteorological stations showed the high capability of satellite data, which we used in this study, in order to identify the areas that encountered to dust phenomenon at a national scale. Accordingly, it is recommended that this technology be used for the macro-management of the natural resources in Iran.
Original Article
Nahid Mahmoodimahpash; Bubak Souri
Abstract
Introduction: Dust particles moved by air streams influence the quality of the environment. Chemical compounds of these particles are influential on the life’s quality of the residents of every region. Dust fall particles originated from the soil erosion has caused many problems for the residents ...
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Introduction: Dust particles moved by air streams influence the quality of the environment. Chemical compounds of these particles are influential on the life’s quality of the residents of every region. Dust fall particles originated from the soil erosion has caused many problems for the residents of western Iran during recent years. Iran's geographical location in the vicinity of Iraq, Syria, and Saudi Arabia, where are major sources of dust, alongside issues such as climate change are among the roots for making and worsening this critical phenomenon. Hence, investigation and recognition of characteristics of this phenomenon including chemical characteristics of it may help the adaptation of pre-emptive measures and reaching scientific clues to control harms of this phenomenon. The main objective of this study was to compare the concentration of soluble ions in dust fall particles among various latitudes in western Iran. Material and methods: Simultaneous samplings were conducted monthly for one year in three cities i.e. Sanandaj, Khorramabad and Andimeshk using the passive method. The obtained data were then analyzed by Excel and SPSS v.23. For comparison of chemical characteristics of the dust fall particles, Coefficient of Divergence (CD) and Duncan's Multiple Range Test (MRT) were applied. Results and discussion: The results showed that calcium and sulfate with a concentration of 0.271 and 0.592 mg.g-1, respectively, had the highest concentration among the studied dust fall samples. High calcium concentration confirms that the dust fall on the three stations has natural origins, which are mainly calcareous soils and geological formations. Additionally, a high concentration of sulfate implies a share of evaporated sediments, particularly gypsum (hydrated calcium sulfate), among the studied dust fall particles. Calculation of CD also showed that chemical characteristics of dust falls in the three stations were mostly similar (CD < 0.5). Correlation of CD between cations in Sanandaj and Khorramabad and the wind factor (r= 0.99, p < 0.05), anions of Sanandaj and Andimeshk and rainfall (r= 1, p < 0.01) and moisture factors (r= 0.89, p < 0.05), respectively, demonstrated that the meteorological factors influence chemical characteristics of dust fall particles. MRT also showed that sodium as a highly soluble element had different concentrations throughout the three stations in the spring season (< 0.05). Moreover, compounds such as CaSO4, Ca(NO3)2, Mg(NO3)2, NaCl, KF and CaF2 were found in the three stations, which confirm the presence of gypsum, anhydrite, and halite among the dust fall particles. Conclusion: Environmental conditions in various latitudes influence the chemical characteristics of dust fall particles from various aspects. Nevertheless, values and changes in the concentration of soluble ions in the dust fall including Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, and K+ cations and NO3-, SO42-, Cl-, and F- anions in the three stations of Sanandaj, Khorramabad, and Andimeshk were mainly similar. Hence, it can be concluded that the dust fall on the three studied cities originated from the same sources.
Original Article
Roya Ramezani Kiasejmahaleh; Mohammad Javad Amiri; Lobat Zebardast
Abstract
Introduction: The social impact assessment is a strategic tool for managing development-related social activities aimed at reducing economic, social, and environmental costs. Since development plans incorporate undeniable impacts and consequences on the social, economic and environmental characteristics ...
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Introduction: The social impact assessment is a strategic tool for managing development-related social activities aimed at reducing economic, social, and environmental costs. Since development plans incorporate undeniable impacts and consequences on the social, economic and environmental characteristics of an area, recognizing and managing these impacts can play an important role in promoting and sustaining the projects in addition to reducing negative effects and enhancing positive outcomes. Aiming to assess the social impacts of marine projects and structures, this study investigated the impacts of Chamkhaleh Port construction on the quality of life, social capital, economics, and environmental indicators. Material and methods: The present study was applied, descriptive-analytical and correlational research. The statistical population was 8840 people from Chaf and Chamkhaleh city in 2016. The sample size was estimated 400 using Cochran formula and distributed by stratified random sampling. The research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire, the validity of which was confirmed by content validity and construct validity. Also, its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.750. Finally, the data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive and correlation analysis in SPSS 20 and LISREL 8.80 software. Results and discussion: The results of the confirmatory factor analysis showed that the impact of the port on the quality of life index was 5.69, which indicated the positive impact of the project in this section. The greatest impact on this sector was the improvement of the tourism situation with an impact of 7.8 and then new job opportunities with the impact of 7.01. In the social capital section, the most important impact was the increase in the participation of people in the development plans of the region with an impact of 6.20. The impact of the construction of the port on the economic section was 6.48, which indicated the positive impact of the project in this section. The project's effect on the environmental sector was 2.90, which indicated the negative effect of the project on this sector. The creation of air pollution in the region with an impact coefficient of 5.61 and pollution of seawater and changes in water quality in rivers and coastal waters with an impact factor of 5.466 would have negative effects on the environment. Because in the sustainability of developmental projects social, human, financial, infrastructure (physical), and natural assets must be developed or improved, it is necessary to enhance the positive effects of the plan in order to reduce the negative impacts. Project implementation can be a step towards improving the social, economic, and environmental conditions of the region. Conclusion: The social impacts of the construction projects are as important as their economic impacts and have a direct impact on the fate of the project and the achievement of its goal. Since such projects have significant impacts on people's lives, social impact assessment and identifying the impacts helps people become aware of the effects of projects, leading to social development, increasing development efficiency and reducing the negative impacts of development plans and a move towards sustainable development.
Original Article
Mehdii Jafari; Gholamreza Zehtabian; Hasan Ahmadi; Tayebeh Mesbahzadeh; Ali Akbar Norouzi
Abstract
Introduction: The phenomenon of dust in Iran is a serious risk that caused major problems for the environment and human health. Research has shown that the frequency and severity of these storms have increased in recent years. In addition, numerical weather models alone are not capable of storm detection, ...
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Introduction: The phenomenon of dust in Iran is a serious risk that caused major problems for the environment and human health. Research has shown that the frequency and severity of these storms have increased in recent years. In addition, numerical weather models alone are not capable of storm detection, which requires the use of dust detection methods based on data remote sensing. The purpose of this research was to analyze the statistical data and identify the days with dust, the source of dust entering the Isfahan area, and identify the route of its movement. Material and methods: For data analysis of dust, data from dust collecting data was collected from the selected station in the study area with a suitable statistical period from the meteorological organization on a daily basis for 8 hours, in the form of special codes for the period of 2010 to 2013, which were processed and analyzed using statistical methods. In order to zoning the dust abundance in the province, the IDW method was used to interpolate and transform point-to-area data. The dispersion zonation map for the 2010-2013 period was mapped using the GIS software. In order to visualize the dust phenomenon, after the geometric correction of the images, the radian values of the images were converted to brightness temperature using the Planck function. Corrections and processing of images were done in ENVI software. Due to the large influence of dust particles on the reflection and brightness temperature of the 31 and 32 bands of the material, the difference between the two bands' brightness was used to represent the dust mass. Also, to prevent the detection of cloud areas, the threshold of 290 K was applied to the 12-micron range. HYSPLIT Lagrangian model was used to trace the dust particles' path. Results and disscussion: The results of this study indicated that a total of 1467 days of dust phenomena were reported for selected stations from 2010 to 2013, in which the Naein station was the largest with 634 days and the Kashan station had the least frequency of dust with 50 days. The results also indicated the greatest frequency percentage occurred in May, June and April and the lowest frequency percentages in December and January. The frequency of monthly dust data showed that 44.57% of the total dust incidence occurred in April, May and June and 32.4% in December and January. Accordingly, it can be concluded that monthly dust changes occur frequently in the region consistent with the regional climate during all months of the year. The zoning results showed that during the study period, the southeast of the province, especially Naien station, had the highest incidence of dust. The application of brightness temperature and temperature threshold in order to separate the dust from the terrain, especially in areas with backlight, was helpful in the detection of dust. The results of the tracking showed that the main route for the transfer of dust to the studied area was southwest-northeast. Conclusion: In general, according to satellite images on the first and the peak day of dust, the main sources of dust in the region were northern Arabian deserts. Based on the results obtained from image processing and the output of the model, the northern part of Saudi Arabia and the southwest-northeast route were the origin and main route of dust entering Isfahan.
Original Article
Maryam Ghasemi; Shirin Sahebi; Javad Mehrganmajd
Abstract
Introduction: Nowadays, communities are trying to achieve the conditions that would allow them to quickly return to the pre-crisis situation in the event of a crisis. So, in recent years, the concept of resilience has been taken into account instead of vulnerability. Due to the frequency of occurrence, ...
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Introduction: Nowadays, communities are trying to achieve the conditions that would allow them to quickly return to the pre-crisis situation in the event of a crisis. So, in recent years, the concept of resilience has been taken into account instead of vulnerability. Due to the frequency of occurrence, universality and having many harmful effects, drought has always been one of the main challenges of the country and has caused many problems in the livelihoods of rural households. Accordingly, the present study aimed to provide optimal strategies to enhance the survival of rural households in the face of drought through a general management model based on the prescriptive paradigm. Material and methods: A descriptive-analytical research methodology was conducted with a unit of analysis of 96 knowledgeable local people in eight villages exposed to drought in the Golmakan village of Chenaran county in Khorasan Razavi Province. In this study, two strategic planning tools (SWOT and QSPM) were used. In this regard, based on field studies and extensive documentation, 13 strengths and four opportunities were identified as advantages and 12 weaknesses and three threats as limitations for the resilience of rural households exposed to drought. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.89 for the 17 advantages equal to 0.69 for respondents for 17, and for the total questionnaire 0.84 for optimal diagnosis. Results and discussion: In the SWOT matrix, the final score was 1.33 points more than the final score of the weaknesses with 0.88, also in the external factors evaluation matrix, the final score of the opportunities was 0.99 higher than the final score of the threats with 0.93, Where the total score of the internal matrix is 2.15 and the total final score of the external matrix is 1.91, the system status is weak in the external environment. In this study, six competitive strategies, four diversity strategies, five review strategies, and seven defensive strategies were presented in order to increase the resilience of rural farmers according to the internal and external matrices. According to the final score of IFE=2.21 and EFE=1.91, in order to increase the resilience of rural households, optimal defensive strategies (minimum-minimum) were identified in the IF matrix. In addition, based on the analysis of the QSPM matrix among the seven defensive strategies, the first and most important strategy was identified as "diversifying the economy of rural areas exposed to drought" with a score of 2.42. Exploratory studies indicated the dependency of livelihoods of the rural area in the agricultural area and the lack of diversity in livelihood and occupational structures of villagers. These increased their vulnerability to external impulses. Therefore, the diversification of rural economies in the face of drought is an indispensable necessity. Conclusion: Complex and diverse defensive activities in confronting possible and uncertain risks can stabilize household income in order to reduce the vulnerability of households to possible crises over time. Therefore, the best strategy for increasing the livelihoods of rural households is the diversification of the rural economy.
Original Article
Ali Akbar Jafarzadeh; Ali Mahdavi; Seyed Rashid Fallah Shamsi; Rasoul Yousefpour
Abstract
Introduction: The contribution of ecosystems to the world's economy and human well-being has been widely recognized in science and policy. In temperate and semi-temperate forests, multi-functional services have been studied such as carbon storage, wood and food production, water regulation, and ecotourism. ...
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Introduction: The contribution of ecosystems to the world's economy and human well-being has been widely recognized in science and policy. In temperate and semi-temperate forests, multi-functional services have been studied such as carbon storage, wood and food production, water regulation, and ecotourism. The results of various studies have shown that the water yield and storage functions are top priorities. With a significant delay after other countries, various studies have been recently carried out in Iran, especially in the northern forests, on the identification and evaluation of ecosystem services. This study intended to consider the most important ecosystem services, including water production, carbon storage, soil loss prevention, and production function, in Mishkhas forests of the Ilam Province. Material and methods: In this study, we used the direct market evaluation method (net present value) to calculate the forest production function and to estimate ecosystem services, including water yield, soil erosion, and carbon sequestration using the InVEST water production model, the modified EPM experimental method, and total carbon calculations (above ground, underground, litter, and soil biomass), respectively. Results and discussion: The total economic value of services was 549534 million Rials for the region. The total annual economic value of non-forest products in the forests of the region, or the value of their productive function, was 38508 million Rials and the annual economic value was 9.37 million Rials per hectare, which has a large role in the economy of utilizing households in the region. In this research, based on the calculations, the value of each hectare of the forest ecosystem for annual water yield was 5.58 million Rials. In this study, water yield function had the highest value among other ecosystem services and accounted for 43.7 percent of all the ecosystem services. Concerning the prevention of soil erosion, the results showed that in the forest ecosystem, soil erosion was 1.05 tons per hectare less than the average of other uses of the area, 1050 kg prevented from the soil waste by each hectare of the forest ecosystem, which has a value of 22 million Rials. In other words, the forests in the studied area were capable of preventing soil erosion damage about 90604 million Rials. Each hectare of these forests stored 24.25 tons of carbon that according to the coverage level of these forests, the total amount of carbon storage was 169442 tons, which is worth 180049 million Rials and shows the importance of these forests. In total, 32.8% of the total services evaluation in the region was related to the carbon storage function. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that the services and functions of the forests of the region were not free and there is a seemingly latent value and cost that are very important and have a lot more value than marketable commodities (sub-products harvest).
Original Article
Sara Abdollahi; Seyed Mohammad Hossein Hosseini; Reyhane Dehghan
Abstract
Introduction: Monitoring the quality of groundwater around the landfill is very important for environmental health. Due to the increase in the population and their living standards and technological advances, the amount of solid wastes from human and industrial activities are increasing. The aim of this ...
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Introduction: Monitoring the quality of groundwater around the landfill is very important for environmental health. Due to the increase in the population and their living standards and technological advances, the amount of solid wastes from human and industrial activities are increasing. The aim of this study was to investigate the amount of heavy metals e.g. lead, cadmium, copper, and zinc in water wells near Azadshahr (in Golestan province) Landfill. Material and methods: In this research, to investigate the concentration of heavy metals in groundwater resources around the landfill site of Azadshahr city, sampling of water was carried out from seven deep wells around the landfill site in spring and summer of 2016. Sampling was carried out in accordance with standard methods. Samples were immediately transferred to the water and wastewater laboratory of the School of Public Health in Gorgan University of Medical Sciences, in glass bottles surrounded by ice. After preparation of the standard solution of each heavy element, the concentration of lead, cadmium, copper and zinc elements was read in micrograms per liter using the metrological polarogram. After determining the concentration of the above parameters, statistical analysis and drawing of the corresponding graphs were performed by Excel and SPSS software to analyze the results and compare the concentrations in downstream and upstream. Results and discussion: The results showed that the amount of lead in the wells around the landfill was 3.1± 2.1 μg/l and cadmium content was 1.1± 0.37 μg/l, which was not statistically different between spring and summer. According to the standard of 1053 countries, the maximum lead and cadmium levels for drinking water are 10 and 3 μg.l, respectively, which demonstrates that our calculations are within the allowable range. The copper content of wells around landfill was 5.22 ± 5.21 μg/l and there was no statistical difference between spring and summer. Also, according to the standard of 1053 countries and WHO, the maximum allowable amount of copper for drinking water is 2 and 1 mg.l, respectively. So, the copper content of the studied water was within the allowable range. Although there was no statistically significant difference between upstream and downstream copper, its content in downstream wells was about 1.27 times more than that of upstream wells. This may be due to the organic matter penetration into the groundwater. The amount of zink in the wells around the landfill was 23.1 ± 5.31 μg/l, which was not statistically different between spring and summer. According to the standard of 1053 countries, the maximum allowable amount of zink for drinking water is 3 mg/l. Although there was no statistically significant difference between the upstream and downstream waters, its value in the downstream wells was about 1.16 times higher than that of the upstream wells, which can still be due to infiltration organic substances leach into the groundwater. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the concentration of chemical parameters of water wells around the landfill was below the drinking water standard of the country. Also, the concentration of all elements in downstream wells was calculated more than the upstream wells. Since the Azadshahr is an agricultural area, the groundwater pollution that is used in agriculture can transfer heavy metals to humans through agricultural products and, therefore, strict measures should be taken to prevent groundwater contamination in the area.
Original Article
Akram Seifi; Hossien Riahi
Abstract
Introduction: Industrial and agricultural activities resulting in the production of toxic heavy metals may endanger water quality, public health, and the environment. Therefore, the determination of areas that are affected by heavy metals and spatial uncertainty of pollution risks are considered as an ...
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Introduction: Industrial and agricultural activities resulting in the production of toxic heavy metals may endanger water quality, public health, and the environment. Therefore, the determination of areas that are affected by heavy metals and spatial uncertainty of pollution risks are considered as an important and sensitive issue, which are less studied. The main aim of this study was to combine Bayesian network analysis with Sequential Gaussian Simulations (SGS) to evaluate the pollution risk of heavy metal and toxic elements in the surface water of Sarcheshmeh copper mine. Material and methods: In this study, a dataset of 924 water samples from 82 locations from three different zones including the surface water of Shour River, tailing dam, and also the main mining site of Sharcheshmeh copper complex and nine heavy metals were used. The information was classified into two risk classes of low and high according to the standard of the Department of Environment of Iran. A Bayesian analysis and learning algorithm were applied to investigate the characterization of heavy metal correlations and Bayesian weights extraction. Based on the obtained Bayesian network structure, important metals were chosen as key pollution parameters. For these metals, the conditional probability was dedicated to every observed point and then the Bayesian Risk Index (BRI) was calculated as a linear rating of the weighted risk classes. Finally, the geostatistical modeling and SGS were applied for generating pollution risk and standard deviation maps of BRI were used as an uncertainty measure of SGS based on BRI elements. Results and discussion: Based on the results of Bayesian analysis, three elements of Zn, Mo, and Fe were identified as the most important parameters of pollution risk in the studied zones, which were derived by the MWST Bayesian network. The highest risk existed in the main mining zone and sedimentation dam. The results of BRIzn, BRIMo, and BRIFe declared that areas in north and south of zone 1 and all of zone 2 had high pollution risk, which requires appropriate treatment operations. The results also showed that the high-risk cluster was mainly located within the main mining and tailing dam zones. Also, 19% and 22% of zones’ area was classified as high and low risk of water pollution, respectively. Zoning maps of risk and heavy metals showed that there are high standard deviation and great variation in copper complex and distilling dam. The results of the uncertainty risk assessment showed high concentrations of heavy metals in the surface water arose from the transportation of heavy metal from copper mine to distilling dam, which requires treatment operation on the output water of the factory. Conclusion: Based on the results, the pollution of heavy metal and toxic elements in water resources near Sarcheshmeh copper mine and downstream water resources was high and this will increase the pollution risk of Rafsanjan aquifer. These indicate the inadequate treatment of heavy metals in Sarcheshmeh copper mine water.
Original Article
Parastoo Hassanpour; Romina Sayyahnia; Hassan Esmaeilzadeh
Abstract
Introduction: Urban green space, as an important part of the urban complex ecosystem, offers many ecological, social, and economic services that contribute to the quality of life in cities. Today, the rapid growth of urbanization, along with a lot of changes in land cover and land use, has caused many ...
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Introduction: Urban green space, as an important part of the urban complex ecosystem, offers many ecological, social, and economic services that contribute to the quality of life in cities. Today, the rapid growth of urbanization, along with a lot of changes in land cover and land use, has caused many environmental impacts associated with a reduction in green spaces and, as a result, have negative environmental impacts. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to investigate the trend of changes in the extent and structure of green spaces in the 22nd district of Tehran from 1996 to 2018 with the landscape ecology approach. Material and methods: One of the principles of the ecology of the land is to examine the changes in land use and land cover over time. Accordingly, in the present study, using LANDSAT satellite imagery from 1996 and 2018, landslide maps of Tehran’s District 22 were first developed in four classes including man-made, green spaces, open spaces, and water patches. In the following, the selection of landscape metrics at the level of the landscape including normalized entropy, relative richness, edge density, patch area, patch compactness and class-level metrics including the number of patches, edge density at the class level, mean patch size, and mean shape index were analyzed for landscape analysis. Results and discussion: The findings reveal that green areas of zone 22 of Tehran in 2018, in aspect of cohesion, size and shape, structurally have been changed rather than 1996, and don't have desirable situation, because the structure of urban green spaces have been diminished. Namely, two type of basic changes have been occurred in ecological landscape, includes developing new polygons and segmentation of polygons. Conclusion: The findings of the research indicated that green patches in the district 22 of Tehran, in comparison with previous years, in terms of number, area, size and shape have undergone major changes and are not in a desirable condition, because the structure of urban green spaces have been fragmented. Accordingly, suitable spots for the development and improvement of the continuity of urban green patches were presented.
Original Article
Hojjatollah Mahboobi; Mohsen Azadbakht
Abstract
Introduction: In many studies concerning monitoring the water surface changes, multi-temporal images are separately analyzed and after extracting water boundaries in each image, these boundaries are compared and the changes are determined. Nevertheless, there is a demand for methods that can perform ...
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Introduction: In many studies concerning monitoring the water surface changes, multi-temporal images are separately analyzed and after extracting water boundaries in each image, these boundaries are compared and the changes are determined. Nevertheless, there is a demand for methods that can perform accurately as well as facilitating the identification of changes. Therefore, to this end, in this research synergy of multi-temporal image fusion methods and classification methods was investigated detect surface water changes in Maharlu Lake between 2013 and 2018. Material and methods: After performing the necessary pre-processing, the Gram-Schmidt (GS) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) methods were applied to fuse images and, then, changed and unchanged areas were extracted through applying classification methods to the fused images. Support Vector Machine (SVM) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) were used to classify fused images. In the next step, combinations of these methods were compared to each other and the best pair was extracted. Finally, the selected pair was compared with conventional change detection methods. Results and discussion: The results showed that based on the GS-SVM methods, the Maharlu Lake retreated about 163.3 km2 from 2013 to 2018. For accuracy assessment of the methods, the overall accuracy and Kappa coefficient were calculated. The GS-SVM method had an overall accuracy of 99.33%, Kappa coefficient of 0.99 and a relative error of 3.92 km2. This pair detected changes more accurately and the results were closer to reality. In the next step, the water surface was extracted from the images using conventional change detection methods, such as image differencing, band rationing, and NDVI differencing, and their results were compared to that of the GS-SVM. According to the results, the GS-SVM compared with other methods had higher overall accuracy and Kappa coefficient, and simultaneously, the least relative error. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that a combination of the GS image fusion method and SVM classifier provides satisfactory results to extract changes from multi-temporal images. This synergy can be used as an effective tool for detecting changes, particularly since fusing images can also be effective in improving classification accuracy by enhancing the spatial resolution of images.
Original Article
Malek Rabiei Sadeghabadi; Omid Nouri; Reza Deihimfard
Abstract
Introduction: Urban landscape, especially urban forest and city trees, usually has vital and various effects on the mental and physical health of humans, environmental embellishment, and mitigating the destructive effect of climatic changes like wind storms and flood control, as well as reduction and ...
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Introduction: Urban landscape, especially urban forest and city trees, usually has vital and various effects on the mental and physical health of humans, environmental embellishment, and mitigating the destructive effect of climatic changes like wind storms and flood control, as well as reduction and control of hazardous contaminants. Choosing appropriate plants for urban landscapes is vital to avoid potential financial and environmental losses that may occur if all selection parameters are not taken into account. The determination of plant species assessment indices in urban green space in Tehran does not have any special standard. Therefore, the aim of this study was to make a sustainable green space for Tehran metropolis due to its arid and semi-arid climate, which poses more challenges to choose suitable plant species for green spaces. Material and methods: In our study, the methodology structured a hierarchy consisting of a goal and sub-ordinate attributes of the problem. Other important components of this methodology were a pairwise comparison between various parameters used to quantify value judgments, and the matrix multiplication used to convert level specifi c criteria into a larger decision priority. After grouping plants, selection parameters have been defined for each plant group. Plant species were comparatively graded for each parameter by a group of eight specialists. Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) technique and hierarchical cluster analysis have been utilized to find the most adaptable plant species for the area according to the main selection parameters of zone tolerance, urban conditions, esthetics, maintenance, growth characteristics, and specific features. A table was designed in questionnaire format and distributed between 8 respective experts for coefficient value determination and then the coefficient value was obtained by Expert choice software. The dominant plant list of Tehran and the world was prepared, and plants that exist at Tehran botanical garden and had acceptable results were chosen. Scoring the plant species was performed from 0 to 3 with the values of 0.5, 1.5, and 2.5 being used for the intermediate state. After multiply each factor weight and each species score, the final plant weight was obtained and the proper and relative proper plants weredetected. Because of the importance of climate change, the indices influenced by climate change were determinedby future weather prediction using Larse-wg-5.1 software under the Hadcim3 model that have three scenariosbetween 2011-2030 and 2045-2065. Weight of these indices was multiplied at species scores and then the properand relative proper plants were prioritized and introduced for planting. Results and discussion: Pointed tree species like Ceratonia silique, Gleditsia spp., Ziziphus jujube, Tamarixparviflora, Sophora japonica, Pistacia chinensis, Guercus coccinea, Quercus douglasi, Seltis sp., and Guercusagrifolia were determined as suitable choices for green space planting. Pointed shrub species like Cercis chinensis,Berberis thunbergii, Eleagnus pungens, Ribes sp., Spartium junceum, Punica granatum var.pleniflora, Rhusglabra, and Pyracantha coccinea were suitable as well. Conclusion: In general, the results showed that many dominant green space plants were not proper species andthere are more suitable plants that have received less attention. Before introducing new plants to the urban environment,they should be experimented on in a small scale for several years to confirm that they will not change theecology of the whole region through invasion or posing a threat to any local plant species.
