Original Article
Keyvan Ezimand; Hossein Aghighi; Davod Ashourloo; Aref Shahi Aqbelaghi
Abstract
Introduction: Urbanization and urban growth have a significant impact on the natural and human environment as well as the climate at local and regional scales. For instance, the difference in the energy balance of the central and peripheral regions of cities stems from their physical characteristics ...
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Introduction: Urbanization and urban growth have a significant impact on the natural and human environment as well as the climate at local and regional scales. For instance, the difference in the energy balance of the central and peripheral regions of cities stems from their physical characteristics and surface land cover. These characteristics in the temperate regions create the phenomenon of urban heat island, but they cause the phenomenon of the urban cold island in arid and semi-arid areas. The purpose of this study was to analyze the impacts of land-surface characteristics, land cover, built-up areas, and morphological characteristics on temperature changes in Zanjan city, Iran. Material and methods: The dataset used in this study included Landsat-5 TM sensor images in 2010 and 2011 as well as statistical information at the level of building blocks. The methodology used in this study was to investigate the effects of different land covers on surface temperature. Then, to demonstrate the effects of built-up areas on surface temperature, the IBI method and Otsu threshold were used. To investigate the effects of the configuration of built-up areas on land surface temperature variations, landscape metrics such as Landscape Division Index, Fractal Dimension Index, and Percent cover of class areas were used. Finally, urban morphology has been investigated using Plot size (PS). Results and discussion: The results of this research showed that among all seasons, the stronger cold island was detected in summer. Moreover, the results also showed that the cold island was much better presented in summer than other seasons. The scatter plots between the land surface temperature (LST) on one hand, and the built-up area as well as the vegetation land cover, on the other hand, illustrated indirect correlations where higher Pearson correlation coefficient was observed between LST and the built-up area (r = - 0.704). Among the landscape metrics, the highest positive correlation (r = 0.72) was observed between LST and the Landscape Division Index. Moreover, a high negative correlation was found between the characteristics of urban morphology or Plot size and the LST (r = - 0.73). The results of the Pearson correlation between land cover, configuration, and morphology characteristics and LST were quite significant (P≤0.01). Conclusion: From this research, it can be concluded that the configuration and morphology characteristics can model surface temperature variations better than the land cover.
Original Article
Somaye Janatrostami; Ali Salahi
Abstract
Introduction: A spatial distribution and accuracy of groundwater quality data is required for management of groundwater resources. These data are usually collected from monitoring wells which are spatially distributed in the studied aquifer. In the design of the monitoring network, the minimum number ...
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Introduction: A spatial distribution and accuracy of groundwater quality data is required for management of groundwater resources. These data are usually collected from monitoring wells which are spatially distributed in the studied aquifer. In the design of the monitoring network, the minimum number of monitoring wells with an optimum spatial distribution is necessary to ensure a cost efficiency. Therefore, the configuration of the wells distribution and their number in groundwater monitoring networks are an important problem for optimizing groundwater issues. This study was targeted to find an optimal monitoring network with minimum number of wells in the Guilan’s aquifer so that provides sufficient spatial distribution on groundwater quality. Salinity is one of the most important criteria for the quality of groundwater which is measured by using of parameters such as Total Soluble Solids (TDS), Chloride ion (Cl) and Electrical Conductivity (EC). Hence, EC was selected as a quality parameter in the design of the monitoring network in this study. Materials and methods: Genetic optimization algorithm (GA) was used to search for optimal quality monitoring network. In this method, a possible network of monitoring wells located in the aquifer considered for each “chromosome”. Then each monitoring well in this network is represented by a binary bit. Finally, they are coded by bit value equals to 1 for well that was selected for the network or by bit value equals to 0 for well that was not selected for the network. In this paper, two conflicting objective functions are simultaneously solved. The first objective function is the maximization of the match between the interpolated EC distributions obtained from data of the all available monitoring wells and the wells from the newly generated network. The match is evaluated by using of the Nash-Sutcliffe (NS) model efficiency. The second objective is the minimization of the number of the monitoring wells in the newly generated network by considering cost-related constraints. These two objectives are integrated in a single objective function where different combinations of both objectives are investigated by considering two cases. Results and discussion: The results showed that the relative importance of each objective is expressed using the weighting coefficient, w. It was found that the solution of the optimization is very dependent on the selection of w. Therefore, a w value that are resulted by the most balanced solution should be selected. Most balanced means that the trade-off between cost and spatial distribution is most acceptable. To choose the most solution, it is highly recommended to evaluate additional performance indicators besides NS coefficient such as RMSE, PBIAS, the regression coefficient and standard deviation. Additionally, mean values of EC observed in the optimized network are higher than those in all monitoring wells. Therefore, it could be clearly concluded that the optimized network provides groundwater quality data from more polluted areas. Conclusion: The results showed that the optimization approach significantly reduces the number of monitoring wells with spatial distribution of the EC values. Additionally, the monitoring network was optimized such a way that sampling points were removed from less polluted areas and were selected in areas with higher pollutant concentrations. The optimal design of the monitoring network should be performed periodically. Since monitoring efficiency is expected to change when the data of the new wells become available, a re-evaluation of the optimized monitoring network considering the addition of new wells every few years may help the determination of the long-term effectiveness of a groundwater quality monitoring program.
Original Article
Sadegh Salehi; Hadi Ebrahimi
Abstract
Introduction: Optimizing energy consumption including water consumption has always been emphasized in all Five-Year Development in Iran. According to Managing Director of Mazandaran Regional Water Authority, said: "We see a lot of changes in the annual flow of rivers in the province, with the average ...
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Introduction: Optimizing energy consumption including water consumption has always been emphasized in all Five-Year Development in Iran. According to Managing Director of Mazandaran Regional Water Authority, said: "We see a lot of changes in the annual flow of rivers in the province, with the average long-term runoff in the rivers of the province is 4500 million cubic meters, which is based on the average The 11-year-old has been reduced to 3900 million cubic meters. He evaluated the precipitation situation during the first two months of the year positively and said: "Compared to last year, about 40 mm of rain was observed, but the river discharge decreased by an average of 39% compared to the index period." He added: "So far, 45% of the volume of reservoirs in the dam has been dewatered. Unfortunately, this rate is about 27% in Shahid Rajaee Dam, which we hope will reach 60%. To resolve the water shortage issue and deal rationally with water problem, the government, has already introduce a project name Danab. This project aims at educating school student with water knowledge and prober behavior. This project believes that of all social groups, school students play significant role to optimize water consumption. Education Organization has already started to apply Danab Project to create and increase students’ knowledge toward water. The organization presume that students’ water consumption behavior will be modified by creasing their water knowledge through this educational program. As such, this study aims to assess students’ water knowledge a well as this knowledge effects on water behavior. Material and methods: This project was conducted in Mazandaran province were the public assume there is no waste shortages. This study focused on school students to identify what socio-cultural factors are influencing their water knowledge as well their water consumption behavior. This study benefited survey method. Survey methodology studies the sampling of individual units from a population and associated techniques of survey data collection, such as questionnaire construction and methods for improving the number and accuracy of responses to surveys. Survey methodology includes instruments or procedures that ask one or more questions that may or may not be answered. Having applied survey method, a total of 501 high school students have been selected by using stratified sampling method. The sample were selected across different cities in Mazandaran in 2018. The data was collect via benefiting questionnaire technique and has been processed by using SPSS programme. Results and discussion: The results of the current research revealed that there is significant relation between cultural factors and students’ water consumption behavior. The results also showed that the assumed relationship between social factors and water consumption was confirmed empirically. Based on the results of the study, it can be aid that the relationship between institutional factors and students’ water consumption behavior was confirmed. Finally, the results of the study confirmed there was a relationship between water consumption behavior and social back ground of the surveyed students. Conclusion: The result of the research showed that environmental values, religious belief, formal control and civic participation have played a significant role to guide students water consumption behavior. The result also indicated that environmental values has played most significant role to contribute students’ water knowledge.
Original Article
Maryam Neisi; Masoud Bijani; Negin Fallah Haghighi
Abstract
Introduction: Environmental problems and Chalenges are one of the major concerns of today's society. Often, these chalenges stem from human behavior that can be overcome by changing their attitudes and behaviors and promoting the consequences of these problems. Some of the most important pro-environmental ...
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Introduction: Environmental problems and Chalenges are one of the major concerns of today's society. Often, these chalenges stem from human behavior that can be overcome by changing their attitudes and behaviors and promoting the consequences of these problems. Some of the most important pro-environmental behaviors include energy consumption, water and soil conservation, recycling and the like, with many personal, social and environmental benefits. One of the major goals of universities is to educate students towards environmental issues. In this regard, the role and position of agricultural higher education is of particular importance. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to "analyze the factors affecting pro-environmental behavior as perceived by students in Iran's agricultural higher education system based on Bandura's social-cognitive theory". Materials and methods: This study is a descriptive-correlational and causal-relational research. The statistical population of this study was students at state colleges of agriculture in Iran. 129 of them were selected using a random two-stage cluster sampling based on five scientific poles of the country (N = 236973). The research instrument was a questionnaire whose validity was confirmed by a panel of experts in the field of agricultural extension and education and its reliability was determined using the Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.66≤α≤0.87). Results and discussion: The results showed that there is a positive and significant correlation between pro-environmental behavior and other effective variables other than the Students’ level of education. In this regard, intention, self-identity, outcome expectancy, self-regulation, perception of others' behavior and self-efficacy had the highest correlation with pro-environmental behavior. The results of the causal analysis showed that the variables of "perception of others Behavior", "outcome expectancy" and "self-identity" had a significant effect on pro-environmental behavior which is in line with the Bandura's social-cognitive theory, but "intention", "self-efficacy" and "self-regulation" had no significant effect. Conclusion: Causal analysis results showed the students’ pro-environmenal behavior in the higher agricultural education system is influenced by the perception of others’ behavior and they learn from observation and consequences of others' behavior. Such findings show the importance of social environments. In other words, although individuals may have motivations and behaviors in order to preserve the environment, but this behavior is influenced by their social environment and providing such an environment is considered one of the implications of higher education systems for creating green universities. At the end, based on the findings, some recommendations have been presented.
Original Article
Mozdeh Nafian; Mohsen Bahmani; Elham Ghehsareh Ardestani; Ali Soltani
Abstract
Introduction: As one of the most valuable parts of a municipal system, the green space has long been praised. For that matter, all the data related to street-side trees must be assessed and recorded. A large part of old plane trees (Platanus orientalis) planted in industrial, dense populated cities are ...
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Introduction: As one of the most valuable parts of a municipal system, the green space has long been praised. For that matter, all the data related to street-side trees must be assessed and recorded. A large part of old plane trees (Platanus orientalis) planted in industrial, dense populated cities are subjected to all kinds of air and water pollutions, frequent droughts and various physical stresses, which make them less likely to sustain. Identification of the most vulnerable tree individuals can be prioritized by a variety of statistical methods. A less applied statistical model in this field is the Artificial Neural Network (ANN). In this study, we present the results of applying ANN model in risk assessment of plane trees planted along Kuala Lumpur Avenue in Isfahan in 2018. Material and methods: In the current study, the risk level of keeping plane trees in Kuala Lumpur Ave. Isfahan was studied using data acquired by a full survey method, and using quantitative tree body proportions and few risk factors (qualitative or imperfect properties). Following coining the share of each of seven hazard criteria and their trio importance indices, a Kruskal-Wallis test compared the number of trees in different risk levels. Then, all the trees were scored via the biased levels of their risk level. Accordingly, based on the weighted scores, they were divided into five hazardous categories. To develop an understanding of the quantitative variables, risk factors, weight parameters, and hazard classes, we carried out a principle component analysis (PCA) and a multi-layer perceptron (MLP) network procedure. Results and discussion: The results of the proportion of each hazard index revealed the importance of the trunk and root wounds (83%), the structural tree weakness (61%), root problems (54%), and branch and twig dieback (50%). Also, results of Kruskal-Wallis test showed that the risk levels of the planted trees can be significantly classified into four classes of: with no risk or healthy, low, moderate, and high-risk classes, at one percent error level. The results of Duncan's mean test showed that the number of trees in no risk and low-risk classes were significantly higher than the other classes at one percent error level. The results of the PCA indicated that the first and second components explained 44.69 percent of the total variation. The risk and weighting parameters of the branch and twig dieback, the tree diameter, advanced decay, and wound on the trunk and root were highly and positively correlated. In general, the two variables of the trunk and root wounding, as well as branch and twig dieback, were among the most important variables in terms of risk assessment of the plane trees. The high coefficient of determination values of training, validation, verification, and finally, all neural network data (0.999, 0.949, 0.996, and 0.991) and the least mean square error values (training data = 0.052, verification 0.114, and validation = 0.044) indicated the accuracy and desirability of the ANN in the prediction of the risk classes for street side trees. Conclusion: According to the results of risk assessment diagnostic criteria and main components analysis, the two variables of trunk wound and root and branch mortality of plane trees should be regularly reviewed. Moreover, decision-makers may use the neural network method to identify and detect the risk possibility of planted trees. Therefore, this approach can be proposed as a suitable and useful solution in urban green space management and preventive measures.
Original Article
Nasser Rezaei; Mohammad Rauf Heidarifar; Khabat Derafshi; Khabat Derafshi
Abstract
Introduction: Development planners and policymakers consider tourism activities as a key pillar for rural sustainable development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential of ecotourism development in Oramanat region with an emphasis on the Bayangan District, trying to answer what are ...
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Introduction: Development planners and policymakers consider tourism activities as a key pillar for rural sustainable development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential of ecotourism development in Oramanat region with an emphasis on the Bayangan District, trying to answer what are the natural and cultural attractions and facilities available in the Bayangan area for tourism development. Considering the many tourist attractions in Oramanat region, especially the section of Bayangan with having diverse and attractive villages, it is possible to expand rural tourism as a new strategy in the field of rural development, creating new opportunities in rural areas such as job opportunities, reducing immigration, etc., flourish the rural areas, and removed these areas from isolation and deprivation. Material and methods: The methodology of the present study is descriptive-analytic (correlation). The data collection method was documentary-survey and the method of analysis was qualitative-quantitative. The statistical population included families living in the Bayangan District and tourists who came to this area from April to August 2018. Four hundred individuals were selected as statistical population using Morgan table and proportional stratified random sampling due to the uncertainty of the exact number of population. The survey method (descriptive and exploratory surveying method) was used for data collection and a questionnaire was used to collect the required information that was used to answer the research questions. Two researcher-made questionnaires were used, one for residents and the other for tourists. In the descriptive section, frequency table and percentage, mean and standard deviation were used and in terms of inferential statistics level, the Smirnov test was used to determine the normal distribution of variables. One-sample t-test was used to compare the means of the samples with the hypothetical mean. All statistical analyzes were performed using SPSS version 23. Results and discussion: According to the K-S test, all distributions were statistically normal, and the results of the one-sample t-test for the research hypotheses showed that the Bayangan section had significant natural and socio-cultural attractions. The current situation of tourism facilities and services in the Bayangan District is significantly poor. Peoples' acceptance of tourists is significantly good. The expansion of tourism in the Bayangan District will have positive socio-cultural, economic, and environmental effects. Finally, nine factors were identified as barriers to tourism development in the Bayangan District, the most significant obstacle of which was the "lack of standard accommodation and hotels at national and international level for tourist accommodation in the region". Conclusions: According to the results of this study, natural and socio-cultural attractions are the most important tourism development potentials in the Bayangan District. It is suggested that the provincial tourism authorities consider these potentials in planning the region's tourism development plans and base their plans on ecotourism and socio-cultural tourism. In order to develop tourism in the study area, it is necessary to improve the status of tourism facilities and services. Lack of standard accommodation and national/international hotels is a major obstacle for tourism development in the Bayangan District, suggesting that the tourism authorities of the region establish modern and standard hotels and resorts for the accommodation of tourists.
Original Article
Newsha Akbari; Shirin Toghyani; Alireza Andalib; Mahmood Mohamadi
Abstract
Introduction: Today, urban decay is a grave problem in metropolises. Despite the rules and regulations passed by the lawmakers to protect areas affected by the phenomenon, and in the face of all years-long regeneration, faults and flaws in the laws have hindered the perfect implementation of the desired ...
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Introduction: Today, urban decay is a grave problem in metropolises. Despite the rules and regulations passed by the lawmakers to protect areas affected by the phenomenon, and in the face of all years-long regeneration, faults and flaws in the laws have hindered the perfect implementation of the desired objectives. Given the importance of the issue, urban renovation and reconstruction are the strategies adopted to resolve the problems of the urban fabric. A novel approach in tackling the problem, regeneration facilitates the social and economic revival as well as spatial restoration of the fabric. The aim of the present study is to identify and prioritize various aspects of regeneration of the urban decay for the purpose of legal planning. Material and methods: The present study is classified as a basic research in terms of the objective, and qualitative and quantitative methods were used to conduct it. Grounded Theory was the approach selected for the qualitative part, while the documentary research was carried out using content analysis and meta synthesis. The research population is comprised of experts, scholars, and university professors in urban planning. Data were collected through documentary research, opinions, definitions, and in-depth open-ended interviews. A total of 35 individuals were interviewed for the purpose of this research. Qualitative data analysis, coding, and identifying the frequency of the codes extracted from interviews were done using NVivo. Then, the heirarchies were decided using AHP method and Expert Choice progra along with paired comparison questionarre. To this, Sirus Neighborhood in Tehran was selected as the case study according to the valuation of criteria based on the issues the neighborhood is faced with. Another reason for this choice was that it had been selected as the pilot location to carry out the regeneration objectives. Conclusions and discussion: "Physical regeneration”, "social regeneration”, "environmental regeneration”, "urban managemnet regeneration”, and "economic regeneration” were extracted from the qualitative analysis as the legal components of resilience in the process of urban decay regeneration. Meanwhile, considering social complications and the influence of the community on the neighborhood indicated that establishing ties between the neighborhood in question and other neighborhoods of Tehran and their residents is the prerequisite to the realization of regeneration objectives in the historical area. Improving the social condition in the neighborhoods with greater sense of attachment can be materialized through the improvement of social indicators, increase in the quality of life and sense of satisfaction, preventing immigration, and eventually, providing better development platforms. Meanwhile, given the importance of urban management in urban development, a holistic, integrated, and inclusive approach which draws upon social and financial condition of the residents and preventing trivial actions in housing sector can help to achieve the regeneration objectives in the improvement of resilience. Conclusion: The findings indicate that planning to improve social indicators must be the highest priority of lawmakers in order that the improvement in development platform can facilitate the realization of regeneration objectives.
Original Article
Ali Asghar Firouzjaeian Galougah; ُSepideh Nasiri
Abstract
Introduction: Social order has high importance in every society. Disturbance in a social order will have a lot of costs for society. Littering is an example of citizens’ social disorder in the field of environmental citizenship that is transformed as a social problem in our society. The purpose ...
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Introduction: Social order has high importance in every society. Disturbance in a social order will have a lot of costs for society. Littering is an example of citizens’ social disorder in the field of environmental citizenship that is transformed as a social problem in our society. The purpose of this research was the pathological analysis of student’s social order with emphasizing on littering. Littering became a serious problem in all environments in our society. This problem in a university, as an educational and cultural environment, is indecent and needs to be assessed. Material and methods: The study was conducted by a survey. The statistical population was all the students of Mazandaran University in the 95-96 educational semester. The sample size was 384 individuals and was collected by categorized sampling. Data were collected by questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS Amos software. Littering was the dependent variable, consisting of throwing paper, gum, and plastic. Independent variables were taken from the theory of social learning. Results and discussion: In this research, the theory of social learning was used as a theoretical framework to assess various reasons for littering in different environments. In this theory, every behavior is a result of learning in different environments. Of all respondents, 55.8 percent were women and 44.2 percent were men with an average age of 24. Littering among students was classified as medium. The results of the Pearson correlation showed that there was a significant relationship between littering as an indicator of social disorder with the observation of others’ littering, weak formal and informal control, imitation, and positive definition of littering. Also, path analysis showed that these variables can explain 28% of the variations in the dependent variable (littering). In multiple variable analysis, the positive definition of littering had a direct and positive effect on littering. The other variables had indirect effect on littering. Conclusion: Essentially, littering is an important problem that we encounter in many environments. Nowadays, litter accumulates in rivers and city environments such as universities. The academic culture of universities requires academic persons in different fields to obey the social order. Therefore, the process of learning social order seems necessary.
Original Article
Kamal Khodaei; Hamid Reza Nassery; Hadi Tabani; Zahra Kazemizadeh
Abstract
Introduction: Groundwater pollution occurs during refining processes, transportation, storing, and distribution of oil products. Most of the oil components are insoluble in water, however, there are some components such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (known as BTEX) that are soluble in ...
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Introduction: Groundwater pollution occurs during refining processes, transportation, storing, and distribution of oil products. Most of the oil components are insoluble in water, however, there are some components such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (known as BTEX) that are soluble in groundwater. These compounds are carcinomic and categorized as very dangerous pollutants. Permeable bio-barrier (PBB) technologies are extensively used to remove groundwater oil pollution. However, providing oxygen to improve the bioremediation efficiency in groundwater is a challenge. This research aimed to test the application of calcium peroxide nano-particles to provide more dissolved oxygen in a permeable bio-barrier. Material and methods: Pseudomonas sp. BTEX-30 strain isolated from polluted groundwater around Tehran’s oil refining area was used to establish the permeable bio-barrier. Bioremediation kinetics and environmental conditions required for optimum bioremediation of bacteria were evaluated. Calcium peroxide nanoparticles have been synthesized and used for increasing the dissolved oxygen in groundwater. Bio-barrier was simulated using a glass column and Ottava sand as a porous media. The inflow rate was 0.5 ml/s with different toluene concentration for 14 days. Water samples from the inlet and outlet of the bio-barrier were taken during the test and analyzed using GC for defining the toluene concentration. Fate and transport processes in bio-barrier have been simulated by numerical models. Results and discussion: There were no significant differences in the toluene concentration between inlet and outlet on day one. Differences in toluene concentration between inlet and outlet started from day two. Bio-barrier showed a good response to increasing and decreasing in inlet concentration stresses after nine days. According to the results, PBB showed the best performance at 30 ppm concentration of inlet. The calculated concentration of toluene by the PBB numerical model showed a very good correlation in most stress periods. Conclusion: PBB showed a very good performance for biodegradation of toluene by using calcium peroxide nanoparticles as an oxygen releasing compound.
Original Article
Mehdi Amini; Hossein Kouhestani; Fatemeh Kazemiyeh
Abstract
Introduction: The most important natural hazard that has been occurred in Iran during recent years is the reduction in the water level of Urmia Lake, which has brought a great deal of economic, social, and environmental issues for its surrounding inhabitants. The purpose of this study was to investigate ...
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Introduction: The most important natural hazard that has been occurred in Iran during recent years is the reduction in the water level of Urmia Lake, which has brought a great deal of economic, social, and environmental issues for its surrounding inhabitants. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Urmia Lake drying on the economic, social, and environmental conditions of the rural district of Urmia city. Material and methods: This study is an applied, descriptive-survey research and a causal-comparative method was used. The statistical population of this study was the head of rural households in Urmia city of West Azerbaijan Province (2130 people) located in the southwest of Lake Urmia. The sample size was estimated to be 152 people by Morgan table and divided into rural districts by the appropriate allocation method. In the end, respondents were selected by a simple random sampling method. The research instrument was a questionnaire, the validity of which was confirmed based on past research and opinions of experts. To determine the reliability of the Cronbach's alpha coefficient, it was calculated for each of the economic, social, and environmental indicators. Data were analyzed by SPSS software. In addition to descriptive statistics, inferential statistics such as comparative tests were used. Results and discussion: The results of this study showed that the drying of Urmia Lake affected the economic, social, and environmental conditions of the studied villages. It caused an increase in the cost of water supply for agriculture, reduced employment in the agricultural sector in the economic area, increased the hopelessness about the future, reduced the tendency of children to work in the rural environment and agricultural occupation in the social sphere, increased plant diseases, and reduced the level of water in the wells. Also, according to statistical results, the consequences of the lake drying was more for those regions near the coast of the lake and vice versa. Conclusion: In this context, it should also be noted that the overall protection of the environment in the prevention of natural and abnormal accidents is one of the issues that directly affect the safety of human beings. Therefore, identifying key factors and their implications in choosing appropriate solutions to cope with it requires a public effort that can be discussed and investigated abundantly to reduce its destruction rate. It can also be supported by government agencies, in particular the Ministry of Agriculture, by testing the soil of the villages around Urmia Lake, then familiarizing the villagers with cultivating crops with low water requirements and plants resistant to soil salinity, and employment for the villagers in the field of conversion and complementary industries, handicrafts, local food, tourism activities and activities that require little water to improve the livelihood of the villagers living on the margin of Urmia Lake.
Original Article
Hamid Sarkheil; Maryam Fakhari; Behzad Rayegani; Javad Bodagh Jamali
Abstract
Introduction: Tehran metropolis, with an area of 750 km2, a population of more than 8 million people, and about 4 million vehicles is associated with the problem of air pollution. A thorough study of the spatial distribution of pollutants such as CO and NO2 in Tehran is significant for identifying ...
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Introduction: Tehran metropolis, with an area of 750 km2, a population of more than 8 million people, and about 4 million vehicles is associated with the problem of air pollution. A thorough study of the spatial distribution of pollutants such as CO and NO2 in Tehran is significant for identifying the risks, probabilities, and risks of these contaminants. Therefore, mathematical and computational methods such as the confidence level method can be useful. The main goals of this research were to investigate the changes in air pollution levels in terms of CO and NO2 concentration, study the radius of impacts of fixed pollution stations, and calculate the level of reliability by investigating the probability of air pollution and the map of the risk of air pollution in different parts of the urban area of Tehran. Material and methods: In this study, Tehran's air pollution data in October, November, and December 2017 was used in spatial modeling. Using geostatistics and indicator kriging methods, data were analyzed and maps of the distribution of pollution concentration, and also two-dual maps (0 and 1) of the probability of pollution and risk of pollution in Tehran's for the study period were produced by ArcGIS Software. Results and discussion: The resulting maps showed the highest NO2 emissions areas (Ghaem Park, Razi Park, and the municipality of district 16) and areas with the least risk of NO2 pollution (Shahid Beheshti University, Pasdaran, Science, and Technology University, and Shad Abad). Moreover, the highest CO emission areas were the municipality of districts 11, 15, and 16, Ray station, Sharif University, Fatah Square, Health Park, and Razi Park). Aghdasyeh station, Shahid Beheshti University, municipality of district 2, Rose Park, Science and Technology University, Golbargh, Shad Abad, and Masoudieh had the lowest CO emissions. Conclusion: The indicator kriging was a useful method for assessing the risk of contamination by providing a possibility map. The hazardous maps produced in this study were useful tools for identifying areas with CO and NO2 contaminations. The results of this study can play an effective role in urban management decisions by correctly identifying the amount of air pollution in an appropriate spatial distribution.
Original Article
Farhad Misaghi; Amir Hossein Amani; Ali Reza Seddigh
Abstract
Introduction: Water scarcity is one of the most important issues in the 21st century that human societies encounter. Population growth, industrial and agricultural production, rapid urbanization, and severe climate change have had a major impact on limited water resources and the environment in river ...
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Introduction: Water scarcity is one of the most important issues in the 21st century that human societies encounter. Population growth, industrial and agricultural production, rapid urbanization, and severe climate change have had a major impact on limited water resources and the environment in river basins. The optimal allocation of water resources among consumers requires effective measurements of water resources and its integrated management for human and environmental justice. Optimization of water resource allocation is a very complex decision to make in several levels, stages, subjects, objectives, and non-linear communications. With the complexity of water allocation issues, its algorithms have been gradually improved, and the use of intelligent meta-analysis algorithms in optimizing the allocation of water resources from traditional math planning has surpassed. However, the effectiveness of conventional optimization algorithms is not ideal from a variety of perspectives, and issues such as convergence, computational speed, initial sensitivity, etc., due to the complexity and multi-purpose of optimizing water allocation, require further studies to improve the efficiency of the algorithm and obtaining a desirable overall solution. Material and methods: The gray wolf algorithm mimics the hierarchy of leadership and the mechanism of hunting gray wolves in nature. In this algorithm, four types of gray wolves, including alpha, beta, delta, and omega have been used to simulate a hierarchy of leadership. Also, the colonial competition algorithm begins with some primary random populations, each of which is called a "country". Some of the best population elements (equivalent to the elites in the genetic algorithm) are chosen as imperialists. The remaining population is considered as a colony. Colonialists, depending on their power, are pulling these colonies into a particular process. In this research, the gray wolf and colonial competition algorithms were used to optimize water resources values during 2000-2012 regarding the Sofi-Chay irrigation and drainage network and Alavian dam to achieve the optimal policy. The Alavian dam in the province of East Azerbaijan, 3km north of Maragheh city, near the village of Alavian, has been constructed on the Sofi-Chai River, and supplies drinking water to the Maragheh, Miandoab, Bonab, Ajbashir, and Malekan counties. Results and discussion: The results of the implementation of the gray wolf algorithm, compared to the colonial competition algorithm, were very close to the measured value of the amount of allocated water and this suggests the coherence and efficiency of the gray wolf algorithm in water resources system. According to the RMSE values in all four areas, the gray wolf algorithm was 44% less than the colonial competition algorithm and 64% higher in the Nash-Sutcliff coefficient. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the gray wolf algorithm has a suitable speed for finding the optimal response. In other words, it has a high convergence rate and can find an optimal global optimization problem. The results showed that the gray wolf algorithm yielded better and more acceptable results in water utilization in combination with utilizing surface water and underground water resources.
Original Article
Elahe Ghasemi; Alireza Taab; Emanuele Radicetti
Abstract
Introduction: Dust is an atmospheric pollutant that is considered as one of the major environmental problems all over the world. This phenomenon is problematic, especially in agriculture, health, and transportation sections. Dust causes considerable environmental problems for agriculture and human health ...
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Introduction: Dust is an atmospheric pollutant that is considered as one of the major environmental problems all over the world. This phenomenon is problematic, especially in agriculture, health, and transportation sections. Dust causes considerable environmental problems for agriculture and human health in Iran every year and so attention must be paid to the negative consequences of this phenomenon. Therefore, this study was conducted to quantify the effects of dust on growth and yield of red bean, weeds growth, and the competitive balance between weeds and the crop. Material and methods: A greenhouse experiment was conducted in a replacement series based on a complete randomized design with three replicates in Ilam University, Ilam, from late October 2017 to early March 2018. The treatments consisted of soil dust (with and without), two weed species (Echinochloa crus-galli and Chenopodium album), and mixtures of 100% crop, 75% crop+25% weed, 50% crop+50% weed, 25% crop+75%weed, and 100% weed. The speed of photosynthesis, amount of chlorophyll α, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll and carotenoids content of leaves, number of pod per plant, one thousand seed weight, and crop seed yield, crop and weed biomass were measured. Results and discussion: The results showed that the speed of photosynthesis amount of chlorophyll α, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll content of leaves, carotenoids, number of pod per plant, one thousand seed weight, biomass, and seed yield of the red bean as well as biomass of weeds were significantly affected by dust. In addition, the effect of weeds on crops was increased by an increase in the weed proportion in the mixtures, which was worsening by the dust. The dust caused a 39.7% reduction in the yield and 52.8% in biomass of bean on average. The bean yield (gr/plant) in the 50% mixture in competition with C. album with and without dust effect were 7.5 and 4.7 gr/plant, respectively, while the corresponding values for E. crus-galli were 16.9 and 8.4 gr/plant , respectively. On the other hand, E. crus-galli as a narrow leave species was less affected by dust than C. album as a broad leave species and thus biomass reduction due to dust in C. album and E. crus-galli were 10.6% and 7.1% in comparison with the control , respectively. Moreover, the red bean was affected by dust more than weeds. Conclusion: The growth and yield of red bean were significantly affected by competition with weeds and also the competitive effect of C. album was more than E. crus-galli. In addition, the dust had significant effects on the growth of red bean and weeds (C. album more than E. crus-galli). This might be due to the morphological characteristics of each species, because the broader leaves of the red bean and C. album may have caused more absorption of dust particles. In general, the dust phenomenon caused a reduction in crop growth and yield and also affected the competitive balance between weeds and crops.
Original Article
Samira Sadat Fatemi Azarkhavarani; Mohammad Rahimi; Mostafa Tarkesh; Hooman Ravanbakhsh
Abstract
Introduction: Species distribution modeling is a common method for understanding the relationships between a species and its environment and is used to predict the changes in distribution due to environmental changes. A lot of research has been done around the world based on these models. In this study, ...
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Introduction: Species distribution modeling is a common method for understanding the relationships between a species and its environment and is used to predict the changes in distribution due to environmental changes. A lot of research has been done around the world based on these models. In this study, the optimal habitat of Juniperus excelsa, an indicator species, and the most important tree species in Irano-Turanian forests in the Alborz Mountains have been investigated using 38 environmental parameters and domain and logistic regression models. Material and methods: The study area consists of parts of the Alborz Mountains located in the north of Iran with an area of 14656 km2. In the present study, a stratified random sampling method was used to determine the sampling sites. Finally, 390 occurrence sites (240 presence sites and 150 absentee sites) of J. excelsa at a 30-second scale (approximately 1 km×1 km) as the input model was studied. Also, 38 environmental parameters were considered as predictive variables for implementing two models of the domain and logistic regression. Results and discussion: The results showed that the domain model had a high performance for predicting the habitat of J. excelsa with AUC =0.97, Kappa =0.730, and TSS = 0.91. Based on the results, the areas with the lowest potential for the presence of J. excelsa were 5665.95 km2, the moderate potential was 2033.1 km2, the good potential was 3076.38 km2, the very good potential was 3063.42 km2, and the high potential was 817.29 km2. The results obtained from the implementation of the logistic regression model indicated that 5084.37 km2 of the studied area was in the class of least potential, 2539.35 km2 had moderate potential, 1410.21 km2 had good potential, 1104. 84 km2 had very good potential, and 4517.37 km2 had high potential. Also, the results showed that the suitable habitats for J. excelsa were regions with a mean diurnal range of 13 °C and 15.5 °C, annual precipitation of 120-220 mm, precipitation of 64-90 mm, precipitation of coldest quarter of 35-60 mm, the altitude from the sea level of 3100-1800 m, and a slope of 30-10% in the southern, southeast, and east directions. Also, the probability of species occurrence was more in areas near the snow and water line as well as on calcic rocks. Also, in the habitat of J. excelsa the NDVI index varied between 0.38 and 0.20. The results of the performance evaluation of the models showed that the domain model had higher performance in predicting the suitable habitat of J. excelsa than the logistic regression model in the study area. Conclusion: Species distribution models can provide a suitable management plan for different parts of the habitat. Areas with low potential of suitable habitat are usually partial habitats and populations in these areas are more vulnerable than the others, whereas areas with very good potential are excellent for a protected area. Areas with good to the excellent potential that do not have significant tree cover are suitable for forestry and native ecosystem restoration. The present study showed that the domain model, despite using only presence data, can be a useful method for predicting the suitable habitat of J. excelsa in the Alborz Mountains. Therefore, it can be stated that species distribution models, with acceptable accuracy, have enough performance in the evaluation of species distribution and can be used to execute conservation strategies.
Original Article
Seyed Daryoush Moghaddas; Asghar Abdoli; Bahram Hassanzade Kiabi; Hossein Rahmani
Abstract
Introduction: The intentional and unintentional introduction of non-native fish species to the aquatic ecosystems of Iran has occurred with purposes such as enhancing aquaculture, ornamentation, biological control, and research. Some of them cause or have the potential to cause, significant environmental ...
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Introduction: The intentional and unintentional introduction of non-native fish species to the aquatic ecosystems of Iran has occurred with purposes such as enhancing aquaculture, ornamentation, biological control, and research. Some of them cause or have the potential to cause, significant environmental and socio-economic impacts on aquatic ecosystems and/or fish farms. The eradication of non-native fishes is impossible or very costly, especially in large areas. Screening and identifying the potential invasiveness of species are being increasingly used all over the world. The main aim of the present research was to assess the potential invasiveness of redbelly Tilapia Coptodon zillii in Anzali international wetland. Material and methods: Aquatic Species Invasiveness Screening Kit (AS-ISK) was used to identify redbelly Tilapia Coptodon zillii as a non-native fish that may pose a high potential risk of becoming invasion in Anzali Wetland. The model is able to discriminate between invasive and non-invasive aquatic organisms including non-native fishes by risk area-related threshold value. Also, the Köppen-Geiger climate system and Climatch software were used to match the climate between the native range of redbelly Tilapia and Anzali Wetland. The projected future climate change scenario was taken from relevant studies to carry out Climate Change Assessment (CCA) of the AS-ISK. Results and discussion: The output of the AS-ISK was 44 for redbelly Tilapia that was higher than the AS-ISK threshold value of the risk assessment area, which meant that the species pose a potential risk of becoming invasive in Anzali wetland. There was a high climate-mating between the native range of redbelly Tilapia and the assessed area when the Köppen-Geiger climate system was used. At least one native habitat of redbelly Tilapia in the system was in the same climate category as the studied area. Also, the Climatch model output was 0.87 that shows a high climate matching for the non-native fish. The CCA had an increasing effect on the total score of the AS-ISK. The factors that increased the AS-ISK score were climate-mating, probable climate change, biological attributes, and invasiveness history of other places that the species was introduced. The comparison of the results of this study and other relevant studies that used AS-ISK to assess potential invasiveness of redbelly Tilapia showed that the species had the potential of becoming an invader in Anzali Wetland as well as some other areas around the country. Conclusion: While non-native fishes are frequently used to enhance aquaculture in the country, a rapid assessment tool is required to avoid nuisance environmental impacts. The AS-ISK can be reliably used as a tool to predict the potential risk of becoming invasive in Anzali Wetland and elsewhere to be used by conservation managers, decision-makers, and policymakers in the aquaculture development plans.
