Original Article
leila saberpour; Saeid Soufizadeh; Abdolmajid Mahdavi Damghani; Jafar Kambouzia; Ghorban Ghorbani Nasrabad
Abstract
Introduction: Cotton is one of the most important fiber plants in Iran which needs more production for national fiber sufficiency goal. Its cropping area in Iran is now about 140,000 ha in which 95.3% is irrigated; rainfed cotton is growing only in Khorasan, Golestan and Mazandaran. Planting date and ...
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Introduction: Cotton is one of the most important fiber plants in Iran which needs more production for national fiber sufficiency goal. Its cropping area in Iran is now about 140,000 ha in which 95.3% is irrigated; rainfed cotton is growing only in Khorasan, Golestan and Mazandaran. Planting date and nutrition management and their interactions are amongst the most important determinants of crop yield.Material and methods: Field experiment in 2016 in the fields of Cotton Research Center of Golestan province in Hashem Abad split plot factorial in a randomized complete block design was conducted. Treatments include the planting date as the main factor, cultivar (Latif and Golestan) and nitrogen (three levels: desirable, a third desirable and without fertilizer) as sub plots. The first planting date in the traits (TDM, LAI, CGR and RGR) was superior to the second planting date. Among the cultivars, Golestan cultivar showed a better response to Latif cultivar at zero fertilizer level and 160 kg ha-1 nitrogen fertilizer.Results and discussion: TDM variation and LAI of cotton cultivars during the growing season were three stages. The first stage, the phase of presentation, in which the TDM variations continued up to 55 and 61 days after planting and the rate of changes in the LAI, respectively, was 55 and 43 days after planting in the first and second planting dates. TDM accumulation changes up to 109 and 96 days, the LAI was about 88 and 96 days, the RGR was 55 and 61 days, and the CGR was 88 and 96 days after planting in the first and second plantings increased linearly. Maximum RGR and CGR were observed at cultivar Golestan cultivar at zero and 160 kg ha-1 in first planting date.Conclusion: In general, first planting date (29 June) in comparison with the second planting date (12 July) caused higher DM production, LAI, RGR and vegetative growth and Golestan cultivar had better performance than Latif cultivar at 0 and 160 khNha-1. The maximum RGR at these two-fertilizer level in Golestan cultivar was recorded at the first planting date which caused a significant difference for the time reaching maximum LAI.
Original Article
Hossein Momeni; Mohammadreza Shiri; Eslam Majidi Hervan; Mahmoud Khosroshahli
Abstract
Introduction: The sustainability of agricultural systems plays a key role in adapting to climate change. There is ample evidence that biodiversity can increase the stability of ecosystem processes by changing environmental conditions. Therefore, the effectiveness of breeding programs requires a correct ...
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Introduction: The sustainability of agricultural systems plays a key role in adapting to climate change. There is ample evidence that biodiversity can increase the stability of ecosystem processes by changing environmental conditions. Therefore, the effectiveness of breeding programs requires a correct understanding of the reaction of breeding cultivars to environments with different climatic and soil conditions. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the response of some new maize hybrids to divergent environmental conditions and determine their grain yield stability.Material and methods: This study was conducted with 16 maize hybrids using a randomized complete block design with three replications in six locations, during the 2017 cropping season. Considering significant differences for hybrid × environment (GxE) interaction, stability analyses were performed using AMMI andGGE-biplot methods to determine stable and high-yielding hybrids.Results and discussion: The results of the AMMI model showed that only the first two principal components of AMMI (AMMI1and AMMI2) were significant and described 68.53% of the variance of G×E interaction. Based on the results of statistics of the AMMI model (ASV and SPCA1), hybrids No. 16 (SC704) and 1 (KLM77002/3-1-1-1-1-1-1-3 × K18) were recognized as the most stable hybrids. Stability analysis by GGE biplot procedure explained 71.5% of grain yield variation due to two components of GGE. In addition, hybrids No. 16 and 1 were identified as superior and stable hybrids by the GGE biplot graphical method.Conclusion: Generally, results of grain yield and stability analyses showed that hybrids No. 16 and 1 with 12.76 and 11.72 t/ha yields, respectively, were better than other hybrids across environments for yield and stability with wide adaptation and thus can be cultivated in Iran. Also, biplot analysis of correlation among environments revealed that Kermanshah, Esfahan, and Shiraz, as well as and Moghan and Miyandoab were closer and similar in ranking, grouping, and assessing stability. Also, Kerman and Karaj regions were less similar to other regions in terms of hybrids discrimination. Considering the high discriminate power of hybrids in Shiraz, Miyandoab, Kerman, and Karaj environments, and in order to decrease the costs, it is recommended to conduct future trials in the aforementioned environments.
Original Article
Mostafa Behbouiehjozam; Mehdi Karimi; Abdolamir Bostani
Abstract
Introduction: While more than 2 million tonnes of nitrogen (N) fertilizers are annually used in Iran, it is documented that only 20% of applied nitrogen N are uptaken in some wheat farms of Iran. In other words, around 80% of N fertilizers are lost through leaching and volatilization, which increases ...
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Introduction: While more than 2 million tonnes of nitrogen (N) fertilizers are annually used in Iran, it is documented that only 20% of applied nitrogen N are uptaken in some wheat farms of Iran. In other words, around 80% of N fertilizers are lost through leaching and volatilization, which increases the potential of environmental contamination with the increased N input expenditure of the farmer, or stored in the soil. So, the present study was aimed to quantify the role of ammonia volatilization from Iranian soils and to introduce simple and helpful techniques for ammonia volatilization reduction in Iranian wheat farms.Material and methods: Firstly, a modified closed dynamic airflow system was provided. Soil materials were provided from the Tea Research Institute located in Lahijan, Iran as well as the National Salinity Research station located in Ashkezar, Yazd, Iran. The soils with three levels of acidity (7.88, 6.5, and 7.88) were incubated with five sources of nitrogenous fertilizers including ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, urea, sulfur coated urea, and potassium nitrate for 22 days. Daily and cumulative volatilized ammonium was collected in 20 ml of 2% boric acid indicator solution and it was titrated with 0.01 N HCl. The analysis of variance for different parameters was done following the ANOVA technique. When F was significant at p ≤ 0.05 level, treatment means were separated using DMRT.Results and discussion: Results showed that soil acidity, fertilizer source, and their interactions had significant effects on total volatilized nitrogen, maximum volatilized rate, and day of highest volatilization rate. Total volatilized nitrogen depends on nitrogen fertilizer source and soil acidity. The results showed that more than 59% of applied ammonium sulfate at the soil with the pH value of 7.88 was lost through ammonia volatilization and resulted in air pollution. The volatilized nitrogen for sulfur-coated urea and potassium nitrate equaled 7.6 and 0.018% while that of ammonium nitrate and urea equaled 49%. The results showed that potassium nitrate had the minimum cumulative ammonium volatilization of less than 0.07 mg N and it was not affected by soil acidity. In addition, our results proved that soil pH reduction from 7.88 to 6.5, reduced total ammonia volatilization for ammonium sulfate and nitrate from 227.15 and 189.82 to 2.39 and 0.99 mg N, respectively. Total volatilized nitrogen from ammonium sulfate and nitrate from soils with pH of 4.5 were 2.51 and 1.33 mg N, respectively. While soil pH reduction from7.88 to 4.5 from soils treated with urea reduced ammonia volatilization from 188 to 157, this increased ammonia volatilization from sulfur coated urea from 29.2 to 87.05 mg N. In other words, our results proved that increasing soil pH resulted in a significant decrease in total volatilized ammonia from sulfur coated urea. The total volatilized nitrogen from soils with the pH values of 4.5, 6.55, and 7.88 was equal to 22, 20 and 6% of applied sulfur coated urea. The maximum volatilized rate of ammonium was affected by soil pH and fertilizer sources. With decreasing soil pH the maximum volatilization rate from urea fertilizer increased. A similar trend was found for sulfur-coated urea. However, the maximum volatilization rate from ammonium nitrate and sulfate increased with soil pH increase. Interestingly, soil pH had no significant effect on the maximum volatilized rate from potassium nitrate fertilizer and it was equal to 0.04 mg N per day.Conclusion: As ammonia volatilization depends on N sources, it is possible to decrease ammonia loss by selecting the proper nitrogen fertilizer source. The results demonstrated that potassium nitrate had minimum ammonia loss and can be introduced as the optimum source of nitrogen fertilizer for a wide range of soil pH from 4.5 to 7.88. Ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate fertilizers had the least ammonia loss at soils with a pH of 6.55 and less. However, sulfur-coated urea had the least ammonia loss at soil pH of 7.88 and more.
Original Article
Ava Heidari; Negar Fallahi; Ensyeh Saberi; Parnian Hadian; Asma Azari; Yeganeh Hervay; Negar Hasany; Alireza Khorakian; Nasrin Ghodrati
Abstract
Introduction: Free plastic bags have practical benefits for consumers but because of their non-biodegradability and additives, they have adverse effects on the environment. Therefore, in this study, the factors affecting people's intention and behavior for using plastic bags with the Theory of Planned ...
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Introduction: Free plastic bags have practical benefits for consumers but because of their non-biodegradability and additives, they have adverse effects on the environment. Therefore, in this study, the factors affecting people's intention and behavior for using plastic bags with the Theory of Planned Behavior and Structural Equation Modeling were investigated.Material and methods: A total of 360 customers in seven major hypermarkets in different areas of Mashhad responded to the questionnaire. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistic V.22 and AMOS 24 software. An extended model based on the Theory of Planned Behavior was introduced with the constructs including cognitive attitude, affective attitude, economic motivation, feedback, subjective norm, behavioral control, intention, and behavior to determine the factors influencing the behavior.Results and discussion: The results of this study showed that more than half of the respondents to the questionnaires were women and more than 30% of them were in the age group of 25-35 years. The effect of demographic information on the intention to reduce plastic bags in hypermarkets was examined by the ANOVA test. Only the age (p <0.001, df = 7, F = 3.6) and the type of job (p <0.001, df = 7, F = 3.5) had a significant effect on the intention. The fit indices of the structural model were as follows: Chi-squared test was equal to 254.3 with freedom of 106, the ratio of Chi-squared to a degree of freedom was equal to 2.4, IFI was equal to 0.9, CFI was equal to 0.9, NFI was equal to 89, and RMSEA was equal to 0.622. According to the standard, the fit of the model was appropriate. Findings of the structural equation model can describe the relationships between variables: cognitive attitude had a significant statistical effect on effective attitude; there was a statistical relationship between cognitive attitudes and norm. In addition, cognitive attitudes (p <0.001) had a negative effect on behavioral control. There was a positive and significant (p <0.001) relationship between economic motivation and norm (coefficient of 0.18). Also, there was a negative and significant (p <0.001) relationship between feedback and norm (coefficient 0.43). Besides, there was a positive and significant (p <0.001) relationship between feedback and behavioral control (coefficient 0.45). Cognitive attitude had a positive and significance (p< 0.05) effect (coefficient of 0.16) on intention to reduce plastic bags. The norm with a coefficient of 0.41 had a positive and significant effect (p <0.001) on the intention.Conclusion: The results showed that the structural equation model with appropriate fit could describe the relationships between variables. The main parameters of the Theory of Planned Behavior (attitude, subjective norms, and behavioral control) significantly describe the intention of using plastic bags. Adding new variables such as feedback and economic incentives to this theory will help determine other predictors of behavior. The norm is one of the most important variables that mediate the influence of other factors such as cognitive attitude, affective attitude, economic motivation, feedback, and behavioral control on intention to using a plastic bag. Although the economic incentive affects the intention to use free plastic bags, it is appropriate to use the intervention approach based on the model presented in this study to find a solution.
Original Article
pouneh Abdolahi Salari; Sina Fard Moradinia
Abstract
Introduction: Today, with the development of water treatment plants, sludge management has become one of the most important environmental issues that can be both a threat and an opportunity. Therefore, due to the increasing development of water treatment plants in the country and the production of a ...
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Introduction: Today, with the development of water treatment plants, sludge management has become one of the most important environmental issues that can be both a threat and an opportunity. Therefore, due to the increasing development of water treatment plants in the country and the production of a significant amount of sludge, it is necessary to take measures. Material and methods: In this research, cationic polyelectrolyte and anionic polyelectrolyte of industrial grade from Basf company, Germany, polyaluminum chloride (AL2 (OH) n CL6) with industrial grade from Chinese company, ferric chloride (FeCl3) in industrial grade from Fanavaran Aria Mehvar company, ferric chloride (FeCl3) in industrial grade from Merc Germany, and aluminum sulfate (Al2(SO4)3) in industrial grade from Kimia Exir were purchased and used. The jar test was used to determine the appropriate type and amount of coagulants. In this experiment, sixglass containers and a stirrer were used to stir the contents of all the containers at the same time. One liter of the sample with pre-determined turbidity was added to each container. First, the mixer was set to a high speed of 200 rpm. Then for each coagulant, a certain range of it is added to the dishes at the same time and was mixed at 200 rpm for one minute. In the next step, the stirrer was placed on a slow speed of 20 rpm for 15 minutes, and finally the solutions were allowed to settle for 30 seconds and the turbidity of the top layer was measured. To compare sedimentation by coagulant and flocculant, 2% (w/v)of coagulant and flocculant were prepared and equal volume of each one was added to the sludge sample from Maragheh water treatment plant to improve the performance of materials in acidic and alkaline environments. . By creating acidic and equal alkaline environments for all samples, half-hour sedimentation was measured. To observe more sedimentation and compare the samples, 1, 2 and 3 hour sedimentation was also measured. In the last experiment, which was performed without coagulant and it was done just by raising the Tss and mixing with the sewage sludge, more settling time was given and a very good result was obtained. Maragheh city is one of the environs of Tabriz. In this research, it was necessary to select an area which firstly had a water treatment plant and secondly had a wastewater treatment plant, which was possible in Maragheh city. Maragheh water treatment plant is located next to Sufi River dam and coagulant materials are used to treat drinking water in this city. The wastewater treatment plant of this city has two phases, which according to our need for the first settling sludge to increase the TSS, the first phase of this treatment plant was sampled and tested.Results and discussion: In this study, the methods of reducing sludge from water coagulation using various coagulants and flocculants and changing their ratio in acidic and alkaline environments were evaluated. Also, coagulation of sludge from water treatment plants by raising TSS was investigated using initial sewage sludge containing detachable municipal wastewater solids. We also tried to evaluate the volume of sludge produced, the amount of ion removal, and the amount of residual ions by selecting different coagulants and changing their ratios. Sampling was done periodically from Maragheh water treatment plant and Maragheh wastewater treatment plant. In the experiment related to the mixture of sludge from the water treatment plant and sludge from initial sedimentation of sanitary wastewater treatment plant, ideal results were obtained so that the coagulation volume reached more than 50% and with increasing retention time, this efficiency increased by more than 70%. For 5 hours, the amount of sediment was only 80 ml, and 420 units had been deposited. The gelatinous sludge in the water treatment sludge, which is due to aluminum hydroxides and compounds of other coagulants with sludge, makes further dehydration impossible, and despite the increase in coagulant and the use of other coagulants, no good dewatering was performed. In order to obtain better results experiments were performed in acidic and alkaline environments to examine the extent of sludge reduction. In practice, in these environments, good results were not obtained and setteling failed , such as in neutral medium experiments, Conclusion: According to the results of the experiments, it can be concluded that without any cost of materials, by giving time for settling, mixing the two types of sludge and using a variety of sludge drying methods, dewatering of this jelly sludge is possible. If this is done, surface water pollution will be prevented and the problem of disposing of this sludge will be practically eliminated.
Original Article
Abdalhossein Boali; Hamidreza Asgri; Ali Mohammadian Behbahani; Abdolrassoul Salmanmahiny; Babak Naimi
Abstract
Introduction: Desertification involves processes that are both the product of natural factors and the mismanagement of human beings. Adafic parameters and processes affecting soil condition, climate, groundwater, vegetation and management are the most important factors affecting the phenomenon of desertification ...
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Introduction: Desertification involves processes that are both the product of natural factors and the mismanagement of human beings. Adafic parameters and processes affecting soil condition, climate, groundwater, vegetation and management are the most important factors affecting the phenomenon of desertification in many arid and semi-arid regions. These parameters are investigated using different models in different regions.Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the desertification intensity based on groundwater and soil criteria in the west of Golestan province.Material and methods: To determine the work unit map, topographic, geological, aerial photo interpretation, panchromatic band and multispectral Landsat satellite images and field visits were used. In this study, the Madalus method was used to prepare a map and evaluate the desertification situation. The geostatistical methods used in this research include kriging method, local estimator method (GPI), radial function method (RBF) and distance distance method (IDW). in Madalus model, 6 criteria and 20 indicators were used to evaluate the intensity of desertification. The scoring of each of the indicators was determined at the unit level in the region. The map of each criterion is also obtained through the geometric mean relationship between the indicators. To evaluate the accuracy of the model results, the desertification class in each of the work units according to the field evidence, observational and visual evaluation was performed and then the statistical comparison of the model desertification class with an expert opinion was performed. SPSS software and Mann-Whitney non-parametric test were used to validate the model results.Results and discussion: In this study, according to the histogram of the data, the normality of the parameters was investigated. The mean square squared error (RMSE) was used to determine the most appropriate interpolation method. The weighted average score of desertification intensity of area 135 was obtained, which indicates the middle class. In terms of zoning of desertification intensity, the region was classified into three classes: low and insignificant with a frequency of 27 and medium with a frequency of 60 and severe with a frequency of 13. Among the criteria of desertification, the criterion of management and policy with an average weight of 148 points is the dominant and effective criterion of desertification, followed by the criterion of vegetation (145), the criterion of soil (141), the criterion of erosion (138), the criterion of climate. (122) and groundwater criteria (121) were in the next rank of effective desertification criteria in the region. Also, the most important indicators of desertification are the indicators of drought resistance, conservation operations and soil salinity, respectively. These indicators have increased the trend of desertification in the work units of abandoned lands, saline and wetland lands and saline lands located in the northeastern parts of the region.Based on the spatial distribution of classes with low and insignificant desertification intensity in the southern and eastern part of the region, the middle class in the western, central and northern parts and finally the severe desertification class are located in the northeastern parts of the region.Conclusion: According to the obtained results, which indicate high evapotranspiration of the region, expansion of land salinity, unprincipled road construction and incomplete drainage.it seems that the management of desertification in the west of Golestan province, as one of the agricultural hubs, should be in the managerial priority of the officials and experts of the executive departments.Accordingly, it is proposed in order to control the process of desertification and achieve sustainable development in the region .treatment of industrial and domestic effluents for reuse for various purposes, Use of modern irrigation systems for agricultural lands, Placing low-yield crops in terms of water consumption in the region's crop rotation and As well as the necessary training to justify farmers to use pesticides and chemical fertilizers in the area.
Original Article
Ehsan Sarlaki; Mohammad Hossein Kianmehr; Marzieh Ghorbani
Abstract
Introduction: The stability and maturity indicators of composted biomasses are important to ensure the quality of the final product, maintain consumer confidence, and guarantee safe applicability in agricultural uses. In addition, due to the low energy density and bulk density, the composted biomasses ...
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Introduction: The stability and maturity indicators of composted biomasses are important to ensure the quality of the final product, maintain consumer confidence, and guarantee safe applicability in agricultural uses. In addition, due to the low energy density and bulk density, the composted biomasses face problems such as higher storage and transportation costs as well as overall costs in logistics management. Particle size reduction and densification of composted biomasses can partially overcome these challenges.Material and methods: Sugarcane bagasse compost (SBC) was prepared from the South bagasse processing development company (Biofer) for quality characterization and assessing the grinding process toward densification. For assessing the quality of SBCs, the physicochemical characterization, as well as the analytical techniques were investigated through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In the following, a hammer-attrition mill was used to improve the physicomechanical properties and reduce the particle size of SBCs. To this end, an experimental design in the form of factorial design (D-optimal) was used to assess the significance and optimization of the effects of moisture content of SCBs (8, 12, and 16 w.b.%) and screen opening size (1, 2.5, and 4 mm) and rotational speed (1400 and 2000 rpm) of hammer-attrition mill as independent variables on specific energy consumption and bulk density as design responses.Results and discussion: The results obtained from chemical analysis exhibited that the properties of SBCs are in accordance with existing standards. The SEM micrographs revealed a physical change on the surfaces of SBCs with a wrinkly and heterogeneous morphology along with longitudinal cracks with the opening of fiber bundles in cellulose resulting from the degradation of lignin and hemicellulose. This trend was also demonstrated by XRD analysis, so that with increasing the crystallinity index (from 62 up to 75), the crystalline regions of cellulose in SBCs remained unchanged, but the amorphous regions, which includes hemicellulose and lignin, was slightly decomposed. Changes in functional groups from FT-IR spectra demonstrated that the microbial-biological degradation of lipids and carbohydrates, as well as dissociation of lignin and polyphenols occurred in SBCs. From the DSC thermal curves, a glass transition temperature of 89.7 °C was obtained for SBCs, which due to the peak intensity at this point, the improved maturation and humification of SBCs are guaranteed. For both responses of specific energy consumption and bulk density of SBCs, a two-factor interaction (2FI) model with the highest correlation coefficient and the lowest standard deviation was proposed. The mesh opening size had the greatest effect among the parameters on the specific energy consumption and the bulk density.Conclusion: The results demonstrated that the use of comprehensive analytical analyses for an accurate and comparative study between the final composted biomasses and the raw materials in terms of stability and maturity indicators, is practical and reliable. Optimization results from D-optimal design showed that under optimum conditions of moisture content of 8 %w.b, 1-mm mesh opening size and rotational speed 1400 rpm of hammer-attrition mill, a minimum amount of SEC (141.38 KJ/Kg), and the maximum amount of bulk density (209.62 kg/m3) were introduced as optimum responses with the desirability function of 0.88.
Original Article
hamzeh saeediyan; Hamidreza Moradi
Abstract
Introduction: The amount of soil permeability depends on the size of the holes, concentration of liquid, and surface tensile force. In fact, factors affecting the initial porosity are also effective in permeability. The results of different research show that soil permeability has been prioritized in ...
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Introduction: The amount of soil permeability depends on the size of the holes, concentration of liquid, and surface tensile force. In fact, factors affecting the initial porosity are also effective in permeability. The results of different research show that soil permeability has been prioritized in different researches. In Iran, various research has been conducted on soil physical and chemical properties and their relationship with permeability. This study was conducted based on infiltration field measurements under simulated rainfall conditions in order to determine the penetration rate and interaction effect between slope aspect and intensity of precipitation relative to acidic precipitation on Aghajari and Gachsaran formations .Material and methods: In this study, in order to determine the interactive effect between slope aspect and rainfall intensity in soil permeability compared to acidic precipitation in the deposits of Gachsaran and Aghajari formations due to the existence of petroleum pollutants and air pollution, a part of Gypsum and Margha watersheds of Izeh city with an area of 1202 and 1609 hectares, respectively, were selected. Then, soil permeability was sampled at 16 points with three replicates in rangeland land use in the northern, southern, eastern, and western aspects of Gachsaran and Aghajari formations at different rainfall intensities of 1 and 1.25 mm/min and in precipitation of distilled water, as well as the acidity of 4 and 5 were performed using Kamphorst rain simulator.Results and discussion: The results showed that in Aghajari formation, the interaction effect of slope aspect and rain intensity, as well as rainfall intensity had the highest sensitivity and slope aspect had the lowest sensitivity to soil permeability compared to acid rains. However, the Gachsaran formation showed uniformity changes compared to acidic precipitation and showed positive effects on slope aspect and rain intensity and interactive effect of slope aspect and rain intensity in almost all three concentrations. In addition, by increasing the amount of soil permeated with acid rains, the amount of soil porosity increased, which this case was due to this type of contamination on the main ingredients of soil and washing soil bonds. Of course, slope aspect due to there are a different amount of clays in both Aghajari and Gachsaran formations, so is more influence in soil permeability than acidic precipitations, as well as the existence of different organic matter in the main aspects of the slopes, especially in the northern and eastern slope aspects, creates a more complex situation in electrical charge changes, which necessitates further research to understand this complex mechanism.Conclusion: In general, by increasing the acidic degree and increasing the penetration time, soil properties were changed, including the resistance characteristics and bearing capacity of the soil, which in turn, due to the amount of clay and different organic matter, caused more influence of acidic precipitation on soil permeability.
Original Article
Naser Shafiei Sabet; Faranak Feyzbabaei cheshmeh sefidi
Abstract
Introduction: Land use change is spreading in developing countries and has negative environmental-ecological consequences. Therefore, access to up-to-date information on land-use change is necessary to analyze the needs of human settlements and adopt appropriate policies that are essential to ensure ...
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Introduction: Land use change is spreading in developing countries and has negative environmental-ecological consequences. Therefore, access to up-to-date information on land-use change is necessary to analyze the needs of human settlements and adopt appropriate policies that are essential to ensure the future. The study of past, present, and future land use has a fundamental role in the decisions and policies of land-use planners. This study aimed to study land use and its changes during 1993, 2004, and 2019. The CA-MARKOV model also identifies how land-use changes in Hamedan and simulates and predicts land use and its changes in 2050.Material and methods: In this study, after obtaining satellite images of TM, ETM, and OLI sensors, preprocessing steps including various radiometric and geometric corrections were performed on the images.Then, the classification of satellite images was done using Google Earth software and the vector support algorithm. Based on this, the land uses of the region were divided into four classes: residential and non-residential use, barren lands and poor rangeland, garden lands and irrigated agriculture, and mountainous and rangeland. After land use detection and its changes, the trend of these changes was predicted in 2050 using the automatic cell model and Markov chain due to its high ability to detect spatial-spatial component changes.Results and discussion: Results indicated that the growth and development of urbanization in this metropolis have led to the city's expansion in this area. So that residential and non-residential land use increased from 0.8% of the total area in 1993 to 2.1% in 2019. The study of land-use changes showed that from 1993 to 2004, 0.2% was added to the rate of residential and non-residential land uses. The next largest increase in land use was in the very poor barren lands and rangeland, which reached 49.8% in 2004. Horticultural and irrigated agriculture land use and mountainous land use decreased by 1.2 and 1.5%, respectively, in 2004 compared to 1993. The land-use area of residential and non-residential construction and barren lands have continued to increase in 2019. The area of these land uses increased by 1.1 and 2.4 %, respectively. Finally, it can be said that from 1993 to 2019, horticultural, agricultural, mountainous, and rangeland uses have been transformed into residential and non-residential construction uses and barren lands. This land conversion has negative consequences for the region's future.Conclusion: In this study, it was found that the automatic cell model and Markov chain have a high ability to predict future land-use changes. Also, the largest increase in land use was related to residential and non-residential construction and barren lands, and other land uses such as garden lands and irrigated and mountainous agriculture. Rangeland experienced a decrease in area in the region. Therefore, planners should consider this extensive urban growth and development to carry out their plans more efficiently.
Original Article
Hanieh Khodad Saryazdi; Samira Hosseinjafari; Mohammadreza Elmi
Abstract
Introduction: Railway construction is one of the important activities in the development of any country. Railway construction operations can have an impact on the environment around the railway. This study investigated the effects of Yazd-Eghlid railway construction on some vegetation and soil characteristics ...
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Introduction: Railway construction is one of the important activities in the development of any country. Railway construction operations can have an impact on the environment around the railway. This study investigated the effects of Yazd-Eghlid railway construction on some vegetation and soil characteristics of artemisia and camel grass species located in Kalmand-Bahadoran Protected Area.Material and methods: In order to evaluate the vegetation and soil variables in the studied types, random-systematic sampling method was used. Random-systematic sampling method is used; Thus, within each brigade, three areas with different distances by rail include the first area (distance 0 to 250 meters), the second area (distance 250 to 500 meters) and the third area (distance 500 to 1000 meters) from Railway was considered and vegetation and soil samples were taken. Within each area, 4 100-meter transects were randomly placed and 2 plots at the beginning and end of each transect were systematically placed. The reason for comparison of more than two groups was analyzed using one-way analysis of variance and Duncan test using SPSS software.Results and discussion: The results of this study showed that the construction of a railway in the Kalmand-Bahadoran Protected Area and the measures taken during the construction process may affect the physical and chemical properties of soil and vegetation, which in the Artemisia type causes a significant decrease in the production of plant vegetative form srub (0.81 g) (P <0.05). Also, a significant decrease in electrical conductivity (0.78 ds/m), potassium (0.64), acidity (7.7),lime percentage (26.25) (P <0.05), and percentage of clay (4%) (P <0.01) was observed. In the Cornulaca type, construction of railways significantly increased production (6.13 g), density (1.42), and percentage of cover form shrub (6.01) (P <0.05). It also significantly reduced the production of shrub vegetative form (0), the percentage of shrub vegetative form cover (0.17) (P <0.05) and the density of shrub vegetative form (0) (0.01), (P <0.01). Regarding the effect of railway construction on soil parameters of this type, it can be said that railway construction causes a significant increase in the percentage of rock (93%) and a significant decrease in the percentage of silt (2%), electrical conductivity (ds / m66 (P <0.05) and also significantly reduced organic matter (0.18), phosphorus (5.25 ppm) and potassium (0.63 ppm) (P <0.01).Conclusion:The construction of the railway and activities that take place during the processes for the construction of the railway units can cause the movement of soil around the railway, whichcauses soil and water erosion in the region that may lead toa decrease in soil quality in the areas near the railway and consequently, the decrease of vegetation production in the area.
Original Article
Omid Ashkriz; Babak Mirbagheri; Ali Akbar Matkan; Alireza Shakiba
Abstract
Introduction: Urban growth has accelerated in recent decades, therefore, predicting the future growth pattern of the city is very important to prevent environmental, economic, and social problems. The city of Tabriz has also experienced rapid growth of urban lands due to significant demographic changes, ...
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Introduction: Urban growth has accelerated in recent decades, therefore, predicting the future growth pattern of the city is very important to prevent environmental, economic, and social problems. The city of Tabriz has also experienced rapid growth of urban lands due to significant demographic changes, which requires accurate simulation of urban growth to prevent negative environmental and economic consequences. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance accuracy of the proposed machine learning algorithms by spatial cross-validation method in combination with the cellular automata model to simulate urban growth.Material and methods: In this study, to analyze urban land-use changes, Landsat satellite images related to the years 1997, 2006, and 2015 were classified using the support vector machine algorithm. In the next step, change potential maps of non-urban to urban areas were produced using random forest algorithms, support vector machine, and multilayer perceptron neural network for two periods of calibration (1997 and 2006) and validation (2006 and 2015) based on distance from the main roads, distance from the city center, distance from built-up areas, distance from the rivers and railways, as well as slope, elevation, and two-class (agricultural/barren) land use layer as effective factors in the growth of the city. Finally, using the cellular automata model, the growth simulation of Tabriz city based on land use and change potential maps obtained from machine learning algorithms for the mentioned periods was performed. To prevent over-fitting of algorithms to training samples and to obtain optimistic results, in the process of extracting optimal parameters of machine learning algorithms, the spatial cross-validation method was used to reduce the spatial correlation between training and test data.Results and discussion: The results showed that the random forest algorithm with the area under the ROC curve of 0.9228 compared to the support vector machine and multilayer perceptron neural network algorithms with 0.8951 and 0.8726, respectively, had a better performance in estimating the change potential of non-urban to urban areas. Furthermore, in comparison with others, the random forest also clearly showed local variations in potential change. Finally, the growth of Tabriz city was simulated using the cellular automata model based on the obtained change potential maps. Comparison of the prediction map in the validation period with the current situation of urban areas in 2015 showed that the accuracy of an urban growth simulation model based on random forest with a Figure of Merit index of 0.3569 compared to models based on support vector machine and artificial neural network was more accurate in allocating non-urban to urban lands with 0.3496 and 0.3434, respectively.Conclusion: As machine learning algorithms such as artificial neural networks, support vector machines, and random forest are capable of solving non-linear problems, using them is strongly recommended for urban growth simulation. Also, among the algorithms used in this research, the random forest algorithm based on ensemble learning has a higher advantage than the two-support vector machine and the artificial neural network algorithms.
Original Article
elnaz asadi; abolfazl deylami; ali keramatzadeh
Abstract
Introduction: In recent decades, global economic growth and industrialization have increased the demand for the consumption of energy . The increasing energy demand is met by burning fossil fuels, which emit air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. After the industrial revolution, energy generation ...
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Introduction: In recent decades, global economic growth and industrialization have increased the demand for the consumption of energy . The increasing energy demand is met by burning fossil fuels, which emit air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. After the industrial revolution, energy generation abnormally increased the amount of greenhouse gases emission, critically damaging the environment. In this regard, the purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) as an indicator of environmental quality and air pollution.Material and methods: This study has proposed a long-run relationship between CO2, economic growth, energy consumption, trade openness, financial development, and urbanization for a global panel of 11 countries spanning the period 2000–2015 using Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS) and Dynamic Ordinary Least Square (DOLS). In the first step, the LLC and IPS unit root tests were performed to examine the non-stationarity properties of the dataset. Then, Pedroni and Kao co-integration tests were applied to identify if there is a correlation between variables in the long term. In addition, the F (Chow) test was used to detect the best model. The software package used for estimation and analysis of the models was Eviews 10.Results and discussion: This paper first performed a panel unit root test proposed by Levin, Lin, and, Chu (LLC) and Im, Pesaran and, Shin (IPS) to examine the null hypothesis that all the series have a unit root. The results of IPS test indicated that the null hypothesis was rejected only for urbanization, implying that this variable was stationary. However, all tests confirmed that variables were stationary after the first-difference. It is hereby informed that variables were first-difference stationary. Our results suggest that there is a need to examine co-integration among variables. In addition, we conduct Pedroni and Kao co-integration tests, the results of which rejected the null hypothesis of no co-integration. The results of the F-test indicated that the panel model was the right choice. To help us choose between the fixed effects or random effects estimators, we conduct the Hausman test, where the null hypothesis was that the preferred model has random effects. Our results from the Hausman test did not reject the null hypothesis, suggesting that the random effects estimator was more appropriate for our data than the fixed effects estimator. The results from the FMOLS and DOLS estimations indicated that energy consumption from renewable sources, trade openness, financial development, and urbanization had a negative impact on CO2 emissions, while the energy consumption from non-renewable sources had a positive impact.Conclusion: The results of the research imply that policymakers should focus more on public awareness of renewable energy, mainly in solar and wind power to alleviate environmental pressure and CO2 emission. The findings also suggest that the governments should set a price per ton on carbon i.e. a carbon tax. Furthermore, developed countries should transfer sophisticated technology to emerging and undeveloped countries to generate electricity and avoid unsafe climate change .
Original Article
Morteza Sharif; Saeid Hamzeh
Abstract
Introduction: One of the most important factors that play a major role in reducing soil fertility and agricultural land degradation is soil salinization. Soil salinity problem is more severe in agricultural lands of arid and semi-arid regions. In many cases, human activities and irrigation of agricultural ...
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Introduction: One of the most important factors that play a major role in reducing soil fertility and agricultural land degradation is soil salinization. Soil salinity problem is more severe in agricultural lands of arid and semi-arid regions. In many cases, human activities and irrigation of agricultural lands with saline water are the cause of salinization. This is a serious problem in different regions of Iran, especially in Khuzestan Province. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of monitoring and evaluating the effect of Gotvand Dam on the salinization of the downstream area and changing its plant ecosystem before and after water intake using remote sensing imagery.Material and methods: The time series of two ETM+ and OLI sensors from 2019-1999 were collected using plant indices (NDVI, SAVI), biophysical index of leaf cover (LAI), and salinity indices. The soil was classified by salient decision-making method of changes in halophyte and non-halophyte plants according to the threshold obtained from the indicators used in each year. Then, the final results were evaluated according to the trend of changes obtained from the used indicators and their correlation with changes in the plant ecosystem of the region.Results and discussion: The rate of vegetation changes in the four years of 2018, 2013, 2002, and 1999 was more than other years, which was prepared by the method of supervised classification of the area under normal vegetation and saline plants. According to the results obtained from 1999, the total vegetation area of the groves was about 1117 hectares, of which about 134 hectares were related to halophyte vegetation. However in 2018, these values were estimated at 921 hectares, with areas covered by halophyte changing to 445 hectares and halophyte to 476 hectares.Conclusion: The results of the study indicate the onset of the highest stresses in the plant ecosystem of the region and the simultaneous decline in leaf cover and NDVI with the water intake of Gotvand Dam since 2011. This coincidence, which is due to the salinity of the water of Gotvand Dam Lake and consequently Karun River, has a significant effect on increasing salinity and changes in soil quality of the region and thus increasing halophyte plants as well as high vegetation degradation in the region. These conditions can create more serious challenges for the ecosystem of this area and in the long period change the ecosystem and vegetation cover of this region to halophyte plants.
Original Article
Vahid Moosavi; Mehdi Hayatzadeh; Ayoob Karami; Nayereh Poormolaee
Abstract
Introduction: Yazd-Ardakan plain consists of political, economic, social, and ecological systems. It has valuable agricultural products, cultural background, various industries of steel, tile, glass, textile, lime kiln, asphalt, brick, and sand production industries as well as metal and non-metal mines. ...
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Introduction: Yazd-Ardakan plain consists of political, economic, social, and ecological systems. It has valuable agricultural products, cultural background, various industries of steel, tile, glass, textile, lime kiln, asphalt, brick, and sand production industries as well as metal and non-metal mines. On the other hand, the existence of vast intact deserts and natural areas and habitats make this plane an important place in Iran. Variety of industries alongside water scarcity, drought, population growth, and lack of integrated planning has caused environmental pollution. Therefore, it is essential to comprehensively study the factors affecting different ecosystems services in this plain.Material and methods: The DPSIR framework with a systems approach was used as a useful tool for formulating executive and managerial strategies. Applying DPSIR could finally result in identifying practical solutions for sustainable development by determining the response to the driving forces and structuring the information, determining the important connections, and comprehensive understanding of the problems. In the present study, the DPSIR system approach was used to evaluate the causal relationships of the environmental challenges of the Yazd-Ardakan plain in different sectors. To this end, information collection was done based on a detailed study of official documents, literature review, interview with experts, field surveys, and analysis of satellite imageries. This framework was also used to evaluate the vulnerability and to suggest the planning strategies. From this, a chain of causal connections of driving forces and the consecutive pressures on the environment were identified. Considering pressure and changes happened to the environment and upon the information analysis, short- and long-term appropriate strategies to sustainable use of ecological, hydrological, economic, and social services of the plain were suggested to the policymaker.Results and discussion: By examining causal relationships and responses, a chain of causal processes was identified that began with the driving force and led to the pressure on the environment. The results showed that the threats of the plain were divided into five groups of pollution resources, land-use change, socio-political problems and climate change, and drought. Based on the assessment of the environmental values vulnerability, industry, agriculture, clean air, groundwater resources and the physical and mental health of the people were the most important values in the region that were at high risk. Urban, industrial, and agricultural pollutants, soil erosion, increasing industries and mines, agricultural development, inappropriate policies, and climate change were threats that had a severe impact on clean air. Another noteworthy point is that industry mining and agriculture, as the cause of many environmental problems in the region, have themselves been damaged by the effects of their feedbacks. In fact, in the study area, groundwater pollution caused by agricultural pesticides is dangerous and makes water unusable for drinking, agriculture, and industry. This highlights the importance of "sustainable development" rather than "development". Therefore, according to the achieved priority in formulating plans and strategies, reviving qanats and promoting the culture of using this water supply system instead of digging wells, developing cultivation patterns, eliminating water-intensive products, and reforming industries are among the most important aspects that should be addressed.Conclusion: Examining the reasons and providing solutions for environmental crises in areas such as Yazd-Ardakan plain has not been effective as they only applied traditional and common methods based on non-systemic perspectives. To achieve sustainable development and face the complexity and multiplicity of factors in the occurrence of those problems, it is recommended to use a holistic approach and tools such as DPSIR. It will lead to better finding the roots of the problems and offering appropriate policy strategies.
Original Article
Shahrzad Rahmati; Mehdi Gholamalifard; Ali Gholamhosseini; Seyed Mahmoud Ghasempouri
Abstract
Introduction: The concept of species distribution models is the relationship between known locations of a species and the environmental characteristics of these places to estimate the response performance and contribution of environmental variables and predict the potential geographical distribution ...
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Introduction: The concept of species distribution models is the relationship between known locations of a species and the environmental characteristics of these places to estimate the response performance and contribution of environmental variables and predict the potential geographical distribution of the species. Species separation based on phylogenetic results can be supported by modeling whose input is habitat data. In the present study, two sister taxa that have recently been separated based on molecular documentation have been examined in terms of habitat influencing factors that may have been involved in this separation, as well as in terms of past and future historical distribution.Marterial and methods: In order to model the distribution of species, bio-climatic variables from CHESLA database with variables of DEM, slope, and vegetation index were examined as habitat data to input the model. Also, the presence points of the species were filtered after collection in the reproductive interval and added to the models as train data. In this study, sdm package including eight models (GLM, GAM, BRT, RF, CART, SVM, MaxEnt, and MARS) in the R environment was used for modeling. Modeling of species distribution was performed at the last glacial period, current, and 2050.Results and discussion: The results showed the ecological niche separation of the species under the influence of environmental variables. According to the results of the accuracy assessment, the most reliable model in terms of AUC and TSS was the random forest model. Also, according to the results, in 2050, suitability habitats for Embriza bruniceps species will be limited to the northeast of the country, and for Embriza melanocephala species, suitability will be limited to areas in the south of Alborz Mountain range, northwest, and west of Iran. According to the results, it can be acknowledged that the area of suitable habitats for Embriza melanocephala species in the west was less than today, which according to studies, internal and climatic factors were effective in moving both species and hybridization area to the west. The results indicate decreasing habitat suitability for the studied species in both periods (the last ice age until now and now until 2050).Conclusion: Understanding the factors influencing the suitability of wildlife habitats is essential. Some changes due to rapid ecosystem manipulation are seen in the new distribution of birds. In general, wildlife planning and conservation strategies should monitor the factors affecting habitats and maintain and manage these factors in order to prevent biodiversity
Original Article
Salah Mafakheri; Hadi Veisi; Korous Khoshbakht; Mohammad Reza Nazari
Abstract
Introduction: Today, agricultural resource management is a fundamental task for managers and planners due to the need to address the challenging issues between the supply and demand sectors. Accordingly, many researchers have emphasized that water, food, and energy in the world are experiencing significant ...
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Introduction: Today, agricultural resource management is a fundamental task for managers and planners due to the need to address the challenging issues between the supply and demand sectors. Accordingly, many researchers have emphasized that water, food, and energy in the world are experiencing significant stress and scarcity, and demand for these resources will increase significantly in the coming decades. The main purpose of this study is to provide a method for decision-makers in analyzing the link between water, energy, and food in the crop production system at the regional level and to perform a quantitative evaluation of it, which can be used to create a suitable and optimal cultivation pattern with pay attention to the available resources of the area.Material and methods: The present study was conducted to evaluate the water-food-energy relations of agricultural products in Dehgolan County. The required data were collected through face-to-face interviews with farmers and agricultural jihad statistics. The method of this paper was based on six indicators of water and energy consumption, mass productivity of water and energy, and economic productivity of water and energy. Based on these indicators, a water-food-energy index (WFENI) was calculated for each product. This method was applied to evaluate 7 main crops of wheat, potato, alfalfa, cucumber, barley, carrot, and rapeseed in water farms of Dehgolan County in the years 2019-2020.Results and discussion: The results of data analysis showed that alfalfa and potatoes had the highest water consumption (13131 cubic meters per hectare) and energy (85404 megajoules per hectare), respectively. Barley had the lowest water consumption (4197 cubic meters per hectare) and energy consumption (31394.4 megajoules per hectare). The use of chemical fertilizers had the largest share in the energy sector (except alfalfa). In the alfalfa crop, due to high mechanization operations, machinery had the largest share of energy consumption. Carrot was the most productive in water consumption (7.08 kg/m3) and energy (1.03 kg/mJ). Also, the lowest water and energy efficiency for canola (0.44 kg/m3) and energy (0.06 kg/MJ) were obtained. In the economic index of water and energy productivity, the highest values were obtained for cucumber (92959 Rials per cubic meter) and carrot (13202 Rials per megajoule), respectively. The lowest economic efficiency of water and energy was calculated 1549 Rials per cubic meter for carrots and 10688 Rials per megajoule for canola. This study showed that the WEFNI was calculated 0.86, 0.73, 0.51, 0.41, 4 / 0, 0.3, and 0.26 for carrot, cucumber, potato, wheat, barley, canola, and alfalfa crops , respectively, in Dehgolan city. Carrots received the highest WFENI score (best score) and alfalfa the lowest (worst score). Although potato, which is one of the water crops with a high level of cultivation in the region, had high water and energy consumption, due to its high physical productivity and economic productivity, it obtained the third score of the total index.Conclusion: In this study, agricultural products were compared based on indicators of water and energy consumption, physical productivity of water and energy, and economic productivity of water and energy. Based on these indicators, the water, food, and energy link index were calculated. The results can also be used as an effective tool to determine appropriate strategies for cultivation patterns, management of water and energy resources in the region, and a basis for planning and agricultural policies in the county.
