Environmental Sciences
Year:2017 | Volume:15 | Issue:3 |Papers Count:13

Introduction: Despite the history of development of legislative measures in the field of the environment of Iran, the environmental situation of the country based on the Environmental Performance Index, Global Footprint Network and World Bank criteria is significantly different from the goal of a Desirable Environment set out in the Iran's 20-year vision document.4 In seeking the reason, this paper perspective seeks to prioritize and explain the challenges of environmental policy making in the Islamic Republic of Iran from a public policy in the first phase of the Jones staged model. In a staged model, the performance of Government and decision makers are ideally divided into five stages: the process of recognizing the problem; its inclusion on the governmental agenda (agenda setting); the stage of proposing a solution (formulation); the decision-making stage; and the implementation and evaluation stage (Vahid, 2004).Materials and methods: The focus of this paper is on the pathology of the recognition and inclusion of the problem in the Government’s agenda. What is meant by this is a process by which ideas and issues are raised through various political institutions in order to be taken into consideration by a political entity such as the legislative or judicial body. Although there are few places - such as the legislature, the judiciary or the regulatory Commission - that are able formally to formulate policy timetables (agendas), there are countless sources from which the subjects of these timetables are derived (Shafritz and Borick, 2012). Considering the nature and limitations of the literature in our country, the mixed method and exploratory sequential designs were selected from among existing research methodologies. In this formulation of the research project, first the collection and analysis of data is undertaken qualitatively and then quantitatively and, ultimately, interpreted simultaneously. The main use of this type of research project is to investigate an issue deeply or forthe first time for which the researcher does not have a guideline framework or a measurement tool (Creswell, 2003).Results and discussion: Findings of the research showed that the main challenges of environmental policy-making in identifying the problem and placing it in the agenda, leading to the decline of quantitative and qualitative indices of the country's vital resources are: prioritizing the country's issues on the basis of economic, political and security considerations (rather than environmental ones); poor citizen and interest group participation in identifying and prioritizing local needs; weak coordination by the intergovernmental organizations and government agencies responsible for and influential in environmental issues; the neglect of local communities of the benefits of sustainable development and a focus on growth-oriented and short-term demands; lack of bottom-to-top mechanisms to express the real public concerns to be included in the environmental policy timetable; the lack of information and accurate statistics on the status quo and future environmental trends; and the lack of attention paid to communication channels, such as the media and the press, to transfer issues to higher levels for inclusion in the agenda.Conclusion: Improving Iran's environmental indicators based on the Environmental Performance Index, Global Footprint Network and World Bank criteria with the goal of achieving a desirable environment in the 2020 vision document requires solving the challenges associated with setting the agenda.

Introduction: Groundwater has long been the most relied upon water source for human beings and used in the agricultural and drinking sectors. In order to be aware of the condition of water and its optimized management, it is necessary to examine carefully groundwater level fluctuations and groundwater quality that are influenced by different factors. While carefully monitoring the fluctuations and quality of groundwater, we can realize reliable planning in water supply and source management. Therefore, this study aims to determine the trend of changes in the quality parameters of the groundwater of Shabestar plain in order to understand the quality of the groundwater and to specify its application.Material and methods: In this study, in order to understand the quality of Shabestar plain’s groundwater and to specify its application, the chemical results of 15 qualitative variables of groundwater samples belonging to 13 stations located in the study area during the years 1993-1999 were compared while non-parametric Mann-Kendall test. The effect of the first-order autocorrelation was then eliminated from the data series. Slope of the trend line was calculated by the age method. The qualitative parameters in this study are total anions, total cations, EC, SAR, CL--, Hco3-, Ca2+, TH, Ph, TDS, SO42-, Na%, Na+, Mg2+and K+which are measured two times every year.Results and discussion: The results show that the time series related to qualitative variables has an ascending trend in most of the stations (except Ali-shah station, Sefid-kamar station and the low water months of Shabestar plain). They show a positively significant trend at a 5% level with 36 series (18%) in months of a high water level and with 17 series (9%) in months of low levels of water. Furthermore, the Ali-shah and Sefid-kamar stations have the highest rank for the highest negative trend in two months with high and low levels of water. The comparison of stations suggests that the quality of Shabestar plain’s groundwater is in acritical condition in the southern part of the plain. Generally, we can conclude that the quality of groundwater in the study area has decreased over time. The results achieved from investigating the values of time series correlation coefficients of qualitative variables with a normal annual precipitation in the period (1993-1999) show that none of the qualitative variables has a special significance at the 5% level with the amount of annual precipitation. The overall result of this section suggests the lack of relationship between annual precipitation and qualitative variables, while the groundwater level has almost steadily dropped in terms of quality variables during common statistical years (1994-2002). Also, climatic variables such as rainfall, temperature and evaporation were not identified as factors in changing the qualitative characteristics of groundwater in Shabestar plain and we have come to the conclusion that adverse changes in these were influenced by human factors.Conclusions: According to results achieved we can say that, if the current condition continues, it is not possible to use groundwater sources in Shabestar plain steadily. Water quality will be negatively affected by the lack of treatment of urban and industrial wastewater, the release of agricultural wastes into the plain, its adjacency to Urumia Lake, and the development of a salt marsh.

Introduction: Policies and plans for water resource management, especially in the agricultural sector, are aimed at achieving goals such as increasing the level of self-sufficiency, reducing gaps in food, reducing crop cultivation and maximizing the economic value of irrigation water. The main objective of this research is to reduce the macroeconomic objectives in the agricultural sector, by reducing the food security gap (in the field of orchard products) with an emphasis on optimizing water use in the agricultural sector.Materials and methods: In pursuit of this goal, the aim of maximizing the economic value of water has been used to determine the optimal level of cropping for major crops in the country and to reduce the gap between supply and demand. The methodology used in this study is a linear mathematical programming model. Required data were collected through the databases of the Agricultural Jihad Organization and other departments operating in relevant areas.Results and discussion: The results of the research show that the suggested cropping pattern increases the economic value of water by 20%, and the yield of crops such as dates, apples, citrus, grapes and pistachios increases. Changing the cropping area of major crops in some areas, such as Khorasan, Central, Central Zagros and Khuzestan Provinces, has reduced net profit, but generally increased net yield by 19 percent and, most importantly, the amount of water saved in the whole area is equivalent to approximately 6, 869, 768 thousand cubic meters.Conclusion: The results showed that considering the economic value of water in each area, instead of using a steady state value, an effective and effective cropping pattern is necessary. The proposed cropping pattern reduces the nutrient gaps and cropping water levels and saves water consumption which, while providing a land for allocating this amount of water to the cultivation of strategic products, can have a positive effect on the sustainability of water resources in each area.

Introduction: Imposition by cities of new roles and functions on peripheral areas has provoked economic, social and spatial disturbances in those areas (Shafiei Sabet & Bozorgniya, 2013). In this regard, major global trends that have fuelled competition over land have also contributed to the development of urban imbalance (Ludlow, 2014). As a result of population density and pressure on resources in cities with rapid expansion, the environment is adversely affected with detrimental impacts on valuable agricultural land. In this regard, Karol argues that ‘urban spraw’ was not problematic at its outset, but the positive effects of this phenomenon are long gone (Lawrence, 2012). Industrialization of the economy has turned villages around cities into unplanned spaces (Deep & Saklani, 2014). This phenomenon raised concerns in connection with the metropolis and the main cities, but the gradual adoption of centralized housing policies and development approach by the state at the regional and local levels contributed to the this issue affecting the middle cities as well (Shafiei Sabet and Haratifard, 2011). Based on this, the present research intends to analyze this phenomenon accurately to help find solutions to mitigate the adverse effects by providing scientific solutions to reduce the damage caused by it in the studied area.Materials and methods: A descriptive-analytical method was used to measure accurately the consequences of urban sprawl in the study area. To this end, based on analysis of satellite imagery using Remote Sensing (RS) and the Geographic Information System (GIS), the land use change trends during the three periods of 1990, 2006, and 2015 were investigated for different land uses (residential construction, non-residential construction, changing arid land, agricultural land, gardens, pastures and roads). Then, the effects of urban sprawl on rural settlements around the city of Hamedan and its determinants were investigated. The data collection included the survey of Land sat TM satellite images in 1990, ETM+2006, HRVIR 2015, and a 1: 50000 map of Hamadan Province for the enhanced detection of phenomena and their comparison with land use changes in subsequent periods.Results and discussion: The results suggest that, in Hamedan Province, the urban development and dispersed sprawling growth of the city has caused the highest rate of land use change in agricultural lands over a 27-year period, from 1990 to 2015. As a result, these lands have seen a decrease of 1017 hectares over this period and, at the same time, horticultural lands have also diminished by about 272 hectares. In the meantime, rangelands have dwindled by about 189 hectares. By contrast, residential construction increased by 805 hectares in 2015 compared to 1990, followed by an increase of 346 hectares in non-residential construction and 20 hectares in route and road construction. Moreover, an area of 307 hectares from the total area of 6446 hectares in the study area has been transformed into desert land, and therefore the scene of various construction activities. A comparison of the statistics suggests that residential construction continues to grow, so that the statistical results of three periods indicate an increase of about 17.8% in construction the study area from 1990 to 2015. According to the results, it can be seen that in current situation of Iran, the research undertaken on the marginal area of Hamedan is consistent with the researches of Yagre, Ewing, Morot and Hernandez and other researchers who have discussed environmental issues and the lack of supportive policies to impede the spread of these structures in Europe.Conclusion: In studies on spatial development and land use change of agricultural lands, it is important to note the parameters that undergo change progressively as opposed to those that change more rapidly. In this study, it was found that in the study area, farmlands (agro-horticultural lands) have undergone the highest change compared to other lands. Therefore, if policies and measures are not taken to prevent this trend to continue, the environmental damage will be caused by pressure on resources, conversion and land use change, resulting in the destruction of valuable agricultural land.

Introduction: Ants are the most well-known social insects that have a significant impact on the ecosystems of their habitat. The role of these insects in the physical and chemical changes of the soil and their interaction with plants, microorganisms and other living organisms is undeniable. Iran, with its diverse climatic conditions and habitat variety, has a great diversity of plant and animal species. The Formicidae family of fauna in Iran is far from complete and yet 213 species of 32 genera and four subfamilies has been reported.Materials and methods: The present investigation dealt with a study of ant fauna in Shiraz city. The area was divided into 18 study sites with different ecological factors. Samples were collected equally in times and numbers during the spring, summer and autumn seasons in 2014. Collected species were transferred to 70% alcohol and identified with the help of stereomicroscope and available keys. The identified specimens were confirmed by Professor Brian Taylor in Royal Entomological Society of London in England. Ecological condition effects (such as altitude, soli sedimentary organic matter (TOM), temperature, air humidity, soil humidity, soil pH and soil grading) on species richness were collected from study sites and analyzed by linear regression test using SPSS22.Results and discussion: Among the identified specimens, 19 species belonging to 13 genera of three subfamilies were identified as follows: (1) Subfamily Dolichoderinae: Tapinoma simrothi Krausse, 1911. (2) Subfamily Formicinae: Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) xerxes Forel, 1904; Camponotus (Myrmosericus) armenaicus Arnol' di, 1967; Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) aethiops (Latreille, 1798); Camponotus (Tanaemyrmex) sanctus Forel, 1904; Cataglyphis nodus (Brullé, 1833); Cataglyphis frigidus subspecies persicus (Emery, 1906); Lepisiota semenovi (Ruzky, 1905); Lasius turcicus Santschi, 1921; andParatrechina vividula(Nylander, 1846). (3) Subfamily Myrmicinae: Cardiocondyla persiana Seifert, 2003; Crematogaster sp. (sp undet cf Safariyan, 2014); Messor melancholicus Arnol’di, 1977; Messor syriacus Thomé, G., 1969; Messor rufotestaceus (Foerster, 1850); Monomorium kusnezowi Santschi, 1928; Pheidole pallidula (Nylander, 1849); Pheidole teneriffana Forel, 1893; and Tetramorium davidi Forel, 1911.Conclusion: All the identified species, except for T.simrothi, C.frigidus, C.persiana, M.rufotestaceus and P.teneriffana, were recorded for the first time from Fars Province and the species T.simrothi and P.teneriffana were recorded for the first time from Shiraz City. Statistical analysis using linear regression in SPSS22 shows a significant difference between pH and the species richness of ant communities.

Introduction: The study of functional and species diversity plays an important role in recognizing ecosystem function and services and demonstrates the type of responses available to environmental changes. Functional diversity refers to a range and values of organism traits that affect ecosystem properties and is introduced in various ways, such as the number and proportional abundance of functional groups.Materials and methods: This study was carried out through identifying functional groups in safe regions of Ghamishloo National Park (Baghak, Aghel geni, Korelias, Kahvak, Tange Najaf Abadi and Tange Varposht) to identify ecosystem function and evaluation of functional diversity between regions. For this purpose, eight quantitative traits and four qualitative traits were selected. In order to identify the functional groups, at first a species–trait matrix was prepared and, then, clustering analysis was carried out using Ward method and Gower similarity distance by InfoStat software. After determining the richness of the functional groups, the diversity of the functional groups was analyzed by SDR4 and FDiversity software.Results and discussion: The main functional groups of the regions were: Chamaephytes plants that have devoted most leaf nutrients to their defensive structure; Hemicrypyophytes plants whose leaf area is high and are more successful in light acquisition; and Terophytes plants that have leaves with a short life span. The results showed that the functional groups’ richness is the same in the six regions (three functional groups) but, because of the difference in species composition and dominant traits of the groups, the functional diversity of Kahvak region was higher. According to the results, as most functional diversity indices use more than onetrait to describe the various plant performances, indices that measure species diversity (Shannon Wiener, Simpson and others) are inefficient.Conclusion: In determining functional diversity, it is better to use numerical functional diversity indices (such as the Community-Weighted Mean Index) in addition to determining the functional groups’ richness to acquire more useful information about ecosystem function.

Introduction: It was shown that the use of signaling molecules such as nitric oxide donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP) can elevate the phytoremediation potential of some plant species. The aim of the study is to reveal the effect of SNP on the enhancement of the phytoremediation potential and physiological responses of zinc-stressed safflower roots.Material and methods: The treatments were arranged in a completely randomized design with five replicates. After 10 days, the levels of oxidative markers (e.g., H2O2 and lipid peroxidation) and antioxidant compounds (such as glutathione, ascorbate and phytochelatins) of plants were analyzed.Results and discussion: SNP application alleviated Zn-induced growth inhibition of roots probably through the induction of some antioxidative compounds. Application of SNP resulted in a decrease in oxidative markers and the activity of SOD compared with that found in the plants treated with Zn only. No relationship was found between SNP supplementation and glutathione and ascorbate levels while, upon application of SNP, the level of PCs increased significantly.Conclusion: The results suggest that the application of SNP renders safflower roots more tolerant to zinc toxicity, possibly through zinc chelation by the stimulation of phytochelatin production.

Introduction: Greenhouse gas emissions and destructive environmental crises such as global warming and climate change have been created by human activities in natural ecosystems during this century. Due to this problem, carbon sequestration is a win-win approach with the purpose of reducing of destructive human activities and emissions of greenhouse gases. Accordingly, this study was carried out in order to assess carbon sequestration with economic value in the Quercus brantii Lindi forest in Kermanshah Province in 2015 to 2016.Materials and methods: Essential data for this research was collected using the on-farm and random sampling methods in two groups, including coppice and single stem forms in an oak forest in Bisetoon Protected Area. Then, the amount of carbon sequestration and its economic value were calculated using the collected data and application of mathematical relations in this forest.Results and discussion: According to the results of this study, the amount of carbon sequestration by trees biomass was 1622.67kgha-1yer-1 in coppice forms. This amount was 1786.47kgha-1yer-1 in a single stem. Therefore, the amount of CO2 captured and saved in wood tissue and residual organic matter in the bottom tree layer was, respectively, 5841.61 and 6431.29 kgha-1yer-1 in coppice and single stem forms. Due to the tax rate applied for every ton of carbon emissions, the annual economic value per hectare of this forest was estimated at 1780856 rials.Conclusion: furthermore, suitable management of oak forest ecosystems in this region under investigation and, subsequently, around the country is very important in order to reduce the existing environmental crisis, through such impacts as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and change climate. On the other hand, due to the importance of carbon credits and international issues surrounding them, it has a benefit for the recovery and maintenance of these natural ecosystems.

Introduction: Development of buildings and the widespread usage of the southern ranges of the Alborz ecosystem and Darabad watershed have led to unsustainable growth in this region such that continuation of this situation will destroy this ecosystem. The aim of this research is to identify unsustainable land use changes and practices in Darabad watershed through studying these characteristics.Materials and methods: The research method is a descriptive-analytical one, with the information gathering library-based and use of a spatial analytical method and the Delphi technique. Satellite images of TM1990, ETM+2004 and IRS2014 in four classes covering vegetation, built-up areas, arid areas and roads have been used for identifying unsustainable land use changes and practices in the case study area by using the Brovey algorithm and the Maximum Likelihood Method for the supervised classification algorithm and image enhancement. The research domain is Darabad watershed, and the statistical group comprised experts of environmental sciences, geography and natural resources.Results and discussion: Research results show that vegetation has decreased during the period 1990 to 2014, while built-up areas, arid areas and roads have increased in this period. In 1990, more than 20% of the area was vegetation, while this land use has decreased to less than 20% in 2014. Built-up areas and roads also increased from 40% in 1990 to 61.5% in 2014. This trend shows unsustainability in that ecosystem.Conclusion: Results show that multiple factors affect the sustainability of Darabad watershed. These include ecological-geographical, economic-organizational and socio-cultural factors. Economic-organizational factors have the greatest efficiency among all the factors with a coefficient of 0.5824. Some effective variables in this regard are the widespread activity of ecotourism, lack of supervision procedures and an incorrect political-economic relationship in developing build-up areas.

Introduction: Rivers are among the major water resources and represent important and vulnerable inland ecosystems (Hayatolgheib et al., 2016). Today, the quality of such water resources has been threatened due to the irregular consumption of water and the pollution of rivers from non-natural and human sources (Li et al., 2009). The Pir-Bazar River and Anzali International Wetland have been subjected to severe eutrophication over the past two decades (Zebardast and Jafari, 2014). As a result, evaluation and estimation of changes in water quality the mouth area of the main feeding river estuary in the Anzali wetland (the Pir-Bazar River) is a first priority.Materials and methods: The present study was aimed at evaluating the eutrophication status and prediction of temporal-spatial changes in nutrients concentrations, such as ammonium-nitrogen (N-NH3), nitrate (N-NO3), total nitrogen (TN), phosphorous (PO4-3), TP, in the estuary of Pir-Bazar River as the main and most important stream feeding the Anzali International Wetland. Sampling was performed from 10 points of the drainage basin during 18 months from December 2014 to June 2016. In this research, zoning maps were prepared and the status of present and future water quality parameters of the basin were accurately estimated using a researcher-developed software application and the five interpolation methods of Kriging, S-PLUS, polynomial regression, inverse distance to power and local polynomial; finally, the optimal method was selected through a root-mean-square error (RMSE) based cross validation approach.Result and discussion: The results showed that in this drainage basin, the second order quadratic polynomial regression (with a mean RMSE of 0.2075 for TN and of 0.1475 for TP) and the topical polynomial with power of 10 (order of 3) (with a mean RMSE of 0.331 for TN and of 0.22 for TP) were the best and the worst methods for estimation of nitrate and phosphate levels in the drainage basin, respectively, as compared with other methods. In order to prepare the zoning map, monthly and seasonal maps of spatial distribution of nitrate and phosphate concentrations were created, and temporal (seasonal) changes in nutrients at the wetland entrance (estuary of Pir-Bazar River) were expressed. The results showed that the mean levels of nutrients in Pir-Bazar River water (0.616 mg/L for TN and 0.325 mg/L for TP) were higher than the allowed limits, according to the EU Directive 80/778/EEC and the OECD standard (under normal conditions, the limits are 0.1-0.5 mg/L for TN and 0.01-0.1 mg/L for TP in fresh water). Also, according to the results of the software, the mean TN to TP ratio at the wetland entrance was maximally 33.7 and so greatly exceeded the limit of 16. Therefore, the region’s water is subject to an advanced and critical eutrophication. Considering the positive and high values of the coefficient of performance for TP and TN between 0.87 and 0.918 (mean 0.894), it can be argued that phosphorus and nitrogen in this water basin are likely to share the same source; meanwhile the coefficient of performance varied between 0.187 and 0.721, showing the best performance for nitrate and phosphate, respectively.Conclusion: The results predicted by this software show that the mean annual concentration of ammonium, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, and dissolved salts in this river will increase about 1.2%, 3.2%, 32%, 5%, and 7% by 2020, compared to the current situation. These figures will be about 3.4%, 9%, 87%, 14%, and 16.5% in 2030; this is a new finding and a reliable innovation in water quality management in the wetland.

Introduction: Heavy metals are one of the most important environmental pollutants that have been given high importance in recent decades. The accumulation of elements in the soil, especially in agricultural land, has been gradual and the concentration of heavy elements can reach to levels that threaten human food security. Among the heavy metals, cadmium is considered as one of the most dangerous elements due to its high mobility in biological systems, high toxicity, high solubility in water and rapid absorption by the root system of many plant species. Therefore, in this research, the growth, accumulation and phytoremediation potential of cadmium in two species Ethiopian mustard (Brassica carinata) and Hindi mustard (Brassica juncea) is studied.Materials and methods: Plants in contaminated soils with concentrations of 0, 75 and 150 mg kg-1 of cadmium were grown in a greenhouse and harvested after seven weeks to measure some growth characteristics.Results and discussion: The results showed that cadmium treatments had no significant effect on growth traits and chlorophyll content of two plants compared with the control. Both plants showed a high stress tolerance index and low stress tolerance to cadmium. With increasing cadmium concentrations in the soil, the concentration of cadmium in the root and shoot of both plants B. carinata and B. juncea significantly increased. The translocation factor of B. juncea was about 70% higher than B. carinata. The highest translocation factor was observed in the treatment of 75 mg kg-1 of cadmium in B. juncea.Conclusion: Comparison of the two plants B. carinata and B. juncea showed that both species are able to tolerate and accumulate cadmium, but the translocation factor, uptake and accumulation of cadmium in plant B. juncea was greater than B. carinata and, so, it seems that B. juncea showed better performance for use in phytoremediation process.

Introduction: Soil quality is considered to be one of the important indicators of agricultural and the environmental sustainability. Based on sustainable agricultural goals and environmental protection, soil quality is defined as “the capacity of a specific kind of soil for sustaining plant and animal productivity, maintaining or enhancing water and air quality and supporting human health and habitation” (Doran et al., 1996). The main objective of this study is to integrate the AHP and fuzzy logic systems to assess soil quality based on physical, chemical soil properties and their topographical characteristics.Materials and methods: The study was carried out in the Telobin area located in northeastern Shahrood County, Iran. The thermal regime of the study area is Mesic and its moisture regime is Xeric. Soil was sampled at 36 locations across the study area, describing all soil variability. Soil samples were analyzed for their physical and chemical soil properties and incorporated into topographical characteristics for further analysis. A map of each soil parameter and topographic index was created using the Inverse Distance Weighting Model. Thereafter, a map of soil quality regarding physical, chemical and topographical indicators was created using integrated fuzzy and AHP approaches. The AHP Technique was used for weighting all the aforementioned indicators.Results and discussion: In terms of soil quality, the results show that, 3.01% was classified as high quality, 49.57% (2099.87 ha) as poor quality, 44.33% (1877.33 ha) as average quality and 3.5% (50/131 hectares) as good quality. Soil quality was determined by using all indicators, but there are always a few important indicators with a higher weight as key indicators. In this study soil depth index (from physical indicators), organic carbon index (from the chemical index) and slope index (from topographic indicators) have a higher weight. Therefore, it was found that using a hierarchical analysis-fuzzy logic method for the soil in studied area to determine the quality is well-established. Field observations of the region show that in areas with moderate soil quality, its use is forest and pastureland. In areas with good soil quality, the amount of organic carbon and potassium is high and PH is in the range of 7-6, and the absorption of nutrients is high in these areas but, in areas where the soil quality is poor or very poor, the amount of organic carbon is low or negligible and the slopes of the area are more than 30%.Conclusion: The results of this study show that the organic carbon has the highest impact on the quality of soil in the studied area and, about the term of soil quality, most of the area has poor quality. Therefore, it can be argue that the use of the combination of fuzzy and AHP methods in GIS can categorize the status of soil quality to the quantitative levels in different groups. Using the fuzzy technique and the opinion of experts can allow us to create a database. In general, the fuzzy logic approach is considered as a very suitable tool for modelling the physical, chemical, and topographic quality of the area that are considered as input parameters.