Environmental Sciences
Year:2016 | Volume:14 | Issue:2 |Papers Count:15

In this study, 83 sampling points were chosen in the study area. Sampling was conducted at two soil depths (0-30 cm and 30-60 cm) and the concentrations of nitrate, phosphate, EC, pH and organic carbon were determined. Interpolation maps were created using the IDW method. These showed that in the top soil, soil phosphorus, EC and OC have the maximum concentration in the northern part of the area and nitrate in the southern part of the area; in second depth soil, phosphorus has the maximum concentration in the North of the area and nitrate and EC in the South of the area, while OC has a uniform distribution over the whole area. Analysis of soil chemical properties showed high concentrations of nitrate and phosphate in the upper soil layer in the studied areas, mainly due to the use of untreated urban wastewater and chemical fertilizers by the farmers; in addition, results of organic carbon measurement showed that this area has a good condition in terms of organic matters. Soil pH in the area was alkaline and EC decreased at a lower depth. The results of Spearman correlation analysis showed that EC has a positive correlation with nitrate and a negative correlation with phosphate at both depths. Also, organic carbon has a positive correlation with soil phosphate in the top soil.

As biodiversity declines, the ability of agro-ecosystems to produce ecosystem services such as food security deteriorates. Despite the important role of grape in the livelihood of communities that produce this crop and also its high potential for export, very few studies have been conducted on the status of biodiversity in grape production ecosystems and its relationship with different indices of productivity and stability. The data presented here were collected during face-to-face interviews with 220 grape orchardists in 2011. Results showed negative significant correlations between the Shannon-wiener index with total productivity (-0.175**), water productivity (-0.19**), land productivity (-0.173**) and labour productivity (-0.202**) as well as correlations between species richness with land productivity (-0.14*). These results indicate negative relationship between changes in biodiversity of grapevine varieties with vineyard’s productivity and imply the long- term sustainability of the vineyards in Takestan County. Regression analysis showed that the explanation coefficients (R2) were between 0.03-0.04. We tentatively conclude from this that a 1% change in BD corresponds to approximately a 0.03-0.04% change in the value of productivity. The results also showed that the varietal diversity of vineyards have no effect on vineyards’ yield stability.

Land use planning and proper use in accordance with environmental characteristics is one of the basic principles of sustainable development in the region and the country. Due to the importance of land use in Jahrom Township, this article is based on comparison between current land use and land use planning maps for study area. In land use planning process, methods included: Qualitative and quantitative methods (conventional models of Iran), modified methods of qualitative and quantitative (4 scenarios), quantitative method (considering two economic and social scenarios). The next step was validation of proposed models and the conventional models qualitatively and quantitatively, based on ecological and socio- economic conditions. Results showed that land use planning of quantitative model using two economic and social scenarios is better than other models.

Power plants and refineries due to their process and consumption of fossil fuels release carbon dioxide into the environment and, as a consequence, both industries are polluting. In this study, the link between energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions at power plants and refineries is surveyed as added value in the form of Environmental Kuznets Curve. Results indicate that the bell- shaped curve for environmental studies of power plants as well as refineries over the period 1997-8 to 2011-12 is established. Results have shown a U-shaped relationship for power plants and N-shaped interfaces for the refinery. This means that, during the economic growth in power plants, CO2 emissions are increasing and, in refineries, that process has first decreased and then increased. Also, as a part of this study, energy consumption had a positive significant correlation with CO2 emissions.

In this study, the distribution of heavy metals (As, Cr, Ni, V, Mn, Fe, Zn, Pb) and sulfur in soil samples collected around the petrochemical complex and petroleum refinery at Abadan has been investigated. For this purpose, 22 surface soil samples were taking into consideration the prevailing wind direction (NW-SE). Sample number 22 is a control sample and was collected from a rural area. After preparation in the laboratory, the samples were analyzed using the ICP-OES method to assess concentrations of different elements. Also, the pH and organic matter content of samples were measured using standard methods. Pollution levels in the soil samples were investigated using different indices, including enrichment factor, contamination factor, contamination degree, saturation degree of metals and Potential acute toxicity. The mean concentrations of elements in the samples were compared to the mean concentration of these metals in the upper crust, soil worldwide, and EPA standards. The results of calculating the geochemical indices indicated that soil samples are more contaminated with S, Pb and Zn. The statistical analysis showed that nickel, vanadium, iron, manganese may be mainly derived from geogenic sources. Lead and zinc may originate from traffic and vehicle emissions as well as the petrochemical complex and petroleum refinery activities. As and Cr have both a geogenic and an anthropogenic origin. High concentrations of sulfur in the study area originated from the petrochemical complex and petroleum refinery activities.

Today, reducing waste water as one of the greatest challenges we face in the industrial process and, since the wastewater is one of the major pollutants produced in that process, the ability to restore and reuse water and to reduce water consumption represents an important step towards overall waste water reduction. This article investigates the minimization of water consumption and wastewater in the copper industry and, specifically, in Unit Three of the Khatoon Abad copper complex. One conventional method and one new method named Water Pinch are described for this purpose. In the first, second and third modes, respectively, the TSS-TDS, Turbidity-TDS and TSS-Turbidity parameters were considered as the indicators. The results showed a saving in raw water consumption of 379, 22 and 401 m3/day (equal to 25, 1.46 and 26%), respectively, which is a significant amount.

This study investigated the effect of density and other properties of dead trees on the bird community in Golestan National Park during the autumn of 2013. Birds and various environmental variables were detected within a 25 m radius of each of 100 sampling points. The relationship between biological diversity and the relative abundance of bird species to the environmental variables related to the dead tree characteristics was evaluated. To determine the association of bird diversity indices with environmental variables, a canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was performed. The first axis of CCA successfully separated the two groups of birds. The first group of birds comprised the Lagea Rock Nuthatch, Black Woodpecker, Winter Wern, Nutatch, Great Tit, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Erosian Jay, Nightingale and Common Blackbird which had a positive correlation with some factors of dead trees, such as: the first and second axes of standing dead trees (snags) and fallen dead trees (logs), wood surface conditions of snags, degree of decay of logs, height at which food is found of snags, condition of canopy in snags, length of logs and presence of nests. The second group was on the right-hand side of the axis and included such species as: Coal Tit, Song Thrush, Long- tail Tit, River Warbler, Flycature, Green Woodpecker, Stonechat, Hawfinch, Pheasant and Common Chiffchaff. These birds had a positive correlation with the following environmental variables: the third and fourth axes of logs and the fourth axis of snags.

As water resources become scarcer, trans-boundary water conflicts between countries located in the shared basins are increasing in frequency and intensity. The main challenge in these conflicts, especially in the arid and semi- arid regions of the world, is water sharing. The relevant international law and rules for trans- boundary waters include the Helsinki Rules, the UNECE Water Convention, the UN Watercourse Convention and the Berlin Rules. A brief review of research studies indicates that this set of documents has not been compared comprehensively taking into consideration water use provisions for implementation in the region. In this paper, the historical background, provisions and commentaries of the aforementioned documents as well as their strengths and weakness have been analytically discussed. The comparative study confirms that both important principles of "equitable and reasonable participation" and "obligation not to cause significant harm" have been considered in all of the relevant instruments and the results show that the 1997 UN Watercourse Convention is the most appropriate and equitable alternative for implementation in the region, including in Iran.

This study aims to investigate the role of wind speed and wind direction in ventilation condition and pollutants concentration in street canyons with different aspect ratios through using ENVI-met software in a quantitative and experimental way. The results demonstrate how the combination of different wind variables (direction & speed) with different aspect ratios of canyons, can alter the ventilation condition, flow pattern and also pollutant concentration inside the urban street canyons. The result of simulations in some sections of Valiasr and Taleqani streets considering three different ratio of height to width proportion (0.3, 0.65 and 1.5) for the canyons, and two minimum and maximum threshold values for wind speed (1 m/s and 2.5 m/s) in west and south west direction, showed that increasing the wind speed to all directions (in this case west and south west) in a canyon with different aspect ratios (in this study 0.3, 0.65 and 1.5) can improve ventilation condition inside the canyon and reduce pollutants concentration within it. When the wind direction is perpendicular to the canyon, by increase of aspect ratio, the pollutant concentration will significantly increase inside the canyon, whereas the parallel wind direction in the same test shows opposite results. The findings of this study as well as subsequent findings resulted from combination of different concerned variables, as a general framework can help urban designers and planners to decide on the geometry and direction of street canyons.

Wetlands are the remnants of pluvial lakes which have evolved following the retreat of glaciers in the late Pleistocene era and have overcome the hot conditions and the development of evaporative deposits in the Holocene era. Most arid and semi- arid areas, desert lakes, playas and similar landforms have been disturbed as a result of human activities. Recently, mineral extraction prompts destruction of the playa surfaces and irregularities in the incoming water in order to create a new evolution in these geo- systems. This new evolution provides a suitable situation to change the micro- landforms, and these irregularities or turbulences in geodynamic systems are the best evidence for converting them to other systems and, also, they can be studied by fractal geometry. In this study field studies were conducted in the winter of 2015 in order to examine the situation of the Gavkhuni playa southeastern Isfahan Province and the changes in micro- landforms and, in these, 109 mud cracks in the wetland zone of Gavkhuni playa were examined. Among them, 61 well developed mud cracks were used in the calculations. By using the fractal geometry perimeter-area model on these micro- landforms, their turbulence could be examined, and the DAP, derived from the fractal model, was valued at between 1.27 – 1.44; this expresses the confusion and irregularities in the micro-landforms of that region. The logarithmic graph of the fractal model showed a linear relationship between the log of perimeter and the log of area on that micro landform and, so, the correlation coefficient R2 is greater than 0.96. Increasing chaos in the Gavkhuni playa shows the evolution in the geodynamic system and its transformation into a new ecosystem that it can yield to produce serious risks in this area.

The transportation sector is the fastest growing energy demand in the world and it has created many economic and environmental problems for both industrial and developing countries. Economic problems, including high inflation and low developed public transport, are the main causes of the spread using of obsolete private vehicles in Iran that and this has imposed high costs on the society. In this research for estimating the social cost of obsolete cars, first of all the number of old cars in the country has been calculated and, then the social cost that old cars impose on the community have been calculated by assessing the effect of each pollutant gas. The result shows that, in 2011, although only about 11 percent of the country’s cars were old, they cause more than 75 percent of pollutant emissions and this has also imposed about 32 million dollars social costs to the society. To reduce this cost, it is necessary to have a well managed integrated transport system operated by governmental and private sectors.

Nanoparticles with a wide range of unique features have been allocated many applications in the field of nanotechnology. Their special properties and their interaction with biological molecules have grabbed the attention of many researchers. These particles, because of their small size and unique characteristics, can be used in various fields, especially the life sciences. Because the lack of any logical model of nanoparticle and biomolecule interaction, their properties and influences on the environment have been evaluated using various separate and non-comparable studies. Nanoparticles interact with plants, animals, and humans and have various and essential impacts on them and these should be considered. The aim of this article is to conduct a morphological and proteomic study of the interaction of biomolecular, bacterial and plant models with silver nanoparticles. The findings are associated with trypsin and human blood serum albumin (as a molecular model), Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus Thurigiensis (as bacterial models) and Oryza sativa L. (rice) as a plant model.

War is a phenomenon in which the damage is inevitable and one of the significant losses during armed conflict is the environment. In this respect, humanitarian law protects and takes account of the environment in a few of its regulations. However, these regulations have not given sufficient support to the environment and the question arises whether any prohibitions available in international environmental law are applicable to environmental protection in this case, or should we only use the provisions contained in humanitarian international law for this. In this paper we consider these regulations and the possibility of applying of them to protecting the environment in the event of armed conflict. Damage to the environment during armed conflict may occur intentionally or unintentionally. Intentional damage to the environment occurs when the environment is used as a weapon or damage to the environment is deliberate, but the environment is not used as a weapon. Regulations that have been enacted to protect against these damages contain certain conditions and the fulfilment of these conditions is necessary for incurring damage. Regarding unintentional damage to the environment, the main victim is not the environment, however, and the precautionary principle should be applied. In this regard, it is necessary to consider types of losses, existing prohibitions and possibility of minimizing environmental losses.