JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Year:2015 | Volume:16 | Issue:SPECIAL ISSUE|Papers Count:62

Introduction: Petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals are considered as common environmental contaminants and a worldwide concern. The aim of this study was to determine sediment contamination and to perform ecological risk assessments in the Mahshahr Bay.Material and Methods: Sediment samples were collected from the coastal area of the Petrochemical Special Economic Zone of Musa Estuary, which is located at the northwest of the Persian Gulf. Thirty-tow surficial sediment samples were collected. Total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentration of the sediment samples was determined using gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Also, the concentration of metals (Al, As, Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Sr and Zn) in surface sediment samples was determined using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES).Results: The average TPH concentration in the study area was 42 mg/kg. The highest TPH value was recorded at station 8. There was a significant difference between concentration of Al and the correspondent mean crust.Conclusion: The contamination factor (CF), degree of contamination (Cd), modified degree of contamination (mcd) and Pollution load index (PLI) revealed overall low values for metals. The average TPH concentration in the study area was 42 mg/kg indicating that the region could be slightly polluted. Cluster analysis was indicative of oil origin for Ni and Cr.

Introduction: Cement factories are highly energy- and cost-intensive industries. Energy consumption in the cement industry is in the form of fossil energy carriers such as natural gas and fuel oil that are major sources of Co2 emissions. Since carbon dioxide emission from cement manufacturing has a high percentage of the total Co2 production in the world, there is a high potential for controlling and reducing Co2 emission.Materials & Methods: In this paper, the theory of microeconomics firm was used to present a model for optimal production productivity considering the external costs of Co2 production in cement industry. To show the effect of Co2 emission in the model, Co2 emissions is considered as a function of energy consumption and then added to the set of constraints.Results & Discussion: Eventually by solving the presented model by an advanced mathematical programming named GAMS software, Co2 emission is reduced by 15% and total annual cost is reduced by 6% which are remarkable.

Background: Development is considered as an undeniable part of modern human life. The sustainable viability of natural elements such as lakes and wetlands is not only essential for survival of all present and future generations of human on the planet but also necessary for all habitats of the Earth. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of climate change and development on existance of the regional lakes which in turn are one of the main factors of economic development in the area.Method and result: In this study, the effects of climate change and development program on few regional lakes, including Urmia Lake, are investigated and some recommendations are provided to take proper management measures for the revival of Urmia Lake in order to prevent the dry out of this important natural ecosystem.

Rice bran, as an organic solid waste material, has a high adsorption potential in removal of heavy metal ions from wastewater and can be very effective in treating the industrial wastewater which is the main source of water and soil contamination with heavy metals. In this study, the efficiency of Cr (III) and Cu (II) removals from heavy metals containing solutions was evaluated. Afterwards by adding rice bran to reaction environment, the amount of metal ions removed by rice bran in acidities, amount of adsorbent used, contact times and different initial concentrations of ions in wastewater were investigated. The results indicated that with an increase in the solution pH, the percentage heavy metal ions adsorption by rice bran increased and reach the amount maximum in pH=5.Also, percentage of adsorption was dependent on metal type, so that percentages of Cr (III) and Cu (II) adsorption from wastewater were 84.2% and 89.5% in pH=5, respectively.To increase the wastewater initial concentration, first percentage of adsorption was increased and then it was decreased due to saturation of rice bran particles.According to the obtained results, the calculated saturation capacities of rice bran for Cr (III) and Cu (II) were 71 and 78 mg/g-1 respectively. Moreover, percentage of ions adsorption was increased with the increase of contact time. Due to rapid reaction, 50-60% of metal ions was adsorbed after 5 min from start of reaction. In this study, contact time of 30 min was offered as an appropriate contact time. The experimental data were analyzed using the Langmuir and Freundlich models of adsorption. Equilibrium data fitted well with the Langmuir model.

Introduction: Encountering hydrogen sulfide gas (H2S) during excavation is one of the important engineering, geological and environmental hazards during the tunnelling. Tackling this hazard and solving its challenges solving are very difficult and costly. During investigation of the situation, one of the main tasks is prediction or evaluation of the risk of H2S gas and selection of the best methods to tackle its engineering and environmental problems. In this study, water conveyance tunnel of Aspar excavated in H2S bearing environment is discussed.This tunnel is excavated in the hydrocarbon formations. In this paper, hazards, characteristics, safety regulations, and geological sources of H2S as well as the methods to decrease the risks and problems in excavation of the tunnel are presented in brief.Methods: In order to determine the source of gas and to select the best methods to mitigate its hazards and problems, in addition to investigation of the same experiences, concentration of various gases was recorded by fixed stations on the machine and by mobile sensors at the beginning, midpoint and end of each working shift.Moreover, sampling of the polluted air and water was implemented. The samples were sent to a specific laboratory for chemical analysis. At the same time, concentration of the gas in the air and water of the tunnel was measured.Results: Experiments raleted to the tunnel showed that the gas caused an unacceptable condition for workers.For predicting the risk of H2S gas in underground spaces, it is possible to use some evidences such as sulfur springs, organic traces, organic shales, exposure of H2S odor from fresh surface of rock, and smelling of H2S during boreholes drilling. Results of the analysis show that the gas enters the tunnel along with water, dominantly. Also considerable amount of the gas is released to the air at the beginning. According to the investigations, the source of the gas is relevant to hydrocarbon formations inthe area.Conclusion: Geological formations related to hydrocarbon resources are very important in the formation and reservation of H2S gas. Since the gas is in solution form and is emitted promptly, controlling the inflow of groundwater into the excavation, diluting the concentration of H2S and training the workers are a series of methods used to decrease the risks and problems associated with tunnel excavation in an H2S-bearing environment.

Heavy metals are very pollutant in the environment as they are stable and can cause toxis, illness, mutagen, etc., by entering to the food chain. Heavy metals can be reduced by chemical prescription, electrolyze, using coagulant, ion exchange, absorption, evaporation and biological methods. Nowadays, removal of heavy metals from water and wastewater by biological absorbants is concerned because of their low cost. Accordingly, a small aquatic fern, namelyAzolla filiculoides, was studies in a batch system to eliminate heavy metals including Cr+3-Ni+2-Cu+2. The tests were done in a batch system through contacting a determined amount of dried biomass of Azolla filiculoideswith heavy metals solution in separated and mixed forms. The tests were carried out in retention times of 5, 10, 20, 30, 45, and 60 min, pHs of 2, 4, 6, and 8, and temperatures of 20, 30, 400C. The obtained results show that increase of pH can increase the percentage of elimination byAzolla filiculoides and increase of temperature has not a remarkable effect on heavy metals elimination byAzolla filiculoides. Results also show that the aquaticAzolla filiculoides can eliminate Cr+2-Ni+2-Cu+2 with an efficiency of over 97% in retention time of 20 min and reduce them to below the permisable limits of discharge to the environment. It is concluded thatAzolla filiculoides can be effectively utilized in industry.

The increasing rate of energy consumption and limitation of fossilized sources which are the main sources of energy in Iran and the world has made the industrial societies to seek for providing their essential energy for now and future. More than 26% of total energy is used in industrial section. Cement section is one of the important sub-sections of industry which is greatly energy-dependand, so that more than 15% of the energy allocated to industry is consumed in sub-section. Considering the “targeted subsidy plan” and “energy price liberalization”, the current rate of energy consumption in cement industry needs to be seriously revised.Production management, changing the ingredients of cement, finding alternative ways for replacing energy, and importing new technology can have good results in reducing energy consumption in cement industry. In this paper, energy consumption in its electrical and heat forms in a cement factory is investigated. The different ways for reducing energy consumption were also investigated in this paper. Findings of different studies carried out by the research units involved in cement industry in recent years indicate changes in production methods with an emphasis on energy consumption reduction and production increase. These changes include replacing wet method by dry method or development of pre-heating center. Nowadays, in cement industry, not only there is an emphasis on decreasing energy consumption to decrease the production costs, but also the environmental factors are focused. Over 0.7 kg of CO2 and other pollutants is released into the invironment as per production of 1 k cement particles. Therefore, application of alternative fuels which contain less carbon in their structural formula will result in reduction of both consumption and production cost as well as fewer pollutants released into the inviroment.

Introduction: Composting is one of the best methods for solid wastes disposal, therefore, some efforts seem to be essential for improving its process and its products quality. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of sawdust admixture on composting process of municipal waste and some physicochemical parameters of compost such as temperature, pH, EC, heavy metals concentration and nutrient content.Methods: 4 piles were prepared and different amounts of sawdust were added (0, 16, 32 and 70%). Every day the temperature was measured within each pile, pH and EC were measured weekly, and heavy metals and nutrient content were measured in final products.Results: The pile without sawdust showed fluctuation in thermophilic temperature, and the gradual decrease in temperature was started on day 33, whereas this decrease was started on day 18 for 16 and 32% treatments. The pH value was shown to increase on day 21 and then slightly decreased to end of process. The pH value in final product was maximum in 0% treatment (8.1) and it was minimum in 70% treatment (7.73). The EC value showed a slight increase in all treatments during the composting process. Treatments with sawdust showed a low EC value in final products.0% treatment gave a maximum amount (4.884) of EC and 32% treatment gave a minimum amount (4.235) of EC. The concentration of heavy metals and nutrients, except for Na and K, decreased with sawdust admixture. This was due to dilution effect of sawdust because of low metal content. Na concentration increased with sawdust admixture due to high content of Na in sawdust and used water.Conclusion: Temperature fluctuation was controlled in composting piles and thermophilic temperature was preserved in active composting phase with sawdust admixture. Also compost quality was improved and heavy metals content decreased, therefore, the negative effects of compost on human health decreased with addition of sawdust.

Introduction: The major target of this paper shows effect of selected decision variables in the steam system for optimization of thermal combined cycle power plant.Material and method: Exergoeconomic, and other similar terms used to imply the combined thermodynamic and economic analysis of energy systems, which helps to increase the efficiency of a plant without jeopardizing its economic viability. The optimization accomplished using an iterative exergoeconomic. The design data of an existing plant (Damavand combined cycle power plant in Tehran) used for the present analysis.Results and Diction: Two different objective functions proposed: one minimizes the total cost of production per unit of output, and the other maximizes the total exergetic efficiency. The analysis shows that the total cost of production per unit of output is 2% lower and exergy efficiency is 4% higher with respect to the base case. It demonstrates that selected decision variables have a good result for the exergy analysis and cost effectiveness.

Introduction: Limited resources and the need for energy conservation have made the use of energy loss preventive thermal insulations, like the paints containing micro mineral particles, an economic option in different industries and buildings. The aim of the current study is to investigate the effect of modern insulation, such as paints with ceramic micro-particle in internal walls of a room with radiative cooling panels, on energy consumption.Material and Method: In the present study, to investigate the flow field and temperature distribution in a room with a wall of radiation cooling, a three-dimensional cavity has been simulated with different boundary conditions. The effect of coating with a paint containing ceramic micro-particles, ordinary acrylic paints and no paint in different states of changing the boundary conditions, such as changes in wall temperature and absorption coefficient on a room with wall cooling radiation has been studied and the results were compared.Result & Discussion: Using the computer code, the interior surface temperature is obtained for different boundary conditions and used as a boundary condition for simulation. In case of using wall radiative cooling panels, room temperature is in the comfort zone in all cases, and the lowest temperature occurs when using paints with ceramic micro-particles in the interior surfaces of the room. It was observed that the coating containing ceramic micro-particles acted as a thermal insulation and reduced energy consumption by about 22%.

Introduction: Non-point source management has an imperative role in water resource management. One of the most effective structures in the field of non-point source management is wet detention pond. However, generating the cost-effective pond configurations that satisfy system-wide aims for total target sediment removal will be much more effective and efficient, but most of these structures are designed individually. In order to generate the cost-effective pond configurations, coupling the optimization algorithm with hydrologic simulation model is one of the best applied methods.Materials and Method: In this paper, an optimization-simulation model is presented for generating a costeffective pond configuration in the watersheds. Obviously, more and larger ponds can catch more total suspended solids (TSS) from the watershed, but this will consequently lead to the increase of the cost of pond constructing. Multi-objective ant colony optimization algorithm is applied for determining a Pareto front between two opposing goals namely the loading TSS from the watershed and related cost of the pond designing.Result and Discussion: The Pareto front can be used by the watershed authorities for a better controlling of the loading sediment from the watershed. The applicability of the model is studied in a watershed in the west of Iran.

Introduction: Nowadays, air pollution has become a major problem in the populated areas such as Tehran and other large cities in Iran. In such areas, the spatial and temporal variations of air pollution are important. In this study, spatial distribution of air pollution over Tehran is considered in cold a season during acute air pollution periods while indicating the factors involved.Material & Method: The air pollution data of 16 stations located throuought Tehran for the years 2011-2013 have been used to find contour maps of gaseous and particle mater pollutants using interpolation techniques of which Kriging was more appropriate.Results & Discussion: Results of the investigations of spatial and temporal distributions of air pollutants during the acute air pollution periods which often occur in cold months over the city, showed that in December 2012 that the concentration of gasous substances increased northwards, while that of particle matter increased towards the southwest. The north-south gradients of CO are highest during the day especially in the midday, while they are reduced substantially during the night. This appears to be due to the atmospheric local circulation, mainly due to the northern mountains inducing katabatic and anabatic near surface winds during the nights and days respectively. The atmospheric boundary layer thickness (increasing southwards) seems also important in the spatial distribution. As expected, the mean vales of CO at nights are higher than those during the day because high stability conditions prevail during the nights particularly in this mountain surrounded city.Conclusion: The trends of concentration of particle matters in cold month show that it first increases in the southwest and west of the city and then by local wind circulation spreads towards the other parts of the city. This is probably due to the vicinity of the southern parts of the city to the more dry lands as well as the sources of the building construction industries. Larger air pollution anomalies are also found to occur for the particle matters during acute air pollution periods in cold season.

This research was carried out during 1382-83 on a monthly scale. The effect of sand and silt mining on Tonekabon river aquatic organisms was studied. One station was selected in sand and silt mining area and two stations were selected in upstream and downstream. The least abundance and biomass of benthic organisms was obtained in station 2 as 5%. This was also observed in estuary, as there were 21% and 74% of benthic organisms respectively in estuary and upstream of the reiver which have lost their habitates due to destruction of this area.Study on fish showed that Cyprinidae had the highest diversity and abundance. Fish abundance was 65% in station 1, 6% in station 2 and 29% in station 3. Station 2 had the least abundance. Migration and artificial propagation of Salmo truta caspius and Rutilus frissii kutum in this river are of high importance. Finally, destabilisation of river substrate and increase of suspended solid have led to reduction in diversity and abundance of species. The negative effects of sand and silt mining were not restricted to the sampling position and have affected other littoral parts of the river. This can result in degredation of river substrate and littoral parts.

Introduction: Due to increase of water consumption and lack of resources, wastewater reuse, especially in the industries, as one of the methods for supplying water needs is considered. Dyeing industries are among the large consumers of water and the major problem of their produced wastewater is that it contains color materials and it is non-biodegradable. The conventional methods for removing color from wastewater often lead to production of a large amount of sludge, posing the problems of sludge disposal and treatment. Electro-Fenton process is an advanced oxidation process which can decrease the pollutants organic and color concentrations effectivelly.Materials and methods: In this method, sampling of wastewater was done according to standard methods book for the examination of water and wastewater principles. Then the samples were transferred to the made electrochemical cell pilot, and the impact of various parameters including the amount of electric current, rate of consumption of iron ions, pH and electrolysis time on operating conditions of process was evaluated.Results: The results showed that under the optimal conditions as current intensity of 20 V for color concentration of 100 mg/L and current intensity of 30 V for color concentration of over 200 mg/L time range of45-60 min, iron ion oncentration of 0.3 mg/L and pH=4, color removal of 100% can be achieved.Conclusion: Electro-Fenton process is capable of removing Reactive Blue19 dye with different concentrations and maximum efficiency. Based on the results obtained, it was found that the electric current intensity and iron ion concentration are the parameters affecting the Electro-Fenton process for the removal Reactive Blue19 dye, whereas electrolysis time and pH parameters were less effective on the efficiency of Electro-Fenton process for the removal of Reactive Blue19 dye.

Groundwaters can be polluted due to various natural and anthropogenic activities. These water resources are directly used as community’s drinking water. Therefor, pollution vulnerability assessment of them can help the local and national managers and decision makers in control of many discharged pollutants. For this purpose, the aquifer vulnerability of Najaf Abad plain (Lenjan District) has been surveyed in this study.Today, Geographical Information System (GIS) is used for assessment of vulnerability of groundwater systems.Therefor, GIS was also used to determine the different degrees of vulnerability in the study area. For this purpose, different information layers were prepared. These information layers included electrical conductivity, nitrate, total organic carbon, sulfate, chloride and total hardness concentration which were obtained from 25 wells in Lenjan district through sampling during 4 seasons from summer of 2008 to spring of 2009.Finally, after weight ratings and overlaying of the information layers, the vulnerability of areas were determined both seasonally and annually.Results of chemical analysis of the samples showed that the highest concentrations of nitrate, total hardness, chloride, sulfate and EC levels for spring of 2009 were 98, 3800, 6745, and 3780 mg/L and 14.5 mS/cm, respectively. In contrast, the highest concentration of TOC occurred in summer of 2008 was 21.6 mg/L.However, the lowest concentrations of these agrichemicals were recorded in summer and autumn of 2008.The results obtained with the help of GIS showed that the area in the center of Lenjan district, that had clay type of soil and average groundwater depth compared to the adjacent regions, had the lowest vulnerability to analyzed pollutants. Therefore, vulnerability of the areas increased by moving towards the east of Lenjan district. Thus, digging a well in this vulnerable area will be faced with water resources pollution.

Introduction: Heavy metals contamination of soil and agricultural products due to the rapid development of industries and improper use of chemical fertilizers and manure on agricultural land have cuased a great concern.The purpose of this study was to investigate the accumulation of heavy metals such as cadmium, lead and zinc in soils and in irrigated wheat and rainfed wheat in some farms in Hamadan city.Materials & Methods: Soils under cultivation of wheat (irrigated and rainfed) was sampled. Composite soil samples were taken from a depth of 0-20 cm. The location of the sampling stations was recorded by GPS. The composite samples were collected edible sections of the mentioned plants. Absorbent concentrations of heavy metals were extracted using DTPA. The experiments were done independently in the form of a completely randomized design with three replications. Concentrations of heavy metals (lead, zinc and cadmium) were read using an ICP varion 710 in the laboratory of Islamic Azad University of Hamedan.Results & Discussion: Statistical analysis showed that the mean concentrations of cadmium in the soil of irrigated and rainfed wheat were 4.61, 1.60 mg/kg and in the plant of irrigated and rainfed wheat were 2.29, 1.86 mg/kg, with a significant difference of 0/05. The mean concentrations of lead in the soil of irrigated and rainfed wheat were 4.61, 1.60 mg/kg respectively, and in the plant of irrigated and rainfed wheat they were 12.26, 12.84 mg/kg respectively, showing a significant difference of 0.05. The amounts of zinc in the soil of irrigated and rainfed wheat were 32.12, 21.26 mg/kg respectively, and in the plant of irrigated and rainfed wheat they were 13.99, 11.58 mg/kg, showing no significant differences with the the permissable standards.The result showed the risk indices of over 1 for cadmium and lead, implying that these two elements can be of a greater potential threat to human health in the study area.

Introduction: This paper attempts to clarify the effect of dam construction on changes of physical urban development. This research also investigates if the physical development has occurred on scientific rules or not, and finally presents an urban development model.Materials and methods: In this paper, two frames of IRS satellite were used to investigate the urban areas physical changes. One frame was relevant to two years before constructing the Taleghan dam and the other one was relevant to two years after constructing the dam. Then, both frames passed the geometric correction order and after that the border of urban area was extracted. This revealed that the urban areas had more area than before constructing the Taleghan dam. Considering the recent researches, a new fuzzy urban development model was presented and all the weights for being in several circumstances were defined. Using the attributes data, 1: 25000 digital maps and the other studies, extraction of the layers required by the new fuzzy urban development model was tried. By overlaying the layers in ArcGIS software, the very unsuitable, unsuitable and suitable areas were detected on map.Result and discussion: Finally, it was concluded that the areas located on very unsuitable areas must be emptied, and the unsuitable areas could be preserved by some management methods like watershed management. However, there was no more suitable areas for further development of the urban areas. On the other hand, some parts of the studied urban areas have been located on suitable areas. The most important cramp elements for prevention of urban areas development were found to be landuse and vegetation cover. For increasing the capitation of settlement, it is better to develop the existing residential areas by height.

Industrial and municipal wastewaters are the main sources which contaminate the surface water and groundwater. Application of detergent in industrial and domestic uses increases this substance in wastewater.Detergents are large organic molecules that are slightly soluble in water, highly toxic, responsible for foaming in wastewater treatment plants and making interference with wastewater treatment operations. A numorous methods yet have been applied for the removal of detergent. These methods include coagulation and flocculation, reverse osmosis, oxidation by ozone and advanced oxidation processes. This study investigates the removal of cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide from synthetic solution by Fenton reagent as an easy and effective method. Experiments were conducted in several stages with 100 cc of synthetic sample and pH=4, 5, 10, 15 and 20 mg/L of ferrous ions, 20, 30, 40 and 50 ml/L of hydrogen perocide in a batch reactor with contact time of 20, 40 and 60 min. Results showe that, in a batch system with acidic pH (pH=4), the removal of detergent increases with the increases of contact time, ferrous ions concentration and hydrogen peroxide.Therefore, in pH=4, contact times of 60 min, and 20 mg/L of ferrous ions, Lthe removal efficiency increased from 54/5% to 89/5% by increase of hydrogen peroxide conventration from 20 ml/L to 50 ml/L. Finally, considering the simplicity and effectiveness of this method, it is be suggested to be used for the removal of detergent from municipal and industrial wastewaters.

Introduction: Chemical wastes, particularly the wastes obtained from pesticides production, are very dangerous.Therefore, control and recovery of them have attracted attention of many researchers and environmental organizations in recent years. Wastes in butachlor industries are formed under undesirable conditions during the process and also during the filtration step, and thay can cause serious problems. In this study, recovery of butachlor from waste and its effects on rice plant were investigated.Material and Methods: Waste and off-spec samples containing 55.8% and 63.3% butachlor, respectively, were subjected to solvent extraction. GC/MS and FT-IR were used to identify components of the extracts.Determination of the butachlor recovered from waste and off-spec samples was carried out by HPLC and their amounts were found to be 88.4% and 89.7%, respectively. Field tests were done on the rice plants to investigate application of the recovered samples in rice fields. The treatments were exposed to 1.5 Kg active ingredient / hectare of recovered butachlor, waste, off-spec and commercial samples.Results and Discussion: The phytotoxicity degrees of both waste and off-spec samples were 100% and the plants died after 28 days. The phytotoxicity degrees of commercial and recovered butachlor from waste and offspec samples were 6.5, 8.5 and 8% under the same conditions, respectively, which indicated that the recovered butachlor could be used as effectively as the commercial sample in rice fields.

Quality of the environment is part of the overall concept of quality of life (QOL). Quality of the environment is considered to be of minor importance as compared to other aspects of QOL including one's health, family life, work, and social network. Nowadays, decline or loss of environmental quality in the urban residential environment is one of the most important crises for urban planners and policy makers. The main goal of the present research is to perfom a comparative study in two residential areas including Navab and Ekbatan neighborhoods. To this end, a questionnaire was used based on satisfaction approach and theoretical model of environmental quality. Data collection was conducted at the study field using a questioner filled in for a sample of 540 residents. Data analysis has been also conducted using the SPSS software and statistical methods such as Hierarchical Multiple Regression (HMR) approach, one sample T test and One Way Anova. Reliability and validity of the questionnaires were tested by Exploratory Factor Analysis and Cronbach's Alpha methods.According to the results, environmental quality in the Navab residential area was lower than (1<2.98<5 Versus 1<3<23<5) the environmental quality in the Ekbatan residential. Results of Hierarchical Multiple Regression show that the environmental hygiene factor in Navab (b=0.657) and the sociability factor in Ekbatan (b=./288) were of top-importance from the residents point of view. The results of Exploratory Factor Analysis show that the experimental model of quality assessment was a good fit for quality evaluation. Results of Cronbach's Alpha in Navab (a=./87) and Ekbatan (a=./86)confirmed the validity of the questionnaire.

Municipal effluents can often contain significant concentrations of organic and inorganic nutrients. There is potential for these nutrients to be used as a fertilizer source when the water is recycled as an irrigation source.Therefore, long-term irrigation with municipal effluents can add large amounts of nutrients to the soil and plant.A case study was undertaken to assess the impact of municipal effluent irrigation on macro- and micro-nutrient (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn) concentration in soil and leaf of Eldar pine (Pinus eldarica Medw.) trees, in south of Tehran. For this purpose, the data were collected using the systematic random sampling technique with 4 replicates in two 15 year-old artificial Eldar pine stands a) under irrigation of municipal effluent and b) irrigated with well water. Municipal effluent and well water were sampled daily (3 days in each month) from early June to late November. Results indicated that the concentrations of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn) and zinc (Zn) in municipal effluent and leaf of the trees irrigated with municipal effluent were significantly greater compared to those of well water treatment. Application of municipal effluent resulted in a 1.5-fold increase in the concentrations of soil macro- and micro-nutrients. The nutrients showed their greatest values in the upper layer of soil (0-15 cm). Irrigation using municipal effluent did not result in toxicity of nutrients in tree leaf and soil. The macro- and micro-nutrient contents of leaf were correlated with their respective value in soil. Finally it was concluded that the municipal effluents could be utilized as a source of water and nutrients in forestry and green spaces.

Introduction: Coastal tourism and its environmental vulnerability assessment are of important issues in sea tourism. Implementation of appropriate laws and regulations to protect the environment can sustain development and increase the tourism. The aim of this study is to perform the environmental vulnerability assessment of tourism in coastal areas of Anzali using SWOT model.Material and Methods: First, the data on weaknesses, threats, opportunies and strengths in indoor and outdoor have been recognized. Then, the most important factors of weaknesses, threats points, strengths and opportunities were classified and analyzed using data matrix and axes. After the data analysis, the most important factors of internal and external vulnerability and rate of environmental sensitivity in coastal areas of Anzali were recognized.Results and discussion: The results of this paper showed that in coastal areas of Anzali the factors such as coastal strip of sandy beaches with a suitable slope is one the strengths, while lack of proper management of the polluted rivers from Rasht (Foumanat basin) and other regiobs entering into the coastal areas is one of the weaknesses. Among the external factors, taking advantage of the study results and planning for future management issues in tourism organizations can developed as factors to be considered for sustainable tourism.Unfortunately, despite some threatening external factors like lack of qualitative and quantitative integrity in planning for tourism can affect the environment of the regional. However, a strong executive management can maintain the living conditions in the region and help in its sustainable development.

In this work, the batch removal of Ni+2 ions from aqueous solution and wastewater using marine brown alga Sargassumwas investigated. Activated carbon, prepared from Sargassum by acid decomposition, was also used for the removal of Ni+2 from aqueous solution and wastewater. The effects of pH, biosorption time, adsorbent dose, metal ions concentration were considered. The most effective pH was found to be 5.0. The maximum uptake rates for nickel with initial concentrations of 30, 50 and 70 mg/L were obtained to be 97.8%, 84.53% and 60.34% respectively at pH=5. The equilibrium adsorption data were fitted to isotherm models. The adsorption followed second order kinetic. This study shows the application of activated carbon as valuable material for the removal of Ni+2 from aqueous solution and wastewater.

Introduction: Ecological condition in terms of drought, lack of precipitation, salinity of soil and water level restrict restoration of plant layer. Therefore, selection of the best managerial procedure is very important to provide vegetation to decrease the soil erosion. This research considers one of the unique ecosystem zones in terms of salinity, and high water level. The selected zone has been subjected overgrazing by animals in recent years, and this has resulted in intensified erosion and degredation of soil in the region.Materials and methods: To investigate the role of land use and its effects on soil surface, two areas including two farmlands and one rangeland in the vicinity of the study area were selected. Soil sampling was done to measure the physical (texture and structure) and chemical (nitrogen, PH, EC, organic material) fuatures in the three areas. Sampling method used in this study consisted of taking 3 transects of 100 m long from each area as well as taking 3 rendom samples to the depth of 15 cm from each transect by spade. To measure the amount of soil permeability in each area (exclusion, rangeland, dryland farming) 3 spots were selected randomly. This was performed in 3 replicates and totally 9 experiments were done.Results: The result of experiments indicated that exploitation in the form of rangeland and dryland farming had not a meaningful effect on the soil texture, but increased the compressibility of soil surface. Consequently no meaningful effect was observed in nitrogen and organic content of the soil. Land use in the form of dryland farming increased EC factor of soil, and in the form of rangeland had no meaningful effect on EC. The result of soil permeability experiment shows that the soil permeability in exclusion area is approximately 10 times and 9 times greater than soil permeability in the rangeland and the dryland farming, respectively.Results and Discussion: With regard to the hazards of desertification in the study area, exploitation in any form of land use (farming and pasture) should be viewed with hesitation. Considering the success of excluded area, decrease of salinity and increase of soil permeability, exclusion should be considered as an amendatory method.Dry farming can cause high salinity and decrease soil permeability. For this reason, it is required for that farmland to be converted to the implant pasture due to the low rate of precipitation in this zone.

Introduction and purpose: Land resources preservation is necessary to decrease the environmental impact of human activities. There are various kinds of decision making methods to organize land resources preservation plans. In this study, Fuzzy Simple Additive Weighting (FSAW) was applied for zoning some parts of the study area which needed to be preserved against any kind of land use.Materials and methods: At first, data collection was conducted and the effective criteria to decide on preservation plans were defined and weighted based on verbal variables and triangular fuzzy number system.Finally, maps were overlaid based on FSAW method for evaluation of the study area.Results: Final classification of the study area showed that the land classes for high, medium and low degree of priorities to apply preservation measures occupied 35, 58 and 8 % of the study area, respectively.Discussion and conclusion: The results approved that suitability of a land is classifiable for various types of land uses using FSAW. Moreover, the results showed that the central and southern parts of the study area were in an urgent need for preservation measures since intensive uses of land were mostly concentrated in those parts.

Biological diversity in Iran is in a way that it has formed exclusive and exceptional ecosystem which require protection as national heritage same as the way the flobal society has protected such phenomena as common mankind heritage through the Convention on Protection of Culutural and Natural Heritage (1972) in accordance with the selective-value based criteria implementing frameworks on the basis of originality, integrity and management in order to effectively protect such phenomenon at the present time and in the future.Based on the sturdies, Ira has registered 17 global cultural heritage sice 1975 (including Persepolis, Tchogha Zanbil, Takht-e soleyman, Bam and its cultural landscape, Soltaniyeh and Shahr-i-sokhta) whreras it has not registered ay natural heritage yet and it has merely presented some suggestions to UNESCO.In this regard, based on the library studies, interviews withexperts and study of the upstream documents and existing regulations, certain areas of four regions which have been mostly recognized as habitats are more qualified due to their conformity with the selective-value based criteria.Therefore, from 274 existing regios, 7 regios i.e.the National Park of Golesta, Kavir, Preserved district of Arasbaran, Genu, Arjan ad Parishan, Touran National Park, Preservation and shelter for the wildlife, Miankaleh wildlife shelter were selected and after comparative study with phenomena for the registration in the list of the Convention's Nuatural heritage.

Introduction: Today, by increase of urbanization in big cities and increase of solid waste percapita for industrialization of societies, waste collection and disposal have changed to one of the most important issues in municipal solid waste management. Solid waste landfills have adverse impacts on environment. These impacts will be intensified further when landfill sites are chosen without any site selection processes. Therefore, it is essential to apply the current evaluation techniques for identification of adverse impacts and offering suitable approaches in order to diminish the negative impacts.Materials and Methods: Many different parameters and criteria are used for site selection and evaluation of landfills. In this study, the landfill of Semnan has been evaluated by using the data from slope, topography, land use, soil type and ground water maps via three convetional methods of landfills evaluation.Results: This site is classified to be in a good category by Oleckno method, in acceptable category by Monavari method and in better score range by Drastic method.Conclousion: Despite this site has been chosen without any site selection process, it is located a in suitable position. According to this study, it is necessary to perform engineering action, design and landfill management in this site.

Introduction: Natural hazards like earthquakes, tornados and floods can cause considerable losses to lives and environmental properties. In order to develop an appropriate risk management and loss mitigation strategy, it is crucial to develop reliable methods for risk assessment. Risk assessment is defined by both assessing the likelihood and intensity of the natural disaster.Methodology: In order to assess earthquake vulnerability in this research, governing factors were identified and weighted using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Vulnerability map for census tracts of Tehran city has been provided with the help of Index Overlay (IO) and Fuzzy Logic methods. Results are presented visually in GIS environment.Results: The results indicate the preference of fuzzy logic in determining vulnerability of areas, although index overlay method with sufficient number of weight classes for each factor can bring similar results. In addition, index overlay method benefits from simplicity, faster problem solving and more flexibility in combining inputs and ranking outputs. A suitable method for the preparation of vulnerability map must observe the fuzziness rate of parameters, the appropriate selection of membership function and the optimized integration of data layers.

Introduction: The international community needs public participation to reduce environmental pollution. The architecture should organize its elements in line with the goals of sustainable development in addition to reducing the environmental pollution. Nowadays, green facade technology has become an important design component that can provide multiple benefits such as reducing air pollution and energy consumption. The main focus of this research is studying the impact of green walls on reduction of air pollution by absorption of pollutants from vehicles.Material & Method: In this research, the absorption rate of vehicles gasoline by urban green walls has been evaluated by chemical analysis of the samples taken from vegetation. Hedra-helix plant has been chosen for the experiment. The concentrations of sulphates and nitrates were determined by UV spectrophotometer absorption method. Furthermore, a plant covered surface on an urban green wall was examined for further chemival analysis.Result & Discussion: After exposing to car exhaust, concentration value for the sulphate was changed from 0.4 to 6.8 and for nitrate from 4.44 to 5.32. In the third sample, concentration values for sulphate and nitrate were 13600 and 2700 milligram per liter, respectively.Conclusion: The results from the samples revealed that Hedra-helix can efficiently uptake the pollutants such as sulfate and nitrate. In addition, this plant had a higher cleansing effect for sulfates than nitrates.

Background and purpose: Tourism is one of the world’s most important green industries. Different factors can affect development of any area for tourism and recreation. These factors include distribution and number of population, land ownership, air quality, surface and underground water recourses, pollution, landscape type, urban design and structure, landscape esthetic, social believes, culture, biological criteria and so on. The aim of this research is resources assessment for tourism development in the Ziyarat watershed of Gorgan in Golestan province.Method: First, effective factors on tourism were identified in this area. Then, their maps were provided in geographical information system. Analytical Hierarchically Procedure (AHP) was used for weighting the maps.Multi Criteria Evaluation (MCE) method was used to determine appropriate sites for both of tourism landuse. At the end, two final maps were merged together and the area's tourism landuse map was determined.Results: According to result, 1137.15 hectares of the watershed was allocated to the extensive tourism and 6.48 hectares to the intensive tourism.Conclusion: Considering to results, low allocated intensive tourism especially their dispersal and fragmentation show this fact the area is not suitable for intensive developing and has not essential potential for infrastructures construction especially dense buildings. So, it is recommended residential constructions are controlled in this area and the area is developed parallel to extensive tourism.

Introduction: Land cover changes are among the most important alterations of the Earth’s land surface which affect the environment and environmental processes.Material and Methods: In this study, aerial photos from 1956 and 1972, Landsat TM and IRS-P6 LISS-III images obtained in 1980 and 2006 as well as the post-classification method were used to detect land cover changes and to evaluate Arak and its periphery during 1956-2006. At first, geometric correction was done to prepare aerial photos and satellite images. For this purpose, topographic maps at scales of 1: 50000 and 1: 25000 and nearest neighbor method and resampling method were applied. Root mean square error for all aerial photos and satellite images was less than one pixel. Afterwards, all georefrenced photos were mosaicked and land cover maps with 4 classes (urban areas, vegetated areas, barren lands, and rocks) were generated using visual interpretation of aerial photos. Following satellite images geometric correction, topographic correction was applied to images using DEM and Lambert model. In the next step, thye artificial neural networks classification method was implemented after producing false color composite images and image fusion.Results: Land cover maps in four classes were generated with overall accuracy of over 90%. To detect the land cover changes during 4 periods between 1956 and 2006, land cover maps of 1956, 1972, 1990 and 2006 were compared, and change maps and Tables were made. The results showed significant urban expansion, vegetated and barren lands losses and stability in rocks and mountainous areas during 1956-2006.

Forestation is one of the most suitable methods to increase the carbon sequestration potential which has been taken into consideration by many countries recently. This study was done in Chitgar forest park of Tehran in order to evaluate the carbon sequestration content of biomass (above and belowground), litter and soil (0-15 and 15-30cm) of 40 years old stands of Cupressus arizonica, Robinia pseudoacacia and the surrounding barren land (as blank). The results indicated that the content of carbon sequestration in R. pseudoacacia stand was 493.35 Mg/ha which was significantly (p<0.01) more than content of carbon sequestration inC.arizonica stand (328.82 Mg/ha) and barren land (10.8 Mg/ha). The trunk of trees had the highest share of total carbon sequestration (61% in R. pseudoacacia stand and 56% in C. arizonica stand). The percentages of sand, nitrogen and soil pH were also important factors affecting the soil organic carbon. The economical values of carbon sequestration through the mentioned stands were calculated as 20 and 3.5 million dollars respectively. The results showed that forestation plays an important role in increasing the potential of carbon sequestration in barren lands ecosystem.Since carbon sequestration potential was different among the studied stands, assigning and applying an appropriate management approach to select the species to improve the fertility and thereby increase the carbon sequestration and also to reduce the negative effects of climate change have a great importance in forestation.

The young population of Iran and increasing graduated youth requires job-creating opportunities to tackle with unemployment and social-economical deterioration. Today, ecotourism development is one of the tourism branches which is connected to local population development, and local population participation is considered to be the principal factor in ecotourism development. Therefore, development of this industry can lead to employment of the youth. This study was carried out to investigate the strategies for development of ecotourism in the Natural Resources Cooperatives. From objectives point of view this study is classified to be practical, and from methodology point of view it is classified to be descriptive. Statistical population of the study were 123 members of Board of Directors of the Natural Resources Cooperatives in Golestan province which were selected by census. A pilot test was carried out to measur the validity of the questionnaires. Result of Alfa-Cronbakh for the questionnaires was obtained to be 87%. Results of regression test showed that territorial population training in the Natural Resources Cooperatives, communication and territorial population participation in ecotourism development programs have positive effects on ecotourism development. Totally, these factors address 50% of the factors affecting ecotourism development by the Natural Resources Cooperatives.

Introduction: The study was done in forest of Tehran University in Noshahr. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of fern application as bioindicator of site condition and to determine the effective physical and chemical factors of soil on distribution range of growing elements.Material & Method: For this purpose, the selective sampling method was used to locate samples, and totally 55 samples were selected in the study area. For floristic studies on herb stratification, parts of an area of 100 m2 (plot size) were determined and the herb layer was recored using modified Braun Blanquet Tables.Soil samples were taken from the center and four corner pieces of the samples, in the depth of 0-20 cm soil horizon, and the physical and chemical properties of soil (moisture saturated, pH, soil texture, lime, phosphorus, total nitrogen percentage, potassium exchange, organic matter percentage) and physiographic factors (height, slope and aspect) were examined. The environmental variables in the analysis (cluster analysis, DCA and CCA) were used to analyze the data in order to determine the relationship between vegetation and plant cover (grass).Result and Discussion: The survey results showed that amon the various physiographic factors (slope, direction and altitude), slope is the most important factor in the establishment of species such as Phylitis scolopendrium and Polystichum aculeatum, and in the absence of two species named Peteridum aquilinum and Pteris cretica direction is the most important factor in the establishmentAsplenium adiantum. Athyrum filix-femina, Phylitis scolopendriumand Polystichum aculeatum are observed where the amounts of acidity, organic matter and slope percentage are high. In other words, establishment of Athyrum filix-femina, Phylitis scolopendrium, and Polystichum aculeatumis influenced by the environmental factors of pH, organic matter and slope percentage.Belechnum Spicantis abserved in the areas with light soil (sand) and Asplenium adiantum-nigrum and Polystichum aculeatumare observed in the soils with heavy texture (clay).

Introduction: Agricultural and specifically industrial activities have led to the substantial release of toxic heavy metals into the environment posing a major hazard to ecosystem and human health. Today, contamination of soil, groundwater, sediments, surface water and air with hazardous and toxic metal is considered as a serious problem worldwide. In assessment of the risk associated with metal contaminated soils, metal absorption by food chain is one of the major problems. Thus, it is highly important to assess and control metal concentration in industrial wastewater before it isreleased to the natural environments. The presence of heavy metals, such as Ni, Cr, Cu, Cd and Pb, that are phenomenally seen in industrial sawage can be toxic to human and other organisms, even at low concentration. Nowadays, soils in many places have been contaminated with heavy metals and these soils have turned into one of the most important problems specially in disposal areas.Material and Methods: In this study, in order to investigate the effect of an industrial wastewater on the heavy metals contaminated soil, it was sampled in 4 points and 4 depths including 0-25, 25-50, 50-75 and 75-100 cm, along the soil draine. Soil samples went through a physical and chemical analysis and were assessed for the heavy metal concentration. The electrical coductivity of soil saturation extract was determined by ohm-meter, soil texture was investigated by the Hydrometer method, the lime percentage was detrmined by Titrimetric method, total heavy metals concentration was specified by the acid nitric digestion method, and cation exchangable capacity in soil samples was identified by the Acetate method. Finally, the data analysis was done by SASS.Result and Conclusions: According to the obtained results and based on the standard limits in agricultural and industrial lands, soil samples were found to be toxic only for Ni, refering to low heavy metal concentration in wastewater samples. Statistical analysis results showed that there is a negative correlation between the soil depth and heavy metal concentration, which refers to low mobility rate of heavy metals specially in soils with a high content of lime and pH.

Introduction: The present study was conducted to investigate the reasons for illegal hunting and fishing in Golestan and Mazanderan provinces during 2007-2008.Methods: In this study, the references such as books, papers, and magazines about the wild life and hunting laws were identified, and for this purpose, all the references in the existing libraries were studied. To find out the reason of crimes related to hunting and fishing, three methods were used: 1- Investigating the documents and records related to the last decade, 2- Providing an especial questionnaire for hunters, and 3- Providing an especial questionnaire for environmental lovers.Result and Conclusions: Results revealed that there were great differences, from different points of view, between the two provinces. Lack of rangers and deficient protective actions were the most important causes for hunting and fishing violations in both provinces. The questioners completed by hunters and fisrhemen showed that sport, recreation and especially need for food (meat) were the main incentives for violation. In both of the provinces, the rate of illegal hunting of wild animals in the areas under the management of Department of Environment (DOE) was higher than other violations. Hunting types were quite different in both provinces.However, bird hunting had the highest rate among other violations. Distribution of the detected hunting and fishing instruments was not equal in both provinces and among their towns. Furthermore, types of hunting and fishing instruments were quite different, and there was an unequal distribution of illegal fishing and hunting of wild mammals, birds and aquatics among the towns. There was also a great difference in the range and manner of harms to the environment in the two provinces. Therefore, correlation coefficient was higher in Mazanderan province than Golestan province. Finally, based on the results and the diversity in the two provinces, in terms of types of crime and means of crime, some solutions were presented to reduce the mentioned crimes.

Introduction: Biogas is a clean and renewable energy that can be a good alternative to the conventional sources of energy. The purpose of this study is to produce biogas from kitchen waste and sheep manure in a laboratory scale.Materials & Methods: In this study, biogas production from kitchen waste was investigated. Anaerobic digestion experiments were performed using one-liter bottles as a reactor at room temperature. The effects of the waste weathering, sheep manure, concentration of solid waste, sheep manure percentage and time of the preparation of bacterial environment in biogas production efficiency and methane percentage in biogas were investigated.Results: Experimental results showed that kitchen wastes, which are not affected by aerobic fermentation, can be fermented to methane gas in anaerobic digestion. Also, addition of sheep manure as a supplier source of anaerobic bacteria increases biogas production significantly. In this case, the mean value of biogas produced was measured to be 14/65 ml/g of dry solid and 16/25 ml/g of dry kitchen waste. In addition, it was concluded that if methanogen source is prepared within 16-20 days, the biogas production process would be completed in about 24 hours and biogas would consist mainly of methane.Discussion and conclusions: The obtained results from anaerobic digestion of kitchen waste in the presence of methanogen showed that, if the concentration of methanogen bacteria is quite enough before adding to the waste and organic acids production from the first stage of digestion, produced acids are converted to biogas (methane) upon formation and produced gas is mainly methane.

Introduction: In today's competitive world, certainly one of the most important tools for the creation, development and survival of a system to achieve its desired goals and policies is the new approaches and programs of education. The aim of this study is to examine the role of strategic planning in achieving sustainable development and introducing the key educational sustainable developement strategies in order to address the environmental challenges in Iran with respect to strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.Materials and methods: Using a descriptive–analytic method and configuring researches on the basis of SWOT analysis, the features necessary for the planned strategies and the principles necessary for strategic planning in different levels were presented through assessing the stages of strategic planning for sutainable development training with an emphasis on environment.Findings: In this paper, the process to achieve the objectives of strategic model was mentioned in 5 stages.Moreover, an organized sample of SWOT analysis about environmental training on sustainable development was presented in 4 sections of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and the strategies about training preferences for sustainable development and environment preservation were suggested in 4 strategies of competitive/offensive, differentiating, reviewing and defensive.Conclusion: Training for sustainable development should be performed in strategic planning to give chance to the opportunities which come out of the threats by exploring the strengths and weaknesses from the core of existing threats. The chosen strategies should be considered under the studied processes in a timely manner by the local institutions and people as supported by the governmental directors, policies, regulations, procedures and provisions according to the priority.

Introduction: An appropriate urban landfill site selection prevents environmental issues in cities. This study aimed to identify the suitable sites for landfill site selection based on an estimated population of 20 years and the area required for landfill sites in Minoodasht town using Fuzzy logic model in GIS and Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchical (FAHP).Materials & Methods: Selecting a suitable site for landfill requires several factors. In this regard, application of spatial data and their integration with other planning and management activities would be necessary according to the complexity of affecting factors in site selection. For this purpose, the integrated Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and multi-criteria decision-making methods (MCDM) can be implemeneted as perfect tools for landfill site selection.Findings: The present study focuses on using many data layers including distance from roads, elevation, slope, land use, precipitation, distance from faults, distance from surface waters, distance from protected areas, geology and distance from city and villages for an appropriate landfill site selection of Minoodasht town. Maps of each data layer, standardized in IDRISI software, were prepared in the form of fuzzy. Then, in order to integrate the layers, fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) and GIS were applied.Result: Ultimately, the final maps were oulined by applying 5 operators of fuzzy Gamma, Fuzzy Product, Fuzzy AND, Fuzzy OR and Fuzzy SUM. Then, the suitable landfill site selection maps were chosen and all of them were classified into four categories of suitable, average, weak and very weak, and the suitable category became dappling. Methods with their spots area less than the required area of landfill were excluded. Finally, AND and GAMMA methods determined the suitable landfill site for a period of 20-years with the score of 0.9.

Introduction: Sound comfort is an essential aspect of physical comfort of urban parks. In this study, to present a method for evaluating the acoustic comfort, noise emission levels were measured in 30 points located in five parks including Mellat, Saei, Laleh, Shahr and Besat parks in Tehran.Methods: LAeq (equivalent continues noise level) LAFmax, LAFmin, LA10, LA50 and LA90 were measured and calculated. Moreover, using an intensive questionnaire acoustic comfort was surveyed based on the quality and level of sound.Results: Filed studies showed that sound level in all points of the parks is over 63dB which is exceeding the standard limit of 55 dB. Perception of sound sources within the soundscape was found to be a better predictor of soundscape quality than the measured sound levels. The results clearly indicate that the level of discomfort or comfort of user is not necessarily connected to sound levels and can be related to other factors rooted in the environment and in the receiver himself.Conclusion: The results show that space planning, distance from the main city roads, green belt around park’s boundary and music player’s position considerably affect acoustic comfort in the urban parks.

Introduction: Balekhloo River is one of the main branches of Garasoo River in Ardebil province and supplies the water of Yamchi Dam. This dam is of high importance as it supplies the drinking and agricultural water of Ardebil and Sarein cities. Considering the different pollution sources like the wastewater from residential, industrial, agricultural areas and hot springs, bioassessment seems to be essential for conservation of biolife in this river.Methodology: This study is conducted for biological assessment of Balekhloo River based on population and species of fish in five stations in two seasons of low water and high water during 2010-2011. In this study, fish sampling was done by Electro shocker, and physical and chemical parameters were measured simultaneously.Result: In this study, 8 fish species belonging to 4 families were identified with most of them being Cyprinidae Cobitidae. The result of Shannon index varied between 0 (station 3) and 1.33 (station 5) in sampling seasons.Conclusion: The results show that Shannon index is suitable for quality assessment in the river. Results of physicochemical assessment confirmed the result of Taxa richness and Shannon indexes. Finally, by comparison of the physical, chemical and biological parameters, the water quality in Balekhloo River was classified into three regions of low (4 and 5 stations), moderate (1 and 2 stations) and high (station 3) pollution.

Background: Zinc is one of the most important metals often found in effluents discharged from industries. It is important for the phyonsiological functions of living tissues and regulates many biochemical processes.However, excessive zinc can cause eminent health problems. The aim of this study was to investigate zinc removal from aqueous solutions using chitin extracted from carapace crab shells.Methods: To study the removal of zinc, chitin extracted from carapace crab shells was used as biosorbent in a batch system. Also the influence of pH, initial metal concentration, amount of adsorbent and contact time on adsorption process was investigated.Results: The results of this research showed that the absorption capacity of zinc closely depends on the pH of solution, because zinc absorption concentration (mg/g) increased with the increase of pH. The maximum biosorption capacity of Zn2+ onto chitin (181.181 mg/g) was obtained at biomass dosage of 4g/L and contact time of 180 min. The result showed that removal efficiency of zinc was decreased by increase of initial zinc concentration. The results of equilibrium studies revealed that zinc absorption process on the extracted chitin was desirable and followed the Freundlich isotherm model and pseudo second kinetic model. Moreover, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results demonstrated that functional groups such as amine (-NH2 (and hydroxyl (-OH) had the largest effect on zinc adsorption.Conclusion: According to the obtained results, the chitin extracted from crab shells appears to be a suitable adsorbent for the removal of zinc from aqueous solutions.

Introduction: According to huge utilization of domestic and urban wastewaters in planting and agricultural fields around big cities, nowadays local researches about this fields and observation of different outcomes from irrigation by wastewater have got a great importance.Materials and Methods: In this research, the discharging wastewater from wastewater treatment fplant of Parkand Abad in Mashhad (BOD=169.5 & TSS=138 & SAR=14.6) and water of the well (EC=740 micro M per second) have been used as samples. Irrigation and experiments were performed in the fields of 4 m2 which were surrounded by soil of farm. With, the fields were irrigated one to five times with wastewater and water from the well, and every time the amount of irrigation was 150 mm. Afterwards, by using concentric cylinders, absorption potentiality and full hydraulic conduction were estimated. Other chemical and physical parameters of the soil in the fields were measured according to the guidelines presented in the book of standard methods.Findings: Irrigation with wastewater effects density of the soil and decreases its amount, so that with 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 times increase in wastewater irrigation, 2, 6.6, 4, 15.7 and 17.6 % decrease in soil density were observed respectively. Moreover by increasing the times of irrigation by wastewater, ions of sodium, phosphorus, nitrates and nickel were increased as well. The maximum increase was seen in nitrates ions (38%) and sodium (84%).The amount of absorption potentiality in the fields irrigated with water and wastewater was less than the fields which were not irrigated at all. It was even lesser in the fields which were irrigated by wastewater. Also from the second irrigation on, due to formation a seleh layer, absorption was suddenly reached to its maximum rate (0.34 mm per minute) and absorption was controlled by this seleh layer. One of the most important reasons for seleh layer formation was existence of sodium particles in wastewater which were absorbed by the soil. It seemed that sodium ion iduced the scattering particles of soil. Therefor, small particles filled the pores and prevented absorption of water by the soil.

Among different natural principles, water and plants are of greater importance. They usually influence other natural factors. If they are carefully taken into consideration at the time of environmental designing, a more qualified sustainable living space will be achieved, which in return will result in economic saving. Meanwhile, it is important to be familiar with the different conceptual, functional and esthetic aspects of the mentioned principles to be able to organize them in a better way. Herein, the wise combination of water and plants in Persian gardens is a remarkable example of their kind which crystallizes a sustainable design with respect to the above aspects. This paper investigates the importance of water, trees and flowers -as leading environmental factors- in Islamic documents in addition to some gnostics viewpoints. The position of these principles in Persian gardens is discussed afterwards. The results show that the Persian garden has a wise, philosophical design concept in which the environmental factors as water and plants are arranged not only to provide people with their physical needs (fuctional and esthetic aspects), but also to focus on their metaphysical and intellectual aspects (conceptual aspect). These qualities have made the Persian gardens to survive over the centuries, while harnessing a great cooperative relationship with nature.

Environmental education can be called a new discipline by which human being can continue his living by nature better. In this discipline, principal, values, personal responsibility, and even professional behavior of customs should be evolved to match the nature. In order to establish this educational and intellectual system, the current investigation attempts to analyze the environment’s educational needs of students in Khouzestan province. This study is an applied and descriptive type of survey in terms of aim and methodology. Sampling population consisted of male and female students of secondary schools and high schools of Khuzestan province during the academic year 1386-1387 (2007-2008). The samples consisted of 1067 students which were selected through cluster sampling from Ahvaz, Behbahan, Masjed Soleiman, and Bandar-e-Emam cities. The questionnaire for gathering information was prepared based on experts’ opinionsa bout environmental education and has a considerable validity and reliability. The research data analysis was done with the help of descriptive statistics, including various distribution Tables, mean and standard deviation as well as inferential statistic F test, chisquare test, analysis of variance, correlation coefficient, Duncan test, and factor analysis. The findings of the present study are as follows: 1)The textbooks’ contents do not provide the students with adequate information about the student’s living environment, 2) School teachers in Khouzestan don’t supply the students with relevant information about the area’s environment, 3) Extracurricular and side activities related to environment are rare in schools of Khouzestan province, and they fail to provide the students with enough information about their living environment and surroundings, and 4) Extracurricular activities proved to be more effective in motivating the students towards environment and enhancing their knowledge than the two variables oftextbooks’ content and teachers.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) form a group of compounds compused of two or more fused aromatic rings that are carcinogen and mutagenic to human and animals. They are formed by the incomplete combustion of organic matter and fossil fuesl. PAHs are released into the environment along with the wastewater of cokeproducting factories, oil refineries and industrials that use very high temperature. These compounds are also the primary substances used for the production of cosmetics, polymers, highly explosive fertilizer, colours and etc.that are transfer to the environment when used. Today biodegradation of PAHs by microorganisms is the best way for fending these contamination, and since these bacteria have a variety enzymes, thay are the best microorganisms. Anthracene is tricyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, solid and Phenanthrene isomer. Anthracene is major source for colours such Anthrakinon and Alizarin. It is formed by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels. In this paper, we isolated the anthracene degrading gram negative bacteria from Maharlu lake. The samples of sediments and water were collected from four sites in Maharlu lake. Samples were filtered and cultured in mineral medium that included inorganic compounds, trace elements and anthracene. After sequential culturing in specialized medium and conducting the biochemical tests, the gram negative bacteria were isolated and the species and genus were identified. The bacteria included Pseudomonas, Vibrio, Nocardia, Aeromonas, and Mycobacterium isolated and characterized as anthracene-degrading bacteria from the lake. Among these bacteria, the highest amount was detected in Khoshk river estury and the least amount was found the central part of the the lake. However, Pseudomonas had the highest dispersal rate and could be used as an anthracenedegrading indicator species.

Introduction: Textile industry is of those industries whose wastewater includes different pollutants. Therefore, conventional treatments are not able to treat all of the textile wastewater pollutants. Chemical coagulation may be suitable for the removal of Total Suspended Solids (TSS) as a pre- treatment.Materials & Methods: In this study, after monitoring the wastewater from Mazandaran textile factory, which is currently discharged into the river without treatment, Jar test, alum, calcium oxide, ferrous sulfate, ferrous chloride and barium chloride were applied to investigate the maximum amount of TSS removal with the change of pH.Results & Discussion: In addition to the type of coagulator, other parameters such as coagulation cost, sensitivity to pH change, the amount of sludge generation and side effects are effective on selection of coagulation. Hence, to select optimally, AHP was applied using Expert choice software considering the important effective parameters in decision making. Moreover, the score of each parameter was used considering the related experts’ opinion included in the questionnaires.The results of Jar test and AHP indicated that calcium oxide was the best choice for reduction TSS in thye wastewater from Mazandaran textile factory. Also the Jar test results indicated 70% dye removal and 30% COD removal using calcium oxide as a coagulant.

The environmental sciences can be constituted based on some branches of natural science, social science and applied science. Solving environmental problems requires integration of expertise in some academic disciplines.This challenge stems from the essence of environmental sciences as they have an interdisciplinary nature. The most academic disciplines have specialized research methodology, but environmental sciences sill require some research methodologies. The aim of this paper is to present a qualitative research methodology for solving environmental problems and responding the expected questions through gathering and inferring from the results of various qualitative studies. In this paper, various qualitative research approaches used in the studies are discussed. Using qualitative research is inevitable under some conditions. Based on presented cases, the capability of qualitative research in environmental areas is explained. Qualitative research can respond many questions posed in the environmental researches and professional reports. Moreover, qualitative research approaches may be used to respond the questions raised during the preparation of the environmental professional reports. This research methodology has the advantage that can be performed with minimum planning and equipment. In many complex environmental studies, designing of quantitative research is very difficult or impossible. In this condition, using a qualitative research design can be an appropriate option.

Aim and scope: The area, shape and configuration of habitat patches are crucial features in landscape ecology studies, and they are also important to habitat evaluation and habitat suitability. Wild sheep belongs to Bovidae Family found in Kavir national park. The most important feature of the wild sheep habitat is its proximity to escape terrain (as a cover for avoiding the predators). Understanding habitat requirements in landscape level is essential for successful management and conservation of wild sheep.Materials: We used logistic regression approach to develop a habitat suitability model for wild sheep in Kavir national park using landscape ecology metrics such as shape, size and proximity of habitat patches based on field data gathered from autumn 2009 to summer 2010.Results: Due to the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test statistic is greater than.05, so that the model has an adequate fit. Habitat suitability model indicated good discrimination based on the receiver-operation characteristic (ROC) criteria (ROC>0.97), indicating that habitat suitability model can explain distribution of wild sheep reasonably well.

In Iran, Cardaria DESV. genus has one species called Cardaria draba (L.) DESV. This plant is pereniale and its lower leaves are petiolate, entire, lyrate or sinuate. Its upper leaves are sessile with cordate or slightly sagittate base, ovate-oblong, often serrate-sinuate, amplexicaule, with (or without) stipule, and inflorescence dense corymbe. Its fruit is silicule and obcordate. Pollen grains morphology was studied using an optical microscope and scaning electrony microscope to evaluate the phylogenetic relationships. For optical microscope studies, the pollen grains were asetolysied with Erdthman method. After spraying the samples with gold, the pollen grains were studied by an electron microscope model Philips XL 30 PD. Pollen grains are single, isopolar, tricolpate, elliptic in equatorial view, and round in polar view. The size Pollen grain varies from15 to 35 μm in length and from 18 to 40 μm in width and their tectum is reticulate. Features of pollen grains are used as coupled with other traits in the interpretation of systematic relationships of this genus.

Objective: Women constitute more than half of the population, however, designers do not pay attention to their special needs. Architecture is for human and human could be divided in two groups: males and females. They are different in sex and gender, because of their different gender roles in society they have some different and special needs in using the spaces. Sometimes spaces, exactly public spaces, for a part of user (women) are not suitable because gender needs are overlooked. Gendered spaces as a problem will be appeared when we forget gender differences, so that some users (women) have to leave the space and in this way a general space is converted to a specific space. This research attempts to find and explain these spaces by focusing on women psychological and behavior needs in public spaces as parks.Method: Research methodology is survey and case study is chosen from some parks of Tabriz.Result: This research attempts to to clarify the process of being gendered and to investigate the spaces in three ways of being gendered: 1-By planning 2-By design process 3-By occupation and future using.Finally, three factors were found: sparated spaces, easy circulation and domination on space in parks that make suitable spaces for women.