• XML

    isc pubmed crossref medra doaj doaj
  • List of Articles


      • Open Access Article

        1 - Analyzing the sixth economic, social and cultural development plan of the Islamic Republic of Iran to achieve sustainable development of agriculture, natural resources and environment
        Somayeh Esmaeili
        Development for the purpose of managed intervention since 1948 and sustainable development for the purpose of continuation of managed actions in the future since 1995 have been the focus of the country's plans. Despite the experience of eleven long-term planning in this More
        Development for the purpose of managed intervention since 1948 and sustainable development for the purpose of continuation of managed actions in the future since 1995 have been the focus of the country's plans. Despite the experience of eleven long-term planning in this process, the country is still facing the big challenge of not fulfilling the development goals of the program law based on the approved documents. The present research has been carried out by the review and meta-analytical studies by analyzing the law of the sixth five-year economic, social and cultural development plan of the Islamic Republic of Iran (2017-2021) with a focus on the natural resources sector. Due to the close relationship between the agricultural sector and its impact on the environment, the relationship between all three sectors has been integrated into one structure. The results of the review of the country's sixth planning law in the natural resources, environment and agriculture sectors show that there is a serious gap in the formulation of the plan and its implementation, which is due to the lack of a desirable, coordinated and optimal planning system and the lack of coherent and institutional communication between It leads to planning, policy making and budgeting. A set of general rules, ideal goals and numerous and diverse topics in the programs and the lack of precise determination of the required and achievable resources along with other combinations of development programs lead to the failure to achieve the goals of the program and development of the country in this regard, which shows a serious contradiction in the sustainable view of natural compatible resources with agriculture and environment district. Therefore, it is necessary to make a serious change in the treatment-oriented view of development planning and instead use a systematic prevention-oriented and prediction-oriented view. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        2 - Rehabilitation of Aquatic Ecosystems Based on environmental water rights upstream of Water Reservoirs with Inlet Flow Prediction Approach (Case Study: Taleghan Dam Basin)
        Zahra Nafariyeh Mahdi Sarai Tabrizi Hossein Babazadeh Hamid Kardan Moghaddam
        Limited water resources and increased water demand in recent decades have caused irreparable damage to the country's water resources. One of the important components in surface water optimization and management is long-term and short-term river flow forecasts. The aim o More
        Limited water resources and increased water demand in recent decades have caused irreparable damage to the country's water resources. One of the important components in surface water optimization and management is long-term and short-term river flow forecasts. The aim of the present study is to compare the performance of two Bayesian BN network models with probabilistic approach and MLP neural network. Then selecting the best structural model for flow prediction is another goal of the present study. Monthly meteorological data including precipitation, monthly average temperature, evaporation and. Also, the volume of water transferred from five hydrometric stations entering the Taleghan Dam from 2006 to 2018 was introduced as input data to the models. and runoff to the dam was considered as predictable. Then, with the aim of estimating the best Prediction pattern structure, Input data with different layouts were introduced to the models. In the next step, using the hydrological method of Tennant, The environmental discharge was calculated And the probability of these discharges occurring in the registration data and seventeen patterns in the Easyfit software environment was calculated. Then comparing the selected pattern according to the probability of occurrence and the criteria of the index, Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient (NS), root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute prediction error (MAPE) was performed. The best model in BN model with 43.3% similarity and index criteria were estimated to be -3.98, 300, 17.3 and 0.06, respectively. MLP model with 80% similarity and index criteria were introduced as -10.3, 8266, 23.9 and 122.3 in the best model, respectively. As a result, both models performed well in runoff estimation, but comparing the environmental probabilities of the two models in the top five patterns, the BN model has an acceptable accuracy . The basin was also found to be at environmental risk. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        3 - Optimizing the exploitation of the Shahryar plain aquifer by simulating the groundwater flow using the combined modeling method
        Nima Salehi Shafa Hossein Babazadeh Fayaz Aghayari Ali Saremi MohammadReza Ghafouri Masoud Safavi Ali Panahdar
        In this study, a multi-objective simulation model was presented and six scenarios were defined based on the groundwater budget for optimal exploitation of Shahryar plain aquifer. For this purpose, first, using the GIS based models and using fuzzy and weight methods, the More
        In this study, a multi-objective simulation model was presented and six scenarios were defined based on the groundwater budget for optimal exploitation of Shahryar plain aquifer. For this purpose, first, using the GIS based models and using fuzzy and weight methods, the regions with high water and low water in the study area were identified in order to prioritize resources and uses. Then the desired scenarios were simulated and evaluated by the (GMS) model. Finally, in order to increase the accuracy of the research results, the (TDS) concentration and the groundwater budget were simulated using the artificial neural network model (ANN). According to the results of fuzzy and weighted methods, the areas of Rabat Karim, then Islamshahr and finally Shahryar were identified as low water areas. Based on the obtained results, the unsteady state budget and verification were calculated as -344.68 and -109.98 (MCM), respectively. The third scenario with a budget of 203.33 (MCM) was chosen as the best scenario and the budget resulting from that, ratio to the budget resulting from the model (GMS) and the neural network for the year 95, has increased by 284.87 percent and 284.83 percent respectively. Also, the concentration of total dissolved solids in the groundwater obtained from the desired models in the entire study period was estimated by 655 and 651 mg/liter on average. The criteria of correlation coefficient and determination coefficient obtained from neural network models for groundwater budget and total data were estimated to be equal to one and for the total dissolved solids concentration of groundwater were estimated to be 0.997 and 0.994, respectively. In the present research, the multi-objective simulation pattern as a comprehensive and practical method by providing new simulation methods has the ability to support several effective scenarios and leads to increase the stability of the groundwater system. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        4 - Investigation of total petroleum hydrocarbons in the peripheral sediments of the coral ecosystems of the Persian Gulf islands (Case study: Qeshm, Hengam and Lavan)
        Mehdi Soltani Saber Ghasemi Ehsan Kamrani
        The second richest habitat on the planet after tropical forests is dedicated to coral ecosystems. This ecosystem plays a significant role in balancing the amount of carbon and nitrogen, maintaining coastlines against destruction caused by continuous waves, storms, flood More
        The second richest habitat on the planet after tropical forests is dedicated to coral ecosystems. This ecosystem plays a significant role in balancing the amount of carbon and nitrogen, maintaining coastlines against destruction caused by continuous waves, storms, floods, creating a marine environment, nutrients for the food chain, and also balancing the delicate system of nature. Today, the extraction, exploitation and transportation of oil have left the biggest role in the destruction of the coral coasts of the Persian Gulf. Samples of marine and coastal sediments of Qeshm, Hengam and Lavan coral islands from a depth of about 0-5 cm were randomly collected according to the MOOPAM method and the concentration of total petroleum hydrocarbons was measured by UVF device in μg/g of sediment. The texture type of sediments indicated that the highest percentage of fine particles (Silt+Clay) in marine and coastal sediments of Lavan Island is 51.58% and 51.01%, respectively. The average detected concentrations of TPH are lower than the environmental risk background value (4 μg/g). The highest concentration of petroleum hydrocarbons is observed in the marine and coastal sediment stations of Lavan Island, which can be due to the facilities and activities of oil and fishing vessels in this island. Also, the assessment of the environmental risk caused by TPH pollution on aquatic organisms using indicators of sediment quality guidelines (SOGs) and contamination factor (Cf) showed that the investigated sediments do not have any adverse biological effects on aquatic organisms. Exploitation, marine transportation, oil spills and its derivatives are considered as one of the main reasons for the destruction and negative ecological effects on the coral reefs of the Persian Gulf, which this challenge of the need to protect the coastal areas and the environment makes marine life more obvious with a sustainable development approach. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        5 - The four areas of the environment and the challenges of ownership and property rights
        Masoud Mansour Iraj Hosseini Sadr Abadi Dariush Karimi
        According to the law of hunting and fishing, the law of protection and improvement of the environment, and the conventions and regulations of the IUCN, some parts of the country are classified as four environmental areas (national parks, national natural monuments, prot More
        According to the law of hunting and fishing, the law of protection and improvement of the environment, and the conventions and regulations of the IUCN, some parts of the country are classified as four environmental areas (national parks, national natural monuments, protected areas, and wildlife refuges). By the end of 2021, a total of 309 areas with 18.9 million hectares, equivalent to 11.5% of the country's area, have been approved as four areas, which can be considered in the field of public ownership (Anfal), government, private or a combination of them and be exploited with a specific use. While examining the effect of determining the four regions on the ownership and its documents, the ownership rights and exploitation, the adequacy or inadequacy of the existing regulations that need to be amended or supplemented to the system has been investigated. The relevant executives should follow up their approval process through the Islamic Council or the Board of Ministers, it is suggested as follows:- Adding two notes to articles 2 to 5 and one note to article 12 of the Executive Regulations of the Environmental Protection and Improvement Law.- Adding a note to Article 6 of the aforementioned law.- Adding a note to Article 9 of Hadnagar Law.- Amendment of Note 4, Article 31 of the Law on Protection and Exploitation of Forests and Ranges.The result shows that if these suggestions are applied, the ambiguities and challenges related to obtaining the ownership documents of natural resources located in the four regions and the system of its exploitation along with the problems between the two organizations of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources and Watershed Management regarding judicial and administrative measures, especially issues related to damages caused by public and construction projects in the mentioned areas, will be resolved Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        6 - Elevational shift of Carpinus betulus L. under the future climate change in northern Iran
        Mahdieh Khalatbari Limaki Majid Es-hagh-Nimvari seyed jalil Alavi Asadollah Mataji farid Kazemnezhadad
        Although there are concerns about the impact of climate change on forests, the impact of future climate change on tree species in the Hyrcanian forests has been less studied. The effect of climate change on the distribution of species usually leads to the movement of sp More
        Although there are concerns about the impact of climate change on forests, the impact of future climate change on tree species in the Hyrcanian forests has been less studied. The effect of climate change on the distribution of species usually leads to the movement of species to higher altitudes and latitudes. Hornbeam is the most abundant tree species in the Hyrcanian forests, which is distributed in a large part of northern Iran. In this study, the effect of climate change on the change of hornbeam species height using species distribution models are currently being studied under different climate change scenarios for 2050 and 2070. In this study, various statistics including TSS, AUC, KAPPA, Sensitivity and Specificity were used to evaluate the performance of species distribution models. According to the model evaluation criteria, the random forest model had a higher efficiency than other models in the distribution of hornbeam in northern Iran. The future prediction of species distribution models showed that climate change will have a negative impact on the distribution of hornbeam, which will significantly reduce the areas with the potential for the presence of this species under RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 in 2050 and 2070. The results showed that the hornbeam species currently has the greatest potential for presence up to an altitude of 1000m, but also expands to an altitude of 2500m and with climate change will have the greatest potential for presence at an altitude of more than 1000m. Although very complex mechanisms justify the distribution of tree species in mountainous areas, climate is one of the most important of these mechanisms and the results of this study can be a criterion for future planning in Hyrcanian forests. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        7 - Ecological potential evaluation of the Kabgian basin for aquaculture
        Zeynab Mehrabi Soheil Sobhan Ardakani Lima Tayebi
        Growth of population and economic-social needs of human being led to impressive growth of industries including aquaculture as an important source of protein needs in recent decades. This development which is usually associated with lack of environmental impact studies l More
        Growth of population and economic-social needs of human being led to impressive growth of industries including aquaculture as an important source of protein needs in recent decades. This development which is usually associated with lack of environmental impact studies leads to environmental degradation in many countries. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluation of ecological potential of Kabgian basin for aquaculture. In so doing, texture, depth and erosion of soil, slope, temperature, pH and water flow, stone, sensitive habitats, protected areas, conservation value of species and ArcGIS 10.2 according to 'Makhdoum Aquaculture Model' were used for site selection of fish farming ponds along the Kabgian River. The results showed that from 192 ha extent of the study area, 78.7 ha in the vicinity of Botari village was suitable for the development of aquaculture industry. As regards spatial distribution of fish farming ponds along the Kabgian River is not in a good condition and just focused on a specific part of the river, therefore, self purification potential of river will be decreased. So to reduce of environmental impacts of aquaculture on the water quality of Kabgian River, move the fish farming ponds to suitable areas for aquaculture development is recommended. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        8 - Analysis of spatial heterogeneity and driving factors of land surface temperature using spatial regression models
        Zahra Parvar Marjan Mohammadzadeh Sepideh Saeidi
        Land surface temperature is a significant factor affecting thermal variation and balance in global studies. In the last two decades, the great necessity for LST data in environmental studies and land resource management activities has made the measurement of LST as a ma More
        Land surface temperature is a significant factor affecting thermal variation and balance in global studies. In the last two decades, the great necessity for LST data in environmental studies and land resource management activities has made the measurement of LST as a major scientific debate. Discovering the spatial heterogeneity of land surface temperature and analyzing the key factors and specific effective spatial relationships that are affected by time series have great importance in land management. The aim of this study is to analysis of land surface temperature driving factors and spatial heterogeneity using spatial regression models. To review this issue, daily LST maps were prepared by the radiative transfer equation method using Landsat 7 and 8 data for 2002, 2013, and 2021 years in Bojnord city. The analysis of land surface temperature in areas where barren lands prevail requires nighttime temperature data. Therefore, MODIS night LSTs were also prepared as auxiliary maps. Pearson correlation, spatial autocorrelation, ordinary least square, and geographically weighted regression models were used for data analysis. Then, the performance of the models was compared using the coefficient of determination and the Akaike information criterion. The results showed that the GWR approach had a better prediction accuracy and a better ability to describe spatial non-stationarity than the OLS approach. The spatial response of LST and different influencing variables from 2002 to 2021 showed that the development of green space plays an important role in modulating land surface temperatures. Since LST is influenced by various variables, including topography, climatic and atmospheric variables, and vegetation, therefore, understanding spatial relationships and analyzing the areas with high LST can be useful as a way forward in the planning strategies. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        9 - Analysis of the most important issues in the natural areas of Zagros ecosystems, Gilan-e Gharb
        Mohsen Javanmiri pour Neda Mohammadkhani Gilani Ali Rostami
        Local communities are directly related to natural areas and they affect the ecosystem. The objective of this study was to accurately identify the most important issues affecting the destruction of natural resources using legal cases of natural resources. To conduct this More
        Local communities are directly related to natural areas and they affect the ecosystem. The objective of this study was to accurately identify the most important issues affecting the destruction of natural resources using legal cases of natural resources. To conduct this study, legal cases from 2006 to 2016 were used in the archives of the Natural Resources and Watershed Department of Gilangreb for the villages of Chelleh, Gowawer, and Gorsefid. By studying the cases, the type of violation and its amount were recorded and the legal materials from the sixth chapter of the Law of Protection and Exploitation of Forests and Ranges approved in 1967 were examined. In the current research, a descriptive-analytical method was used in the form of a quantitative content analysis method in order to evaluate the violations in the field of natural resources. The results showed that most cases of issues consist of fire (211 cases), while the frequency of saplings and tree cutting were 77 and 66, respectively. The frequency of cutting saplings and trees during the study period showed that the highest frequency of the aforementioned violation occurred in 2008, which was 1624 and 1505 for the saplings and trees, respectively. The number of fire events showed that its trend is increasing and the highest number occurred in 2016, which was equal to 31 items. In the three studied villages separately, the amount of sapling and tree cutting were higher than other types of issues. The statistical analysis results to analyze the significance of the difference between the mean issues indicated that there was no significant difference among the three villages, while the frequency of saplings and tree cutting has a significant difference. Besides, the Gorsefid and Chelleh, Gowawer and Chelleh villages have a significant difference in the number of fires, however, there was no significant difference between Gorsefid and Gowawer. Illegal grazing and fire events among the villages have significant differences. Generally, with the obtained results, it was proved that there are all kinds of issues in the studied villages such as fire, illegal grazing, cutting of trees and saplings, and smuggling of wood, firewood, and charcoal, which lead to the natural destruction of the region over time. Therefore, effective measures can be taken in this field by empowering and using the education of local communities in the use of nature, as well as applying strict laws to offenders. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        10 - Investigating spatiotemporal changes in greenness of Zagros Oak forests in response to drought
        Mohadeseh Ghanbari Motlagh Masoud Kiadaliri Mansour Halimi
        Climate changes in Iran, which have mainly manifested in the form of intensifying periods of drought and increasing temperature, can have profound effects on the forest ecosystems of Zagros in the west of Iran. In this study, the drought trend (with PDSI index) and its More
        Climate changes in Iran, which have mainly manifested in the form of intensifying periods of drought and increasing temperature, can have profound effects on the forest ecosystems of Zagros in the west of Iran. In this study, the drought trend (with PDSI index) and its effects on the spatial-temporal dynamics of EVI greenness index from MODIS sensor were investigated through correlational relationship in the statistical period from 2000 to 2020 in Zagros oak forests in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province. To determine the greenness index threshold value, sampling at 20 points in the forests of the province and EVI index values in these areas were used. The results showed that the greenness threshold value of EVI in these forests was at the maximum level in June. The greenness index value and the area of the oak forests of the province have decreased during the study period. The peak greenness of the oak forests of the province had a significant sensitivity to changes in rainfall and drought at the end of the cold period of the year and in the spring season. The negative phases of the drought indices have been completely consistent with the periods of greenness loss. The EVI, as an index of forest greenness, has shown a high sensitivity to the PDSI drought index. The PDSI index has also been able to explain 0.74 of the spatial changes of EVI in the three months of April, May, and June. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        11 - Investigating the use of hybrid populus (euphratica-alba) cultivar of “Mofid” in particle board production
        Ali Kazemi Tabrizi Farhad Zeinaly
        Cultivation of fast-growing industrial trees is one of the solutions to overcome the wood resources lack. To invest optimally in this field, some cases such as annual growth rate of the cultivated species, species adaptation to the climate of the region, adaptation to t More
        Cultivation of fast-growing industrial trees is one of the solutions to overcome the wood resources lack. To invest optimally in this field, some cases such as annual growth rate of the cultivated species, species adaptation to the climate of the region, adaptation to the soil of the culture site, and also the quality of the produced wood and its applicability in lignocellulosic industries must be regarded. One of the recently introduced extremely fast-growing poplar cultivars is the Mofid hybrid poplar (Populus euphratica Oliv. × P. alba L.). Since low-density wood and wood waste, are used as the main source in the particle board production, in this study, the use of 4-year-old “Mofid” hybrid poplar wood as raw material in particle board production was investigated. To make particle board, the screened chips had been resined with 12% resin by a rotary gluer and then pressed for 5 min at a temperature of 170°C and a pressure of 32 kg/cm2. The examined tests included density, thickness swelling, bending strength, and internal bonding strength. The results showed that the produced particle board samples with “Mofid” poplar wood had acceptable mechanical and physical properties and they were more or less similar to the paulownia particle board samples (control group). Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        12 - Identifying economic and cultural criteria affecting aesthetic values using Delphi approach and public questionnaire in Gorgan city
        Somayeh Amirian Marjan Mohammadzadeh Hamed Mirkarimi Sepideh Saeidi
        Landscape aesthetic value is one of the ecosystem services, which has many social and economic benefits for the society and the residents. Therefore, identifying the economic and cultural criteria affecting aesthetic values by considering the experts and stakeholders pe More
        Landscape aesthetic value is one of the ecosystem services, which has many social and economic benefits for the society and the residents. Therefore, identifying the economic and cultural criteria affecting aesthetic values by considering the experts and stakeholders perspective in order to assess and evaluate the aesthetic value is very important. The purpose of this research is to identify economic and cultural criteria affecting aesthetic values regarding the experts’ perspective and to examine the role of these criteria by considering the residents view of five districts of Gorgan city. The Delphi method was used to identify these criteria and using a public questionnaire, the role of these criteria on increasing the aesthetic quality of the study area was investigated. According to the results of the Delphi method, nine factors, including the cultural and historical heritage in the region, the number of visitors of natural areas, the existence of man-made tourism areas, the level of people's attitude and knowledge towards environmental protection, infrastructure and welfare services, environmental quality, urban design, safety and security were recognized as the most important economic and cultural criteria affecting the aesthetic values of Gorgan city. The results of surveying of the selected economic and cultural criteria in the public questionnaire showed that, the desirability of the studied districts is decreasing from South Estrabad, Roshan Abad, Qoroq, North Estrabad to Angirab according to public attitudes. The results of this research showed that considering the stakeholders perspective along with the expert’s opinion to determine the economic and cultural criteria can encourage residents and managers to better protection of the aesthetic values of the region. Manuscript profile