سینا عطار روشن

The toxicity and persistence of heavy metals in the environment have necessitated usingtrees as biological indicators. This study aimed to evaluate the concentrations of heavy metals, including Pb, Zn, and Cd, in the leaves of two commonly cultivated ornamental plant species, Bougainvillea glabra (paper flower) and Cassia floribunda (burhan flower), known for their adaptability in urban environments, within the green spaces of Mahshahr Port in 2024. This descriptive-analytical research involved the collection of leaf samples fromBougainvillea glabra and Cassia floribunda trees across 13 regions of Mahshahr City, with three replications in June 2024. Chemical digestion was performed using the Jackson (1980) method, which involves acid digestion of plant material to release heavy metals for analysis. Heavy metal concentrations were measured using a Perkin Elmer 900T atomic absorption spectrophotometer (USA). The mean concentrations of Cd, Pb, and Zn in the leaves of Bougainvillea glabra were 0.108, 0.154, and 1.705 mg/kg, respectively. In contrast, the concentrations in Cassia floribunda were 0.120, 0.184, and 1.996 mg/kg, respectively. Statistically, Cd (P=0.008) and Pb (P=0.035) concentrations were significantly higher in Cassia floribundathan in Bougainvillea glabra (P<0.05). However, the Zn levels in Cassia floribundawere slightly higher but not statistically significant (P=0.844, P>0.05). The detected concentrations of Cd, Pb, and Zn in both species were below permissible limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO), indicating minimal contamination. The concentrations of Cd, Pb, and Zn in the leaves of Cassia floribunda and Bougainvillea glabra were within normal limits and below the standard permissible levels. However, based on the findings, these two species are unsuitable for phytoremediation of heavy metals. These results highlight the broader potential of ornamental plants as cost-effective tools for urban environmental management and pollution assessment, though further studies are needed to identify more effective species for phytoremediation purposes. Open Access Policy: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

High increase in societies’ needs to wood and its products followed by decrease in forests lands leads to give special importance to forest plantation. The study aims to consider the impact of pure and mixed plantation of Eucalyptus and Ziziphus on above-ground growth features and soil properties in Laleh Park in Dezful . A complete randomly design was conducted with two treatments of pure plantation of Eucalyptus cameldulensis, and mixed plantation of Eucalyptus and Ziziphus with three repetitions. In total, 42 sample plots were determined. The quantity characteristics were diameter at breast height , diameter of collar , height of tree , crown coverage, slender coefficient , Form quotient, volume, leaf dry mass , leaf area index , total growth ring width , and wood density. To determine the chemical and physical properties of soil, three soil samples from each plot at the depth of 0 to 30 cm were collected and a mixed sample was transformed to the laboratory for the further works. The results showed that DBH, DC, H, V, TWR of Eucalyptus cameldulensis in pure plantation was significantly higher than those of mixed plantation. According to the analysis of main components and growth features of Eucalyptus cameldulensis, two groups were separated across first and second axes as each of them indicated high adaptation with place of sampling (mixed or pure mass). The measuring soil properties between two plantations showed that potassium, nitrogen, phosphor, organic carbon, and saturation moisture content were significantly more than that in pure plantation.

Trees are one of the appropriate biological indicators in industrial areas and factories, and by monitoring them; it is possible to determine the state of heavy metal contamination of soil resources. This research was carried out with the aim of biological monitoring of heavy metals lead, cadmium, nickel and iron using plant biomarkers of Prosopis juliflora and Phoenix dactylifera in Shadgan Steel Factory.

According to the geographical location of the factory, 4 stations were selected, where 24 soil samples and 72 leaf samples were collected randomly with 3 repetitions, from 4 different geographical directions. In order to investigate the bioaccumulation of metals in tree leaves, the bioaccumulation coefficient was used.

The results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) show that there was a significant difference between soil, palm tree and mesquite groups for the concentration of lead, cadmium, nickel and iron metals (P<0.05). The highest concentration of cadmium metal in station 1 was in unwashed palm, washed palm, unwashed Prosopis juliflora and washed Prosopis juliflora, respectively. In stations 2 and 4, the concentration of cadmium, iron and nickel metals in unwashed Phoenix dactylifera is more than that of washed Phoenix dactylifera, and only lead metal in washed Phoenix dactylifera has a concentration higher than that of unwashed Phoenix dactylifera. In station 3, the concentration of cadmium, iron and nickel metals in unwashed leaves was higher than in washed leaves, only the concentration of lead metal in the washed plant was higher than unwashed Prosopis juliflora.

There was no significant difference for lead metal between washed and unwashed leaves (P>0.05) and this could be due to the accumulation in the lower parts of the plant, hence Phoenix dactylifera tree leaves and Prosopis juliflora is not a suitable biomarker for this metal. Considering that absorption through the soil is low, there is a possibility of pollutants entering through dry atmospheric precipitation. The accumulation potential of lead, cadmium, nickel and iron heavy metals was higher in Phoenix dactylifera tree than in Prosopis juliflora.

   The diverse ecosystems in Iran with their own unique climate and wildlife have witnessed uncontrolled fires annually to the extent that in terms of forest fires, Iran ranks fourth among MENA countries (Naghipoor Borj, 2018). In 2017, a total of 252 incidents of wildfire occurred in Iran, with damage to 3,006 hectares; while in 2018, 187 wildfires occurred damaging 2,385 hectares (Sabzali et al., 2019). The Zagros forests cover an expanse of 6 million km2 in the West of Iran (approximately %4 of Iran’s total land mass) (Sadeghi et al., 2017) of which 33,920.2 km2 are located in the Khuzestan province (Alli Mahmoodi Sarab et al., 2013). The Shimbar Mountains are chiefly composed of limestone formations, and only a small area is composed of alluvial deposits. The average annual rainfall in the area is roughly 815 mm, and the average annual temperature is 20-26°C. The average evaporation rate for the area is 2,523 mm. (Sharifi et al., 2020). The vegetation cover of the Shimbar natural reserve is composed of two types of vegetation: the marshland vegetation cover which is chiefly Artemisia as the main vegetation cover, and the mountain vegetation cover which is a type of Iranian oak.
Due to the high security of the wildlife reserve, a variety of mammals thrive in this region such as the Iranian squirrel, martens, wolves, wild bear, and the mongoose. Birds such as quail, partridge, bee-eaters and woodpeckers are also native to the area (Dinarvand et al., 2018).
 Shimbar region was decreed by national legislature to be among the four areas under the jurisdiction of the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA). In the early 1940s, the first attempts to apply a logic-based model to simulate fire hazard risks was carried out by Warren McCulloch and Walter Pitts, and this logic model is the basis of all present day artificial neural networks (Laurent Fast, 2016). In the present study, the underlying reason for the selecting of an artificial neural network was its capability in the creating a relationship between the input and output data for non-linear complex phenomena, its extensive application in the prediction of fire hazards, and its ability to create a model out of the relationship between the number of fires and the factors impelling such fires (Ouache et al., 2021 & Islami et al., 2020 & Polinova et al., 2019 & Jaafari Goldarq et al., 2013).

Initially, the data related to forest fires that had occurred in the period spanning 2011 to 2018 were collected from the Andika regional environmental protection agency, and in the next stage, the ground reality maps of these points were prepared. The environmental protection agency had recorded 79 fires in the wildlife preserve; therefore, the data was used for the training and testing of the model used in this study. In order to prepare a map identifying potential fire hazard zones, the factors affecting the forest fires in the region were identified as chiefly being physiological features such as slope, aspect, and elevation. All topographic maps with a scale of 1:25,000 were obtained from the Andika regional environmental protection agency, and the National cartographic center. Features of the vegetation cover such as soil types, land classification types, vegetation cover, and land use were obtained from LANDSAT 8 images and the complementary data were obtained from the Natural resource's organization of Andika. Climate features such as relative humidity, wind speed, minimum temperature, maximum temperature, wind direction, amount of rainfall, and average temperature were accessed from the archives of the regional meteorological office. With due regards to the fact that the data values obtained were at various points, and in order to generate data for the whole region, the interpolation functions in ArcGIS were utilized. Anthropological features considered were far from residential areas, road accessibility, and distance from the river. The data for road accessibility were obtained from Google Earth layer maps and the data for residential areas and distance to rivers were provided by the Andika regional environmental protection agency and Natural resources offices. The Information layers for roads, rivers and residential areas used a vector format; therefore, by using Euclidean distance analysis, Raster-geomatics with the capability of spatial segregation for the required zones were developed in a way that the value allocated to each cell indicated the distance from the nearest road, the river or residential area. Once the features for each of the variables were identified, a spatial map was prepared in a GIS environment.

The data used in this study encompass historical data of forest fires occurring from 2011 to 2018. By analyzing the maps created for various parameters such as the forest fire dispersion map, physiological features map, vegetation cover map, meteorological map, anthropological specification map, the results showed that the vegetation cover; the distance to the available bodies of water, and the type of lands are the main factors to be considered. The validation of the model was assessed by utilizing RMSE- ROC-AUC criteria in order to verify the accuracy of the obtained results for determining the extent of potential forest fires with actual events. It was observed that the method proposed in this research has an accuracy of 0.83 in predicting fluctuations along the trend which is relatively high. The data were then transferred to the Arc GIS software and the zoning map for determining the potential fire hazard areas based on the existing historical data was created and divided into five categories representing very low risk, low risk, moderate risk, high risk, and extremely high-risk fire hazard potential. The results/maps also indicated the percentage of fire hazard classifications based on the artificial neural network. It was observed that %31 of the areas are classified as extremely low risk; %28 are classified as low risk; %20 are defined as moderate risk; %11 are classified as high risk; and the remainder %10 are classified as extremely high risk zones.

The artificial neural network, much like its counterpart in the human body, is independent of the distribution of the data, and is capable of adequately evaluating the problems besetting natural resources. Comparative studies carried out by Ngoc et al. (2018) and Sachdeva et al. (2018) showed that the artificial neural network can provide the best evaluation for determining the potential fire hazards in a region.
The current study has found that the recent forest fires have taken a severe toll on the Southern Zagros forests in the Shimbar wildlife preservation. By determining the effective factors influencing the risk of forest fires and incorporating these factors into an artificial neural network, a zoning map for the pinpointing of areas with the greatest risk of fire hazard has been created. The zones were classified into five categories, ranging from extremely low to extremely high-risk fire hazard regions. The validity of the model was evaluated as being 0.83 and the RMSE= 0.75, which in itself is indicative of the accuracy and efficiency of the artificial neural network method in developing a map for determining potential fire hazard areas. The obtained results were in parallel with the findings of a study conducted by Vidamanesh et al. (2018) who used artificial neural networks with a validity of 0.88 to determine the zones in the Mazandaran Forest and grasslands where there is a greater risk of forest fires. It also corroborated the findings of studies conducted by Anderson et al. (2021) on predicting the forest fires using artificial neural networks which had a validity of 0.81, and Elia et al. (2020) whose model had a validity of 0.82.
 The graph for the importance of independent and dependent factors showed that in the artificial neural network the factors for scorched and unburnt areas (dependent variable), distance from the body of water, type of land classification, elevation and minimum temperature (independent variable) in sequence had the most important effect, and the direction of the slope had the least important impact on the risk of fire hazard in the region. Moreover, it was observed that %41 of the area under study was classified as being moderate risk, high risk and extremely high-risk zones. The results obtained paralleled those in the study of Eslamiee et al (2021) conducted on the forests in the Babolrud region in which by applying an artificial neuron network, it was seen that %35 of the region under study was classified as having a high to extremely high risk of fire hazard, and the most important variables affecting the occurrence of forest fire were defined as being temperature, rainfall, and distance from a rural center. The results of the current research were also in line with the results obtained by Zheng et al. (2019) who used an artificial neural network with an AUC = 0.86 to model the sensitivity of forested areas in China to fire hazards. The study stated that the most important variables affecting the occurrence of a forest fire are temperature, wind, rainfall and elevation.
Based on the results of the current study, the forested areas which are composed of oak, juniper, wild pistachio, almond, mesquites and tamarisk have a distance from the bodies of water and the vegetation cover in the region under study ranges from a thick canopy to an average canopy. The rural centers and roads among the forested area have a medium to low population density and are chiefly located in the northern and central areas of the region under study. The populated area is mostly located at elevations ranging from average to low asl, the region has a minimal slope, the temperature fluctuates from 50° C to 1.8° C (average temperature is 25.6° C) and low rainfall occurs.

Ecological planning is the only logical solution to combat environmental crises and create the necessary conditions for sustainable development. To this end and using GIS, this research attempted to conduct an assessment of the suitability of plots of land located in Shoushtar’s Abgah’s watershed region for agricultural and Range management purposes according to the model presented by FAO. Since FAO-guided land assessment is an important step in land use planning, the information about the available sustainable resources of the target region was collected via carrying out reviews of the literature and field work. Based on the FAO model, the components of land units were identified and the dominant characteristics of lands were determined. The benchmark layers used in this study include soil, slope, geomorphology, erosion and land use, which were analyzed and processed in ArcGis 10.3 software. The results revealed that the studied region lacked the right potential for irrigated farming, dry-land farming and management. 79.78% and 75.54% of the land of the region was categorized as N2 for irrigated and dry farming, respectively. The management suitability category of the region was defined as N1 which could bring economical gains with advances in technology and improvement of the current conditions of the region.

Simultaneous use of Geographic Information System (GIS) and methods based on artificial intelligence has always led to good results in research in the field of natural resources. This study was conducted in the same format and in order to prioritize the factors affecting the spread of fire and identify high risk areas in the forests of the Shimbar protected area, in this regard, factors for the artificial neural network method were considered. In implementing the artificial neural network method with factors affecting forest fire, a fire risk zoning map with five classes of very low risk, low risk, medium risk, high risk, very high risk with a total accuracy of 0.83 and RMSE error is prepared. It is 0.75. The results showed that 20% of the area in the middle class, 11% of the area in the upper class and 10% of the area in the very upper class, the potential for fire, also the most important variables affecting the occurrence of fire including distance from the river, type Lands, altitude and minimum temperature. It is concluded that according to the considered factors, the integrated models of artificial neural network (ANN) and spatial information system have a high efficiency in preparing a fire risk zoning map and it is suggested that these models be used to prevent, control and manage fires elsewhere. The country should also be used on a large scale.

The implementation of the forest protection plan was started in 2003 in the form of a national plan due to the unfavorable situation of the Zagros forests and with the aim of protecting and developing forests in this region of the country. Considering the national nature of the multi-purpose forestry plan and the allocation of the national budget to it, the present study was conducted with the aim of quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the implementation of the plan in Khuzestan province. In this study, some parts of the forests under the management of the plan in Izeh, Andimeshk, Baghmalek and Indika were selected. At first, the multi-purpose forestry plan was defined based on the law on the protection and utilization of forests in the form of three goals of protection, restoration, and development and, of course, increasing the income of foresters, and all executive projects were included in these goals. To analyze the quantitative data, a one-way analysis of variance and Duncan's multiple-range mean comparison test were used to compare the means of the variables. Qualitative data and data differences between different studied areas were also analyzed using the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test. Based on the results of this study, it was found that in Khuzestan province in terms of quantity and quality of the plan implementation, Izeh area had the best performance, and Indika, Baghmalek and Andimeshk areas were in the next rank. The results also showed that the goals in the form of protection of Zagros forests are at the highest quantitative and qualitative levels. Forest development and rehabilitation are the second priority and the least planning to increase the income of forest dwellers and reduce their dependence on forests. Therefore, it cannot be expected that the executive projects within multi-use forestry plan of Zagros forests will succeed without changing the income level of foresters and the natives of the region will have maximum cooperation in advancing the goals of the plan with the government.

To investigate the effect of recreation on plant species diversity and edaphic characteristics, this study was done in Gamboueh Forest Park of Ahvaz with an area of 60 hectares in 1398. For this study, sampling method was used using a linear transect with a length of 300 meters and sampling parts were randomly used at 50-meter intervals. In order to study the tree and shrub cover in two recreational and non-recreational areas, 24 sample plots of 20×20 m (400 m2) were placed and in the center of each plot, in order to study the grass cover, the sample plots of 8×8 m (64 m2) were implemented. In this study, 28 plant species were identified. Conventional comparative analysis (CCA) showed that the control area and the recreation area each formed a separate ecological group in the area. In terms of plant species composition, the highest values of Simpson species diversity indices (0.33±0.023), Shannon-Wiener (0.44 ±0.012) and Shannon-Wiener uniformity index (0.6±0.003) And plant species richness (2.9±0.61) was estimated in the control area. Examination of edaphic conditions showed that recreation could not have an effect on soil texture, but characteristics such as porosity, nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and organic matter decreased under the influence of recreation and characteristics of bulk density, saturated moisture, electrical conductivity and lime increased significantly. The results of this study indicate that recreation without observing technical and scientific criteria can reduce the density and diversity of grassland vegetation in the region, which can have destructive effects on habitat.

The Middle East, Iran and Khuzestan are located in arid region of the world and the phenomenon of dust is one of the characteristics of these regions. There are 7 critical dust centers with an area of 350000 hectares in Khuzestan province. These areas are identifie in the 7 range and include: South of Horalazim, north of Khorramshahr, east of Ahvaz, south east of Ahvaz, Bandar Imam to Omidieh, Mahshahr to Hindijan and east of Hindijan. The purpose of this study is provide a floristic list of plant species, determination of life form and geographical distribution. The selection of these areas was due to planting, vinas and oil mulch projects implemented in these centers.

Plant samples were collected by using field survey method in the spring and summer of 2019 in natural habitats critical sources including number 1, 2 (Horalazim) and 4 (south east of Ahvaz) of Ahvaz. After determining the level of sample parts by Whitaker method, Systematic random sampling method with network dimensions of 200 × 150 meters was used.135 plots of 100 square meters were selected in each sample plot, in addition to the number and surface cover, the scientific names of plants were identified and recorded separately by genus and species. The samples were identified using botanical sources up to the species level. Then their Corotype and biological form were determined.

Results showed that there are 154 plant species belonging to 36 families in the study area. The largest families in the region were Chenopodiaceae (24 species) followed by Asteraceae (24 species) and Poceae (22 species). In terms of life forms of plant five life forms were found including therophytes (68 species), hemicryptophytes (44 species), phanrophytes (21 species), chamoephytes (15 species) and cryptophytes (6 species). It was found that annual species in the region were 60% and perennial species were 40%. Analysis of the geographical distribution of plants in the region showed that 54 species Irano- Turanian, 40 species Irano- Turanian, Sahara- Sidian, 18 species Sahara-Sidian, 13 species Irano-Turanian, Mediterranean Sahara-Sidian, 10 Irano-Turanian, Mediterranean, 5 species Sahra-Sidian, Mediterranean, 4 species Irano- Turanian, Euro- Siberian, Mediterranean, 4 species Irano- Turanian, Euro- Siberian, Sahra- Sidian, 2 species cosmopolite, 2 species pluri regional ans 2 species Irano- Turanian, Euro- Siberian.

The families of Chenopodiaceae, Asteraceae and Poaceae had a good distribution in the dust centers in Ahvaz. Therophyte and hemicryptophyte species are more abundant than other life forms, and these species were able to settle in the region in harsh climatic conditions. Therefore, these species can be used to control dust through biological control.

Forests play a vital role in the sustainability of ecosystems as one of the most important natural renewable resources. One of the most important disturbances affecting Zagros forest ecosystems is forest fires. Therefore, identifying critical fire areas to reduce potential damage is necessary. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of effective variables in causing fire and to prepare a fire risk map. For this purpose, the variables affecting the fire including altitude, slope, direction, Distance from residential areas, distance from waterways and distance from the road were determined to determine the impact of each on the fire. Elevation map of sea level, slope and geographical direction was prepared with the help of digital elevation model. Distance maps of residential areas and distance from the road were prepared from digital maps of 1.25000. Also, the areas where fires occurred during the years 90-94 were harvested by GPS. In this study, logistic regression method was used to investigate the effect of various factors on fire. The results showed that altitude, distance from waterway and slope percentage were the most important factors influencing forest fires in the region. Modeling was performed based on three variables that had a significant relationship with forest fires in the region and the coefficients obtained from the logistic regression method. The validation results of the model with a negligence coefficient of about 0.500 and a rock curve coefficient of 0.701 showed the accuracy, fit and validity of the obtained model. The results also showed that 81% of the area is located in critical and dangerous areas.

The Popoulus euphratica Oliv. is one of the most important trees in warm and arid regions due to its tolerance to high temperature and soil salinity. It is widely distributed in the Khuzestan province as a pasture on the banks of the Great Khuzestan Rivers, and is important in terms of support (preserving the river side walls and wildlife sanctuary) as well as producing timber and providing forage. In this study we analyzed changes trend and the land use change in Popoulus euphratica Oliv. city from a series of satellite images of Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Operational Land Imager (OLI) data (1998, 2018) respectively were used to produce classified land use/cover map. Different landscape metrics of class area, largest patch index, number of patches, Patch Density and mean patch size were used to quantify landscape patterns. The images were classified by the most Maximum Likelihood. The number of patches of paddy and gazelle groves increased from 520 in 1998 to 1131 in 2018, and the density of patches during the 20-year period rose from 0.5343% to 1.1621%. The results show that with decreasing the habitat size of the Popoulus euphratica Oliv. fragmentation, density per unit area increased. Therefore, the results indicate that there is a growing trend of destruction of Popoulus euphratica Oliv. in the region.

Pollutants emitted from industries can endanger human health if they enter the food chain, so environmental monitoring is essential. The aim of this study was to investigate the bioaccumulation of heavy metals including lead, copper and nickel and the level of air pollution tolerance index in Prosopis juliflora and Conocarpus erectus tree species during one-year period (1399-1400) in Mahshahr city.

In order to investigate the bioaccumulation of heavy metals by two species of Prosopis juliflora and Conocarpus erectus, 15 stations were selected separately. After recording the coordinates of each tree (station), 4 leaveas were taken from each tree that accounted for total 60 samples. The samples were then transferred to the laboratory and digested then analyzed using atomic absorption spectrometer. For statistical analysis, K.S test was used to normalize data and independent t-tests were applied to determine the level of significance. The correlation between variables were tested by Pearson correlation. Spatial distribution of heavy metals was performed using Ver.10.4 Arc GIS software.

Conocarpus erectus established the highest adsorption value for metals such as lead (0.1223±0.35 mg/kg), copper (0.2101±0.053 mg/kg) and nickel (0.2023±0.094 mg/kg). No significant correlation was observed between heavy metals. Evaluation of air pollution tolerance showed that Conocarpus erectus (6.53±0.026 mg/kg) was more tolerant than Prosopis juliflora (4.77±0.029 mg/kg). Spatial distribution revealed that heavy metals accumulation in the leaves of trees were more obvious in the southest area of the city.

Conocarpus erectus is more tolerant of air pollution than Prosopis juliflora. Therefore, it can be used in areas with the high levels of pollution. Moreover, the spatial distribution of heavy metals’ bioaccumulation illustrated that the south and southeast parts of the city (due to industry concentration) are more affected by the heavy metals pollution which call for more palnting trees.

 Drill cutting is one of the largest volumes of waste generated in oil and gas exploration and production activities, which contain toxic substances, especially heavy metals, which are potentially harmful to the ecosystem. This study aimed to investigate the pollution indices, available ratio, and ecological risk of some heavy metals in the Drill cutting of the Ahvaz oil field in southwestern Iran.

30 samples of drill cutting were collected from 6 wells in 6 different depths (1250-2350 m), and there were sent to the laboratory. The total and available concentration of metals extracted by Aqua Regia method and by DTPA extracting solution and metals were analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry(AAS). The soil chemical and physical parameters such as organic matter, EC, and pH were also measured.

The mean total concentration (Sr, Ba, Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd) in the drill cutting samples studied 1212, 1413, 117.66, 209.83, 342.66, 2.36 mg/Kg, respectively and the available amounts of these elements 12.29, 0.50, 5.14, 14.71, 23.80 and 0.46 mg/kg were measured. The highest amount of enrichment factor 20.61 was related to Pb and the highest amount of pollution index 9.15 was related to Cd, respectively. The highest available ratio (26.40) was related to Cd. The environmental risk potential index (852.91) showed that drill cuttings have very high environmental potential risk. Also, there is a negative correlation between pH and the availability ratios of Pb, Cd, and Ba in drill cutting(p<0.05).

The average values ​​of the potential ecological risk index (RI)  of the studied elements in the drill cutting of the Ahvaz oil field were in the range of very high environmental potential risk. The results obtained from the enrichment factor(EF) and the pollution index(PI) showed that the source of contamination of the studied metals is anthropogenic activities such as oil drilling activities in the study area. Therefore, continuous monitoring of the concentration of metal contaminants in the drill cuttings as well as the use of heavy metal stabilization methods in the drilled areas is essential.

Due to its variety of attractions, Jahan Nama forest park is one of the essential tourist attractions in the Alborz Province, Iran. Therefore, studying recreational value can support prediction of the requirements and shortages, which leads to tourism development. This study aimed at determining the recreational value of Jahan Nama forest park and visitors´ willingness to pay by using a conditional valuation method and a two-dimensional dual choice questionnaire. The statistical sample consisted of 350 forest park visitors who were selected based on available sampling method. The logit model was used to investigate the effect of explanatory variables on the rate of visitors' willingness to pay. The results showed 74.9% of the respondents were willing to pay for recreational use of the forest park, with an average willingness to pay of 15,781.6 IRR for recreational values per visit. The total annual recreational value was estimated to be 10,258,040,000 IRR. The variables of the proposed rate of payment, age and the cost of transportation per visit were negatively affective, whereas park quality, marital status, duration of reading per week, environmental attitude, education, income and gender, had a positive effect on willingness to pay were positively influential. The results showed that people are aware of the importance of forest parks and natural environments, with a significant willingness to pay that can support officials in forest park planning and management.

Gardening and tourist village of Baghestan, due to its variety of attractions, is one of the most important tourist parks in the Alborz province. Therefore, studying recreational value can be effective in predicting the needs and shortages and development of tourism in this village. This study determines the recreational value of Baghestan village and the willingness to pay visitors by using a conditional valuation method and a two-dimensional dual choice questionnaire. The statistical population of this study consisted of 150 village visitors who were selected based on available sampling method. Logit model was used to investigate the effect of explanatory variables on the rate of visitors' willingness to pay. The results showed 73.3% of the respondents were willing to pay for recreational use of the village and average willingness to pay for recreational value of this village was calculated to be 16914.4 Rials per visit. Its total annual recreational value was estimated to be 11,840,080,000 Rials. The variables of the proposed rate of payment and the cost of transportation each time, had a negative effect on the variables of park quality, marital status, duration of study per week, environmental trends and gender, had a positive effect on willingness to pay. The results show that people are aware of the importance of forest parks and natural spaces and there is a significant willingness to pay which can help officials in planning and managing the village.

Monitoring land use and vegetation changes plays an important role in urban management. The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in vegetation cover of Ahvaz metropolis pertaining to land use changes. First, satellite imagery was prepared through object-oriented vector machine-based algorithm, classified method, and land use maps. To increase the accuracy of the maps, three normalized indices of vegetation difference, soil effect modifier and relative vegetation were used separately in the classification. The results showed that soil effect modifier index had higher capability and its maps with the highest kappa coefficients and overall accuracy were entered into land change modeling to detect changes. Changes in the next 10 years were also predicted using the Markov chain automated cell model. The results of the changes showed that the vegetation has a decreasing trend, so that 1339.65 hectares the vegetation in the period 1989-1989 and 1860.50 hectares in the period 2019-2002, have reduced. The most changes are related to the conversion of vegetation into man-made areas with 686.44 hectares in the period 1989-1989 and 1032.51 hectares in the period 2019-2002. The least changes are related to the conversion of vegetation into water areas with 7.18 hectares in the period 1989-2009 and 9.33 hectares in the period 2019-2002. The results of forecasting changes by 2029 also confirmed the reduction of vegetation. In 10 years, 785.77 hectares of vegetation will be reduced and the area will reach 2923.24 hectares.

In order to investigate the diversity of plant species in forested areas, this study was carried out in forestry near the Khuzestan Steel Industries Company with a total area of 60 hectares in the southeast of Ahwaz, Khuzestan province. For this purpose, 30 plot of 20 × 20 meters in size were systematically randomized in the forested area and 30 samples were taken in the control area. Within each sample plot, vegetation cover (tree species, shrubs and herbaceous), physical and chemical characteristics of soil was studied. The grass cover was taken in 8 × 8 m (64 square meters) sample pieces, which were taken at the center of the sample plot of 400 square meters. In this region, 53 plant species were identified. CCA Analysis showed that the control area and the forested area each form a separate ecological group in the region. In terms of composition of plant species, the highest amount of plant species diversity indices in the control area was estimated. Adaphical conditions showed that afforestation had no effect on soil texture and soil acidity, but the chemical properties of soil in the control area showed better conditions. The results of this research suggest that forestry without observance of technical and scientific criteria can reduce the density and diversity of herbaceous vegetation in the area, which can have destructive effects on the habitat.

Biological activities are underlying strategies against dust storms. The leaves, because of the larger surface in comparison with other parts of plant organs, are considered important for atmospheric dust filtration. The purpose of this study was to compare the amount of dust deposited on the leaves surface of Ziziphus spina Christi and Albizia lebbek in urban areas of Ahvaz city, south west of Iran. Leaf samples were randomly collected from different heights of individual trees in four main directions and washed and dust particles of the solution were dried in an oven and weighed. The leaf area was measured by Image J software. The results indicated that the amount of dust per unit leaf area of Z. spina-christi (11.74 mg/cm2 ) was significantly different with those of A. lebbek (9.11 mg/cm2 ). The results of this study will open up an avenue for identifying suitable trees for dust filtration in the southwest of Iran.

Forests areas of Iran in comparison with the world is very low and this low area is in demolition threat always. Hence, the remainder of these forests should be managed based on ecological capability evaluation. With regard to importance of subject, ecological capability for forestry in the Sharui watershed, Khuzestan province, was evaluated in 2015. For this purpose, the Makhdoom model and AHP method were used. Respectively in first, six information layers including elevation classes, slope, aspect, soil type, vegetation type and density were combined in GIS environment and the final map of environmental unites for forestry was created. Results showed that 197 hectares for forestry has one class capability and respectively 427, 594, 732, 1139, 956 and 115 hectare have the two, three, four, five, six and seven classes’ capability. In the next step the most appropriate measures and options forestry development in the region were selected by using experts and the results of the prioritization criteria, sub-criteria and alternatives, was derived from the software Export Choice 11.The results showed that Among the main criteria of Forestry land use, Physical-chemical factors, Among the sub-criteria, land form, Sources of revenue, Landscape and vegetation type and density, and Among the alternatives, Slope, temperature, soil, river, forest, village, road, water transmission network and Handicrafts, Were more important.

This study has been done to compare the performance of FAO and Makhdoum ecological model to estimate the agriculture and rangeland ecological capability in the Ab_ Bahar Khuzestan watershed. After collecting the required data in the Makhdoum method, the analysis, compilation and evaluation of capability were done systematically. Then, after collecting the information in the FAO method, verification of the limitations and levels of capability of each component of the land unit, the potential capabilities map of the land was created. According to Makhdoum method, 23.33% of the area has a grad number 2 capacity for agricultural use and 22.27% has a grad number 3 capacity for the same purpose, and 33.33% has the power of grade 1 (4th class model) for land management purposes and 21.41% have grade 2 power (model 5th grade) for landing use. According to FAO method the 11.66% of total of studied area has the Class IV for irrigated agriculture and 11.26% percent for dryland farming in class IV and the 77.08% percent of rangeland are suitable for users. According to all obtained data, and fit the two methods roughly, 35 percent of the area has suitable potential for agricultural use and the remainder, about 65 percent of the total area has suitable for rangeland management. Also, in the FAO method, the amount of suitable land for ecological capability for agricultural use is less than that of Makhdoum's systematic analysis method and Instead, the same level has been added to the level of rangeland management use.

This study aimed to investigate plant species diversity in the ecological species group in relation to the environmental factors. A study area of 216 ha in the southeast of Baghmalek on which seventy 20×20 m plots were established according to the random-systematic method was selected. Soil properties and physiographic factors were recorded at each plot. Herbaceous species composition was recorded using four 1×1 m subplots around the center of the main plot. A cluster analysis and a CCA analysis were undertaken and three ecological groups were identified. The results showed that pH, Nitrogen, cation exchange capacity, organic carbon and clay percentage were the most important factors of the first group, and the indicator species were, Agropyrom trichophorum, Hordeum bulbosum, Aegilops triuncialis. The second group with  Bromus tectorum, Salvia macrosiphon, Bromus danthonia as indicator species could be correlated with clay, organic carbon, Potassium, Phosphorous, Nitrogen, values. Lastly, the third group, characterized by Artemisia aucheri, Astragalus gossypinus, Phlomis persica, Artemisia haussknechtii as the indicator species, could be correlated with the elevation percentage of sand, Bulk Density and EC. We also found that species diversity varied significantly among the groups, and it was the highest in the first group and the lowest in the third group. The results could, therefore, contribute to better evaluation of species diversity and management of the biodiversity.

Identification and introduction of plant species diversity in any region is of prime significance as an underlying ground for ecological research to preserve the genetic treasures and use them sensibly. This study was carried out in an attempt to identify the flora in Kesht-va-Sanat Karoon lands located in Shooshtar city of Kouzestan province and to explore the life forms and the geographical dispersion of the plants in this region. In this study, 80 plant species, belonging to 25 families and 71 genera, were identified. Poaceae family with 26 species and Astraceae with 16 species were the most frequent families in this study, collectively comprising 52.5% of the population of the overall species. With respect to the life forms, Therophyte with 54% (43 species) and Hemicryptophyte with 35% (28 species) were the most important forms in this region. Chorological study indicated that the species belonging to Irano-Turanian Chorotype with 25.5% (21 species) and Irano-Turanian-Mediteranean-eruption with 18.7% (15 species) were the most dominant ecological group in this region. The rest of the chorotypes were at the lower levels of significance.

In order to evaluation of exclosure effect on plant ecological groups and plant biodiversity, this study in Tang-e-pol Ziziphus spina-christii reserve by 107 hectare in 40 kilometer of south east of Masjed Solieman in Khuzestan province was done. For this study of tree and shrub layer, 60 sample plots (400 m2) were taken by means of random systematic method. Herbaceous species by 64 m2 sample plots in center of 400 m2 plots were recorded. In order to record the herbaceous species, the Whitaker’s snail plot method was applied. This area included 80 plant species. Cluster analysis showed the nucleus zone and fender zone in Ziziphus spina-christii forest reserve was composed of two distinct ecological groups in this region. In terms highest values of plant species diversity in nucleus zone of forest reserve was estimated. Results of this study was illustrate, forest stands monitoring and apply logical exclosure can have effective role in restoring forest habitats.

Regarding to the situation of the country's biological resources, it is necessary any kind planning regarding the use of the lands for different use and its establishment in the various basins according to t5he ecological capacity and sustainable development while maintaining the quantity and quality of the environment for different needs of society regarding to the use of resources to procure. Therefore, to achieve this goal it is necessary which basis on the terms and conditions of the country's for different climate models, the location of the ecological conditions commensurate with the provision of land to the real potential for the establishment of various uses. The research done in the direction of the ecologic value of Shushtar city basin with 48 ° and 35 minutes longitude location minutes to 49 degrees 34 minutes East latitude and 31 ° 36 ¢ and 32 ° to 26 minutes for Northern Aquaculture user using the method of AHP and modified the original passage of the face. At the first, the range of the studied basin on the map with 1:25000 of the topography was closed .After the determination of the boundary study range using lines of the topography of the region was prepared. subsequently the DEM maps such as height, slope, direction of slope map of the area was developed and then by using AHP model  and Dr. Makhdoom aquaculture model to preparation of the table toexperts were given the rating after collecting questionnaires and Expert choice software to define  the weight of each criteria achieved  and priority of criteria in order to building the specified map after the normalization of weight criteria, compared to the integration of GIS with AHP results of the action and the map slope, direction of slope, plant species and plant density of soil texture, soil structure, and ... format Raster was prepared. At the end it has been found that  Shushtar city basin aquaculture user in two floors, 48% of the equivalent class 99485 hectares are suitable and 52% in the equivalent 107,190 HA inappropriate class.

The aim of this study is investigation of environmental threaten factors of the forests located in the west of Karkheh river in Ahvaz based on Multi-criteria decision-making model in the area of bitQeshm and Shenin Hosein. The region is 40 km away from the center of Khozestan; it is located in the north of Ahvaz, south of Shoushtar and the west side of Karkheh River. The surface area of the region is 4086.6 hectares. It has unique ecological features and influenced by the negative influencing factors because of improper activities of local communities. In this study, Delphi technique was used for identifying existing risks in the region, then 21 risks were identified and 15 of these risks were left as the final risks in the group of environmental risks. In the next step, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used for analyzing and prioritizing the identified risks. In this study, the risk factors evaluated using the severity of the impact, occurrence probability and sensitivity of the receptive field. Results showed that the most threatened factors are economical and cultural factors. In the category of economical factors, poverty and unemployee with the weghit of 0.554, shortage of forest warden the weghit of 0.328 and in cultural category; Lack of knowledge of the indigenous peoples of environmental values with the weghit of 0.302 were the most parameters respectively.