فهرست مطالب jaber aazami

HSE management system is a tool for monitoring and controlling health, safety, and workplace environment. This study was conducted in 2021 to assess the health, safety, and environmental risks of the Training Units of Roozbeh Charity (Cooking, vegetables, confectionery and sewing) in Zanjan. Checklists for Health, Safety, and Environmental hazards were used for data collection. The components were identified based on risk factors, and relevant items for each component were included. In each instance, an expert team scored the options for assessing the probability and severity of the risk effect. Subsequently, the priority numbers for the risks were calculated in the next step, and their levels were determined. In the examination of health components, the incidence of ergonomic diseases posed the highest risk. For safety risks, mechanical components and suffocation exhibited very high levels of risk. The highest average risk priority number was 109.83, associated with mechanical components of safety risks, while the lowest average priority number, 11.83, was linked to water loss components in environmental risks. The incompatibility of building architecture with the type of activities and the age of the buildings for training workshops caused high risks in terms of safety. In the field of health and environmental risks, control and corrective measures can play role in improving the performance of the training units of Roozbeh Charity and the main goals of this charity.

Wetlands, as temporary or permanent water reservoirs, provide various benefits for the ecosystem, such as water supply, waste water treatment, and dust control. By the end of 2023, the Iranian government and the Ramsar Convention have registered 25 international and 226 national wetlands. West Azerbaijan and Mazandaran provinces have more wetland ecosystems than any other provinces. Semnan, Yazd, and Zanjan provinces have no wetlands. According to the Ramsar Convention of 1971, Iran has 32 aquatic ecosystems that have the potential to become wetland. In addition, according to the available data and the WHO standard, eight wetlands have the highest probability of producing dust and should be given more attention and care. We recommend the wetland management plan, which ensures their water requirements, protects them from degradation and pollution, and promotes their ecological restoration. Satellite image analysis can help explore how climate change affects dust intensity, considering the role of wetlands in dust control.

Stakeholders’ knowledge is one of the essential elements of biodiversity management. This research assesses local communities’ knowledge and its impact on the perceived biodiversity loss in the Sorkhabad Protected Area of the Zanjan Province using a quantitative (descriptive-correlational) methodology. A sample of 250 out of all rural households dependent on the protected area (N = 5095) was identified using Cochran's formula as the sample size who were selected by a multi-stage random sampling technique. The results showed that the respondents' knowledge about the ecosystem services and the challenges of biodiversity was at high and moderate levels, respectively. The results of regression analysis showed that the variables of knowledge about ecosystem provisioning services, knowledge about the impact of human factors related to unsustainable local community activities on biodiversity, knowledge about the impact of poor community livelihood conditions on biodiversity, knowledge about the impact of factors related to ineffective intervention conditions on biodiversity and knowledge about the impact of natural hazards to biodiversity accounts for 52 percent of the variance of perceived biodiversity loss in the protected areas.

Introduction:

 Due to the potential toxicity and ecological risk of heavy metals in aquatic ecosystems, measuring and evaluating their concentration in different parts of aquatic environments is very necessary. Therefore, the present study measures the concentrations of Cd, Cr, Pb, Ni, As and Zn and evaluates the spatial distribution of their ecological risk in the surface sediments of Anzali International Wetland.

50 stations in different parts of the wetland were selected for sampling. After preparation and acid digestion of samples, the concentrations of these metals were determined by an atomic absorption spectrometer. In order to zoning the toxicity and ecological risk of metals, the inverse distance weighting (IDW) method was used.

The total mean concentrations of metals were Zn (79.24 71 6.71), Cr (19.4 21 21.04), Ni (18.96 62 5.62), Pb (13.3 72 72.50), As (7.62 96 4.96) and Cd (1.12 ± 3.16) mg/kg, respectively. Investigation of potential acute toxicity, RI, mHQ and PLI indicated low pollution status in wetland sediments. The environmental risk of the metals in the sediments were evaluated as (Cd> As> Pb> Ni> Zn> Cr). In addition, the distribution of toxicity and ecological risk of metals in different parts of the wetland does not follow the same pattern and the western parts of the wetland have more risks.

According to the results, Potential acute toxicity, PLI, mHQ and ecological risk of heavy metals in the sediments of the region are assessed as low and medium. The intense expansion of human activities in the areas around the wetland, along with the deposition and entry of various pollutants in this ecosystem, confirms the need for continuous monitoring of the wetland and assessment of its ecological health risk.

Given the emergence of environmental crises and the increasing trend of biodiversity loss, it is necessary for nations to take sustainable and appropriate measures to conserve biodiversity. This study was conducted to investigate the implementation and effectiveness of biodiversity conservation actions using a mixed quantitative and qualitative methodology. Data were collected through both semi-structured interviews (in the qualitative procedure) and structured interviews using questionnaires (in the quantitative procedure) with the specialists and researchers of organizations related to the Sorkhabad Protected Area, located in the Zanjan Province of Iran. These staff worked at provincial, township, county and sub-county levels and were selected through a snowball sampling technique. The results showed that the measures taken to conserve biodiversity can be categorized in six areas: diagnostic measures on causes of biodiversity loss, restoration and conservation actions, management measures, diversification and livelihood improvement, Extension, public awareness and knowledge improvement, and integration measures. These actions have been implemented to a very small extent and their effectiveness has been low. There is a significant relationship between the rate of implementation and the effectiveness of actions. In addition, a significantly positive relationship is indicated between these measures. It is necessary to take biodiversity management measures with a comprehensive and multi-dimensional perspective and based on strengthening managerial capacities, extension and building human and social capacities of local communities, and integrating various organizations and actors’ activities to conserve and restore ecosystems and species in protected areas.

The present study aims to assess the amounts of Zn, Cu, Cd, Pb, Ni, Co, Mn, and Fe by analyzing the particle composition of the surficial sediments in Ghezel Ozan River located in Zanjan, Iran.

18 sediment samples were collected from Ghezel Ozan River. After Aqua Regia Digestion, the studied heavy metals in sediment samples were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Several pollution indices, such as Enrichment Factor (EF), Geo-accumulation Index (Igeo), Pollution Factor (Cd), and Pollution Load Index (PLI), were calculated.

Observed average values (in unit mg kg−1) were in the range of Zn: 480.0-34294.0, Cu: 7.8-32.00, Cd: not detected -100.0, Pb: 22.0-256.0, Ni: 2.50-60.00, Co: 7.60-34.0, Mn: 144.0-31600.0 and Fe: 9320.0-62300.0. The Igeo index confirmed that the average values of Zn, Pb, and Cd are in the heavily contaminated levels. The mean EF index suggested minimal enrichment for Cu, Ni, Mn, and Co, whereas Zn, Cd, and Pb indicated severe enrichment.

The average Cd, RI, and PLI indices for all investigated heavy metals confirmed a considerable contamination level.

Biodiversity faces various challenges which make its management difficult. This research aimed to investigate the challenges of biodiversity management in the Sorkhabad Protected Area of the Zanjan Province. The research was conducted using a qualitative approach through the grounded theory methodology. A sample of participants consisting of 15 experts from the Environmental Protection Administration and the Natural Resources and Watershed Management Administration in the Zanjan Province were selected through a theoretical and snowball sampling and the data were collected by semi-structured interviews. Using the Nvivo10 software, the data on biodiversity management challenges were analyzed through open coding, axial coding, and selective coding, which led to exploring 92 concepts, 38 initial categories, 22 principal categories, and 9 core categories. Then, the relationship among the core categories was identified. It was identified that biodiversity loss is interconnected with other natural hazards and environmental crises. Moreover, the threat and loss of biodiversity and other natural resources are directly and indirectly influenced by various factors consisting of weak national strategies and policies on biodiversity management; the weakness of allocating human, financial and physical resources of organizations responsible for biodiversity protection; poor knowledge, attitude and value system of rural communities about biodiversity management; unsustainable agriculture and natural resources use by rural communities; unsustainable use and intervention of people outside rural communities; unsustainable actions of external organizations; and lack of integrated and participatory management in biodiversity management.

Global land use has significantly changed in recent decades. However, in order to monitor and survey of the ecological consequences of human interventions, quantification of land cover change is necessary. Wetlands are the most sensitive ecosystems to changes in land use and unique ecosystems with high diversity of flora and fauna. Ecological conditions and water quality of the wetlands are related to the characteristics of the land, including the type and ratio of land cover in the all watershed. Therefore, monitoring of land use and land cover changes is necessary in order to manage, control and take timely measures to reduce the threats and damage caused by the changes in the landscape. Whereas the land cover changes in Golpayegan Shoor Wetland have not been studied, so the main purpose of this study is to monitor land cover changes in this wetland in central of Iran. In fact, In the present study, the land cover of Golpayegan wetland for 1972, 1978, 1988, 1998, 2008 and 2018 was prepared using Landsat satellite images and the change was revealed during this period (46 years).

Golpayegan Shoor Wetland, located in the northern plain of Golpayegan, is a part of the catchment area of Namak Lake and the only wetland ecosystem of Golpayegan city. Six land use classes were identified in the region: 1- Residential lands (urban, industrial, road, etc.), 2- Agricultural lands, 3- Water resources, 4- Dense rangeland, 5- Medium density rangeland 6- Low density rangeland - barren. Then the educational samples were digitized on the screen by digitizing the points. In the second stage, the resolution of educational samples was done. The third step is to classify satellite images using the maximum likelihood classification method. Six time periods of Landsat satellite imagery belonging to the mentioned years (1972, 1978, 1988, 1998, 2008 and 2018) were selected to analyze land cover changes. In order to geometrically correct the satellite images of the study area, topographic maps were used to perform the first-order polynomial equation with a scale of 1: 25000 and 20 ground control points. Atmospheric correction was performed using dark-object subtraction method. In order to detect and analyze changes during the studied periods, land change modeler was used in TerrSet software.

Kappa coefficient in 1972, 1978, 1988, 1998, 2008 and 2018 were 8.08%, 84.45%, 85.79%, 90.12%, 92.67% and 93.85%, respectively. In the study period, dense rangelands decreased during the years 1978-1972 with an annual rate of -1.86% percent (9795 hectares). Medium density rangelands and residential areas also showed an increase of 13,460 and 1,080 hectares with annual rates of 2.63 and 11.84 percent, respectively. The annual growth rate is 6.33 percent in irrigated areas, and the rate of increase is 142.2 hectares in this land use. The rate of reduction is 4050 hectares in low density pastures with an annual reduction rate of 16.3%. Between 1972 and 1978, there were 499, 394, and 194 hectares of net conversion of agricultural land use, dense pastures, and low-density-barren pastures to residential areas, respectively. The rate of net change is 70, 75 and 9 hectares from agricultural lands, medium density pastures and low density-barren pastures to irrigated areas, respectively. The highest net change is 13333 hectares from dense rangelands to medium density rangelands. Residential areas, agricultural lands and low-density-barren pastures also showed an increase of 1420, 14540 and 2860 hectares with annual rates of 5.1, 9.2 and 7.7 percent, respectively, during the studied years. Medium-density rangelands also decreased from 92,000 hectares in 1978 to 83100 hectares. Dense water areas and pastures have also decreased during this period, with annual rates of -7.87% and -1.12%. Dense pastures of 1545, 11246 and 3752 hectares were converted into residential areas, agricultural lands and low-density-barren pastures, respectively. The rate of net change is 119, 2018, 11246 and 751 hectares from irrigated areas, medium density pastures, dense pastures and low density-barren pastures to agriculture, respectively. 91, 1545 and 182 hectares of medium-density rangelands, dense rangelands and low-density-barren rangelands were converted to pure residential areas. During the years, the rate of net change is from medium, dense and low-density pastures to irrigated areas as 107, 10 and 1 hectare, respectively.During this period, residential areas increased at an annual rate of 2.37 percent. Agricultural lands, irrigated areas and dense pastures also showed an increase of 4066, 90 and 13562 hectares with annual rates of 1.55, 3.65 and 1.68 percent, respectively. The annual reduction rate is in medium density rangelands and low-density rangelands - Bayer - 2.08 and -13.77 percent respectively. Between 1978 and 1988, there were 632, 6, 32, 266 and 29 hectares of net conversion of agricultural uses, irrigated areas, medium-density rangelands, dense rangelands and low-density-barren pastures to residential areas, respectively. During these years, 3279 hectares of net change was observed from dense rangelands to agricultural lands and the rate of net change is from low density densities to medium density rangelands 2698 hectares. Agricultural lands increased from 28,200 hectares in 1998 to 29,600 hectares in 2008 with an annual growth rate of 0.51 percent, with 90 hectares of medium-density rangelands and 932 hectares of dense rangelands converted. Rangelands decreased with average density of 2235 hectares and annual rate of -0.33%. The rate of net change was 1687 hectares from medium-density to low-density rangelands. The rate of increasing in low-density-barren pastures is 2565 hectares and the rate of net change is from dense rangelands to this land use 693 hectares. Water areas also decreased by 67 hectares from 1998 to 2008. An increasing of 743 hectares was observed in residential areas with an annual growth rate of 1.64 percent, which was the main net change from dense pastures to this use of 718 hectares. A large increasing was observed in medium density rangelands from 65,259 hectares in 2008 to 77,706 hectares in 2018 with an annual growth rate of 1.74%. The rate of increasing was in the water zones with 637 hectares, that it showed a net change from agricultural lands, medium density pastures and dense pastures to water zones 331, 217 and 120 hectares, respectively. In this period, the annual growth rate is 0.33% in agricultural lands. During the study period, residential areas, agricultural lands and water areas increased by 3857, 20261 and 558 hectares with annual rates of 3.35%, 2.34% and 2.24%, respectively. Dense rangelands decreased with medium and low density with annual rates of -0.5%, -0.02% and -3.3%. Agricultural lands, dense rangelands, with medium and low density at 771, 2335, 273 and 481 hectares were converted into pure residential areas. 224, 70 and 259 hectares of agricultural lands, dense and medium density pastures were converted to pure water areas, respectively. 2931 and 36 hectares were converted from dense pastures to medium and low-density pastures. The results of the spatial trend of changes from all land cover classes to residential areas revealed that the densely populated urban areas and human activities.

Soils have a key role in establishment and growth of biota and also are as a natural resource, national capital and life substrate in any country. Therefore, every contamination can be transferred from soils to higher food levels with its negative impacts. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to investigate oil pollution in soils caused by the establishment of Shahid Tondgovian Oil Storage in Zanjan province. The depot has three storage tanks with capacity of 47, 35 and 26 million liters of oil and gasoline and kerosene, respectively.

Soil samples were collected from a depth of 5-15 cm at 20 sites and the values ​​of EC, pH and PAHs were measured. Then T-test was used to compare the results with standards and control sites.

The mean of pH and EC results were 8.24 and 281 µ/cm, respectively. The results showed PAHs values ​​were lower than the standard and there was no statistically significant difference between the study sites and the control one (P > 0.05). Also, the amount of benzo (a) pyrene compound, used as an indicator of total PAHs to study carcinogenic effects, was lower than standard in study area. Therefore, there is no health risk for the oil residents in collected samples from Shahid Tondgoian Oil Storage.

Currently, oil pollution is not observed in the soils around the study area and there is no health risk for the residents in the suburbs.

This study evaluated Length-Weight Relationships (LWRs) and condition factor (K) of the juvenile and young adult fish from shallow littoral zones in some aquatic ecosystems located in Khuzestan province, Iran. In June 2015, the specimens were sampled using a seine net from the Shadegan Wetland, the Dez, and the Karkheh Rivers in the time period of increased juvenile recruitment. The LWRs of fish were calculated using linear regression log formula as log W=loga+blogTL, and the K estimated using K=W/L3. A total of 18 species belong to 5 families collected in the stations. Exotic species comprised 33.33% of the total ichthyofauna. The variation of b-value ranges between 2.65 and 3.26, and the growth pattern is isometric in all species except Acanthobrama marmid. Since the amount of K was higher than one in all species, it can be concluded that the sampling stations are favorable for the growth of the fish.  As a consequence of the decreased floodplain habitats in the surrounding of the water bodies, the shallow waters of littoral zones that have suitable features for the juvenile fish can play an essential role in the survival of the native fish fauna.

macroinvertebrates communities are very sensitive to environmental pollution. Therefore, we can use to derive the pollution load entering to the ecosystem via their ecological structures. This study aimed to identify macroinvertebrates as well as indicator to evaluate the ecological health of water in the Eghlid.

Thirteen physicochemical parameters have been measured including BOD, COD, NO3, NO2, PO4, NH4, Fecal Coliforms, Temperature, pH, EC, DO, Total Hardness and Turbidity in Eghlid Rivers (Sefid and Gavgodar parts), Fars province- Iran. 

Based on the results, 8161 macroinvertebrates were identified from 14 orders and 24 families with 66 % frequency of Gammaridea belong to Amphipoda order as the most collected family.

With regard to Spearman correlation (r=0.81), the BMWP/ASPT index had the most dependency with the abiotic parameters. Although, the results didn’t show any significant differences between references and impaired stations (sig > 0.05), but the category of water ecological quality was in moderate to low in all studied stations. This study concluded the ecological status of water in the studied area is not desirable.

Nowadays, many indicators have been developed to assess water quality and ecological classification of rivers based on variations in ecological structure. The goals of the study were assessing the ecological status, the effects of human land use, and the performance of the most common ecological indices for fishes and macroinvertebrates as biologi cal evaluation of the Jajrood River.

In the present study, sampling of water, macroinvertebrates, and fishes was done at 10 stations in November 2015. The physical, chemical, and biological parameters including temperature, turbidity, velocity and depth of water, acidity, electrical conductivity, BOD5, nitrate, ammonium, phosphate, dissolved oxygen, and fecal coliform were measured onsite or after the sampling. Macroinvertebrates sampling was performed using a Surber sampler with three rep lications at each station and fishes were sampled using an electrofishing apparatus. Different physicochemical, macroinver tebrates, and fish indices were used to evaluate the integrity of the Jajrood River. The Canonical Correspondence Analysis )CCA) test was also used to analyze the relationship between macroinvertebrates and fishes with physical, chemical, and biological variables.

Overall, 481 specimens belonging to eight species of fishes and 2435 macroinvertebrates belong ing to 15 families were collected. Among all sampled fishes, Oxynoemacheilus bergianus and Paracobitis malapterura had the highest and lowest abundance, respectively. The highest total percentage of macroinvertebrates abundance belonged to
the Baetidae family of the order Ephemeroptera and the lowest percentage belonged to the Polycentropodidae of the order Trichoptera. The results of Canonical Correspondence Analysis )CCA) showed that the efficiency of the EPT/CHIR index for macroinvertebrates was better than others. The Karr Biotic Integrity )KBI) that was used for fishes as a water quality index was suitable for the river.

The present study was the first one that used both fishes and macroinvertebrates indices with physicochemical parameters for ecological integrity assessment. From the findings of this study, it can be concluded that the urban-rural and agriculture wastewaters and the Latyan dam had the most negative impact on the ecological structure of the river.

Unsustainable development of agriculture and aquaculture has reduced the water quality of rivers. The most important aim of this study is assessing of water quality in the Ghezel Özan basin in Zanjan province.

18 sites were selected based on standard criteria including land use, geology, biodiversity points, accessibility and standard distributions. Content of Dissolved Oxygen, Temperature, Turbidity and Electrical Conductivity were measured in-situ while number of Fecal Coliform, amount of BOD, COD, Phosphate, Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, Sulfate and Chlorine were measured at laboratory.

One-sample T.test showed a significant difference between the Coliform and its standard. Results have illustrated the remarkable impacts of agricultural and aquaculture activities on the river health. Also, among all quality parameters, Nitrate and Fecal Coliform show a significant difference in two regions, Tarom and Mahneshan. There is the best water quality in site 7 (upstream site) located far from human access. IRWQI index (Iranian water quality index for surface water) shows the best results because of more overlap with land-uses and the trend of variables.

Olive cultivation and unsustainable aquaculture development in Tarom and Mahneshan, respectively, are main reasons for decreasing of water quality. So, integrated water resources management, training local people, assessing environmental impacts and determining the ecological potential are highly recommended to improve the water quality of the studied river.

Changes and fluctuations of precipitation are one of the most important climate change outcomes in the world. The changes in surface water flow and hydrological cycle are directly affected. Therefore, recognition of fluctuations behavior and its governing patterns in a catchment area plays a very important role in optimal management of catchment areas. Therefore, in this research, we have tried to identify the trends of fluctuations patterns of rainfall and also the type of precipitation trend in the Golpayegan catchment area. For this purpose, daily rainfall data of precipitation stations near the Golpayegan saline wetland were used. For trend analysis, linear regression and Mann-Kendall method were used and for identify the rainfall prevailing cycles, Spectrum analysis technique was used. The results of trend analysis showed that in all studied stations, rainfall had a significant decrease. The highest trend is a significant decrease of 23 mm for the Golpayegan station. The results of spectral analysis also indicate that the short-term cycles of 2 to 5 years are in most of the studied stations. Most scientists have attributed this cycle as a result of El Niño - Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO).

In this study, the identification and biodiversity of macrobenthos of Jajrood and Karaj protected rivers which provide a large portion of Tehran's drinking water, have been studied simultaneously for three consecutive years. Physicochemical and macrobenthos samples were collected with three replications, during three consecutive years from 19 stations with a Surber sampler. Statistical analyses were done by SPSS, Past and R softwares. In Jajrood River, 6667 macrobenthos in 22 families and in Karaj River, 13,246 macrobenthos in 24 families were identified respectively .The highest abundance and diversity of macrobenthos and the most appropriate time for sampling was in summer. The results of CCA showed that physicochemical parameters TSS, EC , DO and pH had the highest effect on the distribution of macrobenthos. In Jajrood River, Baetide and in Karaj River Simullidae are the most dominant families. The Simpson dominance index in both rivers tends to one and indicating the high frequency of one or more families compared to the others. The mean values ​​of Shannon-Wiener (H) index varied in the four sampling periods in Karaj River between 2.04± 0.11 to 2.5 ± 0.06 and in Jajrood River between 1.4 ± 0.22 to 2.4± 0.42. Both Rivers are similar in terms of macrobenthos fauna and biodiversity. Results of biodiversity indices showed that human activities affect macrobenthos communities and the most negative effect on the ecosystem of the two rivers is due to tourism activities, Recreational use and land use changes.

Iran, with twelve percent of the cultivated area, is the third country as the number and diversity of agricultural products in the world, but rankinf above 140 out of the 231 countries in the environmental indicators shows insufficient attention to conservation environment. Todays, the arson (deliberately fire) of plant’s residual in Iranian agriculture community, is underway as a culture in farmers. The aims of this study were a review on the previous studies on the reasons of arson in Esfahan province, a description of the effects of arson on environment, a presentation of the positive points of the plant’s residuals for the next harvest and also the applications of those in the different industries. The main reason of arson is originated of preparing shortly of the farm for next planting and destroying pests, especially germ’s insect-eating whereas this action (arson) not only will increase the loss of soil fertility, water and wind erosion, destruction of soil beneficial microorganisms, air pollution caused by the ash, but also will make the surface soil and in continue, will loss the rainwater, causing a severe surface runoff, increase evaporation as same as enter much smoke and many particulate matters from the ash and causes air pollutions. It is noticeable that the residuals can be used in various industries, including pulp and paper, floriculture (such as mushrooms), energy and also the agricultural industry. In this context, the role of education, developing of alternate industries and government incentives are the most important feasible measures.

Sodium cyanide is used in the process of extracting gold from the ore. The waste water that is produced during this process contains high levels of cyanide. The purpose of this study was to determine the levels of cyanide in the waste water of Mooteh Gold mine. We also wanted to investigate effects of distance, depth, and altitude on cyanide dispersion in soil and groundwater of Mooteh Wildlife Refuge.
In April 2012, samples of surface and under ground (0.5 m) soil and groundwater was collected from 11 locations from Mooteh Wildlife Refuge
Total cyanide level was decreased with increasing of altitude, distance from mine and decreasing depth of soil. There is no significant difference between cyanide concentration of surface and ground soils; groundwater and ground soils, respectively. But, there is a significant difference between cyanide concentration of groundwater and surface soils.
Cyanide level is higher than acceptable level in existence wastewater and station number three. Also there are several papers about death wildlife especially Iranian Deer after wastewater overflow from Gold Mooteh Mine in this location. So, managers and officials should be taken more care.

Aras River is the main source of drinking water supply in northwestern provinces of Iran. The present study aimed to determine the concentration of heavy metals in the river on the border between Iran and Armenia.
Three samples were taken from the Aras river water, the river bottom sediments and the root of Phragmites australis. In water sampling, the concentration of Hg, Mo, Cu, C o, B, Cd, Ni, Zn, Pb, Al, Mn, Cr, and Fe was noticed while in sediment sampling, to measure the concentration of Cu and Mo. In samples taken from the plant root, the concentration of Cu was only analyzed. The water sampling was performed at 11 stations along the river course during four seasons fall, winter, spring and summer 2011.
The highest and lowest concentrations respectively belonged to Al (2600 ppb) and Cd (0.4 ppb). Parameters including B, Cu, Mo and Al were all higher than the standard limits. The results obtained from sediment and root sampling indicated that the concentration of Cu exceeds the standard.
Poor quality of Aras River reveals to the necessity of implementing mitigation measures to improve the water quality of the river.

Birds are the only organisms that, because of flight ability, have a wide range of distribution. Changes in their composition, diversity and density can indicate changes in the environment. This study was done for the first time with the aims of identification of bird species and their diversity, and calculation of different ecological indices in a period of five years (2011-16) in 22 sampling sites in Golestan Province, located in Caspian Sea, Iran. From 123 identified bird species belonging to 27 bird families, 6 species have been listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The highest number of birds belongs to the order of Anatidea, but in terms of individual bird species, the Common Coot, Mallard and Greater Flamingo had the greatest numbers. Ecological indices showed that the highest diversity and evenness of species occurred in 2012; during the last year of the study, not only did the number of species decrease, but also, all of the diversity indices declined, while the dominant index significantly increased. The results of this study are a warning for enthusiasts and lovers of environment conservation as well as experts and managers of this field of study, and the need for conservation of these areas is emphasized.

Iran is located in the global arid zone. With an average rainfall of less than 250 mm. 25 percent is Iran of located in hyper-dry area and 40 percent in the arid area. In 2007, the World Bank report declared the annual reduction of freshwater resources in Iran 6 times more than global standards and indicators. Since at present, in Iran most available fresh water enters the water ecosystems, their management is vitally important due to climate changes and water quality parameters.
In this study, long- term changes of some parameters including hardness, dissolved solids and EC, pH, HCO3, Ca, Na, Mg, Cl and SO4 were investigated for a period of 44 years in two key rivers (Neka and Tajan rivers) in the north of Iran.
The results show that there was the same changes pattern in all parameters in both rivers. The highest level of correlation was between electrical conductivity and dissolved solids in both rivers. Also, due to the similarity of the hydrological characteristics of the rivers, the impact of area development by local people is playing a major role in the environmental health.
Although Iran's northern regions have high rate of precipitation, status of water quality parameters is an indicator of low levels of water quality and its pollution.

The life of fauna and flora was threatened by heavy metals, one of the most problems in the environment. Nowdays, in the world biotic indices were applied to reduce and modify of different pollutants while in Iran, purification of polluted environment was done with physic-chemical methods. Physic-chemical methods annihilate the biodiversity, pollute the environment and also need to lots of time, cost, equipment and expertise. So, the developed countries presented biotic methods for identification, monitoring, survey and purification because of many advantages including; more precision, less cost, environmental friendly and less equipment. The aims of this article were a review of bio-indices and choose manner of polluted biological modifier e.g. phytoremediation that todays, it is developing.

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The length-weight relationships, (LWRs) were calculated for 14 fish species belonging to five families (Cyprinidae, Cobitidae, Nemacheilidae, Salmonidae, and Gobiidae) collected from the Tajan River, north of Iran. Significant length-weight relationships with high correlation coefficients were found for all species.

Aquatic ecosystems pollution with heavy metals, especially mercury, has always been a major concern for aquatic organisms health. Hence this study not only described an innovative method for analyzing organic mercury compound, but also evaluated total and organic mercury concentrations in great cormorant and compared them with world health standards. In this cross-sectional study, 18 great cormorants were randomly captured in March, 2009. Total and organic mercury of muscle, kidney, and liver tissues were analyzed by an advanced mercury analyzer made in the United States (Model; Leco, AMA 254), and statistical analysis was done by Mann-Whitney U, and Kolmogrove-Smirnov tests. Mean accumulated total mercury in liver, kidney, and muscle tissues were 5.67, 3.59, and 2.26 mg kg -1 w.w., respectively and organic mercury formed 82, 79, and 58 % of the total mercury. The levels of accumulated mercury in all tissues of great cormorant were more than the established limits by WHO, FAO, and EPA. These results can be a serious warning for consumers of these birds, especially vulnerable people.

Mercury (Hg) is a major environmental contaminant due to its global ubiquity, tendency to bioaccumulate, and toxicity in wildlife. Mercury accumulation in wetlands threatens critical breeding and foraging habitats of many fish and wildlife species. In this study, mercury concentrations were detected in different tissues of pike. To achieve these purposes, 58 pikes (Esox lucius) were hunted from Anzali wetland. Mercury concentration was analyzed by Advanced Mercury Analyzer (Leco, AMA 254). T-test was used to determine any significant differences between muscle and liver samples. The results revealed a significant difference (t = 0.85) in mercury concentrations between the tissues, whereas no significant differences were found in mercury concentrations between pikes of different sexes. This study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility assessment to recognize bioindicatory index usage and to determine restricted standards to human consumption. Our data can contribute to the development of management programs for understanding the ecotoxicological status of Anzali wetland and can help determine restricted standards for human consumption.