فهرست مطالب mirkarimi

Environmental degradation, increasing loss of natural resources and growing trend of various environmental pollution shows the critical status of environment. Lack of human awareness about the importance of environment makes this situation more critical. Children and teens are the major capital of a community. The attention rate of the officials in upgrading the level of environmental knowledge of this group could be a basis to estimate the environmental progress in different fields. This research was done by determining the effective socio- economic and individual parameters on the level of environmental knowledge and attitude of urban and rural secondary school students. Statistical society of this study was all sixth, seventh and eighth grade students of two educational regions of Qazvin and villages which were covered by these two educational regions. Using stratified random sampling, 721 students were tested by the questionnaire. Collected data were analyzed by SPSS using ANOVA and T test. The results showed significant differences between urban and rural student’s environmental knowledge and no significant difference between urban and rural students’ environmental attitude.
From 16 different individual and socio-economic parameters which were tested in this research; gender and type of school were effective on both environmental knowledge and attitude of urban and rural communities while the effects of the other parameters were different between these two communities and some other parameters had no effects. The results of this research could be useful in future decision making to increase environmental knowledge and attitude of the students.

Individuals habit has been changed due to technology improvement as a result fast food consumption has dramatically increased in Iran. This study was done to determine the effective factors on Fast food consumption among high-school students based on planned behavior theory.
This descriptive-analytic, cross-sectional study was conducted on 500 high-school students in Aliabad city in Golestan province in north of Iran in one year study from October 2014-2015. A valid and reliable researcher-made and self-administered questionnaire based on TPB constructs (including attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and behavior intention) was utilized to collect the data.
The frequency of fast food consumption was 4.01 per month and hamburger and pizza were the most prevalent fast foods. TPB explained fast food consumption behaviors with relatively high R2 around 0.65, effectively. Frequency of fast food consumption was significantly associated with behavioral intention and subjective norms (P As friends are the effective subjective norm for student fast food consumption therefore, they must specifically be considered in developing beneficial educational interventions.

Aims: As a growing problem, obesity is one of the most important worldwide health problems. One of the major factors leading to obesity is the sedentary lifestyle. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of motivational interviewing on the physical activity intention in the obese or overweight women, using the protection motivation theory (PMT).
In the clinical trial study, 60 obese or overweight women referred to the health centers of Gorgan were studied in 2015. The subjects, selected via non-probable and available sampling method, were randomly divided into two groups including control and motivational interviewing groups. Data was collected using a researcher-made questionnaire before the intervention and 2 and 6 months after in both groups. Data was analyzed by SPSS 18 software using independent T, Chi-square, repeated measures ANOVA, LSD, and one-variable and multivariable linear regression tests.
Findings: The scores of all the constructs of PMT in motivational interviewing group significantly increased 2 and 6 months after he intervention (p0.05). The most powerful constructs predicting the intention towards the physical activities 2 months after the intervention were perceived-reply efficiency, self-efficiency, and perceived intensity, successively. In addition, such factors 6 months after the intervention were attitude and perceived intensity, successively.
The motivational interviewing increases the scores of all the constructs of PMT, which leads to an increase in the physical activity intention in the obese or overweight women.

Air pollution is a major problem that has been recognized throughout the world. Refineriers normally create environmental pollution through emissions of pollutants gaseous from a variety of sources. Analysing air pollution distribution and dispersion can help in reducing the negative effects. In this study NOX and SO2 emissions and distributions were investigated for Abadan oil refinery using SCREEN3 software. In this softweare, wind speed and direction, air temperature, location and physical characteristics of chimnies and atmospheric stability were taken into consideration.The concentration of pollutants in different distances from the stacks in the range 25 km were predicted and mapped in Idrisi software. The output from software SCREEN3 for emissions from stacks were also examined and compared with the standard output of the refineries .According to our results, the concentration of polutants in summer and autumn seasons exceeds of the environmental standards.

A better use of outdoor recreational places could be achieved when the areas are responsive to visitor's socio-psychological needs in addition to other visitors’ needs. In other word, outdoor recreational areas should be designed based on a variety of visitor's socio-psychological needs. These were investigated in Daland Forest Park, Gorgan, Iran as a case study. In this study, socio-psychological characteristics of visitors’ needs to the Park were investigated and then management guidelines for the area were presented based on the results. In doing so, 168 questionnaires filled out in the Park in summer and fall 1391. Questionnaire justifiability was confirmed by two experts and its reliability was calculated using Cronbach's alpha. The results show that most visitors to this area are aimed at having mental relaxation. Also, about 72 percent respondents prefer to see collaboration between police forces and park guards for park security management. Chi-square test was used to examine if there is any relationship between sexes with some socio-psychological needs. The results of this study not only reflect the Park status but, they reflect visitors’ expectations of different socio-psychological aspects that can be used for a better park management.

Smoking is one of the important risk factors for many diseases and increases the premature death.Transtheoretical models is one of the behavioral models for behavior understanding specifically in addictive behaviors. This study was done to evaluate the application of transtheoretical model to determination of smoking behavior among smokers.
This descriptive - analytical study conducted on 450 male smokers in Gorgan, northern Iran during 2014. Data gathering instruments were Diclemente smoking stages of change, Velicer decisional balance and temptation, Prochaska processes of change measurements along Fagerstrom test for nicotine dependency.
Based on the stages of changes, 39.1%, 13.8%, 42.4%, 2.7% and 2% of subjects were in precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance stage, respectively. There was a significant relationship between stages of change with all transtheoretical model variables and nicotine dependency (P Cons of smoking, self-reevaluation, self-liberation, and social liberation had the strongest predictors of smoking stages movement. Helping relationship had the lowest predictor of smoking stages movement.

Due to importance of farm management, mathematical programming models plays an important role in determining the optimum cropping pattern. In this research, goal programming model was applied to optimize the cropping pattern in the five scenarios. The objectives of this study include maximizing gross margin (scenario one), environmental conservation (scenario two), increase in employment (scenario three), sustainable development of water resources (scenario four) and simultaneously achieve these goals (scenario five). Sampling method of this research is two-stage stratified sampling and 493 questionnaires has been completed from 19 counties in Mazandaran Province. The results show that the achievement of the objectives of economic, social and environmental simultaneously (scenario five) is the most appropriate model. The model of this scenario create reconciliation and balance between these goals and offers holistic advice for province cropping pattern which provide all objectives relatively by increase 4 percent in current gross margin, decrease 2.85 percent in fertilizer consumption, decrease 0.38 percent in pesticide consumption, increase 8.48 percent in employment and decrease 0.9987 percent in water consumption.

Wetlands as water resources have a special place in the semi-arid plateau of Iran and boundary determination is necessary for their effective conservation and conflict resolution among stakeholders that are dependent on these resources. Determination of the wetland boundaries should be commensurate with environmental features affecting on it which normally extend beyond water extent. Ecological wetland boundaries are normally affected by water extent, hydric soils, and obligate water plants that constitute a normal protocol for wetland boundary determination. Also, we add wetland dependent fauna with special emphasis on birds to these three features to get to a more ecologically integrated boundary determination. Thus, in our approach, boundary determination requires information on indicators relating to soil, hydrology, vegetation, and wetland dependent fauna. We carried out field sampling of the Alagol wetland during which we recorded hydrology, percent vegetation cover, plant species, soil parameters, and dependent/loving birds within 1000 m radius of the initial water body. The results, determined the seasonal and temporary boundaries, and finally the ecological aspects helped in better boundary determination and suggestions for an integrated protection of Alagol wetland. We also suggested a buffer for protection of other wetland birds in areas further than 1000 m from the initial boundary to make sure the resulting boundary stays afar from violations.

Recent literature paid high attention to scenic evaluation of natural landscapes. The individual perception, due to the perceptual characteristics of landscape, is different from one to another and this is what called as “aesthetic preferences” in this study. These perceptions are different from one to other as a result of landscapes diversity and based on the shape, color, texture, rhythm, suitability, balance, symmetry, order, direction and continuity. The aim of this research was to identify the objective and subjective criteria which are effective on the scenic beauty perception of landscapes.
This is a reviewing research which is done by librarian method and using the existing documents. In this paper, related components and variables have been surveyed by investigating landscape elements.
land use planners usually assess the scenic value of landscapes using the objective and subjective approaches. At the first approach, landscape visual quality is defined by physical and biological values of landscape such as diversity of toposhape, vegetation cover, water features and man-made features and in the second approach is defined according to the individual vision, perception and feeling.
This paper is presented a list of objective and subjective criteria which are effective on scenic value of a landscape and the role of each criterion in the preference of a landscape is expressed. Final conclusions showed that spatial expansion of a landscapes without proper aesthetic impact assessments will endanger the high valuable tourism natural resources, therefore recognizing of objective and subjective factors seems to be necessary for proper assessment. Aesthetic quality should not be considered as the only inherent characteristic of an object but also the differentiation of mind and nature would make it easier to honor the role of emotions in estimation of landscape aesthetic preferences, actually aesthetic analyzing can be examined by a degree of objectivity based on public preferences. The combination of objective and subjective approaches could be used as a comprehensive method to assess the aesthetic quality of a landscape. Regarding that the visual sense has the most impact on the quality of recreational experience of individuals so assessing the aesthetic and visual quality of a landscape should be regarded as a fundamental part in land use planning and management projects.

In the fast growing world of today, land use planners frequently face situations in which various uses compete for the same piece of land. Hence, the final result heavily depends on the decision maker’s capabilities to select the best use among different conflicting land uses. Taking this approach, the present study aims at providing the best allocation solution for multiple land uses including agriculture, forest, range and development in Gorgan Township, Golestan Province of Iran with respect to minimizing allocating cost and maximizing compactness and contiguity as shape criteria of landscape metrics. To aim these objectives Linear Programming as an exact method in combination with Ant Colony as metaheuristic algorithm have been used. Since land use planning is NP-Hard problem with respect to its size (132 rows in 127 columns) and the mentioned objectives, LP-Relaxation and Branch & bound method have been used to solve it. Results indicate the superiority of the hybrid model (linear programming in combination with ant colony) to employment of each of the models separately in every objectives including allocating cost, compactness and contiguity. Additionally, comparing the results of proposed hybrid model with the results of MOLA algorithm in IDRISI shows the superiority of hybrid model against MOLA. In hybrid model cost, compactness and contiguity levels after standardization are respectively 0.03, 0.1 and 0.07 better than MOLA. Furthermore, using the proposed approach, it is possible to consider both suitability and landscape metrics or even more objectives.

For a natural destination to have a wide appeal, it should have sufficient capacity to cater for the needs of different types of users. This paper presents an assessment of the social carrying capacity of tourists visiting Daland Forest Park (DFP), Golestan, Iran. Social factors such as visitors’ perception about the Park’s safety, security and facilities were investigated to determine the level of social capacity and satisfaction. The Mann Whitney U test was used to investigate the likely differences between men and women regarding their social capacity. To do this, 168 questionnaires were filled out by the visitors of the Park during summer and fall 2012. The results showed that about 60% of the visitors preferred moderately crowded environments while the rest preferred low-crowded environments. The results also showed that the Park, in its current condition, does not provide the maximum level of the visitor’s satisfaction; therefore, some changes are needed in the area such as raising health care, welfare services and park’s safety. The results of this study reflect the status and expectations of the Park's visitors which can be useful to improve the level of visitor's satisfaction. A number of recommendations were provided to upgrade the quality of the recreation services of the Park. Furthermore, a general list of criteria was proposed to estimate social carrying capacity and visitors’ satisfaction that can be considered for other similar natural parks.

Today، ecotourism is a major tourist activity around the world. Ecotourism is one of the strategies for supporting conservation and ensuring income in the protected areas. When implemented within the capabilities of natural systems evaluated based on natural and socio-economic factors، ecotourism can simultaneously lead to regional prosperity and environmental protection. The goal of research is determination of natural potential، recreational opportunity، and effective factors in their choice in natural areas. The area is located south of the Caspian Sea in Mazandaran and Golestan Provinces. We used questionnaires and field survey for collecting public opinions. Results indicated the high tendency of visitors for bird watching، swimming، nature photography and filming and boating among all the suggested recreational activities. Also، the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests were used for assessment of the relationships between age، sex and visitor groups and recreational activities. We found significant relationships between the groups in many of recreational activities such as research، resting and photography and filming of nature. The results of this study showed this area lacked sufficient facilities for visitors، therefore planning، preparation and implementation of comprehensive tourism infrastructure are essential to attract more ecotourists that can also reduce negative effects of recreational activities on the environment.

The natural characteristics of protected areas change for a variety of reasons. These changes can be studied both spatially and temporally. Spatially, protected area landscape structures such as shape, size and location with respect to their neighbourhood context can be studied to describe landscape configuration. Temporally, landscape functions such as different geographical locations and land characteristics can be studied to determine the rate of temporal changes in landscape. This paper will introduce a developed framework to enhance the landscape ecological planning approach with attention to changes in landscapes of protected areas. Considering landscape ecological concepts, this framework draws upon spatial and temporal characteristics of protected areas. In order to examine the model in the real world, the data requirements for landscape ecological planning including a number of spatial and temporal metrics were implemented usinga case study method. The case study approach proved that spatial and temporal metrics can be used in the interpretation of spatial configuration and temporal variability of protected areas. A list of spatial and temporal criteria was developed to assist interpretation of area compaction, spatialfragmentation and temporal variability of protected areas. Using the criteria list, a new framework for spatial and temporal evaluation of protected areas has been developed. The results were used to determine spatial and temporal management issues of the case areas at the landscape scale. Then planning scenarios for spatial and temporal issues of the protected areas were suggested.

The habitats of many ground-based fauna species in developing urban regions have altered in their structure and are often isolated from other habitat locations due to the urban growth. Habitat areas that are well connected to other fragments of habitat have been shown to assist particular fauna in their movement from one location to another. Habitat connectivity is therefore seen as critical to the survival of many fauna species in urban locations.Two key benefits of faunal movement are the transfer of genes resulting in improved genetic diversity and support for larger populations of particular species. Ecological connectivity has been applied frequently in different disciplines and this has resulted in overwhelming number of methods and measures applied. Therefore choice of suitable methods and measures still remains problematic. This research aims to establish a suitable method to evaluate connectivity to support biodiversity in urban regions. In this paper connectivity is defined and the factors required for accurately studying connectivity in the urban environment are then discussed. The methods and measures for connectivity are reviewed and classified. Finally, the relevance of each of the reviewed methods, and their specific criteria, are analysed and the method that meets the established criteria for this study is selected. This paper concludes that the joint application of graph theory and least-cost modelling incorporates the movement charachteristics and abilities of species in connectivity analysis and meets most of the established criteria to assess connectivity. The suggested method will serve as a foundation to support conservation planning and decision-making through the establishment of priority areas within the urban landscape.

The most important pollutants that cause water pollution are nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural runoff called Non-Point Source Pollution (NPS). To solve this problem، management practices known as BMPs or Best Management Practices are applied. One of the common methods for Non-Point Source Pollution prediction is modeling. By modeling، efficiency of many practices can be tested before application. In this study، land use changes were studied from the years 1984 till 2010 that showed an increase in agricultural lands from 516908. 52 to 630737. 19 ha and expansion of cities from 5237. 87 to 15487. 59 ha and roads from 9666. 07 to 11430. 24 ha. Using L-THIA model (from nonpoint source pollution models) for both land use categories، the amount of pollutant and the volume of runoff were calculated that showed high growth. Then، the seventh sub-basin was recognized as a critical zone in terms of pollution among the sub-basins. In the end، land use change was considered as a BMP using Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) based on which a more suitable land use map was produced. After producing the new land use map، L-THIA model was run again and the result of the model was compared to the actual land use to show the effect of this BMP. Runoff volume decreased from 367. 5 to 308. 6 M3/ha and nitrogen in runoff was reduced from 3. 26 to 1. 58 mg/L and water BOD from 3. 61 to 2. 13 mg/L. Other pollutants also showed high reduction. In the end، land use change is confirmed as an effective BMP for Non-Point Source Pollution reduction.

Visitors use the tracks for many reasons and in different types. The determination of users destinations and preferences in walking tracks designing are very important. Scenic and viewing points are important factors for visitors of recreational track, so aesthetic expectations ought to be considered as part of a thoughtful track design. Different approaches for assessing the scenic qualities of landscapes have been developed in the last few decades. Two basic approaches in this field include expert/design approach and perception-based approach. In this paper scenes and viewing points of 10 existing walking tracks in natural recreational area of Ziyarat Basin were assessed according to the perception-based approach. Therefore, a field survey using GPS receivers was conducted to determine viewing points on the study area and at each viewpoint photographs by using of digital camera that could be used for visual quality analysis. The data was analyzed in was taken ArcGis9.3. Finally, according to the results of viewing point's analysis, walking tracks were classified in three degrees (excellent, good, and moderate) based on scenic quality. The results showed that Ziyarat basin walking tracks provide the possibility and opportunity for watching different types of visual landscapes in this area. Determination of walking tracks and viewing points, quality assessment of these viewing points and introducing the tracks based on the scenic quality via perception approach could be used as a suitable guideline for better management recreation area. In this study we have tried to provide a pattern for better management of these areas and increasing visitor's recreational experience quality from a natural recreational area by introducing one of the visual assessment methods.

As population and public interest in maintaining health and leisure increase, the need for tourism and recreational facilities and resources increases. Walking tracks as a primary recreational infrastructure are a basic component of facilities connecting visitors to nature with low negative impacts on the environment. Well-designed trails not only create a harmony between user and location but also provide users with access to areas to learn, recreate, exercise, and to observe and interpret nature. Increasing recreational use on poorly designed and maintained recreational trails lead to a variety of negative impacts on natural resources. Considering the importance of designing and constructing recreational walking tracks in planning and management of natural areas, this literature review focuses on designing and building principles of sustainable walking tracks in natural areas. Reviewing of resources showed that it is particularly important to consider the conservational values of the area prior to finalizing any track layout. Therefore, knowledge of the environmental relationships is important in locating, designing, constructing, and maintaining sustainable tracks. Finally, classificationsof walking tracks in design and developmentprocess increasesthe recreational experience of the visitors, and allow land managers to provide suitable levels of facilities and management. This study provides fundamental principles in design and construction of sustainable walking tracks as a guideline for walking tracks planning, development and management in natural recreational areas of Iran.

The aim of planning and management of tourism innatural resources is to develop and conserve natural resources and their attractions. The characteristics of tourism resources and attractions provide the basis of tourism industry development in each country. To provide tourists satisfaction of tourism resources and attractions, efficient management of these areas is essential which can be achieved through quality evaluation of the attractions with conservation as the main core of the assessment. Quality of tourism attractions and resources is the most important factor when choosing a tourismdestination and heavily impacts on the tourists satisfaction. However, to provide proper context for the development of tourism by attracting visitors and increasing their satisfaction, identification of attractions and then planning and assessment for their sustainable development is necessary. This paper attempts to provide proper planning tools for recreational areas through presenting and comparing various methods of quality evaluation andmanagementof naturaltourism attractions and determination of their natural talent. Application of the appropriate methods by managers maintainsand improvesrecreational areasand eliminates limiting factors. This in turn increases satisfaction and attracts more visitors, while minimizing their effects and leads to economic growth and a sustainable development of the tourism.

One of the most important factors in the development of societies, consider to traning. Identification and training needs analysis, is a prerequisite for a successful educational system and determine the training needs is considered the first step of educational planning. The purpose of this study was to investigate Educational needs of engineers, rice supervisors Engineering agricultural engineering and technical consulting services companies in Mazandaran. The methodological approach of this study was descriptive- correlational. Statistical population of this research consisted of 186   rice supervisor engineers of Mazandaran province, and based on Cochran formula 113 people were selected randomly through  proportional stratified sampling. Data collection tool was a questionnaire , whose validity was confirmed by a panel of experts, and its reliability was measured through Cronbach's alpha. Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.75 to 0.96. for educational-professional needs assessment of agricultural extension agents was used from  Burich model and according to the mean weight discrepancy  score (MWDS) were rated. The results achieved from  path analysis method indicate that the highest effect on educational needs was related to economic factors with the path coefficient of 0.231. In addition, information resources was also effective on the educational needs with the path coefficient of 0.171.

Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution is a major surface water contaminant commonly caused by agricultural runoff. The purpose of this study was to assess seasonal variation in water quality parameters in Gorganrood watershed (Golestan Province، Iran). It also tried to clarify the effects of agricultural practices and NPS pollution on them. Water quality parameters including potassium، sodium، pH، water flow rate، total dissolved solids (TDS)، electrical conductivity (EC)، hardness، sulfate، bicarbonate، chlorine، magnesium، and calcium ions during 1966-2010 were evaluated using multivariate statistical techniques. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was implemented to determine the significance of differences between mean seasonal values. Discriminant analysis (DA) was also carried out to identify correlations between seasons and the water quality parameters. Parameters of water quality index were measured through principal component analysis (PCA) and factor analysis (FA). Based on the results of statistical tests، climate (freezing، weathering and rainfall) and human activities such as agriculture had crucial effects on water quality. The most important parameters in differentiation between seasons in descending order were potassium، pH، carbonic acid، calcium، and magnesium. According to load factor analysis، chlorine، calcium، and potassium were the most important parameters in spring and summer، indicating the application of fertilizers (especially potassium chloride fertilizer) and existence of NPS pollution during these seasons. In the next stage، the months during which crops had excessive water requirements were detected using CROPWAT software. Almost all water requirements of the area’s major crops، i. e. cotton، rice، soya، wheat، and oat، happen in the late spring until mid/late summer. According to our findings، agricultural practices had a great impact on water pollution. Results of analysis with CROPWAT software also confirmed this conclusion.

In order to determine the resistance levels and the most suitable potato genotypes to the early blight, an experiment was conducted in a completely randomized factorial design with three replications, in National Plant Gene Bank of Iran during 2007-2008. Factors included pathogenic fungus, A. tenuissima and A. alternata and six potato genotypes, Picasso, Marfona, Delta, Agria, Cosmos and Armida. Analysis of variance, in vitro and greenhouse evaluation showed that there were significant between pathogen, genotype and their interactions. In vitro evaluation, symptoms appeared after the second day and continued until the sixth day. Based on area under the disease progress curve for pathogenic A. alternata, Cosmos genotype had a lower level of Agria (susceptible control), while Picasso and Marfona with Delta (resistant control) were resistant patients.With the pathogenic A. tenuissima, Cosmos was sensitive, and only Picasso was resistant patient.The method greenhouse, symptoms began on the third day and it lasted until the twentieth day. In this evaluation, using both fungal isolates, Cosmos was sensitive level and Picasso was resistant level. In vitro and greenhouse assessment, Armida not show any signs of disease, it may be referred to as a genotype-immune disease, after field testing. Since, the results of the assessment of resistance was generally similar in both in vitro and greenhouse conditions, it can be argued that this study is validated by classifying genotypes to resistant and susceptible.

Today, parallel with the rapid increases in population, waste production is also increasing that together with decreasing availability of proper land for landfill sites has created a complex management issue despite the progresses in science and technology. Composting is a useful way of waste management that has many environmental and economic benefits, but compost plants can also have significant impacts on the environment. Hence, selection of suitable locations for landfill and compost plants is one of the important issues in waste management program. Mathematical matrices in association with geographic information system (GIS) are used as a strong approach to EIA of compost sites and their selection. In mathematical matrices, important criteria for site selection of compost plants are studied. Then, effects are assessed in GIS and their significances are determined. In mathematical matrices, impacts significance are calculated using 7 factors including magnitude, extent, duration, synergistic effects, accumulative effects, controversy and mitigation measures, based on which appropriate site for compost plant is selected. In the present study, Golpayegan City in Isfahan Province was selected to perform compost plant site selection. The map overlay method was used to generally and qualitatively assess the impacts and the mathematical matrices method was used for impatcs quatification. Three alternatives sites were studied. According to the results, alternative 3 was the best. The second preference was alternative 2 and the third was alternative1. This approach has flexibility through inclusion of compensation criterion and controversy which help in bringing about consensus among proponents and EIA assessors and therefore, will create more comprehensive results.

Recent literature attaches high importance to scenic evaluation of natural landscapes. Scenic beauty should be regarded as a valuable resource in human land uses, as any spatial development without objective assessment of aesthetic values may degrade landscape’s beauty. Different approaches have been created for scenic beauty evaluation and each includes different methods. These methods often use parameters derived from photographs or those collected in situ, via field assessment and questionnaires. Although these methods are at times tedious, relatively costly and time consuming but are still required and very worthy of implementing, since they consider the perception and sense of individuals in the process. Park managers and recreational planners require spatial tools and techniques that are fast, flexible and repeatable in order to extract predictable spatial data from scenic resources. As it is impossible or very hard to measure all essential parameters directly, the use of spatial data in Geographic Information System for the assessment and modeling of visual quality of landscape has become essential. In this paper, we have surveyed and reviewed the relevant references, and compared three different approaches including expert, community perception-based and comprehensive approaches. According to these approaches, eight methods of assessing and analyzing of landscape’s visual quality have been presented and detailed. Using these methods, the best applicable method of visual quality assessment can be chosen for different places in Iran.

Water management and best use are among the topical issues and therefore the negative trends of water quality should be reduced. We have tested various water quality improvement scenarios in this research. We selected nine water quality factors and generated an initial set of 41 independent variables relating to landform, physical and biological plus landscape metrics of the surrounding environment of the rivers. Regression and correlation analyses helped narrow down the independent variables and define equations between dependent and independent variables. Five management items were devised based on the regression relationships and expert opinions including: decreasing fractal dimension of remnant tree patches, pasture extension onto bare land, decreasing area under agriculture based on a special multi-criteria analysis (MCE), decreasing road density based on a pattern suggested through least cost algorithm and increasing area under pasture management and the number of tree patches. To balance the results of the scenarios and select the optimum one, a multi-criteria approach was adopted during which the analytical hierarchy process was applied and the 32 scenarios were analyzed through technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). The best scenario was found to be the one including road density decrease plus range extension onto bare land and decrease of fractal dimension of the remnant tree patches. These were the best in terms of the selected criteria for water quality improvement.

Top predators such as leopard are often associated with high biodiversity, so the protection of their habitat can be regarded as one of the most effective ways of conserving ecosystems and biodiversity globally. The purpose of this study is predicting potential distribution of Persian leopard and its habitat suitability in Golestan National Park using Ecological Niche Factors Analysis (ENFA). Persian leopard is an endangered species in the IUCN Red List. The data used in the analysis fall into two categories of independent environmental factors and dependent ones. We recorded 120 presences as dependent factor and also analyzed 14 environmental variables as independent based on behavioral and biological characteristics of leopard and the dominant park features. The marginality and specialization scores show the Persian leopard live in a narrow range of conditions in this area and therefore, it requires a specific habitat protection and management. The results provide a means of concentrating on the most important features of the leopard habitat and its efficient management.