مجله پژوهشهای محیط زیست
سال سیزدهم شماره 25 (بهار و تابستان 1401)

Nowadays, due to the expansion of societies and consequently increased use of water resources, abnormalities in rivers have increased and eventually led to changes in water quality conditions. Therefore, it is essential try to develop a management system to predict the pollutants behavior and also prevent excessive environmental pollution. The aim of this research is to model the changes of water quality parameters of Karaj River using CE-QUAL-W2 model. In order to achieve the research goal, hydrodynamics of the system (water velocity) and river quality parameters including nitrate, phosphate, algae, ammonium, dissolved oxygen, biological oxygen demand were calibrated and then verified. The results show a suitable matching with observed data. Moreover comparing the results of simulated concentration of DO and BOD with the standard level of these parameters for surface water is an evident for the health of the river. Considering the accurate predictions of the model, it can be concluded that utilizing of appropriate mathematical models with spending less time and cost compared to field monitoring and laboratory observations for qualitative simulation and representing management scenarios would be a very useful tool in water resource management and would help the planners and managers as a decision support tool to achieve the goals of sustainable development.

The ASPT index is one of the most valid bio-indices for assessing river water quality. In this study, sampling which was done in the period of autumn 2017 to summer 2018, was done seasonally from nine stations along the Karaj River. Macrobenthos were sampled with sorbents and after fixation with 5% formalin and staining, the samples were identified and isolated. In the obtained results, the total number of people collected and the average annual density (SD ±) in the study area of Karaj River were 38454 units and (147 ±) 2907 units / m2, respectively, the highest number of which is equal to 15313 units in autumn. And the lowest in the summer is equal to 3806 numbers. The results showed that Arthropods as the main group of macrobenthos made up 83% of the samples. Also, ringed worms were included in 14%, flatworms in 1% and mollusks in 2% of the samples. The average of total ASPT indices in Karaj River is 3.95. The range of changes of ASPT index based on station is (0.8-0.1), respectively. The highest annual average value of ASPT index (4.64) was observed in Varangeh_ Rood station and the lowest value (3.08) was observed in Bilaqan station. The trend of ASPT index changes from upstream to downstream be decreasing. Therefore, the downstream part of the river has a worse quality than the upstream. Also the ASPT seems to be more appropriate for assessing rivers than the BMWP index.

Qualitative assessment of water resources is one of the main topics in hydrology. In order to evaluate the trend of water quality changes using physical and chemical parameters in 21 surface water monitoring stations and 33 groundwater resources stations using IRWQI, NSFWQI, WQI, OWQI, CWQI, DWQI and WPI quality indicators in the period Statistical analysis of 2012-2013. Water quality status according to NSFWQI, WQI, WPI and OWQI indices was the same for surface and groundwater resources and was in the middle, excellent and very poor quality classes. Also, the average quality status in IRWQISW and IRWQIGW indices, poor condition of CWQI and DWQI indices in surface water sources and good and excellent condition in CWQI and DWQI indices for groundwater resources were evaluated, respectively. In surface water sources, Sheikhan Chai (6), Kani Rash (9), Balqachi Chay (15 and 16), Mohammad Shah (19) and Godarchai (20) stations were identified as the most polluted stations, which is the parameter of total solids. Suspended (90.4%) had the highest impact percentage in station 9 and was polluted in groundwater resources of Nizamabad (23), Farrokhzad (27), Azim Khanlu (28), Adeh (31) and Mamind (32) stations. The most stations were the phosphate parameter (58.3%), which had the greatest impact on reducing water quality in station 23. The results show that the WPI index is appropriate for estimating surface and groundwater quality.

In this research, Delphi method was implemented in three stages to select 43 development indices based on the consensus of experts, and weighted by analytic hierarchy process method. In order to rank the development of Iran's Provinces, scripting in Excel was undertaken to implement the TOPSIS method. The software implements all the steps of the TOPSIS to calculate the distance from the positive and negative ideal solutions, the relative closeness to the ideal solution, and finally the automatic ranking of the Provinces and it provides diagrams, tables, and a map showing the development stage of the Provinces. By upgrading the TOPSIS method from manual mode to the automatic software-based in Excel, the ranking is done fast and the display of the results has been facilitated through tables, diagrams and report forms. The features of this program are its user-friendliness, repeatability using different weights, very small software size and possibility of determining the factors that may promote or demote a province. In this research, based on the statistical information of the year 2015, the ranking of development status of the provinces was carried out. In the first run and with the obtained weights, the provinces Markazi, Yazd and Guilan ranked first to third, and the provinces Northern Khorasan, Qom and Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari won the last three places. Certainly, by changing the weights and repeating the process, a sensitivity analysis can be made and it can be showed that which province(s) maintain their relative position with changes in the weights.

The aim of the research is to investigate the structure of the spatial- temporal heat island in the city of Tehran, as well as the physical and biophysical properties of Land surface, such as Land Use, vegetation, climatic indicators, also some parameters resulting from population concentration and human activities, including the main indicators of air pollution and density of buildings. For this purpose, after the corrections of images, calculates emissivity and the average brightness temperature and finally zoning the land surface temperature in the time interval of twenty years by using remote sensing methods was done. Then the correlation between the land surface temperature and effective parameters with normalization of information was investigated through mathematical algorithms and statistical analysis in GIS software and finally, the regional vulnerability of Tehran metropolis was determined. The results and spatial- temporal analysis showed a direct relationship between parameters such as density of buildings, concentration of activities and population with land surface temperature as well as some air pollutant indicators, and on the other hand, the inverse relationship of some other parameters such as land use, vegetation and climate indicators with the land surface temperature. This study showed that Tehran is faced to the formation of hot spots in the west and southwest regions and the number of cold spots in the north of Tehran is considerable.

Earthquake environmental issues can be generally assessed in the context of society and social issues. The purpose of this study is to identify and determine the main dimensions and key factors affecting the management of a possible earthquake crisis in the metropolitan city of Tehran with an emphasis on environmental resilience. This research has been done through documentary studies and a questionnaire in which 51 experts and researchers have presented their opinions on the importance of factors in the form of a questionnaire. The data extracted from the research have been analyzed by combining the methods of mean, correlation, and interaction analysis and the key factors of crisis management have been extracted. The results showed that 7 main dimensions, including 39 factors, have a decisive role in earthquake crisis management in Tehran. The dimension of institutional-managerial resilience with a weight of 7.03 is in the 1st rank and the resilience of environmental resources with a weight of 6 is in the 7th rank. The results showed that 5 factors include; Social capital, public participation, reconstruction, trust in government institutions and organizations, and management style are among the 39 important factors that play a driving role in managing the Tehran earthquake crisis and preserving the environment. Accordingly, the relevant authorities, in particular, need to pay attention to the two components of social capital and public participation and to overcome the possible earthquake crisis in Tehran, it is necessary to strengthen the dimensions of social capital among citizens, to provide public participation. Accelerate the reconstruction of earthquake damage, strengthen the city's physical infrastructure, and ultimately make the management body more efficient in managing the environmental consequences of the earthquake crisis in Tehran.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the structural relationships between the fourfold components of students’ environmental literacy (knowledge, attitude, concern and responsibility) and their environmental activities through a structural equation modeling. The population was comprised of all undergraduate and graduate students of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman (11692 students) in 2017-18 academic year. A total of 375 students were selected as the sample. Research instrument was Environmental Literacy Questionnaire (adopted from Teksoz et al.,). Reliability of the instrument was calculated through internal consistency method and the Cronbach’s alpha was calculated at 0.89. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to assess validity of the questionnaire. Data were analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM) using Lisrel software, version 8.8. Results showed that the proposed model fits the data and can explain the relationship between the variables in a good manner. Accordingly, there was a positive and significant direct relationship between knowledge and environmental concern, knowledge and environmental responsibility, concern and environmental attitude, attitude and environmental responsibility, knowledge and environmental activity, concern and environmental responsibility, and concern and environmental activity. However, there was no significant relationship between knowledge and environmental attitude, and concern and environmental activity. The results of the fitted model showed that the variables environmental knowledge, attitude, and concern explained 66 percent of the variance of students’ environmental responsibility, and the variables of environmental knowledge, attitude and responsibility explained 22 percent of the variance of environmental activity. The results have important implications for the role of the students’ components of environmental literacy in designing environmental education programs in academic contexts.

The issue of social responsibility for the protection of the environment at all levels and segments of society is an issue that is explicitly emphasized in paragraph 14 of the general environmental policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. And the villagers, as the main users of environmental resources, are no exception. The research method in the present study is survey. Using multi-stage cluster sampling method selected 30 villages and sample size were determined 384 people. The data required for the research were collected through a questionnaire tool. According to the findings, the rural community's ability to protect the environment was moderate. Regression analysis suggests that awareness of the severity of environmental hazards and environmental values has had the greatest impact on the components of protection capability, namely self-efficacy and efficiency. While in addition to these two variables, religious beliefs have also influenced the component of action costs. The step-by-step model in regression analysis showed that among the components of ecological culture, awareness of the severity of the risk had the greatest impact on the ability to protect the rural community. Structural modeling has also confirmed the impact of ecological culture on the village's environmental protection capacity.

The stakeholders and natural resources are not discrete and independent. Therefore, natural resource management needs to explore the dependency on natural resources. One of the best methods for the study of social relations is social network analysis. Kalaleh village is in the Arasbaran biosphere reserve, which is one of the sensitive and unique regions in Iran. The natural resource management plans of this region were incompetent as yet and so the rate of deforestation is high. The main goal of this study was Social Network Analysis in the highest level of users for Planning and Forest Co-management in the Kalaleh village of Arasbaran region. For implicating this study based on quantitative network analysis methods, network analysis questionnaires and linkages of interpersonal trust links, collaboration, kinship, and neighborhood were gathered. The results of the present study showed that density, magnitude, transferring and bilinear indices of collaboration and trust level of bonding ties are low and very low. Statistical results showed in the highest level of users, collaboration and neighborhood links have a significant and high correlation. Finally, the results of this study indicated stakeholders of Kalaleh village are not good enough about cohesion and stability, and before management plans in this village, collaboration and trust level of bonding ties have to be amplification.

The first key step in preserving the environment is to investigate maladaptive behaviors, which are based on the extraction of more natural resources. Farmers, especially subsistence farmers, are close witnesses and at serious risk of climate change struggle to make a living in the face of these emerging climate disorders, specifically if their business ecosystem is adversely affected by climate change and their job security is not maintained, they will move towards extracting more natural resources and thus intensifying climate change. The aim of this study was to investigate the drivers of maladaptive behaviors, including the effect of climate change exposure on socio-economic disruptions and then ecological anger by descriptive correlation method. The study population was all farmers in Zanjan province who were sampled by multi-stage stratified method. The sample size was estimated to be 265 using Cochran's formula. A questionnaire was used to measure the research variables, the validity of which was evaluated using the opinion of experts and its reliability was verified using a pilot test. The results of this study showed that people who were exposed to more climate change, experienced more socio-economic disruptions that led to the formation of eco-anger and increased environmental maladaptive behaviors and the desire to extract more natural resources. Therefore, considering the damage caused to the environment and natural resources and its negative effects on the intensification of climate change caused by these conditions, it is suggested that: to prevent the formation of maladaptive behaviors, control ecological anger, and reducing socio-economic disruptions affected by climate change, necessary measures to adapt should be given priority in government decisions and strategic planning to maintain security and environmental sustainability including empowerment and resilience of the agricultural sector and farmers in the face of climate change.

Climate change is one of the main and most important factors affecting ecosystem characteristics. The climate change caused by the increase of greenhouse gases is influenced by human activities and industrialization of countries, which leads to increased global warming and natural disasters such as floods and droughts, and the consequences of migration, hunger, poverty, etc., and Indirectly affecting the economy, society and agriculture. Climate change is an obstacle to poverty reduction and sustainable economic development. In this context, assessing how climate change is important in reducing poverty. This study evaluates the impact of climate change on selected poverty from Middle Eastern countries, including Iran in the period (2000-2015). Panel fixed effect model to estimate poverty (malnutrition and infant mortality rates) were selected. The findings of the study indicate the negative effect of variables such as percentage change in forest area, improving access to health, electricity, healthy water sources and food production index on poverty indicators and the positive effect of carbon dioxide emissions on the variables of malnutrition. According to the results, special managerial decisions should be made to improve access to safe water, especially in rural areas, electricity and sanitation, and, on the other hand, by protecting forest areas, attempts to reduce unnecessary exploitation and destruction of these resources. It is also necessary to take measures and policies to reduce poverty, taking into account the socio-economic conditions of countries and the climate.

Methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and nitric oxide (NO) are considered to be the most important greenhouse gases. Present study is a practical-analytical study conducted with help of DAYCENT software to study flux of methane, nitrous oxide and nitric oxide emissions in citrus orchards of Dezful and Abadan groves in Khuzestan province. DAYCENT model program is written in FORTRAN and C programming languages ​​and runs with Unix / Linux platform. Results of methane flux simulation at Dezful station show release of 0.448 tons of methane per square meter per year, 0.111 tons of nitrous oxide per square meter per year and 0.152 tons of nitric oxide per square meter per year. Results of simulation of methane flux in Abadan station indicate release of 0.398 tons of methane per square meter per year, 0.014 tons of nitrous oxide per square meter per year and 0.129 tons of nitric oxide per square meter per year. Potential for global warming was then calculated for both study areas. Also, in order to evaluate accuracy of the model were used, statistical characteristics of maximum error, root of mean error squares, determination coefficient, model efficiency and remaining mass coefficient. According to statistics, DAYCENT provides acceptable results and has a good accuracy range in all three gases. Results showed that trend of increasing flux of methane, nitrous oxide and nitric oxide gases in Abadan groves is slower than Dezful citrus orchards.

Global warming has intensified the corals bleaching in some areas. In this study, the effect of climatic parameters on the health of branching corals in Chabahar Bay was investigated. For this purpose, climatic data of ECMWF center and Chabahar meteorological station were used. Coral health data were obtained from the Coral watch site and also by diving operations by the author. Statistical analyzes were performed using Pearson correlation, multiple regression, Mann-Kendall trend and analysis of variance. To estimate the temperature and health level of the coral ecosystem in the coming decades, the combined data of GCM models of CORDEX database were used under two scenarios of radiation induction RCP8.5 and RCP4.5. The results showed that despite the significant increase in air temperature and a significant decrease in coral health index in the past, the health status of branching corals at the end of 2019 is classified as "good". According to forecasts, although there are differences in the level of branching coral health index between the observation period and the coming decades, these differences are only statistically significant for the distant future and only under the pessimistic scenario of RCP8.5. In other words, under the conditions of climate change from the perspective of both scenarios, the health index of branching corals for the coming decades in the "good" classification with an average annual color grade of about 4 out of 6 Score for the RCP8.5 scenario and 4.3 for the scenario RCP4.5 will be maintained.

In this study the adsorption of the anionic dye, aniline blue, onto a novel biosorbent with the local name of Tonbak Toureh and the scientific name of Grantia aucheri was considered. FT-IR and SEM were used for characterization of the biosorbent. The effect of dominant parameters including pH, amount of biosorbent, time, temperature, and initial dye concentration were investigated and the optimum conditions of pH of 4-5, time of 10 min, temperature of 25 ͦ C, dye concentration of 40 mg L-1, and biosorbent amount of 12 mg were achieved. The adsorption isotherms corroborate the experimental data were appropriately fitted to the Langmuir model with high adsorption capacity of 65.79 mg g -1. Artificial neutral network-genetic algorithm (ANN-GA) was applied for prediction and optimization of the process in which the closeness of the predicted values with experimental data confirms the efficiency and potential of ANN-GA for prediction and optimization of the adsorption process. The thermodynamic parameters were assessed. The positive ΔH° and ΔS° values described endothermic nature of adsorption. The adsorption of aniline blue followed the pseudo-second order kinetic model.

In this study, carbon monoxide pollutants in the air of Mashhad in the 6 years (from 2014 to 2020) have been analyzed by spatial analysis. For this purpose, the monthly average for each station is calculated based on the daily concentration, and using the interpolation function, 72 monthly distribution maps with cells in the dimensions of 500 * 500 meters (1247 cells in the city of Mashhad) were drawn. Finally, combination of monthly maps for each year, a six-year average map was obtained. To spatial analysis, geographical distribution, pattern analysis, and cluster analysis have been used. The results showed that the spatial distribution of CO in Mashhad has a cluster pattern. The results of local Moran index analysis showed two hot spots separately from each other in Mashhad, that both of them are located in the direction on the Vakilabad and Khayyam boulevards. The characteristics of statistical components of traffic and transportation in hot spots are significantly different from other parts of the city (cold spots). The total length of the transportation network is 53%, private cars 73%, motorcycles 83%, and buses and trucks 75% more in the identified hot spots, which can explain the reason for the formation of these hot spots.

In terms of natural structure and geographical location, our land has major constraints on the biological and sustainable production of biological systems, and most of its biomes are forests that naturally have fragile biological systems and, if exploited outside their capability, they are simply exposed to destruction. Therefore, due to the multifunctional nature of forests, it is necessary to assess the environmental impacts of forest management plans. The main purpose of the present study is to evaluate the impacts of forest activities as well as planning to minimize and prevent negative environmental impacts and maximize the positive environmental impacts of the Lirehsara forest management plan using the destruction model approach. In this regard, environmental degradation modeling was performed to determine the environmental impacts of forestry activities in the Mashalak Forest. In this study, compartments were selected as the impact unit. After determining the degradation factors, 14 identified factors were included in the model and the final destruction map was created. The results of the degradation model showed that the study area was divided into four zones of potential development, requiring restoration 1 and 2 and requiring conservation measures. Accordingly, 49.70% of the study area was in degradation class 1 and susceptible to development, 35.15% and 9.78% in degradation class 2 and 3, respectively, in need of restoration and 5.3% in degradation class 5 and in need of protection measures. According to the results of this study, it is recommended that protection measures and further development in the area be prioritized and remedial measures for forest protection should be considered. One of these measures could be the elimination of the destructive factor of the mine and the other non-accumulation of waste in the forest.

Environmental Performance Index (EPI) is calculated based on 22 environmental indicators such as water resources, air pollution, biodiversity and climate change. The index quantitatively measures and evaluates the performance of policies and programs of countries aimed at reducing environmental issues as well as protecting and managing the environment and natural resources. This paper aims at examining the status of the EPI’s dimensions, exploring the causes of its fluctuations and identifying the determinants of its sustainability. The paper uses secondary data. The EPI has been derived from the Yale University’s website and the macro-economic and demographic variables have been extracted from the World Bank’s website for the period 2010 to 2018. The data have been analyzed using the event history analysis. The findings suggest that the probability of the sustainability of the EPI is o.45 in the countries under study. Further, after adjusting for other variables, the EPI has a positive relationship with life expectancy at birth and a negative relationship with variables such as urbanization and population growth rates. Moreover, the impact of demographic variables is greater than economic variables in Middle East and North Africa, which highlights the need for policymakers to focus on demographic factors when designing and implementing polices aimed at the sustainability of the EPI.

The present study was done to evaluate the land suitability of Khondab county for ecotourism use. In this regard, after basic studies, soil, climate, physiography and vegetation criteria were used. The criteria were also weighed using FUZZY-AHP Buckley and ANP fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making methods. Then, the ecological model of the region's potential for prioritizing the use of ecotourism (centralized recreation and extensive recreation) after reviewing the ecological model of Makhdoom, was prepared using the WLC model and presented in three classes for the region. Comparison of the area of ecotourism use classes (concentrated and extensive recreation) by both Buckley FAHP and ANP methods shows that by Buckley FAHP method, 28% and 29% and by ANP method, 26% and 27% of the area region are suitable for concentrated and extensive recreation, respectively. In general, 67% of the total area is suitable for concentrated recreation by FAHP method, 71% by ANP method for concentrated recreation, 68% by FAHP Buckley method and 72% by ANP method for extensive recreation. Finally, it is concluded that most of the area has suitable conditions for the development of both concentrated and extensive recreation, but the best type of tourist use in the area is extensive recreation. Also, most of the eastern and southern parts of the region and a few parts of the northern and western parts of the region have suitable Potential for both types of recreation.

The conflict between human and wildlife is a newfound issue in the present era that has intensified over time. This study evaluates different aspects of human-wildlife conflict in the Golestan National Park. The present study was initially conducted using field research to collect basic information among the native villagers around the Golestan National park. A questionnaire method (open and closed) was used to obtain additional information about human and wildlife conflicts and the attitude of local people towards wildlife in the study area. Respondents were of different genders, age groups, religious groups, occupations and fields of study. Fourteen villages were selected based on the data collected using a preliminary survey, distance from the park, problems related to agricultural damage, livestock losses, human health and dependence of local people on the park. Totally, 489 people were randomly selected for interview. The majority of respondents (46.83%) believed that the population of problematic animals in the region has increased in recent years. The main types of human-wildlife conflicts in the study area were include crop attacks, livestock hunting, increased risk of animal diseases, and direct threats to human life. 35.14% of the respondents considered damage to crops as the main factor in dealing with wildlife. Also, 32.64%, 16.58% and 15.63% of the respondents considered the hunting of livestock by wild animals, the threat to human life and the threat to human health by wildlife as the reasons for their confrontation with wildlife, respectively.

Today’s global environmental problems such as global warming, climate change, rising greenhouse gases, particulate matter, pollution, and depletion of natural resources show the destructive effects of development programs regardless of the principle of sustainability. Despite all the efforts made by the environment, human activities continue to upset the balance of nature and reduce sustainability. The higher education system, which is an investment in human resources, has a significant role to play in achieving the goals of sustainable development and creating a healthy society. Many universities are doing important work not only on environmental issues but also on social and economic issues, thus including three dimensions of sustainability and evaluating them. In this research, first, the data were collected through library studies to find out its relation to the main problem. Then by selecting external and internal examples, it has been tried to use the design experiences and positive and negative design points of these cases. The general principles created an opportunity to provide water-sensitive landscape design solutions on the campus of Shahid Beheshti University. The UI GreenMetric index has been used to evaluate universities, which are measured in six main categories: setting and infrastructure (SI), energy and climate change (EC), waste (WS), water (WR), transportation (TR), and education (ED). In this way, all university users, including staff, academic faculty and students participate in the process of achieving a green university.

Nowadays, new crimes involving the environment and natural resources are also referred to as green crimes. The main purpose of this paper is to identify and evaluate the scope of criminal law in this area in terms of sustainable development goals. The method of this research is content analysis. Initially, an attempt was made to give a general description of the subject by examining the types of such crimes and the environmental punishment approaches. After reviewing the statuary laws and previous researches, the initial findings are explained and analyzed to determine the scope of criminal law in the environment and natural resources and to find the relevant legal challenges. Consequently, the applicability of the criminal laws to the Sustainable Development Goals has been examined. It is concluded that although the environmental criminal law in terms of the diversity of laws, has been generally able to cover relevant issues, because of multiplicity of regulatory policies, lack of an appropriate enforcement mechanism on the one hand and failure to resolve some legal uncertainties such as unnecessary dependency of environmental crimes on their results on the other hand, it has not been successful to fully achieve the goals of sustainable development. Therefore, the success of criminal law in protecting the environment requires complementary and effective measures, including determining an appropriate approach to environmental punishment, recognizing criminal liability for legal entities violating environmental laws, and establishing and strengthening modern and advanced regulatory bodies.

The conflicts among the stakeholders of the Zayandehrud Basin have raised and are escalating simultaneously with the growing trend of water demand and crisis in this basin. In the meantime, these conflicts can increase and provoke tensions and hostilities among stakeholders. It is necessary to understand what factors are interrelated to these conflicts and to use strategies to manage these encounters. The purpose of this study was to investigate the interaction of stakeholders’ demand, power, participation and conflicts over water use and management in the basin. The study used a qualitative methodology based on the Grounded Theory and the conflict pattern mapping of stakeholders in which data were collected through semi-structured interviews with managers and experts related to the water resources use and management in the area. The study indicated that stakeholders’ interests in the basin were different, causing formation and escalation of conflicts and mistrust among interested parties either within or between the sub-basins. Moreover, these conflicts were interrelated to the existing demand and involvement of stakeholders, particularly the participation of local communities and external actors and especially planners and policy makers in water resources management and conflict management projects. These factors can have serious impacts on future programs. On the other hand, the power and influence of some stakeholders in policy making and legislative centers or key decision-making organizations have affected the intensity of conflict and decreased participation of stakeholders in water crisis management.