نشریه تحقیقات منابع طبیعی تجدید شونده
سال چهاردهم شماره 1 (پیاپی 39، بهار و تابستان 1402)

The effect of zinc oxide nanoparticle as a mineral supplement in the diet on the white blood cells of rainbow trout was investigated in this research. Eight hundred specimens of rainbow trout fry (17.22±5.41 g) were randomly distributed in 18 experimental tank (six treatments each with three replications). The basal diet was prepared without zinc supplementation and used for the negative control treatment. Other experimental diets were prepared by adding 10, 30, 50 and 70 mg/kg of zinc nanoparticles and 70 mg of zinc sulfate (positive control) to each kg of the basic diet. Blood samples were taken from the fish at the end of the experiment to check the number of white blood cells and their differential count. After two weeks of adaptation, the fish were fed for 8 weeks with the diets corresponding to each experimental treatment. Blood samples were taken from the fish at the end of the experiment to check the number of white blood cells and their differential count. The results showed that nano zinc oxide has a significant effect on the leukocyte count with the highest number of 178,000±22,000 No. mm-3 in fish fed diet supplemented with 50 mg kg-1 Nano ZnO, which was significantly more than their number in fish fed with basic diet (p<0.05). Furthermore, fish fed diet supplemented with 50 mg kg-1 Nano ZnO diet had the highest lymphocytes percentage of 72.21±0.13%, while the lowest percentage of neutrophils was also found in fish fed diet supplemented with 50 mg kg-1 Nano ZnO. However, the actual number of neutrophils in the blood of fish in this treatment was 4.5 folds more than those in the negative control treatment. Findings of the present study showed that zinc oxide nanoparticles have a significant effect on the leukocyte properties of rainbow trout.

Deforestation and forest degradation have led to the formation of poor landscapes all over the world. Although in the past conservation strategies have emphasized intact natural systems, today the strategies have focused on the conservation and restoration of degraded ecosystems. The forest landscape restoration approach (FLR) is considered an important approach for the restoration of ecological and socio-economic services of forest ecosystems in landscape scales. Identification and prioritization of efficient and effective criteria and indicators in the process of prioritizing areas to restore the forest landscape are a necessity that has not been done in Iran so far. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to introduce effective criteria and indicators for prioritizing appropriate areas for forest landscape restoration in the selected area. In this study, a total of 26 criteria and 68 indicators from ecological and socio-economic points of view were identified with an emphasis on directing restoration efforts towards areas that guarantee maximum profits from two perspectives of necessity (the need for restoration) and opportunity (feasibility of a restoration) and then, they were prioritized using the Delphi method. The results showed that in the section on the need for restoration, the process of landscape degradation from ecological criteria and poverty from socio-economic criteria were the first priorities. Besides, the ecological criteria of destruction and natural regeneration potential with equal priority and socio-economic criterion of the budget in terms of feasibility of reconstruction were the first priority. The results of this study, in addition to helping decision-makers and planners dealing with protecting nature protection and its use, can lead to the attraction of active participation of stakeholders in the forest landscape restoration programs with a balanced attention to both aspects of the necessity and the opportunity of restoration.

Improving decisions in fire management requires a complete understanding of the spatio-temporal relationships between droughts and fires. To achieve this, the natural areas of Lorestan province were selected as the research site. The fire data from MODIS satellite products and monthly rainfall data of the province were extracted to estimate SPI drought index for the statistical period of 2000 to 2022. The spatial and temporal relationship between the frequency of fire occurrences and the spatial and temporal distribution of droughts in terms of annual and monthly scales was investigated with the Pearson correlation model in the province. The results showed that the trend of fires in the region is increasing. The months of June and July have experienced the highest frequency of fires in the natural areas of the province. Poldokhtar city has had the most frequent fires in natural areas. The whole region has tended to be dry, but the eastern parts mostly included classes with higher degrees of drought. The results of the correlation matrix showed that only the drought events in spring to summer had a significant but moderate negative correlation with the fire events in spring and summer. Despite the obtained results, this study emphasizes that the connection between fires with drought needs more studies and it is not possible to prove the real relationship between the two phenomena with just one calculation index.

Nowadays, there has been an increasing interest in the study of life cycle assessment in all industries namely the construction industry in developed countries with the increasing awareness of the environmental effects of buildings and the emergence of powerful tools for their evaluation. Despite various articles have been published in different countries in this field, none of them has focused on the challenges of using life cycle assessment, related studies, and potential solutions to address the challenges. The purpose of this article is to present a systematic report of a comprehensive review of applied studies in the life cycle assessment method in the construction industry to provide a potential solution for future targeted research in this field. The research method of this paper included a brief review of the subject literature to provide an overview of the life cycle assessment method and systematic selection and study of review articles/books to examine the benefits and challenges of life cycle assessment research. By examining the valid research articles from 2000 to 2023 in the collection of ISI articles and Persian scientific research articles, a total of 72 related articles were studied. First, statistical reports on the geographical and thematic distribution according to the variety of factors affecting the life cycle assessment in construction were presented, and then the objectives of the study, fields of action, databases, tools and environmental effects of the published authoritative articles were examined and the strengths and weaknesses of the recent researches were revealed. The findings showed that the use of integrated databases and also the computational principles and coordinated calculator software along with the unification of functional units lad to the alignment of research within the framework of unit standards, as well as the possibility of comparing and expanding the conclusions and as a result, they provide a more comprehensive picture of the environmental effects of construction products and systems for professionals.

The growing concern about environmental pollution has increased the demand for biodegradable materials worldwide. Natural polymers are used in composite manufacturing to prevent environmental damage, reduce costs, and replace synthetic polymers. In this research, the biodegradability and thermal properties of the wood-plastic composite were investigated. Beechwood flour with a weight ratio of 40 % and a particle size of 80 mesh was used to make the samples as a reinforcement of the matrix. The studied polymer to make the composite biodegradable was polyhydroxy butyrate (PHB). Starch with a weight percentage of 8 and 12 % was used as copolymer, nanoclay was used to improve properties, and maleic anhydride was used as a coupling agent. The samples were mixed using a twin-screw extruder and made with an injection machine. Then, they were subjected to thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and biodegradability tests. In terms of thermal properties, a degradation temperature of about 250 ºC was achieved with the presence of wood flour as a filler and other additives, which showed improvement compared to PHB biopolymer which is in the range of 95 ºC. The glass transition temperature increased and this value in the pure polymer was 5 and it showed an increase up to 68 degrees in the results obtained from the composite, however, the melting and crystallinity were decreased in both. In the biodegradable test, the samples containing PHB showed good degradability properties. The weight loss occurred due to the destruction of wood flour, starch, and natural polymer by soil microorganisms. The produced composite samples in this research are completely biodegradable.

Accurate expression of the solute transport in porous media is critical for evaluating and remediating pollutants in soils and aquifers. An important aspect of the transport of solutes and pollutants is the use of appropriate models to describe their transport behavior. In this study, the concentration of the heavy metal cadmium in the column of undisturbed loamy soil was measured using the miscible displacement experiment. This experiment was repeated in three initial concentrations (50, 100, and 150 mg/L). Then, Cd metal transport was simulated by fractional advection-dispersion equation (FADE). The breakthrough curves obtained from the simulation of FADE and the results of the experiments were fitted and the effect of C0 on its performance was investigated. The order of fractional differentiation (α), dispersion coefficient (D) and retardation factor (R) in all three initial concentrations were estimated and compared using the inverse modeling. The results showed that the FADE model simulates cadmium transport well with r2=0.98 and RMSE=0.05. The comparison of BTSs fitted by the FADE model and the observed laboratory data also confirms this issue. The order of fractional differentiation (α) obtained by the FADE model for Cd was almost the same and equal to 1.7, which indicated the anomalous and non-Fickian transport of cadmium metal in loamy soil columns. It seems that the lack of effect of C0 on α, which is the main parameter of the FADE model, has caused the performance of FADE to have no special trend with the changes of  C0 and can be ignored. The hydrodynamic dispersion coefficient in the transport of Cd was increased by increasing C0 and its process is non-linear and unpredictable and the relationship between R and initial concentration is inverse.

Human activities, the presence of salts in riverbeds and runoff, as well as pollutants carried by the air lead to the contamination of rivers as one of the main sources of water supply. In this study, the Gamasayab River was selected and sampling was conducted at 16 designated points for three-time intervals in the most polluted location with the highest pollutant levels compared to other stations after spectrophotometric testing of the samples, in different seasons of the year. The collected samples were transported to the laboratory for measurement and determination of the target pollutant levels. Then, they were simulated using natural and modified zeolite nanoparticles for the purpose of purification. In the following, using the Design Expert model and assuming two factors, pH and absorbent-to-pollutant ratio, the optimal absorption points were determined, and the theoretical absorption values were also obtained. The research results showed that the absorption efficiency for the modified sample with 0.2 M nitric acid and sulfuric acid was estimated at 77%. From the investigation of the interaction between sulfate and three other pollutants including phosphate, nitrate, and iron, which was investigated by simulating the solution and in order to neutralize the effect of other dissolved substances, it was found that phosphate and nitrate ions led to a decrease in sulfate ion absorption by the absorbent, while iron ions increased the absorption of sulfate by the absorbent. The simulation results of the proposed model also indicated that the optimal absorption point for the absorbent was at a pH of 9.6 and a D/C value of 17.01, resulting in an absorption of the pollutant by 5.86%. Finally, the Freundlich isotherm was chosen for this absorbent with a coefficient of determination of 0.92 as the superior isotherm compared to the Langmuir isotherm with a coefficient of determination of 0.79.

Since the agricultural sector is the main consumer of water in the country, achieving sustainable agriculture without considering environmental issues may lead to risks in the long term, therefore, the quantity and quality of surface water is so important in agriculture. This research has investigated the Ares River catchment area with the aim of qualitative monitoring of surface water resources to achieve sustainable agriculture and natural resources. More than 100 collected samples from 9 stations of Aras River between Yaichi village in Azerbaijan and near Aras Dam from October 2017 to August 2018 have been investigated, classified, and evaluated using the Wilcox agricultural water quality index and Grapher software. The results of this research showed that the samples in Schuler's diagram were within the acceptable range but for drinking, other effective elements should also be investigated. The lowest amount of sodium absorption ratio was in June (1.40 mg/L) and the highest amount was in November (3.43 mg/L). Also, the electrical conductivity of water was the lowest value in June (840 µs/cm) and the highest value in October (1375 µs/cm). According to the Wilcox diagram, all the samples were in the qualitative range of C3S1 and they are considered saltwater. Despite the high level of salinity in the samples of this river, there was no significant difference in the qualitative trends of the stations during the investigated period for agricultural use, but the necessary measures should be taken in using these waters.

Air pollution is a major contributor to chronic respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, resulting in an estimated annual premature death toll of 6.2 to 8.4 million individuals. The objective of this study is to investigate the concentration of potentially toxic elements in dust collected from residential complex in Isfahan during the winter (2022-2023). To ensure comprehensive coverage, 31 residential residential complex were chosen across the entire Isfahan City. Dust samples were collected in triplicate (totaling 93 samples) from from the internal surfaces of the ground or first floor of residential complexes, except for common spaces. The samples were transferred to the laboratory and the concentrations of Lead, Cadmium, Arsenic, Zinc, Cobalt, Nickel, Copper, Chromium, and Vanadium were then measured using an ICP-OES device, model Optima 83. The average concentrations of Arsenic, Cadmium, Nickel, Manganese, Cobalt, Lead, and Vanadium in the collected samples were found to be 5.55, 0.95, 32.6, 241, 3.87, 300, and 30.6 mg/kg, respectively. According to the enrichment factor analysis, the concentrations of Lead and Cadmium were of non-natural and anthropogenic sources in all sampling stations except for West Allameh Amini. A notable positive correlation was observed between the Lead enrichment factor and the traffic index at a 95% confidence level (p-value=0.021, r= 0.369). Similarly, a significant strong positive correlation was found at a 99% confidence level between the ecological risk assessment index and the traffic index (Pvalue=0.00, r= 0. 619). This suggests that traffic has a major impact on the concentration of potentially toxic elements at the sampling stations.

In this research, one of the most important functions and services of the forest, the function of maintaining soil nutrients in the forests of the Dalab watershed in Ilam province, has been valued. First, the amount of erosion and sedimentation in the study area was checked using the modified MPSIAC model in the current condition. By developing two scenarios of converting the (current) natural forest with 30 to 50% canopy cover to bare land through scoring the model, the changes in the amount of erosion and sedimentation were estimated. Next, the amount of soil nutrients was determined by soil sampling and laboratory analysis. Then, taking into account the difference in the amount of erosion in the state of natural forest (current) with 30-50% canopy cover and bare land, the amount of each nutrient element in the soil, and the loss of soil nutrients was also calculated. Then, using the replacement cost method, the service value of forest ecosystem soil nutrient maintenance was estimated. The results showed that the studied forest can maintain 2.52 tons of phosphorus, 35.55 tons of potassium, and 251.96 tons of nitrogen per year with an approximate value of 2,275,700 million rials per year and prevent its loss due to erosion. Also, the value of each hectare of forest for this function was estimated at 88.13 million rials. The estimation of the value of this ecosystem service in Zagros forests indicates the very effective role of forest ecosystems in controlling erosion and protecting soil nutrients.

In this study, the effect of the chemical treatment of OCC pulp and polypropylene molecular weight on the physical and morphological properties of cellulosic biocomposite was studied. For this purpose, OCC fibers were treated with acetic anhydride and then mixed with polypropylene and the compatibilizing agent (0 and 3%). The ratio of fibers and polymer materials was considered 30 to 70, which was manufactured by the hot-pressing method at 180 °C. The ratio of fibers and polymer materials was considered 30 to 70, which was manufactured by the hot-pressing method at 180 °C. The water absorption, volumetric swelling, and contact angle were measured on each sample according to the ASTM standards. Fourier transform spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to investigate the chemical modification of fibers and the morphology of biocomposites, respectively. The results of the measurements showed that the effect of chemical treatment and polypropylene on contact angle and water absorption was significant and chemical modification of the fibers reduced the water absorption and volumetric swelling. Finally, FTIR analysis showed that hydroxyl groups were decreased and the SEM images indicated the bond between fibers and polypropylene was improved through chemical modification of OCC fibers.

One of the most important emerging pollutants in human health, food safety, and environmental protection challenges is phthalate esters. Among these, the contamination of agricultural soils with the endocrine-disrupting chemical Di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) has been confirmed globally. In this research, the DEHP-absorption potential of compost enriched with Fe3O4 NPs was identified. The effects of the sorbent dose in the range of 2–5 g.L-1, 3–11 pH, and DEHP concentration at 5–10 mg.L-1 on absorption efficiency (%) were optimized via response surface methodology in design expert software. The kinetic equilibrium experiment results showed a two-step process, requiring 6 hours of equilibrium time for the exothermic adsorption process at 25ºC. The adsorption process of DEHP fitted best to the pseudo-second-order kinetic (R2 = 0.9932) and the linear form of the Freundlich isotherm models. In the central composite design, the significant quadratic model was validated and used to predict the interaction of variables (P-value <0.0001, adjusted R2 = 0.9753). The optimum conditions of absorption efficiency (74.173%) were obtained at a sorbent dosage of 4.157 g.L-1, pH 5.85, and a DEHP concentration of 4.88 mg.L-1 with a desirability of 0.987. The comparison of FTIR absorption spectra confirmed the active participation of O-H bands (functional groups of phenol, alcohol, and carboxyl) and primary amine (N-H) in the DEHP absorption through interaction with the oxygen atom of the phthalate ester group (C=O). As a result of its successful and acceptable efficiency, using compost/Fe3O4 NP absorbent based on organic wastes is a low-cost and eco-friendly technique for DEHP removal from sensitive ecosystems and also to improve the efficiency of bioremediation in agricultural soils amended by compost.