نشریه محیط زیست طبیعی
سال شصت و هشتم شماره 1 (بهار 1394)

Change detection is used to monitor anthropogenic effect such as deforestation، farming، urbanization and etc. Various change detection techniques exist. In this study، images of landsat (TM) 1988 and landsat (ETM+) 2007 were analyzed using five change detection techniques in 45803 hectares in the region of Sarabeleh،Ilam province. Change detection techniques considered were image differencing، tasscap differencing، NDVI differencing، PCA differencing and CCA differencing. In this study، from statistical method for determining the threshold levelwas used which from the change threshold was achieved. In this study،threshold level was set at ±1 standard deviation from the mean. After determining optimal threshold،areas having decreasing changes، increasing changes and no change was determined. Based on ground data and field visit and Google Earth، accuracy assessment of change detection techniques was carried out using overall accuracy and Kappa coefficient. According to the results، PCA2differencing with overall accuracy of 0. 97 and Kappa coefficient of 95% showed the highest accuracy among applied change detection techniques and on the contrary،band differencing with overall accuracy 0. 65 and Kappa coefficient of 0. 62 had lowest accuracy in land use/land cover change in study area.

Large carnivores، such as the wolf (Canis lupus)، play several important ecological roles in their ecosystems. Due to a number of serious threats، wolf populations are undergoing rapid declines in Iran، indicating the necessity of conservation actions for species'' survival. The genetic structure of populations is one of the important questions still remaining to wolf management. Due to serious problems in direct sampling، researchers prefer to obtain their genetic samples indirectly from feces or hair، which hampers sex determination. This study using microsatellite markers in the Y chromosome determines the sex of sampled wolves and dogs. In the present study، the control region of mitochondrial DNA (D-LOOP) markers was used as controls to increase the accuracy of the tests. Sex was determined according to whether bands were formed or not in the Y chromosome in two special Microsatellites. This method of sex determination using the sex chromosomes is a useful tool in studies related to wildlife management and conservation.

According to the increasing importance of green space and environment، decision making of environmental policy is growing at the national level and internationally، so there is an urgent need for information that could be used to promote efficient environmental decision making. In this study the economic benefits associated with Eram Garden of Shiraz، is estimated using a double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation survey design. Required data were collected using questionnaires and interviews with the 219 visitors from the garden in 2010. Results showed that visitor is willing to pay 7251 Rials per day، resulting in aggregate benefits of 2. 75 billion Rials annually. The present value of these aggregate benefits equals to 3. 8 billion Rials، using a social discount rate of 7. 2 %. This study also shows that the amount of visitor’s willingness to pay with education، income، quality and interest orchard environment has a direct and significant relationship and with the proposed amount has a negative and significant relationship. Using the Bayesian estimation indicated that ultimately both approach have the same results.

Considering the increase in waste production، scarcity of land allocated to landfill in urban areas، concerns about ecological damages caused by hazardous waste and damages done to the environment، municipal waste management has become of tremendous importance. The study investigated the behavioral patterns of households regarding waste separation at source using data collected through interviewing 391 households in Mashhad in 2013. Tobit model and Heckman two stage model were used. Analysis of marginal effect of variables in Probit model revealed that views about effect of separation of waste in city cleanness had positive effect and economic incentives had negative effect on decisions to Separate paper، glass and wet wastes. The variable of having garden in the house had a positive effect and indirect cost of paying those who collect the waste and family income had negative effects on decisions to separate wet waste from dry ones. Also، the analysis of linear regression (second stage) showed that the views about the effect of waste separation in city had a positive effect on the amount of wet waste separation، and indirect cost of paying those who collect the waste and family income had a negative effect on it. Based on the findings، in order to increase waste separation by households، it is recommended that the policy makers should consider providingthe households with the information about environmental issues regarding waste and how to correctly separate recyclable waste، establishing motivational mechanisms to decrease waste production and increasing households'' participation in waste separation.

Concentrations of Mn، Cd، Cr and Pb were measured in soft tissues of P. radiata from the Hendourabi and Lavan Islands. Forty specimens were collected from each island from the depth 8-10 m using SCUBA. Total، shell and soft tissues weights were measured. Mn، Cd، Cr and Pb concentrations of the soft tissues were measured using the atomic absorption technique. A significant difference between specimens of the two Islands in the metal concentration and، total، shell and soft tissues weights were examined using a t‑test. No significant difference was detected between the specimens of the two Islands in Pb of soft tissues and the shell weight. There were significant differences between specimens of the two Islands in Cd، Mn، Cr of soft tissues، total and soft tissues’ weights. According to a Pearson test، there was a significant correlation between Cd concentration of soft tissues and weight parameters of P. radiata in individuals from the Hendourabi Island. Also، there was significant correlation between Cr concentration of the soft tissues and، total and shell weights. The present study suggests that the individuals from the Hendourabi Island are subjected to a lower level of stress than those from the Lavan Island and hence are more appropriate to be used for reproduction and restocking purposes.

Considering the fast-growing destruction of natural resources and the existing threats to bio-diversification، the necessity of investigating and elevating the conservation level of such areas has become a challenge. This research which was conducted in SefidKooh Aresk prohibited hunting area in Damghan، is intended to investigate the possibility of elevating its conservation level from a «Prohibited Hunting Area» to a «Conserved Area». Rather than the normal practices applied for investigating the conservation level، this research utilized a systematic approach to identify the status of the region and to find the possible ways for its elevation. For this purpose، a combination of «Carlos RiveroBlanco، Blanco and Mario Gabaldon» and «SumerGulez» valuation method criteria is used at the first step. The importance of each criterion in relation to the objective of the research is determined using Delphi method. The «one sample chi- square test» is used to analyze the outcomes of Delphi questionnaires. At the next step، the final criteria were sent to the local experts in the form of questionnaire for further examination of the region and its situation. The final level of the region was determined through the outcomes of such study. To assess the above mentioned evaluation، the research team tested some scenarios to examine the closest scenarios to the assessed score by using T-test with two samples. The final result of this test indicates its proximity to the score of appropriate situation scenario. Therefore، it is concluded that the situation of the investigated region is appropriate for being elevated to a Conserved Area.

Miankaleh Biosphere Reserve it has a set of marine and land ecosystems an area about 67349 ha and is located in the north of Iran and Southeast farthermost of Caspian Sea. The diversity of the natural characteristics of Caspian region is the cause of diversity in the habitats، and has resulted in nesting of most plant species in the germinative range. Regarding the importance of coastal ecosystem of Miankaleh Biosphere Reserve as a sub region of southern Caspian Sea it is necessary to consider and investigate the role of ecological factors and their effects in the variance and diversity of the plant species. For this purpose this research has been conducted to identify the coastal plants and the effect of their geographical distributions and life forms; the effect of various environmental factors (slope، exposition، some chemical properties of soils) on the vegetation and determination of most effective environmental characteristics in their estabilishment is also studied. Plant diversity، habitat and environmental characteristics have been evaluated through three transects using TWINSPAN rating technique، DCA rating analysis and ANOVA analysis. In order to investigating the significancy and not-significancy of these results، the results obtained from DCA rating analysis have been assessed through conducting some accurate tests. In this study، six habitats along with eight Ecological species groups for the 314 species in the investigated area were identified. EC and pH in soils were the most important effective factors on the settlement of vegetations in different regions، respectively.

Benthic macroinvertebrates in river are useful indicators for adverse impacts on the catchment and river ecosystems. These organisms integrate many ecological processes in catchment scale. In this study several single and multi metric biotic indices were used based on macroinvertebrates in order to evaluate the water quality of Jajrood river. Macroinvertebrates as well as water samples were collected in six stations seasonally. The results showed that the Chironomidae family had the most relative abundance and Hilsenhoff biotic index and BMWP/ASPT are most appropriate biotic indices for evaluation of Jajrood River water quality. The adjustment and calibration ofindicesbased on geographical condition as well as physiochemical parameters of Iran rivers is required in order to apply the multimetric index.The result of various biotic indices showed that stations located in the residential areas compared to the stations located in the upstream were more polluted.

Urban growth has been an important social and economic phenomenon that affects severely on function of ecological systems. Hence، understanding and analyzing the spatial patterns of urban growth using remote sensing، GIS and landscape metrics can play a fundamental role in urban land use management and planning and subsequently reduction in environmental problems and challenges among them. Therefore، in present study we examined urban growth in Sari city and its surrounding. For this purpose، satellite images of 1992، 1998، 2002 and 2009 of the study area was processed to generate land use\ cover maps. Accordingly، different types of urban growth have been quantified using post classification method (map overlay)، applying a set of landscape metrics at class level including PD، MPS، ED، LPI and ENN and developing R metric at patch level applying ArcGIS 9. 3. The results show that، urban development is associated with the growth of old patches in the study area. While the outlying growth type became the dominant pattern، the infilling growth decreased over the entire study period.

the purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of extreme cold winter 1386on shrubs and trees cover. The transect method and ratio estimation were used to determine the percentage of damagein some urban park of tehranprovince. In every park (according to it''s area) 5 transect were selected with length about 100 meters in the direction of slop and condition of winter climate in 2008 were analyzes. For this purpose daily and monthly temperature data of Mehrabad and Aghdasieh station of Tehran were analyzed during a statistical duration of 1951 – 2008. The results of climate showed that total least that is recorded-10/8 in 2008 after about 35 years. Mobile average that is used for sustainability of plants duration several days was -8 for 19 days at 2008 winter. So this temperature could damage plants. The results showed that maximum damage of trees and shrubs of tehran parks belong to Catalpa speciosa، Cupressusarizonica and Ailanthus altissima with 70، 62 and 40 percent respectively that could used as a recipe for planting.

Mangrove forests are tropical forest ecosystems located in coastal areas. Because of the redox conditions، periodic flooding، high content of clay and organic matters، Mangroves have an important role to remove heavy metals and organic pollutant from water and adjacent coastal ecosystems، and they often act as sinks for heavy metals. There has been an increase in development trend recently in Southern Iran. The pollution related to these developments has to somehow become under control. One of the ways to deal with such a problem is to benefit from ecosystem services. Mangroves can be a good solution to absorb and collect many pollutants from the water column. In some south coastal areas of Iran، including the local mudflats، these trees have been planted. In order to measure the concentration of Lead and Nickel (two of the most important polluting heavy metals) in mangrove ecosystem، 36 stations were randomly located. In each site، sediments، roots، and leaves of these trees were sampled on May 2012. The results indicated that the mean Lead concentration in the sediment، roots and leaves were 19. 7، 5. 95 and 1. 18 mg/g respectively and the mean Nickel concentrations were 77. 8، 36. 92 and 11. 94 mg/g respectively. There was a significant difference between metal concentration in tissues and sediments (P<0. 05). Results depicted that the transition of lead to root tissue is more than leaves. The transition of lead to root tissues was 0. 29 times the amount of sediments، and in leaves was 0. 05، and transition of Nickel to root tissues was 0. 74 of sediments while in leaves was 0. 15.

Industrial processes release a range of gaseous and particulate pollutants containing heavy metals into the air. Lack of enough attention to the design، installation، repair and maintenance of gas and dust filtration systems in industries، is one of reasons of increasing the emissions of these pollutants. Hereon، the steel making processes is one of emission sources of heavy metals. According to the importance of this issue، in this study، the efficiency of IASCo''s bag filters in removal of particles and metals emitted from EAFs was investigated. A total of 20 samples of emitted particulates from EAF furnaces by systematic method were simultaneously harvested in various melting from before and after the bag filter system and using standard method “EPA Method 1” and “EPA Method5” and with TCR-Tecora device. The concentration of heavy metals Pb، Cd، Cr and Ni in the original and control samples was determined with using Varian SpectrAA 100/200 device and ISO 9855 method. The results showed that the concentration of dust in the flue exhaust is lower than the standard rate. Also، according to the obtained results، the efficiency average of bag filters in removal of dust from EAFs، was 99. 58 percent. The results of survey of the bag filter efficiency in the removal of metals in dust form، showed different efficiencies for various metals. Thus، in this study the efficiency of the filters in removing metals respectively from highest to lowest was Ni، Cr، Pb and Cd with values ​​96. 3، 95. 9، 95. 4 and 84. 6 percent.

This study was conducted to investigate theallometric growth pattern and sexual dimorphism in the skull of both sexes ofIranian brown bear (Ursus arctos) in theAlborz Mountains using geometric morphometric and traditional morphometric techniques. Morphometric parameters were obtained from 2D pictures of skulls using the software ImageJ and allometric growth pattern was calculated as a power function of total length using non-transformed data. The results revealed significant differencesbetweendifferent parts ofthe skullin both two sexes. Allometric growth patternalso showedthat differencebetweenmales and femalesduring their ontogenic growth of skull. Results showed that during development of skull parts from Immature to adult in male and female، similargrow pattern will continuetoa certainage until sexual dimorphism appears. Growth patterns is a factorfor the sexual dimorphism differences. Different charts shows more consolidate in different parts of the male skull. Based on the results، there is significant differences between skull shape of male and female of brown bear skull in ventral، dorsal and lateral faces. According to the results Males in different parts of the skull is stronger whereas have shown more length، narrower andweaker in females.

Organochlorine pesticides are as environmental pollutants which have a high half-life and transmit from food chain to human and cause side effects such as mutations in different genes and finally cancer. In this research، after sampling and quantitative and qualitative of organochlorine residue، biodegradation of alpha، beta and gamma hexachlorobenzene (Linden)، DDT، Aldrin، Dieldrin، Endosulfan، Endrin and Heptachlor by three species of pseudomonas (aeruginosa، fluorescence، putida) isolated of Mazandaran Rivers (Tajan، Babolrood and Shiroud) was studied at laboratory scale. After adaptation of the three species of psuedomonas in mineral medium، 5% of the mixture culture was added to the medium containing 30 mg l of mixture pesticides. Changes of bacterial growth and pesticides concentration in zero، 24، 48، 54 and 120 hours were determined by observation of optical density (spectrophotometer) and gas chromatography respectively. The results showed that the highest biodegradation of pesticides was referred to DDT and Lindane، so that concentration of two pectisides was 9. 54 and 9. 3 after 120 hours respectively. The lowest biodegradation of pesticides was referred to endrine and it،s concenteration in 120 hours 13. 45 mg l. The maximum absorbance of bacteria were observed in 48 hours. The conclusion showed that pseudomonase has high potencial for organochlorine pecticides biodegradation especially DDT and lindane in bench scale and can be used different species of pseudomonase in full scale for decreasing of organochlorine.