Shapur Karimi; Babak Aminnejad; Amirpouya Sarraf
Abstract
Global databases provide complete source of required precipitation information for users. The aim of this study is to investigate the accuracy of the TRMM, NCEP and MERRA global precipitation databases in estimating the daily and monthly precipitation in the Balkhaluchai catchment area of Ardabil province. ...
Read More
Global databases provide complete source of required precipitation information for users. The aim of this study is to investigate the accuracy of the TRMM, NCEP and MERRA global precipitation databases in estimating the daily and monthly precipitation in the Balkhaluchai catchment area of Ardabil province. Precipitation data of Nir station the three mentioned databases were extracted from 2002 to 2018. Mann-Kendall, Mann-Whitney and standard normal tests were used to check the trend and homogeneity of precipitation data. For three global precipitation databases, amount of R2, RMSE, NSE, RE and GMER were determined. The results of homogeneity test showed that all P-values were higher than 0.05 and the precipitation data were completely stochastic and homogeneous and no trends were observed in them. In both TRMM and NCEP databases, the R2 coefficient is good and is above 0.6. The MERRA database has had a weaker performance in this case. For the monthly period and the two TRMM and NCEP databases, the NSE index was higher than 0.5, which indicates the reliability of the precipitation data produced in these two stations. At the daily and monthly level, for all three global databases the GMER parameter values were obtained smaller than unity, which indicates that all global databases have overestimates. The overestimation of precipitation for the MERRA global database is much more severe than other two databases. MERRA database has a much weaker performance than NCEP and TRMM databases. In general, the TRMM database has a better efficiency than other databases.
Maryam Abbasi Kesbi; Bakhtiar Fattahi; Reza Erfanzadeh; Anna Sher
Abstract
The paper is conducted to investigate the coverage and the seed bank in the areas the Riparian of the Gyan river in Nahavand city in Hamadan province. Five sampling sites along the river were determined. At each site, a transect perpendicular to the river flow and along each transect at least 6 plots ...
Read More
The paper is conducted to investigate the coverage and the seed bank in the areas the Riparian of the Gyan river in Nahavand city in Hamadan province. Five sampling sites along the river were determined. At each site, a transect perpendicular to the river flow and along each transect at least 6 plots of 1 square meter (three on each side of the river) are established. The Soil sampling was done from two depths of 0-5 and 5-10 cm at 10 points randomly from each plot. The soil samples are cultivated in the greenhouse the seeds germinate in them and are identified. Then diversity indices, calculated for cover and soil seed bank in each plot. Each of the above factors are compared in the intervals of 0-10, 10-20 and 20-30 meters from the center of the river by one-way ANOVA. Also, Sorenson's index is used to check the similarity of the species composition of cover and the soil seed bank of the Riparian area. The results show that the highest diversity related to the soil seed bank is at a depth of 0-5 cm at a distance of 10-20 meters, which is due to the dominant of Cyperus difformis annual plants at this depth. The percentage of similarity of surface-ground cover in the areas of Riparian and seed bank of the first depth and the second depth (20-7) percent, which was very low due to the washing of seeds by the river currents and the movement of seeds by grazing. This study showed that recovery of the vegetation of the river riparian is possible via the soil seed bank.
Mehdi Ghorbani; Leila Avazpour; Hossein Azarnivand; Hamed Rafiee
Abstract
the purpose of this research is to prioritize business plans. It is sustainable in line with the development of rural entrepreneurship with an emphasis on pasture ecosystem services. For this purpose, in the present study, 393 pasture users were selected from four villagesin Maneh and Samalghan cities.First, ...
Read More
the purpose of this research is to prioritize business plans. It is sustainable in line with the development of rural entrepreneurship with an emphasis on pasture ecosystem services. For this purpose, in the present study, 393 pasture users were selected from four villagesin Maneh and Samalghan cities.First, the economic valuation of four main rangeland functions was carried out using the available questionnaire and random sampling method, then the potential of attracting income in each of these functions obtained. In the next step, the costs of each of these businesses were collected with the help of survey information. In the next step, the financial evaluation of business plans was done with the help of financial indicators, including NPV, B/C, ROI, and IRR. The results showed that the three businesses of animal husbandry, beekeeping and the establishment of eco-tourism accommodation have economic justification, and the business of packaging and processing medicinal plants has no economic justification.Prioritization of these four businesses by the indicators of the previous stages of the research by scoring each of the indicators Done. The results showed that in order of businesses; 1-Establishment of ecotourism residence, 2-animal husbandry (sheep breeding), 3-beekeeping and 4-medicinal plant processing have the first to fourth priority in order to empower the beneficiaries in the target villages.
Fatemeh Sheidaei; Elham Akbari; Shahla Choobchian; Mohammad Sadegh Allahyari; Enayat Abbasi
Abstract
To achieve effective policy relations; First, it is necessary to reform the decision-making network of water resources, adjust the power of government institutions, and involve stakeholder organizations, non-governmental organizations, academics, and those who care about water and the environment to ...
Read More
To achieve effective policy relations; First, it is necessary to reform the decision-making network of water resources, adjust the power of government institutions, and involve stakeholder organizations, non-governmental organizations, academics, and those who care about water and the environment to restore water governance in the country. In the meantime, participatory decision-making in the field of water resources management can help improve decision-making processes and increase the ability to implement decisions related to water management. Therefore, the main goal of this research was to explain the current and desired state of the participatory decision-making process of water resources management. The questionnaire provided by United Nations Human Settlements program was used to collect data. The findings indicate that the most significant disparity between the present and desired conditions was observed in the institutionalization aspect. Also, in general, the investigation of the current state of the participatory decision-making process (confirmatory factor analysis) showed that the implementation dimension had the greatest relative importance in explaining the participatory decision-making process; This shows the importance of the human dimension in this relationship, which overshadows the entire decision-making management process, and the usefulness of the results depends on the quality of communication and collaborative strategies. Necessary planning in this regard should be developed by examining the variety of information sources and determining priorities, according to information sources and determining strategies, and should be implemented with emphasis on the capacity and commitment of the target community and individuals. Furthermore, efforts have been made to institutionalize these measures, which should not be overlooked.
Mohammad Zarrintab; Sharareh Pourebrahim; Mazaher Moinaddini
Abstract
In light of the close interrelation of water, energy, and food resources, the water-energy-food nexus will establish a robust framework for sustainable management. This study examines the legal framework of the country's proposed seventh development plan, employing a thorough analysis of the water-energy-food ...
Read More
In light of the close interrelation of water, energy, and food resources, the water-energy-food nexus will establish a robust framework for sustainable management. This study examines the legal framework of the country's proposed seventh development plan, employing a thorough analysis of the water-energy-food governance system. The findings highlight crucial aspects in the plan's execution. For this investigation, we identified 34 obligated entities and 54 legal responsibilities outlined in the seventh development plan of the country. Network collaboration analysis was performed using Ucinet and Netdraw software. The results revealed that the highest levels of degree centrality (0.60), betweenness centrality (0.33), and closeness centrality (0.159) belong to the Ministry of Agriculture. The density of the network was about 13%, which shows that the cooperation network in the seventh development plan is completely separated. The average geodesic distance was 2.079, so strengthening cooperation in the network is needed, despite the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Energy having the highest power, there was a significant distance between them, with the Department of Environmental situated between these two entities. The Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Energy, the Administrative and Recruitment Organization, and the private sector were pivotal points in the collaboration network. In the governance structure of power distribution, the Ministry of Agriculture held the highest power. The results demonstrated that in the governance structure, little attention was paid to the water-energy-food nexus. Therefore, in line with sustainable management policies, the government's power and the Department of Environment's position should be strengthened.
Omid Kavoosi; Khaled Ahmadaali; Aliakbar Nazari Samani
Abstract
Soil erosion and its consequences, such as soil destruction at the source, silting of rivers and filling of reservoirs of dams, are one of the most important natural hazards in watersheds, which reduce ecosystem durability. To be one of the most important practical solutions to control sedimentation ...
Read More
Soil erosion and its consequences, such as soil destruction at the source, silting of rivers and filling of reservoirs of dams, are one of the most important natural hazards in watersheds, which reduce ecosystem durability. To be one of the most important practical solutions to control sedimentation and reduce peak flow is to build a check dam. Therefore, determining the quantitative variables affecting the volume of the structure is an important factor in determining the construction costs and their effectiveness. The present study was conducted to model checkdam volumes at the level of 100 sub-basins in different provinces of Iran (Alborz, East Azerbaijan, Ilam, Isfahan, Bushehr, Tehran, Qazvin, Fars, Mazandaran, and Hamadan). The database used for modeling includes 27 environmental features extracted in each of 100 sub-basins and the modeling was done using Genetic Expression Algorithm (GEP). The results of modeling showed that the most important characteristics in estimating the volume of checkdam among the 27 characteristics are: precipitation, temperature, TWI index, shape factor, height difference, concentration time, slope, drainage density and NDVI index. The results of estimating the volume of the structures using the nine selected variables showed that the R2, RRMSE and NSE values for the training phase are .088, .035 and 0.92, respectively, and for the test phase, they are 0.91, 0.29 and 0.91, respectively. Also, based on the results, the characteristics of environmental precipitation can be used with great accuracy to estimate the volume of sediment control structures in a short time, and therefore, before their implementation, the related costs were known in order to prioritize the areas.
Mohsen Amani; Ali Asghar Naghipour; Ataollah Ebrahimi; Zahra Heidari; Mohammadreza Ashrafzadeh
Abstract
Carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems is an important part of global carbon storage and plays a vital role in mitigating climate change. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of different types of land uses/land covers (dense rangelands, semi-dense rangelands, low density rangelands, ...
Read More
Carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems is an important part of global carbon storage and plays a vital role in mitigating climate change. The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of different types of land uses/land covers (dense rangelands, semi-dense rangelands, low density rangelands, barren lands and agricultural lands) on the amount of soil carbon and plant biomass sequestration as an important ecosystem service in Sefiddasht watershed in in Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari province. Sampling of soil and vegetation was done randomly and systematically. For this purpose, 60 plots of 4 square meters were used for collecting soil, plant material and litter. Plant biomass was sampled by direct measurement method. Soil samples were also collected from the depth of 0-30 cm and 20 samples in each area. The results showed that there is a significant difference between the investigated regions in terms of total carbon storage. The total carbon storage from the highest to the lowest in order includes dense rangelands (46.42 tons/ha), semi-dense rangelands (38.49 tons/ha), agricultural lands (31.62 tons/ha), low-density rangelands (26.12 tons) per hectare) and barren lands (17.21 tons per hectare). The economic value of the total carbon storage per hectare of the examined uses, including dense rangelands, semi-dense rangelands, agricultural lands, low-dense rangelands, and barren lands, was determined to be $5446, $4516, $3710, $3065, and $2019, respectively. Therefore, it can be concluded that the implementation of appropriate policies to prevent or minimize the conversion of land uses with a higher carbon storage capacity to land uses with a lower carbon storage capacity is of particular importance.
Negin Khatoony; Mahdi Kolahi
Abstract
The aim of this research is to gain a deep understanding of and analyze the complex, dynamic, and nonlinear behaviors of factors influencing the implementation of ecosystem restoration projects. Identifying various connections and determining the most important factors in each watershed is crucial for ...
Read More
The aim of this research is to gain a deep understanding of and analyze the complex, dynamic, and nonlinear behaviors of factors influencing the implementation of ecosystem restoration projects. Identifying various connections and determining the most important factors in each watershed is crucial for achieving outcomes such as understanding how these factors influence one another, adopting a sustainable development approach in ecosystem restoration, fostering participatory motivation among stakeholders—particularly local beneficiaries—and recognizing communication links for maximum collective benefit. To this end, a set of related variables and system boundaries were identified. Expert opinions and input from local residents of seven villages in the Arghavan-Dareh watershed in Mashhad County, Iran, were collected through interviews, questionnaires, and field surveys. The data collected were then analyzed using SWOT and QSPM methods, with a total of 33 questionnaires reviewed. Subsequently, system dynamics modeling was employed using the Vensim tool to design and construct causal relationships, flows and stocks, and balancing, reinforcing, and equilibrium loops within a comprehensive model. The research results demonstrated that the ecosystem restoration model, in addition to empowering local communities and other stakeholders, fosters collective engagement motivation. The findings emphasize a holistic systems thinking approach. Given that one of the region's strengths and a significant source of income for local people, particularly women, is derived from medicinal plants and traditional medicine, this model aims to attract local community engagement in ecosystem restoration through holistic management. This approach focuses on preserving medicinal plants to enhance the local economy, ensure soil conservation and sustainability, restore and improve the woodland ecosystem, and foster interactive relationships and conflict management among all stakeholders.
)
