Investigation of coastline change of the Urmia Lake using remote sensing and GIS (1990 - 2012)

The study on water level fluctuation in the Urmia Lake has become of a great importance in recent years. This is due to the importance of the position of this lake as a natural heritage at an international level. The water level decrease at the Urmia Lake during the recent years has made it necessary to address the matter more than before. Investigation and assessment of changes in the Lake is necessary because it is the largest international wetland and one of the Iranian National Parks. The main purpose of the current study was to investigate changes in the Lake water levels using satellite imagery and GIS technique, preparing and processing multispectral Landsat images in 1990, 1998, 2006 and 2011, classifying the images and extract the land use map for these four time periods. Results of this study indicated that the Urmia Lake has faced significant decrease in water level during the past twenty years, especially in the past decade. Also, the surface area of the Lake decreased by 3052 km2 and the salt area increased from 1990 to 2011. The present study indicate the incidence and development of environmental crisis in the region. Hence, it is essential to take into account the entire social, economic, and environmental considerations as well as all the macro-environmental issues at a regional scale to save the Urmia Lake

APPLICATION OF LANDUSE CHANGE MODELING FOR PROTECTED AREA MONITORING

Globally, land use change impacts biodiversity, water and radiation budgets, emission of green house gases, carbon cycling, and livelihoods. The study of LUCC and its dynamics is crucial for environmental management, especially with regard to sustainable agriculture and forestry. Different models, in terms of structure and application, have been used to understand LUCC dynamics. The present study aims to simulate the spatial pattern of land use change in Varjin protected area, Iran. Land cover maps for 2000 and 2010 were prepared using TM images. Images were classified using supervised classification. CA Markov model was used to predict land cover map for 2020 as a top-down approach in investigating land use change. A comparison was made between the predicted and older land use map. The findings of the study suggest that the region will experience a degradation in poor range and increase rate in urban from 2010 to 2020. Moreover, if the trend of land exploitation and current management policy of the region continue as before, the region will experience with urban development and degradation in the Varjin protected area

Mangrove Afforestation and Reforestation in Coastal Areas of the Bushehr Province

Given the pressure of population growth, economic difficulties, and climate change, the mangrove forests of Iran need a management plan based on forest protection, reforestation, and afforestation. In this study, the sustainability of mangrove forests in coastal areas of the Bushehr Province in the north of the Persian Gulf was evaluated using two criteria including “extent of forest resources” and “forest health and vitality” from 1993 to 2009. Indicators of area changes, density changes or survival rate, natural regeneration establishment, and height growth were measured as part of the assessment method. Google Earth images were visually interpreted, and a random sample technique was used. A total of 70 circular samples of 100 m2 were chosen. The results showed that Avicennia marina was planted in 7 sites in Kangan and Dayyer townships on the coasts of the Bushehr Province. Out of 370 ha of the plantation, only 42.4 ha remained, showing an area reduction of 88.5% and an average survival rate of 48.5%. Forest planted density averaged 6635 seedlings per hectare which has decreased by 69.5% (i.e. 4611 seedlings/ha). The decreased area in the Khan site was 91% and in the Basatin site was 52.5%. It is necessary to take into account management measures to improve the status of forest sustainability indicators on the coasts of the Bushehr Province, especially in the process of site selection, to improve the success rate of reforestation and afforestation plans

A cellular automata model for monitoring and simulating urban land use/cover changes toward sustainability

This study presents an integrated model based on cellular automata for assessing and simulating land use/cover changes and their impact on the environment. Satellite images from Landsat TM and ETM + sensors from the time period of 1985 to 2014 were applied. Seven static and five dynamic variables were applied. These included elevation, slope, aspect, soil salinity, soil texture, distance from rivers, and roads, and distance from the five classes of land use. The model was validated by a fuzzy reciprocal similarity method. The results showed that this model is suitable for simulating changes in periods of less than 15 years and patches with areas greater than 25 hectares. The model was run for 15 years, beginning with the year 2014. The results for the study area predict that settlement areas will expand; agricultural land, rangeland and barren areas will decline; and forests will remain unchanged until 2029

A Spatial Integrated SLR Adaptive Management Plan Framework (SISAMP) toward Sustainable Coasts

Sea-level rise (SLR) is known as a central part of the Earth's response to human-induced global warming and is projected to continue to rise over the twenty-first century and beyond. The importance of coastal areas for both human and natural systems has led researchers to conduct extensive studies on coastal vulnerability to SLR impacts and develop adaptation options to cope with rising sea level. Investigations to date have focused mostly on developed and highly populated coasts, as well as diverse ecosystems including tidal salt marshes and mangroves. As a result, there is less information on vulnerability and adaptation of less-developed and developing coasts to sea-level rise and its associated impacts. Hence, this research aimed at outlining an appropriate coastal management framework to adapt to SLR on the coasts that are in the early stage of development. A coastal area with a low level of development, located in southern Iran along the Gulf of Oman, was selected as a case study. The types of lands exposed to the high-end estimates of SLR by 2100 were identified and used as the primary criteria in determining the practical adaptation approaches for developing coasts. The result of coastal exposure assessment showed that, of five exposed land cover types, bare land, which is potentially considered for development, has the highest percentage of exposure to future sea-level rise. In order to protect the exposed coastal lands from future development and increase adaptive capacity of coastal systems, we developed a Spatial Integrated SLR Adaptive Management Plan Framework (SISAMP) based on an exposure reduction approach. Spatial land management tools and coastal exposure assessment models along with three other key components were integrated into the proposed conceptual framework to reduce coastal vulnerability through minimizing exposure of coastal communities to SLR-induced impacts. This adaptation plan provides a comprehensive approach for sustainable coastal management in a changing climate, particularly on developing coasts.Peer reviewe

A review of mangrove value and conservation strategy by local communities in Hormozgan province, Iran

Mangroves are forest community within the intertidal region of tropical and subtropical areas. This study provides the values, functions and attributes of mangrove ecosystem and the importance of the local people in biodiversity conservation in the mangrove of Gas and Hara Rivers Delta (GHRD) in the Iranian coastline of Oman Sea. This study indicated that mangroves of GHRD are greatly influenced by the coastal environment and fulfil important socio-economic and environmental functions, therefore, it is considered that the protection of this site from threats must be enfaced. This study also provides the state of key guidelines for protecting biodiversity of mangroves by the local people. Over-use, lack of identity of mangrove resource and lack of tools for mangrove economic evaluation are the main destruction factors of the mangrove in this region. This study suggested that the end goal is to involve communities in direct management of resources. Furthermore, this study highlighted the role of awareness-raising in local communities in GHRD biodiversity conservation. There should be a willingness to move from old ideas on the use of this natural resource by villager and other people, which are largely dependent on this ecosystem. Awareness-raising campaigns must be developed for local communities using local languages, religious leaders and cultural events

Prioritizing Environmental Hazards of Mangrove Forests in Hormozgan Province

Mangrove forests are always exposed to damages caused by various natural and anthropogenic hazards, so planning is necessary to provide appropriate tools to prevent or reduce the effects of these hazards. Therefore, in this study, natural and anthropogenic hazards to mangrove forests in Hormozgan province have been conducted with the aim of identifying and introducing them to management sections in order to reduce risk and prevention of risk factors. The initial list of threats was identified by reviewing internal and external sources and interviews with experts in the area and 34 threat factors were identified. Based on the identified threats, a questionnaire was prepared and its qualitative and quantitative validities were determined. According to relative validity method, 8 criteria (Lopping, reduction of basin environmental water right, oil leakage from vessels, development of ports and offshore structures, coastal erosion, grazing the wandering camels, Changes in precipitation pattern and water salinity pattern) had the least validity. The final list of threats was determined by Delphi method and the weighting of each was done by Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. Prioritization of threats showed that lopping, oil leakage from vessels and coastal erosion are the most important threats to mangrove forests in Hormozgan Province

Spatial-temporal changes in mangrove Forests for Analyzing habitat Integrity: A case of hara biosphere Reserve, Iran

Spatial-temporal changes in land use and land cover (LULC) patterns have led to the fragmentation of forest ecosystems and the reduction of more than one-third of mangrove forests worldwide. Environmental protection challenges and biodiversity threats in mangrove forests have attracted national and international concerns in the last three decades. Accordingly, the present study demonstrates spatial-temporal changes in mangrove forests of Hara Biosphere Reserve using Landsat images from 1989 to 2021. Moreover, habitat integrity in this area was investigated based on ecological landscape metrics. The results of LULC changes revealed that the forest area in Hara Biosphere Reserve is decreasing, while other land use (LU) such as tidal area and bare land are increasing. Likewise, in this area, the tidal area had the top increasing trend in 2021 compared to 1989, and water body revealed the top decreasing trend during the studied years. According to the results of landscape metrics change, fragmentation and patches dispersion have increased at the level of mangrove forest and water body classes, and these results at the level of tidal area and bare land classes have decreased from 1989 to 2021. The obtained results indicate that habitat integrity has decreased at the level of mangrove forest and water body classes due to the increase of LULC spatial-temporal changes and human activities development. Therefore, planners and decision-makers should strive to reduce the human causes that have led to rapid LULC changes‏.

Using a Fuzzy AHP approach to identify the affective parameters on development of Mangroves (A case study: Avicennia marina stands of Hormozgan Province)

This survey aimed to identify a set of crucial parameters which contribute to form the suitable sites for developing mangroves in Hormozgan Province. Therefore, a systematic literature review on 25 studies in Iran and comparable regions was conducted to identify the potentially-influential factors. It led to the subsequent selection of 3 main criteria and 9 sub-criteria. These were examined across the study site by means of Delphi method. The entire criteria were also weighted by Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The results indicate that the climate, the seawater properties and the physiographic properties (as main criteria) as well as the precipitation, the air temperature, the climate type, the sea waves, the tidewater quality and the physiochemical properties of land (as sub-criteria) play the most vital roles in the formation of optimal sites for Avicennia marina establishment. The physiographic property was the most crucial criterion, whereas the physical properties of land and precipitation were the most and least significant criteria, respectively. The results also returned a compatibility index of less than 0.1 in fuzzy hierarchical cluster analysis, which indicates the compatibility of judgments