Global Attention to Turkey Due to Desertification

Desertification has recognized as an environmental problem by many international organizations such as UN, NATO and FAO. Desertification in Turkey is generally caused by incorrect land use, excessive grazing, forest fires, urbanization, industry, genetic erosion, soil erosion, salinization, and uncontrolled wild type plants picking. Due to anthropogenic destruction of forest, steppe flora gradually became dominant in Anatolia. In terms of biodiversity, Turkey has a significant importance in Europe and Middle East. Nine thousands plant species naturally grown in Turkey, one third of them are endemic. Also, endemic species of vertebrates, thrive in the lakes and marshy areas. The studies of modelling simulation of vegetation on the effects of Mediterranean climate during the Roman Classical period by using vegetation history showed that, in 2000 years BP, Mediterranean countries were more humid than today. Turkey is a special place on the global concern in terms of desertification because of biodiversity, agricultural potential, high population, social and economical structure, topographical factors and strategic regional location. Communication among scientists, decision makers and international non-profit organizations must be improved.     

Speciative determination of Cr (III) and Cr (VI) in dyeing waste water of Dil Creek discharge to Izmit Gulf (Izmit-Kocaeli, Turkey) by ICP-AES

Wastewater pollution in industrial areas is one of the most important environmental problems. Heavy metal pollution, especially chromium pollution in wastewater sources from dyeing and tannery has affected the life on earth. This pollution can affect all ecosystems and human health directly or by food chain. Therefore, the determination of chromium in this study is of great importance. Dil Creek is located in the eastern Marmara region and discharges into the Izmit Gulf. This water source is used for irrigation in agriculture and as drinking water for animals. In this study, a rapid, sensitive and selective method for the speciative direct determination of Cr (III) and Cr (VI) in dyeing waste water samples collected from the nearest station to Izmit Gulf of Dil Creek in May 2006 by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) has been developed. An analysis of a given sample is completed in about 15 min for ICP-AES the method. As the result of the chromium analysis, the limit of quantification (LOQ) for the Cr (III), Cr (VI) and total Cr were founded as 0.0111 ± 0.0002 mg/l (RSD, 1.80%), 0.0592 ± 0.0010 mg/l (RSD, 1.70%) and 0.0703 ± 0.0020 mg/l (RSD, 2.84%) respectively. In addition, the general mathematical formula has been developed to calculate the concentration of Cr(III), which can be applied to any other metal species. The result of Cr (VI) analysis indicated that water quality of Creek was IV. class quality according to the inland water classification. In order to validate the applied method, recovery studies were performed.     

Afforestation areas defined by GIS in Gölbaşı specially protected area Ankara/Turkey

This paper concentrates on determining the areas for afforestation and the development of conservation strategies and actions in the case where there is high demand for the conservation of a particular land area. The analysis of hydrological landscape structure and of erodibility was prerequisite in the methodological design considering the site-specific natural landscape characteristics of the study area. The Gölba?? Specially Protected Area (SPA) being the case area has many local environmental disturbances, especially with respect to its hydrological system, and the area is beset by increasing demands for its use by the burgeoning human population. It is obviously clear that the present intensive demand for recreational use will be forecasted further increase in the future. The count of rural residences is estimated to increase by 50% over the next decade. This intensive demand shall further strain the carrying capacity of the ecological milieu, which has already suffered to a significant degree because of the present urban and rural activities. The Gölba?? district is located only 20 km from the city center of Ankara, and its surroundings were legally designated to be a Specially Protected Area primarily for the existence of lacustral and fluvial systems where two interconnected lakes exist: Mogan and E?mir Lakes. Essentially, the continuity of the lacustral and fluvial system of Lakes Mogan and E?mir depends on the preservation and improvement of the water sources. However, interconnected surface water bodies of these lakes are actually quite contaminated, and a decline in the water flow from Mogan to E?mir has been observed. For the elaboration of the present method, required conventional maps (at 1/25,000 scale) of topography (for slope analysis) and geology (for erodibility and permeability analysis) were transferred to computer media using AutoCAD® R.14 software. The rectification of the transferred data was done using ERDAS® Imagine 8.3. All data were then transferred into a GIS engine (Arcview® 3.2). This software provided the ability to create, manipulate, analyze and display topologically correct geographic data in digital form. The method proceeded according to the following phases: 1. Analysis of the hydrologic landscape structure; 2. Permeability of the soil structure; 3. Permeability of the geological structure; 4. Conservation zones.     

Wood Flour-Reinforced Green Composites: Parameter Optimization via Multi-criteria Decision-Making Methods

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - The aim of this study was to investigate the physical, mechanical, morphological, structural, and thermal properties of polylactic acid (PLA) and...     

Taguchi optimization of geopolymer concrete produced with rice husk ash and ceramic dust

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Metakaolin, fly ash, and mostly granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) are traditionally used in the production of geopolymer. This study, adding to the...     

The Effects of Long-Term Grazing Exclosures on Range Plants in the Central Anatolian Region of Turkey

Over the last fifty years, almost half of the steppe rangeland in the Central Anatolian Region of Turkey (CAR) has been converted to cropland without an equivalent reduction in grazing animals. This shift has led to heavy grazing pressure on rangeland vegetation. A study was initiated in June 2003 using 6 multiscale Modified-Whittaker plots to determine differences in plant composition between areas that have not been grazed in 27 years with neighboring grazed plant communities. A total of 113 plant species were identified in the study area with the ungrazed plots containing 32 plants more than the grazed plots. The major species were Astragalus acicularis, Bromus tomentellus, Festuca valesiaca, Genista albida, Globularia orientalis, Poa bulbosa, and Thymus spyleus ssp rosulans. Grazing impacts on forbs were more pronounced than for grasses and shrubs. Based on Jaccard’s index, there was only a 37% similarity of plant species between the two treatments. Our study led to four generalizations about the current grazing regime and long-term exclosures in the steppe rangeland around the study area: (1) exclosures will increase species richness, (2) heavy grazing may have removed some plant species, (3) complete protection from grazing for a prolonged period of time after a long history of grazing disturbance may not lead to an increase in desirable plant species with a concomitant improvement in range condition, and (4) research needs to be conducted to determine how these rangelands can be improved.     

In vitro effects of erythromycin and florfenicol on primary cell lines of Unio crassus and Cyprinus carpio

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The ubiquitous use of antibiotics leads exposure of these chemicals on non-target aquatic species, while the toxicity assays for these chemicals are...     

Carbon emission effect of renewable energy utilization,fiscal development,and foreign direct investment in South Africa

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In recent times, the persistent global environmental challenges have paved the way for the underpinning of climate change within the perspective of...     

Monitoring forest structure at landscape level: a case study of Scots pine forest in NE Turkey

This study aims to investigate the change in spatial-temporal configuration of secondary forest succession and generate measurements for monitoring the changes in structural plant diversity in Yaln?zçam Scots pine forest in NE Turkey from 1972 to 2005. The successional stages were mapped using the combination of Geographic Information System (GIS), Global Positioning System (GPS), aerial photos and high resolution satellite images (IKONOS). Forest structure and its relationship with structural plant diversity along with its changes over time were characterized using FRAGSTATS. In terms of spatial configuration of seral stages, the total number of fragments increased from 572 to 735, and mean size of patch (MPS) decreased from 154.97 ha to 120.60 ha over 33 years. The situation resulted in forestation serving appropriate conditions for plant diversity in the area. As an overall change in study area, there was a net increase of 1823.3 ha forest during the period with an average annual forestation rate of 55.25 ha year^?1(0.4% per year). In conclusion, the study revealed that stand type maps of forest management plans in Turkey provide a great chance to monitor the changes in structural plant diversity over time. The study further contributes to the development of a framework for effective integration of biodiversity conservation into Multiple Use Forest Management (MUFM) plans using the successional stages as a critical mechanism.     

Selective separation of virgin and post-consumer polymers (PET and PVC) by flotation method

More and more polymer wastes are generated by industry and householders today. Recycling is an important process to reduce the amount of waste resulting from human activities. Currently, recycling technologies use relatively homogeneous polymers because hand-sorting waste is costly. Many promising technologies are being investigated for separating mixed thermoplastics, but they are still uneconomical and unreliable. At present, most waste polymers cause serious environmental problems. Burning polymers for recycling is not practiced since poisonous gases are released during the burning process. Particularly, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) materials among waste polymers generate hazardous HCl gas, dioxins containing Cl, etc., which lead to air pollution and shorten the life of the incinerator. In addition, they make other polymers difficult to recycle.Both polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and PVC have densities of 1.30–1.35 g/cm³ and cannot be separated using conventional gravity separation techniques. For this reason, polymer recycling needs new techniques. Among these techniques, froth flotation, which is also used in mineral processing, can be useful because of its low cost and simplicity.The main objective of this research is to recycle PET and PVC selectively from post-consumer polymer wastes and virgin polymers by using froth flotation. According to the results, all PVC particles were floated with 98.8% efficiency in virgin polymer separation while PET particles were obtained with 99.7% purity and 57.0% efficiency in post-consumer polymer separation.