The Statistical Investigation on Posidonia Oceanica (L.) Delile Meadows in Izmir, Turkey

In this study, variance analysis technique on unbalanced data was examined, and in this sense, Type II (fitting constants) methods were studied. The aim of this study was to show that meaningful evaluations can be performed even in unbalanced conditions and to contribute to the present investigations in biological area. In the implementation part of the study, the juvenile leaf densities of Posidonia oceanica—which is a sea grass that grows in Izmir Bay, and has very important ecological effects—in various regions and in various depths were determined. The results revealed that depth affect number of juvenile leaf (d.f.?=?3, F?=?523.90, R ²?=?0.998, p?F?=?41.53, p?F?=?19.65, p?p?p?p?p?相似文献   

Utilization of statistics based classification approach to investigate water supply profile of Turkey

In the paper water supply profile of Turkey was examined. In this scope, the questionnaire survey conducted by Turkish Statistical Institute in 2004 to investigate annual amount of water abstracted to drinking water networks by type of resources in 81 provinces was evaluated. In the questionnaire, sources were grouped under five categories as spring, (artificial) lake, river, reservoir and well. Due to the complex and multivariate characteristics of the data sets, to replace a large collection of variables with a smaller number of factors the statistical method "factor analysis" was performed. Results revealed that, water supply systems in the country were mainly governed by groundwater sources (well and/or spring). However, in the northeastern part of the country, rivers were allocated for drinking water supply. On the other hand, reservoir dependent cities were densely located in Marmara, Central Anatolia and Southeast Anatolia Regions. This study showed that statistics based classification methods assist decision makers to extract information from multidimensional complex data sets representing environmental conditions.     

Determination of potential allergenic fungal flora and its clinical reflection in suburban elementary schools in Izmir

In this research, in order to determine mean fungus counts, indoor and outdoor air samples were taken in five elementary school buildings located in the city center of Seferihisar, Izmir (45 km from Izmir) within a 1-year period between March and April 2004, and between January and February 2005 representing similar climatic characteristics. Five samples, three from three classes where 5–8, 10–12, and 12–15 age group students attended, one from the corridors, and one from outside the buildings in all the schools, were taken for each period. Within the period of the study, in indoor and outdoor air samples, 7,122 microfungus colonies were counted. Sixty-four species were identified that belong to 17 genera as a result of the identification of isolates obtained. Skin prick tests were applied to 55 out of a total of 117 teachers by the clinicians. According to these test results, 24 teachers were sensitive to at least one agent. Results revealed that, in terms of mold counts, the difference between the schools and the difference between the times (periods) were statistically significant (p?< 0.05).     

Utilization of the water quality index method as a classification tool

The study comprised modification of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) Water Quality Index (CCMEWQI) to obtain a tool in classification of surface waters according to quality defined by the European Legislation—75/440/EEC. Three categories were proposed, and the category ranges of CCMEWQI have been modified depending on the objective chosen. The application of the CCMEWQI with modified categorization scheme was demonstrated to assess overall water quality by integrating observed water quality determinants in the Kucuk Menderes Basin, Turkey. In this scope, the samples analyzed for pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), chlorides (Cl), nitrate–nitrogen (NO₃–N), dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅), sulfate (SO₄), and boron (B), variables taken monthly over 2 years from the five monitoring sites, were processed. Results revealed that the overall surface water mainly fell within the A2 water class. The CCMEWQI with modified categorization scheme is believed to assist water managers to integrate and interpret the picture of overall water quality based on the European legislation concerning the quality required of surface water intended for the abstraction of drinking water in the Member States (75/440/EEC).     

Surface Water Quality Assessment by Environmetric Methods

This environmetric study deals with the interpretation of river water monitoring data from the basin of the Buyuk Menderes River and its tributaries in Turkey. Eleven variables were measured to estimate water quality at 17 sampling sites. Factor analysis was applied to explain the correlations between the observations in terms of underlying factors. Results revealed that, water quality was strongly affected from agricultural uses. Cluster analysis was used to classify stations with similar properties and results distinguished three groups of stations. Water quality at downstream of the river was quite different from the other part. It is recommended to involve the environmetric data treatment as a substantial procedure in assessment of water quality data.     

Total maximum daily load (TMDL) based sustainable basin growth and management strategy

This study focused on the development and application of the new approach 'Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) based sustainable basin growth and management strategy' to give better insight for the management of surface waters. The establishment of the proposed decision process mainly comprised: beneficial use designations-targets, interrogation of the ambient water quality, selection of variable(s) for TMDL analysis, water quality modeling, basin growth scenarios development and decision on the basin growth plan. The approach was validated through a systematic application study in a field case in Turkey, known as Tahtali Basin. Results revealed that decision process assists policy makers to develop realistic strategies that take into account the basin specific conditions.     

Detecting micronuclei frequency in some aquatic organisms for monitoring pollution of Izmir Bay (Western Turkey)

Micronuclei tests is a system of mutagenicity testing used for determining the pollution and chemicals causing changes in DNA fragments such as micronuclei in the cytoplasm of interphase cells. Damage caused on the DNA by genotoxic pollutants is the first consequence occurring in the aquatic organisms. Thus, it was attempted to determine whether pollution affected the erythrocytes and gills of fish Gobius niger and haemolymph and gills of mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis living in Izmir Bay at the level of DNA by the means of micronuclei (MN) test. Organisms used in the MN test were collected from seven locations (Alsancak, Alaybey Shipyard, Karsiyaka, Bostanli, Göztepe, Konak and Pasaport) which are known as the most polluted part of inner Bay of Izmir (Western Coast of Turkey). According to the results of the present study, frequency of MN was found at high level in Alaybey Shipyard and Pasaport where wastes from existing dockyard contributed to high level of pollution. In conclusion, this study indicates that the micronuclei test gives sensitive results in monitoring the pollution, especially the pollution of harbor, and thus it might be used as standard method in regular monitoring of pollution of coastal ecosystem.     

The statistical investigation on airborne fungi and pollen grains of atmosphere in Izmir-Turkey

This study aims to investigate the differences in the concentrations of airborne fungi and pollens between the towns located in the province of Izmir and to determine the factors contributing to these differences. Five stations in each of four towns (Buca, Konak, Bornova, and Karsiyaka) were randomly selected as the research areas. Fungus (cfu/m³) and pollen counts (cm²/pollen count) in the air samples collected from each station between June 2003 and May 2004 were measured. The results revealed that whereas Karsiyaka had the highest fungus concentration (521.33 ± 777.1), Buca and Bornova had the lowest concentration (482.67 ± 308.44). The mean fungus concentration in the province of İzmir was 501.5 ± 486.7. Pollen concentration was the highest in Konak (486.67 ± 839.06) and the lowest in Bornova (369.83 ± 551.13). Fungus and pollen concentrations revealed no difference between the towns (p > 0.05). The relationship between pollen-fungus concentrations and temperature-dust-humidity-sulphurdioxide was investigated but it was found statistically insignificant (p > 0.05). As a result of regression analysis, it was determined that correlation of atmospheric parameters had no effects on pollen and fungus concentrations (p > 0.05).     

Detection of seasonal variations in surface water quality using discriminant analysis

In the study, discriminant analysis (DA) was applied to water quality data set monitored in winter and summer months along 3 years to investigate seasonal variations of Tahtali Reservoir water quality. The variables were divided into two categories as “parameters naturally found in surface waters—Al, Fe, Mn, F, Ba, Cl, and SO₄” and “pollutants—biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, and NO₃”. Linear discriminant functions were calculated to distinguish between winter and summer samples. Results revealed that water quality variables (naturally found in surface water and also pollutants) were distinctly different between two seasons. Seasonal changes of water quality caused by anthropogenic activities should be taken into consideration by the water managers especially in summer seasons in which higher concentrations were observed. The study showed that DA can be applied successfully to establish the seasonal variation in surface water quality and make it possible to design a future temporal sampling strategy in an optimal manner.