Impacts of land use conversion on soil properties and soil erodibility

Land use conversion can affect natural ecological processes such as surface runoff and erosion. Therefore, it has potential to change soil stability To investigate this process in depth, Iskalan creek catchment in the Black sea region, where excessive land use applications and erosion events have often occured, was selected as the study area. The objective was to determine the effects of land use conversion on soil properties, soil erodibility and the relationships among soil properties and some erodibility indices. Duplicate topsoil samples were taken by using steel cylinders at 100 different sampling points from three different land use types; 34 of them are in farmlands, 34 in rangelands and 32 in forestlands. Soil particle size distribution, loss of ignition, pH, electrical conductivity skeleton percentage and three erodibility indices were determined. Data were analysed by using Pearson correlation analysis (at 95% and 99% significance level), ANOVA and Tukey's test at 95 % significance level. According to study results, land use conversion affects some properties of soils significantly Loss of ignition of soils in forests was significantly higher than soils in farmlands and rangelands. Soil skeleton percentage in rangelands and farmlands were significantly different. The study results showed that there was significant difference between pH of soils in forests and farmlands (p < 0.05). Pearson correlation analysis results showed significant correlations among erodibility indices and certain soil properties such as clay and sand fraction of soils (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01). Topsoils of the study area were sensitive to erosion according to all three erodibility indices. The most sensitive soils were in farmlands.     

Agricultural recycling of treatment-plant sludge: a case study for a vegetable-processing factory

The present study evaluated the possibility of using the sludge produced by a vegetable-processing factory in agriculture. The sludge was amended with a soil mixture (i.e., a mixture of sand, soil, and manure) and was applied at 0, 165, 330, 495 and 660 t/ha to promote the growth of cucumbers. The effects of various sludge loadings on plant growth were assessed by counting plants and leaves, measuring stem lengths, and weighing the green parts and roots of the plants. We also compared heavy metal uptake by the plants for sludge loadings of 330, 495, and 660 t/ha with various recommended standards for vegetables. Our results showed that plant growth patterns were influenced to some extent by the sludge loadings. In general, the number of leaves, stem length, and dry weight of green parts exhibited a pronounced positive growth response compared with an unfertilized control, and root growth showed a lesser but still significant response at sludge loadings of 165 and 330 t/ha. The sludge application caused no significant increase in heavy metal concentrations in the leaves, though zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) were found at elevated concentrations. However, despite the Zn and Fe accumulation, we observed no toxicity symptoms in the plants. This may be a result of cucumber's tolerance of high metal levels.     

General assessment of the occupational accidents that occurred in Turkey between the years 2000 and 2005

Occupational accidents still constitute one of the major problems in Turkey, as they do all over the world. Every year, nearly one thousand people die due to occupational accidents and two thousand people are injured, becoming temporarily or permanently disabled. This leads to social and economic problems for these people. As a result, families suffer from occupational accidents socially and psychologically. On the other hand, the economy of the country and the employers are faced with economic loss and work day loss. The aim of this study is to assess the results of occupational accidents occurring between the years 2000 and 2005 in Turkey in terms of various criteria. In this study, a fluctuation in Turkey in the number of occupational accidents between 2000 and 2005 and a downward fluctuation in the number of deaths resulting from occupational accidents have been observed. Permanent disabilities have also shown a falling trend since 2002. Occupational accidents are mostly seen in the sectors of manufacture of metal goods (except for machines), construction, the textile industry, coal mining and manufacture of transportation vehicles, while the deaths of workers and permanently disabled persons due to occupational accidents are mostly seen in the construction sector.     

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.     

WATER QUALITY MONITORING NETWORK DESIGN: A PROBLEM OF MULTI-OBJECTIVE DECISION MAKING1

ABSTRACT: Hydrologic data network design is a fairly complicated problem where questions as to the number of gages required, time frequencies to be selected, and benefits/costs of monitoring still remain unresolved. These issues are intensified in case of water quality variables as they are more error-prone, costly, and time consuming to sample. The basic difficulty underlying the design and evaluation of monitoring systems is the lack of an objective criterion to assess: (a) the efficiency, and (b) cost-effectiveness of a network. A statistical procedure based on the entropy principle of information theory is proposed to address the evaluation of both factors. Efficiency is measured quantitatively in terms of the information produced by a network. Similarly, benefits of monitoring are described by informative measures for an objective evaluation of cost-effectiveness. The study presented demonstrates the applicability of the entropy method in assessing the efficiency and the benefits of an existing water quality monitoring network. The method is applied for temporal and spatial features of monitoring, handled as both separate and combined problems. The results are shown in the case of the highly polluted Porsuk River in Turkey. The strengths and shortcomings of the proposed methodology are discussed, with recommendations for future research on the application of the entropy principle in network design.