JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

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Cadmium is a trace element which is harmful to life and is considered as a dangerous pollutant. This element leads to pollution and reduction of water quality and sometimes even to toxicity through contaminated sources such as wastewater (municipal and industrial). Due to the growing population's need for more water resources and increased water resource pollution, a need for new and inexpensive methods for remediation and improving water quality is felt. Phytoremediation with aquatic macrophytes is an effective and inexpensive method for improving water quality and wastewater. In this study, biological removal of cadmium from simulated wastewater was reviewed within 11 days of cultivation of Lemna gibba in Hoagland nutrient solution, at four different concentrations of cadmium (0, 1, 2, 4, and 6 mg L-1). Maximum Bioconcentration Factor and maximum Uptake Index were calculated from 6 mg L-1 metal concentration. Maximum (4.71 g/day) and minimum (2 g/day) Biomass production measurement was obtained from 0 mg L-1 and 6 mg L-1 of pollutant concentration. The plant used in this study was able to accumulated cadmium with the efficiency of up to 91%. However, the pollutant remediation was not completed in a short time. Thus, pollutants' bioremediation from wastewater solutions by Lemna gibba, a native hydrophyte of southern Iran’s pounds, is efficient and appropriate.

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In this research, sediment production and delivery amount by Darabkola forest roads was estimated using the SEDMODL model. To evaluate the model results, the sedimentation rate in the above roads was directly measured using rainfall simulator. Also, the paired t-test, BIAS, RE and RMSE were used to assess the results. The analysis showed that the rate of sediment production from study roads' surface using the SEDMODL model and direct measurement under the rainfall simulation were 420.97 and 341.19 tons per year, respectively, and rate of sediment delivered to the stream with sediment delivery ratios of 42% and 51%, respectively, was about 177.58 and 174.02 tons per year. Also, results of the statistical methods of BIAS, RE and RMSE for the aforesaid model were 0.04, 17.59 and 0.71, respectively, and at 95% confidence level, no significant difference was obtained between the observed and estimated data. Therefore, the aforesaid model has the appropriate accuracy and efficiency to estimate the sedimentation rate of the Darabkola forest roads. It was also found that from among the input parameters of model, longitudinal slope of road, precipitation and sediment delivery factors were the most influential factors in the sediment production and transport, respectively.

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In the present research, the performances of six empirical models, i.e., simple threshold exceedance, fixed proportion exceedance, quadratic function of storage, power function of storage, cubic function of storage, and exponential function of storage were investigated for estimation of groundwater potential recharge in a semi-arid region. First, the FAO Dual Crop procedure was used to calibrate evaporation from bare soil during the occurrence of potential recharge period. Then, the empirical models were calibrated utilizing soil moisture and potential recharge data. For validation of empirical models, soil moisture and potential recharge were simultaneously estimated for an independent event. Results indicated that 5 of the six models (except for the simple threshold exceedance model) were able to estimate potential recharge with a reasonable accuracy, showing the maximum computed value of NRMSE (Normalized Root Mean Square Errors) of 24.4 percent. According to validation results, exponential, cubic, and power function models provided better estimation of potential recharge in comparison with the linear models. Also, all of the applied empirical models were able to simulate soil moisture during the recharge period with an acceptable accuracy. Finally, the exponential model with minimum NRMSE value for soil water simulation and also acceptable performance of potential recharge estimation was recommended for estimation of potential recharge in the study area.

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Removal of boron from aqueous environments (soil and water) is difficult, because it is present as B(OH)3 and B(OH)4- species. This research was done to study the sorption of boron by HDTMA-modified zeolite. The sorption of B on modified zeolite was studied as a function of pH (B concentration: 1 and 10 mg L-1) in the range of 6-9.5, and as a function of ionic strength (0.03 and 0.06 M Ca(NO3)2 or Mg(NO3)2) at a constant B concentration of 5 mg L-1. Sorption isotherm was performed for the solutions containing initial B concentration in the range of 1-15 mg L-1 using a 24h batch equilibration experiment. The results revealed that surfactant-modified zeolite exhibited the best performance at pH 9.5, and sorption of B increased with the increase of suspension pH. Greater B adsorption in the Ca system over the Mg system was clearly observed for the modified zeolite. Sorption isotherm of B were well described by the Freundlich and Langmuir models but the Freundlich sorption model described the interaction between B and the mineral material better than the Langmuir model. Maximum sorption capacity (qmax) of the sorbent was 120 mmol kg-1. The experimental data showed that HDTMA-modified zeolite used in this study had a reasonable sorption capacity for B.

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Achievement to sustainable development is dependent upon integrated watershed management. In other hand without detailed analysis of the rainfall - runoff observations, high risk of flood predictions will be translated into flood-induced capital losses. Considering the fact that not always hydrometric data are available, using synthetic unit hydrograph is one of the most popular methods of flood simulations for ungauged watersheds. This method has operational limitation for duration of runoff but in Instantaneous Unit Hydrograph (IUH) assumed to all take place at a discrete point in time therefore can be converted into and desired durations.According to literature few studies have been focused on Laplace transforms, H2U-Nash Unit Hydrograph in Iran, this work is an attempt to investigate model performance in Jooneghan catchment, located in northern part of Karoon great basin.Laplace synthetic hydrograph was derived base on effective rainfall while H2U-Nash model was simulated using moments technique and lag time.The mean absolute relative error of Laplace transforms, H2U-Nash was 0.42 and 0.25 respectively. Visual interpretation and statistical comparison of Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient of the models confirms that H2U-Nash model performs better than Laplace transforms model.

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Evaluation of chemical and biological indicators of soil in different land uses could be helpful in sustainable range management, preventing degradation of soil quality trend. This study was conducted in Friedan in Isfahan province in 2010 to compare chemical and biological indicators in three land uses (rangeland, degraded dry land and dry land), during two growing seasons (May and September) in three slopes (0-10, 10-20, 20-30 %). Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, organic matter, cation exchange capacity and microbial soil respiration were measured. Results showed that all measured characteristics except potassium decreased over an increase in the slope. Maximum values of phosphorus, organic matters, cation exchange capacity and soil respiration were obtained in pasture (28.4 mg/kg, 0.62%, 20.38 cmol/kg, 33.2 mgC/day, respectively)but potassium maximum rate was seen in dry land form (406.8 mg/kg).The effect of season on all measured parameters was significant except for N, while the highest amounts of phosphorus, potassium, cation exchange capacity and soil respiration (28.7 mg/kg, 377.3 mg/kg, 19.6 cmol/kg and 25.9 mgC/day, respectively) were seen in May and the highest organic matter rate (0.68%)in September. The results of this study showed that an increase in the slope, poor range management, and the end of the growing season could be major factors degrading the soil quality indices and soil productivity.

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In recent years, use of carbon-based adsorbents has increased in pollution reduction from aqueous solutions. Biochar is a carbon-rich porous material, with low costs, and environmentally friendly, which is prepared by pyrolysis of biomass. In this study, potential of rice husk biochar to desalinate irrigation water with EC of 5, 15 and 25 dS/m was investigated. The effect of pyrolysis temperatures of 400 (RHB4), 600 (RHB6) and 800 (RHB8) on selected physicochemical characteristics and their desalination power was considered. The results showed that pyrolysis temperature has a significant effect on biochar properties. RHB6 with 301.1 mg g-1 desalination capacity was more efficient than the other biochars. This adsorbent had maximum surface area (211 m2 g-1) and total pore volume (0.114 cm3 g-1). The results of this study could open new horizons to manage the agricultural wastes and simultaneously reduce the cost of irrigation water.

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Plant parasitic nematodes, especially root knot nematodes, cause damage to most of agricultural products, and many efforts have been done to control them. In recent years, application of industrial waste and wastewater sludge as organic fertilizers in agriculture has been increased. To investigate the effects of sewage sludge on root knot nematode pathogenicity in tomato, different weights of sewage sludge (0, 4, 8, 15 and 25% of sludge in the soil) in soil were added as a completely randomized design with six replications. Analysis variance and mean comparison of growth indices of plants showed significant effects of treatments. For example, means of stem length of plants increased in soil with more amount of sewage sludge. This relationship was also observed in other indices and nutrients elements. So using sewage increased nitrogen, phosphorous, calcium and magnesium in tomato shoots inoculated with nematodes while the change of potassium was very small. Application of sewage sludge decreased the number of galls, egg-masses and eggs in egg-mass of root knot nematode.

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Soil is one of the most important components in forests and distinguishing soil types and soil capability are first steps in forest management. The main aim of this study was to determine relationship between slope aspect and position, and chemical properties of the soil. Soil sampling was done in Tang-e-Dalab in Ilam province which is a part of southern Zagros. Samples were collected in both northern and southern slopes of oak stand (Quercus brantii). In each slope, three transects 50m apart were sampled. Overall number of samples was 60. After data normalization, the means were compared by Duncan test. Slope aspects influenced organic carbon and total nitrogen of soil. These parameters were higher in northern slope than southern one. Slope position showed a significant effect on C, N and P. Also, concentration of C, N and P were increased by moving down the position. Most amounts of C, N and P were 5.84%, 0.58% and 108.19 mg/kg in bottom, middle and bottom of northern aspect, respectively. The least amounts of C, N and P were 3.31%, 0.24% and 37.83 mg/kg in bottom, middle of southern aspect and top of northern aspect, respectively. The results of this study confirmed that nutrient concentration in northern slope was more than southern slope and nutrient concentration in soil was increased by moving downward.

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Nowadays, due to the effective role of nitrogen fertilizer in growth, yield and crop quality, farmers apply large amount of chemical fertilizers. High application of nitrogen fertilizers has caused soil and water pollution and environmental dangers, higher nitrate accumulation in plant, and different disease risks in human and livestock. In order to investigate the effects of nitrogen and cycocel application effects on soil nitrate pollution and agronomic traits of rice, an experiment was arranged in split plot based on a completely randomized block design with three replicates at Sari region (north of Iran) in 2010. The main factor was nitrogen in four levels and cycocel was considered as a sub factor in three levels. Results showed that maximum and minimum plant height and fourth internodes bending moment were obtained in 0 and 150 kg N ha-1, respectively. Higher filled spikelet percentage per panicle, grain yield and harvest index were obtained in 100 kg N ha-1 application. Application of N up to 150 kg N ha-1 increased soil nitrate by 44.7 percent. As cycocel application decreased, the plant height and panicle length were reduced, but tiller number per plant, filled spikelet percentage per panicle, and grain yield were increased.

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Macrospore created by decaying plant root provides pathways for rapid transport of pollutants in soil profile. The main objective of this study was quantitative analysis of the effect of plant root (Zea mays L.) on bacterial and chloride transport through soil. Experiments were conducted in 9 soil columns packed uniformly with loamy sand. The treatments were bare soil, bare soil with corn (Zea mays L.) root and bare soil after decaying the corn root. The Breakthrough curves of Chloride were measured. Breakthrough curve (BTCs) of Escherichia coli and chloride were measured, too. The HYDRUS-1D one and two site kinetic attachment–detachment models were used to fit and forecast transport and retention of bacteria in soil columns experiment. The results indicated that the difference between soil hydraulic properties (saturated hydraulic conductivity and flow velocity) of the treatment was significant (p < 0.05). The result also showed that the two-site kinetic model leads to better prediction of breakthrough curves and bacteria retention in the soil in comparison with one-site kinetic model. Interaction with kinetic site 1 was characterized by relatively fast attachment and slow detachment, whereas attachment to and detachment from kinetic site 2 was fast. Most of the cells showed retention close to the soil column inlet, and the rate of deposition decreased with depth. Low reduction rate of bacteria of the soil columns with plant root and with void root channel indicated the presence of macrospores in the soil created by deep corn root system.

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In this work, the effect of raw and modified bentonite and zeolite with trivalent iron on the stabilization of water-soluble and adsorbed arsenic in a calcareous soil was studied. Raw and modified bentonite and zeolite were added to the soil in different weights in a completely randomized block design with three replications and kept to field capacity soil moisture content of 80% for 8 weeks. The concentrations of water-soluble and adsorbed arsenic, water-soluble and absorbed phosphorus in soil and soil pH were measured. Treatments significantly affected the mobility of arsenic and phosphorus in soil. Raw zeolite and bentonite in different levels increased arsenic mobility (about 107 to 325 % and 259 to 350% respectively). Despite the change in surface properties of zeolites modified with iron, this treatment at different levels increased arsenic mobility in soils by about 124 to 246%. Bentonite modified with iron had the greatest effect on reducing arsenic mobility in soil (about 91%). Phosphate mobility was similar to arsenic in different treatments.

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Zinc deficiency is the most widespread micronutrient disorder in the production of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and other cereal crops. An experiment was conducted in greenhouse, in 2013, using the sterile sand-perlite (2:1 v/v), to study the effects of two beneficial microorganisms on growth and nutritional status of wheat (Nicknejad cultivar). The study was arranged as factorial in a completely randomized design with three replications. The experimental factors consisted of Piriformospora indica (E0: Uninoculated E1: Inoculated), Pseudomonas putida (E0: Uninoculated E1: Inoculated) and Zinc (Zn0: 0 Zn1: 2µM ZnSO4 ). The results showed that inoculation by P. putida increased shoot dry weight at both levels of zinc, but this increase was observed for root dry weight only without zinc application. The iron concentration of shoot was decreased as a result of inoculation by P. putida at both levels of zinc. However, P. indica inoculation increased iron concentration in zinc application, but had no significant effect without zinc application. At both levels of zinc, the highest P, Zn, chlorophyll a and b concentrations were achieved by inoculation with P. indica. Inoculation by P. putida reduced P concentration at both levels of zinc but it reduced Zn, chlorophyll a and b concentrations only with zinc application. The results of this research showed that despite negative effect of P. putida on nutrient uptake, inoculation by P. putida and/or P. indica plays an important role in the promotion of wheat growth in zinc deficiency conditions.

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With the advent of advanced geographical informational systems (GIS) and remote sensing technologies in recent years, topographic (elevation, slope, and aspect) and vegetation attributes are routinely available from digital elevation models (DEMs) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) at different spatial (watershed, regional) scales. This study explores the use of topographic and vegetation attributes in addition to soil attributes to develop pedotransfer functions (PTFs) for estimating soil saturated hydraulic conductivity in the rangeland of central Zagros. We investigated the use of artificial neural networks (ANNs) in estimating soil saturated hydraulic conductivity from measured particle size distribution, bulk density, topographic attributes, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), soil organic carbon (SOC), and CaCo3 in topsoil and subsoil horizon. Three neural networks structures were used and compared with conventional multiple linear regression analysis. The performances of the models were evaluated using spearman’s correlation coefficient (r) based on the observed and the estimated values and normalized mean square error (NMSE). Topographic and vegetation attributes were found to be the most sensitive variables to estimate soil saturated hydraulic conductivity in the rangeland of central Zagros. Improvements were achieved with neural network (r=0.87) models compared with the conventional multiple linear regression (MLR) model (r=0.69).

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Because of limiting water resources and increasing demand for food, it is necessary to investigate the effect of irrigation systems on water productivity. This research was conducted to evaluate yield and yield characteristics of two potato varieties under sprinkler and trickle irrigation systems. The treatments were two irrigation systems (sprinkler and trickle irrigation) and two potato varieties (Burren and Satina) in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Full irrigation was done based on moisture depletion from depth of root development in both irrigation methods.. Potato yield and water productivity (WP) in drip and sprinkler irrigation systems showed significant differences (P<0.01). The highest potato yield (24.08 ton ha-1) and water productivity (3.83 kg m-3) were obtained in drip-tape irrigation and Satina potato variety treatment. Also, the lowest potato yield (12.97 ton ha-1) and water productivity (1.73 kg m-3) were obtained in sprinkler irrigation systems and Burren potato variety. The potato yield in sprinkler irrigation system was obtained 42 percent lower than trickle irrigation system. In sprinkle system, dried top weight and height of stem were respectively higher and lower than those in trickle (Tape) irrigation system for both potato varieties. Overall, trickle irrigation is suggested for cool and dry climate to increase potato yield and water productivity.

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One of the most essential and appropriate groundwater model components is accurate information of the recharge values among input data often introduced to the model as the percentage of rainfall of aquifers. The recharge values are influenced by many temporal and spatial factors. Firoozabad plain is one of the suitable plains for agriculture in the Fars province in which utilization of groundwater resources has been banned since 23 September 2002, due to the declining water level and negative balance. The main purpose of this study was to estimate the recharge values of groundwater aquifer by using SWAT in the MODFLOW model. Firstly, surface water was simulated via SWAT model, and sensitivity analysis, calibration, validation and uncertainty analysis of results were performed by SWAT-CUP software. After extraction of aquifer recharge values from the calibrated model, the groundwater of basin was simulated via MODFLOW model in both steady and unsteady conditions. Following the model calibration, the hydrodynamic coefficients of plain were determined and sensitivity of model was checked in terms of hydraulic conductivity and discharge rate of pumping wells. As for the confidence, the model was revalidated, which proved in simulating the behavior of the aquifer very well.

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Potassium (K) is an important cation in saline soils of arid lands, and its content, distribution and availability may be affected by native plants. To study the effect of halophyte species on different K forms in Korsia region located in western Darab (Fars province), three dominant halophyte species including Juncus gerardi, Halocnemum strobilaceum, and Salsola rigida were selected. Sampling was done from soils in canopy and between plants at the depth of 0-15 (surface) and 15-30 cm (subsurface) in triplicate. Soil physical and chemical properties including soil texture, organic matter, calcium carbonate, pH, cation exchange capacity, saturation percentage and electrical conductivity and different K forms including soluble, exchangeable and non-exchangeable were determined. Results indicated that organic matter, CEC, pH, and EC were affected by plant species. Juncus gerardi increased exchangeable K and decreased soluble K, but it had no effect on non-exchangeable and HNO3-extractable K. Halocnemum strobilaceum significantly increased soluble, exchangeable and HNO3-extractable K in surface and subsurface soils rather than soils between plants. This finding may be due to K uptake by plants from subsoils and also transfer of soluble K from soils between plants to roots. Salsola rigida had no effect on K status. Generally, soils between plants had more soluble and exchangeable K in surface than subsurface horizon. The studied halophyte species showed differences in growth and development pattern, soluble salts and K absorption and secretion, grazing by livestock, returned organic matter to soil, soluble salts and K reserves in their organs, and water uptake and thereby water and K diffusion from soil far from rhizosphere to roots, which may have different effects on K distribution in soils. Juncus gerardi, as regards effects on decreasing salinity and soluble K and increasing exchangeable K, may be recommended as a suitable species for remediation of the studied soils.

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The SIMDualKc model is an irrigation scheduling simulation model that uses dual crop coefficient method for estimating ETc by computing two separate soil water balances in daily time-step, one for the soil evaporation layer from which Ke is computed, and the other one for the entire root zone to compute the actual Kcb adjusted to the soil moisture conditions. In this study, lysimetric measurements of evapotranspiration rates relative to (Coriandrum sativum L.) during 2 years were used for model calibration and validation. Kcb values for coriandrum were found as 0.21 for the initial, 1.12 for the mid-season and 0.79 at harvesting period. Model results have shown a good agreement between the actual daily evapotranspiration predicted by the model and the ones resulting in water balance calculation on drainable lysimeters, and root mean square errors of estimates (RMSE) of about 1.64 mm and 1.53 mm for the calibration and validation, respectively.The modeling efficiency EF and the index of agreement dIA were equal to 0.8 and 0.93, respectively, thus indicating good performance of modeling with SIMDualKc. Model estimates of evaporation (E) for validation and calibration years displayed an average of 181 mm, representing 25% of ETc. In conclusion, results show that the model is appropriate to simulate the daily evapotranspiration adopting the dual Kc approach for coriandrum in west regions of Iran.

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One of the major problems associated with petroleum-contaminated soils is water repellency, especially in arid regions of the world. Hence, a variety of methods such as clay addition has been proposed to improve the hydrophobicity of soils. This research was conducted to evaluate the influence of zeolite application on water repellency of an oil-contaminated soil from Khuzestan Province under various treatments including initial soil moisture content (0, 10, 20, and 30 weight %), the amount of applied zeolite (2, 4 and 8 weight %), size (25-53 and <2 μm), and exchangeable cation (Sodium and Calcium). The hydrophobicity of soil sample was determined using Water Drop Penetration Time (WDPT) method. The results showed that by increasing the amount of applied mineral WDPT decreased, where the application of 2 percent of zeolite led to the reduction of WDPT by about 27 percent less than the control. The results also indicated that soils treated with sodium-saturated zeolite had less WDPT than the calcium-treated samples, where the average of WDPT in sodium and calcium treatments decreased by 23% and 5% compared with the control, respectively. The initial moisture content of 30 percent showed the best performance with the decreasing WDPT of about 67 percent. Furthermore, the effect of mineral particle sizes showed a meaningless reduction in WDPT.

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Soil pollution and accumulation of heavy metals in soils and crops are the most important bioenvironmental problems that threaten the life of plants, animals and humans. This study was conducted to explore contamination of heavy metals in soils of Hamadan province. A total of 286 composite surface soil samples (0-20 cm) were collected thoroughout the province. After preparation of the samples, the total contents of Zn, Pb, Cu, and Ni in soil samples were extracted using HNO3. Total contents of heavy metals were measured by ICP. Contamination factor results showed that most samples were moderately polluted and contamination factor for lead was highly polluted. Interpolated distribution map of contamination factors (CF) and pollution load index (PLI) of the heavy metals were prepared using GIS. The overlap of CF and PLI maps with geology and land use maps indicated that the concentrations of Ni, Pb, Zn, and Cu have been controlled by natural factors such as parent material, but agricultural activities according to excessive consumption of animal manure and chemical fertilizers can increase most of these elements in soil.