Afshin Danehkar

University of Tehran | UT · Department of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences

Selecting appropriate activities and their distribution in natural areas is one of the most important issues in tourism management and planning in natural ecosystems. Accordingly, in the present study, while identifying suitable areas for recreational activities development that are demanded and can be developed in the mangrove forests of Hara Prot...

Extended Abstract Introduction The tourism industry has been able to quickly find a special place all over the world due to its numerous attractions and economic benefits. So that it can be considered an achievable goal in the path of sustainable development. The high importance of tourism and the need to promote it has led many researchers to know...

Evolutionary studies of plant groups which are distributed in vast geographical regions and face different ecological and environmental conditions are important as they through light on different mechanisms of local adaptation and species divergence through time. The genus Avicennia is one of these plant groups which inspire of few species show int...

Cultural understanding of societies is necessary to protect and ‎use these ecosystems for a ‎sustainable benefit in the exploitation of cultural services.‎ In the mangrove forests of Khamir-‎Qeshm, cultural ‎services, especially tourism, play a very important role, Therefore, the ‎level of perception ‎of local communities and tourists was investiga...

Sustainable nature tourism is the most appropriate form of tourism in natural ecosystems that can lead to the protection of nature and improvement in the livelihood of local residents. Therefore, planning for the development of nature tourism should be conducted in such a way that it causes the least damage to the region and its biodiversity. In th...

Article type: Research Article The present study aims to identify areas with the highest ecological sensitivity and high priority in protection. In this context, Golestan national park was zoned using spatial indicators and multi-criteria decision-making methods based on linear relationships. Based on the characteristics (level of sensitivity, vuln...

The development of road networks has detrimental effects on habitats and wildlife species, ‎generally ‎resulting in habitat loss, fragmentation, population isolation, reduced connectivity, and ‎gene flow ‎among species populations. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate ‎the statistics of wildlife road accidents with vehicles in...

Context and Purpose: Developing sustainable nature tourism tours in natural ecosystems requires planning with a view to the future and minimal damage to the region and its biodiversity. Therefore, the current study aimed to present scenarios for developing sustainable nature tourism tours with a future research approach in the mangrove forests of I...

Today, nature tourism activities are in significant demand with the aim of benefiting from ‎natural elements and preserving nature along with providing economic benefits to local ‎communities. The nature tourism process is dependent on the desired performance of the ‎nature tourist, the host local community and the nature tourism tours. The continu...

The mangrove forests’ habitats are currently suffering from the consequences of climate change, ‎including the rise in sea level, sea storms, alterations in precipitation patterns, increased ‎temperature, and decreased covering area. Therefore, this study sought to simulate climatic ‎parameters such as precipitation, and minimum, maximum, and avera...

Iran is highly vulnerable to climate change, particularly evident in shifting precipitation and temperature patterns, especially in its southern coastal region. With these changing climate conditions, there is an urgent need for practical and adaptive management of water resources and energy supply to address the challenges posed by future climate...

Introduction: Landscape in protected areas is an advantage of tourism in nature, and as a result, aesthetic assessment and landscape quality assessment are necessary in these areas. Although this issue is important in other outdoor recreation sites, but in protected areas where the form of tourism is eco-tourism and based on visits, it is more impo...

The development of nature-based tourism requires the protection of environmental resources ‎and natural attractions because the success of this type of tourism is based on the perspective of ‎sustainability. On the other hand, the development of sustainable nature-based tourism in each ‎area requires a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of t...

With the increase in population and the upward trend of energy demand, mankind has thought of using suppliers that guarantee a stable supply of energy, unlike fossil fuels, which, in addition to the widespread emission of greenhouse gases that one of the main factors in the destruction of the ozone layer and it will be finished in a short time in t...

Article type: Full Length Research Paper

Using comfort climate indices for tourism development in protected areas is essential for proper planning. The present study ranked climate indicators to identify and select the best tourism climate index to determine a good time for tourism activities in the Hara protected area. The results of the TCI index revealed that the best time for tourists...

Human activities have caused significant changes in the structure and function of natural ecosystems and increased ecological risk. In the present study, the trend of land use changes from 1989 to 2021 was evaluated, and then the ecological risk was estimated using the risk index. To monitor the landscape pattern changes, the indicators of Fragment...

Determining the comfortable climate of each area plays a very important role in the development and growth of tourism. In this study, according to the tourist acceptability of the area and the variety of recreational activities, it is necessary to investigate the right time for the presence of tourists as well as the development of tourism activiti...

Article Info ABSTRACT Article type: Research Article The increased demand and consumption level of human societies has led to excessive exploitation of natural capital and increased ecological unsustainability in natural ecosystems, especially in Protected Areas (PAs). Therefore, the continuation of the process of using ecosystem services leads to...

Due to global warming and climate changes, the water ‎level of the Persian Gulf has increased, ‎and these changes have led to an increase in sedimentation ‎level and retreat of mangroves in the ‎Hara protected area towards land. In the present study, the ‎trend of changes in the water level of ‎the Persian Gulf from 2000-2023 and also the extent of...

Background and objectives: In recent decades, the Khamir and Qeshm mangrove forests in southern Iran have suffered significant destruction due to various human activities, including the construction of docks, commercial and tourism ports, deforestation, and unplanned tourism development. These forests, which provide valuable ecosystem services, hav...

Ecological connectivity function is one of the most important types of biological connections among natural ecosystems due to providing ecological connections. Habitat fragmentation and the subsequent decline of landscape ecological connectivity is one of the main reasons for the devastation of biodiversity. Accordingly, in the present study, using...

شناسايی و معرفی رستنی‌هاي يک منطقه به طور ويژه و محلی اهمیت زیادی دارد که از آن جمله می‌توان امکان دسترسی به گونه‌هاي گیاهی خاص در محل و زمان معین، تعیین پتانسیل و قابلیت‌هاي رويشی منطقه، امکان افزايش تراکم گونه‌هاي منطقه، امکان دستیابی به گونه یا گونه‌هاي جديد گیاهی و شناسايی عوامل مخرب رستنی‌هاي منطقه را نام برد. مشهودترین طبقه‌بندی جهت توضیح و ت...

Article type: Research Article The impacts of environmental hazards are one of the main factors of increasing vulnerability in protected areas. Therefore, identification of environmental hazards and vulnerability degree in these areas is very important. In this regard, in the present study, assessment of environmental hazards and vulnerability in t...

A deeper understanding of environmental vulnerability is essential for crafting effective sustainability strategies. However, data deficiencies and methodological uncertainties often obscure a comprehensive grasp of the underlying issues. This study employs Google Earth Engine (GEE)-coded satellite imagery and the Getis spatial autocorrelation test...

Fossil fuels, due to the release of huge sources of greenhouse gases and the amount of damage they have caused to human life during the last few decades, have led mankind to look for renewable sources, in order to avoid damages. It is possible that the consumption of fossil fuels will be safe in the future and it can identify and exploit sustainabl...

The discourse of the world community in the field of energy from the 1980s onwards was seriously moved towards the supply of energy from renewable sources, and then, due to the ever-increasing reduction of sources of energy from fossil fuels, the dominant discourse in the field of energy, it focused on sustainable suppliers, and consequently the...

Article type: Research Article Considering the fact that the supply and demand of ecosystem services may be geographically different, therefore, the management of this spatial heterogeneity requires the evaluation and zoning of ecosystem services in the form of spatial maps. Accordingly, in the present study, the spatial distribution of ecosystem s...

Abs tract Mangrove forests are considered one of the most productive components of coastal food chains and a source of energy supply. They provide various goods and services with ecological, economic, socio-cultural, and aesthetic benefits to meet society's needs. However, mangrove forests are considered one of the most sensitive and vulnerable hab...

Mangrove forests grow in coastal areas, lagoons, estuaries, and deltas and form the main vegetation in tidal and saline wetlands. Due to the mankind activities and also changes in climate, these forests face degradations and probably extinction in some areas. Avicennia marina is one of the most distributed mangrove species throughout the world. The...

Wetland ecosystems provide critical ecological services to both humans and wildlife. However, many wetlands around the world are facing challenges that threaten their ecological integrity and jeopardize their status as Ramsar Convention sites. The Shadegan Wetland, a Ramsar site since 1975, has been on the Montreux Record since 1993 due to changing...

Understanding the climatic conditions in a tourist destination is one of the most important information needed by nature-oriented tourists. The present study aimed to investigate the TCI and HCI index to determine nature tourism in the Khamir-Qeshm mangrove forests from 1996 to 2021. The results of TCI revealed that the best tourism season is autum...

Coastal zone in the world play a vital role in the sustainable development of human societies, most of the fossil energy resources are concentrated in these areas, on the other hand, the most sensitive areas from the environmental point of view, which are heavily influenced by human activities, are located in these areas. For this purpose, this stu...

Man and the Biosphere Program (MaB) was established by UNESCO in the early 1970s to resolve the conflict between humans and nature. The biogeography representative was determined by UNESCO/MaB as one of the main criteria for registering an area as a biosphere reserve (BR). Therefore, countries require selecting appropriate areas for BRs to complete...

Different forms of land use development and human activities in protected areas are considered to be the main drivers of change, which have many effects on habitats, sites, diversity and richness of species. The purpose of this research is to model the effect of human activities on the diversity of vegetation using the Artificial Neural Network met...

Vegetation plays an important role in maintaining the balance of ecosystems and is considered as a significant indicator in assessing the environment of terrestrial ecosystems. The coverage of vegetation is considered as one of the important characteristics for the assessment of vegetation. Vegetation changes cause disorder in the ecosystem and act...

Assessing the level of sustainability and success of afforestation provides a suitable strategy and guide for accurately locating forest development and restoration operations. The sustainability in mangroves afforestation in the 7 habitats of Sistan-o-Balouchestan province, Iran, was assessed through quantitative indicators including area changes,...

This research focuses on investigating land use conflicts in the coastal zone of Sistan and Baluchistan province. The study examines the incompatibility of neighboring land uses in two sectors: Land-Land and Land-Sea environments. To achieve this, two compatibility assessment matrices were developed for these sectors. The conflict between neighbori...

Iran is one of the countries with the potential to exploit renewable energy resources. Clean energies are free from pollution caused by greenhouse gases and do not cause irreparable damage to the environment, for this reason, they have attracted the attention of different countries of the world and the increasing progress in developed countries to...

The genus Avicennia contains of 8 species which show a great extent of morphological and genetic variability, which make taxonomy of the genus difficult. Molecular barcoding along with advancement in computational approaches may be proper methods to investigate and assess the efficiency of different molecular genetic regions in Avicennia species de...

The genus Avicennia with eight species grow in intertidal zones of tropical and temperate regions, ranging in distribution from West Asia, to Australia, and Latin America. These mangroves have several medicinal applications for mankind. Many genetic and phylogenetic studies have been carried out on mangroves, but none is concerned with geographical...

Spatial planning seeks to identify land-use imbalances and inconsistencies with an optimal model for the establishment of activities and populations. Indeed, identifying balance and imbalance situations is a way to evaluate spatial conflicts. Since multiple development plans are prepared for the coastal zone of Sistan and Baluchistan province, and...

Identification of homogeneous units is one of the important steps in land planning and management. Therefore, this study aims to characterize the homogeneous landscape units (HLUs) that form the basis of landscape assessment and aesthetics studies. At first, by literature review, some criteria and indicators have been chosen to identify the homogen...

Fossil fuels, due to limited resources, causing pollution and global warming, have caused the use of renewable energy, especially wind energy, to be considered. For this reason, in order to determine the criteria for locating wind farms in the coastal area of Sistan and Baluchistan province, from reviewing the sources, studying the plans and resear...

Improper recreational activity development can have destructive ecological and economic impacts. Identification and proportionality measurement for the principled and practical implementation of these activities is a suitable solution to reduce their negative impacts on tourism destinations and natural ecosystems. Accordingly, in the present study,...

Wetland ecosystems around the world are of great importance in terms of providing valuable ecological services to people and wildlife. According to the Montreux Record, there is a list of wetlands which failed to fulfill the Ramsar Convention’s criteria. The Shadegan international site, registered in 1975 as a Ramsar Convention member, has been sub...

In this study, for determination of environmental coastal sensitive areas in Sistan and Baluchestan province (Iran), the initial list of ecological and human criteria were identified in coastal and shore areas. Based on the identified criteria, a questionnaire was prepared and its qualitative and quantitative validities were determined. The final l...

The genus Avicennia with eight species grow in intertidal zones of tropical and temperate regions, ranging in distribution from West Asia, to Australia, and Latin America. These mangroves have several medicinal applications for mankind. Many genetic and phylogenetic studies have been carried out on mangroves, but none is concerned with geographical...

Pars Special Economic Energy Zone (PSEEZ) in the north of the Persian Gulf has made major changes to the landscape of the Nayband mangrove forest in Iran, but there have been very few studies on the carbon in mangrove forests of the region. To study the carbon stock of the mangrove forests in Bushehr, and to compare it according to the distance fro...

This research is the first literature review of the past three decades' studies on the effects of urban developent and land use/land cover (LULC) change on Iran's climate change. For this purpose, 67 articles were found, evaluated, and classified according to the spatial and temporal scale, case study, period, data type, climatic factor, methodolog...

In this study, the physical sensitivity of the Shore Area of "Sistan and Baluchestan" province of Iran was evaluated based on the Environmental sensitivity index (ESI). For this purpose, preliminary identification of coastal type using geological maps; also determining wetland areas, mangrove forests, ports and man-made structures had been conducte...

Prediction of bio-resilience in water resources such as rivers is important for better management of land-use systems and water resources. This study has proposed the use of artificial intelligent (AI) models for assessing the relationship among the biological conditions in Jajrood River. For this purpose, the qualitative monthly data of the river...

Setting a quantitative conservation target comprises an important step in systematic conservation planning. This paper outlines a first attempt to calculate quantitative conservation targets for selection of national parks, wildlife refuges, and protected areas in 21 terrestrial ecosystems at the national level. To formulate and calculate targets,...

Background and Objective: Decision-making, includes the correct statement of purposes, determination of different and possible solutions, assessment of their possibility, evaluation of the consequences of implementing each solution, and finally, selection and implementation. Quality of management, is essentially dependent to the quality of decision...

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...

Wetlands are known as valuable ecosystems that have programmable functional values (economic, social, ecological) due to their diverse functions. Wetland conservation is a priority for most governments and communities. Wetland extinction is associated with the extinction of the functions and services of these ecosystems. Among the valuable services...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of shrimp farming effluent on vegetative and reproductive characteristics of grey mangrove in Tiab region of Hormozgan province. For this purpose, two stands, control and another stands next to the shrimp farm as a contaminated to shrimp farming effluent were selected and a three-hectare stand wa...

Although there are considerable profits in dam projects, they contribute to significant environmental changes. Landscape patterns are influenced by human pressure and are altered continuously. This study investigated the changes in the landscape pattern of Jask’s coastal area in Iran due to the Jagin River dam’s construction. A proposed methodology...

Management areas in the country are mainly identified and protected to conserve genetic resources, protect natural landscapes and support the origin of ecosystem services. These areas would not be much effective without a proper management plan based on their zoning. Due to lack of appropriate criteria with ground check capability, zoning has alway...

Nowadays, the impact of mankind on the environment is more deteriorating than it used to be the human activities can harm the coastal-marine habitats. So, in order to implement more effective measures for a better protection, it is crucial to determine the sensitive areas of each region. In this regard, ecoregions approach as homogenous biogeograph...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of effective conservation in supporting the biodiversity of wetlands in Fars province. Documents related to this subject were reviewed along with the results. Fars province has 11 wetlands, of which 5, including Bakhtegan, Tashk, Komjan, Arjan and Parishan, are among of Ramsar wetlands. Accordin...

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the port on vegetative and reproductive characteristics of grey mangrove (Avicennia marina (Forssk.) Vierh.) in two regions of Khamir and Khor-e-Azini. For this purpose, two sites adjacent to the port and control were selected in each region. For the study, two three-hectare stands were selecte...

Background and Objective: In recent years, there is an increasing attention to homogenous representative areas to develop a network of coastal-marine protected areas. One of the current common systems is an ecoregion approach. The aim of this study was to determine ecoregions of southern coasts of Iran as a basis and prerequisite to develop coastal...

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 identif...

Abstract Introduction:‎ The prediction of ecological resilience in water resources such as rivers is an important issue that ‎needs to be considered for better management of land-use systems and water supplies. When the ‎accessibility of a vital resource varies between the times of overabundance and extreme scarcity, ‎management regimes must manife...

Given the importance of coastal-marine areas and their high sensitivity, integrated coastal zone management plans for the sustainable management and use of these resources, have been globally defined and restricted. The criteria for selecting these areas in Iran need to be revised to develop a specific guideline, based on the current situation. In...

In recent years, mangrove ecosystems have been threatened by effects of global climate change, in addition to human destructions. One of the most important impacts caused by climate change on mangroves, is the global sea- level rise and consequently, inundation of parts of coastal zone. Rising sea- level causes mangrove retreat in many areas. Howev...

Effective disturbance indices for Hyrcanian forests in Kheyroud, Nowshahr, Iran were determined. The study area was divided into landscape mosaics based on ecosystem parameters including profile type, slope and elevation. Co-occurrence texture indices were derived as forest disturbance factors on the first five bands of Landsat TM, ETM+ and OLI ima...

Human-induced climate change has had worldwide impacts on coastal human and natural systems. Sea-level rise (SLR) due to climate change is one of the biggest challenges human civilization is facing in coastal regions today. Over the past 25 years of satellite altimetry, global sea level rose at an average rate of 3.3 mm/yr. (13 in. /century), but t...

Given the importance of aquaculture in contributing to sustainable livelihoods, and the importance of determination of suitable sites for this purpose, it is essential assessing the economic, social, infrastructural and ecological potentials of water resources in each region. Jask county with an area of 10920 km2 is one of the seven counties of Hor...

Jask county with about 292 km of coastline is one of the seven counties of Hormozgan province that is connected to the Oman sea. In order to inform decision-makers of the management section about environmental sensitivities of Jask county, and to prevent irreparable damages caused by segmental development functions to these areas, This research has...

Land management and biodiversity protection are highly dependent on ecosystem classification. To identify the ecosystems, often ecologically homogenous areas are distinguished based on physical and biological features at various scales. These areas can also be considered as biodiversity surrogates for protection policies and planning. We classified...

Decision-making, includes the correct statement of purposes, determination of different and possible solutions, assessment of their possibility, evaluation of the consequences of implementing each solution, and finally, selection and implementation. Quality of management, is essentially dependent to the quality of decision-making. In most cases, de...

Although macrobenthic assemblages are considered as major players in many ecosystems around the world, the ecology of Caspian Sea macrobenthos is currently understudied. This study describes the species composition and quantitative distribution of macrobenthos in the southern Caspian Sea and relates the distribution to seasonal changes at three dep...

Mangroves are ecosystems that are unique in terms of biodiversity and high production rates with ecological and socioeconomic value. These forests, with atmospheric carbon stabilization, play an important role in controlling global climate change. In this way, destruction of mangroves liberates a significant amount of carbon storage, which can wors...

The community composition of benthic macrofauna and relationships between physiochemical parameters of the water and sediment texture were assessed in Hara Biosphere Reserve, Northern Persian Gulf. The spatial distribution and diversity of macrobenthos were sampled within three distinctive mangrove zones (deltaic, island and coastal) during two sam...

Recently, there has been increased interest in the use of representative areas as tools for the conservation of marine habitats and species. This has resulted in the declaration of many coastal–marine protected areas around the world. The criteria for the establishment of these areas have been suggested by different authors and international bodies...

Coastal zones usually are exposed by numerous stressors. Waves, tides, winds and storms effect on the shores and will result in increasing coast sensitivity of the coasts. Coastal vulnerability assessment depends on recognition of those factors affecting on the coasts that related to stresses. The concepts of sensitivity and vulnerability have comm...

Many ecotourism destinations unfortunately tend to become unsustainable and even self-destructive due to inappropriate environmental assessments. On the other hand, because of the increasing people’s willingness to tourism and relaxation, it is necessary to select and introduce new regions for tourism. To do this, the application of relevant criter...

Many high-profile efforts conducted recently have proposed integrating ecosystem service values in the decisions made about land usage; however, there are not many evidences of using such approach in practice. The objective of the present study is to give an overview of the obstacles in the way of using ecosystem service assessment and valuation in...