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Mohammadi Jahangir, Assist. prof.

Efficiency of Different Anti-Dust Agents in Reducing Dust Emission from Forest Road and Deposition on Leaf Surface

volume: 42, issue:

Dust is often generated from the dry surfaces of unpaved forest roads as a result of vehicular traffic. Dust particles can negatively affect vegetative growth, water quality and road traffic quality. In this study, some environmental friendly anti-dust agents including sugar cane molasses, polyacrylamide (PAM) and bentonite were used to control dust emission from the road surface under three different concentrations within the 3, 9, 27 and 81 day timeframe. Rear-mounted spray system and dustometer devices were used for implementation of treatments and dust emission recording, respectively. Leaf samples were collected from trees adjacent to road to measure the dust deposited on the leaves by centrifuging dust solution. The results showed that molasses achieved higher efficiencies in term of dust reduction and cost effectiveness than those of PAM and bentonite in Loveh forest, where high levels of fines are present in the road surface materials. 2% and 4% PAM were the most efficient dosages in terms of dust control and cost effectiveness in Shastkalateh and Kouhmian forests, respectively. It was detected that in all sites most of the dust emitted from the road surface was deposited on the leaves of Carpinus betulus L. and Alnus subcordata L., while smooth surface of the leaves retained lower amount of dust in Parrotia persica CAM. It is concluded that the amount of fine aggregates in surfacing materials, type and dosage of anti-dust agent play an important role in the effectiveness and longevity of treatment.

Development of a Sustainable Maintenance Strategy for Forest Road Wearing Courses in Different Climate Zones

volume: 45, issue:

This study was done to determine the appropriate maintenance strategies for the deteriorating gravel forest roads in the Mediterranean, sub-humid and semi-arid climates. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was used to monitor Unpaved Road Condition Index (UPCI), immediately after maintenance activities and seasonally in one year. The deterioration time of the wearing course was predicted using Markov chain analysis. Results showed that roads in sub-humid climates presented lower UPCI (7.19) compared to the Mediterranean (7.81) and semi-arid (8.82) climates. When roads were maintained by a high-budget strategy, deterioration time was longer than when other strategies were used. The cost-effectiveness (CE) value of the low-budget strategy was more favorable than different strategies in all traffic levels of the Mediterranean climate and high-traffic roads in a semi-arid environment. Low-budget maintenance activities include one culvert improvement per 6 km, light blading, and 30 mm layer graveling. In a semi-arid climate, a medium-budget maintenance strategy was more efficient in medium and low-traffic roads. Medium, high, and low-budget maintenance strategies were efficient in high, medium, and low-traffic roads in sub-humid climates. High-budget maintenance activities include one culvert improvement per 4 km, heavy blading and local compaction, and 60 mm layer graveling. Overall, it was concluded that monitoring UPCI over time and probability analysis using time series is helpful for a sustainable and long-term management of forest roads.

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Web of Science Impact factor (2022): 3.200
Five-years impact factor: 3.000

Quartile: Q1 - Forestry

Subject area

Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Category/Quartile

Forestry/Q1