The seasonal and spatial distribution of the phytoplankton and their relationship with physicochemical parameters of Lake Poyrazlar, a mesotrophic lake located in Northwest Turkey, was studied monthly between April 2011 and March 2012. A total of 120 taxa in 7 divisions were identified during the study. The planktonic algae of Lake Poyrazlar was dominated by Cyanobacteria in the summer, Charophyta in the fall, diatoms and Cryptophyta in the winter, and Chlorophyta in the spring. The relationships between water temperature, pH, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, Secchi disk depth (transparency), Chl-a, nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N), nitrite-nitrogen (NO2-N), total phosphorus (TP), orthophosphate (PO4-P), silica (Si), sulfate (SO4) concentrations, and the abundance of dominant species were explored using the statistical method of Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA). The CCA results showed that the most important factors affecting the distribution of phytoplankton were the concentrations of the main nutrients, water temperature, and underwater light.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of different sized aggregates on runoff, sediment by runoff, and by splash with simulated rainfall. A soil sample which is known and well aggregated, was taken from the Agriculture Faculty’s Research Field of Ege University, and passed through different sieves (25-20 mm, 20-16 mm, 16-10 mm, 10-5 mm, 5-2 mm, 2-1 mm, and 1-0.2 mm) to establish 7 grouping. The sieved soil samples were placed in the erosion trays (30x30 cm), and simulated rainfall (65 mm h-1) was applied to the trays for 1 hour. According to the results of the simulated rainfall experiments, the aggregate sizes were found very effective on runoff (p= 0.0001; r= -0.420**), sediment by runoff (p= 0.0001; r= -0.980**), water resistance aggregate stability (p = 0.0001; r= 0.840**), mean weight diameter (p= 0.041; r= 0.550*), and aggregate index (p= 0.0001; r= 0.867**), significantly. No correlation was found between the aggregate sizes and sediment by splash linearly but polynomial relationships were found between the aggregate sizes and sediment by splash in the study.

The macrobenthic invertebrate community of a shallow Mediterranean lake (Lake Golcuk, Izmir, Turkey) was studied in order to (a) describe the intra-annual and spatial variability in benthic communities, (b) relate possible community changes to environmental conditions and (c) evaluate the responses of the lake’s ecological status on community indices. The benthic assemblage was sampled seasonally at six sites during a period of 2 years (June 2008-March 2010). Additionally, hypolimnetic water quality variables were monitored over the same period at each site. The benthic fauna of Lake Golcuk was found to be very limited with 16 species belonging to four taxonomic groups. Potamothrix hammoniensis was the dominant benthic species and represented more than 72% of the total benthic fauna. Depth, dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, transparency, and water temperature seemed to be the main environmental factors affecting community indices. Benthic communities are affected by human disturbances in Lake Golcuk shifting their composition to more tolerant taxa, reflecting also the eutrophic to hypertophic character of the lake

The main objective of this study is to assess the level of contamination from mercury and other elements in the Sarajevo area. The soil and lichen samples (Hypogymnia physodes) were collected from selected areas there were nine soil sites and four sites for lichens. Validated and standardized analytical procedures were used in order to compare the obtained results with data from other countries in Europe. The accuracy of the results obtained by cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS) for total mercury and instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) for other elements (Ag, As, Au, Ba, Br, Ca, Cd, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Eu, Fe, Ga, Hf, Ho, In, K, La, Mo, Na, Nd, Pd, Pr, Rb, Ru, Sb, Sc, Se, Sm, Sn, Sr, Ta, Tb, Te, Th, Tm, U, W, Yb, Zn, and Zr) was verified by the use of certified reference materials. Results obtained for mercury showed that at three sites (Butmir, PMF, and Blekin potok) the mercury concentrations in the soil were much higher, 5 to 10 times higher, than the allowed values. All lichens samples examined contained low mercury concentrations that cannot be correlated with the mercury contents in the soil. Comparison of the multielemental analysis of the lichen H. physodes and surface soils samples is also presented.

The Low Revolutions per Minute Tumbler (LRPMT) is a new creation which is capable of providing better results in terms of minimum algae sedimentation as compared with other methods in literature. This device maintained the algae sample in suspension during the experiment allowing the grazers to ingest at a maximum rate. Even though the limitation affects the capability of the vessel to work perfectly, we recommended the new device as a suitable method to minimize algae sedimentation during zooplankton feeding experiments. The grazing rates of Daphnia carinata on five algae species (Microcystis flos-aquae, Ankistrodesmus falcatus, Chlorella vulgaris, Scenedesmus obliquus, and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii) were measured in order to understand the interaction between phytoplankton and zooplankton. Although various devices have been used to minimize algal sedimentation during experiments such as: a shaker, plankton wheel, a roller-tube device, and stirrer, reliable equipment is still uncertain and questionable.

Zooplankton plays a key role in aquatic environments maintaining clear water conditions at low predation pressure via grazing on phytoplankton; thus, they can be sensitive indicators of environmental disturbances. According to climate predictions, arid and semi-arid regions will become warmer, and a critical consequence for lake ecosystems is salinization. Salinity, a critical abiotic factor influencing zooplankton survival, changes the trophic interactions in a lake. We explored the potential effects of conductivity (an indirect measure of salinity) on the zooplankton taxa in three lakes located in the Konya Closed Basin, Turkey. Zooplankton taxa show significant differences between lakes of low and high conductivity but do not display significant seasonal difference except Cladocera. Species diversity is shown to decrease with conductivity. Large-sized cladocerans such as Daphnia and Simocephalus appear in freshwater lakes; conversely, the halobiont Brachionus plicatilis was observed only in the brackish lake. Our results show that the changes in salinity will have a substantial impact on aquatic ecosystems.

Wildfires cause an increase in runoff and erosion due to the destruction of vegetative cover and alteration of soil characteristics. This study was carried out to determine the impacts of the forest fire, the runoff and erosion, which occurred on 18 August 2011 in the Village of Doganci, a village of the city of Bayramic located southeast of Canakkale. A total of 12 rainfall simulations were performed on the adjacent burned and unburned lands. Simulations were carried out during the initial month after the fire under very low soil moisture conditions. The parameters: time to runoff, mean runoff, maximum runoff rate, runoff percentage, sediment concentration, peak of sediment, and total soil loss were measured for each simulation. The data was compared using an independent t-test. The difference in time to runoff values between the burned and unburned cases was found to be significant at p<0.01 level. The runoff and maximum runoff values of the burned plots were found to be respectively 15 and 16 times higher than the unburned plots. While the runoff percentage was 7.66% for the burned plots, it was determined as 0.51% for the unburned plots. Sediment concentration and the peak of sediment for burned plots were found to be 7.70 g L-1 and 14.67 g L-1, respectively, and the values for the unburned plots were observed as

The aim of this study is to reveal the ability of utilizing different aromatic hydrocarbons (p-hydroxybenzoic acid, naphthalene, phenanthrene, and pyrene) by a halotolerant bacterial strain, Chromohalobacter sp., under saline conditions. The aromatic hydrocarbon degradation pathways were identified. PCR amplification was carried to define the gene zones which codify the dioxygenases of the isolates. The possible gene zones of catechol 1, 2 dioxygenase and protocatechuate 3, and 4 dioxygenase were determined. According to the PCR amplification and enzyme test results Chromohalobacter sp. utilizes aromatic hydrocarbons by the ortho cleavage of the s-ketoadipate pathway. In this study, it was concluded that this isolate can be used in bioremediation studies of saline environments contaminated with aromatic hydrocarbons.

This research was conducted in order for sewage sludge, which complies with the criteria stated in the last 2010 Sludge Regulation on Soil Pollution and its Control, to be used as a seedling growth media. In this research, peat and soil were used as controls, and peat + sewage sludge + perlite and soil + sewage sludge + perlite were mixed at different rates and 8 growing media were prepared for each. Some quality specifications of the tomato seedlings were investigated by determining their nutrient contents in the growth media. According to the research results, the media mixed with peat was found statistically different at the level of p<0.05 in the seedling quality characteristics except for the cotyledon width, and the media mixed with soil was found statistically different at the level of p<0.05 in all the determined seedling quality characteristics. The growth media prepared by mixing peat and sewage sludge proportionately had a positive effect on seedling formation. The O5 media, which contained 40% peat + 50% sewage sludge + 10% perlite, had the best values of seedling length, seedling root length, shoot fresh weight, and root fresh weight. In the soil-controlled media, the M5 media, which contained 40% soil + 50% sewage sludge + 10% perlite, had the best values of seedling root length and root fresh weight.

Elevated levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particulate matters have been observed in recent years in Kocaeli, Turkey, despite improvements in pollution prevention technology that have led to a reduction in gas and particulate emissions. Local authorities should devise alternative strategies to reduce the possible health effects of a variety of pollutants that affect air quality. The objective of this study was to identify potential sources of VOCs, fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and coarse particulate matter (PM10) concentrations in atmospheric aerosols that were collected in the highly industrialised area of Kocaeli, Turkey, during the winter and summer months by using wind directions. Samples were collected from May 2006 to January 2007, and concentrations of eight elements (As, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, V and Zn) were measured using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) and wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) spectrometer. Samples were analysed for thirteen VOCs, including benzene, toluene, m/p-xylene, o-xylene, ethylbenzene, styrene, cyclohexane, 1,2,3-trimethylbenzene, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, hexane, nonane and dodecane using thermal desorption (TD) and a gas chromatography/flame ionisation detector (GC/FID). The results show that vehicular emissions, oil and coal combustions, petroleum refinery and hazardous and medical waste incinerator are the significant sources of VOCs, PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations in Kocaeli.