Nitrates in Turkish waters: sources, mechanisms, impacts, and mitigation.

Intensive technological developments, rapid population growth and urbanization, and excessive use of nitrogen fertilizers have caused water resources to be contaminated substantially by nitrates in Turkey. The accumulated information should be evaluated to draw a nationwide attention to the problem. The aim of this review article was to highlight the importance of nitrate (NO) contamination and to discuss the measures to be taken to mitigate the contamination across the nation.

A method for calculating land degradation neutrality.

Land degradation neutrality (LDN) has been introduced by United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Studies of LDN has been encouraged worldwide by UNCCD to compact land degradation. The LDN aims to maintain or even improve the land quality over time and therefore, it envisages quantifying the balance between the gains and losses within a given land type and scale.

Seasonal changes of spatial variation of some groundwater quality variables in a large irrigated coastal Mediterranean region of Turkey.

Soil and groundwater degradations have taken considerable attention, recently. We studied spatial and temporal variations of groundwater table depth and contours, and groundwater pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and nitrate (NO3) content in a large irrigated area in Western Mediterranean region of Turkey. These variables were monitored during 2009 and 2010 in previously constructed 220 monitoring wells.

Spatial variation, mapping, and classification of moss families in semi-arid landscapes in NW Turkey.

Geostatistics and remote sensing techniques are frequently used in analyzing the spatial variability of terrestrial ecosystems. We analyzed spatial variation of moss families by geostatistics and Landsat imagery in a typical semi-arid landscape in North Central Anatolia, Turkey. We sampled 49 sites, chosen based on elevation, slope steepness, and slope aspect.

Spatial variability of depth and salinity of groundwater under irrigated ustifluvents in the Middle Black Sea Region of Turkey.

Information on the potential risk for soil salinity buildup can be very helpful for soil salinity management in irrigated areas. We evaluated the spatial and temporal variability of groundwater salinity (GWS) and groundwater depth (GWD), which are two of the most important indicators of soil salinity, by indicator kriging technique in a large irrigated area in northern Turkey. GWS and GWD were measured on a monthly basis from irrigation season (August 2003) to rainy season (April 2004) at 60 observation wells in the 8,187-ha irrigated area.

Modeling nitrogen uptake and potential nitrate leaching under different irrigation programs in nitrogen-fertilized tomato using the computer program NLEAP.

Readily available nitrogen (N) sources such as ammonium nitrate with excessive irrigation present a potential hazard for the environment. The computer program Nitrate Leaching and Economic Analysis Package (NLEAP) is a mechanistic model developed for rapid site-specific estimates of nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) moving below the root zone in agricultural crops and potential impacts of NO3-N leaching into groundwater. In this study, the value of NLEAP was tested to simulate N uptake by crops and NO3-N leaching parameters in large lysimeters under the tomato crop.