University of Haripur, Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Haripur, KP, Pakistan.
Bharia University Medical and Dental College, Department of Biochemistry, Karachi, Pakistan.
Braz J Biol. 2022 May 9;84:e260615. doi: 10.1590/1519-6984.260615. eCollection 2022.
This article describes the environmental impacts of producing a single seedling in forest nurseries of selected districts (i.e., Haripur, Abbottabad, and Mansehra) of Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan using the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. This study was based on the cradle-to-gate approach which begins with the pre-nursery stage and progresses toward the main nursery before transplanting seedlings into the plantation site. Data or life cycle inventory (LCI) of seedling production were collected through questionnaire surveys and personal meetings with forest nurseries managers and workers regarding consumption of different inputs such as electricity, diesel, fertilizers, herbicides, and polyethylene bags, organic manure, and water consumption. The SimaPro software version 8.5 and the CML2000 v2.05 environmental model was applied to perform life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) for a single seedling production in forest nurseries in the study area. In line with the objectives of the study, primary data regarding inputs and outputs of the nurseries were collected from 35 nurseries in the study area by using a random questionnaire method. In addition, secondary data were taken from online databases such as Eco-invent v.3.2 CORRIM and peer-reviewed published literature. For this study, a functional unit of a single seedling was considered. Production weighted average data were modeled in the latest environmental modeling software i.e., SimaPro v.8.5 for ten US-EPA most wanted environmental impacts, such as global warming potential (GWP), abiotic depletion (AD), eutrophication potential (EP), acidification potential (AP), freshwater aquatic eco-toxicity (FAE), marine water eco-toxicity (MWE), terrestrial eco-toxicity (TE), ozone layer depletion (OLD), photochemical oxidation (PO), and human toxicity (HT). The results showed that the highest environmental impact posed by a single seedling was marine aquatic eco-toxicity (11.31360 kg 1,4-DB eq), followed by global warming potential (0.02945 kg CO2 eq) and (0.01227 kg 1,4-DB eq) human toxicity. The primary reason for these environmental burdens was the use of synthetic fertilizers in forest nurseries and the consumption of fossil fuels in nursery mechanization and transportation activities. The total cumulative energy demand for a single seedling was (0.800 MJ) with more than 90% contribution from fossil fuel energy resources such as petrol and diesel. It is therefore highly recommended to use renewable energy resources and organic fertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers in forest nurseries to avoid and minimize greenhouse gas emissions (GHS) and other toxic emissions in the study area.
本文描述了利用生命周期评估（LCA）方法，对巴基斯坦开伯尔-普赫图赫瓦省哈扎拉分部（包括哈里普尔、阿伯塔巴德和曼塞赫拉）选定地区的森林苗圃生产单株幼苗所产生的环境影响。本研究基于摇篮到大门的方法，从苗圃前阶段开始，一直到主要苗圃阶段，然后再将幼苗移植到种植现场。通过问卷调查和与森林苗圃经理和工人的个人会议，收集了有关不同投入物（如电力、柴油、肥料、除草剂和聚乙烯袋、有机肥和水）消耗的数据或生命周期清单（LCI）。采用 SimaPro 软件版本 8.5 和 CML2000 v2.05 环境模型，对研究区域森林苗圃中单株幼苗生产进行生命周期影响评估（LCIA）。根据研究目标，通过随机问卷法，从研究区域的 35 个苗圃中收集了有关苗圃投入和产出的原始数据。此外，还从在线数据库（如 Eco-invent v.3.2 CORRIM 和同行评议的已发表文献）中获取了二次数据。对于本研究，采用单株幼苗作为功能单位。在最新的环境建模软件 SimaPro v.8.5 中对生产加权平均值数据进行建模，对十个美国环保署最关注的环境影响进行建模，如全球变暖潜势（GWP）、非生物消耗（AD）、富营养化潜势（EP）、酸化潜势（AP）、淡水水生生态毒性（FAE）、海洋水生态毒性（MWE）、陆地生态毒性（TE）、臭氧层消耗（OLD）、光化学氧化（PO）和人类毒性（HT）。结果表明，单株幼苗造成的最大环境影响是海洋水生态毒性（11.31360 公斤 1,4-DB eq），其次是全球变暖潜势（0.02945 公斤 CO2 eq）和（0.01227 公斤 1,4-DB eq）人类毒性。造成这些环境负担的主要原因是森林苗圃中使用合成肥料以及苗圃机械化和运输活动中消耗化石燃料。单株幼苗的总累积能源需求为（0.800 MJ），其中超过 90%来自汽油和柴油等化石燃料能源资源。因此，强烈建议在森林苗圃中使用可再生能源和有机肥代替化肥，以避免和尽量减少温室气体排放（GHS）和研究区域的其他有毒排放。
