Hygroscopic organic aerosols during BRAVO?

The hygroscopic properties of the organic fraction of aerosols are poorly understood. The ability of organic aerosols to absorb water as a function of relative humidity (RH) was examined using data collected during the 1999 Big Bend Regional Aerosol and Visibility Observational Study (BRAVO). (On average, organics accounted for 22% of fine particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 microm (PM2.5) mass). Hourly RH exceeded 80% only 3.5% of the time and averaged 44%. BRAVO aerosol chemical composition and dry particle size distributions were used to estimate PM2.5 light scattering (Bsp) at low and high ambient RH. Liquid water growth associated with inorganic species was sufficient to account for measured Bsp for RH between 70 and 95%.     

Efficacy of various amendments for amelioration of fly-ash toxicity: growth performance and metal composition of Cassia siamea Lamk

Plants of Cassia siamea Lamk were grown in garden soil (control), fly-ash (100%) and fly-ash amended by various ameliorants (cowdung manure, press-mud, garden soil; 1:1, w/w). The plants survived in fly-ash (100%) though their growth was less in comparison to the treatments. Fly-ash+press-mud (1:1, w/w) proved to be the best combination as growth (total biomass, leaf number, photosynthetic area, total chlorophyll and protein) was significantly high in this treatment followed by cowdung manure and garden soil. Leaves and roots accumulated significant amount of Cu, Zn, Ni and and Fe. However, the concentration of all the metals was more in roots than leaves except Ni. Although, fly-ash contains high amount of metals but the metal uptake was more in the plants grown in fly-ash+press-mud mixture. Inspite of high metal availability in fly-ash and press-mud mixture, plant growth was good. This might be attributed to the some metal detoxification mechanism active in this treatment. The present study concluded that C. siamea seems to be a suitable plant for developing a vegetation cover on fly-ash dumps.     

Biopesticide and formulation processes based on starch industrial wastewater fortified with soybean medium

Abstract

The aim of this study was to produce Bacillus thuringiensis-based biopesticide using starch-producing industry wastewater (SIW) fortified with soybean medium and optimize the formulated product using different adjuvants. This study was necessary as low endotoxin concentration is obtained in formulated biopesticide when SIW alone is used as fermentation medium. The fermentation runs were conducted using SIW alone and SIW fortified with 25% soybean (w/v) medium in 2000?L and 150?L bioreactor, respectively. SIW supplemented with soybean medium showed an increase in cell count (from 1.95?×?10⁸ to 1.65?×?10⁹ CFU mL^–1), spore synthesis (from 1.5?×?10⁸ to 1.35?×?10⁹ CFU mL^–1) and endotoxin concentration (from 436 to 1170?μg mL^–1) when compared to SIW medium alone. The fermented broth was concentrated using continuous centrifugation and adjuvants were added for biopesticide formulation in order to enhance its resistance against UV rays and rainfastness. Entomotoxicity of the formulation produced using fermented broth of SIW fortified with soybean (38,000?IU μL^–1) was higher than that obtained by SIW medium alone (21,000?IU μL^–1), commercial biopesticide Foray 76B (20,000?IU μL^–1) and Btk sander’s (12,500?IU μL^–1).     

Effect of formaldehyde on biofilm activity and morphology in an ultracompact biofilm reactor for carbonaceous wastewater treatment.

The effects of formaldehyde on biofilm morphology and biomass activity were investigated in an ultracompact biofilm reactor (UCBR) for carbonaceous wastewater treatment. The wastewater contained a fixed amount of glucose (with a chemical oxygen demand concentration of 600 mg/L) and an increasing concentration of formaldehyde (ranging from 21.4 to 271.1 mg/L). An influent formaldehyde concentration higher than 75 mg/L could facilitate filamentous growth (on biofilm) control and lead to a higher biofilm density, which is desirable as it enhanced the UCBR performance stability. However, at an influent formaldehyde concentration higher than 214.4 mg/L, biomass production was inhibited and deteriorations of biofilm morphology and biomass activity were observed. This study showed that it was desirable to maintain an influent formaldehyde concentration lower than 202.2 mg/L, as this concentration could achieve a good biofilm morphology while not inhibiting its microbial activity.     

Impact of overexploitation of shellfish: northeastern coast of India

India has a very extensive coastline of about 7515 km, rich in diverse living resources. These resources continue to deteriorate with rampant harvesting or are altered for other uses such as aquaculture and fisheries. The present paper deals with degrading coastal habitats in northeastern India, and projects the intensity of the stress arising from the collection of tiger prawn seeds (Penaeus monodon) for aquacultural farms and molluskan shells for poultry feed and edible lime. Indiscriminate exploitation of these resources leads to a heavy reduction of the species concerned and other associated marine communities. The magnitude of such destruction has been quantified. The impacts of biodiversity loss and their after-effects on the ecobalance of this coastal system have become a matter of great concern to ecologists to maintain security and sustainability. The authors propose a public awareness program on themes relating to the importance of biodiversity for human livelihoods.     

Study on the fluorescence characteristics of bromadiolone in aqueous and organized media and application in analysis

The fluorescence spectroscopic behavior of bromadiolone (anticoagulant rodenticide), a substituted 4-hydroxycoumarin derivative, was investigated in water and in organized media like micelles and cyclodextrins. A detailed study on various photophysical parameters like fluorescence intensity (I_F), quantum yield (), lifetime (τ) and steady state fluorescence anisotropy (r) of bromadiolone in aqueous and in organized media was carried out. Bromadiolone in aqueous solution was observed to be in an aggregated state, thereby showing weak emission due to self-quenching. Marked enhancement of fluorescence intensity was observed in organized media like micelles and β-cyclodextrin. A preliminary investigation has been done to find out whether this enhancement of fluorescence can be used to develop a sensitive analytical method for determination of bromadialone in aqueous media. A linear relationship between the fluorescence intensity and concentration of bromadiolone was observed in the range of 0.15–7.9 μg ml⁻¹ in cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and 0.5–26.4 μg ml⁻¹ in β-cyclodextrin medium. The lower detection limit was found to be 37 ng ml⁻¹ in presence of CTAB and 23 ng ml⁻¹ in β-cyclodextrin. Comparison with 4-hydroxycoumarin, an unsubstituted analogue, was made.     

Lost benefits and carbon uptake by protection of Indian plantations

There is a range of problems in assessing how protection of a specific forest to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) affect global emissions of greenhouse gases. This paper shows how knowledge and information about the biophysical characteristics of forests can be combined with theories of forest management and economic behaviour to derive the impacts on global emissions of REDD+. A modelling experiment from India, where 10% of the forest plantations in eight different regions are protected, shows that the biophysical characteristics of forests are decisive for the global impacts on emissions. In regions with slow-growing forests, agents in the non-protected forests are able to increase their output significantly to fill the demand from the protected forests. This opportunity is strictly limited in regions with fast-growing forests. Therefore, prices increase far more in regions with fast-growing forests than in slow-growing forests. Over time, the markets for Indian forestry products contribute to reduce the resulting price differences across regions. When the carbon uptake from protected forests approaches zero, the leakage of emissions to other Indian forests is between 20 and 40%. Only a small part of this is international leakage. Combining different models also helps to identify knowledge gaps, and to distinguish gaps that potentially may be filled with data and new knowledge, and gaps due to different angling of modelling biophysical processes and modelling of economic behaviour.     

An assessment of carbon stock for various land use system in Aravally mountains, Western India

Reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and degradation in developing countries is of the central importance in efforts to combat climate change. A study was conducted to measure carbon stocks in various land-use systems including forms and reliably estimates the impact of land use on carbon (C) stocks in the forest of Rajasthan, western India (23°3′–30°12′N longitude and 69°30′–78°17′E). 22.8% of India is forested and 0.04% is the deforestation rate of India. In Indian forest sector of western India of Aravally mountain range covered large area of deciduous forest and it’s very helpful in carbon sequestration at global level. The carbon stocks of forest, plantation (reforestation) and agricultural land in aboveground, soil organic and fine root within forest were estimated through field data collection. Results revealed that the amount of total carbon stock of forests (533.64?±?37.54 Mg·ha^?1, simplified expression of Mg (carbon) ·ha^?1) was significantly greater (P?<?0.05) than the plantation (324.37?±?15.0 Mg·ha^?1) and the agricultural land (120.50?±?2.17 Mg·ha^?1). Soil organic carbon in the forests (172.84?±?3.78 Mg·ha^?1) was also significantly greater (P?<?0.05) than the plantation (153.20?±?7.48 Mg·ha^?1) and the agricultural land (108.71?±?1.68 Mg·ha^?1). The differences in carbon stocks across land-use types are the primary consequence of variations in the vegetation biomass and the soil organic matter. Fine root carbon was a small fraction of carbon stocks in all land-use types. Most of the soil organic carbon and fine root carbon content was found in the upper 30-cm layer and decreased with soil depth. The aboveground carbon (ABGC): soil organic carbon (SOC): fine root carbon ratios (FRC), was 8:4:1, 4:5:1, and 3:37:1 for the forest, plantation and agricultural land, respectively. These results indicate that a relatively large proportion of the C loss is due to forest conversion to agricultural land.     

Simulating impacts,potential adaptation and vulnerability of maize to climate change in India

Climate change associated global warming, rise in carbon dioxide concentration and uncertainties in precipitation has profound implications on Indian agriculture. Maize (Zea mays L.), the third most important cereal crop in India, has a major role to play in country’s food security. Thus, it is important to analyze the consequence of climate change on maize productivity in major maize producing regions in India and elucidate potential adaptive strategy to minimize the adverse effects. Calibrated and validated InfoCrop-MAIZE model was used for analyzing the impacts of increase in temperature, carbon dioxide (CO₂) and change in rainfall apart from HadCM3 A2a scenario for 2020, 2050 and 2080. The main insights from the analysis are threefold. First, maize yields in monsoon are projected to be adversely affected due to rise in atmospheric temperature; but increased rainfall can partly offset those loses. During winter, maize grain yield is projected to reduced with increase in temperature in two of the regions (Mid Indo-Gangetic Plains or MIGP, and Southern Plateau or SP), but in the Upper Indo-Gangetic Plain (UIGP), where relatively low temperatures prevail during winter, yield increased up to a 2.7°C rise in temperature. Variation in rainfall may not have a major impact on winter yields, as the crop is already well irrigated. Secondly, the spatio-temporal variations in projected changes in temperature and rainfall are likely to lead to differential impacts in the different regions. In particular, monsoon yield is reduced most in SP (up to 35%), winter yield is reduced most in MIGP (up to 55%), while UIGP yields are relatively unaffected. Third, developing new cultivars with growth pattern in changed climate scenarios similar to that of current varieties in present conditions could be an advantageous adaptation strategy for minimizing the vulnerability of maize production in India.     

Evaluation of ecological restoration success in mining‐degraded lands

This review article analyzes the importance of assessing the success of ecological restoration by using four indicators: assemblage of the plant and animal communities; enzyme activity; litter accumulation and decomposition; and the improvement of soil quality. These indicators can be used alone or in combinations. Even though the Society for Ecological Restoration International provided a primer containing nine attributes to use as standards for measuring ecological restoration, only three of these attributes could be easily applied due to their low costs and low time requirements. These three attributes include: diversity, vegetation structure, and ecological processes. This review article emphasizes that the criteria for the selection of the indicator species should be based upon: habitat types, abundance of species, ease of measuring, quantifying and interpreting the results, gradual enhancement with time and cost‐effectiveness, sensitivity, variability of response, size, residential status, and requirements of the area. Principal component analysis was applied to calculate the reclaimed mine soil quality index (RMSQI) and the forest soil quality index (FSQI) and the RMSQI value was compared with FSQI (optimum index value of reference ecosystem) to evaluate the restoration success. Available phosphorus, exchangeable magnesium, organic carbon, clay content, field moisture, available nitrogen, electrical conductivity, and pH are identified as the most influential parameters that regulate the health of reclaimed mine soil. Exchangeable calcium, magnesium, cation exchange capacity, sand, silt, clay content, field moisture, available phosphorus, and pH are the controlling properties for forest soil. The observed values of the above‐stated soil indicator properties were converted into a unitless score (0–1.00) and integrated into index calculations (RMSQI and FSQI). The contribution of each soil indicator properties on the calculated index was analyzed, which provides insight into the reason for the measured index. A higher RMSQI indicates better ecological restoration success. The calculated RMSQI was found to be 0.473 in the reclaimed dump, which is 6% lower than the reference ecosystem.