Diversity of ground arthropod community at organic and chemically intensive tea plantation of Darjeeling terai

Tea in Darjeeling foothills and terai are grown conventionally, with application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, as well as organically without these inputs. Ground level arthropod community was collected from the above two types of tea plots using pitfall traps. Catches from these environments showed variation in the arthropod faunal structure with numerically and taxonomically greater abundance in the organic than that of the conventional plot. Coleopterans were more diverse with largest number of families and Recognizable Taxonomic Units (or morphospecies) in the organic tea plot. The diversity and similarity indices for coleopterans were comparable, in organic and conventional tea plots at species and family levels. The close relationship of the indices suggested that diversity study at family level could be used as surrogate for species level diversity; thus alleviating the laborious and expertise job of taxonomic identification of arthropod species. Faunal diversity study at ground level gave the clue that soil of the organic plantation was healthier than that of the conventional tea plot.     

Attraction of the potential biocontrol agent <Emphasis Type="Italic">Galerucella placida</Emphasis> (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) to the volatiles of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Polygonum orientale</Emphasis> (Polygonaceae) weed leaves

Galerucella placida Baly (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) is a potential biocontrol agent of the rice-field weed Polygonum orientale L. (Polygonaceae). The volatile organic compound (VOC) profiles from undamaged and mechanically damaged plants, and from plants 12- and 36-h following continuous feeding of female G. placida adults and 2nd instar larvae were identified and quantified by GC–MS and GC-FID analyses. Twenty-four and 21 compounds were identified in volatiles of undamaged and insect feeding plants, respectively; whereas 22 compounds were detected in volatiles of mechanically damaged plants. Decanal and 1-dodecanol were unique to undamaged plants, and linalool was detected in volatiles of undamaged and mechanically damaged plants, but not in volatiles of insect damaged plants. However, the beetles are not attracted by none of these volatile components, when tested individually in Y-shaped glass tube olfactometer bioassays. In all plants, methyl jasmonate was predominant. 1-Undecanol was the least amount in undamaged plants, and plants 12-h after feeding by G. placida adults and larvae; whereas 1-tridecanol was the least abundant in plants 36-h after feeding by G. placida adults and larvae, and mechanically damaged plants. The beetles showed significant preference to the whole volatile blends from plants 12-h after feeding by larvae and plants 36-h after feeding by either larvae or adults compared to those of undamaged plants. Further, G. placida responded to individual synthetic compounds, 3-hexanol, 1-octen-3-ol, nonanal, and geraniol at 7, 1.38, 3.75 and 4.5 µg/25 µL CH₂Cl₂, respectively, and provide a basis for attraction of the potential biocontrol agent in the field.     

Migrants,land markets and carbon emissions in Jambi,Indonesia: Land tenure change and the prospect of emission reduction

Policies designed to reduce land-based carbon emissions require a good understanding of the complex connections between state-sanctioned concessions, forest conversion, informal land markets and migrants. Our case study in the peat forests of the Tanjung Jabung Barat (TanJaBar) regency of Jambi, Indonesia aimed to explore relations between four key stakeholder groups: the state, local communities, migrants, and state-sanctioned concessions. We hypothesized that current land use patterns are shaped by insecurity in formal forest tenure alongside informal land tenure arrangements with migrants. In analyzing the six two-way relationships between the four stakeholder groups, we found that interactions between the stakeholders have changed local norms and practice, causing land conflicts and contested claims that need to be explicitly addressed in efforts to reduce carbon emissions in TanJaBar. Relational concepts of land rights between migrants and local community leaders are informed by social identity, expectations of investment opportunities, insecure customary forest tenure and competing land use policies. Migrants act as intermediaries in shaping the land tenure system and shift the balance of power between local communities, the state, and business concessions. We conclude that effective and equitable implementation of national Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation+ (REDD+) programs will need to recognize underlying land ownership dynamics, power struggles and strategic positioning among stakeholders across scales. Obtaining free and prior informed consent (FPIC) from all relevant stakeholders is a major challenge given this complexity. Low emission development strategies will require recognition of a reality beyond large-scale concessions and traditional local communities.     

High consumption of pesticides in agricultural fields leads to prevalence of cancer cases in rural pockets of eastern India: A case study

This study was performed to evaluate the carcinogenic health risk of pesticides used in agricultural field in rural pockets of eastern India. The analysis of pesticide residue in rice grain sample was performed by Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). It was observed that for pesticide DDT, the HR values was ranging between 0.5 to 3.2 and for lindane HR was 0.4 to 1.1, respectively. The DDT and Lindane exhibited HR values >1 in some sampling sites which revealed the carcinogenic effects and HR <1 in some sampling sites which revealed non carcinogenic effects of same pesticide. These results revealed a clear indication of potential carcinogenic health risk to human health through consumption of contaminated rice in some areas of Bargarh district. DDT has a long half-life, so it persists in the environment for a longer period of time and induces carcinogenic risk to human health predominantly than other pesticide lindane. A case study on cancer prevalence in Bargarh district was also carried out to support the findings of quantitative analysis. The primary data collected from the cancer affected area by personal questionnaires method to the person concern and the secondary data collected from the Bargarh District Head Quarters Hospital's register. The cancer death reported by the from the year 2015 to 2021 was 320, 380, 293, 323, 278, 409, 346 in the year of 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 respectively, with the total number of 2349 cases. From the questionnaire data, it was observed that the occurrence of male and female cancer cases was 51.75% and 48.25%, respectively. Therefore, it was concluded that there was no significant difference in gender wise cancer prevalence. The most affected age group was 51–60, that is, 26.92% followed by 41–50, that is, 23.42%. Therefore, it was concluded that the middle-aged adults (40–60) were more vulnerable to the cancer than young adults (3–40) and old adults (60–100). The most prevalent cancer was breast (22.72%) followed by stomach (14.33%).     

Copper oxide nanoparticles can induce toxicity to the freshwater shredder Allogamus ligonifer

Increased commercialisation of nanometal-based products augments the possibility of their deposition into aquatic ecosystems; this, in turn, may pose risks to aquatic biota and associated ecological functions. Freshwater invertebrate shredders mostly use microbially-colonized plant litter as food resource and play an important role in aquatic detritus food webs. We assessed lethal effects of nanoCuO on the shredder Allogamus ligonifer (Trichoptera, Limnephilidae) by determining the concentration that induced 50% of death (LC₅₀), and sublethal effects of nanoCuO on the feeding behaviour and growth of the shredder by exposing the animals to: (i) stream water supplemented with nanoCuO and microbially-colonized leaves, and (ii) stream water (without nanoCuO) and microbially-colonized leaves pre-exposed to nanoCuO. Results from acute lethal tests showed that the 96 h LC₅₀ of nanoCuO was very high (569 mg L⁻¹). In the absence of nanoparticles, leaf consumption rate was 0.27 mg leaf DM mg⁻¹ animal DM d⁻¹ and the shredder growth rate was 56 μg animal DM mg⁻¹ animal DM d⁻¹. A significant inhibition in leaf consumption rate (up to 47%) and invertebrate growth rate (up to 46%) was observed when shredders were exposed to the higher tested sublethal concentration of nanoCuO (75 mg L⁻¹) through either contaminated stream water or pre-contaminated food. The exposure to increased nanoCuO concentration via water or pre-contaminated food led to higher accumulation of copper in the larval body. Leached water-soluble ionic copper from the nanoCuO adsorbed or accumulated in the shredder (up to 10.2% of total Cu) seemed to influence the feeding behaviour and growth of the shredder.     

Seasonal variability of chlorophyll-a and oceanographic conditions in Sabah waters in relation to Asian monsoon—a remote sensing study

A study was conducted to investigate the influence of Asian monsoon on chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) content in Sabah waters and to identify the related oceanographic conditions that caused phytoplankton blooms at the eastern and western coasts of Sabah, Malaysia. A series of remote sensing measurements including surface Chl-a, sea surface temperature, sea surface height anomaly, wind speed, wind stress curl, and Ekman pumping were analyzed to study the oceanographic conditions that lead to large-scale nutrients enrichment in the surface layer. The results showed that the Chl-a content increased at the northwest coast from December to April due to strong northeasterly wind and coastal upwelling in Kota Kinabalu water. The southwest coast (Labuan water) maintained high concentrations throughout the year due to the effect of Padas River discharge during the rainy season and the changing direction of Baram River plume during the northeast monsoon (NEM). However, with the continuous supply of nutrients from the upwelling area, the high Chl-a batches were maintained at the offshore water off Labuan for a longer time during NEM. On the other side, the northeast coast illustrated a high Chl-a in Sandakan water during NEM, whereas the northern tip off Kudat did not show a pronounced change throughout the year. The southeast coast (Tawau water) was highly influenced by the direction of the surface water transport between the Sulu and Sulawesi Seas and the prevailing surface currents. The study demonstrates the presence of seasonal phytoplankton blooms in Sabah waters which will aid in forecasting the possible biological response and could further assist in marine resource managements.     

A Multivariate Time Series Approach to Study the Interdependence among O3, NO x , and VOCs in Ambient Urban Atmosphere

A multivariate time series approach vector autoregression (VAR) along with impulse response function and variance decomposition technique has been employed to look into the interrelationship among O₃, NO, NO₂, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs, namely, benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, and xylene in the present study) using 3 months long continuous time series data of 1 h average concentration of these pollutants at one of the traffic sites in Delhi, India. It is found that the VAR of order 2 (i.e., past two lagged values of 1 h interval) is sufficient to represent the observed time series at the station studied. The impulse response function and variance decomposition analysis indicate that O₃ concentration shows an immediate rise and persists for a longer duration (typically 8–10 h) once the impulse of NO₂, benzene, ethylbenzene, or xylene is given in the ambient environment. However, in case of toluene, the reverse effect has been observed. Since O₃ forms in the troposphere due to photolysis of NO₂, it is not surprising that its impulse triggers O₃ formation in the ambient environment. However, in case of VOCs, this has been attributed to their tendency to show higher inclination toward intermediary reactions leading to the formation of O₃ rather than their (VOCs) reaction with O₃. Among VOCs, only toluene has been observed to show higher inclination toward its reaction with O₃. Apart from this, variance decomposition technique also reveals that the relation of NO with NO₂ is more important than the relation of NO with O₃ creating a conducive atmosphere for O₃ formation in the present scenario. Thus, the multivariate time series approach provides significant insight about the role played by the dominant individual VOCs and NO _x in influencing the O₃ concentration in ambient urban atmosphere whereas a photochemical modeling approach gives an overall view of NO _x and VOCs behavior with respect to O₃ by using the O₃ isopleth technique.     

Heterogeneity, collective action and management sustainability in common property forest resources: case study from the Indian state Odisha

Several studies have revealed that the presence of heterogeneity amongst the user groups of common property natural resources considerably affects the effectiveness of resource management and their sustainable use. Primary research conducted in six sample villages from three districts of the Indian state Odisha has found that heterogeneity in economic and social dimensions amongst the members of the management committee acts as major determinants in respect of common property forest resource management. The findings of this piece of work reveal that common property forests are best managed in the villages where the management committee is homogeneous by both social and economic considerations; better managed where the committee members are economically homogeneous but socially heterogeneous; and least managed where the members are socially homogeneous but economically heterogeneous. The same result has been obtained from the composite index developed for the user group’s assessment about the functioning of the forest management institutions in the three study districts of the state Odisha.