Biomass and carbon budgeting of sustainable agroforestry systems as ecosystem service in Indian Himalayas

Adoption of agroforestry is paramount as a climate change mitigation and adaptation strategy. The assessment of plant biomass is crucial for understanding the vulnerability of biological systems to climate change. In the present study, agroforestry systems viz., agrisilviculture (AS), agrihorticulture (AH), agrihortisilviculture (AHS) and agrisilvihorticulture (ASH) were investigated for biomass production and carbon stock in vegetation as well as in soil in the Indian central Himalaya along the elevation i.e. E₁ (<1100 m), E₂ (1100–1400 m), E₃ (1400–1700 m), E₄ (1700–2000 m) and E₅ (>2000 m). Mean aboveground and belowground biomass were 73.9% and 26.1%, respectively, of total biomass (64.4 t ha^?1) in agroforestry systems. Fodder and/or timber trees accounted for 31% (in AHS) to 74% (in AS) of total biomass, while fruit trees accounted for 18% (in ASH) to 73% (in AH) of total biomass. The contribution of agriculture crops to total biomass fluctuated between 19% (in ASH) and 26% (in AH). Total vegetation biomass, soil carbon and total carbon density in agroforestry systems increased significantly along the elevation, with maximum biomass at elevation E₅ (32.0 t ha^?1, 64.7 t C ha^?1 and 96.7 t C ha^?1). Total biomass of vegetation among agroforestry systems differed significantly. Soil carbon stock was highest in AHS (59.5 t C ha^?1) and total carbon density (vegetation + soil) was highest in ASH (93.0 t C ha^?1). Thus, in Indian Himalayas, vegetation biomass, carbon stock, soil and total carbon (vegetation + soil) stock increased along the elevation.

Abbrviations: AG: aboveground; BG: belowground; WD: wood density; VOB: volume over bark; BEF: biomass expansion factor; AS: agrisilviculture; AH: agrihorticulture; ASH: agrisilvihorticulture; AHS: agrihortisilviculture; E: elevation; C: carbon; CO₂: carbon-di-oxide; IPCC: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; DBH: diameter at breast height; AGBD: aboveground biomass density; BGBD: belowground biomass density; GSVD: growing stock volume density     

Translocation of metals and its effects in the tomato plants grown on various amendments of tannery waste: evidence for involvement of antioxidants

A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of different amendments of tannery sludge on physiological and biochemical parameters of tomato plant (Lycopersicon esculentum L. Mill). The accumulation of metals (Cr, Fe) in different parts of tomato plants grown on tannery sludge amended soil increased in a concentration and duration-dependent manner. The accumulation of both the metals was found lowest in the fruits of the plant. The statistical analysis of the results showed an increase in chlorophyll and protein contents in lower sludge amendment ratio at all exposures followed by a decrease at highest (100%) sludge amendment ratio. Lipid peroxidation enhanced in both root and leaves of sludge grown plants of tomato at all the sludge amendments and exposure periods, which is evidenced by increased malondialdehyde content, however the maximum increase was found in the roots (43.63%) and leaves (56.66%) of the plant grown on 100% tannery sludge at 60 d, over respective controls. The level of antioxidants, cysteine, non-protein thiol and ascorbic acid increased in the sludge grown plants of tomato to cope up with stress induced by the excess amount of the heavy metals present in the tannery sludge. The maximum increase was found in cysteine content (75.53% in the leaves), non-protein thiol content (92.68% in the roots) and ascorbic acid content (29.66% in the roots) of the plant at 75% tannery sludge after 30 d. The tomato plants were found well adopted for minimizing damage induced by reactive oxygen species, when grown on tannery sludge amendments in the present study.     

Adsorption-desorption,persistence, and leaching behavior of dithiopyr in an alluvial soil of India

Investigations were undertaken to determine the adsorption-desorption, persistence and leaching of dithiopyr (S,S'-dimethyl 2-difluoromethyl-4-isobutyl-6-trifluoromethyl pyridine-3,5-dicarbothioate) in an alluvial soil under laboratory condition. The adsorption-desorption studies were carried out using batch equilibration technique. The mass balance studies showed that 83-97% of the pesticide was recovered during adsorption-desorption studies. The results revealed strong adsorption of dithiopyr in alluvial soil with Kd values ranging from 3.97-5.78 and Freundlich capacity factor (KF) value of 2.41. The strong adsorption was evident from the hysteresis effect observed during desorption. The hysteresis coefficients ranged from 0.17-0.40. The persistence studies were carried out at two concentrations (1.0 and 10.0 microg g(-1) level) under field capacity moisture and submerged condition by incubating the treated soil at 25 +/- 1 degrees C. In general, dithiopyr persisted beyond 90 days with half-life varying from 11.5-12.9 days under different conditions. The rate of application and moisture regimes had no overall effect on the persistence. The leaching studies carried out in packed column under saturated flow condition revealed that dithiopyr was highly immobile in alluvial soil. Only small amounts (0.02-0.04%) were recovered from leachate whereas major portion (99.9%) remained in top layer of the soil column. The data suggest that strong adsorption of dithiopyr will cause a greater persistence problem in the soil. However, the chances of its movement to ground water will be negligible due to its immobility.     

Metal contents in the groundwater of Sahebgunj district, Jharkhand, India, with special reference to arsenic

A detailed study has been presented on groundwater metal contents of Sahebgunj district in the state of Jharkhand, India with special reference to arsenic. Both tubewell and well waters have been studied separately with greater emphasis on tubewell waters. Groundwaters of all the nine blocks of Sahebgunj district have been surveyed for iron, manganese, calcium, magnesium, copper and zinc in addition to arsenic. Normal distribution statistic, exploratory data analysis and robust Z-score analysis have been employed to find out the distribution pattern, localisation of data, outliers and other related information. Groundwaters of three blocks of Sahebgunj, namely, Sahebgunj, Rajmahal and Udhawa have been found to be alarmingly contaminated with arsenic present at or above 10 ppb. Arsenic distribution patterns in these blocks are highly asymmetric in nature with the common feature of increasing width from first to fourth quartile. A very broad fourth quartile in each case represents a long asymmetric tail on the right of the median. Tubewell waters of at least two more blocks require regular monitoring to identify the outbreak of arsenic at the onset. Groundwaters of Sahebgunj district in general contain high iron and manganese. It is by and large soft in nature. Well waters have been found to be better with regard to arsenic but iron and manganese contents do not vary significantly. Normal distribution analysis (NDA), box and whisker (BW) plot and Z-score analysis together can provide a reasonably complete statistical picture of metal contents in Sahebgunj district groundwaters.     

The Adaptive Capacity Wheel: a method to assess the inherent characteristics of institutions to enable the adaptive capacity of society

Climate change potentially brings continuous and unpredictable changes in weather patterns. Consequently, it calls for institutions that promote the adaptive capacity of society and allow society to modify its institutions at a rate commensurate with the rate of environmental change. Institutions, traditionally conservative and reactive, will now have to support social actors to proactively respond through planned processes and deliberate steps, but also through cherishing and encouraging spontaneous and autonomous change, as well as allowing for institutional redesign. This paper addresses the question: How can the inherent characteristics of institutions to stimulate the capacity of society to adapt to climate change from local through to national level be assessed? On the basis of a literature review and several brainstorm sessions, this paper presents six dimensions: Variety, learning capacity, room for autonomous change, leadership, availability of resources and fair governance. These dimensions and their 22 criteria form the Adaptive Capacity Wheel. This wheel can help academics and social actors to assess if institutions stimulate the adaptive capacity of society to respond to climate change; and to focus on whether and how institutions need to be redesigned. This paper also briefly demonstrates the application of this Adaptive Capacity Wheel to different institutions.     

Carbon mitigation potential of Indian steel industry

Steel dominates the global metal production accounting for 5 % of increase in Earth’s atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂). Today, India is the 4th largest producer of crude steel in the world. The sector contributes around 3 % to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) but adds 6.2 % to the national greenhouse gas (GHG) load. It accounts for 28.4% of the entire industry sector emissions, which are 23.9% of the country’s total emissions. Being a developing country, India is not obliged to cut its emissions under the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC), but gave voluntary commitment to reduce the emission intensity of its GDP by 20–25 % from the 2005 level by 2020. This paper attempts to find out if the Indian steel sector can help the country in fulfilling this commitment. The sector reduced its CO₂ emissions per ton of steel produced by 58% from 1994 to 2007. The study generates six scenarios for future projections which show that the sector can reduce its emission intensity by 12.5 % to 63 %. But going by the conservative estimates, the sector can reduce emission intensity by 30 % to 53 %. However, actual emissions will go up significantly in every case.     

The adaptive capacity of institutions in the spatial planning,water, agriculture and nature sectors in the Netherlands

The climate change problem calls for a continuously responding society. This raises the question: Do our institutions allow and encourage society to continuously adapt to climate change? This paper uses the Adaptive Capacity Wheel (ACW) to assess the adaptive capacity of formal and informal institutions in four sectors in the Netherlands: spatial planning, water, agriculture and nature. Formal institutions are examined through an assessment of 11 key policy documents and informal institutions are analysed through four case studies covering each sector. Based on these ACW analyses, both sector-specific and more general strengths and weaknesses of the adaptive capacity of institutions in the Netherlands are identified. The paper concludes that the most important challenge for increasing institutional adaptive capacity lies in combining decentralized, participatory approaches with more top-down methods that generate leadership (visions, goals) standards, instruments, resources and monitoring.     

Experimental investigation of groundwater contamination by surface sources: Determination of adsorption capacity,diffusion, and sorption potential of selected anions in different soils

The present study investigated the fate and transport of two significant anions through soil to explore their potential as groundwater contaminants. The retention properties of chloride and sulfate in soils having several significantly different characteristics (soil‐1 and soil‐2) were determined using adsorption test and adsorption‐diffusion column experiments. The maximum adsorption capacity of chloride was 3.7 and 1.16 mg/g, respectively, in soil‐1 and soil‐2, with organic matter (OM) content of 3.92% and 4.69%, respectively. The sulfate adsorption obtained was 24.09% and 13.83%, respectively, in the two soils. The anions exhibited monolayer adsorption in the soils with replacement of hydroxyl ions from soils as the major mechanism of adsorption. On the other hand, the adsorption capacities obtained from the adsorption‐diffusion column experiment were about 100 times lower compared to that of the column tests of both of the soils. The maximum adsorption capacity of chloride was 0.03 mg/g and 0.01 mg/g, respectively, in soil‐1 and soil‐2, whereas that of sulfate was 0.04 mg/g and 0.03 mg/g. The empirical relation for depth of penetration (d) from a known spillage onto the soil surface was determined as a function of sorption capacity (S) and initial anion concentration (C) as d = 0.0073e^(?57S)C and d = 0.0038e^(?35S)C for chloride and sulfate, respectively.     

Photosynthetic production and its regulating factors in the Baltic Sea

Measurements of primary production in the Baltic Sea over a period of 2 years (1969/1971) by the ¹⁴C method are reported. The rate of total annual production for the Baltic Sea proper and the Gulf of Finland including coastal areas appears to lie between 35 and 40 gC·m², a rate which can be assumed as characteristic for oligotrophic waters with a low production rate. An apparent increase in productivity between the 2 years could be noted. Calculations for the water mass below the halocline show that between 0.7 and 0.8 ml/l oxygen is used up during a period of 3 months required for the development of anoxic conditions. The major portion of the organic matter in the Baltic Sea undergoes decomposition in the sub-photic zone above the halocline. The ratio of organic material in deep water to the total available oxidizable matter appears to remain constant with time; therefore, the apparent increase in productivity in the photic layer does not affect apprecibly the development of anoxic conditions in deep water. Of the different areas investigated, the Gulf of Finland seems to be the most productive. In the southern Baltic Sea, the rate of production over 5 years between 1966 and 1971 has not changed appreciably. In fact, it shows a trend toward a slight decrease, whereas, in other areas of the Baltic Sea, the rate of production indicates an apparent increase. Comparison with oceanic coastal areas of the west coast of Sweden shows that the rate of production there is higher than in the Baltic Sea. Of the micronutrients controlling productivity in the photic layer of the Baltic Sea, nitrate has a stronger limiting effect on plant growth than phosphate, a fact which is in agreement with existing conceptions on the subject. Dissolved iron does not seem to exert any appreciable influence on the productivity.     

Analysis of stability of silica nano-particle-laden microbubble dispersion

Microbubbles are small gas-filled bubbles which have wide application in various industries. The stability of microbubble is of primary concern for the application of microbubble. In this research, the stability of microbubble dispersion generated using CTAB surfactant is analyzed by drainage mechanism. The stability of microbubble dispersion is studied on the basis of the half-life of microbubble dispersion. Microbubble dispersion gas fraction and apparent rise velocity of interface of microbubble dispersion are also calculated. The size of microbubble is estimated from the apparent rise velocity of interface of microbubble dispersion. Further, silica nano-particles are added to the surfactants to study their effect on the stability of microbubble dispersion. The observed results clearly indicate that the stability of microbubble dispersion is significantly affected by the surfactant concentration and the weight of silica nano-particle in the liquid. Similar results were observed for the apparent rise velocity of interface and bubble size of dispersion. The present work may be beneficial for the application of microbubble in various chemical and biochemical industries and scientific community.