Bioaccumulation of heavy metals and two organochlorine pesticides (DDT and BHC) in crops irrigated with secondary treated waste water

Four crop plants Oryza sativa (rice), Solanum melongena (brinjal), Spinacea oleracea (spinach) and Raphanus sativus (radish) were grown to study the impact of secondary treated municipal waste water irrigation. These plants were grown in three plots each of 0.5 ha, and irrigated with secondary treated waste water from a sewage treatment plant. Sludge from the same sewage treatment plant was applied as manure. Cultivated plants were analyzed for accumulation of heavy metals and pesticides. Results revealed the accumulation of six heavy metals cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), and zinc (Zn) as well as two pesticides [1,1-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-2,2,2-trichloroethane; DDT] and benzene hexa chloride (BHC). Order of the plants for the extent of bioaccumulation was S. oleracea > R. sativus > S. melongena > O. sativa. The study has shown the secondary treated waste water can be a source of contamination to the soil and plants.     

Nanomaterials for biofuel production using lignocellulosic waste

Production of biofuels using second-generation, non-food, lignocellulosic waste biomass is a sustainable approach that solve the economic issues of fossil fuels and environmental pollution. The major issues of biofuel production are biomass complexity, pretreatment, enzyme denaturation and cost. This article reviews the application of nanomaterials for biofuel production from various lignocellulosic wastes.     

Enhancing disaster management by mapping disaster proneness and preparedness

The focus of most disaster management programmes is to deploy resources-physical and human-from outside the disaster zone. This activity can produce a delay in disaster mitigation and recovery efforts, and a consequent loss of human lives and economic resources. It may be possible to expedite recovery and prevent loss of life by mapping out disaster proneness and the availability of resources in advance. This study proposes the development of two indices to do so. The Indian census data of 2001 is used to develop a methodology for creating one index on disaster proneness and one on resourcefulness for administrative units (tehsils). Findings reveal that tehsil residents face an elevated risk of disaster and that they are also grossly under-prepared for such events. The proposed indices can be used to map regional service provision facilities and to assist authorities in evaluating immediate, intermediate, and long-term disaster recovery needs and resource requirements.     

Impact of dust storm on phytoplankton bloom over the Arabian Sea: a case study during March 2012

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Dust storms affect the primary productivity of the ocean by providing necessary micronutrients to the surface layer. One such dust storm during March...     

Doped graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) catalysts for efficient photodegradation of tetracycline antibiotics in aquatic environments

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Tetracyclines (TCs) antibiotics are very common and often used in both human and veterinary medicines. More than 75% of TCs are excreted in an active...     

The latent structure of landscape perception: A mean and covariance structure modeling approach

Mean and covariance structure (MACS) modeling is used to explore a central question in contemporary environmental psychology: “How should human environments be conceptualized?”. Specifically, an expanded version of the preference model of landscape perception proposed by S. and R. Kaplan is presented. The proposed model not only constitutes a respecification and deepening of the Kaplans’ model but also presents an integrative perspective that simultaneously considers the interrelations among cognitive, motivational, affective, evaluative, and behavioral tendencies in landscape perception. In a series of four studies, we develop and validate multi-item measures of various constructs, test the measure invariances, and the structural model. The findings reveal the crucial role of various constructs that originally were hypothesized by the Kaplans but never included in the model tests. In addition, positive and negative feelings induced by the landscape emerge as antecedents to landscape perception. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Towards a Sustainable Natural Resource Management of Tribal Communities: Findings from a Study of Swidden and Wetland Cultivation in Remote Hill Regions of Eastern India

/ Environmental degradation in many hill forest regions of Asia, inhabited by indigenous/tribal communities is growing at an unprecedented rate. The case of Orissa State in eastern India is no exception. The government is of the view that the local population is responsible for forest degradation as they practice swidden cultivation and forest gathering indiscriminately to sustain their livelihoods. Based on economic merit alone, the government has undertaken some policy initiatives. Such initiatives that are meant to stop swidden cultivation have not been successful. This study recommends an integrated framework for developing a sustainable natural resource management practice for tribal communities. The framework has taken into consideration both economic and noneconomic factors in evaluating various alternatives. Furthermore, it has been applied to two tribal communities in Orissa (Juang and Saora). Based on an economic analysis comparing returns from swidden as well as wetland cultivation, it is observed that where forest degradation is not serious, wetland cultivation does not have a significant economic merit vis-à-vis swidden cultivation. However, in view of the long-term sustainability issue within ecological limits, swidden cultivation may be phased out in favor of wetland cultivation with an appropriate transition period. During this transition, government must adopt suitable policy initiatives to provide tribals tenurial rights to land, help financially in creating settled lands through terracing, introduce certain improved agroforestry techniques and train tribal people in other income-generating activities. Furthermore, all such interventions made by the government should have a strong sociocultural component in order to attract the tribal people to give up swidden cultivation.     

The ionic compositions of fine and coarse particle fractions in the two urban areas of Korea

The ionic composition of PM2.5 and PM10 was investigated using PM samples collected from Seoul and Busan during the winter of 2002. Based on the measurement data, we attempted to investigate the relative roles of different source processes in the composition of airborne particles at the two distinct urban areas. According to our measurements, the major components of both PM fractions were clearly distinguished from each other at the two different sites. It was found that the ionic concentrations in coarse fractions were generally compatible with each other at the two sites (NH(4)(+), NO(3)(-), NSSS, etc.). However, differences in their concentration levels were significant in the fine fractions and their mass concentration levels in Seoul exhibit threefold enhancement relative to Busan. The results further indicated that anthropogenic signatures were generally more evident in the fine rather than coarse fractions at both sites. However, a comparison of the coarse fraction data indicated the dominance of natural (oceanic) processes at the Busan site and conservative relationships among the different ionic components. The results of the back trajectory analysis confirmed that air mass movement patterns influence the ionic compositions of PM across different particle fractions and between different study sites.     

Perceived Conflicts Between Pastoralism and Conservation of the Kiang Equus kiang in the Ladakh Trans-Himalaya, India

An emerging conflict with Trans-Himalayan pastoral communities in Ladakh’s Changthang Plateau threatens the conservation prospects of the kiang (Equus kiang) in India. It is locally believed that Changthang’s rangelands are overstocked with kiang, resulting in forage competition with livestock. Here, we provide a review and preliminary data on the causes of this conflict. Erosion of people’s tolerance of the kiang can be attributed to factors such as the loss of traditional pastures during an Indo-Chinese war fought in 1962, immigration of refugees from Tibet, doubling of the livestock population in about 20 years, and increasing commercialization of cashmere (pashmina) production. The perception of kiang overstocking appears misplaced, because our range-wide density estimate of 0.24 kiang km⁻² (± 0.44, 95% CL) is comparable to kiang densities reported from Tibet. A catastrophic decline during the war and subsequent recovery of the kiang population apparently led to the overstocking perception in Ladakh. In the Hanle Valley, an important area for the kiang, its density was higher (0.56 km⁻²) although even here, we estimated the total forage consumed by kiang to be only 3–4% compared to 96–97% consumed by the large livestock population (78 km⁻²). Our analysis nevertheless suggests that at a localized scale, some herders do face serious forage competition from kiang in key areas such as moist sedge meadows, and thus management strategies also need to be devised at this scale. In-depth socioeconomic surveys are needed to understand the full extent of the conflicts, and herder-centered participatory resolution needs to be facilitated to ensure that a sustainable solution for livelihoods and kiang conservation is achieved.