Bio Diversity

The distribution of selected hydrophytes and their pollen morphology was carried out in six water bodies of Puducherry outskirts during the years 2006-07. Fifteen angiosperm species belonging to fifteen genera and fifteen families were identified (Aeschynomene indica, Aponogeton natans, Eichhornia crassipes, Ipomoea aquatica, Limnophila polystachia , Ludwigia adscendens, Nelumbo nucifera, Neptunia oleracea, Nymphaea pubescens, Nymphoides hydrophylla, Ottelia alismoides, Persicaria pulchra, Pistia stratiotes, Scirpus articulatus, Typha angustata). Many of the species observed were found in all the places studied. The mean number of pollen production per anther ranged from 847 to 41416. The pollen grains are mostly apolar or isopolar rarely heteropolar. The shape is commonly spheroidal or oblate-spheroidal rarely boat shaped (Nymphaea pubescens) and sub-prolate (Nelumbo nucifera). In Typha angustata the pollen grains are found in tetrads. Similarly exine sculpturing is also extremely varied ranging from reticulate to regulate. Apertures are mostly colpate or porate. The present study for the first time documents the diversity and pollen morphology of selected species in water bodies of the coastal environs.

There has been growing concern about global sea-level rise and its impacts on mankind. This work therefore focuses on analyzing sea level data of Cape Coast Sea by employing conventional methods of time series analysis and extreme value theory. The study seeks to find out if there is any significant rise in the sea levels of the Cape Coast Sea that will cause flooding of the town and to make recommendations as to whether resettlement issues should be considered. The exploratory analysis reveals that the sea levels of the Cape Coast Sea are characterized by trend and seasonality. The conventional approach of analyzing the sea level data considered sitting a trend model, trend plus seasonal model, a quadratic trend model and a quadratic plus seasonal model to the sea levels of the Cape Coast Sea. The analysis reveals that the fluctuations in the sea levels of the Cape Coast Sea could best be modeled by a trend plus seasonal model. The estimated parameters of the model reveal a highly significant and positive trend in the sea levels of the Cape Coast Sea, and if this trend continues it will have serious implication for the flooding of the town. The extreme value approach in analyzing the sea levels of the Cape Coast Sea considered sitting a General Extreme Value (GEV) distribution model to the annual maxima sea levels (block maxima approach) and the Generalized Pareto Distribution (GPD) model (threshold model). The fitted GEV distribution that changes linearly in the location parameter(µ (t)) is reasonable in modeling the annual maximum sea levels of the Cape Coast sea levels and this supports the fact that the annual maximum sea levels increases over time. The GPD model on the other hand does not support a linear trend in the scale parameter (?(t)). On a whole, the estimated parameters of both models show an increase in the sea levels, and this is significant for the flooding of the town.

The present study was carried out to determine on hydrography; composition and community structure of zooplankton at the Muthupettai mangrove environment, Palk Strait (Southeast coast of India), during February 2006 to January 2007. Physico-chemical parameters and nutrients such as air temperatures, surface water temperatures, salinity, pH, light extinction coefficient (LEC), dissolved oxygen , nitrite, nitrate, inorganic phosphate and silicate were at the ranges of 21-32.8ºC, 23- 31.0°C, 14.5- 34‰,7.4-8.3, 0.21- 0.83, 3.01 to 5.33mg/1, 0.122 to 2.08?M, 0.911 to 6.00?M, 1.03 to 2.98?M and 30.21 to 102.21?M, respectively. The maximum density was found during summer season coinciding with the stable hydrographical conditions. Totally 92 species of zooplankton besides 18 larvae were recorded and the foraminifera and copepods formed the dominant group. Higher values of zooplankton density and species diversity were found during premonsoon and summer seasons and which showed positive correlation with salinity. The seasonal distribution and abundance of plankton are discussed in relation to hydrographical parameters.

One of the major problems confronting cities and towns of the third world countries today is that of population explosion leading to uncontrolled urban growth. This, aside the fact that it leads to the conversion of agricultural land into other uses (residential especially), also affects negatively, the general well-being of the urban dwellers as well as the environment as a result of rural-urban migration. It was on this basis that this paper set out to assess the impact of the expansion of Minna, along the Minna-Bida road on agricultural land. In order to effectively achieve this, both the primary and secondary sources of data collection were employed. The primary data was obtained through the administration of 60 questionnaires on the natives of the communities under study, while the secondary data was obtained from sources like internet materials and journals. The result of the study revealed that the quantity of farm produce being evacuated from the communities to Minna has been on steady decline owing to the selling of agricultural land by the natives. The result also confirmed that the development activities now taking place in the study areas are not guided by any policy guideline (as a result of the obsoleteness of the Minna master plan), thus the haphazard development of the communities. Owing to this therefore, the paper recommended that there should be a paradigm shift in physical planning, where all stakeholders would deliberate and find solutions to the problems confronting the communities in terms of their agricultural and socio-economic activities. It was also recommended that government should show more commitment to the economic, physical and social development of people through the review of the Minna.

Marine mycology is one of the major emerging areas or research in tropics. It is gaining importance not only due to taxonomic and ecological perspective, but also for unique metabolites biochemical and enzymes from the sea. Majority of the studies on marine fungi are confined to the temperate regions. Studies in tropics and subtropics gained importance only in last two decades. So in this present study addresses the marine fungi undertaken in tropical/subtropical habitats especially driftwoods in muthupet mangroves. Diversity of marine fungi colonizing the drift wood samples was assessed and the common and dominant driftwood inhabiting marine fungus were grown on seven different media. A total number of 23 species (11 genera) of fungi were recorded from the driftwood samples collected from five different stations of Muthupet mangrove (Chief corner, Koraiyar River, Saradi, Sethuguda, Xavier Munai). They were assignable to ascomycotina (3 species), basidiomycotina (1 species) and Deuteromycotina (19 species). The common and dominant marine fungus was showed fast growth in SWPDA.

Worldwide data clearly indicate that radon contributes a major proportion to background radiation. Interest in radon gas and its short-lived decay daughters is real because of the possible link between sustained exposure to radon gas and the development of lung cancer. In Ghana, research data on radon concentration in various parts of the country have been obtained for more than a decade. Our recent research includes indoor radon level measurements in the district of Dome in the Dome-Kwabenya constituency. In this District, radon concentrations varying from 278Bq/m3 to 749Bq/m3 have been measured. These values translate to annual effective dose range of 8.42 to 22.41mSv per year. Our calculations, using the BEIR III model, lead to the prediction of a lung cancer risk of 2.03 x 10-5 to 4.06 x 10-5 for various age groups. In this Paper, we compare our recent data with previous data from our laboratory. We conclude that the radon factor in calculations of background radiation in Ghana is real. Therefore, serious effort must be made to bring all results together for the establishment of a national data base and reference level for the country.

This study investigated how the exploitation of wetlands, locally known as dambos, changes their vegetation composition, soil properties and how that in-turn affects the water quality. We therefore compared diversity and soil conditions between a protected (Madikane) and exploited (Dufuya) dambo impacted by communal agriculture and grazing in Lower Gweru, Zimbabwe. Species diversity was higher in Madikane (H’ = 2.52) than Dufuya (H’ = 2.14). Species that were present in Madikane indicated a permanent or semi-permanent wetness compared to species tolerant to arid conditions, reflecting disturbance in Dufuya. Dambo utilization also indicated a change in dominance from perennials to annuals and an increase in exotic species. There was no significant difference in the physical structure of the soil between the rather pristine and exploited sites (% clay and % silt, p > 0.05). A significant difference was recorded in the chemical properties of the soil (pH, phosphorus, nitrate-N, ammonium-N and organic carbon content). Water quality was good in the protected dambo than the exploited dambo as indicated by the differences in calcium ions and conductivity. The protection of wetlands is shown to be important in conserving biological diversity.

Fusariumoxysporum f. sp. lycopersici is important tomato pathogen throughout the world, causing severe economic losses. The lower leaves of the potato plant usually turn yellow and die. One or more branches may exhibit such symptoms. The fungus can survive in the soil indefinitely even when no tomatoes are grown. In the experimental study, isolation, radial growth and sporulation of pathogen taken into consideration on different culture, temperature and pH ranges. The result shown that Potato dextrose agar medium was found to be most suitable medium for the growth and sporulation of Fusariumoxysporum f. sp. lycopersici and showed an average of 72.00mm of growth after 7 days of incubation at 28 ± 320C, closely followed by Czapek’s (dox) agar medium, Corn meal agar medium and Richard’s agar medium showed 69.34mm, 63.00mm and 61.34mm of growth respectively. It is observed that 300C was the optimum temperature for the maximum growth and sporulation of the pathogen followed by 250C respectively. Pathogen grew over a wide range of pH from 2.5 to 6.5 but the maximum growth and excellent sporulation was recorded at pH 5.5 followed by 6.5.

Dengue (dengue hemorrhagic fever) has emerged as an epidemic in Pakistan, since 1994. The recent dengue outbreak in year-2011 has drawn serious attention, which has affected over 16,000 people, out of which 306 are reported to have died. By analyzing the available scientific research, this paper reviews the consequences, which have resulted in increased activity of vector, i.e. ‘Aedes aegypti’ during year-2011. The paper establishes a link of the 2011 dengue outbreak with hydro-meteorological events, which have occurred over the year- 2011, which are attributed to climate change. The paper concludes that suitable climatic conditions prevailed during the year, which promoted the the insect’s survival time and habitat but also its replication and maturation, leading to un-president epidemic outbreak of dengue. The paper also proposes appropriate policy planning and institutional, technical, operational/administrative and social and recommendations to manage and control any future dengue outbreaks in Pakistan.

Moth species were collected from three different locations of Rajmahal hills in Jharkhand State of India from March 2011 to May 2013. Month-wise collection of moths was done using light trap and sweeping net. Totally 222 species of moths belonging to 18 different families were recorded. Family Erebidae contained higher number of subfamilies (11), genera (37) and species (74) and was the dominant family in the study area. Noctuidae, was the second largest family represented by 44 species. Moth population was very high during monsoon season. The diversity analysis clearly indicated that species evenness was closer to the maximum level during monsoon and winter periods. The present study clearly shows that Rajmahal hills are a suitable ecosystem for moth fauna in all seasons.