Birds of the man-made ecosystems: the plantations

One-hectare plots were sampled for bird species diversity in the Uttara Kannada district. These plots represented well-preserved evergreen/semievergreen forests, secondary/moist deciduous forests showing different levels of degradation by man and plantations of teak, eucalypts and betelnut. It was found that the betelnut plantation and the evergreen/semievergreen forests had the least bird species diversity ofH′ = 2.58 and 2.61 respectively. The eucalypt and teak plantations hadH′ = 2.69 and 2-92 respectively. In the secondary/moist deciduous forests it ranged from 2.80–3.39. Despite the apparent increase in diversity in the man-modified vegetation types, it was found that there was a gradual displacement of the bird species composition from what was typical to the evergreen forests to those of more urban and scrubby habitats in these man-modified vegetation types. This was particularly so in the eucalypt plantation

Spatial Analysis and Characterisation of Lentic Ecosystems: A Case Study of Varthur Lake, Bangalore

Lentic ecosystems vital functions such as recycling of nutrients, purification of water, recharge of groundwater,augmenting and maintenance of stream flow and habitat provision for a wide variety of flora and fauna along with their recreation values necessitates their sustainable management through appropriate conservation mechanisms. Failure to restore these ecosystems will result in extinction of species or ecosystem types and cause permanent ecological damage. In Bangalore, lentic ecosystems (for example lakes) have played a prominent role serving the needs of agriculture and drinking water. But the burgeoning population accompanied by unplanned developmental activities has led to the drastic reduction in their numbers (from 262 in 1976 to 81). The existing water bodies are contaminated by residential, agricultural, commercial and industrial wastes/effluents. In order to restore the ecosystem, assessment of the level of contamination is crucial. This paper focuses on characterisation and restoration aspects of Varthur lake based on hydrological, morphometric, physical-chemical and socio-economic investigations for a period of six months covering post monsoon seasons. The results of the water quality analysis show that the lake is eutrophic with high concentrations of phosphorous and organic matter. The morphometric analysis indicates that the lake is shallow in relation to its surface area. Socio-economic analyses show dependence of local residents for irrigation, fodder, etc. These analyses highlight the need and urgency to restore the physical, chemical and biological integrity through viable restoration and sustainable watershed management strategies, which include pollution abatement, catchment treatment, desilting of the lake and educating all stakeholders on the conservation and restoration of lake ecosystems.

Aquatic Ecosystems: Conservation, Restoration and Management

Aquatic Ecosystems perform numerous valuable environmental functions. They recycle nutrients, purify water, recharge ground water, augment and maintain stream flow, and provide habitat for a wide variety of flora and fauna and recreation for people. A rapid population increase accompanied by unplanned developmental works has led to the pollution of surface waters due to residential, agricultural, commercial and industrial wastes/effluents and decline in the number of water bodies. Increased demands for drainage of wetlands have been accommodated by channelisation, resulting in further loss of stream habitat, which has led to aquatic organisms becoming extinct or imperiled in increasing numbers and to the impairment of many beneficial uses of water, including drinking, swimming and fishing. Various anthropogenic activities have altered the physical, chemical and biological processes within aquatic ecosystems. An integrated and accelerated effort toward environmental restoration and preservation is needed to stop further degradation of these fragile ecosystems. Failure to restore these ecosystems will result in sharply increased environmental costs later, in the extinction of species or ecosystem types, and in permanent ecological damage.

Analysis of large-amplitude stratospheric mountain wave event observed from the AIRS and MLS sounders over the western Himalayan region

Mountain waves in the stratosphere have been observed over elevated topographies using both nadir-looking and limb-viewing satellites. However, the characteristics of mountain waves generated over the Himalayan Mountain range and the adjacent Tibetan Plateau are relatively less explored. The present study reports on three-dimensional (3-D) properties of a mountain wave event that occurred over the western Himalayan region on 9 December 2008. Observations made by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder on board the Aqua and Microwave Limb Sounder on board the Aura satellites are used to delineate the wave properties. The observed wave properties such as horizontal (lambda(x), lambda(y)) and vertical (lambda(z)) wavelengths are 276 km (zonal), 289 km (meridional), and 25 km, respectively. A good agreement is found between the observed and modeled/analyzed vertical wavelength for a stationary gravity wave determined using the Modern Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) reanalysis winds. The analysis of both the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis and MERRA winds shows that the waves are primarily forced by strong flow across the topography. Using the 3-D properties of waves and the corrected temperature amplitudes, we estimated wave momentum fluxes of the order of similar to 0.05 Pa, which is in agreement with large-amplitude mountain wave events reported elsewhere. In this regard, the present study is considered to be very much informative to the gravity wave drag schemes employed in current general circulation models for this region.

Analysis of large-amplitude stratospheric mountain wave event observed from the AIRS and MLS sounders over the western Himalayan region

Mountain waves in the stratosphere have been observed over elevated topographies using both nadir-looking and limb-viewing satellites. However, the characteristics of mountain waves generated over the Himalayan Mountain range and the adjacent Tibetan Plateau are relatively less explored. The present study reports on three-dimensional (3-D) properties of a mountain wave event that occurred over the western Himalayan region on 9 December 2008. Observations made by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder on board the Aqua and Microwave Limb Sounder on board the Aura satellites are used to delineate the wave properties. The observed wave properties such as horizontal (lambda(x), lambda(y)) and vertical (lambda(z)) wavelengths are 276 km (zonal), 289 km (meridional), and 25 km, respectively. A good agreement is found between the observed and modeled/analyzed vertical wavelength for a stationary gravity wave determined using the Modern Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) reanalysis winds. The analysis of both the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis and MERRA winds shows that the waves are primarily forced by strong flow across the topography. Using the 3-D properties of waves and the corrected temperature amplitudes, we estimated wave momentum fluxes of the order of similar to 0.05 Pa, which is in agreement with large-amplitude mountain wave events reported elsewhere. In this regard, the present study is considered to be very much informative to the gravity wave drag schemes employed in current general circulation models for this region.

Perceptions of priority issues in the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems in India

We report on the results of a country-wide survey of people's perceptions of issues relating to the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems in India. Our survey, mainly conducted online, yielded 572 respondents, mostly among educated, urban and sub-urban citizens interested in ecological and environmental issues. 3160 ``raw'' questions generated by the survey were iteratively processed by a group of ecologists, environmental and conservation scientists to produce the primary result of this study: a summarized list of 152 priority questions for the conservation of India's biodiversity and ecosystems, which range across 17 broad thematic classes. Of these, three thematic classes-''Policy and Governance'', ``Biodiversity and Endangered Species'' and ``Protection and Conservation''-accounted for the largest number of questions. A comparative analysis of the results of this study with those from similar studies in other regions brought out interesting regional differences in the thematic classes of questions that were emphasized and suggest that local context plays a large role in determining emergent themes. We believe that the ready list of priority issues generated by this study can be a useful guiding framework for conservation practitioners, researchers, citizens, policy makers and funders to focus their resources and efforts in India's conservation research, action and funding landscape. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.