Environmental inventory and the distribution of inorganic nutrients in a tropical estuary of the south-west coast of India

Dissolved nutrients (PO sub(4)-P, NO sub(3)-N, NO sub(2)-N and SiO sub(4)-Si) estimated in the surface and bottom waters of five selected stations of the Paravur Lake, Kerala, India, during February 1987 to January 1988 revealed distinct seasonal variations. Rainfall and land drainage play significant roles in the nutrient economy, particularly NO sub(3)-N and SiO sub(4)-Si, of this water body. Abnormally high values of PO sub(4)-P indicated extremely polluted condition at the wetting zone of the lake during the premonsoon season. SiO sub(4)-Si showed significant negative relationship with salinity.

土地利用历史及管理对内蒙古典型草原群落结构的影响

在内蒙古典型草原农牧交错区多伦县境内，进行了土地利用历史和管理对群落结构演变影响的研究。探讨了模拟降雨和添加N、P对草地群落结构的单因子效应和互作效应。土地利用历史选择了围封禁牧和弃耕两种。弃耕地的弃耕历史为4年，围封禁牧分别为围封1年和围封4年。研究在2005年进行了一年，主要研究结果如下： 1. 在内蒙古典型草原地区，土地利用历史对物种丰富度、植被盖度的影响不大，但对物种分布均度、植被高度影响显著。弃耕地的物种分布均质性较差，但植被高度高于围封草地。弃耕地的物种多样性指数、枯落物覆盖度低于围封草地，围封草地中围封4年的又低于围封1年。 2. 增雨对内蒙古典型草原群落的物种丰富度无显著影响，但利于植被盖度和植被高度的增加。增雨也使得群落的枯落物覆盖度和空地覆盖比例下降。在获得水分的条件下豆科植物的扩张速度快于禾本科植物，表现出了群落结构分异的趋势。 3. 添加N素和P素没有引起群落物种丰富度的明显变化，但添加N素利于物种数目增加。添加N素还使得草地植被盖度增加、枯落物覆盖度和空地覆盖比例下降，但添加P素没有产生类似的效果。添加5g/m2 以上的N就会引起内蒙古典型草原枯落物覆盖度的显著降低。添加N素后，禾本科植物盖度增加，但豆科植物响应不强烈;添加P素后，豆科植物盖度增势明显。因此，豆科植物对P素反应敏感，而对N素渴求不强烈。 4. 水、N、P交互对物种丰富度和植被高度影响都不大，但都有促使植被盖度增加、枯落物覆盖度和空地覆盖比例下降的趋势。水、N、P交互还使得禾本科盖度增加，但除水、P交互外，各交互组合对豆科植物盖度的影响都不大明显。 综上所述，土地利用方式和管理是内蒙古典型草原群落结构演变的重要驱动力。在当今人类活动日益加剧的形势下，天然植被受人为的干扰越来越大。如何保护内蒙古典型草原的植被，是许多研究者共同肩负的重任。

Limnological studies of a freshwater tropical impoundment : Powai Lake. 1: Morphometry and physical features

Powai Lake, an impoundment, came into existence in 1891 when the riverlet Dhanisar was dammed to conserve rainwater for drinking purpose. However, the water was found to be unpotable and the lake was leased out to the Angling Association, Bombay, exclusively for angling and sports. The lake is located about 27 km in the northeast of Bombay city at a height of 55m above MSL. It is rainfed with an average rainfall of 2,400 mm. The maximum waterspread area is 220 ha with a maximum capacity of 8.11 million m super(3) in the peak monsoon period when the water overflows the dam. There is no drawdown from the lake. Fluctuation in the water level is mainly due to evaporation and percolation. Transparency is low mainly due to suspended organic particles. There is hardly any difference in the water temperatures of surface and bottom, hence the annual heat budget is low at 2,818 cal m super(-2).

内蒙古多伦典型草原几种植物叶片性状与生物量及降雨量关系的初步研究

植物性状是植物与环境长期互作过程中表现出的内在或外部的特征。目前植物生态学界关于植物性状的研究，主要包括以下三个方面的研究内容：植物性状与环境因子间的关系，反映植物性状对环境变化的响应或适应机制；植物性状与生态系统功能的关系，以更好地揭示生态系统功能的内在驱动机制；植物性状间的相关关系和消长对策，反映植物性状的协同进化机制。 本试验所在地区内蒙古多伦十三里滩为典型克氏针茅草原，水分为当地生态系统的主要限制因素。我们在当地的围封样地内，采用人工模拟生长季降雨变化梯度的方法，研究了内蒙古典型草原几种常见植物叶片功能性状对模拟降雨量梯度的响应、性状之间的协变关系以及植物性状与地上部分生物量间的关系。研究工作在2005-2006年期间进行。观测的叶片性状包括叶片干物质含量(LDMC)，比叶面积(SLA)和叶片氮含量(LNCmass, LNCarea)，以地上部分生物量作为年净初级生产力(ANPP)估计，降雨量梯度模拟了两个水平，即对照(接收正常降雨)和增雨。主要结论如下：1) 叶片性状在降雨量梯度上的变化趋势在物种水平上表现出多样化的特点，性状的变化趋势是否有显著的格局取决于物种或特定性状。2) 叶片性状对水分梯度的响应在功能群水平上表现出各自的特点，Grass功能群对水分梯度的响应敏感性较低，Forb居中，Legume表现出较强的敏感性，表明Grass功能群对水分的耐受性比较强，这在一定程度上解释了当地克氏针茅草原上目前以禾草类为主的现状，对物种之间的替代有一定的指示性。而群落水平上探讨性状在环境梯度上的变异趋势，研究结论存在较大的不确定性，主要是难以区分环境和系统发育背景对植物性状的影响。3)叶片功能性状间的协变关系，不同物种因其自身发生背景不同，在不同环境背景下总体表现出一致的变化规律，但也存在例外。相对而言，对功能性状间协变关系的研究在物种水平或功能群水平上更有意义，而在群落水平上所得结论，可能会掩盖了群落内部不同物种或不同功能群间的信息。4)叶片功能性状与草原地上部生物量的关系在功能群水平上呈显著正相关关系，再次验证了土壤含水量的变化同土壤氮元素的动态，共同影响了植物的氮利用策略，进一步影响了初级生产力等和氮元素直接相关植物性状参数。在群落水平上叶片功能性状与生物量的之间并没有表现出可遵循的规律性，说明叶片功能性状对生物量的作用更多地局限在群落内部的组织层次上发挥作用。5)本研究的虽然从不同的组织层次上探讨了叶片功能性状对环境、性状之间的协变关系以及与地上部分生物量间的关系，由于植物性状变化幅度可能与环境梯度密切相关，如果模拟环境梯度不够大，可能会影响结论的普遍性。此外，本次野外控制试验时间较短，数据量偏少，本文的结论尚需要进一步验证。

Aquacrops of Darbhanga District in north Bihar and their commercial significance

Darbhanga district in North Bihar is characterised by thick alluvial soil, moderately good rainfall, high humidity, ample sunshine and numerous water resources in the form of perennial rivers, tributaries, streams, lakes, ponds, pools and puddles. The aquacrops of this district include several species of commercially important fishes, aquatic cash crops such as makhana (Euryale ferox), singhara (Trapa spp.), lotus, lilly, Khubi etc. and molluscs. This paper highlights the commercial significance of these aquacrops and offers suggestions for their sustained development.

Economic feasibility of composite fish culture in leased-in village tanks of Kanyakumari district: an invesment analysis

Kanyakumari district belonging to the high rainfall zone has resource advantages for composite fish culture in the leased-in village tanks. There are more than 400 fish farmers operating in leased-in tanks following composite fish culture under the FFDA programme. To estimate the economic feasibility and financial viability of the enterprise, the present study was taken up. 38 fish farmers selected from the district provided the necessary information like capital investment, costs and return and constraints. The data collected were analysed and a farm nearest to the average farm situation was taken as the representative farm. Investment criteria like PayBack Period (PBP), Simple Rate of Returns (SRR), Net Present Value (NPV) and Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) were estimated taking into account a period of 10 years, the period for which the village tanks are leased-out to fish farmers under the FFDA programme. The analysis indicated the profitability of composite fish culture in village tanks in the district and the results are discussed with recommendations.

Salinity and temperature variations of the surface waters in the Jaffna Lagoon

Salinity and temperature in the sea surface of the Jaffna Lagoon were observed from August 1967 to July 1968. Peak surface temperatures were recorded during April and the lowest temperature recorded was in December. The seasonal variations of surface temperature closely followed a similar pattern in all locations of the lagoon. Salinity values in the lagoon surface were very high during the period from May to August and were relatively low during the period from October to December. Monsoon, rainfall, exchange of water between the lagoon and the sea and within the lagoon, and the currents in the Palk Bay might have been the factors which influenced the salinity structure of the surface waters of the lagoon during this period.

Chemical analyses of some Ceylon fishes - 2

Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean. Many varieties of marine species of fishes are caught in waters surrounding the island. The catches vary from coast to coast with the monsoonal fluctuations. The island is geographically situated in the tropical latitudes of high rainfall. The topographical landscape presents a central cluster of peaks surrounded by vistas of plains. Hence inland water bodies rise and meander in different directions of the country resulting in heterogeneous habitats yielding a host of freshwater fishes. As the different types of marine and freshwater fishes are manifold, an investigation into the nature and constituents of various species from a chemical standpoint was initiated by Lantz and Gunasekera (1957). Their paper was with a view to rendering possible a better commercial utilization of fishes. The present work is an extension of the above with necessary deviations. Lantz and Gunasekera (1957) had published results of 30 species of Sri Lanka fishes. The present paper introduces results of 5 species and investigations are being continued to cover other species. Investigations appearing in this paper were on fish samples obtained from different sales points in Colombo.

Phytoplankton communities of a floodplain lake of the Brahmaputra River basin, Upper Assam

Phytoplankton (52 species; Bacillariophyceae>Chlorophyceae>Cyanophyceae> Euglenophyceae=Dinophyceae) of Samuajan beel, a tropical floodplain lake, registered identical mean annual richness (30+4 species) in littoral and limnetic regions and depicted 33.3-77.2% and 31.4-81.1% community similarities respectively. Their abundance ranged between 137+54 n/l in littoral (Bacillariophyceae>Chlorophyceae) and 122 ± 45 n/l (Chlorophyceae>Bacillariophyceae) in limnetic communities, comprised about 46% of net plankton and indicated winter peaks. This study depicted moderate species diversity, high evenness and low dominance of phytoplankton; species diversity showed significant direct correlation with richness and evenness and an inverse relationship with dominance. Phytoplankton showed significant positive relationship with transparency and silicate and negative with water temperature, rainfall, chloride and nitrate. Multiple regression revealed that ten abiotic factors accounted for >80-98% of density variations of phytoplankton and the dominant groups. ANOVA depicted trends of significance in abundance of the biotic communities analysed.

Assessing seasonal precipitation trends in India using parametric and non-parametric statistical techniques

This paper provides an insight into the long-term trends of the four seasonal and annual precipitations in various climatological regions and sub-regions in India. The trends were useful to investigate whether Indian seasonal rainfall is changing in terms of magnitude or location-wise. Trends were assessed over the period of 1954-2003 using parametric ordinary least square fits and non-parametric Mann-Kendall technique. The trend significance was tested at the 95% confidence level. Apart from the trends for individual climatological regions in India and the average for the whole of India, trends were also specifically determined for the possible smaller geographical areas in order to understand how different the trends would be from the bigger spatial scales. The smaller geographical regions consist of the whole southwestern continental state of Kerala. It was shown that there are decreasing trends in the spring and monsoon rainfall and increasing trends in the autumn and winter rainfalls. These changes are not always homogeneous over various regions, even in the very short scales implying a careful regional analysis would be necessary for drawing conclusions regarding agro-ecological or other local projects requiring change in rainfall information. Furthermore, the differences between the trend magnitudes and directions from the two different methods are significantly small and fall well within the significance limit for all the cases investigated in Indian regions (except where noted). © 2010 Springer-Verlag.

Benthic fauna and water quality in Gorganrood River, Iran

This present work study on water quality and benthic Macro invertebrate in Gorganrood, river. The research was carried out at 6 sampling site and the abundance and diversity of benthos were monitored along the length of river between 2007_2008_14 families were recorded in phyla, namely Annelidae, Mollusca,.... The greatest number of species was at 1 st station and the least number was at 6th station. The upper section supported more diverse community then the lower section. A low macro invertebrate abundance was observed during spring as a result of heavy rainfall and flood, and generally in all lowest section because of high valve of nitrogen and other nutrients. Water physiochemical parameters such as Phosphate, Nitrate,TPS and others were measured and water quality were studied through different indices such as saprobic system, Helsinhoff (FBI), BMWP and the results were compared and evaluated by physical chemical and parameters. The result indicated that the water quality in the up stream and the middle were good to fair, but the down stream qualities were pour at all sites.

Temporal and spatial distribution of phytoplankton with emphasis on Skeletonema costatum in the Mathamuhuri river – estuary (Chakaria mangrove ecosystem), Bangladesh

A total of 91 species under 44 genera were identified among the phytoplankton community during the course of one year's investigation between May 1982 and April 1983. Bacillariophyta was the most dominant group with 72 specie, Chlorophyta 11 spp, Cyanophyta 6 spp and Pyrrophyta was represented by 2 species. The yearly percentage composition of 4 groups of phytoplankton in order of abundance were Bacillariophyta 50.77%, Cyanophyta 47.70%, Chlorophyta 1.5% and Pyrrophyta 0.02%. The highest densities of phytoplankton were recorded in monsoon months (June-July) with a peak in July (31550 cells/l) and the minimum in February (770 cells/1). Higher concentration of phytoplankton was recorded at station 2, nearer to the Chakaria Sundarbans (mangroves), but abundance of phytoplankton showed no significant difference in the two stations (Mann Whitney U test, P=0.64, Z=-0.642, U=64). Phytoplankton population in this area were positively correlated with rainfall (r=0.655, P=<0.5, df.22) and water temperature (r=0.523, P=<0.05). Skeletonema costatum was the dominant member of phytoplankton and occupied 35.23% of the annual population and occurred throughout the period of study except in September and January. Its abundance was recorded during the monsoon months (April- July) with a maximum density (24185 cells/l) in July. No significant correlation was found between abundance of S. costatum and the hydro-meteorological parameters recorded in the Chakaria mangrove area.

Seasonal variations in the activity budget of Nomascus concolor jingdongensis at Mt. Wuliang, Central Yunnan, China: Effects of diet and temperature

We studied seasonal variation in the activity budget of a habituated group of Nomascus concolor jingdongensis at Mt. Wuliang, Central Yunnan, China from March 2005 to April 2006 via scan sampling at 5-min intervals. The study site is near the northern extreme of the distribution of hylobatids, at high altitude with extreme seasonality of temperature and rainfall. During the day, feeding manifested a bimodal pattern of high activity levels in mid-morning and mid-afternoon, whereas resting reached a peak at midday, with proportionally less time used for traveling. Annually, the group spent an average of 40.0% of the time resting, 35.1% feeding, 19.9% traveling, 2.6% singing, 1.2% playing, and 1.3% in other activities. The proportion of time allocated to activities showed significant monthly variations and was influenced by the diet and temperature. Gibbons increased traveling and playing time and decreased feeding time when they ate more fruit, and they decreased traveling, singing, and playing time and increased feeding time when they ate more leaves. Moreover, when the temperature was low, the gibbons decreased time traveling and increased time resting. In summary, black-crested gibbons employed high-effort activities when they ate more fruit and energy-conservation patterns when they ate more leaves and in low temperature. Behavioral data from the site are particularly useful in understanding gibbon behavioral adaptations to different sets of ecological conditions.

Reproductive physiology of ribbon fish (Trichiurus lepturus)

The ribbon fishes ‘of the family Trichiuridac are represented as one of the most important food resources in Indian ocean. High density of the dominant species of ribbon fish (Trichiurus lepturus) in Oman sea and the 'Tillable catch in last yeas (more than 7000 tones per year) makes a trust area for studing their population biolog and stock assessment. As our knowledge on reproductive biology of this species has an important role on their fisheries management, as well as conservation of this stock from decline or over fishing, this research was held to determine some aspects of reproductive physiology of ribbon fish and the effects of environmental factors in gonadal cycle. The goals of the present thesis is to determine some aspects of reproductive physiology such as gonadosomatic index (GSI) , hepatosomatic index (HSI), condition factor (Ko, fecundity, sex ratio, size at first maturity, size at maturity (LM5O) and their relative hormonal & biochemical fluctuations. In this regards annual variation of sex hormones ic. estradiol 17-B, progestron, cortisol, testostrone and gonadotropins FSH (GTH-I) , LH (GTH-ll)I were measured ; gonadal histological studies were done by light & electron micrography. The research was carried out from April 1995 to January 19% in Ras Nleidani in the north part of Oman sea, and the environmental factors such as temperature, salinity, oxygen, rainfall and pH were measured. The effects of these parameters on reproductive cycle and hormonal fluctuationswere discussed by using correlation and principle component analysis (PCA). Female Ribbon fish reproductive strategy shows the same paterns of nonguarder marine teleosts. T. lepturus has more than one spawning season (existance of egges in different size in each month) and therfore it must have asynchronous ovaries and belong to continious spawners. GSI and HSI are good evidences for this type of reproductive patern. The testis of the lobular type , which is typical of most teleosts , is composed of numerous lobules which are separated from each other by a thin layer of fibrous connective tissue. GSI fluctuations revealed prolong- spawning time in males. There is significant increase in 17-13 estradiol. progestrone , cortisol and gonadotropins with maturity and prespawning period of female T lepturus. Plasma concentration of E2 and GTH II incresaed along with water temperature increasing (3300).. Spawning was observed from Nov. 1995 to Apr. 1996 in this species. Progestrone increased significantly with increasing rainfall in this season (P<0.01). Plasma cortisol levels increased with maturation and vitelpgenesis and also with the peak of spawning. From lenght-weight frequency and size distribution in each age groups and also minimum size at first maturity (52a cm) it would he concluded that T. lepturus must be matured at 2 years of age. Serum cholestrol and triglicerides significantly increased when maturation occured in this species. The relationship between alkaline phosphatase activity and hormonal fluctuations with maturity and vitelogenesis were discussed. Proximate compostion (muscle) shows significant variation with spawning period and maturity. Absolute individual fecundity (17420-159150) increased with body length and weight. Ultrastructural observations show dramatic variation in cell membrane (0ocyte membrane), yolk vesicles and, nucleolus dispersal in relation to maturity stages. fluctuations of gonadal hormones were discused in relation with vitelogenesis. Testosterone increased in males from Nov: to Mar. due to environmental impacts and spawning time. Sex ratio in different depth (10-40 m ,80-110 m) shows significnt differences in this ratio for two depths. In 10-40 m depth female shows dominant abundance to male in each months that may be due to their reproductive migration behaviour. The effects of temperature photoperiod and rainfall to maturity and spawning were discussed. According to -pawning period of T. leptunts in our sampling area it could be suggested that ribbon fish fi,theries must be restricted in the peak of spawning seasons (Feb. to Mar.) and in the spawning grounds (under 40 m depths). Other suggestions for population conservation have been mentioned.

Model structure and uncertainty for stochastic non-point source modelling applications

The uncertainty associated with a rainfall-runoff and non-point source loading (NPS) model can be attributed to both the parameterization and model structure. An interesting implication of the areal nature of NPS models is the direct relationship between model structure (i.e. sub-watershed size) and sample size for the parameterization of spatial data. The approach of this research is to find structural limitations in scale for the use of the conceptual NPS model, then examine the scales at which suitable stochastic depictions of key parameter sets can be generated. The overlapping regions are optimal (and possibly the only suitable regions) for conducting meaningful stochastic analysis with a given NPS model. Previous work has sought to find optimal scales for deterministic analysis (where, in fact, calibration can be adjusted to compensate for sub-optimal scale selection); however, analysis of stochastic suitability and uncertainty associated with both the conceptual model and the parameter set, as presented here, is novel; as is the strategy of delineating a watershed based on the uncertainty distribution. The results of this paper demonstrate a narrow range of acceptable model structure for stochastic analysis in the chosen NPS model. In the case examined, the uncertainties associated with parameterization and parameter sensitivity are shown to be outweighed in significance by those resulting from structural and conceptual decisions. © 2011 Copyright IAHS Press.