Environment monitoring is essential for evaluating environmental planning and policy. Long term monitoring helps in evaluating the success of policy as well as helps in identifying areas for improvement. Environmental monitoring provides a vital scientific insights of long-term trends apart from new knowledge and understanding. For Example, monitoring of Bangalore wetlands during the last two decades, provided evidence of poor environmental status of wetlands in Bangalore affecting the land and groundwater sources in the vicinity. Due to its distinctive contributions to science and practice, monitoring is an integral aspect of ecological research, management, and policy.

Environment monitoring in the neighbourhood would help in the preservation of natural resources (lakes, parks, street trees). During 2011-12, we attempted the deployment of student community from high schools and colleges to document biodiversity under the banner ‘My Village Biodiversity’ in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka State.   This helped in the compilation of biodiversity information of 300 villages within a year. Competitions were conducted for students and nominal rewards announced for the best reports and good presentations. No financing of the educational institutions has been done to carry out this model of work. The objectives of environment monitoring is to generate “Environment Sensitive Citizens” required for the sustainable management of natural resources. This approach includes:

1.0 MAPPING AND MONITORING WATER BODIES

Objective: Mapping water bodies (Spatial extent and location)

MAP: Is a diagrammatic representation usually on a flat surface of the whole or a part of the Earth surface showing various features like road, water bodies etc.
Types of Maps: Maps are classified based on (a) scale- On the basis of scale (ex. Cadastral Maps or Revenue Maps, Topographical Maps, Geographical Maps, Atlas Maps etc.,) (b) Contents and purpose (ex: Road map, Railway map, cultural map)

 

 

How to read a MAP?

• North arrow represents North direction
• Scale is the ratio between distances on a map and the corresponding distances on the earth’s surface.

Scale represents map unit on the ground. For example, scale of 1:250,000 means that 1 unit on the map corresponds to 250,000 units on ground.

Examples of Scales: 57/H/9/NE – 1:25000 map of North east area of Bangalore, 57/H/9 – 1:50000 Map of Bangalore,
Map: 57 indicate 1:1 million, 57/H -1:250,000 shows the district, 57– 1:100000 covers Indian subcontinent.
Map Numbering

 

 

MAP Coordinate system: A coordinate system is a standardized method for assigning codes to locations so that locations can be found easily. Good example is Latitude (LAT) Longitude (long) system.

 

Source: WIKI

 

Spatial data: Data that represents the space is referred as spatial data. Two kinds of spatial data are (i) raster and (ii) vector. Both these are used in GIS (Geographic Information System) to store and retrieve geographical data.

Global Positioning System (GPS): GPS help in locating the co-ordnates of a location, which helps in the navigation. This works on the constellation of 24 communication satellites. Minimum of three satellite signals are necessary for correct measurements.

 

Conversion from Degree Decimals to Degree, Minutes, Seconds

Consider the example 96.31°, the whole units of degrees will remain the same (i.e. in 96.31°, longitude, start with 96°).
Multiply the decimal by 60 (i.e. .31 * 60 = 18.6).
The whole number becomes the minutes (18').
Take the remaining decimal and multiply by 60. (i.e. .6 * 60 = 36).
The resulting number becomes the seconds (36"). Seconds can remain as a decimal.

GPS NAME: ………………… Area surveyed…………………..
Date: …………………, Time: ………….., Name:  ……………..

2.0 DIGITSING MAP FROM ONLINE DIGITAL DATABASE

Google earth (http://earth.google.com) /Bhuvan (http://bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in)

Downloading Google earth

1. Go to http://www.google.com/earth/

2. Installing google earth : Click on downloaded googleearthupdatesetup.exe file to install, you will be greeted with below message

 

3. Creating a vector Layer (Polygon, Point, Line)

a. Adding a polygon – describes a area (ex boundary of a lake)

Use left mouse button to place points on boundary as shown below

Once completed the entire waterbody click ok (example shown below)

Digitise river using mouse by left clicking at each point

After entire stream is delineated click on ok

Example of first order streams and catchment delineated from Google earth

c. Creating a point feature to show a place of interest (Point may represent your school location)

Click on placemark as shown below

Click on ok, once you could locate your school

d. Save digitized KML layers : Right mouse click on the layer to be saved and select save place as

e. Select type as kml  and press on button save as shown below

3.0 QUANTUM GIS (QGIS) – SPATIAL MAPPING TOOL

QGIS is a Free and Open Source GIS for manipulating geographical data (vector, raster), statistical analysis.
INSTALLATION:

Use of QGIS:

Geo referencing:

Digitising vector data
Digitising features (water bodies) of Topo map:

 

Importing Google earth data:

Help from QGIS:
http://www.qgis.org/en/site/forusers/index.html#
http://www.qgis.org/en/docs/index.html

4.0 WATER YIELD IN THE CATCHMENT

Objective: To estimate the water yield in a catchment (of a lake, pond, stream or river).
Catchment (Drainage area, Drainage Basin or Watershed): The area of land draining water into a water body (fig1). Two neighboring catchments are separated by a ridge (highest land that separates two watersheds). The areal extent of a catchment is obtained by tracing the ridge on a Topographical Map (fig2). Based on the spatial extent, catchments are classified given in table 1.

Fig1: Catchment Map

Fig2 : Topographic map indicating different features

Table1: Classification of Catchments in India

 Source: http://fes.org.in/source-book/SWC%20Source%20Book_final.pdf

Contours: Contours are the imaginary lines on the earth surface with equal elevation. In a topographic map of 1:50000 scale, contours are at every 20 metre interval. Contours with decreasing altitudes with respect to an higher altitude contour indicates hillock, on the contrary increasing contours along a low altitude contour indicates Valley. 
Steps involved in Delineating a Catchment:

b. Load the new shape files created, click on toggle editing, click on add feature and start delineating the feature, save the edits. And stop toggle editing.

 

With respect to the water body, digitize its catchment as polygon feature.

step 4. Compute the spatial extent of the catchment. To measure the Area, right click on the catchment layer, click on properties, toggle editing, add column (the same procedure could be adopted to define the attribute), provide the details of the attribute such as attribute name, type such as text, integer or float and then ok. Click on the Field Calculator, click on update field and select the field to be updated (Area). Add the Area Operator to the field calculator expression to estimate the area of the polygon (Catchment). Save Edits and Stop Toggling.

step 5. Click on the Open Attribute to obtain the information about the area estimated. [very important: if you have the coordinate system in latitude longitude degree decimal coordinate system, are would be in square degrees, if the coordinate system is UTM then the area would be as square metres. To convert square degrees to hectares multiply the area measured with 1100*1100, and to convert square metres to hectare divide area measured by 10000]. In the above example demonstrated, area is 152.5 Hectares.

Similarly, other measurements such as distance, coordinates, centroids etc. along with other vector operations could be made using Calculator TOOL.
Rainfall: Daily Rainfall data at different locations are observed using rain gauges as millimeter and maintained by India Meteorological Department (IMD), Public Works Department (PWD), Water resources Development Organisation (WRDO), Agriculture Department, Revenue Department, Forest Department, etc, and is as depicted in fig.3. Each rain gauge represents rainfall over an area assuming rainfall is uniform in its vicinity

Fig 3: Rain Gauge stations

.
To analyze the rainfall trend and dynamics over a region, seasonal and annual rainfall data for atleast 10 to 20 year. 
Steps involved in analyzing rainfall trend in the basin: 

Extraction of Land use details from Google Earth: Google earth provides satellite images with high resolution, this could be used to identify different types of land uses in the basin.

Steps involved in extraction of landuse features from Google earth:

Example: Agriculture as a layer, Forest as a layer, water body as a layer etc

Assessment of water yield: Water yield or Surface Runoff is the precipitated water that drains to a water body in a catchment. Surface runoff occurs during monsoon. Factors affecting Runoff are the Slope, Drainage, Land use, Soil Characteristics, Rainfall. The total quantity of water that can be expected in a stream in a given period of time such as monthly, annual etc… is referred to as Runoff Yield.

Runoff Yield (Q) as kilo.cubic metre (Million Litres) is estimated empirically (eq.1) as a function of Rainfall (P) in mm and Area under different land uses (A) in Hectares.

Q = (C*P*A)/100                               1

Where  Q = Runoff Yield in Million litres
C = Runoff Coefficient of a particular land use
A = Area under land use in Ha
P = Mean Monthly rainfall in mm (average of 10 – 15 years)

Runoff Coefficient under different land use is as specified in table 2.

Water Yield Estimation

 

6.0 GEOTAGGING AND FIELD DATA COLLECTION

Geotagging: Geotagging (is the process of adding geographical identification metadata to various media such as a geotagged photograph or video, websites, SMS messages. This data usually consists of latitude and longitude coordinates, altitude, distance, accuracy data, and place names.

Geotagging photographs is the process of recording location information (the latitude and longitude) where and when a photograph was captured by the camera. The data is recorded within the digital image file that the camera records and this data can be read by any suitable software.

STEPS INVOLVED IN GEOTAGING AND FIELD DATA COLLECTION:

Go to play store in your Android mobiles

Search for EpiCollect software, download and install it.

Open EpiCollect application and the welcome screen is

By default, demo project will be loaded.

To load a new project, select Menu option and load project

Load  “MANGLAORE_WORKSHOP”  Project, which is created to geo-tag plants:

Click on New entry,

Click on assign GPS to get location (x, y: longitude, latitude) details. It takes some time for assigning GPS. You need to wait for few seconds for good accuracy.

Tap to take a photograph for capturing new photo of a sapling. If you have already saved the photograph, you can upload the same). Take a photograph and click save.

Tap to enter form data

After entering press confirm button and press Tap to synchronize to server.

You can also list the earlier data you have entered in List entries section

Click on one entry and preview the entry.

Click on View on Map to visualize on Google maps backdrop.

A simple flow chart of working with EpiCollect

You can create your own project at http://www.epicollect.net/create1.html by providing a new name for your project.

Add the fields which you required for the collection of data input it and save the form.

ANOTHER SIMPLE SOFTWARE FOR FIELD DATA COLLECTION

 

 7. Pollen study and its application – a brief overview

Pollination, the life supporting function of plant world, is considered as one of the most valuable ecosystem services as per human assessment (Mburu et al. 2006). Pollination is defined as “ the process of moving pollen from the anthers of one flower to the stigma of another or the same flower”(www.fao.org). This simple transfer of pollen grains to ovule and subsequent chain of events have led to quests on evolution, biodiversity, species-species interaction and economic prospects. Considering only the economic importance of pollination, an estimation of £153 billion per annum has been calculated at global level (Breeze et al. 2011). Apart from bee the major pollinator, pollination is usually mediated through beetles, bugs, butterflies, moth, flies, birds even through large animals like humans too. The focal point of pollination is successful transfer of pollen grains to flower’s receptive surface i.e. stigma. Depending on destination pollination can be classified as self (within same flower) and cross (to other flower). Similarly, based on mode of pollen transfer it can be anemophily (wind mediated), zoophily (animal mediated) or hydrophily (water mediated).

Pollen: Morphology, development and function

Pollen, the pivotal component of pollination mechanism deserves attention in this regard. Apart from its role in pollination it has many use in other disciplines, both academic and commercial aspects. Pollen, at a glance can be characterized as haploid, small in size, resistant to decay and enormous in production. Morphologically, pollen can be of many shapes, round, pyramidal, elliptical, square and intermediate variations. The cell has two layers, outer layer, exine and inner layer intine. It is the exine which helps most in pollen identification and survival. Exine has sporopolenin, the protein which is responsible for pollen’s extraordinary survival power against desiccation. Exine is also decorated with pores and slits, accordingly pollen can be classified as porate (with pores) and colpate (with slits). In addition to that, many a times exine has additional ornamentations (spine, network etc.) which also helps in classification.

 

transmission electron microscope (TEM)

Pollens are present inside the anthers. They are generated from pollen mother cell (P.M.C) through meiosis. Initially, the resultant cells from meiosis form a tetrad which later on dissociates into single pollen grain. During fertilization, pollen cell gives rise to two sperm cells, among which one fixes with ovule forming diploid zygote and another one joins with central cell to form tri-nucleate endosperm.
Pollen study methods– Pollen study is a part of Palynology, where plant pollen along with spores and microscopic planktonic organisms are studied in both living and fossil form. 

A typical study plan includes following steps –

a) selection of study area (based on objectives): Forest, open land, lakes, mines, ancient sites / objects, air (practically any space can be selected)

b) collection of pollen: Pollen collection should be done under sterile condition (as much as possible). There is always chance of contamination through wind, surrounding material, animals, human interaction and even sampling items. Therefore, collection process should be fast, preferably clean and collected material must have proper labelling. For surface collection of sample, a spoonful of sediment (with replica) is enough for serving the purpose (the amount can vary also. For stratigraphic column, collecting samples at 2 cm vertical intervals ( 1cm3 – 20cm3 ) is mostly recommended (Cummings 2007). For air borne pollens, pollen samplers are used for collection.  

c) processing of sample: Collected samples can be stored under refrigeration until laboratory work begins. Pollen processing is mostly chemical based with an aim to remove all debris attached with the particle. Standard procedure is as follows –

Incubation with 10% hydrochloric acid (HCl) for overnight (for calcium carbonate removal)

Separation of organic layer through centrifugation

Addition of acetolysis mixture (9:1, acetic anhydride : sulphuric acid) to remove non-pollen organogenic material

d) pollen counting: Pollen count can be done under light microscope and observed grains should be compared with reference collection from the related area. In ideal circumstances, at least 300 pollen grains would have been counted, however it depends on concentration of grain recovered after processing.  

 

Palynoassemblage recovered from the surface samples (source: Tripathi et al., 2016, DOI:10.1080/01916122.2015.1045049)

Application of pollen study – Pollen study has multiple applications, which can be broadly categorized into two groups, though many times they are interrelated.

Academic work / integration in other discipline – Paleobiology – the most notable use is in paleobotany to understand past vegetation composition and distribution. Identification of fossil pollen and its affinity with present members would be helpful for evolutionary biology, phylogenetics and addressing issues related to land plant evolution, paleoclimate reconstruction and archeobotany.

Pollen study shed light on human-nature interaction in various ways, like ancient diet construction, crop domestication, crop introduction and social and cultural activities etc.
Geology – pollen composition and form at different sedimentary strata provides detail input related to sedimentation process, prevailing temperature and fossilization output.

Industrial / practical use –
Oil and gas exploration – As oil and gas (“fossil fuel”) originating from vegetation, pollen presence in stratigraphic layers is used as indicator of fossil fuel presence. It is the pollen abundance / density, diversity and coluring pattern which are determinants of fossil fuels presence and quality.

Melissopalynology – One of the interesting use of palynology is in product authentication eg. Honey. Honey has an estimated world production of 3.6 billion pounds in 2011 and the product can be broadly categorized into general and custom made (Phipps 2014). General honey which has more wide circulation network often falls prey to manufacturers false claim of genuineness. The thorough screening of unprocessed honey which most often has trace amount of pollen provides information on source of honey/parent tree, area/country of origin, detection of adulterant, antibiotics etc. On the other hand, custom made honey eg. organic/certified honey, particular tree based honey as per customers’ choice of preference which has niche market but high demand, is very much dependent on authentication which determines their market share.   

Museology – Pollen study provides support to authenticate genuineness of the antique pictures/artefacts to some extent. Paintings especially which have been done in outdoor setup, often have captured pollens in the canvas which could provide information on location and season of the painting, source of the material etc. By corroborating pollen study result with associated information the genuineness or artist/agents’ claim can be validated.    
Custom / Excise application – detection of narcotics, their country of origin, possible route of travel even media of transport can be identified and spotted through pollen analysis.

Forensic science – The successful application of pollen study in crime solving scenario is perhaps most widely referred examples of palynology application. Pollen prints’ detection over victim’s/suspect’s body or any other crime scene objects is an indicator of crime area identification, tracing identity and motive of the crime.
Healthcare – seasonal release of pollen grains, their identity and abundance are useful for making pollen calendar. These calendars are prerequisite for any clinical technicians and medical professionals for treating air borne allergy cases.   

8.0  MANGROVES

Most mangroves are woody plants, shrubs and trees. There are also few herbs, mainly some grasses and sedges. Among the woody plants one is a lower plant- a fern namely Acrostichum aureum this fern grows in colonies in swampy and marshy places where the tidal force is low and salinity is not that high.

I. TRUE MANGROVES

Family: Rhizophoraceae - This is the most important family of mangroves. The members are woody plants, usually trees. The family has spectacular development of aerial stilt roots. These roots spring from the main stem and also the branches; they branch repeatedly and grow downwards and give additional support to the tree in the soft mud. The aerial roots, studded with tiny air passing windows known as lenticels, visible to the naked eye, also help in aeration.

The trees have opposite, simple, dark green leathery leaves. The terminal bud is protected by a long cover made up of stipules. These stipules fall off when new leaves emerge. The members of the family produce from the fruits long, green, cylindrical propagules. These on maturity detach from the fruit and fall vertically into the mud, where they strike roots and become daughter plants. If the propagules happen to fall when the substratum is flooded during high tides they may be carried away by water currents; On reaching suitable swampy places they develop into new plants. This interesting phenomenon of reproduction is called ‘vivipary’. Here apparently the mother plant is giving birth to daughter plants.

Members of Rhizophoraceae can be identified using the following key:

Calyx 8-16 lobed; petals 2 lobed                                     :  1. Bruguiera

Calyx 4-6 lobed; petals not lobed:                      

Calyx 4 lobed; petals without apical outgrowths : 2.  Rhizophora

Calyx 5-lobed; petals with apical outgrowths;
Stamens more than 12                                          :  3. Kandelia

 

R. mucronata: Trees reaching maximum height of 10 m in the Division. Numerous branched stilt roots arise from the base of the stem. Some arise from the branches also. Leaves 10-18 cm X 4-10 cm, broad and elliptic; the leaf tip is produced into a narrow outgrowth called mucro; leaf base blunt to obtuse. Flowers are produced in long clusters, each cluster having 4-8 flowers. Petals are hairy and stamens 8. The propagule, a long green, smooth cylindrical structure, reaches a maximum length of 65 cm .

Note: Both Rhizophora mucronata and R. apiculata are found in Honnavar Division. The former is the commoner and widely used for afforestation.

R. apiculata: A smaller tree, reaching 4-5 m in the Division. Stilt roots arising from main stem as well as from branches form impenetrable barrier beneath the canopy. Leaves elliptic lanceolate with a smaller narrow bristle like point towards the narrow tip. Size 10-20 cm X 5-8 cm. Leaf base conical; leaf middle vein reddish. Flowers in pairs in upper leaf axils, without stalks; petals not hairy; stamens 12. Propagules  30-50 cm long .

3. Kandelia candel: Small trees reaching 5-6 m high. Leaves narrower than Rhizophora, oblong shaped. Flowers white, in dichotomously branched inflorescence axis. Calyx 5 lobed, reflexed; petals 5, divided into numerous fine branches. Stamens numerous.  Propagule cylindrical, green, narrowed towards the tip, 30-40 cm long. The trees have flesh coloured base flattened into buttresses; stilt roots closely adpressed to the stem base. Bark reddish brown, peeling off into flakes

Note: Found commonly in all estuaries

Family: Sonneratiaceae - Buttresses absent; pneumatophores (breathing roots) corky and soft, rising vertically into the air from the mud. Leaves opposite, simple; flowers large with numerous free stamens.

Sonneratia alba: Small trees reaching maximum of 5 m. Many corky pneumatophores stick out of the mud from all around the tree. Leaves opposite, elliptic, oblong, blunt at apex, narrowed at base; Flowers 2-3 together; calyx has a cup shaped part and 6-8 lobes which are distinct in fruit. Petals white, small; stamens numerous, free, white; ovary depressed globose. Fruit somewhat spherical, many seeded with calyx remaining in the fruit. Natural regeneration is plentiful especially in shallow places with low tidal effects .

Note: Found in all rivers except Sharavathi

Sonneratia caseolaris: Trees up to 12 m height;  soft corky pneumatophores longer than S. alba, reaching up to 1 m. Young stem 4-angled.  Leaves almost without stalk, much narrowed at base, opposite. Leaf tip has a pore known as hydathode through which excess salt is secreted. Flowers reddish purple, in singles at the tip of branches; stamens numerous, reddish. Fruits depressed globose  

Note: Most common mangrove tree in Sharavathi; Rare in other rivers; not found in Gnagavali, although Rao & Suresh (2001) present it as a cpmmon species there. It prefers places with low salinity; the Sharavathi river, where fresh water from the dams is constantly released appears to be ideal for it.

Family: Avicenniaceae - Shrubs or trees without buttresses. Breathing roots (pneumatophores) numerous and protruding from the mud all around the tree. Leaves opposite, without stipules; flowers yellow. Fruit one seeded, dry when mature.

Avicennia marina: Shrubs or small trees upto 4 m high. Bark smooth yellowish brown. Leaves 3-6 X 2.2.5 cm, elliptic oblong or ovate, narrowing to an acute tip; leaf base rounded or narrowing. Flowers small, stalkless, yellowish clustered towards tips of floral axis; stamens not projecting out from the corolla. Fruit at maturity ovoid with a pointed tip, slightly flattened .

Note: Very common in Gangavali, rare in Aghanashini, common in Alvekodi creek, absent in Sharavathi and Badgani, moderate in Venktapur.

Avicennia officinalis: Larger trees, reaches 8-10 meters in Honavar Forest Division; exceptional individuals of 12 m are found in the sacred grove of Masurkurve in Aghanashini. Smooth whitish gray bark; pneuatophores seen all around the tree. In addition masses of branching stilt roots hang from the upper part of the trunk and base of large branches. Leaves 5-7.5 cm X 2.5- 3.25 cm, ovate, oblong with more or less rounded leaf tip. Small, yellow stalkless flowers seen in clusters towards the tip of floral axis. Flowers distinguished from A. marina by stamens seen projecting outside the corolla

Note: Found in all the rivers of the Division.

Family: Myrsinaceae - Plants without pneumatophores; flowers with 4 sepals and 4 petals; and superior ovary.

Aegiceras corniculatum: Shrubs or small trees with slender stilt roots. Leaves 4-8 cm X 2-4 cm, alternate, ovate-oblong or obovate, may have a small notch at the blunt tip; leaf base cone like. Flowers small, white, fragrant in umbellate bunches. Propagules which come out of the fruits are 3-4 cm long and curved with pointed tips .

Notes: Found in all estuaries along edges and banks away from strong tides; notable for fragrant white flowers

Euphorbiaceae - Plants with latex. Male and female flowers in separate clusters

Excoecaria agallocha:Large shrubs or small trees occurring along the edges of the swamp, on bunds and on wet soils. Acrid, blister causing latex present. Numerous serpentine roots produced from base of stem. Leaves alternate, margins entire or mostly minutely toothed; leaves turn red before shedding .

Acanthaceae - Family of herbs and shrubs. Flowers not regular in shape.

Acanthus ilicifolius: A shrubby plant growing in colonies in shallow parts of the swamp. Leaves opposite, stiff, wavy and with sharp spines along the margin. Flowers large, blue

Poaceae - The members are grasses. In the estuaries these grasses are found often forming meadows submerged during high tides and exposed during low tides.

Porteresia coarctata: A stiff erect grass growing in meadows in open shallow parts of the estuaries

II.  MANGROVE ASSOCIATES

Numerous species of plants occur in association with the mangroves. These are not obligate mangroves and higher salinity is not often a prerequisite for their growth. They may also be often associated with inland habitats. These plants have certain degree of salinity tolerance. They often grow along the margins of swamps, or on estuarine bunds. Details of notable mangrove associates are found in Table 2.1.

Table 2.1. Details of notable mangrove associate species in Honavar Forest Division

 

MANGROVES OF ESTUARY