ID: 56630
Title: Green belt and coastal protection
Author: Deputy Conservator of Forests, Honavar Division, Honavar
Editor: Dr. M Jayakara Bhandary
Year: 2012
Publisher: Uttara Kannada Jilla Vijnaana Kendra, February 2012
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: National workshop on Western Ghats and Coastal Biodiversity: Status, threats and conservation strategies
Keywords: None
Abstract: None
Location: 215
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 56629
Title: Influence of landscape dynamics on the regional hydrology & ecology
Author: T V Ramachandra & M D Subash Chandran
Editor: Dr. M Jayakara Bhandary
Year: 2012
Publisher: Uttara Kannada Jilla Vijnaana Kendra, February 2012
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: National workshop on Western Ghats and Coastal Biodiversity: Status, threats and conservation strategies
Keywords: Ecology, biodiversity, hydrology, land cover, sustainable development, Geographic Information System (GIS), Remote Sensing
Abstract: Sustainable development concept attained a momentum in the mid 1980 ' s emphasizing the need to maintain sustainability while meeting the basic requirements of the present generation. It became evident that human impacts in various parts of the world had become global ecological implications like deforestation of tropical forests potentially affected the biodiversity, global carbon, hydrological cycles and the global climate. Sustainable management of a region requires a synoptic ecosystem approach that relates to the dynamics of natural variability and the effects of human interventions on key indicators of biodiversity and productivity. Human interventions in the ecosystem have resulted in erosion of biodiversity in the recent past. The loss in biodiversity has been attributed to habitat loss and fragmentation of the natural landscapes. The ecological processes particularly affected by unplanned developmental activities include nutrient and hydrological cycles, normal regeneration, succession, etc. As a result of the development programmes based on ad-hoc decisions, considerable changes in the structure and composition of the land use and land cover in the region have been very obvious during the last four decades. Pressure on land for agriculture, vulnerability of degraded ecosystems to the vagaries of high intensity of rainfall and high occurrence of steep erosion and landslide-prone areas, lack of integrated and coordinated land use planning are some of the reasons for rapid depletion of the natural resource base. These changes have adversely affected the hydrological regime of river basins resulting in diminished river/stream flows. Frequent landslides damage the infrastructure and threaten human lives. In this situation, in order to resolve present problems and to avoid a future crisis, a comprehensive assessment of land use changes, its spatial distribution and its impact on hydrological regime is required and accordingly, appropriate remedial methods should be employed for the sustainable utilization of the biodiversity, land and water resources of the catchment. Biodiversity, Ecology, Hydrology, Land use changes, Landscape dynamics and Landscape characterisation have been analysed from patch to river basin level to understand the temporal changes due to developmental activities in the river basin. Landscape analysis showed that the indices of shape, richness and diversity provided an additional evaluation of land cover spatial distribution within the complex mountain landscape. The landscape analysis has provided an outline of the degree of propagation of the disturbance from the non-biotic sources and fragmentation. It is revealed that fragmentation has caused loss of connectivity, ecotones, corridors and the meta-population structure. Understanding landscape dynamics has become an important component of ecosystem management as it quantifies hte relationship of structural and functional ocmponents at various scales. This includes hydrology, biodiversity, ecology and many sub-divisions within. Forest conservation, restoration and management require the knowledge of ecological conditions and landscape dynamics. The remote sensing data is conjunction with GIS and GPS helped in landscape characterization and in understanding its linkages with hydrology and ecology.
Location: 215
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 56628
Title: Sputtering start for premium fuel
Author: Peter Trechow
Editor: Hanne May
Year: 2009
Publisher: German Wind Energy Association, No 6, December 2009
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: New Energy
Keywords: Biofuels
Abstract: Five years ago everyone was talking about second generation biofuels. But developers are lagging behind, and critics have already written off the technology. They may still be acting too soon.
Location: 232
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 56627
Title: One step forward, two steps back
Author: Jemmer Weithoner
Editor: Hanne May
Year: 2009
Publisher: German Wind Energy Association, No 6, December 2009
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: New Energy
Keywords: Uranium mining
Abstract: "Better late than never", many say when it comes to climate protection Down Under. For years, Australia has refused to lower its carbon emissions. The situation is set to improve now, but coal remains dominant and uranium mining is being significantly expanded.
Location: 232
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 56626
Title: Energy conservation opportunities in municipal water supply systems: a case study
Author: G Rudra Narsimha Rao and K V Sharma
Editor: R K Pachauri
Year: 2012
Publisher: TERI - The Energy and Resources Institute, Vol 9, Issue 1, March 2012
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: Journal of Resources, Energy and Development
Keywords: Energy conservation
Abstract: The cost of power accounts for a significant portion of operating cost in bulk water supply in developing countries. Hence, optimal energy utilization in the existing bulk water supply schemes must be ensured to minimize cost. Data from four cities having diverse water supply requirements is used in the analysis and solution methodology explained. The energy saving options for pumping stations can be broadly classified under three heads viz., electrical systems and motors, pumping system, and operational strategies. It is envisaged that these efforts in water supply systems in other cities-by way of investments in energy efficiency measures- can be highly economical and offset the growing power demand. A strategic framework for energy efficiency improvements in municipal water supply is also listed in this paper.
Location: 232
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 56625
Title: Common property forest resources adn rural livelihoods: an empirical investigation in the state of Odisha
Author: Abhilas Kumar Pradhan and Rabinarayan Patra
Editor: R K Pachauri
Year: 2012
Publisher: TERI - The Energy and Resources Institute, Vol 9, Issue 1, March 2012
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: Journal of Resources, Energy and Development
Keywords: Common Property Forest Resources, Rural livelihoods, Odisha
Abstract: A vast majority of India ' s 700 million plus rural population and most of the 30 million population of Odisha, living in its villages, are critically dependent on Common Property Resources (CPRs) for earning their livelihood. In this backdrop, the apper has made an attempt to study the degree, extent, and determinants of common property forest resource dependency at a household level in the villages of Odisha. The field survey results suggest that income from common property forests constitutes 30.97% of the total average annual household income. For the poorest 10% of the sample households, CPR forest income constitutes 58.70% of their total annual income and for the richest 10% the same has been estimated at 12.88%. Multivariate regression analysis reveals that CPR forest dependency is directly related to household size but inversely related to economic condition and agricultural land holding.
Location: 232
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 56624
Title: Conservation of wetlands to mitigate urban floods
Author: Ramachandra T V, Bharath H Aithal, and Uttam Kumar
Editor: R K Pachauri
Year: 2012
Publisher: TERI - The Energy and Resources Institute, Vol 9, Issue 1, March 2012
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: Journal of Resources, Energy and Development
Keywords: Urban floods, wetlands, heat island, mitigation, remote sensing, Gradient analysis
Abstract: Floods in an urbanized landscape refer to the partial or complete inundation from the rapid accumulation or run-off resulting in the damage to property and lossof biotic elements (including humans). Urban flooding is a consequence of increased impermeable catchments resulting in higher catchment yield in a shorter duration and flood peaks sometimes reach up to three times. Thus, flooding occurs quickly due to faster flow times (in a matter of minutes). Causal factors include combinations of loss of pervious area in urbanising landscapes, inadequate drainage systems, blockade due to indiscriminate disposal of solid waste and building debris, encroachment of storm water drains, housing in floodplains and natural drainage and loss of natural flood-storages sites. Flood mitigation in urban landscape entails integrated ecological approaches combining the watershed land-use planning with the regional development planning. This includes engineering measures and flood preparedness with the understanding of ecological and hydrological functions of the landscape. Bangalore is experiencing unprecedented urbanization and sprawl in recent times due to concentrated developmental activities with impetus on industrialization for the economic development of the region. This concentrated growth has resulted in the increase in population and consequent pressure on infrastructure, natural resources and ultimately giving rise to a plethora of serious challenges such as climate change, enhanced green-house gases emissions, lack of appropriate infrastructure, traffic congestion, and lack of basic amenities (electricity, water, and sanitation) in many localities, etc. This study shows that there has been a growth of 632% in urban areas of Greater Bangalore across 38 years (1973 to 2010). Urban heat island phenomenon is evident from large number of localities with higher local temperatures. The study unravels the pattern of growth in Greater Bangalore and its implication on local climate (an increase of ~2 to 2.50C during the last decade) and also on the natural resources (76% decline in vegetation cover and 79% decline in water bodies), necessitating appropriate strategies for the sustainable management. The study reveals that frequent flooding (since 2000, even during normal rainfall) in Bangalore is a consequence of the increase in impervious area with the high-density urban development in the catchment and loss of wetlands and vegetation. This is coupled with lack of drainage upgrade works with the changes in enhanced run-offs, the encroachment and filling in the floodplain on the waterways, obstruction by the sewer pipes and manholes and relevant structures, deposits of building materials and solid wastes with subsequent blockage of the system and also flow restrictions from under capacity road crossings (bridge and culverts). The lack of planning and enforcement has resulted in significant narrowing of the waterways and filling in of the floodplain by illegal developments.
Location: 232
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 56623
Title: Effect of soil waste interaction on Geotechnical peroperties of fine -grained soils: A review
Author: A V Narasimha Rao and M Chittaranjan
Editor: E N Murthy
Year: 2012
Publisher: The Icfai University Press, Vol V, No 1, February 2012
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: The IUP Journal of Soil and Water Sciences
Keywords: Leachate, porefluid chemistry, diffused double layer thickness, consistency limits, hydraulic conductivity, compaction parameters, Shear strength, swelling characteristics, compressibility
Abstract: The rapid growth in industrial, commerical, mining, agricultural and domestic activities causes generation of huge quantities of solid and liquid wastes. When rain water percolates through these wastes, it is mixed with organic and inorganic chemicals generating ' Leachate ' . Depending upon the nature of chemicals present in the leachate, it will have different dielectric constants, electrolyte concentrations, cation valencies, pH and temperatures which may cause change in the thickness of diffuse double layer of find-grained soils. The change in thickness of diffused double layer controls various geotechnical properties of the fine-grained soils. In this paper, the effects of change in thickness of diffused double layer due to change in pore fluid chemistry on various geotechnical properties of fine-grained soils, such as Consistency limits, Hydraulic conductivity, Compaction parameters, Swelling characteristics, Shear strength and Compressibility, are critically discussed.
Location: 215
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 56622
Title: Spatial assessment of groundwater quality in Kerala, India
Author: Boominathan M, Karthick B, Sameer Ali and Ramachandra T V
Editor: E N Murthy
Year: 2012
Publisher: The Icfai University Press, Vol V, No 1, February 2012
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: The IUP Journal of Soil and Water Sciences
Keywords: Groundwater, water quality, BIS standards, piper diagram, geostiff diagram, spatial analysis
Abstract: Groundwater is located in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of lithologic formations under subsurface. Pollutants leached to the ground make their way down into groundwater adn contaminate an aquifer. The study focuses on the physicochemical and biological quality of groundwater spatially in Kerala to assess its suitability for drinking and understand the type of hydrochemicals and spatial distribution of major ions Groundwater samples from 98 locations covering all districts in Kerala state, India were collected and analyzed, as per standard protocol. The results revealed that fecal coliform bacteria and pH were exceeding in many places. Nitrates exceeded permissible limits in two samples which contained 45.3 mg/L and 50 mg/L at Kyamkulam (Alappuzha) and Old Munnar (idukki). Fluorides exceeded the desirable limit (1 mg/L) at Mullackal (1.4 mg/L) and Kalikulam Junction (1.2 mg/L) in Alappuzha district adn kollengode (1.6 mg/L) in Palakkad district. Hydrochemical types, relationship among the physicochemical parameters, characterization of sampling sites according to the physicochemical and biological characters and the spatial distribution of major ions are also discussed.
Location: 215
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 56621
Title: Sediment nutrient dynamics of a naturally disturbed and eutrophic lake ecosystem
Author: S N Bramha, K K Satpathy, S Panigrahi, A K Mohanty, M K Samantara, R K Padhi and M V R Prasad
Editor: E N Murthy
Year: 2012
Publisher: The Icfai University Press, Vol V, No 1, February 2012
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: The IUP Journal of Soil and Water Sciences
Keywords: Sediment nutrient, organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus, eutrophication
Abstract: Sediment characteristics were examined in a brackish water lake (Kokilamedu Lake) to find out the nutrient dynamics and its relation to particle size distribution. The lake was inundated by December - 2004 tsunami changing it from almost fresh to a brackish water lake. The lake is relatively shallow (1.20 m) at the northern part as compared to the southern region (2.80 m). Analysis of surface sediment revealed that it is basically silty-sand in nature with sand, silt and clay fractions ranging from 63.87-94.62%, 1.60-32.39% and 0.63-14.17% respectively. Sediment of northern portion of the lake is sand dominated in contrast to relatively high silt and clay containing sediment of the southern section. The organic matter (0.62-3.93%) and organic carbon (0.36-2.28%) concentrations were relatively high in silt and clay sediment. Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) ranged from 0.23-6.25% and it showed relatively higher values towards northern part. All the nutrients, such as NO3-N (1.42-3.40 mg/kg), NH4-N (10.96-68.53 mg/Kg), total nitrogen (55.49-238.06 mg/kg), inorganic phosphorus (144.37-280.26 mg/kg) and total phosphorus (140.13-402.70 mg/kg), showed a similar spatial distribution trend with concentrations gradually decreasing from southern to northern section of the lake. Correlation analysis showed that all the nutrients were postively correlated with slit and clay as well as with organic carbon. The high organic carbon rich clayey southern bottom of the lake indicates a sink of terrestrial organic source which signficaly contributes nutrients to the eutrophic water column through different biochemical processes. Lack of connectivity and exchange of was wiht other water bodies further enhances the nutrient accumulation in the bottom of the lake.
Location: 215
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 56620
Title: Predicting river floods using discrete wavelet transform
Author: Rajeev Ranjan Sahay and Anirban Chakraborty
Editor: E N Murthy
Year: 2012
Publisher: The Icfai University Press, Vol V, No 1, February 2012
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: The IUP Journal of Soil and Water Sciences
Keywords: Autoregression, discrete wavelet transform, floods, Kosi, India
Abstract: The paper demonstrates the efficiency of Wavelet Regression (WR) in estimating floods in rivers when the only data available is historical flow series. Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) decomposes the flow series into constituent wavelet components, i.e, approximations and details. A modified flow series is then constructed after removing the most fluctuating components and recombining other wavelet components. The modified flow series forms the input basis for WR implementation. Autoregressive (AR) models, developed for the comparison purpose, were implemented on the original flow series. A case study of developed models was made using monsoon flood data of the Kosi River at Birpur gauge site in the Bihar state of India. Based on various performance indices, it can be concluded that WR models forecast floods with greater accuracy than AR models.
Location: 215
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 56619
Title: Development of flood frequency curves over Godavari basin
Author: D Srinivasa Murthy, T Jyothirmai,T Sridhar Rao, K Radha Krishna and M L Anoop Kumar
Editor: E N Murthy
Year: 2012
Publisher: The Icfai University Press, Vol V, No 1, February 2012
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: The IUP Journal of Soil and Water Sciences
Keywords: Flood, frequency, design flood, Gauging site
Abstract: In the planning and design of major hydraulic structures and projects such as large reservoirs, it is essential to predict the magnitude and frequency of the maximum flood known as the design flood. For this purpose, flood frequency analysis is carried out, but this analysis needs a long record of flood data. Presently, a case study of Godavari basin with four gauging sites was undertaken with a view to predicting the floods of different return periods. Initially, flood frequency analysis was carried out by four different methods, namely, Gumbel ' s, Log Normal, Log Pearson Type III and Foster ' s methods, for the flood data of each of the four gauging sites so as to identify the most appropriate method. The results of the above investigations are anlayzed and discussed and useful conclusions are arrived at.
Location: 215
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 56618
Title: A positive ' amount effect ' in the Sahayadri (Western Ghats) rainfall
Author: M G Yadava, R Ramesh and K Pandarinath
Editor: P. Balaram
Year: 2007
Publisher: Current Science Association, Vol 93, No 4, 25 August 2007
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: Current Science
Keywords: Amount effect, oxygen isotopic ratio, rainfall
Abstract: We present stable oxygen isotopic ratios (?18O) of rainfall collected over three years (July to October 2000-02) at Mangalore. We observe an apparent positive correlation between the montly, amount-weighted mean oxygen isotopic ratio of the rainwate and montly total rainfall, contrary to the generally expected negative trend in many island and continental stations. We offer an explanation for this observation and propose that the ' amount effect ' in the annual rainfall still remains with a negative slope, and thus can be useful in palaeomonsoon reconstruction using oxygen isotopic variations of annually laminated speleothems.
Location: 241
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 56617
Title: Fishes of the Khuiala Formation (early Eocene) of the Jaisalmer basin, Western Rajasthan, India
Author: Kishor Kumar, Rajendra Singh Rana and Hukam Singh
Editor: P. Balaram
Year: 2007
Publisher: Current Science Association, Vol 93, No 4, 25 August 2007
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: Current Science
Keywords: Early Eocene, ichthyofauna, Jaisalmer basin, Khuiala formation, vertebrates
Abstract: A newly discovered assemblage of the Early Eocene (Y presian) fish is recorded from the lower part of the Khuiala Formation of the Jaisalmer Basin, Western Rajasthan. It consists of exceptionally well preserved but mostly isolated teeth and some dermal denticles of fairly diverse ichthyofauna. Based on isolated teeth, 14 taxa belonging to six elasmobranch and five teleostean families have been identified, including a probably new but unnamed species of the nurse shark, Ginglymosoma. Other taxa comprise Galeorhinus sp., Hemiscyllium sp., Rhinobatos sp., Gymnura sp., Heterotorpedo sp., Eutrichiurides sp., Sparus sp., Stephanodus lybicus and Diodon sp. Among these, Hemiscyllium and Coupatezia are new to the subcontinent. Among the Paleocene-Eocene ichthyofaunas documented from India, this Khuiala assemblage is closet to the Lower Eocene fish assemblage from the subsurface Cambay Shale of Vastan Lignite Mine, Surat District, Gujarat. It is a dominantly shallow-water marine assemblage typically lacking coastal freshwater elements.
Location: 241
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None
ID: 56616
Title: Unsupervised image segmentation using finite doubly truncated Gaussian mixture model and hierarchical clustering
Author: Srinivas Yarramalle and K Srinivas Rao
Editor: P. Balaram
Year: 2007
Publisher: Current Science Association, Vol 93, No 4, 25 August 2007
Source: Centre for Ecological Sciences
Reference: None
Subject: Current Science
Keywords: EM algorithm, image segmentation, image quality metrices, truncated Gaussian mixture distribution
Abstract: A new image segmentation method based on finite truncated Gaussian mixture model has been proposed. The truncated Gaussian distribution includes several of the skewed and asymmetric distribuions as particular cases with a finite range. It also includes the Gaussian distribution as a limiting case. We used the Estimation Maximization algrithm to estimate the model parameters of the image data and the number of mixture components was estimated using hierarchial clustering algorithm. This algorithm was also utilized for developing the initial estimates of the EM algorithm. Segmentation was carried out by clustering each pixel into the appropriate component according to the maximum likelihood estimation criteria. The advantage of our method lies in its efficiency on initialization of the model parameters and segmenting images in a totally unsupervised manner. Experimental results show that this segmentation method can provide better results than the other methods.
Location: 241
Literature cited 1: None
Literature cited 2: None