Department Of Environmental Science And Technology
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Item Taxonomical establishment and compositional studies of a new cordyceps (ascomycetes) species from the northwest himalayas (India)(Begell House Inc., 2016) Sharma, S.K.; Gautam, N.; Atri, N.S.; Dhancholia, S.During a frequent survey in the northwest Indian Himalayan region, a new species-Cordyceps macleodganensis-was encountered. This species is described on the basis of its macromorphological features, microscopic details, and internal transcribed spacer sequencing. This species showed only 90% resemblance to Cordyceps gracilis. The chemical composition of the mycelium showed protein (14.95 ? 0.2%) and carbohydrates (59.21 ? 3.8%) as the major nutrients. This species showed appreciable amounts of ?-carotene, lycopene, phenolic compounds, polysaccharides, and flavonoids. Mycelial culture of this species showed higher effectiveness for ferric-reducing antioxidant power, DPPH radical scavenging activity, ferrous ion-chelating activity, and scavenging ability on superoxide anion-derived radicals, calculated by half-maximal effective concentrations. ? 2016 Begell House, Inc.Item Response of diatoms to water quality in Khajiyar lake, Himachal Pradesh(EM International, 2016) Bhardwaj, A.; Chauhan, R.The present investigation was carried out to study the presence, abundance and distribution of diatoms in relation to the water quality of Khajiyar Lake, Himachal Pradesh during April, 2011 to January, 2012. The lake is about 2000 m above sea level and is situated at 32? 32? 53? N and 76? 3? 34?E. Surface water samples were collected from the Khajiyar lake for six months over the year in the month of April-May in summers, July-August during rainy season and December-January in winters. The diatoms presence, abundance and distribution were found to be greatly influenced by the physico-chemical regime of the lake. The diatoms density showed highly significant and positive relationship with conductivity (r = 0.869, p<0.01), and chloride (r= 0.857, p<0.01) and positive relationship with nitratenitrogen and total phosphate-phosphorus. The higher values of free carbon dioxide (11.0-26.8 mg/L), chloride (20.2-33.1mg/L), nitratenitrogen (0.098-0.485mg/L), total phosphate-phosphorus (0.62-2.32mg/L), very low percentage of oxygen indicators species and the presence and abundance of pollution indicator diatom species such as Diatoma vulgare (5%), Navicula gracilis (24%), Navicula gibba (8%), Pinnularia nobilis (12%), Nitizschia sigmoidea (3%), Gomphonema geminatum (23%), Frustulia rhomboides (2%), Tabellaria fenestrata (2%) and Cylinderotheca gracilis (4%) throughout the investigation indicated highly deteriorated water quality of the lake ecosystem. Study thus demonstrated response of diatoms to changing water quality and their role as bio-indicators.Item Metacordyceps dhauladharensis sp. nov., a new entomopathogenic fungus from India(Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Medical Sciences, 2015) Sharma, S.K.; Gautam, N.This paper describes a new species of Clavicipitaceae fungi belonging to the genus Metacordyceps G.H. Sung, J.M. Sung, Hywel-Jones & Spatafora, defined as Metacordyceps dhauladharensis sp. nov., from India. The diagnostic features of this new species are stipitate stromata of brownish color and an elongated fertile head on a Hymenopteran host. The perithecium size of this species was measured as 152?257 ? 65?72 ?m, and the asci were measured as 30?48 ?m in length and 2.5 ?m in breadth. Based on molecular studies, the sequence of 469 bp of this species showed only 86% homology with Metacordyceps indigotica (Kobayasi & Shimizu) Kepler, G.H. Sung & Spatafora. ? T?B?TAK.Item Late Quaternary evolution of Tista River terraces in Darjeeling-Sikkim-Tibet wedge: Implications to climate and tectonics(Elsevier Ltd, 2017) Singh, A.K.; Pattanaik, J.K.; Gagan, Jaiswal, M.K.Terraces in the Himalayas are important geomorphic archives which preserve the signature of tectonics and past environment. Terraces in eastern part of the Himalayan fold and thrust belt have not received much attention of the geologists. A geochemical approach using luminescence dating has been applied to understand the evolution of paired and deformed terraces between major thrust boundaries of the eastern Himalayas, on the either banks of the Tista River in Darjeeling-Sikkim-Tibet wedge. These terraces are located at the confluence of Tum Thang khola and the Tista River. Three levels of terraces are present in general and also in the study area. The terrace T3 was formed during last interglacial period and the T2 terrace during last glacial maximum (LGM) and in the humid phases after LGM. The top section of T2 terrace (?2.5 m thick) was formed in the transition phase (arid to humid) after Younger Dryas event. The region has experienced several deformational events, (i) one after 45 ka which raised the T3 terrace to its present level, (ii) another one after 11.9 ka which raised the T2 to its present level and this event is also associated with the shifting of the Tum Thang khola, and (iii) the region is still tectonically active as shown by the warping of the T1 and T0 surfaces, which are of recent origin. These terraces have complex input of sediments from Higher Himalayan Crystalline (HHC) rocks and from locally present Lingtse granites. ? 2016 Elsevier Ltd and INQUAItem Geospatial technology applied to spatiotemporal assessment of Harike Wetland, Punjab(Blackwell Publishing, 2017) Bhardwaj, A.; Najar, G.N.; Pandey, P.The Harike Wetland situated in Punjab is a Ramsar site and a wetland of national importance. The present study was undertaken to assess the spatiotemporal dynamics of the wetland on the basis of geospatial technology and ground-based studies. Landsat images for the years 2002 and 2014 were acquired from the United States Geological Survey and classified digitally to generate landuse/land cover maps involving four classes (water, grassland (including water hyacinth), agriculture, built-up (settlement), barren land). The total area of the Harike Wetland was found to be 8023.68?ha. Water sampling at eleven sites was carried out and evaluated for physicochemical parameters. The water quality at several sampling points was found to be severely degraded. Change detection analysis revealed the submerged area (area under water) and grassland (including water hyacinth) had decreased over the past 12?years, whereas that area under agriculture and built-up land has increased, indicating a shrinkage in the total wetland area. The present study also indicated that the near-infrared band is a good indicator of water quality parameters, as indicated by the significant positive correlation between the near-infrared band and relevant water parameters. Because the wetland is important from both an ecological perspective and economic perspective, regular monitoring is recommended, for which geospatial technology has proven to be very useful. ? 2018 John Wiley & Sons Australia, LtdItem Evaluation of mycelial nutrients, bioactive compounds, and antioxidants of five Himalayan entomopathogenic ascomyceteous fungi from India(Begell House Inc., 2015) Sharma, S.K.; Gautam, N.; Atri, N.S.In this study, using standard methods, mycelial nutrients, bioactive compounds, and antioxidants were analyzed for the first time for five fungal species: Isaria sinclairii (Berk.) Lloyd, I. tenuipes Peck, I. japonica Yasuda, I. farinosa (Holmsk) Fr. and Cordyceps tuberculata (Lebert) Maire. All of these species were low in fat content and rich in protein, fiber, ash, and carbohydrates. Mineral elements (Fe, Mg, Cu, Mn, and Ca) were detected in appreciable amounts. All three types of fatty acids (saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated) as well as bioactive compounds (ascorbic acid, ?-carotene, lycopene, phenolic compounds, and polysaccharides) were detected for each species. The investigated species showed high ferric-reducing antioxidant power as well as 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity. Although differences were observed in the values of each species, each species showed richness in one or more components. ? 2015 Begell House, Inc.Item Assessment and monitoring of land degradation using geospatial technology in Bathinda district, Punjab, India(Copernicus GmbH, 2018) Ahmad, N.; Pandey, P.Land degradation leads to alteration of ecological and economic functions due to a decrease in productivity and quality of the land. The aim of the present study was to assess land degradation with the help of geospatial technology - remote sensing (RS) and geographical information system (GIS) - in Bathinda district, Punjab. The severity of land degradation was estimated quantitatively by analyzing the physico-chemical parameters in the laboratory to determine saline or salt-free soils and calcareous or sodic soils and further correlating them with satellite-based studies. The pH varied between 7.37 and 8.59, electrical conductivity (EC) between 1.97 and 8.78dS m 1 and the methyl orange or total alkalinity between 0.070 and 0.223 (HCO3 )g L 1 as CaCO3. The spatial variability in these soil parameters was depicted through soil maps generated in a GIS environment. The results revealed that the soil in the study area was exposed to salt intrusion, which could be mainly attributed to irrigation practices in the state of Punjab. Most of the soil samples of the study area were slightly or moderately saline with a few salt-free sites. Furthermore, the majority of the soil samples were calcareous and a few samples were alkaline or sodic in nature. A comparative analysis of temporal satellite datasets of Landsat 7 ETM+ and Landsat 8 OLI-TIRS of 2000 and 2014, respectively, revealed that the water body showed a slight decreasing trend from 2.46km2 in 2000 to 1.87km2 in 2014, while the human settlements and other built-up areas expanded from 586.25 to 891.09km2 in a span of 14 years. The results also showed a decrease in area under barren land from 68.9847km2 in 2000 to 15.26km2 in 2014. A significant correlation was observed between the digital number (DN) of the near-infrared band and pH and EC. Therefore, it is suggested that the present study can be applied to projects with special relevance to soil scientists, environmental scientists and planning agencies that can use the present study as baseline data to combat land degradation and conserve land resources in an efficient manner. ? Author(s) 2018.Item Role of soil physicochemical characteristics on the present state of arsenic and its adsorption in alluvial soils of two agri-intensive region of Bathinda, Punjab, India(Springer Verlag, 2016) Kumar, Ravishankar; Kumar, Rabindra; Mittal, Sunil; Arora, Meenu; Babu, J. NagendraPurpose: Arsenic (As) contamination of groundwater has received significant attention recently in district Bathinda, due to consequent health risk in this region. Soil is the one of the primary medium for arsenic transport to groundwater. Thus, there is an essential requirement for understanding the retention capacity and mobility of arsenic in the soils to ensure sustainability of the groundwater in the locality. Arsenic interaction with various physicochemical properties of soil would provide a better understanding of its leaching from the soil. Materials and methods: Fifty-one soil samples were collected from two regions of Bathinda district with extensive agricultural practices, namely, Talwandi Sabo and Goniana. The soils were analyzed for arsenic content and related physicochemical characteristic of the soil which influence arsenic mobility in soil. Adsorption studies were carried out to identify the arsenic mobilization characteristic of the soil. SEM-EDX and sequential extraction of arsenic adsorbed soil samples affirmed the arsenic adsorption and its mobility in soil, respectively. Multiple regression models have been formulated for meaningful soil models for the prediction of arsenic transport behavior and understand the adsorption and mobilization of arsenic in the soil matrices. Results and discussion: Region-wise analysis showed elevated levels of arsenic in the soil samples from Goniana region (mean 9.58?mg?kg?1) as compared to Talwandi Sabo block (mean 3.38?mg?kg?1). Selected soil samples were studied for As(V) and As(III) adsorption behavior. The characteristic arsenic adsorption by these soil samples fitted well with Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, and D-R isotherm with a qmax in the range of 45 to 254?mg?kg?1 and 116 to 250?mg?kg?1 for As(III) and As(V), respectively. Adsorption isotherms indicate weak arsenic retention capacity of the soil, which is attributed to the sandy loam textured soil and excessive fertilizer usage in this region. PCM and MLR analysis of the soil arsenic content and its adsorption strongly correlated with soil physicochemical parameters, namely, Mn, Fe, total/available phosphorus, and organic matter. Conclusions: Manganese and iron content were firmly established for retention of arsenic in soil, whereas its mobility was influenced by organic matter and total/available phosphorus. The poor adsorptive characteristic of these soils is the primary cause of higher arsenic concentration in groundwater of this region. A strong correlation between monitored arsenic and adsorbed As(III) with manganese suggests As(III) as the predominant species present in soil environment in this region. ? 2015, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.