Elemental variations in glacier cryoconites of Indian Himalaya and Spitsbergen,Arctic

Cryoconite samples were collected from two different climatic domains i.e.,the Sutri Dhaka glacier,western Himalaya India and Svalbard glaciers,the Spitsbergen,Arctic,to understand the elemental source and elemental deposition patterns.The data of geochemical analysis suggest that the Himalayan cryoconite samples accumulate higher concentrations as compared to the cryoconite samples of the Arctic glaciers.The concentration of lithophile elements(Cs,Li,Rb and U)was recorded higher in the cryoconite holes of the Himalayas,especially,in the lower to the higher parts of the glacier,whereas,lower concentrations were recorded in the Arctic samples.Chalcophile elements in the Himalayan cryoconites are enriched in As and Bi while the Arctic cryoconite samples show a higher concentration of Bi,Pb and As.The higher concentrations are responsible for influencing the ecosystem and in human health related issues.Siderophile elements(Co,Fe,Mn and Ni)show high concentrations in the Himalayan samples,whereas,the Arctic samples show minor variations and low elemental concentration in these elements,respectively.In addition,a few elements,such as Ag,Mg,and Ca show higher concentration in the Himalayan glacier samples.Ca also occurs in high concentrations in Arctic glacier samples.R-mode factor analysis of the Himalayas(Arctic)samples indicate that the elements are distributed in four(three)factors,explaining 89%(90%)of the variance in their elemental distribution.The Factor 1 suggests statistically significant positive loadings for most of the lithophile,chalcophile and siderophile elements of the "Himalayan" and the Arctic cryoconite samples.The sample-wise factor score distribution shows a considerable variation in the sampling locations along the glaciers of both the regions.Factors 2 and 3,demonstrate insignificant loading for most of the elements,except statistically significant positive loading in some of the elements of the both,Himalayan and Arctic "cryoconites".The higher elemental concentration in the cryoconites of the Himalayan region may be an indicator of the natural processes and/or attributed to the rapid industrialization in the Asian countries.

Plant Community and Nutrient Status of the Soils of Schirmacher Oasis,East Antarctica

Investigations on plant community and micronutrient status of Schirmacher Oasis, East Antarctica have been presented in this paper. The dominant plant communities include moss and lichen. The frequency of species occurrence and changes in species composition at different location varied. Thirty-four soil samples were ana- lyzed for chemical properties of the soils of Schirmacher Oasis and Nunatak, East Antarctica. The most common plant species growing throughout the areas of Sehirmacher Oasis and Nunataks are： Candelariella tiara （ lichen ） and Bryum pseudotriquetrum （moss）. Large variations were observed among different soil samples in all the nutri- ents and other measured soil chemical parameters. The soils are characterized by a-cidic pH ranging from 4.42 - 6.80. The mean organic carbon content was 0.62 and ranged from 0. 06 - 1.29%. The electrical conductivity in 1 ： 2 soil water ratio ranged from 0.06 - 1.29. The average content of macronutrient cation, which are ammonium acetate extractable was in the order of Ca 〉 K 〉 Na 〉 Mg. The average content of DTPA extractable micronutrient cations was in the order of Fe 〉 Mn 〉 Cu 〉 Zn. Thirty one out of 34 samples contained less than 0.80 ppm DTPA extractable Zn. Correlation studies revealed that content of macronutrient cations significantly and positively correlated to that of chlorides. Electrical conductivity exhibited significant and positive relationship with pH, K, Ca, Mg, Na and chloride content. Sodium （r =0.876 ＊ ＊ ） exhibited highest correlation followed by K （r =0. 831 ＊ ＊ ） with chlo- ride content. The correlation coefficient for chlorides was higher with electrical conductivity （r=0.732＊ ＊ ） than pH （r =0. 513 ＊ ＊ ）. Organic carbon content of the soil was positively correlated with Fe （ r = 0. 442 ＊ ）. The nutrient status did not appear to be a limiting factor in growth of plants. Lichen and moss community structure and composition in the study area were not related with fertility status of soil. Terrestrial mosses are most abundant and luxuriant along the soil habitats near bank of water bodies and the melt water streams.

Fungal diversity notes 1151-1276:taxonomic and phylogenetic contributions on genera and species of fungal taxa

Fungal diversity notes is one of the important journal series of fungal taxonomy that provide detailed descriptions and illustrations of new fungal taxa,as well as providing new information of fungal taxa worldwide.This article is the 11th contribution to the fungal diversity notes series,in which 126 taxa distributed in two phyla,six classes,24 orders and 55 families are described and illustrated.Taxa in this study were mainly collected from Italy by Erio Camporesi and also collected from China,India and Thailand,as well as in some other European,North American and South American countries.Taxa described in the present study include two new families,12 new genera,82 new species,five new combinations and 25 new records on new hosts and new geographical distributions as well as sexual-asexual reports.The two new families are Eriomycetaceae(Dothideomycetes,family incertae sedis)and Fasciatisporaceae(Xylariales,Sordariomycetes).The twelve new genera comprise Bhagirathimyces(Phaeosphaeriaceae),Camporesiomyces(Tubeufiaceae),Eriocamporesia(Cryphonectriaceae),Eriomyces(Eriomycetaceae),Neomonodictys(Pleurotheciaceae),Paraloratospora(Phaeosphaeriaceae),Paramonodictys(Parabambusicolaceae),Pseudoconlarium(Diaporthomycetidae,genus incertae sedis),Pseudomurilentithecium(Lentitheciaceae),Setoapiospora(Muyocopronaceae),Srinivasanomyces(Vibrisseaceae)and Xenoanthostomella(Xylariales,genera incertae sedis).The 82 new species comprise Acremonium chiangraiense,Adustochaete nivea,Angustimassarina camporesii,Bhagirathimyces himalayensis,Brunneoclavispora camporesii,Camarosporidiella camporesii,Camporesiomyces mali,Camposporium appendiculatum,Camposporium multiseptatum,Camposporium septatum,Canalisporium aquaticium,Clonostachys eriocamporesiana,Clonostachys eriocamporesii,Colletotrichum hederiicola,Coniochaeta vineae,Conioscypha verrucosa,Cortinarius ainsworthii,Cortinarius aurae,Cortinarius britannicus,Cortinarius heatherae,Cortinarius scoticus,Cortinarius subsaniosus,Cytospora fusispora,Cytospora rosigena,Diaporthe camporesii,Diaporthe nigra,Diatrypella yunnanensis,Dictyosporium muriformis,Didymella camporesii,Diutina bernali,Diutina sipiczkii,Eriocamporesia aurantia,Eriomyces heveae,Ernakulamia tanakae,Falciformispora uttaraditensis,Fasciatispora cocoes,Foliophoma camporesii,Fuscostagonospora camporesii,Helvella subtinta,Kalmusia erioi,Keissleriella camporesiana,Keissleriella camporesii,Lanspora cylindrospora,Loratospora arezzoensis,Mariannaea atlantica,Melanographium phoenicis,Montagnula camporesii,Neodidymelliopsis camporesii,Neokalmusia kunmingensis,Neoleptosporella camporesiana,Neomonodictys muriformis,Neomyrmecridium guizhouense,Neosetophoma camporesii,Paraloratospora camporesii,Paramonodictys solitarius,Periconia palmicola,Plenodomus triseptatus,Pseudocamarosporium camporesii,Pseudocercospora maetaengensis,Pseudochaetosphaeronema kunmingense,Pseudoconlarium punctiforme,Pseudodactylaria camporesiana,Pseudomurilentithecium camporesii,Pseudotetraploa rajmachiensis,Pseudotruncatella camporesii,Rhexocercosporidium senecionis,Rhytidhysteron camporesii,Rhytidhysteron erioi,Septoriella camporesii,Setoapiospora thailandica,Srinivasanomyces kangrensis,Tetraploa dwibahubeeja,Tetraploa pseudoaristata,Tetraploa thrayabahubeeja,Torula camporesii,Tremateia camporesii,Tremateia lamiacearum,Uzbekistanica pruni,Verruconis mangrovei,Wilcoxina verruculosa,Xenoanthostomella chromolaenae and Xenodidymella camporesii.The five new combinations are Camporesiomyces patagoniensis,Camporesiomyces vaccinia,Camposporium lycopodiellae,Paraloratospora gahniae and Rhexocercosporidium microsporum.The 22 new records on host and geographical distribution comprise Arthrinium marii,Ascochyta medicaginicola,Ascochyta pisi,Astrocystis bambusicola,Camposporium pellucidum,Dendryphiella phitsanulokensis,Diaporthe foeniculina,Didymella macrostoma,Diplodia mutila,Diplodia seriata,Heterosphaeria patella,Hysterobrevium constrictum,Neodidymelliopsis ranunculi,Neovaginatispora fuckelii,Nothophoma quercina,Occultibambusa bambusae,Phaeosphaeria chinensis,Pseudopestalotiopsis theae,Pyxine berteriana,Tetraploa sasicola,Torula gaodangensis and Wojnowiciella dactylidis.In addition,the sexual morphs of Dissoconium eucalypti and Phaeosphaeriopsis pseudoagavacearum are reported from Laurus nobilis and Yucca gloriosa in Italy,respectively.The holomorph of Diaporthe cynaroidis is also reported for the first time.