Diversity,population structure and regeneration status of arboreal species in the four sacred groves of Kushalnagar,Karnataka

Assessment of tree species diversity, structure and regeneration status of four sacred groves of Kushalnagar,southern Karnataka was carried out. The random quadrat method was employed in each grove for enumeration of tree diversity and regeneration status. A total of 98 tree species belonging to 38 families were found from the sampled areas.These groves possess higher diversity and basal area. Some67 % of species have shown regeneration, while 17 % of species had no regeneration. Another 15 % of species were reappearing or immigrating. It is observed that increased disturbance was directly proportional to number of reappearing or immigrating species and inversely proportional to the diversity in all the sacred groves. Significant impact on diversity, species richness and regeneration status of the flora due to manifold anthropogenic activities have been recorded.

Study of Heavy Metal Uptake by the Crops Grown by Using Urban Wastewater of Mysore City, India

In the 21st century the fresh water scarcity increased very rapidly due to the urbanization and industrialization process. In these conditions the urban wastewater plays an important role in the water usage criteria. In this aspect, in all the major cities, wastewater treatment plants have been constructed to treat the urban wastewater in view of decreasing the water scarcity. The presence of nutrients in the wastewater is considered as beneficial to agricultural practices. The contaminants present in the wastewater pose health risks directly to agricultural workers and indirectly to the consumers as the long term application of the wastewater may result in the accumulation of toxic elements in soil and in plants. In this way the heavy metals will circulate among the food chain and food web to cause adverse effects on human health as well as on soil health. In the present study an attempt has been made to study the characteristics of urban wastewater at wastewater treatment plant of Mysore city. And also heavy metal behavior was studied with the analysis of heavy metals in wastewater, Biosolid and receiving soil along with the plants which indicates the uptake of heavy metals.

Speciation and Geochemical Behaviour of Heavy Metals in Industrial Area Soil of Mysore City, India

Soil is a major reservoir for contaminants as it possesses an ability to bind various chemicals. These chemicals can exist in various forms in soil and different forces keep them bound to soil particles. It is essential to study these interactions because the toxicity of chemicals may strongly depend on the form in which they exist in the environment. Another thing is that soil variability and some environmental properties may change in soil and cause leaching of trace toxic elements like heavy metals tightly bound to soil particles. Metals associated with urban soil are of environmental concern because of their direct and indirect effects on human health. The main purposes of this study undertaken in the Mysore city industrial zone were to identify heavy metals with dangerous environmental load and to find out of their environmental impact (Fe, Cr, Cu, Zn, and Ni). The purpose of this work was to provide information on heavy metals concentration in industrial zone soil of Mysore city, India. Soil samples were analyzed for pH, organic matter, and electrical conductivity. Total and available heavy metal concentrations were determined by AAS. In the present study, heavy metal speciation in soil sample carried out were shows that all metals were mainly associated with the oxidizable and residual fraction, which allows us to predict their mobility in the soil sample.

Assessment of Ichthyofaunal Diversity in Sasihithlu Estuary of Dakshina Kannada,Karnataka,India

The ichthyofaunal diversity is an excellent bio indicator of the status and health of aquatic ecosystems.The present study elucidates the ichthyofau­nal diversity of Sasihithlu estuary in the west coast of Karnataka,India.The study was conducted from January 2019 to January 2020.Field explora­tions in estuary were undertaken on a monthly basis.A detailed analysis of piscine diversity revealed a total of 63 species of fresh water,estuary and marine fish belonging to 13 orders and 37 families.Perciformes was found to be a predominant order with 20 families and 31 species.Of the recorded species,one is Vulnerable and two are Near Threatened species.The greater diversity of fish was recorded during monsoon and the lesser diversity was recorded during winter.

Comparative Study on the Effects of Surface Area, Conduction Band and Valence Band Positions on the Photocatalytic Activity of ZnO-M_xO_yHeterostructures

ZnO-MxOy heterostructures (M=Co, Mn, Ni, or In) are fabricated via hydrothermal synthesis method. X-ray diffraction and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analyses endorse the successive formation of the various heterostructures. Field Emission Scanning electron microscope and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area studies confirm the porous nature of the heterostructures obtained. The band gaps of various heterostructures are calculated that, 3.1, 2.71, 2.64, and 2.19 eV for ZnO-NiO, ZnO-In2O3, ZnO-Co3O4, and ZnO-MnO2, respectively. The photocatalytic activities of the fabricated heterostructures are investigated through the degradation of phenol under direct sunlight irradiation. The results show that the photocatalytic activity is affected by the conduction band (CB) and valence band (VB) positions rather than surface area of ZnO-MxOy heterostructure nanocomposites.