Multiple drivers and extreme events collapse social-ecological systems sooner

The world’s ecosystems are undergoing unprecedented changes due to the impact of climate change and local human activities. A major concern is the possibility of tipping points where ecosystems and landscapes change abruptly to undesirable states. We consider what happens to the timing of tipping points when current stresses strengthen whilst systems experience additional stresses and/or extreme events. We run experiments on four mathematical models that simulate tipping points in lake water quality, the Easter Island community, the Chilika lagoon fishery, and forest dieback. We show that the strongest impacts occur under increasing levels of primary stress, but additional and more extreme stresses in all four models bring the tipping points significantly closer to today. Translating the results to the real world underlines the need for humanity to reduce damaging disturbances and global warming, and to be vigilant for signs that natural systems are degrading more rapidly than previously thought.

Hydrographic Processes in a Tropical Coastal Lagoon on Western Bay of Bengal

In this article, hydrographic processes of a tropical coastal lagoon is studied that control inherent biological mechanisms of the lagoon environment. Realizing the interest of environmentalists over physio-chemical studies of a wetland tropical wetland system on the western boundary of the Bay of Bengal, a high-resolution intensive vertical hydrographic field campaign was carried during monsoon to uncover peculiarity in vertical hydrographic processes that was long-awaited to address many environmental issues. Vertical hydrographic profiles on spatio-temporal scale were made at nine stations in a zonal direction of the Chilika lagoon system. Results of vertical variability of salinity showed the presence of higher saline water over less saline water in the central-western region. The higher and lower water temperature in the western and eastern parts of the lagoon, respectively, indicated temperature dipole between the two regions. The encapsulation of water mass having higher temperature by the water of lower temperature at the central region resulted evolution of thermal inversion. The highest dissolved oxygen concentration was observed in the sub-surface layers of the western part of the lagoon. However, a layer of near-hypoxia occurred below 1.5 m depth in the central region. This study proposes comprehensive inter-seasonal studies to address the vertical variability of biogeochemical parameters and the fate of organic flux.

MORPHODYNAMICS OF CHILIKA MOUTH- STUDY ON SHIFTING OF TIDAL INLETS AND ASSESSMENT OF SHORELINE CHANGE ALONG EASTERN COASTAL INDIA, USING GEOSPATIAL TECHNIQUES AND DSAS EXTENSION

This study is focused on the spatio-temporal change in shoreline along Chilika coast and migration of tidal inlet of Chilika lagoon using multi temporal satellite images from the year 1972-2019. This study is carried out over decadal analysis with utilization of EPR and LRR system of DSAS model. For this change analysis studies the Landsat satellite images and IRS-P6 LISS-III images has been used. From the study it reveals that there is one new mouth opening in 2019 after occurrence of cyclone Fani. Based on calculations, the mouth of Chilika mostly has shifted in northward direction. It may due to frequently occurrences of cyclonic storm surges, which usually associated with winds and tidal actions over the coast. This study shows the high erosion trend along 8.3 km in northern part of shoreline. The accretion found along 6.5km in central part of shoreline. The coastal region is now more vulnerable to natural disaster as well as manmade disaster. Most of the areas are prone to floods. This problem may become very serious due to rapid increase in population. Every year the eastern coastal region is destroyed by cyclone and floods.

Effect of COVID-19 Lockdown on Metal Concentration in the Water Column of Asia’s Largest Coastal Lagoon

A complete halt on all anthropogenic activities and human movement due to COVID-19 lockdown has provided a great opportunity to assess the impact of human activities on coastal marine ecosystems. The current study assessed the concentration of the metals in water samples of the largest brackish water lagoon of Asia; the Chilika lagoon in the state of Odisha, India between pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 lockdown scenarios. Monthly water samples (n=30 stations) from 0.3 m depth were collected from three sectors of the lagoon seasonally; pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon. In addition to various physical parameters [pH, salinity, alkalinity, (DO) dissolved oxygen, (TDS) total dissolved solids, and (EC) electrical conductivity] the collected water samples were analysed for 18 trace metals (Al, As, Ba, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sr, Th, Tl, U, V). Most of the physical parameters showed a significant variation between pre-and post-COVID-19 scenarios, except for pH and DO. The concentration of five metals (Be, Cd, Co, Ni, and Pb) remained below detection limits in all water samples. The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the concentration of the metal in the water samples was noticed along with the three sectors of the lagoon. However, eight metals (Al, As, Cr, Fe, Mn, Th, U, and V) were significantly different between the COVID-19 scenarios and the remaining five metals were not statistically significant. The mean concentration of Al, As, Fe, Th, and V were higher in the pre-COVID-19 scenarios, whereas only Cr and Mn were higher in the post-COVID-19 scenarios. The mean concentration of U was similar among both COVID-19 scenarios, even though there were seasonal and sectoral differences. The seasonal influence of riverine influx was more evident on metal concentration during the monsoon season, whereas the difference between sectors was more prominent during the post-monsoon season. An increased number of correlations between physical parameters and metal concentration were observed in the post-monsoon season and post-COVID-19 scenario. This study provides evidence that the imposition of COVID-19 lockdown reduced metal influx in the water column and improved the water quality of the Chilika lagoon. Our results can be used as baseline for metal concentration in surface waters of the lagoon.