Impact of Irrigation Erosion on the Agrochemical Properties of Mountain-brown Soils and the Productivity of Cereals and Legumes

The cultivation of perennial grasses in mountainous areas protects the slopes from erosion and provides animals with good food. According to the results of the studies, it was determined that the restoration of fertility and the ecological balance of erosional lands and the implementation of soil and agrotechnical measures is of great importance for increasing yields. Thanks to the application of these measures, as a result of the improvement of the water-physical properties of the affected lands, runoff of surface waters is prevented. Perennial grasses accumulate the nitrogen atmosphere of legumes, enrich the soil with organic substances, accelerate the formation of a water-resistant granular-fuel structure and improve its water-physical properties, which in turn contributes to the rapid assimilation of minerals.

Two-dimensional material-based functional aerogels for treating hazards in environment: Synthesis, functional tailoring, applications, and sustainability analysis

Environmental pollution is a global problem that endangers human health and ecological balance. As a new type of nanomaterial, two-dimensional material (2DM)-based aerogel is one of the most promising candidates...

Literature as a Source of Ecological Sustainability with reference to Feminist Writings

Eco Feminist Literature has successfully addressed many ecological and environmental concerns in relation to the exploitation of women in various forms. It has been long that the relationship between the ecology and literature is established with the wide range of literary works having its base on environment and its issues. Women Autobiographies are a form of literature that are used by women writers to express their feelings of themselves in the forms of Memoirs .In certain cases people living in certain geographical regions are captivated by their staunch religious practices which plays an adverse role in preserving the ecological balance. Therefore this paper is an attempt to portray the extremism that exists in the Swat valley and how women autobiographies can contribute to the maintaining the eco system.

Ubhauli and Udhuali: Application of Symbolic Ecology and Ecological Symbolism in Kirat-Rai in Eastern Nepal

The aim of this article is to explore how the Ubhauli and Udhauli are functioning as a mechanism to maintain the socio-cultural and economic-ecological balance between populations and resources with the help of symbolic and ecological perspectives These great and holy festivals of KiratRais through which they can understand symbolic ecology and ecological symbolism in Kirat world through which Kirat can easily understand the nature, ecology and culture for their adaptation. Ubhauli and Udhauli festivals offer the social harmony, solidarity, integration through the socialization and such entertainment; works as mechanism of conflict resolution in socio-cultural, religious, ecological, economically, linguistically etc. to cope with the existing environmental, cultural and social problems of the Kirat world. The festivals Ubhauli and Udhauli are celebrated twice in a year. April and November are the celebrating months which appear through seasonal changes that help to bring society in order through repetitions and re-beginnings.

Asta-Ja and Energy Security in Nepal

Energy independence and sustainable renewable energy sources are the two main components of energy security for Nepal. More than 2/3rd of energy consumed in Nepal comes from biofuels and waste and about 1/4th of energy consumed comes from coal and petroleum products. With increasing number of motor vehicles and rising demand for cooking gas, Nepal’s coal and petroleum import bills in recent years have reached over Rs. 200 billion. With its vast water resources, Nepal has a great potential for energy independence and sustainability and achieve energy security. Nepal’s current 1,689 MW hydroelectricity capacity is expected to reach over 5,000 MW in next three to five years, which means Nepal will have a large amount of clean energy in the market. This increased hydropower production will also require an increased domestic consumption by making hydroelectricity affordable, reliable, and high-quality energy by improving its distribution system. Nepal also has a very high potential for solar power, which need to be harnessed and brought to the national grid. Nepal needs to harness all energy sources, which consist of hydropower, solar power, wind power, biofuels, and biogas, in a sustainable way for its energy independence and security. Because Nepal is in a geologically active and natural disasters prone area, it is critical to ensure ecological balance of Asta-Ja elements, Nepali letter, Jal (water), Jamin (land), Jungle (forest), Jadibuti (medicinal and aromatic plants), Janashakti (manpower), Janawar (animal), Jarajuri (crop plants) and Jalabayu (climate) while developing energy resources. Asta-Ja Framework serves as the connecting bridge between the energy resources and the end users. Strategic planning for comprehensive energy development considering ecological balance of Asta-Ja resources, decarbonization and electrification of energy end uses, improvement of energy infrastructures, continuous monitoring and evaluation of energy sector, and development of hydropower plants and alternative energy sources such as solar and wind is suggested for energy security in Nepal.

Overwintering honeybees maintained dynamic and stable intestinal bacteria

Honeybee is an important pollinator for maintaining ecological balance. However, scientist found the bizarre mass death of bees in winter. Meanwhile, some reported that the differences composed of intestinal bacteria between healthy honeybees and CCD honeybees. It is essential that explored dynamic changes to the intestinal bacteria in overwintering honeybees. We collected bee samples before overwintering, during prophase of overwintering, metaphase of overwintering, anaphase of overwintering, telophase of overwintering, and after overwintering. By using high-throughput sequencing targeting the V3−V4 regions of the 16S rDNA, the abundance of the intestinal bacteria were analyzed in overwintering honeybees. A total of 1,373,886 high-quality sequences were acquired and Proteobacteria (85.69%), Firmicutes (10.40%), Actinobacteria (3.66%), and Cyanobacteria (1.87%) were identified as major components of the intestinal bacteria. All core honeybee intestinal bacteria genera, such as Gilliamella, Bartonella, Snodgrassella, Lactobacillus, Frischella, Commensalibacter, and Bifidobacterium were detected. The abundance of Actinobacteria, Bartonella, and Bifidobacterium increased initially and then decreased in winter honeybees. There were no significant differences in the richness and evenness of the microbiota in overwintering honeybees; however, there was a statistically significant difference in the beta diversity of the intestinal bacteria after overwintering compared with that in other groups. Our results suggested that honeybees maintained their intestinal ecosystem balance, and increased the abundance of gut probiotics in response to environmental and nutrition pressures in winter.

Limit Drainage of Separated Tunnel Based on Ecological Groundwater Table: A Case Study

After the excavation of the tunnel in water-rich regions, the groundwater is continuously discharged into the tunnel. Excessive discharge will cause the groundwater table to drop, which will destroy the normal growth of vegetation and ecological balance. In order to protect the ecological environment, the key is to develop an effective method to determine the tunnel drainage. In this paper, a method for calculating the limit drainage of the tunnel is proposed based on area-well method and the concept of ecological groundwater table in ecology and agronomy. Some conclusions are drawn as follows. (1) When the ecological groundwater table is constant, with the increase of groundwater discharge, the drainage influence range of the tunnel decreases, the rainfall supplement quantity W t within the drainage influence range decreases, and the total groundwater discharge quantity Qt also decreases gradually. Since the decreasing rate of W t is greater than that of Qt, there is a unit drainage that makes the total groundwater discharge equal to rainfall supplement. (2) A separated tunnel under construction in Fuzhou City is taken as an example; the limit drainage q0 of the separated double tunnel is 0.48 m3/(m·d) considering ecological groundwater table.