Health risk assessment of arsenic in drinking groundwater: A case study in a central high land area of Vietnam

Arsenic contaminated groundwaters is a global environmental issue which cause serious problems for human health risks. 188 groundwater samples were collected in private wells of Lam Dong Province, a central highland area, Vietnam to investigate the health risks to the local people by using arsenic contaminated groundwater for drinking purpose. The result showed that the arsenic concentration is average of 14 μg/L and maximum of 500 μg/L. About 12% out of the total groundwater samples have arsenic concentration exceeded that value of 10 μg/L recommended for drinking water by World Health Organization (WHO, 2019). The health risk assessment showed that hazard quotient (HQ) value for adults was up to 60.6 with an average of 1.7 and about 14% of total samples show the HQ values greater than 1. The HQ value for children is average of 4.7 (maximum of 166.7) and about 23% of total groundwater samples show HQ > 1 for children. Cancer risk (CR) values were up to 27x10-4 (average of 8x10-4) for adults and 75x10-4 (average of 21x10-4) for children. About 26% and 29% of out of the total samples show CR value for adult and children greater than the CR (1×10-4) proposed by the USEPA. The result also indicated that the consumption of arsenic contaminated groundwater may seriously damage the human health. Therefore, groundwater in the area needs to be treated for arsenic removal before drinking to minimize the adverse effect on local communities’ health.

Population genomic structure in Goodman's mouse lemur reveals long-standing separation of Madagascar's Central Highlands and eastern rainforests

Madagascar’s Central Highlands are largely composed of grasslands, interspersed with patches of forest. The pre-human extent of these grasslands is a topic of vigorous debate, with conventional wisdom holding that they are anthropogenic in nature and emerging evidence supporting that grasslands were a component of the pre-human Central Highlands vegetation. Here, we shed light on the temporal dynamics of Madagascar’s vegetative composition by conducting a population genomic investigation of Goodman’s mouse lemur (Microcebus lehilahytsara; Cheirogaleidae). These small-bodied primates occur both in Madagascar’s eastern rainforests and in the Central Highlands, which makes them a valuable indicator species. Population divergences among forest-dwelling mammals can serve as a proxy for habitat fragmentation and patterns of post-divergence gene flow can reveal potential migration corridors consistent with a wooded grassland mosiac. We used RADseq data to infer phylogenetic relationships, population structure, demographic models of post-divergence gene flow, and population size change through time. These analyses offer evidence that open habitats are an ancient component of the Central Highlands, and that wide-spread forest fragmentation occurred naturally during a period of decreased precipitation near the last glacial maximum. Models of gene flow suggest that migration across the Central Highlands has been possible from the Pleistocene through the recent Holocene via riparian corridors. Notably, though our findings support the hypothesis that Central Highland grasslands predate human arrival, we also find evidence for human-mediated population declines. This highlights the extent to which species imminently threatened by human-mediated deforestation may be more vulnerable from paleoclimatic changes.

Morphological and molecular evidence reveals three new species of Lithocarpus (Fagaceae) from Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park, Vietnam

Three new species, Lithocarpus bidoupensis Ngoc & Tagane, L. congtroiensis Ngoc & Yahara, and L. hongiaoensis Ngoc & Binh are described from Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park, Central Highland of Vietnam. Morphological analyses and Maximum likelihood tree based on genome-wide SNPs support the distinction of those species from the previously known taxa in the region. The three new species are considered to be endemic to the Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park and the preliminary conservation status for each species is evaluated as Critically Endangered.

Beilschmiedia danhkyii (Lauraceae), a new species from Vu Quang National Park, Vietnam

The new species Beilschmiedia danhkyii (Lauraceae) is described from Ha Tinh Province, Central Highland of Vietnam. Beilschmiedia danhkyii is characterized by ferruginous hairy terminal buds, branchlets and abaxial surfaces of lamina, subopposite leaves, adaxially impressed midrib and secondary veins, short inflorescence 2–3(–5) cm long, and large ellipsoid fruits 5–8 cm long, by which combination it is cleary distinguished from the other species of Beilschmiedia in the region. Taxonomic description, a table comparing morphological characters of the allied species, and color photo-plate are provided.

Analysis of long term trends of rainfall and temperature of Andit tid watershed, central highland of Ethiopia

The impacts of climate change and climate variability on human life led the scientific community to monitor the behavior of weather and climate variables. As a responsible body in the present study, trends and variations in climatic variables (i.e. rainfall, air temperature and soil temperature) were analyzed on monthly, seasonal (Belg, summer, spring and winter) and annual time scales for Andit tid watershed, central highland of Ethiopia. This was done using non-parametric statistical techniques, i.e. the Mann–Kendall (MK), over a period of 24 years. To detect the inhomogeneity of the data, autocorrelation has been taken into account using the Hamed and Rao method. The trend analysis revealed that monthly, seasonal and annual rainfall did show statistically insignificant decreasing trend at (P<0.05) level of significant. Annually, noticeable trend increase was found in maximum air temperature and noticeable decrease in minimum air temperature from the non-parametric statistical tests at a (P<0.05) level of significance. With this circumstance, the mean temperature showed insignificant increasing trend at (P<0.05). This type of analysis of several climatic variables at watershed level is helpful for the planning and management of water resources and the development of adaptation strategies in adverse climatic conditions.

Phenotypic Characterization for Identification, Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Boset and Minjar Shenkora Goats of Ethiopia

This study was conducted on a total of 776 goats (part of Central highland goat breeds of Ethiopia), 306 from Boset district of Oromia region and 470 were from Minjar Shenkora district of Amhara region. A format developed by using food and agriculture organization discerption list was used for recording of morphological traits, bodyweight and linear body measurements. Both qualitative and quantitative traits were recorded from randomly sampled mature goats and the data were analyzed using SAS software. The goat type in the study area was characterized by a higher proportion of plain coat color patterns (62.5). Ingeneral, the majority (98.4%) of the studied goats were horned and characterized by backward orientation (67%) with a straight shape (49.3%). They presented a concave facial profile (73.8%), slop up toward the rump back profile (66.2%), no wattle (99.6%), no toggle (90.7%), no ruff (85.9%) and no beard (57.3%). The location had a significant effect on body weight and some other linear body measurements. Traits like body length, rump length, horn length, head length, head width and shin circumference were significantly higher in Boset district. In contrast, rump width and cannon bone length were significantly lower. The mean body weight of male goats in Boset and Minjar Shenkora district were 30.5±1.05 kg with a range of 16 to 47 and 27.5±0.56 with a range of 13 to 57, respectively. While for female counterpart mean body weights (kg) were 28.4±0.35 with a range of 17 to 45 for Boset and 27.5±0.33 with a range 15 to 57 for Minjar Shenkora district. Heart girth had the highest correlation with body weight in both sexes and shoulder width in Boset male goats. The wider variation in most quantitative measurement traits would open an opportunity for further improvement, conservation and utilization work.

Potential Application of Rhizobacteria Isolated from the Central Highland of Vietnam as an Effective Biocontrol Agent of Robusta Coffee Nematodes and as a Bio-Fertilizer

Robusta coffee is a major commercial crop in the Central Highland of Vietnam with high economic and export value. However, this crop is adversely affected by various pathogens, particularly nematodes. This study aimed to screen active anti-nematode rhizobacterial strains for sustainable coffee production. Among more than 200 isolates, the isolate TUN03 demonstrated efficient biocontrol with nearly 100% mortality of J2 coffee nematodes Meloidogyne spp. and 84% inhibition of nematode egg hatching. This active strain was identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa TUN03 based on its 16S rRNA gene sequence and phylogenetic analysis. In greenhouse tests, the strain TUN03 significantly reduced the coffee nematode population in the rhizome-soil with an 83.23% inhibition rate and showed plant growth-promoting effects. Notably, this is the first report of the nematicidal effect of P. aeruginosa against coffee nematodes. This potent strain further showed an antifungal effect against various crop-pathogenic fungi and was found to be the most effective against Fusarium solani F04 (isolated from coffee roots) with a 70.51% inhibition rate. In addition, high-performance liquid chromatography analysis revealed that this bacterial strain also secretes plant growth regulators including indole acetic acid (IAA), gibberellic acid (GA3), kinetin, and zeatin in significant amounts of 100, 2700, 37, and 9.5 µg/mL, respectively. The data from this study suggest that P. aeruginosa TUN03 may be a potential biocontrol agent and biofertilizer for the sustainable production of Robusta coffee and other crops.