Plant community data from a statewide survey of paired serpentine and non-serpentine soils in California, USA

Soils derived from ultramafic parent materials (hereafter serpentine) provide habitat for unique plant communities containing species with adaptations to the low nutrient levels, high magnesium: calcium ratios, and high metal content (Ni, Zn) that characterize serpentine. Plants on serpentine have long been studied in evolution and ecology, and plants adapted to serpentine contribute disproportionately to plant diversity in many parts of the world. In 2000-2003, serpentine plant communities were sampled at 107 locations representing the full range of occurrence of serpentine in California, USA, spanning large gradients in climate. In 2009-2010, plant communities were similarly sampled at 97 locations on nonserpentine soil, near to and paired with 97 of the serpentine sampling locations. (Some serpentine locations were revisited in 2009-2010 to assess the degree of change since 2000-2003, which was minimal.) At each serpentine or nonserpentine location, a north- and a south-facing 50 m x10 m plot were sampled. This design produced 97 “sites” each consisting of four “plots” (north-south exposure, serpentine-nonserpentine soil). All plots were initially visited >3 times over 2 years to record plant diversity and cover, and a subset were revisited in 2014 to examine community change after a drought. The original question guiding the study was how plant diversity is shaped by the spatially patchy nature of the serpentine habitat. Subsequently, we investigated how climate drives plant diversity at multiple scales (within locations, between locations on the same and different soil types, and across entire regions) and at different levels of organization (taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic).

Indoor air quality in wards of dental school clinic: Variations of VOCs, CO2 and airborne particle levels

Introduction: The indoor environment of dental clinics may endanger dental patients and personnel and due to a great variety of air pollutants throughout the usual dental operation. The purpose of the present cross-sectional study was the evaluation of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and factors affecting it in a dentistry faculty of Arak University of Medical Sciences. Material and methods: The IAQ of five dental active wards and the patient waiting room was evaluated. The concentrations of Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC), CO2, particulate matter, and bioaerosols were measured. Results: The TVOCs concentration in sampling locations ranged between 817 to 3670 μg/m3 during dental work and exceeded the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) guideline in all sampling locations. The highest values of Particulate Matter (PM) for PM10, PM2.5, and PM1 were observed in the periodontics ward, while the lowest values were observed in the endodontics ward. The PM2.5 concentrations exceeded the WHO limit in periodontics and pediatric wards. TVOC levels had a significant positive correlation with temperature (r=0.374, p<0.01) and RH (r=0.265, p<0.05). The predominant bacterial genus of the patient waiting area was Bacillus (36%), while the dominant bacterial genus of the other sampling site was Micrococcus spp. Penicillium (35.5%) and Cladosporium (28%) were the predominant fungi detected. Conclusion: Controlling of airborne particles is to be standardized by the infection control actions of dental clinics and improved ventilation capacity in the air conditioning system was suggested for reducing VOCs and PM concentrations.

Outdoor and indoor natural background gamma radiation across Kerala, India

The average annual outdoor background radiation dosage across the study area was ∼two times greater than the world average. Higher radiation dosage was observed in indoor environments than outdoors in the majority of the sampling locations.

Host Diversity of Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin in Rice Field in Bolaang Mongondow Regency

Beauveria bassiana can attack a variety of hosts and their virulence can vary at each host and location. Exploration of the diversity of hosts B. bassiana from local isolates needs to be done as initial information that can explain the ability of B. bassiana in infecting insects. Sampling locations were selected in three district, each district selected three stations and each station consisted of 10 plots. The location of sampling is determined by the purposive random sampling method. Each station was made a plot measuring 1m x 1m and distributed randomly. Every insect infected with B. bassiana was taken and taken to a laboratory for identification. The results showed that there were five insects that hosted B. bassiana, namely Nilaparvata lugens, Scotinophara coarctata, Leptocorisa oratorius, Nezara viridula and Paraeucosmetus pallicornis. The highest host diversity index was found in North Dumoga with a value of 1.47. The highest abundance index was found in N. lugens host in East Dumoga with a value of 43%. The highest density was found in the host N. lugens in Central Dumoga with a value of 1.93 ind / m2. There were indications of differences in virulence of the B. bassiana local isolates that were influenced by the spesies of host and location Keywords: Beauveria bassiana, diversity, Bolaang Mogondow Regency, diversity and abundance indices

Assessment of water quality based on biological indices of macrobenthos: a river under pressure from tourism activities

Cijulang River is one of the leading ecotourism objects in Pangandaran, West Java Province, Indonesia. However, the river has a variety of activities that can increase the water pollution in the river such as Green Canyon cliffs tourism, ecotourism of mangrove conservation, housing, and industrial siting. Macrobenthos is one of the bio-indicators that can assess the rate of water pollution in rivers, especially their organic pollutants. Therefore, this research aims to determine water pollution status in Cijulang River Tourism by comparing various biotic indices. The study was conducted at four site sampling locations from upstream to downstream in the rainy season period and dry season period using different methods namely, line transect model, water quality assessment by biological indexing (diversity, species dominant, and family biotic), species deficit, and organic measurement. The research showed 5873 macrobenthos and divided into 27 species with an average abundance of 167 ind.m-2 and are mainly dominated by gastropod species Faunus ater (40%). They are extreme species that can live in high organic pollution and water salinity. This divided the research of quality water assessment of Cijulang River into three categories as follows: slightly polluted (score 36-46) at Green Canyon site, moderately polluted (score 50-60) at Boat Shelter and Muara Cijulang location, and highly polluted (score 66) at Nusawiru site.Keywords:RiverBio-indicatorOrganicAquatic pollution

Water Quality of Marshyangdi River, Nepal: An Assessment Using Water Quaity Index (WQI)

Water quality index (WQI) is a valuable arithmetic tool that depicts the overall status of water quality in a single number to prioritize for management interventions. This study aims to assess water quality based on the WQI to provide insights into the status of the aquatic ecosystems in the Marshyangdi River basin, a tributary of the Narayani River, originating from the Himalaya. Water samples were collected from twenty-one sampling locations in the Marshyangdi River covering four districts from upstream (Kangsar) to the downstream region (Mugling) during pre-monsoon season (May) 2019. Eight selected physico-chemical parameters (TDS, pH, EC, DO, Cl-, NH3, PO43-, NO3-) were analyzed and aggregated in the form of WQI. Results showed that WQI ranges from 32.5 to 46.9, indicating the excellent water quality suitable for the sustenance of the aquatic ecosystem at all the sampling locations. These study results are expected to provide the baseline information on the present status of water quality along the longitudinal section of the Marshyangdi River, which could be helpful for the concerned authorities to manage water quality for the sustenance of the aquatic ecosystem.

Analysis of Sea Pollution by Sewage from Vessels

In this study, we analysed the sea pollution caused by sewage from vessels. The Dubrovnik aquatorium was chosen as a typical sea area that accommodates a variety of vessels in different locations. We sampled the sea at eight different coastal locations over 14 months and then analysed the samples to determine the presence of the indicators of fecal pollution. Simultaneous with the sampling of the sea, we recorded the number and type of vessels accommodated at the port. These data were applied in chi-square tests, which were used to determine the existence of the relationship of certain types of vessels with fecal coliform bacteria in the sea for each location. The correlation was determined between smaller vessels such as boats, yachts, megayachts, and smaller cruise ships in national navigation with bacteria at sea at the sampling locations. The results can provide an improved understanding of sea pollution due to sewage from vessels.

Modelling of Soil Profile Pollutant Yield on Slaughterhouse Wastes Deposited Land

Aim: The study aimed at modeling the concentration of pollutants along soil profile using finite element method. Study Design: Data was generated from the laboratory on the concentrations of selected heavy metals at varying depths of land discharged slaughterhouses. This was used to estimate the level of nutrient build-up in the soil within these environs, hence, used to verify and validate the finite element analysis. The model upon validation was used to predict the rate of pollutant build-up in the soil within the slaughterhouses discharge areas. Methodology: A total of twelve composite samples were collected from three different land discharged locations. The three composite samples each were collected from the sampling locations at a depth of 0 to 10cm, 10 to 20cm, 20 to 30cm and 30 to 40cm. Four composite samples each were collected for analysis from the three sampling locations on specified sampling dates. The samples were then placed in sterile polythene bags and transported to the laboratory for processing. The laboratory results obtained for heavy metals were used for the generated model verification and validation, hence predictions for pollutants accumulation was done on a time step. Results: Model verification showed a good fit of a nonlinear polynomial curve for both the measured and predicted values with R² values of 0.9978 to 0.9985 for zinc and 0.9978 to 0.9984 for lead at a selected time step of 15years. It was observed however, that there was an increasing tendency to uniformity of concentration as the time step increased; this was due to parameters build-up with time in the soil. Conclusion: Finite element results revealed a high build-up in the concentration of pollutants (Zinc and Lead) in the land discharged slaughterhouses.

Novel Mitochondrial DNA Markers for Scleractinian Corals and Generic-Level Environmental DNA Metabarcoding

Coral reefs, the most biodiverse habitats in the ocean, are formed by anthozoan cnidarians, the scleractinian corals. Recently, however, ongoing climate change has imperiled scleractinian corals and coral reef environments are changing drastically. Thus, convenient, high-density monitoring of scleractinian corals is essential to understand changes in coral reef communities. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding is potentially one of the most effective means of achieving it. Using publicly available scleractinian mitochondrial genomes, we developed high-specificity primers to amplify mitochondrial 12S ribosomal RNA (12S) and cytochrome oxidase-1 (CO1) genes of diverse scleractinian corals, which could be used for genus-level metabarcoding analyses, using next-generation sequencing technologies. To confirm the effectiveness of these primers, PCR amplicon sequencing was performed using eDNA isolated along the seashore of Okinawa, Japan. We successfully amplified all eDNA samples using PCR. Approximately 93 and 72% of PCR amplicon sequences of 12S and CO1 primers originated from scleractinian 12S and CO1 genes, respectively, confirming higher specificities for coral mitochondrial genes than primers previously used for coral eDNA metabarcoding. We also found that hierarchical clustering, based on the percentage of mapped reads to each scleractinian genus, discriminates between sampling locations, suggesting that eDNA surveys are sufficiently powerful to reveal differences between coral communities separated by &lt;1 km. We conclude that the method reported here is a powerful tool for conducting efficient eDNA surveys targeting scleractinian corals.