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Mining activities lead to severe particulate matter (PM) pollution that consequently has a detrimental effect on ecosystem. A study was therefore conducted in a coal mining area of Odisha, India with an objective to assess the particulate matter pollution on the basis of differential aerodynamic size (PM10 and PM2.5) of the particles, the metallic (Zn and Fe) composition, and also to evaluate their nature of deposition on two identified plant species. The results suggest a significant variation in particle and heavy metal fractions in the ambient air of different sites (p < 0.05). Fe dominated the finer particle (PM2.5) fraction while Zn dominated the coarser counterpart (PM10) in the ambient air. When evaluated for the particle and heavy metal deposition on leaf surface, Shorea robusta performed better in trapping the coarser particles (PM10) while Holarrhena floribunda was found to be an efficient scrubber of the finer particles (PM2.5). Fe deposition on surface of leaves was comparatively higher than Zn irrespective of plant species or size fractions. Therefore, it is concluded that both S. robusta and H. floribunda should be planted in a schematic manner to tackle the particulate pollution in coal mining areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bibliometric analysis is an important tool for the assessment of research trends on a topic of interest. With the rising demand for research on sediments, the current work is aimed to evaluate the number of publications, major countries involved, and major thrust areas of research using the search keywords "sediment organic carbon" and "sediment heavy metals." The bibliometric recovery of 1367 publications was done from the Scopus database during the study period of 23 years, that is, from 2000 to 2022 (till August) and the analyses were performed using VOSviewer and Biblioshiny software. The result showed a greater number of publications on sediment organic carbon than the heavy metals. Research articles were the most preferred publication type as compared to book chapters, conference proceedings, review articles, and so on. No particular journal was found to have a significant impact on the topic of research, but Chemosphere and Marine Pollution Bulletin showcased the highest impact on publication with an H‐index score of 36 each. While, China dominated the research on the concerned topic followed by India and the United States, a low level of inter‐country collaboration was however detected in the analysis suggesting a regional influence on sediment‐related topics. "Risk assessment," "Geo‐accumulation index," and "Potential ecological risk" were the major focal areas that were associated with the assessment of sediment quality and heavy metal accumulation. It can be concluded that sediment related research has been regionally focused. More inter‐country collaborations can aid in trans‐disciplinary research related to sediments in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is the first attempt to assess the presence of 16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) enlisted by the US Environmental Protection Agency in PM2.5 and PM10 from industrial areas of Odisha State, India. During 2017–2018, bimonthly sampling of PM10 and PM2.5 was carried out for 24 h in the industrial and mining areas of Jharsuguda and Angul in Odisha during the pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post monsoon seasons. Highest mean concentration of ∑16PAHs in PM2.5 was observed during the post monsoon (170 ng/m3) period followed by pre-monsoon (48 ng/m3) and monsoon (16 ng/m 3) periods, respectively. A similar trend of ∑16PAHs was also observed in PM10 with higher levels observed during post monsoon (286 ng/m3) followed by pre-monsoon (81 ng/m3) and monsoon (27 ng/m3) seasons. Diagnostic ratios and principal component analysis suggested diesel, gasoline and coal combustion as the major contributors of atmospheric PAH pollution in Odisha. Back trajectory analysis revealed that PAH concentration was affected majorly by air masses originating from the northwest direction traversing through central India. Toxic equivalents ranged between 0.24 and 94.13 ng TEQ/m3. In our study, the incremental lifetime cancer risk ranged between 10–5 and 10–3, representing potential cancer risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between length, weight, condition factor (K), and relative condition factor (Kn) of Mystus tengara (Hamilton, 1822), with special emphasis on seasonal variation of growth patterns, productivity, stocks, and conservation in two distinct ecosystems: pond and river. The results demonstrate that the species did not strictly adhere to the predicted cube law and had allometric growth patterns throughout the season. The condition factor (K) ranged from 0.33 to 1.49, the relative condition factor (Kn) varied from 0.44 to 1.77, and the 'b' values ranged from 2.00 to 3.29. The post-monsoon season saw the greatest average values for the regression parameter (b), condition factor (K), and relative condition factor (Kn). The r2 values represent a significant relation between length and weight in two habitats and throughout all seasons. The Pearson's correlation indicates some positive and negative significant correlations among season, length, weight, condition factor, and relative condition factor in the study area (P<0.01 and P<0.05). The Post Hoc test indicates no significant habitat-based association between the same characteristics. However, there is a significant (P<0.05) seasonal link between relative condition factor, condition factor, weight, and length. As a result, these current findings will assist fisheries managers in creating efficient strategies for the long-term management of M. tengara in its habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature does not discriminate and has no boundaries; however only developing nations faces huge food security issues and in such circumstances much of importance has been emphasised on food production technologies but studies and research on concealed factor behind food production i.e biogeochemical drivers were largely overlooked. Injudicious agricultural practices; for instance profound use of agrochemicals in continuous and unmonitored way may had already situate many soil microbial species in verge of extinction consequently creating ecological imbalance. With huge land pressure for crop production and lack of upto date technologies of preciseness, most of the developing nation which includes the whole of Africa, almost all Asian countries and numerous other island states faces the agricultural land degradation issues; one of the major reason for such degradation is missing out of ecological drivers i.e soil microbial diversity. Anthropogenic activities application of fertilisers, land use changes (LUC), land intensification, crop diversification, irrigation management etc accelerates the soil microbial community shifts and microbial diversity loss predominately in developing nations. In this short communication, we address the concerns faced by the developing nations to prevent the soil microbial community shift and diversity loss. Also we propose the each exported commodity may have specific tax included which may be utilised by soil scientist from developing nations for studying the current soil microbial shifts and diversity loss due to agriculture management practices more efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The alarming rise of carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere due to urbanization, industrialization, motorization coupled with rapid population growth has been one of the main issues cropped up during the past few decades. This has resulted in many environmental disturbances like change in global temperature, erratic precipitation, melting of polar ice caps, alteration in hot and cold oceanic current, rise in sea level, modification in agricultural pattern, loss of biodiversity, migration of animals including human beings, appearance of diseases, many other socioeconomic problems etc. Trees being the largest terrestrial reservoir of carbon are regarded as the low-cost eco-friendly way of mitigating this problem. The biomass (above ground biomass and below ground biomass) measurements in trees are usually employed to estimate the total carbon sequestering potential of trees in an area. The present study focused on the estimation of above ground and below ground biomass of locally available trees in polluted and non- polluted areas of Sambalpur town located in Western flanks of Odisha State in Eastern India. The result suggested that the girth at breast height (GBH) and height of a tree plays a profound role in carbon sequestration potential. Further, some trees are good performers of carbon sequestration in polluted areas than their counterpart in non-polluted area. Species such as Ficus benghalensis (3355.065 kg C/tree/yr) and Ficus religiosa (1645.335 kg C/tree/yr) showed higher carbon sequestration while, Thevetia peruviana (35.777 kg C/tree/yr), Ziziphus jujuba (36.178 kg C/tree/yr) and Bombax ceiba (44.410 kg C/tree/yr) showed lower carbon sequestration potential. Therefore, trees with higher carbon sequestration potentials may be integrated schematically in the urban areas for removing CO2 from the atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advent of industrialization and the rapid progress in developmental activities, the emission of carbon dioxide in to the atmosphere has amplified and with it has increased the demand of carbon sequestration. Soil is considered as a major carbon pool and hence is considered very strongly as a potent system for carbon sequestration. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential for carbon sequestration in the soil as a means of reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. The study was taken up inside the Sambalpur University campus in four land use systems viz. pasture land, forest land, agricultural land and garden soil at three soil depths (0 - 10, 10 - 20 and 20 - 30 cm) to analyze for the organic carbon content, bulk density and Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) stock of the respective land uses. The result indicated that the OC varied with different depths in various land use system and was found to be in following sequence: forest land > garden soil > pasture land > agricultural land. Bulk density was also found to be negatively correlated with the OC and hence had a following sequence: agricultural land > pasture land > forest land > garden soil. The calculated SOC stock was found to be highest in forest land (38.97 t/ha) followed by pasture land (32.15 t/ha), garden soil (28.17 t/ha) and agricultural land (27.91 t/ha). From the above result it can be inferred that natural forest land plays an important role in sequestering atmospheric carbon and helps in mitigating climate change than the other man engineered land use systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil respiration and enzyme activities reflect the biochemical functioning and nutrient cycling in soil. Knowledge regarding them can be useful in describing changes due to land use, land cover system and defining management strategies for restoring soil ecosystem functioning. In the present study, carbon dioxide evolution and enzymatic activities in soil were studied in four land use systems viz. sugarcane field, rice field, forest land and pasture land from Sujanpur village near Bhawanipatna town of Kalahandi, Odisha, India during April 2013 to November 2013. The study showed that carbon dioxide evolution and protease activity is decreasing in the order: Forest land > Rice field > Pasture land > Sugarcane field. Invertase activity was found to be highest in rice field (8.93 μg glucose/g dry wt./h) with the lowest value in pasture land (6.71 μg glucose/g dry wt./h) while, urease activity was found to be highest in agricultural land i.e. rice and sugarcane field (0.63 and 0.60 μg urea/g dry wt./h respectively) than in pasture (0.49 μg urea/g dry wt./h) and forest land (0.39 μg urea/g dry wt./h). Phosphatase (acid and alkali) and dehydrogenase activity was maximum in forest (1.04, 0.83 mg PNP/g dry wt./h and 57.53 μg TPF/g dry wt./h respectively) and minimum in pasture land (0.61, 0.38 mg PNP/g dry wt./h and 48.68 μg TPF/g dry wt./h respectively). The result however, showed insignificant variation in carbon dioxide evolution and enzyme activities with respect to different land use practices and hence confirm a very slow degradation of soil quality till today from the course of transformation to agricultural land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]