Destruction Of Trees Research Articles

Impact of urbanization on soapnut Sapindus trifoliatus L. tree cover and the need for community involvement: a case study from Kochi, Kerala, India

ABSTRACT The South Indian soapnut tree, Sapindus trifoliatus L, is a midsized evergreen tree from the Indian subcontinent whose fruit can produce natural detergents, biodiesel, and biopesticides. In this study, we document the systematic destruction of soapnut trees through a citizen-supported tree census in an emerging Tier 2 city, Kochi, in South India. In the study, 3580 respondents allowed us to find and map 210 locations of soapnut trees across 411.57 km2. Kochi expanded suddenly in the early 2000s, with a drastic increase in built-up area (126%) and a steady decline in wetlands (57.6%) and croplands (15%). Habitat loss and removal from home gardens has quartered soapnut tree density, to 0.11 km−2. With only 50 trees remaining, the population of the South Indian soapnut will reach the brink of local extinction by 2080.

Mitigation of Huanglongbing: Implications of a Biologically Enhanced Nutritional Program on Yield, Pathogen Localization, and Host Gene Expression Profiles.

Huanglongbing (HLB, citrus greening disease), the most destructive disease affecting citrus production, is primarily linked to the gram-negative, insect-vectored, phloem-inhabiting α-proteobacterium 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' (CLas). With no effective treatment available, management strategies have largely focused on the use of insecticides in addition to the destruction of infected trees, which are environmentally hazardous and cost-prohibitive for growers, respectively. A major limitation to combating HLB is the inability to isolate CLas in axenic culture, which hinders in vitro studies and creates a need for robust in situ CLas detection and visualization methods. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of a nutritional program-based approach for HLB treatment, and to explore the effectiveness of an enhanced immunodetection method to detect CLas-infected tissues. To achieve this, four different biologically enhanced nutritional programs (bENPs; P1, P2, P3, and P4) were tested on CLas-infected citrus trees. Structured illumination microscopy preceded by a modified immunolabeling process and transmission electron microscopy were used to show treatment-dependent reduction of CLas cells in phloem tissues. No sieve pore plugging was seen in the leaves of P2 trees. This was accompanied by an 80% annual increase in fruit number per tree and 1,503 (611 upregulated and 892 downregulated) differentially expressed genes. These included an MLRQ subunit gene, UDP-glucose transferase, and genes associated with the alpha-amino linolenic acid metabolism pathway in P2 trees. Taken together, the results highlight a major role for bENPs as a viable, sustainable, and cost effective option for HLB management.

Improving Deforestation Detection Accuracy in Noisy Satellite Images with Contrastive Learning-based Approach

Deforestation, the large-scale destruction of trees, has far-reaching biological and environmental consequences that pose a significant threat to the environment. Accurate deforestation detection is crucial for successful conservation initiatives and effective land management. Over the last decade, numerous deforestation detection methods utilizing spaceborne photography have been proposed. However, these methods tend to be sensitive to unique image noise in the satellite domain by virtue of the diverse aerial characteristics and air qualities in different regions. To solve this problem, we propose a novel noise-robust deforestation detection framework with a contrastive-learning based approach. The proposed framework consists of two phases: contrastive learning, which aims to extract similar feature embeddings for the same category, proceeded with transfer learning in order to develop the deforestation classifier. Remarkably, the proposed contrastive learning approach successfully handles noisy input satellite images during the feature extraction process. Upon conducting validation, we have found that the proposed method outperforms existing deforestation detection methods by a significant performance gap, highlighting the effectiveness of the proposed contrastive learning approach.

Impacts of anthropogenic disturbance on forest vegetation cover, health, and diversity within Doma forest reserve, Nigeria.

Forest encroachment is a common practice that has led to the destruction of canopy trees in the Guinea savanna part of Nigeria. This study investigated the influence of human activities on vegetation health and species composition of Doma forest reserve located in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Landsat satellite data from 1986 to 2021 were utilized to assess forest cover change, land surface temperature (LST), and vegetation indices (VIs). The results show that dense woodland vegetation in the Doma forest reserve depreciated between 1991 and 1999 by 17.82% before increasing by 7.37% between 1999 and 2021. Similarly, vegetation greenness (measured by the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Green Chlorophyll Vegetation Index (GCVI), and leaf area index (LAI)) of the forest mirrored the changes observed in the forest cover. The LST extracted for each year was correlated with all VIs, and an inverse relationship was observed in all relationships analyzed. The decline in greenness between 1999 and 2011 was attributed to increasing lumbering, bush burning, and sand dredging activities. Results also showed the current diversity state (H1 = 0.23), evenness (0.63), and the volume of tree (1.31 m3) species in the heart of the Doma forest reserve. However, a high (25%) native tree species in the Fabaceae family correlated with a dramatic increase in the VIs and an increase in dense woodland cover indicating the importance of Fabaceae in forest ecosystem regeneration.

Medium-term effects of wildfire severity on soil physical, chemical and biological properties in Pinus halepensis Mill. woodland (Southern Italy): an opportunity for invasive Acacia saligna colonization?

Wildfire frequency and severity have greatly increased in Mediterranean areas in recent decades affecting ecosystems functioning due to alteration in the above- and below-ground process. This study aimed to investigate how wildfire severity, in the medium-term (2–5 years), impacts soil properties within a Pinus halepensis woodland located in the Special Area of Conservation (SAC) of the Natura 2000 network (IT9130006 - Pinewoods of the Ionian Arch). In 2021, four years after a large wildfire in 2017, the woodland still exhibited fire effects with evidence of low, medium or high burn severity in different sites (named LBS, MBS, HBS, respectively). In addition, we observed an area burnt at medium severity that was invaded by Acacia saligna (MBSA site), a fast-growing, highly invasive, drought-tolerant nitrogen-fixing plant, thus we also examined the combined effect of wildfire and A. saligna on the soil. We compared soil properties across burnt sites with a nearby unburnt site (control). Thickness, weight and organic carbon of litter (L) and fermentation (F) layers were measured, alongside physical, chemical and biological properties in the underlying mineral soil (0–10 cm). Our results show that wildfire destroyed the organic layers and these had not recovered four years after the wildfire (except for L-layer within LBS) with a consequent loss (∼2 t C ha−1) of this carbon pool. In mineral soil we identified fourfold increases in N mineralization and nitrification rates across all burnt sites, regardless of the burn severity and A. saligna presence, suggesting an alteration of N-cycle processes. On the contrary, total microbial biomass and soil respiration as well as most of the physical and chemical properties of the soil were comparable between the burnt and control soils. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) highlighted that burn severity affected soil variables with lower changes in LBS than in other burnt soils. Also, the HBS soil did not show greater negative impacts compared to MBS sites. This is probably due to the increased post-fire colonization by herbaceous plants in HBS, favoured by the complete destruction of trees. In this case, waiting for natural vegetation recovery can be a valid management option, but periodic monitoring of fire-soil-vegetation interaction mainly to avoid invasive species widespread is advocated.

Characteristics and Diversity of Black Mangrove (Avicennia germinans) Pneumatophores in a Deforested and Sand-Filled Forest at Eagle Island, Niger Delta Nigeria

Pneumatophores are a major channel of oxygen circulation in mangrove forest. It is hypothesized that soil condition, canopy cover and stagnant pool of water can influence pneumatophore growth rate. Pneumatophore characteristics i.e., abundance, diversity in root types, microbial and chemical composition in sand-filled mangrove forest was studied. Six plots were established within a rectangular area measuring 4152.24 m2 in a rand@om block design to investigate the effect of soil conditions on pneumatophore growth. A total of 9,586 pneumatophores were physically counted and differentiated into four types namely 1-branch, 2-branch, 3-branch, and 4-branch pneumatophores. Soil samples were also collected, and the physico-chemistry determined in the laboratory. The ANOVA results shows that there is significant difference in the abundance of pneumatophore types (F3, 20 = 7.61, p<.001). The most abundant pneumatophore type is the one branch pneumatophore (n=4747) while the least is the four branched pneumatophores. The stagnant pool site with silty and muddy soil has the most abundant pneumatophore growth whereas plots in the seashore site with sandy soil has the least abundant pneumatophores. In contrast, the seashore site has the highest diversity (H=1.367), which means more root types (i.e., 2-, 3- and 4-branch) while the stagnant pool has the lowest diversity (H=0.956), which means more of the 1-branch type. Metal concentration was higher in the stagnant pool site while microbial count is higher in the seashore site. The study shows that soil condition, canopy cover, stagnant pool plus tidal action influenced pneumatophore growth, which means that deforestation of mangrove trees leads to poor soil formation (i.e., sandy soil) and affect root formation in mangrove soil. Therefore, the destruction of mangrove trees should be discouraged to prevent soil degradation.

Population characters and new records of emerald ash borer Argrilus planipennis Fairm. (Coleoptera, Buprestidae)in saint petersburg in 2022

Studies of the secondary population of the European ash borer Agrilus planipennis (EAB) in St. Petersburg and its surroundings were continued. The obtained data show that the population is persisting in St. Petersburg. The danger of mass destruction of ash stands, the role of which in the structure of urban plantatings is very important, still exists. Felling of infested trees in the two detected outbreak locations stopped further reproduction of EAB in these areas. In three other loci, the reproduction of the wood borer continues. Repeated examination of model trees in the outbreak site in Nevskii District showed an increase of the pest population density. The survival rate of EAB remained approximately at the same level as in 2020. The population density increases with the height of the infested tree trunk area. The role of parasitoids is insigni cant. The infested wood simultaneously contained pest at all stages of development - larvae, pupae and adults. Apparently the life cycle of EAB in St. Petersburg to a large extent depends on weather conditions and the microhabitat features; an increase in the sum of e ective temperatures is a key factor for its successful development. Symptoms of colonization by the pest (exit holes) appear only after the rst beetles’ emergence, a signi cant part of the individuals remains in the wood at the larval and pupal stages. Therefore, the timely detection, cleaning and destruction of trees with exit holes is the main tool for controlling the EAB spread. An e ective auxiliary measure would be the introduction of the parasitoids of this pest, which are currently practically absent in the local EAB population. Constant monitoring of ash trees is necessary, primarily in the known localities where pest appeared in Petrodvortsovyi and Nevskii districts. For a principal solving the problem of the further EAB spreading control, the active involvement of all municipal and federal management structures responsible for city plantings is necessary.

Prawnokarna ochrona drzew

Penal law protection of trees The article presents criminal law provisions that penalize the destruction or damage of trees. Only some of them protect trees as an essential element of nature. Other provisions primarily protect property, which includes trees as part of real estate. The analysis carried out in the study found that the legal protection of trees largely depends on the location where the tree grows. Some regulations apply to trees growing in forests, others to trees located in protected areas such as national parks, and others to trees located, for example, along the roadside. The study also presents the problem of the classification of a certain factual state and the conjunction of regulations. In many cases, the classification as a crime or a misdemeanor will be determined by whether a specific behavior resulted in substantial damage, which is an evaluative criterion. Also addressed is the problem of wobbler offenses, including the difficulty of determining the value of stolen timber or the amount of damage when a tree is destroyed or damaged.

Study of chemical control options against chestnut blight disease

Cryphonectria parasitica, the causal agent of chestnut blight, is a destructive Ascomycota fungal disease infecting European chestnut (Castanea sativa) and American chestnut (Castanea dentata) trees. On susceptible host trees, necrotic lesions (cancers) are caused by the disease on the bark of the trunk and branches. The disease leads to wilting and destruction of the chestnut trees. Protection against the pathogen is difficult. Biological control using hypovirulent strains of the pathogen is one of the best options, but its implementation requires a lot of preliminary testing, as well as compatibility between the virulent pathogen strain that infects the area and the hypovirulent strain used for treatment. Thus, this procedure is a rather complicated and slow process. Chemical control against the pathogen is not currently widespread, as its implementation is also difficult due to the large size of the trees and the nature of the forest-like plantations, and there are currently no available pesticides. At the same time, protection with chemical pesticides may be feasible in plantations in which the size of the trees allows for application (lower-sized trees or young plantations). Therefore, it is necessary to find fungicides that can be used effectively, which is the purpose of this experiment. In vitro efficacy of four chemical pesticides [Pictor (dimoxystrobin+boscalid), Amistar Sun (azoxystrobin+difenoconazole), Score 250 EC (difenoconazole), Cuproxat FW (tribasic-cooper-sulphate)] has been tested against Cryphonectria parasitica. According to the results of this experiment Score 250 EC and Amistar Sun were the most effective fungicides, given that they inhibited fungal growth even at the lowest concentrations of the test solution.

Various Causes of Urban Heat Islands, effects and their Mitigation Measures for Urban Ecology – A Review

Every human activity creates various adverse effects in our environment. Rapid urbanization and increasedpopulation lead to generation of urban heat islands. It adversely affects urban ecology and creates publichealth damage. The major causes of urban heat islands are destruction of trees, low albedo materials, urbancanopy, human gathering. The increase of land surface temperature caused by urban heat island effect willdefinitely alters the urban ecological balance, atmospheric environment and their functions. Urban heatislands need to be addressed urgently. This review is an effort to understand how cities across the globeaffect urban heat and their mitigation measurements. Green cover and cool pavements are the best methodto reduce the temperature in urban areas. In this paper, we have analyzed major cause, effects and mitigationproperties.

GİRİT ADASI’NDA ZEYTİN VE TİCARETİ

Thanks to its location, Crete Island has been one of the most important trading bases of the Mediterranean. The island is in an extremely important region in terms of its strategic location, where the Mediterranean meets the Archipelago. Undoubtedly, olive is the most important product that is grown on the island. Olive is the fertile fruit of the Mediterranean climate. The oil and soap obtained from this product is the most important commercial commodity sent to Istanbul that meets the needs of the palace. Cultivation nature of olives that is undulant due to the climate hindered the trade of oil and soap obtained from it at intervals. Mukataa foundations were also established for olive oil production. Since the trade was disrupted by destruction of olive trees caused by the Greek Revolt and the destruction of some villages, the trade had suffered setbacks. Therefore, the public demanded that the taxes be postponed or split into installments for an indefinite period of time. The state's response to this request was positive. It is apparent from the archive documents that the quality of the soap produced in the region was high. Other important centers producing olive preferred to sell their soaps under the counterfeit Cretan stamp, affecting the soap business profoundly. The laws enacted imposed the producers to stamp their products with the original stamp of the place where the soap was produced. It is also apparent that olive oil was sold to different countries at more affordable prices by keeping the customs taxes low. After the first domestic disturbance which occured in 1770, the island became a place of constant internal conflicts. In addition, olive trees were devastated, particularly in 1897/98. This study aims to set out how agriculture and trade were affected by this situation and the difficulties experienced in the olive trade in this period, when political turmoils arose upon the Greek Revolt, in the light of the documents in the Presidential State Archive.

Infestation Differences and Control of the Clearwing Moth (Synanthedon myopaeformis Borkh.) in Apple Orchards, Egypt.

<b>Background and Objective:</b> The clearwing moth (<i>Synanthedon myopaeformis</i> Borkh.) is considered one of the most dangerous pests infesting apple orchards in Egypt, causing the destruction of apple trees and a significant reduction in tree vigour and yield. Therefore, controlling it has become an important issue. The present study aimed to investigate the differences in <i>S. myopaeformis</i> infestation in apple orchards in different geographical regions and the infestation rates to different agricultural operations. <b>Materials and Methods:</b> The infestation percentages of <i>S. myopaeformis</i> in different geographical regions under varying agricultural operations were determined. Additionally, the amounts of chemical components (e.g., phenols, proline and total carbohydrates and proteins) in the stems and leaves of both infested and healthy apple trees were determined. Finally, the efficacy of seven different materials of varying types to control the borer was tested by painting the trunks of the apple trees. <b>Results:</b> The highest numbers of <i>S. myopaeformis</i> were recorded in July at locations with varying agricultural operations: Melig (25.88 adults), Kafer-Aleim (20.30 adults) and Al-Khatatba (13.02 adults). The emergence percentages recorded at the abovementioned locations were 44.55, 33.40 and 22.05%, respectively. The infested trees contained high amounts of proline and phenols in both stems and leaves, whereas total carbohydrate and protein contents were low. The highest reduction in the emergent population was recorded with the use of the pesticide Ranous (82.16%) and the application of used motor oil on the trunk (78.15%). <b>Conclusion:</b> The proposed treatment of infested apple trees is painting the trunks during the summer months, when <i>S. myopaeformis</i> activity is high, with motor oil and the pesticide Ranous. The accumulation of phenol and proline in the infested trees indicated a type of direct defense mechanism against <i>S. myopaeformis</i> attacks.

Modern bioengineering approaches to creating resistance to the Plum pox virus in stone fruit crops

In recent years, Plum pox virus (PPV) has become a major threat to the cultivation of stone fruit plants. This virus has caused enormous economic damage and caused a significant decrease in production areas in eastern Europe and the Mediterranean. Plum pox virus has spread around the world and is classified by plant quarantine services as the most dangerous pathogen for apricots, plums and peaches Unfortunately, at present, science cannot offer any ways to treat viral plant diseases, and the destruction of infected trees remains the only way to contain the spread of viruses. Given the seriousness of the disease, the difficulty of controlling its spread, the lack of disease-resistant existing varieties, the need to create commercial varieties with increased resistance to this pathogen is obvious. Modern methods of genetic engineering make it possible to significantly accelerate the processes of creating highly productive plum varieties with increased or complete resistance to viruses, unattainable by traditional breeding methods. However, most of the work on the modification of the genomes of stone fruit crops was carried out using juvenile material of zygotic origin, which has a higher morphogenetic potential compared to varieties. The use of modern bioengineering techniques in the selection of stone fruit plants is hampered by the lack of reliable techniques that can provide a sufficiently high frequency of regeneration of shoots from somatic tissues. These and other reasons call for the development of an effective genotype-independent system for regenerating and modifying the genomes of commercial plum varieties. Given the rapid development of plant genome editing techniques, targeted mutation of host genes involved in replication and widespread PPV in infected tissues may be a promising approach for engineering resistance to viruses that exclude the introduction of foreign sequences into the plum genome.

Перспективы создания атласной информационной системы на территорию ООПТ мегаполиса с использованием краудсорсинговых ресурсов (на примере парка Покровское-Стрешнево)

The article discusses the possibility of creating an atlas information system for a specially protected area of a metropolis based on crowdsourcing resources. The Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo park, the smallest natural and historical park in Moscow (∼2.2 km²), was chosen as the object of study. It is distinguished by a harmonious and original cultural landscape that has developed since the end of the 18th century, and high biodiversity, the presence of protected species of plants and animals. Beavers, muskrats, squirrels, weasels, ducks, shelducks and other birds (about 50 species), various fish and insects, forest and meadow landscapes are a valuable recreational resource located not far from the city center. Improvement work has been repeatedly carried out in the park, however, in 2022, the most large-scale radical reconstruction work began, which caused profound changes in the natural environment and put ecosystems at risk of destruction. Such events aroused active resistance from environmentalists, regular visitors to the park, and residents of the surrounding areas, who organized constant interaction to exchange information on environmental issues. Relying on these activists became the basis for designing an atlas information system based on crowdsourced resources. As an example, a map of factual material on plants is given, compiled in the Google Map Maker environment based on field observations of interested persons with photographs and descriptions. In addition, a table has been compiled on plants, including their useful, decorative and dangerous properties of plants, as well as habitat features in the park. In the process of joint research with environmentalists, the following adverse impacts and changes in the natural environment were identified: the destruction and oppression of trees and bushes, the destruction of natural grass cover and its replacement with lawns, the oppression of the animal population, the destruction of the soil layer, the construction of unnecessary roads, incl. paved, changes resulting from the use of construction and transport equipment, incl. severe, excessive lighting of the park, the introduction of building materials and debris into the natural environment, an increase in sealed areas, deformation of slopes, violation of the relief and landscape structure of the park, changes in the hydrological regime. The atlas information system of the Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo park on a crowdsourcing resource has good development prospects.

Animal Diversity in the British Residency, Hyderabad (Telangana), India

The flora and the fauna of a particular ecosystem, along with biotic and abiotic factors coordinate together, to form life. The economics and richness of a nation, relies upon its biodiversity. Rich biodiversity contributes to good agriculture and development of successful pharmaceutical industries. Maintaining rich biodiversity is key for sustenance of life on planet earth. Rapid urbanization, human interference and excessive mining activities, have cost heavily, upon the existence of flora and fauna, which has either caused transient disappearance of certain species, or at times led to total extinction. Not many studies, are documented about rich animal diversity of British residency of Hyderabad, which is located amidst buzzing hustle of urban activities. This monument dates back to year 1803, and due to its sprawling green landscape in the campus, it houses many rare flora and fauna. The present study was an attempt to collect, identify and analyze the diverse animal species in British residency of Hyderabad, India. The study has revealed the presence of different species of insects, birds and mammals. The maintenance and preservation of rich biodiversity of animal species, in British residency may be attributed to maintenance of greenery in the campus and there is not much of destruction of trees thereby preserving their precious habitat and creating a conducive atmosphere for coexistence of distinct fauna.

Spiral waves in population density distributions of invasive pests in warm-temperate deciduous forest ecosystems

Globally, forests are increasingly being affected by invasive alien pests, some of which have caused wholesale destruction of trees. Recent research suggests that, in the United States, large-scale forests have been invaded by an astonishing number (> 450) of tree-feeding pests. Invasive alien pests always induce cascading ecological effects, leading to harmful socioeconomic consequences; however, the prevention and control of invasive alien pests in forests have been facing significant challenges worldwide. Here, we studied theoretically the control of invasive nonnative pests in warm-temperate deciduous forest ecosystems by their natural enemies (biological control), and controlled them to an extent that ecosystems can bear. We obtained a novel type of spiral wave in the spatial distribution of population density, and also observed a transition phenomenon between spiral wave and anti-spiral wave, which is explained by a mathematical analysis. Specifically, the formation of this type of spiral wave is attributed to the directional transformation of states between the period-5 orbits under the impact of diffusion transport. And the transition phenomenon is caused by changes of relative positions of the period-5 orbits in phase space. Moreover, we also found a novel type of instability of spiral wave, which includes a birth-growth-death process of spiral fragments. The findings provide possible regularities in the process of biological control of invasive alien pests in the complex and changeable forest ecosystems, which may guide actual biological control projects.

Analysis of Olive Grove Destruction by Xylella fastidiosa Bacterium on the Land Surface Temperature in Salento Detected Using Satellite Images

Agricultural activity replaces natural vegetation with cultivated land and it is a major cause of local and global climate change. Highly specialized agricultural production leads to extensive monoculture farming with a low biodiversity that may cause low landscape resilience. This is the case on the Salento peninsula, in the Apulia Region of Italy, where the Xylella fastidiosa bacterium has caused the mass destruction of olive trees, many of them in monumental groves. The historical land cover that characterized the landscape is currently in a transition phase and can strongly affect climate conditions. This study aims to analyze how the destruction of olive groves by X. fastidiosa affects local climate change. Land surface temperature (LST) data detected by Landsat 8 and MODIS satellites are used as a proxies for microclimate mitigation ecosystem services linked to the evolution of the land cover. Moreover, recurrence quantification analysis was applied to the study of LST evolution. The results showed that olive groves are the least capable forest type for mitigating LST, but they are more capable than farmland, above all in the summer when the air temperature is the highest. The differences in the average LST from 2014 to 2020 between olive groves and farmland ranges from 2.8 °C to 0.8 °C. Furthermore, the recurrence analysis showed that X. fastidiosa was rapidly changing the LST of the olive groves into values to those of farmland, with a difference in LST reduced to less than a third from the time when the bacterium was identified in Apulia six years ago. The change generated by X. fastidiosa started in 2009 and showed more or less constant behavior after 2010 without substantial variation; therefore, this can serve as the index of a static situation, which can indicate non-recovery or non-transformation of the dying olive groves. Failure to restore the initial environmental conditions can be connected with the slow progress of the uprooting and replacing infected plants, probably due to attempts to save the historic aspect of the landscape by looking for solutions that avoid uprooting the diseased plants. This suggests that social-ecological systems have to be more responsive to phytosanitary epidemics and adapt to ecological processes, which cannot always be easily controlled, to produce more resilient landscapes and avoid unwanted transformations.

Evidences of early to mid-Holocene land–sea interactions and formation of Wetlands of Central Kerala in the south west coast of India

Coastal wetlands are seen in the central part of the SW coast of Kerala, India at Muriyad, Thrissur (∼15 km orthogonal to the present day coast towards inland) and form a part of Vembanad kol. These wetlands are sheltered by well-developed beach ridges in the west and lateritic uplands towards east between the latitudes and longitudes of 10°20‘-10°30‘N and 76°10‘-76°20‘E respectively. The present study aims to find the evidences of early Holocene transgression in the area and constrain its chronology using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) as well as radiocarbon dating. The general stratigraphy of the wetland section shows estuarine sandy clay at the bottom, followed by one meter thick peat unit, overlain by lacustrine clay and colluvial sediments. The fluvial sequences were devoid of peat deposits and comprised of clay and sand sequences having large fossil tree logs. OSL age of a sand layer (7.0 ± 1.0 ka) below the peat unit as well as the radiocarbon ages of peat (between 7920–7740 and 7410–7180 Cal years BP) itself indicates that the unit was formed between 8 and 7 ka BP. The peat accretion shows an average rate of 1.74 mma-1. The pollen analysis of the peat unit demonstrates that peat was formed from Rhizophoraceae mangrove plants, implying close proximity of the study area to the shore line. Dominance of wet evergreen forest taxa in the non-mangrove pollen of the peat indicates wet climatic conditions in the area. The occurrences of fossil wood stumps in upright position and large tree trunks buried in the fluvial succession show that the trees were buried in-situ in the growth position/ during the transportation by flood waters in the fluvial sequence. The fluvial unit in the wetland stratigraphy shows evidences of enhanced SW monsoon in the area, causing large scale floods, submergence of forests and destruction of large trees during 5710–5610 and 6880–6750 Cal years BP.

Abstracts

Abstracts

Diversity of ants in Aarey Milk Colony, Mumbai, India

Aarey Milk Colony (AMC) is 16km2 of forested area, acts as a buffer to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai. It has gardens, lakes, recreation spots, and a nursery. It also harbors 32 cattle farms, animal husbandry centers. Apart from urbanization and forest degradation, this forest harbors great biodiversity which includes the leopard as a top predator and also lesser-known species of amphibians, reptiles, and arthropods. Considering ants as important bio indicators and the vulnerability of AMC to development plans, a study on the diversity of ants was conducted from January 2016 to May 2016. Four methods were used for data collection of ants—pitfall trap, line-transect, quadrate, and all-out search. A total of 35 species under 24 genera under six subfamilies– Myrmicinae, Formicinae, Ponerinae, Dolichoderinae, Pseudomyrmecinae, and Cerapachyinae were recorded during this study. The Simpson’s diversity index (0.88) for the pit fall trap indicates that the diversity of ants in the AMC is fairly high. This increases the importance of this forest land which is presently facing a mass destruction of trees.