Progress in isotope paleohydrology using lake sediment cellulose

Recent advances in sample preparation techniques and mass spectrometry have fostered more routine oxygen isotope analysis of aquatic cellulose in lake sediment cores, a proxy for lake water oxygen isotope history. These methodological developments have significantly increased the feasibility of incorporating this approach into high-resolution, multi-site, and multi-proxy studies, which are frequently necessary to answer complex hydrological, hydroecological and hydroclimatic questions requiring a paleoenvironmental perspective. Direct translation of lake sediment aquatic cellulose oxygen isotope composition into lake water oxygen isotope composition offers appreciable opportunity for quantitative paleohydrological reconstructions, as evidenced by studies conducted over the past 15 years that span Holocene and pre-historical timescales.     

Comparative analysis of bacterial contamination in tap and groundwater: A case study on water quality of Quetta City,an arid zone in Pakistan

Water is an essential element on earth, which provides human a variety of services in domestic use, agriculture, or industries. However, some serious health risks of drinking water are associated with microbial contamination, particularly with fecal matter. Therefore, microbial quality assessment is considered to be a necessary component of water quality assessment. This study investigates microbial contamination of water distributary system around the city by comparing groundwater (GW) and tap water (TW) quality in Quetta city. 31 GW samples and 31 TW samples were collected in the study area during the months of September, October, and November. Fecal coliform test was carried out in laboratory and their average total coliform contamination was computed. Results showed that the TW sample were all contaminated by coliform except for Chiltan town, hence are not considered suitable for drinking without any treatment according to WHO drinking water quality standards. The average coliform concentrations were 12 in Quetta main city, 11.6 in Jinnah town, 5.3 in Satallite town, 10 in Shahbaz town and 5 in Brewery town (0/100 mL CFU) and the TW samples from the three towns were even more contaminated with E.coli. Whereas among the GW, average microbial concentrations were 1.8 in Quetta main city, 2 in Satallite town, 1.4 in Shahbaz town, and 0.4 in Chiltan town (0/100 mL CFU), respectively, which shows that the contamination is occurring within the water distributary pipeline system when the water flows through the pipelines. Moreover, this research will be valuable for researchers and administrative authorities to conduct elaborative studies, and develop new policies to prevent further deterioration of drinking water in the water distribution system by pathogenic microorganisms and ensure safe drinking water to the public of Quetta city.     

Nonextensive collisioneless dust-acoustic shock waves in a charge varying dusty plasma

Nonlinear dust-acoustic (DA) shock waves are addressed in a nonextensive dusty plasma exhibiting self-consistent nonadiabatic charge variation. Our results reveal that the amplitude, strength and nature of the DA shock waves are extremely sensitive to the degree of ion nonextensivity. Significant differences in the potential function occur for very small changes in the value of the nonextensive parameter. Stronger is the ions correlation, more important is the charge variation induced nonlinear wave damping.     

A New Statistical Perspective on Trophic Indexes for Shallow Lakes

Water Resources - The aim of this study is to develop a new trophic level index using water quality parameters which are known to affect eutrophication but not in national and international...     

Thermodynamics in non-linear electrodynamics with anisotropic universe

In this work, we consider the framework of non-linear electrodynamics in Bianchi type I universe model composed of matter and electromagnetic field. We deal with electric and magnetic universe separately. In this scenario, we calculate the electric and magnetic fields and their corresponding matter densities using two particular types of interaction terms. We also check the validity of generalized second law of thermodynamics in both universe models enclosed by apparent horizon. It turns out that this law holds on the apparent horizon for a particular range depending upon the parameters. Finally, we discuss the deceleration and statefinder parameters to check the viability of these models.     

Functional gains of including non-commercial epibenthic taxa in coastal beam trawl surveys: A note

The development of ecosystem-based indicators requires the broadening of a view of the community, from fish species to all the species (macrobenthic and fish) correctly captured by a given sampling gear. Many scientific surveys already have such integrated databases. The present note aims to demonstrate that existing databases, herein from dedicated coastal nursery surveys, are actually underexploited. Such databases contain information on non-commercial taxa, which could greatly improve our knowledge on the organisation and functioning of coastal ecosystems. Using two datasets, a “complete” dataset composed of commercial and not-commercial epibenthic trawled species (fish and invertebrate) and a “subset” dataset characterized by commercial and routinely surveyed species (mainly fish and cephalopods), different measures of functional diversity are compared to identify the functional gains of including epibenthic species. The results show that, when included in the analyses, epibenthic taxa provide gains of functional information, associated mainly with the community feeding traits, i.e. organisms composing the primary and secondary consumer levels of the coastal nursery food web. Failure to include some of the primary (zooplanktivores and suspension feeders) and secondary consumers (detritivores–scavengers) in coastal survey analyses may, for instance, hamper our understanding of energy flux between the benthic and water column compartments of these ecosystems. The results also suggest that the exclusion of some taxa associated with these two food web compartments, may lead to the underestimation of the functional redundancy in coastal ecosystems.     

Agricultural expansion within Kimana electric fences and implications for natural resource conservation around Amboseli National Park, Kenya

Fencing has become a key strategy in mitigating human–wildlife conflicts and promoting agricultural production in Kenya. However, it can have negative long-term consequences for wildlife conservation as well as human development, especially if the fence is poorly maintained. Such is the case of the Kimana and Namelok fences in the Kimana Group Ranch. This study assessed the influence of fences on agricultural expansion, environmental and wildlife conservation. In both fences, irrigated agriculture was a dominant land use and occurred along riverbanks, causing drying downstream. Most farmers in both fences were noticing a decline in water quantity and time of access to it, as well as increasing human–wildlife conflicts. Wildlife sightings within both fences provided evidence that the inadequate fence maintenance allows wildlife to freely access the fenced areas. Both wildlife and humans were blamed for fence deterioration in both fences. Irrigated agriculture inside both fences is expanding at an unmanageable rate. While the fences have spurred socio-economic activities in the area, they are not only ineffective in reducing human–wildlife conflicts but have given rise to other critical conflicts. Fencing appears to be a short-term remedy for human–wildlife conflicts and it is crucial to explore other mitigation strategies.