Impacts of environmental change on agroecosystems and livelihoods in Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. To understand local perceptions of the impacts of environmental change in two mountain districts of Nepal — Myagdi and Mustang — between 2010 and 2014, a survey, focus groups, town hall meetings, and extensive consultation with local stakeholders were conducted, supplemented by analyses of soil, rainfall, and temperature data. Mountain people in Nepal shared their perceptions of environmental change in their everyday lives, including agricultural practices and tourism activities. While ordinary individuals welcome the construction of new roads, elites still prefer to maintain trails and the status quo. People are concerned about the introduction of mosquitoes, increases in insect pests and plant pathogens, and other vectors along with roads. Snowfall has decreased and rainfall has been unpredictable. Mean minimum winter temperatures have increased and the mountains are experiencing shorter winters and less snow accumulation, which threaten the livelihoods of people that depend on fresh water. While people with means are replacing their traditional homes with modern homes, that is beyond reach for average Mustangi citizens. Expansion and diversification of agriculture, adoption of sound soil management techniques in Marpha village of Mustang and Shikha village of Myagdi, and growing forest cover in Shikha are some indicators of enhanced community managed practices. The coping strategies and indigenous practices adopted by local people in the region against hardship and environmental changes could serve as examples in similar mountain settings elsewhere

An Assessment of Plant Growth and Soil Properties Using Coal Char and Biochar as a Soil Amendment

Soil degradation due to loss of soil organic carbon is a serious concern in semiarid agroecosystems. Biochar and other organic char products have long been known to increase soil organic carbon. In this study, three-year field observations were carried out on use of coal char (CC) and biochar (BC) as soil amendments in unirrigated semiarid rangeland soil. Coal was pyrolyzed at three different temperatures of 650, 750, and 800 °C to form CC650, CC750, and CC800, respectively, and BC was obtained from a local commercial producer. Manure, CC, and BC were incorporated in soil at 10% (v/v). Analyses of plant growth (aboveground biomass) and soil properties were performed and compared with the control treatment without char. In all three years, CC applied with manure (CC650M) produced significantly greater grass biomass, by 95, 42, 101%, and BC applied with manure (BCM) increased grass biomass by 89, 39, 52% in 2018, 2019, and 2020, than the controls in the respective years. Soil tests a year after application of char indicated significantly increased soil organic matter (OM) with CC and BC treatments (1.60–2.93%) compared with the control (1.37%). However, further detailed studies are required to investigate CC and BC interactions with soil in unirrigated semiarid rangelands

An Assessment of the Impact of Land Use and Land Cover Change on the Degradation of Ecosystem Service Values in Kathmandu Valley Using Remote Sensing and GIS

Land use and land cover (LULC) robustly influence the delivery of the ecosystem services that humans rely on. This study used Kathmandu Valley as a study area which is a fast-growing and most vulnerable city to climate change. Remote sensing and GIS methods are the most significant methods for measuring the impact of LULC on the ecosystem service value (ESV). The satellite-based dataset was used for quantitative assessment of the LULC and ecosystem service value for 10-year intervals from the year 1989 to 2019. The result revealed that the area of forest cover, cropland, and waterbodies decreased by 28.33%, 4.35%, and 91.5%, respectively, whereas human settlement and shrubland increased by more than a hundred times and barren land by 21.14% at the end of the study period. This study found that Kathmandu valley lost 20.60% ESV over 30 years which dropped from USD 122.84 million to USD 97.54 million. The urban growth and extension of agricultural land to forest cover areas were found to be contributing factors for the reduction in ESV of Kathmandu valley. Cropland transformed into shrubland, bringing about an increase in ESV of some areas of the study region. In conclusion, the aggressive increase in population growth with inadequate urban planning and fragmentation of farmlands influenced the ESV of Kathmandu valley

An Assessment of the Impact of Land Use and Land Cover Change on the Degradation of Ecosystem Service Values in Kathmandu Valley Using Remote Sensing and GIS

Land use and land cover (LULC) robustly influence the delivery of the ecosystem services that humans rely on. This study used Kathmandu Valley as a study area which is a fast-growing and most vulnerable city to climate change. Remote sensing and GIS methods are the most significant methods for measuring the impact of LULC on the ecosystem service value (ESV). The satellite-based dataset was used for quantitative assessment of the LULC and ecosystem service value for 10-year intervals from the year 1989 to 2019. The result revealed that the area of forest cover, cropland, and waterbodies decreased by 28.33%, 4.35%, and 91.5%, respectively, whereas human settlement and shrubland increased by more than a hundred times and barren land by 21.14% at the end of the study period. This study found that Kathmandu valley lost 20.60% ESV over 30 years which dropped from USD 122.84 million to USD 97.54 million. The urban growth and extension of agricultural land to forest cover areas were found to be contributing factors for the reduction in ESV of Kathmandu valley. Cropland transformed into shrubland, bringing about an increase in ESV of some areas of the study region. In conclusion, the aggressive increase in population growth with inadequate urban planning and fragmentation of farmlands influenced the ESV of Kathmandu valley

Characterization and removal of microplastics in Guheshwori wastewater treatment plant in Nepal

Contamination of river water systems by microplastic particles (MPPs) is one of the emerging global environmental concerns with potentially widespread ecological, socioeconomic, and health implications. Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) processes and treats wastewater to remove pollutants and release safe water into the environment. There has been limited research on the characterization of microplastics and their removal at a WWTP in South Asia. In this work, we report on the characterization of microplastics in wastewater and sludge samples (n=300) from Guheshwori WWTP located on the bank of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu representing inlet, secondary aeration tank (SAT), outlet, and sludge from November 2021 to November 2022. On average, we detected 31.2±17.3 MPPs/L, 11.2±9.4 MPPs/L, 7.0±5.6 MPPs/L, and 6.6±4.8 MPPs/g in the samples collected from inlet, SAT, outlet, and sludge, respectively. Commonly found MPPs were in the form of fiber, fragment, foam, and pellet. Largely, MPPs were red, yellow, white, blue, and black in color. The most dominant size fractions were 500 µm – 150 µm in inlet, SAT, and sludge, and 150 µm – 44 µm in the outlet sampling unit. The Guheshwori WWTP was able to remove 77.5% MPPs on average, that mostly occurred in the inlet. The effluent released into the river and the sludge still contained a significant number of microplastics particles

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Not AvailableThe present study has demonstrated the expression of HSP60, HSP70, HSP90, and UBQ in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) during different seasons in three different age groups (Groups I, II, and III with age of 0-2, 2-5, and >5 years, respectively) of goats of tropical and temperate regions. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was applied to investigate mRNA expression of examined factors. Specificity of the desired products was documented using analysis of the melting temperature and high-resolution gel electrophoresis to verify that the transcripts are of the exact molecular size predicted. The mRNA expression of HSP60, HSP90, and UBQ was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in all age groups during peak summer season as compared with peak winter season in both tropical and temperate region goats. HSP70 mRNA expression was significantly higher (P < 0.05) during summer season as compared with winter season in tropical region goats. However, in the temperate region, in goats from all the three age groups studied, a non-significant difference of HSP70 expression between summer and winter seasons was noticed. In conclusion, results demonstrate that (1) HSP genes are expressed in caprine PBMCs and (2) higher expression of HSPs during thermal stress suggest possible involvement of them to ameliorate deleterious effect of thermal stress so as to maintain cellular integrity and homeostasis in goats.Not Availabl