2,337 research outputs found

    Ant Species Richness Around Amravati City Maharashtra, India

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    Ants deserve a special place in the study of ecology, including behavior, given their species richness, social habits, and high densities, contributing to much of the animal biomes on earth (Gadagkar et.at. 1993). As ants can be studied virtually everywhere from forest interiors below ground, right up to the kitchen, we attempted a study to assess the ant species richness in a variety of habitats in and around Amravati city. The prime objective of this study is to prepare a partial checklist of ants of Amravati and to compare species richness between selected study sites. Eight study sites with different levels and types of vegetation were selected for the study.
We employed an “all out search” method for collection in the months of June and July 2010. Ants were hand collected using a brush and forecep during the day time for 6 hrs at each study site. Collected samples were preserved in 70% alcohol in the Department of Zoology, Govt. Vidarbha Institute of Science & Humanities, Amravati.
We identified Ants up to the genus level by using a Stemi DV4 Stereo microscope based on taxonomic keys of (Holldobles & Wilson, 1990; Bolton, 1994; Mathew & R.N. Tiwari, 2000).
During the present study a total of 34 species of 20 genera have been recognized from Amravati city representing five subfamilies namely Myrmicinae, Formicinae, Ponerinae, Dolichoderinae and Pseudomyrmicinae. Out of this subfamily, Myrmicinae is the most abundant having 11 genera including the genus Rhoptromyrmex. It has been recorded for the first time in this region, followed by Formicinae with four genera for being recorded for the first time as genus Oecophylla. Subfamily Ponerinae and Dolichoderinae were recorded only with two genera each; while the subfamily Pseudomyrmicinae where recorded very poorly with only one genera from G.V.I.S.H. campus.
Few ant genera such as Crematogaster and Myrmicaria of subfamily Myrmicinae, Camponotus and Polyrhachis of subfamily Formicinae and Leptogenys of subfamily Ponerinae were mostly found in all the habitats and most localities. Few genera are confined to few localities or habitat types, such as Rhoptromyrmex and Oecophylla recorded only from Pohara forests. Genus Tetraponera of subfamily Pseudomyrmicinae were collected from the tree trunk of Azadirakhta indica in the G.V.I.S.H. campus. 
Comparison of ant species distribution between the different study sites revealed that ant species richness was highest in Pohara forest with 28 species & lowest with 9 species around urban areas. Relatively high ant species richness was recorded at all the study sites such as the Agriculture field, Tree plantation area, and the Wadali and Chhatri Garden. On the other hand, ant species richness was low around urban houses compared to rural houses due to little or no vegetation and high levels of disturbance. The tree plantation site, roads, and pavement showed higher numbers of ant species compared to around urban areas probably due to road side richness of tree plantation.
From this study we conclude that due to availability of food and shelter, richness of ant species increases in forest and tree plantation areas. The number of ant species declines in low vegetative areas including urban areas. It is possible to study the ecology and biodiversity of living faunas by the studying the habitats of ants. The environs of Amravati city are rich in Ant fauna which deserve further study

    Allelic Frequency of ABO And Rh D Blood Group Among The Banjara Backward Caste of Yavatmal District, Maharashtra , India

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    The distribution of ABO blood groups and Rh(D) factor has been studied among the Banjara of Backward population of Yavatmal (Maharashtra). The A, B, O and AB blood group percentage were recorded as 24.54%, 33.82%, 29.64% and 12% respectively. The allele frequencies of O, A, B and AB groups in the combined data were found to be 0.5354, 0.2022 and 0.2624 respectively. The distribution of Rh(D) group varies among the ABO blood groups. The Rh(D) positive allelic frequency was 0.8405 and the Rh(D) negative incidence was recorded as 02.55% in the studied population

    Impacts of leaf extract of Catharanthus roseus (L.) on seed mycoflora of soybean

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    Present research communication deals with study impact of Catharanthus roseus (L.) leaf extract on seed borne fungi of soybean seeds.&nbsp

    Ground Water Management in Alluvial Areas

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    Alluvial formations are important sources of abundant and dependable ground water supplies. Because of large saturated thickness and high well yields, these formations have been extensively exploited for large-scale supplies of water for industrial, irrigation and urban use. Intensive use of ground water from these formations has led to several problems. Such is the case in Punjab also. Despite the fact that Punjab occupies only 1.57% geographical area of India, it contributes more than 50 % grain in the central grain pool. More than 83% of land in Punjab is under agriculture as compared to 40.38% of national average. The cropping pattern of wheat and paddy rotation has led to manifold increase in irrigation water demand. Injudicious surface water irrigation policies, indiscriminate / excessive ground water pumpage due to free electricity coupled with irrational irrigation and agricultural practices have led to situation wherein fresh ground water resources of the state have depleted at an alarming rate in most parts of the state. On the other hand, the south-western parts of Punjab are facing severe water logging problems. Thus the state has to have a twin pronged strategy to manage its ground water resources – 1) to arrest the declining trend of ground water and 2) to combat water logging. Punjab is occupied by Quaternary alluvial deposits of Indus river basin. In major part of the state, ground water levels are in the range of 10 to 20 meters. However around major cities like Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Amritsar and Sangrur, water levels are 20 to 40 meters deep. The long-term water level fluctuation data indicates that water levels in major parts of the state have declined drastically. As per the ground water assessment carried out, net dynamic ground water resources of Punjab State are 21.443 MCM (Million Cubic meters), whereas net draft is 31.162 MCM, leading to ground water deficit of 9.719 MCM. The stage of ground water development for the State as a whole is 145% and the State falls under “over- exploited†Category. Apart from several water management strategies, like better irrigation and on-farm management practices, change in cropping pattern, banning early plantation of paddy etc., the main emphasis in this paper has been laid on the utilization of non-committed surplus monsoon rainfall runoff. As per the Master Plan for artificial recharge to ground water prepared for Punjab state, about 1200 MCM of water is available from surplus monsoon runoff. By adopting rain water harvesting and artificial recharge to ground water by utilizing this water, the negative impact on the ground water regime can be checked, to quite an extent. Central Ground Water Board has taken up several pilot demonstrative artificial recharge projects in Punjab that can be replicated in other parts of the state too. Some of these projects have also been discussed in this paper

    NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF A HEAT SINK WITH DIMPLES

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    In this paper, a numerical simulation is carried out to analyse the heat transfer performance of copper channel. COMSOLMULTIPHYSICS commercial software is used for the analysis. The material chosen for the channel is copper because of its good thermal properties. A channel with dimples on its base is chosen for the analysis. The heat transfer of the microchannel is found to increase with the use of dimples.Â

    X-Ray Diffraction Studies on Jaggery Samples

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