Callus induction and in vitro mass culture of adventitious roots from leaf segment explants of Dendropanax morbifera Lev.

Dendropanax morbifera Lev. is a unique species and natively found in Korea and distributed in the South regions, such as Jeju, Goheung, and Wando. In this study, tissue culture system for native D. morbifera was developed. The callus from native D. morbifera leaves was cultured on Woody Plant Media (WPM) supplemented with 30 g L–1 of sucrose, with addition of 2.4-D and BA [(0.5, 1.0, 2.0) mg L–1 ], separately and mixed. After 5 wk of culture, the highest induction of callus was obtained from 0.5 mg L–1 of 2.4-D mixed with 2.0 mg L–1 of BA. Adventitious root formation on different media (MS, WPM, B5) with various auxins (IBA, IAA, and NAA) and different concentration [(0, 1, 3, 5) mg L–1 ] were tested. After 8 wk of culture, WPM showed better induction of adventitious root. The highest induction of adventitious root was obtained on 3.0 mg L–1 IBA. Root growth was best in WPM liquid medium with 3.0 mg L–1 of IBA and 30 g L–1 of sucrose. The same formulation with modified ½ WPM was successfully established in vitro adventitious roots culture in 18-L bioreactor system. This study also proposed as the mass production technique of adventitious roots from native D. morbifera

Mapping of coastal landforms and volumetric change analysis in the south west coast of Kanyakumari, South India using remote sensing and GIS techniques

The coastal landforms along the south west coast of Kanyakumari have undergone remarkable change in terms of shape and disposition due to both natural and anthropogenic interference. An attempt is made here to map the coastal landforms along the coast using remote sensing and GIS techniques. Spatial data sources, such as, topographical map published by Survey of India, Landsat ETM+ (30 m) image, IKONOS image (0.82 m), SRTM and ASTER DEM datasets have been comprehensively analyzed for extracting coastal landforms. Change detection methods, such as, (i) topographical change detection, (ii) cross-shore profile analysis, (iii) Geomorphic Change Detection (GCD) using DEM of Difference (DoD) were adopted for assessment of volumetric changes of coastal landforms for the period between 2000 and 2011. The GCD analysis uses ASTER and SRTM DEM datasets by resampling them into common scale (pixel size) using pixel-by-pixel based Wavelet Transform and Pan-Sharpening techniques in ERDAS Imagine software. Volumetric changes of coastal landforms were validated with data derived from GPS-based field survey. Coastal landform units were mapped based on process of their evolution such as beach landforms including sandy beach, cusp, berm, scarp, beach terrace, upland, rockyshore, cliffs, wave-cut notches and wave-cut platforms; and the fluvial landforms. Comprising of alluvial plain, flood plains, and other shallow marshes in estuaries. The topographical change analysis reveals that the beach landforms have reduced their elevation ranging from 1 to 3 m probably due to sediment removal or flattening. Analysis of cross-shore profiles for twelve locations indicate varying degrees of loss or gain of coastal landforms. For example, the K3-K3′ profile across the Kovalam coast has shown significant erosion (−0.26 to −0.76 m) of the sandy beaches resulting in the formation of beach cusps and beach scarps within a distance of 300 m from the shoreline. The volumetric change of sediment load estimated based on DoD model depict a loss of 241.69 m3/km2 for 62.82 km2 of the area and land gain of 6.96 m3/km2 for 202.80 km2 of the area during 2000–2011. However, an area of 26.38 km2 unchanged by maintaining equilibrium in sediment budgeting along the coastal stretch. The study apart from providing insight into the decadal change of coastal settings also supplements a database on the vulnerability of the coast, which would help the coastal managers in future

Coastal landuse and land cover change and transformations of Kanyakumari coast, India using remote sensing and GIS

The coastal landuse and land cover features in the South West coast of Kanyakumari are dynamically regulated due to marine and terrestrial processes and often controlling by natural and anthropogenic activities. The primary objective of this study is to estimate the decadal changes and their transformations of landuse and land cover (LULC) features under Level II category of USGS-LULC Classification System using Landsat ETM+ and TM images using Maximum Likelihood Classifier (MLC) algorithm for the period 2000–2011. The classified LULC features are categorized as beachface land cover, cultivable lands, plantation and shrub vegetation, fallow land, barren land, settlements and built-ups, water bodies, and mining area, etc. The geo-database is prepared for LULC feature class with an attributes of name, location, area and spatial distribution, etc. It shows the larger area in beachface land cover (sandy beaches, foredunes, uplands, Teri dunes (laterite) and associated nearshore landforms), plantations, cultivable lands, fallows, and barren lands are converted into built-ups and it increases more than twice in the period of 10 years. Using GIS techniques, the analysis of change detection matrix reveals that the total area of 45.90 km2 in different LULC features periodically shifted or transformed from one state to another one or more states, i.e. the beachface land cover area of 1.24 km2 is encroached for built-ups and 0.63 km2 for placer mining during the decade. Meanwhile, the area of 0.21 km2 in this cover is transformed into wetlands and saltwater bodies. During the past decade, the expansion of area in the built-ups and settlements are directly proportional to the growth of population, which produces severe threat to the coastal resources. Accuracy assessment of classified images shows the overall accuracy is estimated as 81.16% and 77.52% and overall Kappa coeffient statistical values of 0.83 and 0.76 for the year 2000 and 2011 respectively. Ground truth verification of the extracted LULC features performed using 120 samples (10 samples per class) reveals that the accuracy of classified features is 89%. This indicates the acceptable accuracy of the classified LULC features for landuse and land cover change studies. The geodatabase of LULC features is used as primary source for sustainable land resource management in the coastal region

The effect of daytime rain on the Indian Flying Fox (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Pteropodidae Pteropus giganteus)

Excessive water loss during the day due to heat stress in bats of the genus Pteropus appears to be inevitable, because these bats are exposed to direct sunlight.  Rain also affects the rest pattern of the Indian Flying Fox Pteropus giganteus during the day.  When rain occurred during the day, most of the bats hung in a slanting position and did not exhibit any movements.  After rain, they licked both ventral and dorsal surfaces of the wing membrane and scratched their body with their thumb claws.  They also licked the water droplets that remained on the leaves and branches of the tree.  Even though their rest had been affected by the rain the bats utilized the water droplets to quench their thirst, cool their body and clean their fur.  The construction of water reservoirs near Pteropus roosts will help to assure their long-term conservation. </div

Mapping the coastal geomorphological landforms through Aster DEM and Landsat data – a case study from Tuticorin-Vembar coastal stretch, southeast coast of India

<p>The present study highlights the importance of digital elevation model and satellite imageries for mapping the coastal geomorphological landforms in Tuticorin-Vembar coastal stretch, southeast coast of India. Aster DEM 30 meter resolution data and Landsat 2006 image (30 meter resolution) of the study area were overlayed together with 30 and 70 percent transparency ratio respectively in ArcGIS platform. Further, a hillshade layer derived from Aster DEM has been included to visualize the surface morphology of the study area. Visual interpretation technique was used for identifying the various coastal geomorphological landforms in the study area. The results were cross validated through a GPS based field check. Based on the analysis, we have found that the study area has a wide variety of geomorphological landforms such as beach ridges, alluvial plains, deltaic plains, channel deposits, sand dunes, linear ridges, mud flats, plain lands, salt marsh, sand sheets, sand bars, beaches and backwater channels. The dominant landform features like the beach ridges and alluvial plains are found near to Vembar and Vaippar river systems. Saltpans are other dominant features, which have been evolved from scrapping the mud flats and salt marsh lands by human induced activities. The concept used in this paper provides a cost effective and time saving technique for mapping the coastal geomorphological landforms at a resolution of 30 meters. However, micro scale mapping at 1m-LIDAR datasets needs to be explored in future.</p> <p> </p