Acta Ecologica Sinica最新文献

Biological invasion is a leading threat to the abiotic and biotic equilibrium of natural landscapes and ecosystems through competition and habitat alteration in many countries, including India. The Invasive Alien Plant Species (IAPS)¹ have become an important biological and ecological component in Kerala, south-west tropical province of the Indian Union. These alien plant species were deliberately or accidentally introduced to the state from different biogeographical realms and are persisting. The characteristics of IAPS, as well as their preferences and advantages in invasion, have received little attention. This article provides a summary of the identifying characteristics of 69 IAPS reported from the study area, with an emphasis on botanical passport data, nativity, ecosystem preference, life form, sociability pattern, reproductive phenology, mode of dispersal, and period of introduction. Phytosociological research was conducted using a random sampling survey and line transect technique. The ecological performance of IAPS was statistically assessed according to seven concepts of invasion success. The findings show that 25 IAPS are considerably more aggressive as a result of their reproductive advantage and generally adhere to the concepts of invasion success for characteristics such as residence time, dispersal strategy, and ecosystem preference. Thus, reproductive characteristics appear to be a key determinant of aggressiveness in IAPS. The characteristic similarities of IAPS frequently result in niche overlap, and those with structural and functional differences will be more adaptable in ecosystems. This information describing the relevant characteristics serves as an essential tool for early detection and rapid response in the systematic management of biological invasion in the state of Kerala and specifically in the district of Thiruvananthapuram.

A vital criterion for the accurate assessment of biodiversity is the qualitative examination of vegetation, which provides essential data for comprehending the general structure and function of any ecosystem. There has been a lot of research on documentation criteria, but in many tropical and subtropical locations, like the Shawilks Mountain Range (a part of the Western Himalayan region), there are still few qualitative studies of forest biodiversity. Qualitative characters indicate how species are grouped or distributed or described. Documenting higher economically valued plants with commercial potential in forest biodiversity is essential to creating a more thorough and useful understanding of the flora for future survival. The current paper is built on the scientific characterization of the floristic, functional, and habitat diversity components of the forest flora found in the Shawilks hills in India. For the floristic studies, a random sampling technique was utilized to choose sites so that plant species in diverse habitats had an equal chance of being sampled. A total of 116 species from 99 genera and 46 families were identified from the study area. The patterns of species distribution among the families were unbalanced, with 24 families being monotypic and eight families contributing half of the species. The largest family, Asteraceae, contained 11% of all species, followed by Fabaceae, (10%). Twenty-four percent of the species were found growing in forests, while 17% were found in widely dispersed habitats along roadsides and 8% were found on pedestrian trails. The leading growth form was herbaceous (53%). Therophytes, indicating disturbed vegetation, were found to be the predominant life form according to the biological spectrum. According to the phytogeographical investigation, 67% of species were native, and 33% were alien. Twelve of the 38 alien species were invasive, 17 became naturalized, and nine were causal. Research on these patterns of functional and habitat variety can greatly advance our understanding of the ecological features of the local flora. Developing management strategies to enable sustainable use and improved management of the forest landscapes in this Himalayan region may also benefit from the information.

This study was undertaken to estimate the genetic variability and response to selection for twenty-four agro-physiological traits of nineteen durum wheat genotypes under drought and irrigated conditions during two cropping seasons (2017–18 and 2018–19). Large phenotypic and genotypic variations (PCV, GCV) for agronomic (3148.3, 1829.3) followed by morphological (253.3, 232.5), physiological (18.2, 17.6) and phenological (14.2, 12.6) traits were observed. The high heritability (h²) coupled with high percent of genetic advance as percent of mean (GAM%) was expressed highest in physiological traits (i.e., chlorophyll fluorescence (h² = 0.70, GMA% = 250.1) and normalized difference vegetation index (h² = 0.71, GMA% = 193.8)), followed by morphological traits (i.e., peduncle extrusion (0.90, 186.9), peduncle length (0.95, 109.2), flag-leaf length (0.85, 108.4)), agronomic traits (i.e, harvest index (0.59, 230.1), 1000-kernel weight (0.83, 42.7)) and phenological traits (i.e., days to 50% booting (0.91, 7.6) and heading (0.93, 6.9)). Based on the results, superior genotypes (URRACA, Saji and Icasyr1/3/Gcn//Stj/Mrb3) with high yielding performance, good trait profiles and high drought tolerance were identified. The findings of this research demonstrated the existence of high response to selection for agro-physiological traits in durum wheat under drought conditions, which represents potential in hybridization schemes of wisely chosen parents for creating genetically improved drought tolerant varieties.

Change in aboveground land-use confer many alterations in belowground soil ecology, which is a growing concern for the loss of biodiversity and the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. Here, we studied nematodes - a key component and bioindicators of soil biodiversity in native temperate forests and its derived land-use (scrubland; SL, grassland; GL, cropland; CL) in western Himalayas. Five composite soil samples as replicates were collected from each land-use for analysis of soil properties and nematodes. Land-use change reduced the total nematode abundance. Contrary to our expectations, higher level of diversity was found in soils of SL while GL and CL had an overall lower level of diversity. Sigma maturity index and soil faunal profile suggested that replacement of natural forest with GL and CL was accompanied by disturbance, with lesser food web complexity and stability in the belowground soil food web. Metabolic footprint contributed through the structural component of nematode community decreased in GL and CL. Functional and trophic shifts in nematode metabolic footprint were recorded. Overall, we demonstrated that conversion lowered soil nematode abundance, altered soil nematode community structure, changed their stability and function and lowered their diversity. Moreover, this study have advantages for the sustainable management and restoration of native temperate forests in the region for the conservation of belowground biodiversity.

Introduction and objective

Ajodhya hill is one of the important regions of “Jungle Mahals”, a tropical dry deciduous forest with a huge number of water bodies located in Purulia, West Bengal. Soil signifies a composite ecosystem that includes a variety of microorganisms including bacteria. In this study, the bacterial diversity of soil samples from different sites of Ajodhya hill was estimated.

Materials and methods

Study sites include Ajodhya hilltop, Marble lake, Upper dam, Loharia lake, Thurga falls, and Vertical hill of Ajodhya. Soil samples from these regions were collected and different groups of bacterial populations were enumerated by colony forming unit (cfu). Physico-chemical parameters of soil samples were analysed.

Results and discussion

The population of aerobic heterotopic, starch hydrolyzing, phosphate solubilizing, lipid solubilizing, nitrate reducing, spore forming, Gram-negative, and nitrifying bacteria varied from 9.43 to 12.55 × 10⁶, 2.88 to 6.11 × 10³, 6.07 to 9.23 × 10³, 2.21 to 5.91 × 10²,3.23 to 9.7 × 10³, 6.81 to 12.30 × 10⁵, 2.22 to 8.6 × 10³, 2.7 to 8.63 × 10³ cfu/g of dry soil respectively.The organic carbon content ranged from 0.39% to 0.68% in the soil sample collected. The available nitrogen, potassium, phosphate, and pH levels in the soil sample ranged from 42.55 to 144.68 mg/kg, 1661.61 to 3749.28 mg/kg, 153.37 to 349.36 mg/kg, and 5.4 to 8. Results of one-way ANOVA indicated significant variation (p < 0.05) in the bacterial population of the soil sample among the various sites. Hierarchical clustering analysis between the various bacterial groups present in the soil helped with unraveling the similitudes connecting them. The Renyi diversity index helped with understanding the diversity, richness, and evenness of the microbial population of the soil samples.

Conclusion

The outcomes reveal the highest bacterial diversity in Vertical hill and the least diversity in Ajodhya hilltop. The highest value for the Berger-Parker index found on the Ajodhya hilltop shows that the dominant species represent the larger part of the entire bacterial population of the hill. This variation in the diversity of soil bacteria is due to different microhabitats present in that area from where soil samples were collected.

Organic mulching especially of legumes is an important agroecological practice to improve soil health and crop productivity. Besides, it may combat with different stress conditions of hilly soils and may add economic advantage to the small farmers. This paper attempted to study the effect of Flemingia leaf mulch and NPK application on soil's physico-chemical and biological properties, and small-scale rice productivity. Upland rice seeds were sown in polypots filled with garden soils treated with 3 doses (5, 8 and 10 tons/ha) of Flemingia leaf mulch with NPK (6:4:4 ratio) to evaluate their influence on soil enzymes and crop productivity. The incorporation of leaf mulch brought a significant increase in soil pH, Ca, Av P, and Av K, while it resulted in a decrease in Mg. However, no significant change was observed in soil organic carbon and soil moisture by the combined application of mulch and NPK. Application of NPK increased ACP, DHY, and URE. While there was an increase in DHY and URE with an increase dose of mulch, ACP, however, decreased with increase dose of mulch. The combined application of mulch and NPK resulted in all biological parameters except straw yield, however, with an increasing dose of mulch, the economic yield of rice increased.The study recommended the application of legume leaf mulch (10 tons/ha) with NPK (6:4:4) for optimal rice yield and better soil health.

Abu-Qir bay is characterized by different anthropogenic activities. This study focused on studying the metal pollution in sediments, ecological risk assessment and human health related to contamination by metals. Accordingly, sediment samples were collected from seven random locations within the studied area. These samples were analyzed for these metals: Al, Se, V, Hg, Ag, B, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ga, In, Li, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr, Zn and As. The average concentrations of these metals were 2576.23, 6.94, 3.16, 3.79, 0.31, 64.39, 24.29, 1.49, 3.50, 66.03, 27.62, 4896.08, 24.39, 32.88, 0.41, 114.98, 27.99, 2.86, 200.56, 146.28 and 5.81 μg/g, respectively. The most enriched element was Indium added to this environment through anthropogenic activities. Whereas, the lowest enriched element was lithium. The coverage areas of land use/cover along the shoreline were in this order: barren > industrial > agricultural > urban. The severity of contamination and risk index were increased in the eastern sector nearby the estuarine location. Hazard index values showed safe limits for adults and children except for Cr and Co in site 1, they were unsafe for children. Carcinogenic impacts of metals through dermal and inhalation pathways were within the acceptable limits for both adults and children. However, the carcinogenic of chemical daily intake (CR_CDI) showed impacts of Pb, Ni, Cr, Mn, Zn and Cu for adults, in addition to Cd and Co for children at different sites. The innovation in this work was the use of modern technology such as GIS in studying the spatial distribution of heavy metals in the aquatic environment and its relations with the surrounding anthropogenic activities, in addition to various statistical analyses. Consequently, more concern, management and strategies are needed to reduce the environmental impacts of metal pollution in this area.

Ethnopharmacological relevance

The traditional knowledge about ethnomedicinal plants has a significant impact on human healthcare. However, across the globe especially in remote areas, this treasure-trove of traditional knowledge is being rapidly lost. Therefore, it is important to scientifically document and validate the folklore claims about medicinal plants, which will contribute to their bioprospection and sustainable use.

Aims of the study

The study was conducted to elucidate the traditional knowledge and practices about the usage of medicinal plants by the tribal population inhabiting Bhalessa, a remote area in district Doda, Jammu, and Kashmir, Western Himalaya.

Material and methods

We collected ethnomedicinal data through focused interviews of the local population in the study area by employing in situ and ex-situ survey methods. The collected data was subjected to statistical tools of informant consensus factor (ICF), use reports and comparison with previous studies.

Results

We report a total of 80 medicinal plant species traditionally used against 17 disease categories in the area. The most frequently used plant parts were roots and leaves and the route of administration of the medicines was largely oral in the powdered form. The ICF values were indicative of a higher agreement among the users about the usage of plants in the treatment of disease categoriesmusculoskeletal and connective tissue, genitourinary and gastrointestinal disease categories. Based on the number of use report and number of taxa utilized, the most prevalent disease in the study area were joint pain and fever.

Conclusion

Novel information has been generated as the elderly people of Bhalessa possess precious knowledge of medicinal plants. These novel folklore claims about the various therapeutic values of medicinal plants require scientifically sound validation. Therefore, we call for focused phytochemical research and proper pharmacological validations of the reported medicinal uses in the study area, particularly of the Himalayan endemic species such as Aconitum lethale, Arisaema jacquemontii, and Saussurea costus.

The composition and concentration of bioactive compounds and minerals in henna (Lawsonia inermis L.) can be considerably affected by harvesting date and genotype; whereas, less information is available regarding these factors. This study was performed as a split-plot design based on randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications (n = 3). Experimental treatments consisted of three harvest dates (May, July, and October) as the main plot and five genotypes (Kahnooj, Bam, Jiroft, Qale gang, and Zehekalut) as sub-plot over two years of 2019 and 2020. According to results, harvesting dates significantly affected secondary metabolites such as lawsone, flavonoid, tannin (p < 0.01), and antioxidant activity in terms of DPPH (p < 0.05). The interactive effect of harvest date × genotypes indicated that Bam × July recorded the maximum of lawsone (90.56 μg/ml). Additionally, the highest level of phenolic compounds was achieved under the interaction effect of Kahnooj × October (160.1 μg/g Gallic acid/DM). Bam × July × year (2019) showed the maximum of lawsone and flavonoid (94.59 μg/ml and 98.04 μg Catechin/g DM, respectively), also, Bam × October × 2019 produced the highest tannin level (13.03 mg catechin/100 ml E). Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between tannin, anthocyanin, and flavonoid with lawsone, while phenol, antioxidant activity (DPPH, RP) was negatively correlated with lawsone. Regardless of harvest date, the highest lawsone, anthocyanin, and flavonoid content in 2019 was obtained in Bam genotype. Overall, this study suggests that July can be the optimum date for harvesting of Bam genotype regarding to the quality characteristics (lawsone and flavonoid).

Historically, numerous plants have been used to alleviate various diseases, particularly viral diseases (bronchitis, influenza virus and dengue virus). This review evaluated their therapeutic potential against Covid-19 and mapped the 10 most studied plants during the pandemic. The standardized protocol for systematic reviews (PRISMA-P) was developed in this study. All studies involving medicinal plants and their potential against Covid-19 infection were also considered. Two specific search fields “traditional medicine and Covid-19” and “medicinal plants and Covid-19” with appearance in the title, abstract and keywords were used to search for information. Only papers (review and original) published between 2020 and October 2021 were included. Short communications, letters to the editor, books and book chapters were excluded. A total of 24,046 articles were recorded among the four databases and an increase of 69% in publications for the 2021 search date, a higher percentage compared to the previous year (31%). China was the country with the highest production with 28% (2725 papers). The analysis of variance showed that the number of studies of Nigella sativa L. (1.62 ± 0.21; p = 0.02), Glycyrrhiza glabra L. (1.50 ± 0.32; p = 0.03), Zingiber officinale Roscoe (1.51 ± 0.32; p = 0.03) were statistically significant with respect to the other species. This is probably because these species show compounds with high antiviral spectrum. Despite the pharmacological potential found in medicinal plants, more large-scale clinical trials are still needed to demonstrate the efficacy of phytocompounds against viral diseases.