India's South Pole expedition to study climate change

NEW DELHI: India will send an expedition to the South Pole to study changes in climate patterns that have taken place in Antarctica in the last thousands of years, an official said here Friday.

Science and technology minister Prithviraj Chavan will flag off the expedition Nov 1, which would start the international celebration of the centenary of man's reaching South Pole in 1911.

The team will leave for Maitri, India's second permanent research station in Antarctica, Nov 1 and will be back mid-December.

Rasik Ravindra, 62, director of the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, will lead the team of eight scientists on the 40-day expedition.

"This is for the first time that India is sending an expedition to the South Pole. The scientists will bring samples which will give us information about climate change which has taken place in the last thousand years," said the official.

The team comprises of scientists who have experience of wintering over in Antarctica and knowhow of snow vehicles.

The team will conduct various scientific experiments on its way to South Pole.

"They will study variability of snow chemistry, particulate matter, bed rock topography and ice structure. They will collect meteorological parameter along the 2000-km long traverse," the official added.

Source: Times of India, 29-10-2010

New freshwater fishes found in Western Ghats

Kozhikode: A group of senior scientists, led by K. Rema Devi and T.J. Indira of the Southern Regional Centre of the Zoological Survey of India, have discovered two freshwater fishes in the biodiversity hotspot of Western Ghats, in collaboration with researchers from various institutions.

The discovery of the two species, Betadeavrio ramachandrani and Puntius rohani, have also been published in the prestigious journal Zootaxa and in the Journal of Threatened Taxa respectively.

The new genus and species of Betadeavrio ramachandrani was discovered from Agumbe, a small tributary of Sita River, about 2 km upstream of the Onake Abbi Fall in Shimoga, Karnataka, while Puntius rohani was discovered from the Kodayar River drainage of the Kanyakumari Wildlife sanctuary and adjoining areas, said C. Radhakrishnan, joint director, Zoological Survey of India, Kozhikode.

Unique one

He said the genus Betadeavrio was unique in the sense that it bore characters intermediate between the genera Devario and Danio. The phylogenetic status of the new genus has been confirmed using molecular markers. The genus is named after ardent fish hobbyist Beta Mahatvaraj and the species name ramachandrani after A. Ramachandran, School of Industrial Fisheries, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), in recognition of his contributions to fisheries, sea food production management and studies on indigenous ornamental fish, he said.

Others associated with this discovery are P.K. Pramod, Marine Products Export Development Authority, Mangalore, Fang Fang, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Te-Yu Lioa, Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, K.S. Jameela Beevi, Department of Zoology, Maharajas College, Ernakulam.

Dr. Radhakrishnan said the species Puntius rohani belonged to the ‘filamentosus group' that included yet another popular aquarium species—the ‘black-spot barb' or ‘Indian tiger barb'.
This species is named after Rohan Pethiyagoda of the Wildlife Trust of Sri Lanka, in appreciation for his extensive work on the freshwater fishes of India and Sri Lanka, especially his revision of the ‘filamentosus group'.

J.D. Marcus Knight, a naturalist based in Chennai also contributed to the discovery of Puntius rohani, he said. The Western Ghats of India is one of the 34 ‘biodiversity hotspots' of the world. The freshwater fishes of this region comprise more than 300 species and, of these, more than 60 per cent are endemic or unique to the region.

Explorations on

More discoveries are due, with more intensive explorations and in-depth studies of the various freshwater groups here. Many of the large barbs, endemic to the western region of India, are currently listed under ‘threatened category' owing to habitat change, pollution, over exploitation and introduction of exotics, Dr. Radhakrishnan said.

Source: The Hindu, 30-10-2010

Ash from volcanic eruption in Mt Merapi may hit Indian region

Seismic activity in Indonesia's Mount Merapi may cause a major volcanic eruption, with ash from it hitting the Indian region similar to what happened in Europe after a volcanic eruption in Iceland, according to a volcanologist at the Indian Institute of Technology here.

Activity monitored by the Merapi Volcanological Observatory has predicted a cataclysmic explosion that could wipe out everything in its path and, therefore, the Aviation industry has to keep a close watch on this volcano.

Lava flow is not a major concern but this strato volcano is characteristic of blowing tones of ash plumes and India could be on its fire line, said Dr D Chandrasekharam, Professor of the Department of Earth Sciences, IIT-B and a Board of Director, International Geothermal Association told PTI today.

"A cataclysmic explosion or eruption is when the mountain basically explodes. Previous world cataclysmic eruptions were Mount Vesuvious that buried the Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, St Helens in Washington, Hekla in Iceland, and the well documented volcano of Pinatubo in Philippines," he said.

Source: Indian Express, 28-10-2010

NASA mulling permanent manned mission to Mars

The US space agency has confirmed that it is carrying out feasibility studies to asses whether astronauts could be sent permanently to the red planet, or its moons, to establish human colonies under the ambitious project called the "Hundred Years Starship".

The astronauts would be sent supplies from Earth on a regular basis but they would have to become self-sufficient as soon as possible. The astronauts would have to embark on the mission knowing that they would never return to earth as the cost of returning would make the project prohibitively expensive.

Speaking at a conference in San Francisco, Pete Worden, Director of NASA's Ames Research Centre, recently said his division has received one million pound funding to start work on the project.The research team has also received an additional USD 100,000 grant from NASA, he said.

"The human space programme is now really aimed at settling other worlds. Twenty years ago, you had to whisper that in dark bars and get fired," he was quoted as saying by MSNBC.

"You heard it here. We also hope to inveigle some billionaires to form a Hundred Year Starship fund."

Worden said he has discussed the potential price tag for one-way trips to Mars with Google co-founder Larry Page, telling him such a mission could be done for USD 10 billion.
"His (Page's) response was, 'Can you get it down to USD one or two billion?' So now we're starting to get a little argument over the price," he said.

Depending on the position of Mars in its orbit around the Sun, its distance from Earth varies between 34 and 250 million miles. NASA's Phoenix was the most recent unmanned mission to Mars which launched in August 2007 and landed on the planet's north polar cap in May 2008.

Experts say a nuclear-fuelled rocket could shorten the journey to about four months. Of all the planets in the solar system, Mars is the most likely to have substantial quantities of water, making it the best bet for sustaining life. But it is a forbidding place to set up home.

Temperatures plummet way below freezing in some parts. The thin atmosphere would be a problem as it is mostly carbon dioxide, so oxygen supplies are a must. Worden also suggested that new technologies such as synthetic biology and alterations to the human genome could also be explored ahead of the mission.

He also said that the mission should visit Mars' moons first, where scientists can do extensive telerobotics exploration of the planet. He claims that humans could be on Mars' moons by 2030, the Daily Mail reported.

The announcement comes as a new study, published in the Journal of Cosmology, claimed that a human mission was technologically feasible and was cheaper returning astronauts to earth.It also said the costs of safely returning a crew would eat up the majority of such a mission's budget.

Sources: Deccan Herald , 29-10-2010

‘Panchayats enthusiastic about afforestation drive'

KOCHI: The conference on climate change and environment that concluded at Cochin University of Science and Technology on Tuesday suggested concerted efforts by the various stakeholders to check the increasing impact of climate change across the globe.

In his presentation on the role played by self-government institutions in addressing climate change, P. K. Ravindran, former director of Integrated Rural Technology Centre (IRTC) at Palakkad, said that panchayats had enthusiastically taken up afforestation and tree planting programmes while exploring the advantages of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. He said that panchayats have planted nearly 65 lakh seedlings, with a survival rate of 70 per cent.

Prof. Ravindran said that local self-government institutions are providing subsidy to household biogas plants for treating solid waste and have set up a good number of community based biogas plants. Production, sale and use of plastic carry bags of up to 30 microns thickness is banned and legal measures are being taken up to extend this ban to a thickness of up to 50 microns, he said.

Prof. Ravindran said that provisions for roof top rainwater harvesting, solar water heating and enhance solid waste managing facility have been made mandatory for all high rise buildings.

The local self government department is in the process of setting up green technology centres in village panchayats in connection with the Department of Science Technology and Environment, he said.

Referring to the measures to compact carbon dioxide emission from renewable energy sources, K. Sreedharan of IRTC said that more than 75 per cent of the houses in rural areas and 22 per cent in the urban areas depend on firewood for energy.

In his inaugural address, Gangan Prathap, Director of the National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources, said that the impact of climate change has affected the oceans and the atmosphere.

Source: The Hindu, 27-10-2010

10,000 villages to get power from renewable energy sources

NEW DELHI: Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday announced that 10,000 remote villages across the country would be electrified with renewable energy sources by March 2012 under an innovative initiative that will also generate employment.

“We will provide electricity to 10,000 villages at the cost of Rs. 500 crore by the end of the current plan period,” Dr. Abdullah said, while addressing a press conference to mark the start of the Delhi International Renewable Energy Conference (DIREC) here.

Dr. Abdullah said the scheme would help in employment generation as one person would be appointed at each village for maintenance of the power plants set up there. The type of plants to be set up at these centres would depend on the renewable energy source available there.

Dr. Abdullah said the three-day DIREC conference would begin on Wednesday and be attended by 70 countries with 40 ministerial delegations. The Minister said the United States and China would be the largest participants and a number of MoUs will be signed between Indian and foreign new-energy sector companies.

Water mills

He said Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah would also take part in the event and meet representatives from Iceland, which had shown a deep interest in developing geo-thermal energy sources in the country. He said trials were on to exploit the energy potential of old water-mills in States such and Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand.

The Minister said the role of renewable energy played in serving the common man was to provide energy access to millions of disadvantaged and remote habitations. “It is important for us to give a big thrust to this passion of renewable energy not only in India but across the entire developing world,” he remarked.

Source: The Hindu, 27-10-2010

The ‘mermaid' gets a lifeline

KOLLAM: Himansu S. Das, dugong expert, has said that India has made the right move at the right time by constituting a task force for the conservation of the marine mammal.

The graceful dugong's (or sea cow) claim to fame is that it was once mistaken for the mythical mermaid in mariners' tales. But in the past century, this placid animal was slaughtered for meat and brought to the brink of extinction. It is the sole remaining species of the family called Sirenia and is now found only in a few pockets of the Pacific and Indian oceans.

India has three dugong habitats, in the Gulf of Mannar, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Gujarat coast. But sightings are rare.

Mr. Das, who is a scientist with Environment Agency, an Abu Dhabi-based organisation, told The Hindu that India was a signatory to an MoU on dugong conservation of the United Nations Environment Programme (Conservation of Migratory Species) held at Abu Dhabi from October 4 to 6. Following this, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest constituted the 11-member task force on October 15.

He said that the dugong was the only known herbivorous marine mammal and had significant biodiversity value. The animal was both a flagship species as well as an umbrella species. It conservation would protect hundreds of other species that live in the dugong habitats.

“They are long living and slow growing animals with low reproductive rates and are totally dependent on seagrass for food,” he said. The International Union for Conservation of Nature had globally listed dugongs as vulnerable to extinction.

The female dugong nurses its calf for over three years. Trapping a dugong is easy. A poacher can swim alongside it and loop its neck. It can then be pulled to the shore. If a calf is looped in this manner the mother will swim along with it and the calf will do the same if its mother is looped. Given this behaviour, it is easy for poachers to kill two at a time.

The scientist said that the constitution of the task force showed India's commitment towards conservation of the dugong and its habitat. “The move will pave way for the return of the ‘mermaid,'” Mr. Das said.

Source: The Hindu, 26-10-2010

A fifth of world's life at extinction risk Nagoya (Japan)

A fifth of the world's mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fishes are in imminent danger of going extinct, says this year's edition of the benchmark IUCN Red List. The percentages of threatened invertebrates and plants are similar.

Releasing the findings at the Oct 18-29 UN biodiversity summit, being attended by 192 countries, here Wednesday, Simon Stuart, chair of the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), said their findings on vertebrates showed that "nature's backbone is at risk".

Around 3,000 scientists from around the world have worked to put this Red List together. They have found that 25 percent of all mammals, 13 percent birds, 41 percent amphibians, 22 percent reptiles and 15 percent fishes risk extinction, mostly due to loss of their habitats and some due to overhunting.

A recent study by the Kew Botanical Gardens had found that around six million species - 20 percent of all plants and invertebrates - face the extinction threat too.

But it's not all bad news. IUCN has found 64 species that have improved their status in the Red List, moving from the critically endangered to the endangered category, for example. Stuart said all these were in areas that had been protected, "proving the importance of conservation".

Results show that the status of biodiversity would have declined by at least an additional 20 percent if conservation action had not been taken.The successes include three species that were extinct in the wild and have since been re-introduced back to nature: the California condor and the black-footed ferret in the US, and Przewalski's horse in Mongolia.

Conservation efforts have been particularly successful at combating invasive alien species on islands. The global population of Seychelles Magpie-robin, increased from fewer than 15 birds in 1965 to 180 in 2006 through control of introduced predators, like the brown rat. In Mauritius, six bird species have undergone recoveries in status, including the Mauritius kestrel, whose population has increased from just four birds in 1974 to nearly 1,000.

But very few amphibians - the most threatened vertebrates - have shown signs of recovery.This year's study used data for 25,000 species from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, to investigate the status of the world's vertebrates (mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fishes) and how this status has changed over time. The results show that, on average, 50 species of mammal, bird and amphibian move closer to extinction each year due to the impacts of agricultural expansion, logging, over-exploitation, and invasive alien species.

"The 'backbone' of biodiversity is being eroded," said the doyen of ecologists, Edward O. Wilson,of Harvard University. "One small step up the Red List is one giant leap forward towards extinction. This is just a small window on the global losses currently taking place."

Southeast Asia has experienced the most dramatic recent losses, largely driven by the planting of export crops like oil palm, commercial hardwood timber operations, agricultural conversion to rice paddies and unsustainable hunting.

Recently, a UN-sponsored study called The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) calculated the cost of losing nature at $2-5 trillion per year, predominantly in poorer parts of the world. A recent study found one-fifth of more than 5,000 freshwater species in Africa are threatened, putting the livelihoods of millions of people dependent on these vital resources at risk.

Source: Deccan Herald , 27-10-2010

Doctor advocates use of coconut oil

Kasaragod: Coconut oil in diet lowers serum cholesterol, B.M. Hegde, senior physician and former Vice-Chancellor of the Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, has said.

He was addressing the ‘International conference on coconut biodiversity for prosperity' at the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI) here on Tuesday.

People should use coconut oil or coconut milk extensively in their diet rather than going for other products in the market. The nutritional value of coconut is high, he said.Coconut oil contains the ‘healthy and weight reducing' form of saturated fat. Rats fed with tender and mature coconut water showed beneficial reduction in cholesterol parameters, Mr. Hegde said.

A session on ‘Coconut and health' was chaired by Romulo Arancon Jr., executive director, Asia Pacific Coconut Community (APCC), Indonesia. As many as 25 foreign delegates and scientists from the Ayurveda College, Kotakkal; Amritha Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi; Central Food technological Research Institute; Defence Food Research Laboratory; Indian Institute of Spices Research; and the Kerala Agricultural University took part.

A workshop on ‘Organic farming in coconut' was chaired by P. Rethinum, former executive director, APCC.

Source: The Hindu, 27-10-2010

Moon has water good enough to drink

LONDON: According to Nasa, there are oases of water-rich soil on Moon's surface that could sustain astronauts.

"In about a tonne of material ... you're talking 11-12 gallons of water that you could extract," the BBC quoted Anthony, Colaprete LCROSS project scientist and principal investigator, as saying.

A lunar probe last year revealed far more water than anyone had imagined. The researchers' analysis suggests some areas of lunar regolith, or soil, must contain as much as 5% by weight of water-ice .

"And it's in the form of water-ice grains. That's good news because water-ice is very much a friendly resource to work with. You don't have to warm it very much; you just have to bring it up to room temperature to pull it out of the dirt real easy," said Anthony Colaprete, from the US space agency's Ames research centre.

The water-ice is not uniformly distributed across the southern pole but is held in pockets. Some of these oases are, like in Cabeus, to be found in shadows where LRO's Diviner instrument has sensed temperatures down to -244 °C. Under such conditions, ices will stay fixed for billions of years.

"This could facilitate future human and robotic explorers in their quest for understanding of the lunar ice, as well as its potential use as resource; because rather than having to brave the cold and dark conditions inside permanent shadow, they could land much more conventionally in areas where the sunlight is shining — at least for part of the year — and then dig a small distance below the surface and access the ice," said David Paige, Diviner's principal investigator . The study appears in Science magazine.

The Moon, at least at the bottom of a deep, dark cold crater near its south pole, seems to be wetter than the Sahara, the scientists said.

If astronauts were to visit this crater, they might be able to use eight wheelbarrows of soil to melt 10 to 13 gallons of water. The water, if purified, could be used for drinking, or broken apart into hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel — to get home or travel to Mars.

The Sahara sands are 2 to 5% water, and the water is tightly bound to the minerals. In the lunar crater, which lies in perpetual darkness, the water is in the form of almost pure ice grains mixed in with the rest of the soil, and is easy to extract. The ice is about 5.6% of the mixture, and possibly as high as 8.5% of it, Colaprete said. "That is a large number, larger than I think anyone was anticipating."

The new research results increase the water estimate to about 40 gallons, and by estimating by amount of dirt excavated by the impact, calculated the concentration of water for the first time.

Several reports published in Science show some surprising findings, including a large amount of water in the form of ice, carbon monoxide, ammonia and the silvery metals.

Source: Times of india , 23-10-2010

Publish Post

Sunderbans big cats get smaller

The scientists at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) have found significant differences between the tigers found in the Sunderbans delta and those found in the rest of the country.

They feel that the “smaller and lighter” tigers of the deltaic region could have evolved into a sub-species of Royal Bengal Tiger, as the big cats have adapted to the ecological conditions of their habitat, which remains inundated by the tidal waves.

“The tigers found in the Sunderbans could be a different sub-species of Royal Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), which is fouAnd all across the India,” said Dr Yadvendradev Jhala, a scientist at the WII who is examining the reasons that could have led to the tigers developing deviant features.

“There could be genetic or adaptive reason behind this. For a different species, it takes about one million years to evolve but for a different sub-species can evolve in 20,000 to 50,000 years,” said Jhala.

Source: Indian Express , 23-10-2010

Book on birds of Mangalavanam

KOCHI: Spotting the birds nestled in the greenery of a bird sanctuary is never an easy job for a bird enthusiast. Recognising the species is yet more difficult for a commoner. But those who walk into the Mangalavanam Bird Sanctuary may not have to struggle for identifying the winged visitors.

A soon-to-be released publication — Birds of Mangalavanam Bird Sanctuary — will come to the aid of the visitors to the sanctuary located in the city.

The publication, co-authored by P. O. Nameer, Sheik Hyder Hussain and S. R. Radhakrishnan, has some fine pictures of the birds found here with brief description of the species which would help the visitors to get a basic idea about the species.

Dr. Nameer is the Associate Professor of Wildlife and Head of the Centre for Wildlife Studies of the College of Forestry, Thrissur and Mr. Hussain and Mr. Radhakrishnan are the officials of the Forest Department.

Source: The Hindu, 23-10-2010

New virus threat to tapioca crop

Kozhikode: There is a threat to the tapioca crop in the State from the African cassava mosaic virus, plant pathologists who spoke at a two-day symposium on ‘Changing plant disease scenario in relation to climate change' that drew to a close at the Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR) here on Saturday said.

The plant pathologists reported that the African cassava mosaic virus was the latest disease-causing agent that could affect tapioca crops. The Indian cassava mosaic virus and the Sri Lankan cassava mosaic virus were already known to affect tapioca owing to rise in temperature and carbon dioxide levels.

Proper surveillance and monitoring were the only possible ways to check new emerging diseases, the participating agricultural scientists said. The symposium recommended that a holistic approach be formulated for tackling diseases resulting from climate change.

The participants suggested that policymakers take into consideration the views of farmers, researchers and people from the agriculture and related fields while planning and executing programmes related to climate change.

Rise in temperature

Experts said the increase in temperature by 0.5 degree Celsius had lead to a decrease in production of wheat by 0.45 tonnes a hectare and a 25 to 30 per cent fall in sugarcane yield from a hectare in the country.

There was a paradigm shift in the nature, time and type of occurrence of viral and other diseases of various crops owing to climate change, the experts said.

The symposium called for setting up a forewarning system to manage crop diseases and expressed concern over the impact of climate change on food production in the country.

The experts hoped that powerful and cost-effective diagnostic methods would help in easy detection of the pathogens. They called for development and popularisation of economical, ready-to-use virus detection kits among the farming community.

The changing climatic conditions also necessitated more appropriate cold storage facilities to avoid losses during storage of grains.

Source: The Hindu,25-10-2010

2 fish species ‘disappear' from Pampa

KOCHI: Two endemic fish varieties - catfish and eel - are feared to have disappeared from the Pampa.

No individuals of these species have landed in the nets of fishermen for the last three years triggering suspicion of their population loss. The catfish (Nadan Mushi) and the eel (Malanjil) were once found in abundance in the river system.

The disappearance of the popular varieties was noted during an evaluation of the harvested fishery wealth of the river by the School of Industrial Fisheries of the Cochin University of Science and Technology.

The three-year assessment of fish landing at six centres was carried out as part of a project “database on fish germplasm, capture fisheries and biodiversity threats of rivers of Kerala” for the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment.

A research team led by B. Madhusoodana Kurup, Director, School of Industrial Fisheries, had M. Harikrishnan and C.R. Renjith Kumar as members.

The analysis identified the presence of 60 fin fish species and one prawn variety in the river. Of this, 26 were regularly caught by the fishermen. This also included a few species namely Vaka Varal, Kooral, Manjakoori, Aral, Muthukila, Arinjil and Paral, which had high ornamental value in overseas market.

It was estimated that 42 tonnes of fish having ornamental value was being indiscriminately caught annually from this river. They were used either as poultry feed or manure. The annual average fish landing was found to be 394 tonnes worth Rs.3.70 crore.

The fishery wealth of the river was found to be dominated by Thooli.

The other varieties that were netted include Varal, Vala, Karimeen, Vayambu and Karuva Paral. The researchers had earlier developed captive breeding techniques for the species and carried out ranching for restoring its population, the report said.

Habitat decline and degradation due to increased sedimentation in river bottom, pollution from sewage and agriculture were rampant in the river.

Illegal fishing activities using poison, electricity and some plant extracts, poor water quality and invasion of exotic and alien fish species were also posing serious threats to the fish germplasm.

The study recommended setting up of a local-level management body for the conservation and judicious utilisation of the fishery resources.

Source: The Hindu,25-10-2010

Asia's corals hit by mass die-out

Coral reefs in Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean are dying from the worst bleaching effect in more than a decade, Australian marine scientists said recently.

The bleaching, triggered by a large pool of warm water which swept into the Indian Ocean in May, has caused corals from Indonesia to the Seychelles to whiten and die, the scientists said.

Reefs in many Asian countries were affected by the phenomenon, researcher Andrew Baird said. “It is certainly the worst coral die-off we have seen since 1998. It may prove to be the worst such event known to science,” he said.

Baird , a fellow at James Cook University, said the magnitude of the event was so large, that it was “almost certainly a consequence of global warming”.

He said the temperatures were high enough to cause bleaching of the corals in Indonesia's Aceh, the area worst hit by the event. — AFP

Source: The Hindu daily dated 21/10/2010

A snapshot of evolution in progress

Different routes: More genes with different roles lead to diversification.By tracing how a gene mutation over 100 million years ago led flowers to make male and female parts in different ways, research by University of Leeds plant scientists has uncovered a snapshot of evolution in progress.

In a number of plants, the gene involved in making male and female organs has duplicated to create two, very similar, copies.
In rockcress (Arabidopsis), one copy still makes male and female parts, but the other copy has taken on a completely new role: it makes seed pods shatter open.
In snapdragons (Antirrhinum), both genes are still linked to sex organs, but one copy makes mainly female parts, while still retaining a small role in male organs – but the other copy can only make male.
The findings published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ( PNAS) Online Early Edition provide a perfect example of how diversity stems from such genetic 'mistakes'.
The research also opens the door to further investigation into how plants make flowers.
“Snapdragons are on the cusp of splitting the job of making male and female organs between these two genes, a key moment in the evolutionary process,” says lead researcher Professor of Plant Development, Brendan Davies.
Added complexity
“More genes with different roles give an organism added complexity and open the door to diversification and the creation of new species.”
By tracing back through the evolutionary ‘tree' for flowering plants, the researchers calculate the gene duplication took place around 120 million years ago. But the mutation which separates how snapdragons and rock cress use this extra gene happened around 20 million years later.
The researchers have discovered that the different behaviour of the gene in each plant is linked to one amino acid.
Although the genes look very similar, the proteins they encode don't always have this amino acid. When it is present, the activity of the protein is limited to making only male parts.
When the amino acid is not there, the protein is capable of interacting with a range of other proteins involved in flower production, enabling it to make both male and female parts, according to a University of Leeds press release. — Our Bureau
Source: The Hindu daily dated 21/10/2010

Revised water policy to factor in impact of climate change

NEW DELHI: Spurred by the need to look at impact of climate change on water resources, the Centre is formulating a revised National Water Policy in consultation with the States and other stakeholders to ensure basin-level management strategies to deal with variability in rainfall and river flows due to climate change.

Ecology over industry?

The government is also looking at amendment to the Inter-State Water Disputes Act, and the River Boards Act for time-bound clarificatory/supplementary orders of tribunals on inter-State water disputes and for setting up Inter-State River Basin Authority for overall coordination of watershed agencies under inter-State basins.

The revised policy will take on board crucial issues such as demand management of water, equitable distribution, water pricing, stringent regulatory mechanism and allocating priority to water for life-support and ecology over industry. Needless to say, the industry is opposing the last priority it might be allocated.

The Centre wants water budgeting and water auditing to be made mandatory. There is a suggestion to introduce tradable water entitlements for farmers but there is no agreement on it.

The Ministry of Water Resources is holding a series of consultations with the States and other stakeholders on various aspects of the proposed revised policy and will reconcile various points of view. The final decision would be vested in the National Water Resources Council headed by the Prime Minister with Chief Ministers as members.

Multipurpose reservoirs

In the new scheme of things, it is proposed to plan for multi-purpose reservoir systems with stakeholder participation after thorough examination of all alternatives. The benefits and costs of every project along with environmental and social costs should be assessed and it should be ensured that local people are the first beneficiaries.

However, the Ministry has come up with the rider that while assessing costs-benefits, environmental and social costs, stakeholders must consider the cost of not providing water to people for different uses.

It is proposed to incentivise water conservation. State governments may be advised to set up Independent Water Regulatory Authority for addressing water allocation, water use efficiency and physical and financial sustainability of water resources.

There is a suggestion to enact an over-arching Water Act to signal water sector as an important policy priority.

Source: The Hindu, 20-10-2010

School undertakes biodiversity survey

KOCHI: MES Eastern School, Eloor, never had any dearth of ideas when it comes to engaging its students to expand their horizons beyond mere academics.

Last month, the school undertook a biodiversity survey on its campus engaging members of its nature and science clubs. The entire 2.80 acres of the campus was covered in the survey. In fact, more than 20 species of medicinal plants and 100-odd plant species were found from a piece of 10 cents of land alone.

Forty students were divided into groups and assigned specific areas for undertaking the survey. They were then asked to draw up a list of the species of the flora and fauna they come across. The idea was to prepare a comprehensive list of the flora and fauna on the entire campus.

Soil analysis

Students were also taught how to dry plants and form them into a herbarium. Besides, they learned to detect soil fauna through soil analysis.

The survey that enabled students to learn more about their campus also laid the foundation for drafting a biodiversity directory.

The school now has plans to expand the survey beyond the school campus. Initially, a similar survey would be undertaken in the ward within the limits of which the school is located. This will be followed by a survey in 20 more wards of the Eloor panchayat.

The school also aims at bringing out a book by compiling reports of students based on the survey. “The objective of conducting such a survey was to encourage inquisitive mind in students and to promote research to understand scientific principles,” said Sasidharan Kallery, faculty member and one of the coordinators of the project.

He said that the school would conduct a photo album exhibition based on the survey. A herbarium of plants is another long-term objective.

Source: The Hindu, 20-10-2010

Asteroid 'influenced evolution' Melbourne

The Ediacarans are a weird bunch of organisms that included the world's first large-scale complex life. During the time they lived (635-542 million years ago) in southern Australia, the Earth experienced at least one cold snap that may have covered much of the Earth in ice.

At that time, southern Australia lay near Equator and low latitudes were devastated by impact of a 4.7-km-diameter asteroid that left a 90-km crater in central South Australia.

Now, a team of Australian geologists shows that this massive impact -- which struck with an estimated energy of 5.2 million megatons of TNT - coincided with period of glaciation, the 'Australian Journal of Earth Sciences' reported.

The effect of this double whammy -- extreme cold and killer asteroid -- could have been a major factor influencing the evolution of the Ediacarans, say the geologists.

"Release from the combined environmental stresses of a frigid, glacial climate near sea level and a major impact in low latitudes may have been a factor influencing subsequent Ediacaran biotic evolution," said team leader Victor Gostin of University of Adelaide.

Source: Deccan Herald, 20-10-2010

2010, 1998 hottest period on record: NOAA

NEW YORK: The combined land and ocean surface temperatures for the first nine months of 2010 along with the same period in 1998 was the the hottest period on record, according to US federal weather agency.

"For the year-to-date, the global combined land and ocean surface temperature of 14.75 Celsius tied with 1998 as the warmest January-September period on record," National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said.

"This value is 0.65 Celsius above the 20th century average."

"Warmer-than-average conditions dominated the world's land areas. The most prominent warmth was in western Alaska, most of the contiguous United States, eastern Canada, Greenland, the Middle East, eastern and central Europe, western and far eastern Russia and northeastern Asia," the analysis said.

Los Angeles set a new all-time maximum temperature on September 27 when temperatures soared to 45 Celsius surpassing the previous record of 44.4 Celsius set in June 1990.

Meanwhile, the Northern Territory of Australia had its coolest maximum temperatures since 1984 and Western Australia and Victoria each recorded their lowest maximum temperatures since 1992.

At the same time, Australia received an average precipitation of 1.91 inches (48.4 millimetres) during September, this is nearly double the 1961-1990 average and the highest September value on record.

Cooler-than-average regions included much of Australia, western Canada, parts of the northern United States, parts of western and central Europe, and central Russia.

The NOAA's National Climatic Data Centre has information dating back to 1880.

Further, the research found that the combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for September 2010 tied with 1998 as the eighth warmest on record at 15.5 Celsius which is 0.50 Celsius above the 20th century average of 15. 0 Celsius.

On the polar ice front, arctic sea ice reached its annual minimum on September 19, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Centre.

"This year also marked the 14th consecutive September with below-average Arctic sea ice extent," the NOAA said.

Meanwhile, the Antarctic sea ice reached its annual maximum in September and September 2010 was the third largest sea ice extent on record (2.3 per cent above average), behind 2006 (largest) and 2007 (second largest).

Source: Times of India,19-10-2010

Call for positive action to conserve biodiversity

KOCHI: The Western Ghats have “some remarkably good areas of natural vegetation containing a high number of plant and animal species,” said R. Wendy Strahm, an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) expert assessing the region for the World Heritage List of UNESCO .

An IUCN team comprising Ms. Strahm and Brian Furze had been visiting some of the 39 serial sites of the Western Ghats which were nominated by India for the World Heritage List. They were in Kerala as part of the evaluation tour l recently

Referring to the biodiversity threats in the Western Ghats, Ms. Strahm said in an e-mail interview that “in any World Heritage nomination evaluation, it is inevitable that the nominated site will have positive as well as negative aspects.” “Our planet is such that sadly no pristine areas still exist, although World Heritage inscription is really about identifying which sites are the best of the best,” she said.

The participatory forest management system in Kerala won the appreciation of the visiting team as Ms. Strahm noted that the team was “very pleased with the visit to Kerala and particularly impressed with the participatory management that the Forestry Department is undertaking with local communities.”

Biodiversity threat

Biodiversity is always threatened in one way or another in the world and positive action from all stakeholders is required to reduce it in all possible manners and it is important to conserve the best areas that remain in the world, she said.

“Overall, the hope is that the world status would serve as an umbrella to recognise and conserve the most important places on earth. There is no automatic mechanism for this and conflicts do not just disappear because of the label. However, the listing does constitute a strong and high-level governmental commitment for conservation which is not only of national but international significance,” she said.

Ms. Strahm said most of the areas proposed in the nomination occur in protected areas either as national parks, tiger reserves, wildlife sanctuaries or reserved forests. It is understood that hydel or mining projects are expressly prohibited by the law in these sites, she said.

Evaluation process

The field evaluation undertaken by the visiting team was “one fundamental component of the evaluation process. Experts familiar with the Western Ghats are undertaking a complementary desktop review, and both the evaluation report as well as other reports will be presented to the independent IUCN World Heritage Panel which will digest all information, and decide whether additional information is required,” she said.

The nomination will then go to the World Heritage Committee which would decide on the inscription, considering the advice of IUCN. The visiting team will file its report by mid-November and the second level report would be ready by the last week of the month.

Source: The Hindu, 20-10-2010