The loss of fish biodiversity in the coastal ecosystem of West Bengal, India, due to adverse environmental impacts both natural and anthropogenic, poses significant threats to the stability of the coastal ecosystem and economy. Therefore, accurate fish species identification and documentation is the first step toward fish biodiversity conservation. The challenges of relying solely on morphological identification and the lack of DNA barcoding-based molecular identification of fish are the impetus for the present study. The present study aims to address these challenges by identifying and barcoding fish species collected from coastal areas near the Sundarbans mangrove using morpho-molecular characterization and genetic analysis with partial mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI). Out of 110 collected fish samples, 20 representative species were identified and classified into 19 species, 17 genera, 12 families and 6 orders. The DNA sequences of these species showed 98 to 100

In an aquaculture system, estimates were made of soil organic carbon content, carbon burial rate, soil structure and algal productivity with the intention of examining the synergistic effects of both greenhouse gas (GHG) induced temperature and manure-driven carbon reduction potentials in sediments that depend on productivity as well as tilapia spawning responses under greenhouse mimicking conditions during winter. Different manure treatments such as cattle manure and saw dust (T1); poultry droppings and saw dust (T2); vermi-compost and saw dust (T3); mixture of cattle manure, poultry droppings, vermi-compost and saw dust (T4); iso-carbonic states maintained with vermi-compost (T5); and with poultry droppings (T6) were applied three times (frequency of application) in the tank during the course of investigation. Different parameters like soil organic carbon, carbon burial rate, algal productivity and water quality were examined in aquaculture system. GHG effect impacted on the enhanced carbon reduction potential (44.36-62.36%) which was directly related with soil organic carbon (38.16-56.40 mg C/g) dependent carbon burial rate (0.0033-0.0118 g/cm 2 per 100 days). Average carbon burial rates for different manure treatments at GHG impacted temperature (0.0071 g/cm 2 per 100 days) was as high as 27.90% than at ambient air temperature (0.0054 g/cm 2 per 100 days). Residual carbon or sink in soils has been increased by 8.49 to 43.11% in different treatments or 23%, on an average attributed to almost 6 °C rise in GHG mediated atmospheric temperature. The low carbon footprint potential in different treatments was conspicuous inside the polyhouse (maximum 62.36%) due to greenhouse driven temperature compared. As a positive impact of the study, breeding of tilapia occurred where in T3 100% survival occurred in close polyhouse and also exhibited maximum carbon burial rate. In this study it has been observed that one degree rise in atmospheric temperature resulted in a ~ 4% rise in residual carbon in the experimental tank. However, future work can be conducted on other different treatments and large scale application. Graphical Abstract Graphical representation of greenhouse-temperature induced manure driven carbon accumulation in aquaculture mesocosm.

Biological carbon sequestration gaining more impetus day by day, where algae is the main backbone as a biological agent. Thus, the present study focused on the evaluation of algal biomass growth, collected from the polysheet wall of green house chamber, along with its carbon capture potentiality. The experiment were conducted in three different atmospheric conditions viz. (i) inside the green house chamber where temperature and carbon dioxide concentration was higher; (ii) in the normal atmospheric condition under full sunlight, and (iii) in closed room condition where light intensity was fixed. Maximum carbon accumulation was found (834.59 +/- 2.09 mg C/g) inside the green house chamber where mean temperature and carbon dioxide concentration were 41 degrees C and 705 ppm respectively. Collective effect of temperature and carbon dioxide concentration also facilitate in the maximum growth of the algal biomass (8693.68 mean number of cell/mL) in the greenhouse chamber.

The phosphorus (P) pollution and eutrophication in the aquatic environment are common and cause immensely adverse environmental health problems. In order to control the P pollution, the present study attempted to assess the phosphate-P removal capacity (PRC) of laterite soil (LS) and its application potentials in practical field. The physico-chemical characteristics of LS were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy coupled energy dispersive techniques, BET study and zeta potential. The PRC of LS was characterized by optimizing the sorption influencing parameters ? contact time, solution pH, dosage of LS and concentration of phosphate-P as well as analyzing sorption isotherm and kinetics; and application potential of LS was evaluated by analyzing PRC in natural wastewater and by examining plant (Chick pea; Cicer arietinum) growth promoting properties of spent LS as phosphate fertilizer. The chemical characteristics revealed that LS is prevalently constituted by oxygen (48.52%), silicon (39.36%) and iron (10.57%) and aluminium (1.55%) and showed higher pore volume (1.678 cc/g), surface area (20.29 m2/g), particle density (2.25 g/cm3) and bulk density (1.94 g/cm3). LS demonstrated that contact time 390 min, pH 2.5, dosage 2.4 g/L and initial concentration 2 mg/L were optimum for highest phosphate-P sorption. Sorption data was well fitted by the Langmuir isotherm model and pseudo second order kinetic model. The phosphate-P sorption mechanism of LS is supposed to be governed by high porosity, surface area and specific chemical properties. LS showed excellent phosphate-P sorption (384.61 mg/g) and potential wastewater treatment properties. Phosphorous loaded spent LS also showed higher growth of Cicer arietinum (length of shoot, 38.21% and leaf number, 52.63%) than control. Therefore, the LS could ecofriendly be used as a low-cost sorbent for treating the polluted water and spent LS might be employed as a potentially fertile soil bed in yielding high amount of crop.

Winter reduction of fish growth is one of the major concerns in aquaculture. Using the principle of greenhouse mediated raised temperature, the issue has been addressed by examining the growth responses of some tropical fishes in polyculture (rohu, mrigal, bata, Japanese punti, grass carp, common carp, magur, freshwater prawn) and two stocking ratios (80: 20 and 20: 80) with surface and column feeder (catla, silver carp, rohu, Japanese punti and bata) and bottom feeder (mrigal and common carp). Advanced fry of these fishes were introduced separately in solar heated greenhouse and in open polyhouse (13 x 1.5 x 2m(3)) placed in triplicate in a pond and reared for 120 or 98 days during the winter for two consecutive years. The rate of survival (20-83%) and net weight gained by different species of fish were distinctly higher in closed set up (0.22-2.95 g/day) than in open (4-66%; 0.11-1.80 g/day) ones in both trials. Among the species, warmth induced net weight gain was maximal for Japanese punti (196 g), followed by rohu (159 g), mrigal (115 g), grass carp (104 g), bata (36 g) and freshwater prawn (28 g) in polyculture. The frequency distribution of harvested fishes was skewed towards large fishes in solar heated greenhouse and smaller ones in open units. Water temperature ranged from 21.6-28.1 degrees C and 17.2-23.7 degrees C in the closed and open units, whereas mean temperature remained 4.5-5 degrees C higher in the former than in latter. There was no marked differences in total alkalinity (219-231 mg/l), inorganic carbon (289-417 mg/l), organic carbon (4.27-4.52 mg/l), dissolved oxygen (6.61-6.75 mg/l), total dissolved solids (420.48-423.74 mg/l) and conductivity (549.83-563.29 mu s/cm) between the closed and open enclosures, and remained within the range for fish culture. The score values of the sum total of the integrated ecological conditions revealed that similar to 5 degrees C rise in water temperature during winter enhanced as high as 36% increased yield of fish (2546 kg/ha) over open units mediated through microbial driven augmented manure mineralization leading to increased primary productivity, zooplankton abundance and ecological integrity. In essence, the solar heated greenhouse would be of considerable use for circumventing the retarded growth during winter in tropical fishes.

Global warming and climate change are though known for widespread negative impacts, they do have beneficial as well, but are less known. Here, we studied the interactive impacts of greenhouse mediated raised temperature and manure driven decomposition-cum-total environment on reproductive success of cichlid fish tilapia. Fishes were kept in holding tanks (300 L) placed inside and outside the solar heated structure (modular green house) using identical and comparable doses of organic manure in triplicate during the winter. The manure selected were: (a) cattle manure and saw dust; (b) poultry droppings and saw dust; (c) vermicompost and saw dust; (d) mixed manure with cattle manure, poultry droppings, vermicompost and saw dust; isocarbonic states maintained with (e) vermicompost, and (f) with poultry droppings. Equal number of adult male (8) and female (8) tilapia (1:1) were introduced per tank and reared for 90 days. Water and sediment samples were collected weekly and analyzed for different parameters. Net increment of body weight and production of fry per tank were recorded. Survival of fish was about 10% higher under greenhouse condition compared to ambient air temperature outside. The synergistic effects of manure driven water quality-food resource complex and temperature appeared to be more important than the impact of temperature alone in selecting the treatment that developed the total benign environment and induced tilapia to spawn during winter. The carbon burial rate dependent soil organic carbon had been significantly increased as a consequence of greenhouse effect.

Spatial and seasonal variability of diversity, abundance and carbon sequestration potential of net-phytoplankton were examined across the sewage effluent of six wetlands in waste stabilization ponds used for the treatment of municipal wastewater cum fish culture. The values of the Shannon-Weiner diversity index for Myxophycaeae, Euglenophyceae, and Chrysophyceae were higher in the facultative pond compared to maturation ponds, whereas that of Bacillariophyceae was higher in later than in former. The gross and net primary productivity of phytoplankton ranged from 3.594 g C m(-2) d(-1) to 32.858 g C m(-2) d(-1) and 2.34 C m(-2) d(-1) to 15.227 C m(-2) d(-1), respectively. The P/R ratio varied from 1.365 to 5.729 in different ponds investigated. Two clear-cut zones were well recognized. The facultative pond with the supremacy of blue-green algae favoured immense carbon sequestration potential. The total phytocarbon biomass in the facultative pond (60,491 mg C m(-3)) was 2.5-4 folds higher than in subsequent maturation ponds. The carbon sequestration potential of the entire wastewater stabilization pond system was calculated to be 133,279 mg C m(-3). Further research is needed to prepare carbon budget by quantifying the carbon capture from atmosphere and emission into the atmosphere, if any through mud-water interactions of the bottom sediment. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of European Regional Centre for Ecohydrology of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Water quality measurements can indicate carbon status or algal biomass. Microalgae have an excellent ability to utilize all forms of dissolved inorganic carbon at different pH conditions. Water quality signature (WQS) using three different expressions with (i) pH; (ii) total alkalinity, hardness and total dissolved solids; and (iii) nitrate and conductivity of water was assessed in 32 wetlands distributed across 5 districts of West Bengal, India. Two zones were clearly discernible: coldwater (15–23 °C) high-altitude lakes in Darjeeling, and tropical (31–32 °C) low-altitude wetlands. Multivariate analysis of the Akaike information criterion (ACI) model revealed location-specific variability of agro-climatic and biogeochemical interactions. Dissolved inorganic carbon and inorganic nitrogen appeared to be important in regulating the phytocarbon content of microalgae. The wetlands located in the Gangetic alluvial tropical or semi-coastal areas (Hooghly, 24-Parganas, Nadia, Midnapore) were alkaline (pH = 7.52–7.97) where half-bound carbon dioxide comprised the major component (18–26%) of total inorganic carbon, with moderate to eutrophic (PO4-P− 0.16–0.23 mg/l) states which have a negative feedback to global warming. The heterogeneity of measured water quality signature consolidated the sanative nature of wetlands for their complex functional attributes with agro-climatic, biogeochemical and soil-water-biological interactions.

The chloroplast contained in the chlorophyll of microalgae, similar to other plants, is the site of photosynthetic reactions carried out in two separate steps of reactions -the biophysical and biochemical (Figure 1).The biophysical reactions take place in the thylakoid discs of the chloroplasts and water is oxidized,

Article history: Received– 4 June, 2018 Revised– 26 June, 2018 Accepted– 10 July, 2018 Available– 2 August, 2018 (online)

Water chest nut Trapa is a minor fruit crop and potential carbon sequester of atmospheric carbon. Mass production of water chest nut using a vast number of unused small water bodies and derelict waters is a win-win-win-win strategy toward mitigation of global warming, nutritional security, empowerment and resource utilization. Growth performance of Trapa was conducted in small culture units using different CNP ratios (25:02:01; 101:08:01; 290:01:01) at a fixed dose (0.2 kg/tank) of mixed manure with different doses (100, 200, 400, 600 g) of optimal CNP ratio (101:08:01) during the life cycle of Trapa. The total number of fruits and the wet weight of Trapa in different dose treatments ranged from 56 to 192 and from 258 to 379 g/tank. Yield of Trapa remained maximum when CNP ratio was 101:8:1 at 200 g/tank and the dosage was 200 g/tank with the optimal CNP ratio (134 g) and then declined with further rise in fertilizer dose. The proximate analysis of Trapa revealed the highest phosphorus content in all the tissues (fruit, leaf, and root) of Trapa grown in the CNP ratio of 101:08:01. Of the total amount of carbon in Trapa, contribution was maximum by the fruit (38–41%), followed by leaf (27–35%) and root (23–32%) in different ratio treatment. The C content of harvested Trapa grown in different CNP ratios (Table 4) was higher in fruit (38–41%) followed by leaf (27–35%) and root (23–32%) among tissues. The amount of C observed in control (32%) increased by 6% in 25:02:01 (34%) which was higher than remaining two treatments (31%). Dry weight or total carbon content of water chestnut tended to rise with increasing levels of phosphate of water from the dosage of 100 to 200 g with optimal CNP ratio and declined thereafter. A direct relationship between the dry weight or carbon content of Trapa and the total carbon content or phosphate to total carbon ratio of water was established. However, the carbon content remained between 27–32% in all the three tissues of Trapa culture when cultured in different dose treatments. It is reasonable to conclude that water chestnut may be promoted for mass cultivation using the recommended culture protocol that would help trapping atmospheric carbon, provide nutritional security and employment generation and resource utilization.

Ecological integrity, that is spatial and seasonal variability of microalgae abundance and diversity, counts of biogeochemical cycle bacteria and carbon sequestration potential of microalgae, was studied in six waste stabilization ponds, used for treatment of the municipal waste waters and fish culture. The values of Shannon diversity index for Myxophycaeae, Euglenophyceae and Chrysophyceae were higher in facultative pond compared to maturation or fish ponds. The gross and net primary productivity of phytoplankton ranged respectively from 3.594 to 32.858 g C/m-2 · d-1 and 2.34 to 15.227 g C/m-2 · d-1. The P/R ratio in different ponds varied from 1.365 to 5.729. The nutrient cycling bacteria (heterotrophic, ammonifying, ammonia-oxidizing, cellulose decomposing and phosphate solubilizing) occurring in surface and bottom water layers tended to reduce in numbers from facultative to the last maturation or fish pond. The sum of total scores for different optimal conditions for fish growth also increased spatially exhibiting two clear cut zones: the facultative pond with dominance of blue green algae with greater carbon sequestration potential and the maturation or fish ponds developed a favourable environment for fish culture, mediated through microalgae-zooplankton grazing and microbial detritus food chain.

The responses of cellulase enzymes of three bacterial isolates and their impacts on cattle manure decomposition were assessed in a greenhouse model in vivo pond ecosystem. Fifty grams of fresh cattle manure was placed in a fastened nylon bag (mesh size ~ 50 μm dia.) and placed in triplicate in a plastic bucket with 10 l of pond water which was hung inside the enclosed polyhouse, semi-closed and open systems for 4 weeks. Samples of manure residue directly from nylon bag and water from manure leached bucket water, water, and soil from the enclosed polyhouse were collected for enzymatic assays, enumeration of aerobic cellulose decomposing and heterotrophic bacteria, and determination of water and soil quality parameters. Responses of cellulases to different temperatures in situ were also elucidated. The values of test bacteria, endoglucanase, exoglucanase and β-glucosidase, and organic carbon were significantly (P ˂ 0.05) higher in the closed system compared to semi-closed or open system. Priming of all the enzymes coupled with the peak of aerobic cellulose decomposing bacteria and heterotrophic bacterial populations occurred on the day 14 or 21 in vivo. Since the peaks of three cellulases of bacterial isolates (KUPH1, KUPH6, and KUPH8) were demonstrated between 35 and 40 °C, and that temperature coincided with temperature of the greenhouse model, this temperature range appeared to favor the growth of cellulose decomposing bacterial populations and involved cellulase enzymes.

Global warming poses a major threat to our civilization that has led to unsustainable development worldwide. Though there are different strategies for global warming mitigation, carbon sequestration in water column via microalgae is the eco-friendly, cost effective and sustainable tool to capture and utilize carbon in a beneficial way. Microalgae, Chlorella sp . was cultured in ex situ using (a) standard basal medium as control, (b) culture medium aerated, (c) exogenously introduced liquid carbon dioxide into the culture medium. The growth of Chlorella was also examined under different pH (4 - 11) of the culture medium as well as in various dilutions (0, 25, 50%) of effluents of a Brewery under autoclaved and non- autoclaved conditions. There was no marked difference in growth of Chlorella sp. between 0 - 166 hours and between 218 - 272 hours either, but significant difference (P < 0.05) in growth was clearly discernable during the peak period among the treatments. Exogenously introduced CO 2 or aeration of the culture medium did not significantly improve the growth over basal medium suggesting that optimal conditions of carbon or oxygen have prevailed in the basal medium of culture. There was a sharp dichotomy of pH effects on the growth of Chlorella as growth was distinctly higher at pH 8 to 11 compared to the remaining pH (4 - 6) showing no significant differences (P > 0.05) among themselves. Chlorella sp . grown in brewery effluent showed the maximum growth in 50% and 25% dilution of non autoclaved and autoclaved effluent of beverage factory respectively suggesting that autoclaving saved 25% of bacteria driven nutrient demand.

Frequent exposure of microbes to hazardous metalloids/heavy metals in contaminated environment results in the development of heavy metal(loid)-resistance properties. The study attempted to assess the profile of elevated arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd) and mercury (Hg)—resistant bacterial community structures of sludge (S1, India), sludge and sediment (S2 and S3, Japan) and sediment (S4, Vietnam) samples by metagenomic-DNA fingerprinting using polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis ( PCR–DGGE) for monitoring and bioremediation of hazardous metal(loid) contamination in environment. The results revealed that As-resistant bacteria were dominant compared to Cd- and Hg-resistant bacteria with higher species diversity ( Lysinibacillus sp., Uncultured soil bacterium clone, Staphylococcus sciuri , Bacillus fastidiosus , Bacillus niacini , Clostridium sp. and Bacillus sp.) in S1 and S4 than that of S2 and S3 samples. The occurrence of dominant As-resistant bacteria may indicate arsenic contamination in the investigated coastal habitats of India, Japan and Vietnam. The As-, Cd- and Hg-resistant bacteria/bacterial consortiums showed appreciable uptake ability of respective metal(loid) (0.042–0.125 mg As/l, 0.696–0.726 mg Cd/l and 0.34–0.412 mg Hg/l). Therefore, it might be concluded that the profiling of metalloids/heavy metal-resistant bacterial community structure by metagenomic-DNA fingerprinting using PCR–DGGE could be used to explore high metal(loid)-resistant bacteria for applying in metal(loid) bioremediation and as an indicator for monitoring hazardous metal(loid) contamination in environment.

Healthy soils are of the utmost importance to society for the variety of ecosystem services they provide in both terrestrial and aquatic systems. Within aquatic systems, soils play an active role in carbon cycling and interactions between soils and water, and additional components of aquatic ecosystems can control the balance of carbon, whether the system becomes a net carbon source or sink. Understanding the interactions between soils and overlying water is crucial to developing adaptive strategies to mitigate climate change. An enhanced, holistic understanding of primary ecosystem drivers in mixed aquatic and soil systems is paramount for guiding their future construction and management to maximize their beneficial use while minimizing negative environmental impacts. Aeration and water circulation devices can be used to improve dissolved oxygen content of the wastewater pond system. Raking may be practiced to improve the ecological conditions of pond soils for encouraging healthy conditions and animal associations of the pond bottom particularly in wastewater-fed systems. The present chapter provides a review of different aspects of soil-water interactions and strategies to maintain ecosystem health for sustainable development.