Review and assessment of the potential restoration of ecosystem services through the implementation of the biodiversity management plans for SDG-15 localization.

Effective restoration strategies play a crucial role in mitigating the environmental impact of mining and colliery activities while promoting ecological resilience and rejuvenating ecosystem services. However, many organizations find it challenging to understand and balance their efforts in restoring degraded lands. For example, their restoration plans lack clarity and overlook relevant ecosystem services. This study reviews and focuses on the potential restoration of ecosystem services at TATA Steel's Noamundi Iron Ore Mine and West Bokaro Colliery to contribute to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG-15, for localization. The approach involved assessing the number of preventive measures being implemented to restore a particular ecosystem service. Moreover, the potential of each preventive measure is to restore that ecosystem service. The findings underscore the significance of preventive measures and comprehensive restoration plans in enhancing carbon sequestration, soil fertility, habitat creation, and genetic diversity conservation. Our results showed that the impact scores and ranks of various ecosystem services demonstrate the positive effects of restoration efforts, emphasizing the importance of reestablishing forests, restoring water bodies and wetlands, and allocating land for agriculture and public use. The research provides valuable insights for decision-makers in developing sustainable land management strategies, ensuring biodiversity conservation and local communities' well-being. By prioritizing ecosystem services in restoration initiatives, stakeholders can contribute to the sustainable management of natural resources and foster a harmonious coexistence between human activities and the environment.

Bacterial Root Endophytes: Characterization of Their Competence and Plant Growth Promotion in Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) under Drought Stress.

Recently, the application of endophytes in the alleviation of different types of stresses has received considerable attention, but their role in drought stress alleviation and growth promotion in soybean is not well-stated. In this study, twenty bacterial endophytes were isolated from soybean root tissues and screened for plant growth-promoting (PGP) traits, biocontrol potential, and drought stress alleviation. Out of them, 80% showed PGP traits, and 20% showed antagonistic activity against Fusarium oxysporum (ITCC 2389), Macrophomina phaseolina (ITCC 1800), and Alternaria alternata (ITCC 3467), and only three of them showed drought tolerance up to 15% (-0.3 MPa). Results indicated that drought-tolerant PGP endophytic bacteria enhanced soybean seedling growth under drought stress conditions. Morphological, biochemical, and molecular characterization (16S rRNA) revealed that these three bacterial isolates, AKAD A1-1, AKAD A1-2, and AKAD A1-16, closely resemble Bacillus cereus (GenBank accession No. MN079048), Pseudomonas otitidis (MW301101), and Pseudomonas sp. (MN079074), respectively. We observed that the soybean seedlings were grown in well-watered and drought-stressed soil showed the adverse effect of drought stress on morphological (stem length, root length, plant fresh and dry weight) as well as on biochemical parameters (a decline of photosynthetic pigments, membrane damage, etc.). However, soybean seedlings inoculated with these endophytes have improved the biomass significantly (p ≤ 0.05) under normal as well as in drought stress conditions over control treatments by influencing several biochemical changes. Among these three endophytes, AKAD A1-16 performed better than AKAD A1-2 and AKAD A1-1, which was further validated by the ability to produce the enzyme 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase in the following order: AKAD A1-16 > AKAD A1-2 > AKAD A1-1. Scanning electron microscopy images also showed a bacterial presence inside the roots of soybean seedlings. These findings supported the application of bacterial root endophytes as a potential tool to mitigate the effect of drought as well as of fungal diseases on the early seedling growth of soybean.

Ecosystem-level carbon storage and its links to diversity, structural and environmental drivers in tropical forests of Western Ghats, India.

Tropical forests are rich in biodiversity with great potential for carbon (C) storage. We estimated ecosystem-level C stock using data from 70 forest plots in three major forest types: tropical dry deciduous (TDD I and TDD II), tropical semi-evergreen (TSE I and TSE II) and tropical evergreen forests (TEF I, TEF II and TEF III) of Kanyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Ghats, India. The average C stock in these forests was 336.8 Mg C/ha, of which 231.3, 3.0, 2.4, 15.2 and 84.9 Mg C/ha were stored in woody vegetation, understorey, litter, deadwood and soil respectively. The live vegetation, detritus and soil contributed 65.5%, 5.5% and 29% respectively to the total ecosystem-level C stock and distributed in forest types in the order: TEF III > TEF II > TEF I > TSE I > TDD II > TSE II > TDD I. The plant diversity, structural attributes and environmental factors showed significant positive correlations with C stocks and accounted for 6.7, 77.2 and 16% of variance. These findings indicate that the tropical forests in the Western Ghats store large amount of C, and resulting data are invaluable for planning and monitoring forest conservation and management programs to enhance C storage in tropical forests.

Late-spring frost risk between 1959 and 2017 decreased in North America but increased in Europe and Asia.

Late-spring frosts (LSFs) affect the performance of plants and animals across the world's temperate and boreal zones, but despite their ecological and economic impact on agriculture and forestry, the geographic distribution and evolutionary impact of these frost events are poorly understood. Here, we analyze LSFs between 1959 and 2017 and the resistance strategies of Northern Hemisphere woody species to infer trees' adaptations for minimizing frost damage to their leaves and to forecast forest vulnerability under the ongoing changes in frost frequencies. Trait values on leaf-out and leaf-freezing resistance come from up to 1,500 temperate and boreal woody species cultivated in common gardens. We find that areas in which LSFs are common, such as eastern North America, harbor tree species with cautious (late-leafing) leaf-out strategies. Areas in which LSFs used to be unlikely, such as broad-leaved forests and shrublands in Europe and Asia, instead harbor opportunistic tree species (quickly reacting to warming air temperatures). LSFs in the latter regions are currently increasing, and given species' innate resistance strategies, we estimate that ∼35% of the European and ∼26% of the Asian temperate forest area, but only ∼10% of the North American, will experience increasing late-frost damage in the future. Our findings reveal region-specific changes in the spring-frost risk that can inform decision-making in land management, forestry, agriculture, and insurance policy.

Tree diversity, biomass and carbon storage in sacred groves of Central India.

Sacred groves are small or large patches of forest and are rich in biodiversity, store carbon (C) in biomass and soil, besides providing important ecosystem services. However, the information on tree species diversity, biomass, and C storage in sacred groves of Central India, Madhya Pradesh is elusive and fragmented. In the present study, 41 sacred groves were inventoried for tree species diversity, biomass, and C storage in vegetation and soil. A total of 103 tree species from 81 genera belonging to 37 families were recorded. Shannon's diversity, Dominance, Fisher's alpha, and species evenness indices for trees varied: 0.77-2.53, 0.07-0.64, 1.58-20.37, and 0.28-0.90 respectively. Tree density ranged 75-675 no. of stems ha-1 with a mean of 271 no. of stems ha-1, while basal area ranged 6.8-47 m2 ha-1 with a mean value of 27 m2 ha-1. Tree biomass ranged 34.9-409.8 Mg ha-1 with a mean value of 194.01 Mg ha-1, while, tree C ranged between 17.5 and 204.9 Mg C ha-1 with a mean value of 97.0 Mg C ha-1. The total soil organic carbon stock (0-30 cm) ranged from 22.4 to 112.5 Mg C ha-1 with the mean value of 62 Mg C ha-1. Biomass C and SOC contributed 61% and 39% of the total C stocks, respectively. Tree C stock showed a significant positive relationship with tree basal area (R2 = 0.968). A total of five tree species belonging to four families were found to be vulnerable in Central India. The present study reveals that the sacred groves of Central India are species rich, have higher C stocks and sequestration potential in both vegetation and soil, and calls for an immediate attention for conservation and planning for long-term C sequestration.

Imidazolium Based Ionic Liquids: A Promising Green Solvent for Water Hyacinth Biomass Deconstruction.

Water hyacinth (WH) is a troublesome aquatic weed of natural and artificial water bodies of India and other tropical countries and causing severe ecological problems. The WH biomass is low in lignin content and contains high amount of cellulose and hemicellulose, making it suitable material for conversion into liquid fuels for energy production. This study highlighted that, how different imidazolium based ionic liquids (ILs) [1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide, [Cnmim]Br (n = 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10)] with tunable properties can be employed for the degradation of WH biomass. Different characterizations techniques, such as XRD, FT-IR, SEM, and DSC are used to unravel the interplay between ILs and the biomass. In this study, it is observed that [Emim][Br] pretreated samples have maximum crystalline value (Crl = 26.38%) as compared to other ionic liquids pretreatments. FTIR data showed the removal of lignin from WH biomass by 12.77% for [Emim][Br] and 10.74% for [Edmim][Br]. SEM images have proven that [Emim][Br] pretreatment have altered the structure of biomass the most. Our results proved that IL pretreatment is a promising approach for effective treatment of WH biomass and causes high levels disruption of cellulose structure.

Patterns of nucleotide diversity and phenotypes of two domestication related genes (OsC1 and Wx) in indigenous rice varieties in Northeast India.

BACKGROUND: During the domestication of crops, individual plants with traits desirable for human needs have been selected from their wild progenitors. Consequently, genetic and nucleotide diversity of genes associated with these selected traits in crop plants are expected to be lower than their wild progenitors. In the present study, we surveyed the pattern of nucleotide diversity of two selected trait specific genes, Wx and OsC1, which regulate amylose content and apiculus coloration respectively in cultivated rice varieties. The analyzed samples were collected from a wide geographic area in Northeast (NE) India, and included contrasting phenotypes considered to be associated with selected genes, namely glutinous and nonglutinous grains and colored and colorless apiculus. RESULTS: No statistically significant selection signatures were detected in both Wx and OsC1gene sequences. However, low level of selection that varied across the length of each gene was evident. The glutinous type varieties showed higher levels of nucleotide diversity at the Wx locus (πtot = 0.0053) than nonglutinous type varieties (πtot = 0.0043). The OsC1 gene revealed low levels of selection among the colorless apiculus varieties with lower nucleotide diversity (πtot = 0.0010) than in the colored apiculus varieties (πtot = 0.0023). CONCLUSIONS: The results revealed that functional mutations at Wx and OsC1genes considered to be associated with specific phenotypes do not necessarily correspond to the phenotypes in indigenous rice varieties in NE India. This suggests that other than previously reported genomic regions may also be involved in determination of these phenotypes.

Functional androdioecy in critically endangered Gymnocladus assamicus (Leguminosae) in the Eastern Himalayan Region of Northeast India.

Gymnocladus assamicus is a critically endangered tree species endemic to Northeast India, and shows sexual dimorphism with male and hermaphrodite flowers on separate trees. We studied phenology, reproductive biology and mating system of the species. The flowers are small, tubular, odorless and last for about 96 hours. Pollen grains in both morphs were viable and capable of fertilization leading to fruit and seed set. Scanning electron micrographs revealed morphologically similar pollen in both male and hermaphrodite flowers. The fruit set in open pollinated flowers was 43.61 percent, while controlled autogamous and geitonogamous pollinations yielded 76.81 and 65.58 percent fruit set respectively. Xenogamous pollinations between male and hermaphrodite flowers resulted in 56.85 percent fruit set and pollinations between hermaphrodite flowers yielded 67.90 percent fruit set. This indicates a functionally androdioecious mating system and pollination limited fruit set in G. assamicus. Phylogenetic analyses of Gymnocladus and the sister genus Gleditsia are needed to assess if the androdioecious mating system in G. assamicus evolved from dioecy as a result of selection for hermaphrodites for reproductive assurance during colonization of pollination limited high altitude ecosystems.