Asian Journal of Environment & Ecology

Many soil and water conservation technologies have been promoted and spread to encourage the sustainable use of resources by small-scale farmers, but soil degradation continues intensively. The objective of this study therefore, was to identify the measures of Soil and Water Conservation, the factors that inform the adoption and use Soil and Water Conservation measures and evaluate the limitations to realize and maintain of these conservation practices. This study was done in Yongdeng County which falls under the governance of the city-level prefecture of Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province. One hundred farmers were randomly selected. Primary data was obtained through interviews and group discussion with farmers, and agricultural extension workers and field survey. The results revealed that the level of education and farm size did not affect the use of SWC measures. Unlike formal education, membership of the group of farmers was significant and had positive correlation with SWC measures. SWC education and training was significant and had a positive impact on the use of SWC measures. The study found that SWC structures commonly used by farmers in the study area include terraces (30%), contour ploughing (20%) and the use of drains. The agronomic practices commonly used are agroforestry, crop rotation and the use of grass strips. Farmers identified poverty, ignorance and lack of technical advice as the main obstacles to realizing the full potential of soil and water conservation in the area. Poorly laid out soil conservation structures were also accelerating soil erosion. These results show that, in order to ensure adequate soil and water conservation, particular attention must be paid to institutional and economic factors. Also, to encourage farmers’ participation in education and extension training on SWC, it is vital to strengthen the relationship between extension workers and farmers.

Litter production which is important for understanding nutrient cycling and assessing productivity in forest ecosystems is poorly studied in the African savannahs, particularly in the savannahs of Cameroon. Thus, litter production and organic compounds of the thirty-six (36) contrasting plant species were studied in the Sudano-guinea savannahs of Ngaoundere, Cameroon. Litter collected in framework of 50 cm x 50 cm under the three tree of each plant species in three sites of the savannahs of Ngaoundere during the period of their maximum fall that from November and January. After two years of collection, mean annual litter production varied from 0.36 in S. longipedunculata to 10.06 t.ha^-1.year^-1 in F. polita at Dang, from 0.14 in G. aqualla to 9.39 t.ha^-1.year^-1 in V. paradoxa at Biskewal, and from 0.35 in G. aqualla to 3.64 t.ha^-1.year^-1 in S. guineense var. macrocarpum at Wakwa. Contribution of leaf litter, fruits and wood were respectively more than 50%, 1.40% and 32% to the total litter. Litter production varied from 2.35 t.ha^-1.year^-1 at Wakwa to 2.91 t.ha^-1.year^-1 at Dang, but the sites did not differ significantly among them. Litter cellulose content varied from 4.11 in P. hookeri to 11.84% in V. doniana, that of lignin from 2.28 in V. paradoxa to 8.12% in V. doniana, that of NDF from 21.35 in S. guineense var. guineense to 75.73% in S. guineense var. macrocarpum, and that of phenolic compounds from 0.47 in V. doniana to 16.11% in C. molle. Litter production and organic compounds content were affected by plant diversity, but not by sites in the Sudano-guinea savannahs of Ngaoundere, Cameroon. These results would contribute to well select plant species for their domestication and to management of Adamawa savannahs of Cameroon.

Heavy metal pollution in wastewater has always been a serious environmental problem because heavy metals are not biodegradable and can be accumulated in living tissues. Copper is widely used in various important industrial applications. The increasing level of heavy metals in the aquatic system due to incomplete treatment of industrial wastewater by existing conventional methods is of environmental concern. Therefore, there has been an increasing interest in the possibility of using biological treatments. It is important to evaluate the performance of biomass with actual industrial effluent to ensure its field applicability. Hence the experiments were conducted with actual industrial effluents collected from Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) and tannery industry.

Aim: The study was done to understand the microbial contamination and antibiotic resistance pattern in surface water environment.

Study Area and Sampling: Water samples collected from selected water bodies in the main urban area of Thiruvananthapuram were analysed for the presence of coliforms and the pattern of antimicrobial resistance in bacterial cultures isolated from the water samples.

Methodology: The total coliform count and faecal coliform count was determined using the multiple tube fermentation technique and the total heterotrophic bacterial count was performed using nutrient agar media. The bacterial cultures were identified using biochemical characterization and Antibiotic susceptibility patterns for the various bacterial isolates were determined using commercial antibiotic disks (Hi Media, Mumbai) in accordance with the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. The antibiotics used were Ampicillin, Chloramphenicol, Ciprofloxacin, Gentamicin, Tetracycline and Meropenem. Multiple Antibiotic resistances (MAR) index was determined for those isolates which showed resistance to more than three antibiotics.

Results: The total heterotrophic bacteria, total coliforms and fecal coliforms were significantly high in all the sites, indicating that the water bodies are sewage contaminated. The biochemical identification of bacterial strains isolated from water sample showed the presence of E. coli, Bacillus sp, Staphylococcus sp, Klebsiella sp, Clostridium sp, Neisseria sp, Enterobacter sp, Enterococcus sp and Streptococcus sp in varying frequencies in different sites. Among these 58 isolates, 26 strains were found to be resistant against 3 or more antibiotics and hence, designated as multi drug resistant. The isolates were highly resistant to Ampicillin (98%), Chloramphenicol (53%) and Gentamycin (44%); and highly susceptible to Meropenem (86%), Ciprofloxacin (69%) and Tetracyclin (58%). E. coli showed maximum resistance to all the antibiotics. One- way ANOVA of the obtained data revealed that there is no significance difference in spatial distribution of antibiotic resistance.

This study aims to analyze the urban heat islands of the city of Guelma using Landsat 8 data and the geographic information system. The application of the single Chanel algorithm has been applied to extract surface temperature (LST) from Landsat 8 data. The result obtained shows that the surface temperature of August 11, 2019 in the city of Guelma varied from 36 to 47 degrees. However, the correlation between the LST, the NDVI and the NDBI allowed characterizing the effects of the green zones and the water resources thus the grounds built on the urban heat islands. The ecological assessment was performed using an urban thermal field variance index (UTFVI). The result obtained from this ecological assessment shows that 4 km2 of the surface of the city of Guelma represents a much worse ecological quality. It is therefore urgent for this city to strengthen and expand the strategies for reducing the effects of urban heat islands for preserve the quality of urban life of the inhabitants.

Aim: The research aims to assess the biodegradability of crude oil polluted aquatic environment using indigenous hydrocarbon degrading bacteria.

Place and Duration of Study: The research was conducted in the Environmental Management and Toxicology Laboratory, Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, Delta State.

Methodology: Hydrocarbon degrading bacteria species were isolated from hydrocarbon contaminated soils, screened and used for the degradation of crude oil. 5% and 10% crude oil were used to spike the test microcosm. Physicochemical parameters such as, pH, turbidity, total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) and bacterial counts of the bioremediated crude oil contaminated water were monitored on Day 0, 7 and 14. The biodegradation of the crude oil was done with the various bacteria isolates singly and as a consortium. Standard methods of American Public Health Association (APHA) and American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) were used for the analysis.

Results: The isolates identified and used for the biodegradation process were, Azomonas sp., Enterococcus sp., Klebsiella sp. and Rhizobactersp. On day 14, in the microcosms with 5% crude oil contamination, Azomonas sp. recorded the highest turbidity reading of 328 ± 2.0 NTU, while Rhizobacter sp. recorded the least with 57.67 ± 0.58 NTU. The bacterial countswere between 7.68 ± 0.002 CFU/ml and 8.05 ± 0.10x 10⁷ CFU/ml for Rhizobacter sp. and Azomonas sp. respectively.The crude oil was also degraded most in the microcosm treated with Azomonas sp. with a residual TPH concentration of 0.0013± 0.005 mg/l.For the 10% crude oil contaminated microcosms, TPH was also biodegraded most by Azomonas sp. with a value of 0.0026 ± 0.002mg/l. Turbidity readings were between 82 ± 1.0 NTU and 375.33 ± 0.57 NTU for Rhizobacter sp. and Azomonas sp. respectively. Bacterial counts were between (7.71± 0.012)x 10⁷CFU/ml – (8.13± 0.001) x 10⁷CFU/ml for Rhizobacter sp. and Azomonassp. respectively.

Conclusion:There wasincreased microbial countsand decrease of residual crude oil concentration, indicating degradation of the crude oil by all the isolates.However, Azomonas sp. recorded the highest TPH degradation for both the 5% and 10% crude oil contaminated microcosms.Thus, findings from the research indicate that hydrocarbon degrading bacteria exist in our environment and can be used in the remediation of aquatic polluted environment.