Biodiversity

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Featured Articles
October 17, 2023
Waterways can disrupt riverine ecosystems 
How does barge trafficking/movement affect the ecology and biodiversity of riverine ecosystems? A study explains.
River Hooghly at Kolkata (Image Source: Yercaud-elango via Wikimedia Commons)
May 20, 2023
Seeing the ‘unseen’: a spotlight on lesser known inhabitants of freshwater ecosystems
Freshwater biologists Sameer Padhye and Avinash Vanjare talk about smaller and lesser known animals that live in freshwater ecosystems and the importance of studying them. 
Freshwater ecosystems, under threat (Image Source: Biologia Life Science LLP)
January 25, 2023
Heavy metals poison Veeranam lake in Tamil Nadu
This study found large deposits of heavy metals in the tissues and organs of water birds, crabs and fish inhabiting the lake indicating heavy metal contamination of the lake waters.
A view of the Veeranam lake in Tamil Nadu (Image Source: Giri9703 via Wikimedia Commons)
January 6, 2023
Greater Chennai Corporation to set up 'sponge parks' to prevent street flooding
News this fortnight
Natural spaces such as water bodies and vegetation in cities can act as sponges and absorb rain and prevent flooding (Image Source: IWP Flicker photos)
December 4, 2022
Small scale inland open water fisheries of India
What is the status of inland fisheries in India? Read these situational analysis reports to know about inland fisheries, the life of the fisherfolk, governance and tenure in inland fisheries and threats to the sustainability of inland fisheries.
Fishing in an irrigation canal in Kerala (Image Source: Martin Pilkinton via Wikimedia Commons)
August 2, 2022
Floods in Assam - a boon or a bane for fish diversity?
The frequency and intensity of floods is on the rise in Assam spelling doom for fish biodiversity.
Life during floods in Assam (Image Source: Kausika Bordoloi via Wikimedia Commons)
Solar energy changes the lives of rural women in Rajasthan
News this fortnight
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 19 May, 2023 10:30 AM

Solar energy changes the lives of rural women in Rajasthan
Women from rural Rajasthan. Image for representation purposes only (Image Source: Christopher Michel via Wikimedia Commons)
There’s a rare catfish in your well
Citizen science helps in identifying rare catfish in Kerala’s aquifers.
Rajeev Raghavan
Remya L. Sundar
C.P. Arjun
Ralf Britz
Neelesh Dahanukar
Posted on 16 May, 2023 10:40 AM

A rare species of catfish, has been found in aquifers in Kerala, opening a window to the rich biodiversity that exists even in deep and dark underground subterranean environments where unique organisms survive by adapting to the harsh surroundings informs this paper titled 'Evolution in the dark: Unexpected geneti
Image Source: By Rajeev Raghavan, Remya L. Sundar, C.P. Arjun, Ralf Britz, Neelesh Dahanukar - Evolution in the dark: Unexpected genetic diversity and morphological stasis in the blind, aquifer-dwelling catfish Horaglanis, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128832101. Link to image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Horaglanis#/media/File:Horaglanis_populi_live.jpg
Heavy metals poison Veeranam lake in Tamil Nadu
This study found large deposits of heavy metals in the tissues and organs of water birds, crabs and fish inhabiting the lake indicating heavy metal contamination of the lake waters.
Jeganathan Pandiyan
Arumugam Poiyamozhi
Shahid Mahboob
Khalid A. Al-Ghanim
Fahad Al-Misned
Zubair Ahmed
Irfan Manzoor
Marimuthu Govindarajan
Posted on 25 Jan, 2023 02:26 PM

Wetlands in India, under threat!
A view of the Veeranam lake in Tamil Nadu (Image Source: Giri9703 via Wikimedia Commons)
Greater Chennai Corporation to set up 'sponge parks' to prevent street flooding
News this fortnight
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 06 Jan, 2023 09:22 PM

Greater Chennai Corporation plans to set up 47 'sponge parks' to prevent street flooding
Natural spaces such as water bodies and vegetation in cities can act as sponges and absorb rain and prevent flooding (Image Source: IWP Flicker photos)
Radiation not a pollutant, says Pollution Control Committee
Policy matters this fortnight
Amita Bhaduri
Posted on 06 Jan, 2023 10:08 AM

Radiation not a pollutant: Pollution Control Committee
DPCC claims there is no convincing scientific evidence of causing adverse health effects of radiation (Image: CC0 Public Domain)
River Sharavathi - under siege from microplastics
A study finds that microplastic pollution in the river Sharavathi originating in the Western Ghats is growing. Urgent efforts to protect this biodiversity hotspot are needed.
Kaniyambadi Amrutha
Sachin Shajikumar
Anish Kumar Warrier
Joju George Sebastian
Yamuna Adichinalniravel Sali
Thara Chandran
Sanitha Sivadas
Ravidas Naik
Vadakkeveedu Narayan Amrish
Vishnu Unnikrishnan
Arun Kumar
Posted on 16 Dec, 2022 01:32 PM

Rivers worldover are choking on plastic and transferring more than two million tonnes per year of microplastics (MPs) into the marine environment informs this paper titled 'Assessment of pollution and risks associated with microplastics in the riverine sediments of the Western Ghats: a heritage site in southern I
The pristine river Sharavathi (Image Source: Ashwin Kumar via Wikimedia Commons)
Assessing the health of river Ganga
How are dams affecting the river Ganga? What are phytoplankton and how can they help assess health of rivers? What is the connection between dams, barrages, river flows and phytoplankton growth? Read this recent study to know more.
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 08 Dec, 2022 07:07 PM

Dams can bind and gag rivers 

Structures such as locks, dams, barrages, and weirs are known to drastically reduce the longitudinal connectivity of rivers, impact downstream flow, and alter riverine ecosystems.
The polluted Ganges (Image Source: Lane Rasberry via Wikimedia Commons)
Small scale inland open water fisheries of India
What is the status of inland fisheries in India? Read these situational analysis reports to know about inland fisheries, the life of the fisherfolk, governance and tenure in inland fisheries and threats to the sustainability of inland fisheries.
Aarti Kelkar Khambete
Posted on 04 Dec, 2022 11:24 AM

What are inland waters 
Fishing in an irrigation canal in Kerala (Image Source: Martin Pilkinton via Wikimedia Commons)
India joins Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC) at COP27
News this fortnight
Swati Bansal
Posted on 17 Nov, 2022 01:33 PM

India joins the newly formed Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC)
Mangroves in Sunderbans (Source: IWP Flickr Photos)
Young woman's work is impacting Odisha villages
Urmila, a young woman's earnestness has brought a major shift in the mindset of a remote village in Odisha. She is bringing about a change in the way communities approach their shared natural resources, one village at a time.
Mukti Masih
Dron Kumar
Posted on 28 Oct, 2022 01:36 PM

The sound of a specific cycle bell deep inside the jungles of Kashinathpur village in Angul (Odisha) brings vibes of joy. Everybody recognises that bell because it belongs to 24-year-old Urmila Bahera who sometimes cycles to villages as far as 15 kilometres, braving bumpy roads, streams and elephants.
Urmila engaging children on local bird diversity (Image: FES)
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