Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests

About: Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests is a government organization based out in New Delhi, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Climate change. The organization has 3731 authors who have published 3782 publications receiving 85717 citations.

Modelling and forecasting of a rational and sustainable development of Vilnius: emphasis on pollution

Abstract: Life in cities is concentrated mostly in a particular ever-changing environment. Micro, meso, and macro environments have direct impacts on sustainable urban development opportunities and some variable factors can be optimised. These factors may facilitate sustainable urban development or, on the contrary, they may create constraints. This research's aim was to develop a model for rational sustainable development in Vilnius with a special emphasis on pollution by undertaking a complex analysis of micro, meso, and macro environmental factors that affect it and to present recommendations for increasing Vilnius' sustainable abilities.

Urban sources of synthetic musk compounds to the environment.

Abstract: The occurrence and potential sources of synthetic musk compounds (SMCs) in the urban and surrounding environment were investigated. We analyzed air, soils and surface waters from a wide array of land-use types and urban densities including air from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), indoor, urban, rural, and remote Arctic sites; surface waters from urban and rural tributaries; and effluents of three WWTPs. In air, the median sum concentration of six selected polycyclic musks (Σ6PCMs) (i.e., galaxolide, tonalide, cashmeran, celestolide, phantolide, traseolide) were the highest from WWTP on-site > indoor > urban > WWTP off-site > rural. SMCs were not found in remote Arctic air indicating low potential for long-range atmospheric transport. SMCs were not found in soils, likely because of their high volatility and fast biodegradation rate. Galaxolide (HHCB) and tonalide (AHTN) were the two most abundant SMCs in air, tributaries and WWTP effluents. Σ6PCM concentrations in air taken along urban-rural transects and in tributary water were positively correlated with population density. In WWTP on-site air, trace levels of the toxic nitro-musks, namely musk xylene and musk ketone were detected and macrocyclic musks accounted for ∼10% of the total SMCs measured. In WWTP effluents, the concentrations of Σ6PCMs were proportional to the population served. We conclude that sources of SMCs to the outdoor urban environment and hence the surrounding region, originate from releases from indoor air, and temperature-dependent volatilization from WWTPs during treatment.

Modelling available habitat versus available energy flux: do PHABSIM applications that neglect prey abundance underestimate optimal flows for juvenile salmonids?

Abstract: Common applications of models to predict the response of fish habitat to altered stream flow (such as the Physical Habitat Simulation Model; PHABSIM) assume that fish abundance is directly related to the area of suitable habitat for limiting life stages and usually ignore flow effects on prey abundance. However, if prey availability is flow sensitive, then fish production may be more closely related to the total flux of available prey than to habitat area. We compared instream flow predictions from PHABSIM to predictions of optimal energy flux to drift-feeding juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) estimated using a drift-foraging bioenergetics model. Flux of available energy to juvenile coho salmon declined much more rapidly with decreasing flow than suitable habitat area estimated using PHABSIM, so that, relative to the bioenergetic model, predictions from PHABSIM systematically overestimated productive capacity at very low flows (i.e., underestimated the negative consequences of simulated water withdrawal). Applications of habitat suitability based models like PHABSIM may systematically overestimate low-flow productive capacity for species that prefer low velocities (e.g., pools) but are dependent on energy fluxes generated in higher velocity habitats (e.g., riffles). Resume : Les applications courantes des modeles de prevision de la reaction de l'habitat du poisson aux modifications du debit d'un cours d'eau (tel que le modele de simulation de l'habitat physique, PHABSIM) partent du principe que l'abondance des poissons est directement reliee a la superficie d'habitat convenable pour les etapes limitatives du cycle de vie et ne tiennent generalement pas compte de l'effet de l'abondance des proies. Toutefois, si la disponibilite des proies est sensible au debit, la production de poissons pourrait etre plus etroitement reliee au flux total de proies disponibles qu'ala superficie de l'habitat. Nous avons compare des previsions du debit minimum generees par PHABSIM ades previsions du flux optimal d'energie pour des saumons coho (Oncorhynchus kisutch) juveniles se nourrissant d'organismes en derive estime a l'aide d'un modele de bioenergetique de l'alimentation ala derive. Le flux d'energie disponible aux saumons coho juveniles diminuait beaucoup plus rapidement des suites d'une diminution du debit que d'une diminution de la superficie de l'habitat convenable estimee avec PHABSIM, de sorte que, comparativement au modele bioenergetique, les predictions de PHABSIM surestimaient systematiquement la capacite productive ades debits tres faibles (c.-a`-d. qu'elles sous- estimaient les consequences negatives du retrait simule d'eau). Les applications de modeles comme PHABSIM reposant sur l'habitat convenable pourraient surestimer systematiquement la capacite productive afaible debit pour les especes qui preferent des faibles vitesses d'ecoulement (p. ex. mouilles), mais qui dependent des flux d'energie generes dans les habitats de plus grande vitesse (p. ex. bancs). (Traduit par la Redaction)