The present study reports the seed dispersal modes of tree species and their relationship with altitudinal gradient from six tropical forests of Eastern Ghats located in India. Anemochory, autochory ...and zoochory are the three major types of seed dispersal modes recognized for the 272 tree species recorded from a total of 120 0.5 ha area. The predominant dispersal mode is zoochory with 58% of the total tree abundance and 69% of total species richness, followed by autochory with 30% and 19%, and anemochory 12% and 12%, respectively. One way ANOVA revealed that the species richness as well as tree abundance of the three dispersal modes varied significantly across the six tropical forest sites. Regression analysis revealed that both the tree species richness and abundance of zoochory dispersal mode had positive relation with altitude of forest location, while, no such relation was observed for the other two dispersal modes. This study shows that the zoochory increases in species richness and tree abundance with i
Ag-doped TiO2 and Ag-doped TiO2 loaded cassava stem activated carbon (Ag: TiO2/CSAC) were prepared by sol-gel method and are labelled as AT and AT/CSAC respectively. XRD results confirmed that the ...anatase-TiO2 and crystalline size are decreased (12.37 nm) through the silver doping and cassava stem activated carbon loading. UV–Vis showed that the AT/CSAC makes a red shift from the absorption edge compared to pure and AT samples and then the band gap is reduced (2.81 eV). The increased surface area (238.51 m2/g) of the AT/CSAC sample through the Ag and CSAC, respectively. The consequences point out that the highest photodegradation efficiency (98.08%) of the TiO2 upon silver doping and cassava stem activated carbon loading samples were brilliant green (BG) under sunlight irradiation.
•Ag-doped TiO2 loaded cassava stem activated carbon (Ag: TiO2/CSAC) were prepared by sol-gel method.•Ag: TiO2/CSAC showed that the particle size, band gap are also reduced and its was increased surface area.•The photocatalytic results indicate that Ag: TiO2/CSAC effectively degrade BG under sunlight.
The present study was carried out to understand the relationship of tree carbon stock to key factors such as species richness, density and altitude, in Pachaimalai tropical hill forest located in ...Tamil Nadu, India. The study area (PTHF) was parted into 24 6.25 km × 6.25 km grids, and at each grid, all live trees ≥30 cm girth at breast height were recorded from a randomly placed 0.5 ha transect. The total carbon stock estimated for the PTHF ranged from 4.79 to 119.00 t ha
−1
(n = 24). The species richness, density, and altitude ranged from 12 to 38 species T
−1
, 260 to 696 trees ha
−1
and 209 to 825 m asl, respectively. Regression analysis revealed that the total carbon stock had a significant positive relation with species richness (r
2
= 0.703) as well as with altitude (r
2
= 0.767), and it had no significant relation with tree density. Understanding the dynamics of tree carbon stocks in relation to key factors is of prime need for sustainable management of forest carbon sinks, and the present study provides valuable information for carbon stock management in PTHF ecosystem, and further it may help to develop testable hypotheses on other tropical forests.
Activated carbon from cashew nut shell via a potassium hydroxide (KOH) at 600 °C in an N2 atmosphere and their characteristics using FT-IR, XRD, SEM with EDS, and BET analysis was investigated. The ...cashew nut shell activated carbon obtained by KOH activation with a CNS/KOH ratio of 1:1 at 600 °C (N2 atmosphere) for 2 h had the highest surface area (407.80 m2/g) as compared to other ratio samples. Amongst, CNS/KOH ratios of 1:1 sample are used for the adsorbent, they are effects of contact time, pH, adsorbent dose, and initial dye concentration on brilliant green (BG) removal efficiency were studied. Moreover, the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models consisted utilized to affirm the adsorption isotherms. They are, best fitting for BG experimental equilibrium data was achieved with the Langmuir isotherm, giving a maximum BG adsorption capacity of 243.90 mg/g.
•The activated carbon was prepared through the KOH activation method.•The characterizations of the prepared CNSAC have been determined by FT-IR, XRD, SEM with EDS and N2 adsorption and desorption isotherms.•The product exhibited large surface area with enhanced porosity.•The adsorbent possessed good adsorption ability towards brilliant green dye.
The catastrophic and enormous increase in atmospheric greenhouse gas levels leads to global climate change, and an immediate need to investigate the effects of increased CO
2
levels on natural ...vegetation is complex. The goal of this study was to see how nitrogen addition affected Eucalyptus globulus Labill. species development in both ambient (408 ppm) and different elevated (450 ppm, 500 ppm, 550 ppm, and 600 ppm) carbon dioxide environments with OSC S-1000 L plant growth chamber. In this investigation, nitrogen was added in the form of potassium nitrate in various amounts (0, 25, 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg of soil). The plant's growth responses (leaf length, leaf width, and shoot length) were investigated. To calculate the carbon content, a multiple regression equation was employed to fit the model. The maximum carbon content value 52.37 ± 0.03% was recorded at 200 mg/kg nitrogen addition level for an elevated CO
2
condition of 600 ppm. The results of this study conclude that the nitrogen addition had a positive impact on the plant growth and carbon sequestration potential of Eucalyptus globulus under ambient as well as elevated CO
2
conditions.
We report on the synthesis of silver oxide/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites (Ag/rGO NCs) using a hydrothermal technique. This paper presents a simple method for synthesizing Ag/rGO hybrid ...nanocomposites, which can be used for environmentally treating hazardous organic pollutants. The photocatalytic degradation of model artificial Rhodamine B dye and bisphenol A was assessed under visible light illumination. The crystallinity, binding energy, and surface morphologies of the synthesized samples were determined. The silver oxide loading sample resulted in a decrease in the rGO crystallite size. SEM and TEM images demonstrate strong adhesion of the Ag NPs to the rGO sheets. XPS analysis validated the binding energy and elemental composition of the Ag/rGO hybrid nanocomposites. The objective of the experiment was to enhance the photocatalytic efficiency of rGO in the visible region using Ag nanoparticles. The synthesized nanocomposites in the visible region exhibited good photodegradation percentages of approximately 97.5% and 98.6% after 120 min of irradiation for pure rGO, Ag NPs, and Ag/rGO nanohybrid, respectively. Furthermore, the Ag/rGO nanohybrid maintained their degradation ability for up to three cycles. The synthesized Ag/rGO nanohybrid demonstrated enhanced photocatalytic activity, expanding their potential for environmental remediation. Based on the investigations, Ag/rGO nanohybrid proved to be an effective photocatalyst and holds promise as an ideal material for future applications in preventing water pollution.
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•Ag/rGO hybrid nanocomposites were synthesized by a simple and hydrothermal technique.•The characterizations of the as-prepared Ag/rGO NCs have been determined by XRD, SEM, TEM, and XPS analysis.•Ag/rGO NCs catalyst exhibited high stability during recycle test.•Excellent photocatalytic degradation performance was obtained.
In this study, we assessed the concentration of air pollutants to understand the pollution status of the Narasapura industrial area located in India. Also, we identified pollution-tolerant tree ...species for the development of greenbelts for NIA. Monthly air samples were collected from three sites from NIA and the samples were analysed for the determination of air pollutant concentration following standard methods. Air pollutants such as PM10, PM2.5, SO
2
, NO
2
, Pb, CO, NH
3
, and O
3
were detected and their concentrations for the three sites ranged from 21 to 99 μg/m
3
, 11 to 67 μg/m
3
, 3 to 14 μg/m
3
, 5 to 28 μg/m
3
, 0.01 to 0.9 μg/m
3
, 0.3 to 0.9 mg/m
3
, 3 to 17 μg/m
3
, 6 to 25 μg/m
3
, respectively. Twenty common tree species to NIA were selected and their air pollution tolerance potential was determined by the Air pollution tolerance index using leaf relative water content, total chlorophyll content, leaf extract pH, and ascorbic acid content. Tree species, Spathodea campanulata (9.58 ± 0.33) recorded maximum APTI value followed by Terminalia catappa, Tabebuia avellanedae, Anthocephalus cadamba, and Syzygium jambos. We conclude that the development of greenbelts is necessary for the mitigation of air pollutants.
Vanadium-doped α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles (VFO nanoparticles) were prepared by polyol-assisted hydrothermal method. The impact on the structure, optical, magnetic and photocatalytic properties of α-Fe2O3 ...nanoparticles were studied by varying the vanadium concentration from 1 to 5%. XRD analysis confirms the presence of hematite phase with hexagonal structure and estimates the nanocrystals size as ∼26–38 nm. FESEM and TEM reveal the formation of 3D flower-like morphology bundled with 2D nanoflakes. The estimated band gap energy was in the range 2.01 eV–2.12 eV. XPS study shows the presence of vanadium in V4+ oxidation state in VFO nanoparticles. VSM study shows a non-saturated hysteresis loop with weak ferromagnetic behavior for all the VFO nanoparticles. 5% V doped α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles (5%VFO nanoparticles) exhibited superior visible light driven photocatalytic activity compared to other samples.
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•Vanadium doped α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles were prepared by polyol-assisted hydrothermal method.•Influence of V doping on the magnetic properties and methylene blue dye degradation has been studied.•VFO nanoparticles exhibited weak ferromagnetic behavior.•92% methylene blue dye degradation under visible light irradiation.
The present study reports the seed dispersal modes of tree species and their relationship with altitudinal gradient from six tropical forests of Eastern Ghats located in India. Anemochory, autochory ...and zoochory are the three major types of seed dispersal modes recognized for the 272 tree species recorded from a total of 120 0.5 ha area. The predominant dispersal mode is zoochory with 58% of the total tree abundance and 69% of total species richness, followed by autochory with 30% and 19%, and anemochory 12% and 12%, respectively. One way ANOVA revealed that the species richness as well as tree abundance of the three dispersal modes varied significantly across the six tropical forest sites. Regression analysis revealed that both the tree species richness and abundance of zoochory dispersal mode had positive relation with altitude of forest location, while, no such relation was observed for the other two dispersal modes. This study shows that the zoochory increases in species richness and tree abundance with increasing altitude. This may be attributed to high rainfall supporting evergreen forest types with high ratio of animal dispersed tree species in forests at high altitude. However, further studies on these aspects are warranted to draw a significant statement. The predomination of zoochory dispersal mode in this study is comparable with earlier studies in tropical forests elsewhere.
Forest biomass plays a vital role in the global carbon cycle. The aim of the present study was to determine aboveground biomass of trees in the Pachaimalai forest of the Eastern Ghats in India. A sum ...of 5388 trees representing 131 species were recorded in twenty four transects (0.5 ha each) sampled from Pachaimalai. The total aboveground biomass stock for the 12 ha sampled was 608.2 tonnes. The average biomass value per transect was 25.3+ or -5.6 t/0.5 ha, and it ranged from 4.2 to 103.5 t/0.5 ha. The average species richness, density and basal area per transect were 22+ or -1.7 (species/0.5 ha), 225+ or -9.5 (trees/0.5 ha) and 6.3+ or -1.0 (m super(2)/0.5 ha) respectively. Among the 131 species, Nothopegia heyneana (Anacardiaceae) contributed the maximum (19.1%) to the total forest biomass followed by Canthium dicoccum var. dicoccum, Albizia amara, Gyrocarpus asiaticus and Schleichera oleosa. Linear regression analysis showed that forest biomass increased with the increase in basal area (R super(2) = 0.979) and species richness (R super(2) = 0.702), but not with density (R super(2) = 0.320). The aboveground biomass of Pachaimalai forest falls within the range reported for other tropical forests of the world. The present study provides valuable data for the estimation of carbon stock of Pachaimalai forest, which would facilitate carbon stock modelling at national as well as at global level.
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