January 2013

Air pollution tolerance indices of plants growing around Umuebulu Gas Flare Station in Rivers State, Nigeria

The air pollution tolerance indices of 10 plants growing around the vicinity of Umuebulu Gas flare Station in Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria were analyzed. Plant samples were randomly collected from the vicinity of the gas station. A composite sample of eight leaves for each plant was used for laboratory analysis. Four physiological and biochemical parameters: leaf relative water content (RWC),...

Author(s): Tanee, F. B. G. and Albert, E.

January 2013

The genotoxic effect of lead and zinc on bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranean)

The effects of lead and zinc treatments on the chromosomes of bambara groundnut was investigated. The seeds of bambara groundnut were placed in Petri dishes in three replicates and allowed to germinate for five days in different concentrations: 25, 50 and 100 mg/L of both lead and zinc nitrates while the control group had distilled water. The total aberrations were examined. The mitotic index was calculated and the...

Author(s): E. O. Oladele, P. G. C. Odeigah and I. A. Taiwo

January 2013

Evaluation of portable water in five provinces of Zambia using a water pollution index

Five provinces with different environmental characteristics were evaluated for water pollution with the aim of identifying the major sources and area(s) most affected. The results indicate that the water in Lusaka Province is significantly high in nitrate and sodium concentration compared to other provinces considered in this study. The results further reveal that ground water is most affected by nitrate and sodium. On...

Author(s): Kabunga NACHIYUNDE, Hideo IKEDA, Kazuhiko TANAKA, Daisuke KOZAKI

January 2013

Changes in woody species composition following establishing exclosures on grazing lands in the lowlands of Northern Ethiopia

  Restoring vegetation in low rainfall areas is difficult and urges the need to design an effective and low-cost method of vegetation restoration. This study was undertaken in the lowlands of northern Ethiopia to: (1) investigate how exclosure age affects restoration of degraded native plant species richness, diversity and aboveground standing biomass, and (2) identify soil characteristics, which affect...

Author(s): Wolde Mekuria and Mastewal Yami

January 2013

Isolation of diatom Navicula cryptocephala and characterization of oil extracted for biodiesel production

Over the past decade diatoms are screened for high lipid content. Geologists claim that much of crude oil comes from diatoms. In this study diatom Navicula cryptocephala, isolated from fresh water source was grown on suitable media for extracting and characterizing the oil for biodiesel production. Three methods namely, shake flask, polythene bag and photobioreactor were adopted for culturing the diatom. The maximum...

Author(s): Sanjay K. R., Nagendra Prasad M. N., Anupama S.#, Yashaswi B. R.# and Deepak B.#   #Equal contribution to the work.    

January 2013

Population status, feeding ecology and activity pattern of helmeted guinea fowl (Numidia meleagris) in Abijata-Shalla Lakes National Park

This study documents the population status, feeding ecology and activity pattern of helmeted guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) in Abijata-Shalla Lakes National Park. Data were collected in 2011 during the dry and wet seasons. Direct observation including focal observation and scan sampling methods were used to collect data to study the feeding ecology and activity patterns.  Total count method was used to study the...

Author(s): Tewodros Kumssa and Afework Bekele