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Current Science Reports

Assessing Coral Bleaching Increasing ocean temperatures of entanglement,’ says Hina Khatoon,
Sensing sea-surface temperature speed up development in fish. Wildlife Institute of India.
How does this affect fish larvae dis- Fishing is a major occupation in
The Malvan marine sanctuary in
persal? nearby villages. The researchers
Maharashtra is rich in corals. These
Rohan Arthur, Nature Conservation found that the fishers were not aware
colourful animals are indicators of
Foundation, Mysuru collaborated with of fisheries regulations and proper
marine ecosystem health. From 2014
researchers from Spain to find out. gear disposal.
to 2019, Baban Ingole and team from
The team sampled around 1500 ‘Ineffective regulations worsen the
CSIR-NIO, Goa have been conducting
individuals representing 9 common situation,’ says Sumit Kumar, Wildlife
underwater surveys. Over the period,
species in the Mediterranean Sea. To Institute of India, Uttarakhand.
there was an alarming decline in coral
understand early life traits – growth The economic condition of fishers
colonies.
rate, settlement size, hatching and prevents purchasing better gear. And
settlement dates – they counted low quality gear deteriorates rapidly.
growth rings in the otolith, a structure ‘With better environmental aware-
in fish ears which produces growth ness and if fishing boards provide
rings annually. better gear cheaper, the problem of
How long the larvae stay near the plastic in the Ganga might shrink,’
surface before settling to the bottom says Aditi Dev.
determines how far they disperse. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143305
The data helped the researchers
predict how changes in temperature Microplastic Pollution
affect larval stages from hatching to Macro pollution in Marina Beach
Image: Kalyan De
settlement and influence their ability
Microplastics are less than 5 millime-
Monitoring the condition of corals in to disperse.
tres in size. We ingest around 30 such
turbid seas is difficult and underwater Nearly all species showed a de-
particles everyday through sea salt
surveys require resources. So the cline in surface larval displacement
alone. They cause nervous and repro-
team decided to try satellite data for with increase in temperature. They
ductive disorders, and even cancer.
the purpose. Collaborating with re- grew quicker and settled down.
We need to understand microplastic
searchers from the Punjab Remote Reduced population dispersal and
waste better to manage the menace.
Sensing Centre and the Kuwait Insti- contraction of ranges may isolate fish
Recently, researchers from Pachai-
tute for Scientific Research, they populations. This can impact fisheries
yappa’s College, Chennai, and Bhara-
measured thermal stress on corals in and marine ecology and evolution,
thidasan University, Tiruchirappalli
the eastern Arabian Sea. say the researchers.
collaborated with researchers from
In 2015, sea-surface temperature DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13435
Japan and France to investigate
rose to a record level. A 12-week
microplastic waste from Marina beach,
cumulative measure of thermal stress Ghost Gear in Ganga
in Chennai.
remained above threshold levels from Threat to biodiversity
They processed samples from sea
2014 on, peaking in 2016.
Ghost gear, discarded fishing equip- water, and wet and dry sand along a
‘When stressed, corals expel symbi-
ment in water bodies, traps aquatic 5 kilometre stretch. There were 250 to
otic microalgae. The algae provide
animals. Ruchi Badola and team from 400 microplastic particles per kilogram
nutrition and energy. Without them,
the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra- of sample. Under a microscope, most
corals turn pale and die,’ explains
dun set about identifying the sources microplastics were like filaments.
Baban Ingole.
of ghost gear in the Ganga, in col- Some were like granules.
‘Satellite sea surface temperature
laboration with researchers from ‘The number of microplastics here is
data is cost-effective to monitor coral
Bangladesh and the UK. almost twice what is found in Mumbai,
reefs and predict bleaching,’ adds his
The team selected nine locations Tuticorin or Dhanuskodi beaches,’
colleague, Kalyan De.
along the river, ranking them based says S. Venkataraman, Pachaiyappa’s
DOI: 10.1080/10106049.2021.1886345
on gear density. Ghost gear in- College.
creased in the river as it flowed to- The team found that most were
Increasing Ocean Temperatures
wards the Bay of Bengal – remnants polyester or polyfluoride compounds.
Isolating marine assemblages
of plastic nets, some with mesh sizes Polyester is a commonly used syn-
Most marine fish have a biphasic life that are illegal. thetic textile and polyfluoride is used in
cycle. They spend their early life as Air breathing aquatic animals are electric batteries, food processing and
free swimming larvae near the surface, the most affected. packaging. Synthetic textiles, domestic
dispersing through phytoplankton, and ‘Turtles, otters and the endangered water and fishing material are major
settle to the bottom after maturity. Ganges river dolphin are at high risk sources of microfilament plastic.
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 120, NO. 6, 25 MARCH 2021 975
NEWS
Banning plastic bags is not enough What is the long-term impact of biological and chemical oxygen de-
to stem the microplastic menace. plantation forests on species composi- mand, making it inhospitable to aquatic
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144073 tion, plant diversity and carbon storage life.
potential? How do these differ from ‘Such conditions affect livelihoods.
Wildlife Behaviour those in natural forests? The long-term impact might be irre-
Temporal interaction Anudip Gogoi and colleagues from versible,’ adds Indrajit Mandal.
the Mizoram University, Aizawl set out The report is a wake-up call to use
Fear of predators drives temporal pat-
to explore. The team used the same environment-friendly technologies for
terns in prey. Chances of detecting
sampling technique in a 39-year-old stone mining and crushing.
prey determine carnivore activity. But
plantation forest and a natural forest in DOI: 10.1080/10106049.2019.1597390
these patterns are not rigid. Subtle
the Brahmaputra flood plains
changes in niche regulate the ecosys-
In the natural forest, species domi- Indian King Prawn Farming
tem.
nance and evenness were higher. As Loss due to infections
Urjit Bhatt and team from the Wildlife
were plant biomass and carbon stocks.
Institute of India, Dehradun set up About 70% of export revenue from
But, in the plantation forest, biodi-
sensor-based cameras to document sea food is from the king prawn, Lito-
versity indices were greater. Tree spe-
animal activity patterns in Manas penaeus vannamei. However, dis-
cies richness was slightly higher. The
National Park, Assam. eases cause major losses for aqua
number of herb species was three
The team found that smaller carni- farmers in India.
times higher.
vores foraged at night, those of me- Recently, scientists from the ICAR-
‘Plantation forests reduce human
dium-size were nocturnal or diurnal Central Institute of Brackishwater
pressure on natural forests and create
and large animals were active as and Aquaculture, Chennai, the Navsari
livelihoods for associated communi-
when they needed food or water. Agriculture University, Gujarat and
ties,’ says Anudip Gogoi.
‘Body size seems to decide active the West Bengal University of Animal
‘Plant forests in degraded lands to
periods,’ explains Urjit Bhatt, Wildlife and Fishery Sciences calculated the
sequester carbon,’ suggests Jitendra
Institute of India. economic impact of diseases in king
Ahirwal, his colleague.
How do related carnivores avoid prawn farming in India.
‘Sustainably manage such forests to
conflict? By overlapping the temporal They conducted surveys in Tamil
conserve biodiversity,’ recommends
patterns of the animals, the research- Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal,
Uttam Kumar Sahoo.
ers found that, though similar carni- Maharashtra and Gujarat, covering
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111671
vores hunt at the same time, they about 90% of the farming area.
avoid competition in subtle ways. For To estimate employment loss due
example, clouded leopards avoid Stone Mining Deteriorates
to reduction in culture duration, the
tigers by climbing trees. Dwarka river basin
team interviewed more than 900
Besides day, night or twilight, lunar The Dwarka river basin in eastern shrimp farmers.
phases also impact wildlife activity. India has huge reserves of building Economic loss for each farm was
There was a strong correlation bet- stones. Stone mining and crushing are calculated based on selling price for
ween moon phases and foraging. To common there. Recently, Swades Pal each size group.
avoid predators and search for food, and Indrajit Mandal from the University Infection by Enterocytozoon hepa-
smaller prey species are more active of Gour Banga, West Bengal exam- topenaei, a parasite, and white spot
on brighter nights. But their predators, ined how these activities impact the syndrome virus accounted for most
small carnivores, are active on darker environment. losses. Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei
nights. Noise levels at mining and crushing infections caused an annual loss of
‘The risk of competition and preda- sites were almost a hundred decibels about 2700 crore rupees and the
tion creates these temporal activity higher than safe for humans. From white spot syndrome virus, 1200
partitions,’ says Salvador Lyngdoh, satellite data, they discovered that sur- crores.
Wildlife Institute of India. face temperature at the sites was up to The total loss is nearly 58,000
The behaviour of individual species three degrees higher than in peripheral crores due to these two diseases
evolves to maximise survival. So, vari- areas. They found high levels of aero- when employment loss is also factored
ous species coexist, maintaining a sols in the lower atmosphere. And in. Other diseases accounted for a
delicate balance in forest ecosystems. vegetation health has deteriorated in a loss of about 500 crores annually.
DOI: 10.1111/btp.12917 larger area. Soil in the area was highly Farmers are being trained to rec-
alkaline and low in nutrients. Conse- ognise the symptoms of these dis-
Restoring Biodiversity quently, crop yield was low. eases early to reduce losses. But
Role of planted forests ‘Dispersed dust gathers on the river research on preventing and curing
Some argue that plantation forests are bed. The river is now shallower by these diseases needs to be stepped
threats to natural forests. Others de- almost half a metre,’ says Swades Pal. up to reduce the burden on farmers
fend their role in biodiversity conserva- Water in the Dwarka river basin was and ensure sustained export revenue.
tion. high in dissolved solids and had higher DOI: 10.1016/j.aquaculture.2020.736231

976 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 120, NO. 6, 25 MARCH 2021

 NEWS
Growing Lettuce S. K. Dingre and S. D. Gorantiwar physiological parameters for two
Using hydroponics from the Mahatma Phule Krishi years. In monoculture, sunburn was
Vidyapeeth, Maharashtra varied the more intense. Pineapple, they found,
Cultivating lettuce in soil is challeng-
water as per the needs at different performed better with a shade intensity
ing. The crop is heat sensitive and
stages of the crop. of about 50%.
grows slowly. Though lettuce leaves
‘The growth stage, when the Intercropping mango with pineapple
have high water content, lettuce
sugarcane stem elongates, is most can improve the income of both mango
water footprint is low. Can hydroponics
critical. Adequate water at this stage and pineapple growers, say the re-
help?
can increase yield,’ explains S. K. searchers.
In deep water hydroponics, roots
Dingre, Mahatma Phule Krishi DOI: 10.1016/j.scienta.2020.109868
are suspended in a nutrient-rich solu-
Vidyapeeth.
tion. In nutrient film hydroponics, a
‘Restricting irrigation at germination Micro-Irrigation
shallow stream of nutrient-rich water
and maturity stages doesn’t affect crop Solar photovoltaic pump
re-circulates through the roots. Which
yield. In fact, we can reduce water
method is better? High horsepower photovoltaic pumps
use by 13 per cent,’ adds S. D. Goran-
Recently, Maliqa Majid and her dot landscapes in arid zones. This can
tiwar.
team from the Sher-e-Kashmir Uni- spell doom for meagre groundwater
The researchers hope that, in
versity of Agricultural Sciences and resources. Priyabrata Santra from the
Maharashtra, farmers will opti-
Technology, Srinagar collaborated ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research
mize sugarcane yield using deficit irri-
with engineers from the Central Uni- Institute, Jodhpur decided to innovate.
gation.
versity of Kashmir and the Vaugh He tried micro-irrigation from surface
DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106549
Institute of Agricultural Engineering water using a one horsepower photo-
and Technology, Uttar Pradesh to voltaic pump.
Effect of Shade Intensities
compare the methods. He set up solar panels, a pump unit
Intercropping mango and pineapple
They grew lettuce using both and a manual tracking system. In solar
approaches. As control, they grew pumps, water discharge increases with
some in poly-house tunnels, ideal for solar irradiance. But, in spite of varia-
soil-based cultivation. tions in sunlight through the day and in
Lettuce grew faster and yielded different seasons, his pump provided
more in hydroponic systems. Deep adequate water. However, the dis-
water culture reduced growing period charge reduced with increase in deli-
by 16%. very head and the pump unit’s suction
Hydroponically-grown lettuce had head.
more total soluble solids, acidity and Priyabrata then used the interrela-
chlorophyll, protein and crude fibre tions between the solar-pump’s head
content than lettuce from poly- Image: Zainab37 via Wikimedia Commons
and discharge to operate micro/mini
tunnels. Mango monocrop orchards are a sprinklers and drippers. This optimised
There was no significant difference common sight in the north and south of the distribution efficiency and water
in water consumption between soil- India. The orchards spring into action discharge of the micro-irrigation sys-
based and deep water culture. But from February till the monsoon tems.
the nutrient film technique saved 64% drenches roots. And that is when the For uniform irrigation and maximum
water. pineapple monoculture in the north- coverage, Priyabrata designed a web
‘Both approaches yield more and eastern states becomes active. of spatially distributed sprinklers and
better lettuce. But the nutrient film Researchers from the ICAR-Indian drippers. The system could lift har-
technique is better for water deficient Institute of Horticultural Research now vested runoff water in farm ponds with
regions,’ says Maliqa Majid. suggest intercropping pineapple with minimum seepage and evaporation
Hydroponics can help grow lettuce mango. Both regions may then benefit loss to irrigate crops according to
and other crops profitably when there fruitfully. water requirement.
is little or no access to soil. Kundan Kishore and colleagues When the pump is not operational,
DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106572 planted pineapples in four different electricity generated can be routed to
light environments. A monoculture plot other purposes in the farm and for
Irrigation Management
acted as control. In the other three household demands, using circuit
In sugarcane
plots, they planted pineapples as inter- breakers, says the researcher.
Sugarcane is a high water requiring crop in a low density mango plantation. The installation cost of solar pumps
crop. But water scarcity in semiarid re- Mango canopies were pruned to pro- is more than that of electric and diesel
gions makes growing sugarcane a vide low, moderate and high shade pumps. But the life cycle cost is low
challenge. Irrigating the crop at critical intensities on pineapple plants. and such pumps reduce a farm’s car-
growth phases can maximise produc- The team studied plant growth, bon footprint.
tion under limited water resources. yield, nutrient content and other DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106554

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 120, NO. 6, 25 MARCH 2021 977

NEWS
Heart Health So, Hemalatha Karnan and Sivaku- Does spending more time on social
A phone call away? maran Natarajan from NIT Trichy media and instant messaging influence
developed a machine learning model scientific temper?
High blood pressure is a silent killer,
to ease the task. Sreeram Gopalkrishnan and Sne-
predisposing people to cardiovascu-
To train the model, they downloaded hal Galande from the Symbiosis Cen-
lar diseases. Yet, many fail to keep
600 samples of electrocardiogram sig- tre for Media and Communication,
blood pressure under control, miss
nals from an arrhythmia database. Pune designed a questionnaire with
follow-up appointments and do not
ten statements based on recent
adhere to medication schedules.
claims of the superiority of ancient
Can phone calls persuade patients
Indian science in news and social
to follow up?
media and ten more based on super-
As part of the Mumbai Hyperten-
stitious cultural practices. The par-
sion Project, researchers led by Kan-
ticipants had to agree or disagree
nure Mandar from the Program for
with these statements.
Appropriate Technology in Health Image: Ewingdo via Wikimedia Commons The duo administered the question-
conducted a study in Mumbai slums.
They used a ranking selection algo- naire to 135 students from the same
Previous studies showed that the
rithm to characterize relevant parts of college, taking care to avoid students
prevalence of hypertension is higher
the cardiogram signals. With support they were teaching. The respondents
in slums.
from Dr Rajajeyakumar Manivel, SRM were 18 to 22-year-olds and repre-
The team enrolled around 13,000
Medical Hospital, Trichy, the research- sented 18 states and a wide variety of
patients from 160 private clinics and
ers marked the parts that signalled mother tongues, but all accessed Eng-
recorded their details and family his-
arrhythmia. They fed this information lish language media.
tory of blood pressure. A treatment
to the algorithm to focus only on useful Based on their answers, the re-
coordinator from the clinic made
subsets of the data. searchers tried to gauge the students’
monthly or quarterly phone calls to
To further filter the input, the team scientific temper. Scientific temper
patients who missed appointments.
needed an algorithm that clusters the among this age group did not depend
The coordinator reminded such
data. They used a support vector ma- on the subject studied, and use of so-
patients to attend the follow up
chine, an algorithm, to create bounda- cial media or instant messaging. But
appointments, stressing the impor-
ries between input points and to some students believed in supersti-
tance of blood pressure control.
segregate them. tions or mixed mythology with science
Blood pressure control increased
Finally, to extract the output, the in spite of urban environments, with
from 25% to 49% in these patients.
researchers took inspiration from good education and access to tech-
But some patients did not answer the
the pack hunting style of wolves. The nology.
calls and some phones did not con-
mean grey wolf algorithm is an itera- ‘Most students are able to insulate
nect. However, many who did not
tive process that converges on the themselves from fake news coming via
attend to the phone calls also visited
best solution. WhatsApp and social media,’ says
the clinics for follow up. Among
The machine learning model can de- Snehal Galande.
these, blood pressure control in-
termine patterns between all the inputs ‘The lack of difference between data
creased from 22% to 44%. Statistical
and help clinicians detect arrhythmia from science students and non-
analysis showed a linear relation be-
early. Now comes the bigger task – science students shows that scientific
tween the monthly or quarterly phone
acceptance of the technology in clini- temper is about a way of thinking
calls and blood pressure control in
cal practice. rather than knowledge of scientific
the sample population.
theories and laws,’ says S. Gopal-
These results can now be used by DOI: 10.1002/cpe.5001
krishnan, her colleague.
the public health system to reduce
Scientific Temper in Colleges DOI: 10.1007/s11422-020-10001-z
cardiovascular diseases in the country.
DOI: 10.1111/jch.14221 Insulating from fake news
Reports by: Nadiya Manzoor, Ravi
Scientific temper is influenced by poli- Mishra, Tejinder Singh Chechi, D. C.
Machine Interprets Heartbeats tics, socio-economics, culture and Jhariya, Tahera Arjumand, Madiha
Arrhythmia detection technology. All these have changed Qadri, Sileesh Mullasseri, Shwetak-
The heart flutters when it sees a loved since the time the notion of scientific shi Mishra, Ishrat Nazir, Jauhar
one. Most irregular heartbeats or temper was enshrined in the Constitu- Rafeeq, Pushp Sen Satyarthi,
arrhythmias are harmless; however, tion of India. Manish Kumar Tekam, K. Sri Manjari
some carry the risk of cardiac arrest. How has this impacted scientific Aradhana L. Hans and Khuban Buch
The best way to diagnose arrhyth- temper among youngsters who have
just reached voting age? Do students ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: IISER Pune for
mia is using an electrocardiogram. But
access to scientific databases.
analysing heart signals is daunting and who study science have better scien-
requires expertise. tific temper than those who do not? [email protected]

978 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 120, NO. 6, 25 MARCH 2021