ICPEP-4

Abstracts
Fourth International Conference on Plants & Environmental Pollution
8-11 December, 2010

ABSTRACTS 139 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------species of Portulaca i.e. P. tuberosa and P. oleracea were collected from two different field sites in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. One is irrigated with industrial effluent and other with tube well water, and analyzed for heavy metal accumulation in different plant parts viz., roots, stem, leaves and flowers. Concentration level of all the investigated heavy metals (Cu, Ni, Mo, Se, Hg, Pb and Al) was higher in industrial effluent and soil irrigated with it as compared to that present in tube well water and soil irrigated with it. Plants collected from effluent irrigated areas showed high accumulation of all the investigated heavy metals in all plant parts with the maximum being in roots and the least in flowers. Interestingly, both species of Portulaca demonstrated hyperaccumulation of multiple elements viz., Cu, Ni, Hg and Pb. Apart from this, selective hyperaccumulation of Se and Al was shown by P. tuberosa and P. oleracea, respectively. Total shoot concentrations (? g g-1 dw) of Mo were about 399 and 668 in P. tuberosa and P. oleracea, respectively. It shows plants have good biomass and have high regeneration potential; hence appear to be suitable for phytoremediation of metal contaminated areas. Key words: Industrial effluent, Lead, Mercury, Portulaca oleracea, Portulaca tuberosa, Selenium SVI/P-40 corresponds with the local land-use pattern resulting in different degree of air pollution. It is suggested that this method is a reliable tool for identifying areas of different degrees of air pollution at a large scale and simultaneous planning of its use in present and future. The biomonitoring studies using lichens, which are still in its elementary stages in India, can prove to be a big boon if worked out extensively for its various applications, of which land-use planning may be one.
Key words: Lichens, IAP, Kriging, Land-use map

SVI/P-41

Algal Communities from Panchgram Papermill Area, Assam and its Possible Potentials for Bioremediation
Jayashree Rout and Amalina Paul*
Department of Ecology and Environment Science, Assam University, Silchar, Assam, INDIA, Email: routjaya@rediffmail.com
1

IAP and Kriging: A Future Prospect for Use of Lichen Biomonitoring in Land-Use Planning In India
Pulak Das1* and D.K.Upreti2
Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Assam University, Silchar 788011, Assam, INDIA, Email: pulakdas.ecology@gmail.com; 2Lichenology Laboratory, National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow 226001, U.P., INDIA, Email: upretidk@rediffmail.com
1

The paper deals with a lichen biomonitoring technique, Index of Atmospheric Purity (IAP) and a geostatistical technique, Kriging (for spatial autocorrelation which can be used to make better estimates for unsampled data points) to produce a map. These two techniques are used in combination to see the future prospect for land-use planning in a developing country like India. An area of about 1962.5 km2 was chosen for the study in Barak valley of southern Assam in India. The area exhibited various land-use patterns; hills and tea gardens, forests, rural and urban residential areas, cement, paper industry, and stone crushing industry, and agricultural lands. For calculation of IAP values, seventeen sites were selected randomly on a regional map provided by local office of urban planning. The coordinates of all the sites were taken physically using GPS. The epiphytic lichens were collected from all these sites, and data was taken regarding number of species, frequency, and abundance from a particular host tree at each location. The IAP value was calculated for each location applying a mathematical formula consisting of ecological index (Q) and a frequency-coverage factor (f). The IAP values were categorised and plotted in a map using kriging by geostatistical software. It is observed that the emerged map

Algae are of considerable importance in the natural environment as initial colonizer and primary producers. With an increase in anthropogenic activities, algae are adversely affected both in terms of diversity and physio-chemical adaptability especially in the polluted areas like industrial areas. Among the industrial pollution one of the major sources of pollution is the pollution generated from paper industry. In Barak Valley, Cachar Paper Mill at Panchgram is one of the most polluting industries in this region. A number of chemicals are used in the industry for bamboo processing and paper making involving mercury cell (Hg+), Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) i.e. caustic soda, Hypochloride acid, Black liquor, White liquor, Chlorine dioxide and a number of sulphur compounds which gets their entry in different terrestrial and aquatic habitats in and around the paper mill area. Accumulation of these toxic wastes in these habitats is a matter of serious concern as they enter food chain and causes health hazards. Application of a remediation approach becomes imperative when the build up of these toxic substances in water and soil is beyond permissible limits. Algae are one of the important candidates which can be applied for bioremediation purpose and disintegration of pollutants. In the present paper, a preliminary survey of various algal communities have been made in different habitats of the paper mill including lagoon, lime mud, bamboo dust and bamboo chips, solid waste deposits and other adjacent areas to understand the potential species for bioremediation application. A total number of 14 algal species are reported from this polluted zone showing a dominance of major blue green forms like Lyngbya, Cylindrospermum, Scytonema, Oscillatoria, Spirulina and other green algae and one red algal species in the paper mill area. The physio-chemical attributes of soil and water samples are also presented. The present study emphasises the reported the blue green algal species as the tolerant forms and has possible potential for bioremediation. The preliminary assessment of the disintegration of paper mill waste in lagoon and solid waste has been made and presented here.