Environmental DNA reveals aquatic biodiversity of an urban backwater area, southeast coast of India.

Strong conservation management needs comprehensive data on biodiversity. Rapid methods that document aquatic biodiversity or assess the health condition of an ecosystem remain scarce. Herein, we have performed a metagenomics study on environmental DNA (eDNA) collected from an urban backwater area - Muttukadu, located in the southeast coast of India.

Geochemical fractionation study in combination with equilibrium based chemical speciation modelling of Cd in finer sediments provide a better description of Cd bioavailability in tropical estuarine systems.

Geochemical fractionation study of cadmium (Cd) in combination with equilibrium based chemical speciation modelling (visual MINTEQ) in finer sediment samples (silt and clay portion), provided a better description of Cd bioavailability for sessile organisms (like oysters) in the Zuari estuary, west coast of India. A substantial fraction of total Cd in the finer sediment samples was present as water soluble, exchangeable and carbonate/bicarbonate forms and showed a strong positive relationship with Cd-bioaccumulation in oysters (Magallana sp.) from the study area.

Operationally defined mercury (Hg) species can delineate Hg bioaccumulation in mangrove sediment systems: A case study.

This study investigated the linkage between mercury (Hg) speciation in the surficial sediments from a mangrove ecosystem of the Zuari Estuary, west coast of India, with Hg bioaccumulation in gastropods collected from the same area. Multiple operationally defined protocols and methods were used for determination of Hg speciation study in the mangrove sediments. Moderately low concentrations of Hg were observed in the sediments, ranging from 37.

Correction: Reinvestigating an enigmatic Late Cretaceous monocot: morphology, taxonomy, and biogeography of .

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4580.