The large-scale expansion of rubber plantations in southern India: major impacts and the changing nature of drivers.

This study investigates the major environmental and socio-economic impacts of an increase in the area of rubber plantations and the changing patterns of drivers of land use changes. Using a combination of geospatial techniques and socio-economic methods, we mainly analyzed the rate of increase in area under rubber plantations, the major impacts of land use changes, and the changing drivers of land use changes. Our results show that the area under rubber plantations has increased significantly within the study area, with the area under rubber plantations increasing from 30 to 74% of the total area within five decades.

Biodegradation of aromatic hydrocarbons using microbial adsorbed bioreactor.

Polyurethane (PU) tubular coil-based bioreactor was constructed and evaluated for the effective biodegradation of benzene, toluene, xylene and phenol (BTXP). Herein, the removal of BTXP was done with a formulated bacterial consortium adsorbed on the inner surface of the PU coil. The formulated consortium consisted of four bacterial strains namely, sp , sp.