Dynamic shoreline alterations and their impacts on Olive Ridley Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) nesting sites in Gahirmatha Marine Wildlife Sanctuary, Odisha (India).

Currently, sea turtle habitats are being altered by climate change and human activities, with habitat loss posing an urgent threat to Indian sea turtles. Thus, the objective of this study is to analyze the dynamic shoreline alterations and their impacts on Olive Ridley Sea Turtle (ORT) nesting sites in Gahirmatha Marine Wildlife Sanctuary from 1990 to 2022. Landsat satellite images served as input datasets to assess dynamic shoreline changes.

Evaluation of overwash vulnerability and shoreline dynamics in cyclone-prone Sagar Island, Sundarbans (India).

Situated in the climatically vulnerable Sundarbans region, Sagar Island has increasingly been subjected to intense cyclonic events, including Yaas, Amphan, Bulbul, and Aila, leading to significant alterations in its coastal morphology. This study aims to elucidate the overwash vulnerability and shoreline dynamics in Sagar Island, spanning the period from 2000 to 2020. Utilizing satellite imagery, the study employs three indices-Overwash Shoreline Ratio (OSR), Maximum Overwash Intrusion Recurrence (MOIR), and Complete Barrier Overwash (CBO)-to assess overwash vulnerability.

Status and conservation challenges of the second-largest seagrass bed in India: Chilika lagoon.

Studies related to seagrass ecology, conservation, and management are sparse and highly biased in India. Even though the geographical distribution of seagrass is diverse in India, about 74% of the scientific publications have been made from Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar from Tamilnadu. Chilika, the largest lagoon in Asia, harbors the second largest seagrass meadow in India 22% of the total.

Deciphering the impact of anthropogenic coastal infrastructure on shoreline dynamicity along Gopalpur coast of Odisha (India): An integrated assessment with geospatial and field-based approaches.

Odisha's coastline supports various development activities that are critical to the state and national economy, such as oil and gas, ports and harbors, power plants, fishing, tourism, and mining that continues to not only detriment the coastal ecology but also affect the overall shoreline morphodynamics. The morphological changes are complicated processes involving both natural and human-induced drivers, but it is critical to understand how recent development activities further impact beach morphodynamics and shoreline dynamicity. The study analyzes the overall shoreline morphodynamics in response to the recent development of port and other related infrastructure for annual and decadal scale using two-dimensional (2-D) shoreline changes along with detailed 3-D beach profile volumetric changes for different studied zones along the Gopalpur coast.

Mining impacts on forest cover change in a tropical forest using remote sensing and spatial information from 2001-2019: A case study of Odisha (India).

Worldwide mining activities are one of the major anthropogenic activities that have caused high forest cover loss (FCL). In this study, we have quantified FCL in Odisha State due to mining activities analyzing Hansen Global Forest Change (HGFC) time series data for the period of 2001-2019 in Google Earth Engine platform. Our analysis suggests that Nabarangpur, Puri, Kendrapara, and Kalahandi districts lost more than 20% of their forest cover during this period.

Response of long- to short-term tidal inlet morphodynamics on the ecological ramification of Chilika lake, the tropical Ramsar wetland in India.

The long- to short-term morphodynamic response in low-lying coastal wetlands raises serious concerns worldwide about the loss of their biodiversity and ecological ramifications due to change in tidal amplitude and cyclonic events. One such place worth studying is Chilika lake, India, a prominent Ramsar site, the largest brackish water lagoon in Asia, and the second-largest coastal lagoon in the world. It experiences frequent cyclone landfalls and strong littoral drift that tends to open/close the tidal inlet.

Geo-ecological cues for mass nesting synchronization of Olive Ridley turtles along Rushikulya estuary in Odisha, east coast of India.

In this study, we have analyzed how geo-ecological cues for endangered Olive Ridley turtles' mass nesting behavior got modified by impact of four severe cyclones during 2010-2019 that made landfall in the vicinity of Rushikulya estuary, which is one of the largest mass nesting congregation (arribada) sites in the world. Analyzing last 10 years of shoreline dynamics, we show that even the slightest modification in beach morphology influenced their nesting behavior in Rushikulya rookery. Shoreline change analysis showed periodic phases of high/low erosion and the northward longshore sediment movement, which becomes impeded by the southern spit, the length of which increased by about 1800 m.

Landfall season is critical to the impact of a cyclone on a monsoon-regulated tropical coastal lagoon.

Cyclones can produce a wide variety of short-term and long-term ecological impacts on coastal lagoons depending on cyclone's physical-meteorological characteristics and the lagoon's geographic, geomorphic, and bathymetric characteristics. Here, we theorized that in monsoon regulated tropical coastal lagoons, another important factor that could determine the impact of a cyclone is the landfall season or time of the year with reference to the monsoon season. We analyzed the impact of two cyclones which made landfall near Chilika, Asia's largest brackish water lagoon in different seasons, Cyclone Fani and Titli before and after the monsoon season.

Impact of salinity and pH on phytoplankton communities in a tropical freshwater system: An investigation with pigment analysis by HPLC.

An in vitro study was carried out to understand the effects of salinity shock and variation in pH on phytoplankton communities in a tropical freshwater system of the Godavari River (a major peninsular river in India). The distributions of, and variations in, phytoplankton communities were assessed by quantitative determination of their class specific marker pigments, using HPLC. Subtle changes in salinity of the freshwater by one practical salinity unit (PSU) completely removed green algae from the system and allowed the cyanobacteria to come into dominance.

Stress and toxicity of biologically important transition metals (Co, Ni, Cu and Zn) on phytoplankton in a tropical freshwater system: An investigation with pigment analysis by HPLC.

Stress and toxicity of four biologically important transition metals (Co, Ni, Cu and Zn) on phytoplankton in Godavari River (a tropical freshwater system) were studied to understand the fate of phytoplankton of freshwater if it receives metal contaminated water imposed by these four metals. Shift in community structure of phytoplankton and their different tolerance levels for different metals were also investigated. It was found that the variation of metal concentrations at lower level (1x10(-9) to 1x10(-8)M) did not show a dramatic change in the total biomass or concentrations of the pigment markers.