Habitat complexity reduces prey vulnerability: An experimental analysis using aquatic insect predators and immature dipteran prey

Nabaneeta Saha,Goutam K. Saha,Gautam Aditya 한국응용곤충학회 2009 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.12 No.4

The effects of alternative prey and structural complexity of habitat on the selection of mosquito larvae by aquatic insect predators were evaluated in the laboratory. The water bugs Anisops bouvieri, Diplonychus (=Sphaerodema) rusticus, and D. annulatus, and the odonate nymphs, Ceriagrion coromandelianum and Brachydiplax chalybea chalybea, selected mosquito larvae based on their abundance relative to chironomid larvae and on the levels of habitat complexity. The effect of one prey species on the other was asymmetrical, as indicated through prey selectivity values. Compared to open habitat, the presence of macrophytes reduced the vulnerability of mosquito larvae while the effect was reverse in the presence of sediments. When both sediment and macrophytes were present in habitats, all the predators except D. annulatus consumed more mosquito larvae than chironomid larvae. The clearance rate, an indicator of predatory efficiency, varied among the predator species and habitat types. The results suggest that the outcome of the interactions between insect predators and mosquito immatures was context-dependent and that it was mediated by the presence of alternative controphic species and the habitat complexity. The effects of alternative prey and structural complexity of habitat on the selection of mosquito larvae by aquatic insect predators were evaluated in the laboratory. The water bugs Anisops bouvieri, Diplonychus (=Sphaerodema) rusticus, and D. annulatus, and the odonate nymphs, Ceriagrion coromandelianum and Brachydiplax chalybea chalybea, selected mosquito larvae based on their abundance relative to chironomid larvae and on the levels of habitat complexity. The effect of one prey species on the other was asymmetrical, as indicated through prey selectivity values. Compared to open habitat, the presence of macrophytes reduced the vulnerability of mosquito larvae while the effect was reverse in the presence of sediments. When both sediment and macrophytes were present in habitats, all the predators except D. annulatus consumed more mosquito larvae than chironomid larvae. The clearance rate, an indicator of predatory efficiency, varied among the predator species and habitat types. The results suggest that the outcome of the interactions between insect predators and mosquito immatures was context-dependent and that it was mediated by the presence of alternative controphic species and the habitat complexity.

Two new predatory mites (Acari: Bdellidae, Phytoseiidae) collected from medicinal plants in West Bengal, India

Indranil Roy,Goutam K. Saha 한국응용곤충학회 2010 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.13 No.2

Two new species of predatory mites, one each of Bdellodes Oudemans (Fam. Bdellidae) and Phytoseius Ribaga (Fam. Phytoseiidae) recorded for the first time from two medicinal plants viz. Ambroma augusta (L.) L.f. (Fam. Sterculiaceae) and Clerodendrum viscosum Vent (Fam. Verbenaceae), respectively, are described in this paper.

Butterfly diversity in Kolkata, India: An appraisal for conservation management

Swarnali Mukherjee,Soumyajit Banerjee,Goutam K. Saha,Parthiba Basu,Gautam Aditya 국립중앙과학관 2015 Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity Vol.8 No.3

An appraisal of butterfly species diversity was made using Kolkata, India as a model geographical area. Random sampling of rural, suburban, and urban sites in and around Kolkata metropolis revealed the presence of 96 butterfly species, dominated by Lycaenidae (31.25%) over Nymphalidae (28.13%), Hesperiidae (18.75%), Pieridae (12.50%), and Papilionidae (9.38%). Suburban sites accounted for 96 species, followed by rural (81 species) and urban (53 species) over the study period. The relative abundance of the butterflies varied with the site, month, and family significantly. It is apparent that the urban areas of Kolkata can sustain diverse butterfly species which includes species of requiring conservation effort. Considering the landscape of Kolkata, steps to enhance urban greening should be adopted to maintain butterfly diversity and sustain the ecosystem services derived from them.

Reversion of BDNF, Akt and CREB in Hippocampus of Chronic Unpredictable Stress Induced Rats: Effects of Phytochemical, Bacopa Monnieri

Somoday Hazra,Sourav Kumar,Goutam Kumar Saha,Amal Chandra Mondal 대한신경정신의학회 2017 PSYCHIATRY INVESTIGATION Vol.14 No.1

Objective: The aims of the present study were to explore the behavioural effects and to understand the possible mode of action of Bacopa monnieri extract (BME) on chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) induced depressive model and the biochemical alterations such as brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), Akt, cyclic-AMP response element binding (CREB) protein level in the hippocampus of rats. Methods: We examined the effects of chronic administration of BME on CUS exposed rats for 28 days. Behavioural changes were assessed by sucrose consumption and open field test to assess the effect of BME on CUS-induced depression. The mechanisms underlying antidepressant like action of BME was further evaluated by measuring levels of BDNF, Akt, and CREB in the hippocampus of rat brain and compared with the standard tricyclic antidepressant drug imipramine (20 mg/kg body weight). Results: Exposure to CUS for 28 days produced depression-like behavior in rats, as indicated by significant decreases in sucrose consumption, locomotor activity including decreased BDNF, Akt and CREB levels in the hippocampus. Daily administration of BME at a dose of (80 mg/kg body weight) significantly reverses the behavioral alteration and restored the normal level of BDNF, total and phospho-Akt, total and phospho CREB in the hippocampus of CUS induced rats as compared to vehicle treated control rats. Conclusion: These findings suggest that BME ameliorates CUS induced behavioural depression in rats and that can be used as a potent therapeutic agent in treating depressive like behavior.

Runoff estimation using modified adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system

Amitabha Nath,Fisokuhle Mthethwa,Goutam Saha 대한환경공학회 2020 Environmental Engineering Research Vol.25 No.4

Rainfall-Runoff modeling plays a crucial role in various aspects of water resource management. It helps significantly in resolving the issues related to flood control, protection of agricultural lands, etc. Various Machine learning and statistical-based algorithms have been used for this purpose. These techniques resulted in outcomes with an acceptable rate of success. One of the pertinent machine learning algorithms namely Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) has been reported to be a very effective tool for the purpose. However, the computational complexity of ANFIS is a major hindrance in its application. In this paper, we resolved this problem of ANFIS by incorporating one of the evolutionary algorithms known as Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) which was used in estimating the parameters pertaining to ANFIS. The results of the modified ANFIS were found to be satisfactory. The performance of this modified ANFIS is then compared with conventional ANFIS and another popular statistical modeling technique namely ARIMA model with respect to the forecasting of runoff. In the present investigation, it was found that proposed PSO-ANFIS performed better than ARIMA and conventional ANFIS with respect to the prediction accuracy of runoff.

Two new species of the genus Sennertia (Acari: Chaetodactylidae) phoretic on Carpenter bees from west Bengal, India

Poulami Sarangi,Salil K. Gupta,Goutam K. Saha 한국응용곤충학회 2014 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.17 No.1

Two new species of Sennertia Oudemans, 1905, Sennertia punctatus sp. nov. and Sennertia xylocopi sp. nov. whichare phoretic on Carpenter bees collected from West Bengal for the first time are illustrated and described.

Computational water management strategy of Tlawng River Basin using geo-informatics

Lalhmingliana,Ch.Udaya Bhaskara Rao,Goutam Saha 대한환경공학회 2020 Environmental Engineering Research Vol.25 No.5

Aizawl city is experiencing seasonal water scarcity. Tlawng is the longest River in Mizoram which flows for about 234 ㎞ length in Mizoram in south - north direction and joins the River Barak in Cachar district of Assam state. As Tlawng River is close to the Aizawl city, it will be wise to make some safe and durable strategy for storing rain water safely in predefined reservoirs and use it during hour of needs for domestic and agricultural purposes. In fact, Aizawl city is located within the Tlawng River basin at an average elevation of about 1,200 metres above mean sea level. An attempt has been made in this study for identification of feasible sites for construction of water reservoirs at appropriate locations based on the integration of thematic data on slope, flow accumulation, lithology, drainage density, lineament density and lineament direction using the advanced tools of ArcGIS software. Thirty two ideal sites have been identified in the vicinity of Aizawl city based on the multi-criteria evaluation of the thematic layers.

Description of two new species of ectoparasitic mites of Podapolipus and Podapolipoides (Acari: Podapolipidae) on Oxya sp. from West Bengal, India

Poulami Sarangi,Himani Biswas,Salil K. Gupta,Goutam K. Saha 한국응용곤충학회 2012 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.15 No.1

Two new species, Podapolipus husbandi and Podapolipoides channabasavannai, collected on Oxya sp. from West Bengal, India are described and illustrated.

Dissociative Experience in Unipolar and Bipolar Depression: Exploring the Great Divide

Seshadri Sekhar Chatterjee,Arghya Pal,Nitu Mallik,Malay Ghosal,Goutam Saha 대한정신약물학회 2018 CLINICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE Vol.16 No.3

Objective: Unipolar and bipolar depression (UD and BD) differ strikingly in respect to neurobiology, course and management, but their apparent clinical similarity often leads to misdiagnosis resulting in chronicity of course and treatment failure. In this study we have tried to assess whether UD and BD can be differentiated on the basis of their dissociative symptoms. Methods: Thrty-six UD patients and 35 BD patients in active episodes, without any psychiatric comorbidity were selected from outpatient department and compared for depressive and dissociative symptoms using Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and Dissociative Experience Scale-II (DES-II). Results: We found that thought the two groups didn’t differ in terms of the socio-demographic or clinical variables, BD group had significantly higher dissociative experience (U=343, p=0.001) than UD and the difference remained significant even after adjusting for the confounding factors. Conclusion: Our study shows that dissociative symptoms are significantly more prevalent in the depressive episodes of bipolar affective disorder as compared to the UD and can be an important tool in differentiating between the two disorders with very similar clinical profile. The difference can be measured using a simple self-report questionnaire like DES-II.