The Antorun river is a flowing river situated at Onipanu village, along Ogbomoso-Iresaapa road, Nigeria. It was constructed primarily for irrigation purpose through the Nigerian-Canadian vegetation project and is under scrutiny for other purposes such as hydroelectric project, recreation, fishing and research. This study aimed at evaluating and documenting the species richness and diversity of the non-woody angiosperms along the reservoir.1m2 quadrats were placed randomly at both rainy and dry seasons to sample non-woody angiosperms along upper (site A), middle (sites B and C) and lower (site D) courses which extend to about 1 km. A total of 1526 non-woody individual plants belonging to 28 genera and 13 families were identified in the study area. 22 of the plants were medicinal while others were forage plants. The family Asteraceae had the highest number of individuals (878) representing 9 species, with Tridax procumbens being the most frequent (11.3%). The importance Value Index (IVI) of the species in the study ranged between 1.1 and 44. Sampling point B recorded the highest diversity with Si mpson’s index of 0.822 and Shannon-Wienner’s index of 1.849. The upper course of the reservoir was richest while the lower course was the poorest in species diversity and the commonest plant species in the study area was Emilia sonchifolia. Some woody species present in the study area were also identified and recorded. Information about plant diversity in this study area is useful in evaluating the potential impact of proposed developmental activities on the environment.

Physicochemical parameters are the important indicators for determining the quality of water. This study was conducted to examine the water quality of two important water bodies located in Dhaka city namely Ramna Lake and Shahidullah Hall Pond of Dhaka University. It analyzed pH, DO, EC, TDS, BOD, HCO3-, Alkalinity and salinity as well concentration of heavy metals i.e., Iron, Lead, Nickel, Silver, Mercury, Chromium, Manganese and Zinc. It is found that the pH of four samples ranged from 6.53 to 6.72 whereas DO varied from 4.18 to 5.03 mg/l, EC 1.79 µS /cm to 2.34 µS/cm, TDS 85.7 to 111.7 ppm and BOD 1.32 to 2.43 mg/l, respectively. Along with physicochemical parameters, the hardness found ranging from 52.13 mg/l to 60.76 mg/l, Alkalinity 92.35 to 96.45, HCO3-79.06 to 110.23 while CO32- not detected of these water bodies. Moreover, this study found the presence of heavy metals in these water bodies such as Lead varied from 1.8 to 3.5 µg/l, Nickel 4.5 to 6.9 µg/l, Mercury 0.001 to 1.6 µg/l, Chromium 2.0 to 2.2 µg/l and Manganese 0.03 to 0.8 µg/l respectively in which some were exceeding the Bangladesh Standard. Thus, this study is portraying the pollution problem of these water bodies and su ggesting the necessity of proper management action as early as possible.

The concept of erodibility has gained a great importance in the field of soil erosion modelling and applications of soil conservation. Soil erodibility factor has become one of the key factors which determine soil particles resistance to be detached by water erosion. This study was performed to determine soil erodibility factor and assess spatial variability of soil erodibility using geostatistics at El Hammam catchment. In this study 51 samples of surface soil (0-20cm) were collected across the study area of 1000 Ha by preparing point map at GIS. Sampling points were identified in field by a Global Positioning system. Some soil properties and organic matter were measured at laboratory, and permeability and structure were determined using soil texture analysis. Amount of soil erodibility changed from 0.16 to 0.66. The variability analysis has shown that soil properties and erodibility factor have varied significantly in cropland and have ranged from 63% in organic matter and 39% in K factor. The statistical analysis indicated negative correlations of erodibility with clay, organic matter and permeability and negative correlations of this factor with silt, sand and soil str ucture. Based on kriging interpolation method, soil erodibility factor map was generated using Ordinary Kriging. The spherical model has given the best model to predict spatial variability of soil erodibility which root-mean-square error and mean error values of interpolated map were very low. The range of the spatial dependency was equal to 460 m. The study basin has been classified as highly erodible and ecologically vulnerable.

Man arrived on the planet earth only recently i.e. about 1 million years ago! but he has been using his knowledge and technology to impact on other living organisms (the biodiversity) that have taken more than 600 million years do develop. In this review, the concept of biodiversity is considered beyond the physical/morphological manifestation of plants, animals and the microbes (i.e. species diversity), and further defined in terms of genetic, behavioral, life-history, physiological and other diversities. The paper examines the essence of biodiversity from the perspectives of food production, drug development, inexhaustible genetic resources and ecosystem services but regrets to note the unsustainable manner of its exploitation by humans. Additionally, it highlights the necessity for reducing ecological footprints (and increasing our handprints) as a way out of this environmental challenge. The paper concludes that our planet is sick, and the basis of our existence is being undermined with the onset of bi ological poverty. It therefore recommends that everyone of us should begin to use our “healing hands” to compensate for the damage we have done or are doing directly or indirectly to biodiversity.