Himalayan Journal of Sciences

How best to support livelihoods of blacksmiths with minimum impact on forest products

Rajan Rijal, Ran Bahadur Chhetri, Rozzi Ricardo — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000

None

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hjs.v7i9.2338

Himalayan Journal of Sciences Vol.7 Issue 9 2011 pp.7-8

Trematode cercariae infections in freshwater snails of Chitwan district, central Nepal

Ramesh Devkota, Prem Bahadur Budha, Ranjana Gupta — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Because Nepal has been virtually unexplored with respect to its trematode fauna, we sampled freshwater snails from grazing swamps, lakes, rivers, swamp forests, and temporary ponds in the Chitwan district of central Nepal between July and October 2008. Altogether we screened 1,448 individuals of nine freshwater snail species (Bellamya bengalensis, Gabbia orcula, Gyraulus euphraticus, Indoplanorbis exustus, Lymnaea luteola, Melanoides tuberculata, Pila globosa, Thiara granifera and Thiara lineata) for shedding cercariae. A total of 4.3% (N=62) infected snails were found, distributed among the snail species as follows (B. bengalensis - 1, G. orcula - 11, G. euphraticus - 8, I. exustus - 39, L. luteola - 2 and T. granifera - 1). Collectively, six morphologically distinguishable types of trematode cercariae were found: amphistomes, brevifurcate-apharyngeate (likely mammalian schistosomes), clinostome, gymnocephalus (likely fasciolid), longifurcate-pharyngeate and xiphidiocercaria. I. exustus had the highest prevalence of trematode infection, and harbored all the noted cercarial types except gymnocephalus cercariae. One double infection (xiphidiocercaria and longifurcate-pharyngeate cercaria) was found in this snail. Amphistome cercariae were common in G. euphraticus, G. orcula, and I. exustus. The highest prevalence of infection (38.3%) was recorded among snails collected from temporary ponds.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hjs.v7i9.2183

Himalayan Journal of Sciences Vol.7 Issue 9 2011 pp.9-14

A remote sensing-based approach for water accounting in the East Rapti River Basin, Nepal

Rajendra Lal Shilpakar, Wim G.M. Bastiaanssen, David J. Molden — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Accurate estimates of evapotranspiration across different land uses are a major challenge in the process of understanding water availability and uses in a river basin. This study demonstrated a remote sensing-based procedure for accurately generating evaporative depletion and runoff in mountainous areas using Landsat ETM+ images combined with standard hydro-meteorological data. The data was used as a key input into the International Water Management Institute (IWMI)’s water accounting procedure to understand how water is now used, and opportunities for improvements in the future. We found a higher annual actual evapotranspiration from the riparian forest than from irrigated agriculture in the East Rapti River basin of Nepal. Another important finding of our study is that simple rainfall surplus can be a good predictor of river flow at an ungagged site of the East Rapti River basin. The water accounting analysis revealed that there is the potential for further development of water resources in the East Rapti River basin as only 59% of the total available water is depleted. A critical analysis of social and ecological flow requirements downstream is necessary before any development of water resources upstream. This study successfully demonstrated that the key inputs required for evaluating and monitoring the overall water resources conditions in a mountainous river basin can be computed from satellite data with a minimal support from ground information.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hjs.v7i9.5785

Himalayan Journal of Sciences Vol.7 Issue 9 2011 pp.15-30