http://irgu.unigoa.ac.in/drs/handle/unigoa/3 2026-09-03T03:06:33Z http://irgu.unigoa.ac.in/drs/handle/unigoa/7991 Microhabitat associations and seasonal dynamics of amphibians in the lateritic rocky outcrops along the western coast of Goa, India Bowalkar, D.Y.; Sawant, N.S. A total of 12 lateritic rocky outcrops in Goa were studied throughout the wet season (May to November) to understand amphibian occurrence and their microhabitat associations. Microhabitat association and seasonal trend were analysed using indicator species value (IndVal) and Hill number analysis. The findings show microhabitats such as ephemeral vegetation, ephemeral pool, and peripheral ecotone vegetation are critical components of outcrops and harbour high IndVal Scores, although seasonal changes significantly influence species distribution and abundance. The findings conclude strong habitat and seasonal association of anurans. This research contributes to conservation strategies for this unique ecosystem of Goa. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z http://irgu.unigoa.ac.in/drs/handle/unigoa/7990 Community structure and environmental determinants of amphibians in the Western Ghats watersheds of eastern Goa, India Gawas, M.M.; Sawal, S.S.; Sawant, N.S. We studied the amphibian diversity and the influence of abiotic factors across 12 watershed zones in the Western Ghats region of Goa, India. Surveys conducted at 102 sampling sites recorded 22 amphibian species, including eight Western Ghats endemics. Species richness and diversity were highest in watersheds with intermediate canopy cover and deeper leaf litter. Pearson correlation analysis identified leaf litter depth, humidity, and temperature as key factors influencing amphibian diversity. The findings highlight the importance of forest floor microhabitats and microclimatic conditions in shaping amphibian communities and emphasize the need to conserve structurally diverse forest habitats in the Western Ghats. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z http://irgu.unigoa.ac.in/drs/handle/unigoa/7948 Deciphering salt tolerance mechanism in Brevibacterium sp. K11IcPPYGO002, from the coastal dunes of Keri, Goa Volvoikar, D.L.; Garg, S. The present study investigated the osmoadaptation strategies adopted by Brevibacterium sp. K11IcPPYGO002, a halotolerant novel strain isolated from the coastal dunes of Keri, Goa. Whole-genome sequencing revealed a genome size of 4,140,682 bp with a GC content of 63.97 percent. Genome annotation identified the ectoine/hydroxyectoine biosynthetic pathway, represented by the genes ask-asd, ectABC, and ectD, as well as the uptake system ehuABCD. The genes responsible for the biosynthesis of glutamate (gdhA), proline (proABC), and glycine betaine (betI and betABC) were detected. Trehalose and mannitol biosynthesis were indicated by the presence of genes otsAB and mtlK, respectively. Spermidine and putrescine synthesis were evidenced by speABC genes, along with the transport system (potABCD, potE, spuE). The genome harboured solute transporters (betT, betP, ectP, proP, opuA, opuC, gltT, proVWX), ion transporters, and osmoregulatory two-component systems (mtrA/B, kdpD/E), known to assist in salt tolerance. Functional validation of genomic data through LCMS confirmed the presence of intracellular compatible solutes (ICS) such as glutamic acid (146.20 [M-H]-, 147.90 [M+H]+), ectoine (142.90 [M+H]+), hydroxyectoine (158.90 [M+H]+), proline (116 [M+H]+), hydroxyproline (131.90 [M+H]+), choline (104 [M+H]+), glycine betaine (118 [M+H]+), dimethylsulfoniopropionate (135.90 [M]+), spermidine (145.90 [M+H]+), putrescine (111.90 [M+Na]), mannitol (182.90 [M+H]+) and trehalose (180.80 [C₆H₁₃O₆⁺]). LCMS-MRM demonstrated osmolarity-dependent increase in intracellular ectoine and hydroxyectoine, with ectoine peaking at 12 percent NaCl (25011.60 plus-minus 1852.69 ng/mg CDW) and hydroxyectoine at 16 percent NaCl (45.12 plus-minus 1.64 ng/mg CDW). STRING network analysis indicated coordinated ectoine biosynthesis. These findings provide genomic and metabolic insights into salt-stress adaptation in Brevibacterium sp. K11ICPPYGO002. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z http://irgu.unigoa.ac.in/drs/handle/unigoa/7945 Modified MobileNet with leaky ReLU and LSTM with balancing technique to classify the soil types Panchbhai, K.G.; Lanjewar, M.; Naik, A.V. Accurate soil type classification is essential for sustainable agriculture, environmental monitoring, and effective land management. Due to the inherent variability in soil types and the prevalent class imbalance in soil imaging datasets, reliable classification remains a complex challenge. This study combined four unique soil image datasets, yielding 11 distinct soil type classes. The MobileNet model was modified to enhance classification with essential adjustments: replacing ReLU with Leaky ReLU, incorporating an average pooling layer (APL), and integrating a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) Network. Since class imbalance was evident in the extracted features, the Synthetic Minority Oversampling Technique (SMOTE) was employed to balanced these features. The MobileNet-LSTM-SMOTE approach demonstrated strong performance, achieving a Kappa score of 98.6 percent and a 5-fold average Kappa score of 97.9 percent. Additionally, testing on an independent dataset confirmed the model's robustness and generalizability. We also conducted a comprehensive performance comparison, including statistical analysis, against five established models-MobileNet, Xception, ResNet50V2, VGG-19, and DenseNet121. The results underscore the efficacy of proposed method in overcoming the challenges of class imbalance and feature variability, offering a reliable solution for soil type classification. 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z