The present study deals with the species abundance, diversity and species richness of avian communities in the Bangalore University Campus (BUC), Bengaluru, India. One hundred and six species of birds belonging to 42 families under 68 genera were recorded. Shannon-Wiener's and Fisher's alpha diversities, species evenness, species richness of bird communities, number of bird species and percentage of population density of birds between various seasons in the BUC differed significantly between the study years. Of these bird species, the relative abundance (6.96 %) and species distribution ratio (0.070) of Psittacula krameri were highest, whereas relative abundance (0.04 %) and species distribution ratio (0.002) of Coracias benghalensis were lowest. The existing 32 species of flowering plants/trees belonging to 29 genera under 14 families in the campus are used for perching by birds. Moreover 29 species of flowering plants/trees belonging to 24 genera under 16 families depend on birds for pollination and/or seed dispersal. Occurrence of greater bird diversity and abundance of avian communities were recorded highest in the winter season in the BUC premises. In the different seasons, the BUC had varying community structure of birds between the study years. BUC suffers from numerous threats namely grass cutting, fire and grazing of domestic animals. Conservation methods needed for habitat management are restoration of vegetation and wetlands, and increase plant and tree diversity to protect the ecosystem of BUC habitat and to preserve its diversity of avifauna.

Background Biological synthesis of natural products from plants has made us an inspiring methodology in the field of science and biotechnology. Methods The methanolic extracts of Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don plant leaves (CrPLE) were extracted and characterized by utilizing the phytochemicals estimation, Thin-layer chromatography (TLC), and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analysis; and further evaluation for an understanding of the biomedical uses of CrPLE was done. Results The evaluation of the seven phytochemicals designates the presence of secondary metabolites in the CrPLE. The CrPLE (test samples) exhibited the Catechin and Caffeic acid contents of 0.0055 and 0.0149 mg/g respectively. The CrPLE revealed the highest antimicrobial activity and showed a mortal effect against the tested microorganisms. Cytotoxicity of the breast cancer cell lines was exposed that CrPLE as a respectable anticancer specialist and metabolically vigorous cells. Conclusion Consequently, the biological synthesized methanolic leaf extracts of the C. roseus plants would be appreciated and have incredible contributions to the field of medicinal applications. Graphical Abstract

Green synthesis has made us an exciting approach in the field of nanotechnology. Biogenic zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) were synthesized using leaf extracts of Calotropis gigantea (L.) Dryand. in the presence of zinc nitrate hexahydrate as a precursor molecule. ZnONPs were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis and further in understanding the biomedical applications of antimicrobial (minimum inhibitory concentration method) and anticancer (apoptosis assay) activities, cytology (flow cytometry) and cytotoxicity (% cell viability), deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fragmentation (reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)), and caspase assay (polymerase chain reactions (PCR)) studies. The morphology of nanoparticles was determined by SEM analysis. XRD pattern showed the value of highest peak of 36.15°with 101 plane region among the ten recorded peaks. FTIR spectrum indicated stretching vibration of O-H at 3441.77 cm −1 . The antibacterial activity of biogenic ZnO nanoparticles was studied against human pathogenic bacteria-Campylobacter jejuni ATCC 29428 and Neisseria gonorrhoeae ATCC 49226-and showed 50% zone of inhibition. A cytotoxic study against the breast cancer cell lines of MDAMB-231 revealed that the ZnONPs as a good anticancer agent could be sliced by all existing and metabolically active cells. Biosynthesized ZnONPs potentially alter the apoptotic protein expression and trigger apoptosis in the MDAMB-231 cells. Therefore, the biogenic ZnO nanoparticles would be useful and have the great potential in the field of biomedical applications.

Threats to waterbird communities on urban wetlands in the Bengaluru city, South India are poorly known. We calculated disturbance scores for 15 lakes along a gradient from low (LDL) to high (HDL) disturbance levels based on vegetation structure and composition. HDL had the highest threat scores and the lowest number of waterbird species whereas LDL supported the highest number of species. Human activities included commercial fishing and aquaculture, and shoreline development leading to habitat fragmentation and degradation. We discuss strategies for the conservation of urban wetlands and the preservation of waterbird diversity.

The present study was designed to note the birds occurring in the microhabitats of Bangalore University Campus, India. Birds were monitored and surveyed using line transect methods that were laid in different spots of the campus. Twenty-eight species were newly added to this campus premises, out of which 20 are waterbirds. Conservation methods needed for habitat improvement through restoration of ponds and water check-dams including vegetation.