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ThesisItem Restricted POPULATION DYNAMICS OF MOSQUITO LARVAE INHABITING STANDING WATER BODIES IN RELATION TO PHYSICOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2013) DiptiMosquitoes breed in the aquatic systems which can either be man-made reservoirs or standing water bodies like ponds, swamps, marshes and paddy fields. These water bodies act as breeding grounds for mosquitoes, thus are responsible for the spread of mosquito borne diseases. So a survey was conducted to study the mosquito larvae population dynamics with an objective to find out their association with physico-chemical parameters of water in permanent and temporary standing water bodies. For this purpose water samples were collected at monthly intervals from four village ponds of Ludhiana district and paddy fields at PAU campus, Ludhiana. Mosquito larvae were enumerated from the different water samples and were identified under microscope with the help of standard morphological keys. Total mosquito larvae population i.e larval density (LD/L) and relative density of different types of mosquito larvae in terms of larval density index (LDI%) was calculated. Three types of mosquito larvae i.e Aedes, Anopheles and Culex were found and their LD was recorded to be maximum in rainy season at all the sampling sites. Culex was found to be the predominant type of larvae in water samples collected from all the ponds with percent LDI 62.7, 76.8, 56.6, and 87.6% respectively at Noorwala, Kasabad, Kaneja and Sujatwala villages as compared to other two genera of mosquito. Mosquito larvae population count was quite low in paddy fields as compared to village ponds. Estimation of different types of physical and chemical parameters from all the water samples collected from ponds and paddy fields revealed that mosquito larvae population was found to be positively correlated with temperature and alkalinity, while dissolved oxygen showed a negative association, other parameters tested were found to show non-significant correlation.ThesisItem Open Access STUDIES ON THE HABITAT, FEEDING AND BREEDING BIOLOGY OF BLACK KITE (Milvus migrans) IN AGROECOSYSTEM OF PUNJAB(Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2013) Sachin KumarAgricultural land use is an important driver of biodiversity loss in developing countries. It was found that farming is the current and likely to be the future threat to globally threatened and near threatened bird species. The Black Kite (Milvus migrans) is a medium sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. The present study deals with habitat, feeding and breeding biology of Black Kite (Milvus migrans) in agroecosystem of Punjab. It was undertaken from December 2010 to May 2012 in 12 transects having different type of vegetation. Observations were taken in morning and evening twice a week regarding their habitat, feeding and breeding biology. It was found that Black Kite uses different types of areas for different activities like feeding, foraging, roosting and breeding. The number of territorial pairs of Black Kites increased steadily during this study but it was difficult to say whether this was caused by a real population increase or a simple population fluctuation. Most of the time, they were found in areas near human habitation. Feeding was maximally observed on garbage dumps. The other types of feeding materials were earthworms, rodents, reptiles, flesh and small birds. Flocking was also observed throughout the study periods but the size of flock varied in different areas. Nesting was mainly observed on Silver Oak followed Sapt Parni and Eucalyptus trees. The average nesting height was observed to be between 14.95 meters to 16.60 meters. The incubation period was between 30 to 35 days. The numbers of young ones varied from 1 to 3 with most of the nests having 2 young ones. In conclusion it was found that Black Kite feed on refuse garbage dumps, breeds on comparatively tall trees and plays an important role in cleaning the environment.