"Heavy metal contamination in and around the aquatic environs of Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur". University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, (1995).

Indo-Dutch training course on Aquatic Ecotoxicology (March 23- April 12, 1988) jointly conducted by the Govt. of Netherlands and Industrial Toxicology Research

1. Pesticide contamination in Nilgiri district with special reference to select     Avifauna

i) Conduct and supervise research in ecotoxicology, more particularly on heavy metal and pesticide contamination.

i) Member editorial board of the journal 'Ecotoxicology' published by Chapman & Hall, London, U.K since 1992.

ii) Recognized by Bharathiar University, Coimbatore as Supervisor to guide students leading to M.Phil and Ph.D

iii) Exposure to sophisticated analytical instruments, namely Atomic Absorption Spectrometer, Gas Chromatograph, UV-Vis Spectrometer and Microwave Digestion System.

1) Patuxent Wildlife Research Centre, U S Fish & Wildlife Service, Maryland, USA, on a Scientific exchange programme.

4) Delta Waterfowl and Wetland Research Centre, Portage La Prairie,
Manitoba, Canada.

5) International Wetland and waterfowl Research Bureau, Slimbridge, Glouster, U.K.

1) Muralidharan,S., A Reghupathy and T. Sundramoorthy.(1992) Organochlorine residues in the eggs of selected colonial water birds breeding at Keoladeo National park, Bharatpur, India. In Aquatic Ecosystems in Semi- Arid Regions: implications for Resource Management. R.D. Roberts and M.L. Bothwell (eds.) N.H.R.I Symposium Series 7. Environment Canada. Pp 189-195

2) Muralidharan,S (1993) Aldrin poisoning of Sarus Crane Grus Antigone and a few granivorous birds in Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur. Ecotoxicology 2:196-202.

3) Prakash Rao., and S.Muralidharan. (1989) Unusual feeding behaviour in the Adjutant Stork (Leptoptilos dubius Gmelin). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. Vol.86:97.

4) Prakash Rao, Robert B.Grubh, and S. Muralidharan. (1989) Range extension of Eurasian Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus). J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. Vol.86: 240.

5) Prakash Rao,. and S.Muralidharan. (1990) Weight of the Whitenecked Stork Ciconia ciconia. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.Vol.87: 139.

7) Muralidharan, S (1993) Environmental contamination and birds In Avian Conservation in India. Lalitha Vijayan (ed.) Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology &
Natural History and BirdLife International, 75-76.

8) Muralidharan S & S M Murugavel S M (1998). Levels of organochlorines in select ecological components in Nilgiri district. Seminar on Wildlife research in Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, 6th March 1998, Tamil Nadu Forest Department, Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary.

9). Muralidharan S (1993). Environmental contamination and Birds. Proc. of the Avian conservation workshop, Coimbatore, August 1993 (Ed. L Vijayan).

10) Muralidharan S (2000). Organochlorine Residues in the Waters of Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur. Bull. Environ. Contamn. Toxicol. (2000) 65: 35-41.

11) Muralidharan S. (1998) Organochlorine residues in the egg; Impact on bird populations. In:Manual of the training course on insecticide toxicology, 4-18 November 1998. Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Coimbatore.

12) Muralidharan S & P P Bakre (In press). Heavy metal contamination in a few species of waterfowl at Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur. Pan-Asian Ornithological congress organized by Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology & Natural History and BirdLife Asia Council, Coimbatore, 9-16 Nov. 1996.

13) Muralidharan S. (2000) Impact of pesticides on avifauna (2000) In:Manual of the summer school on Environmental Impact of Pesticides in Agroecosystem - Assessment and Abatement , 3-23 May 2000. Tamil Nadu Agrocultural University, Coimbatore.

14) Muralidharan S (2000) Impact of Pesticides on Avifauna , Proceedings of the summer school on ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF PESTICIDES IN AGRO-ECOSYSTEM (Eds)G. Santharam, R. Jayakumar, S.Kuttalam, S. Chandrasekaran and T.Manoharan. Dept. of Agricultural Entomology, TNAU, Coimbatore.

15) Muralidharan S (1998) Organochlorine residues in eggs: Impact on bird populations. In Training manual on the Insecticide toxicology: 1998. (Eds) K. Asafali, G. Santharam, S. Kuttalam, S. Chandrasekaran and K. Gunasekaran (Eds). Dept. of Agricultural Entomology, TNAU, Coimbatore.

Declining breeding populations of raptorial and piscivorous birds at specific locations and infrequent sightings or absence of insectivorous birds in various parts of India are being widely reported. Although information on the agents responsible for such population decline is not available barring a few cases, agricultural chemicals and industrial contaminants could be responsible to an extent. Farmers resort to application of chemical pesticides to handle the pests, encouraged by their easy availability and broad spectrum of effectiveness to kill the pests in short span of time. But they are by and large ignorant of the negative impact of such chemicals on birds and the ecosystem including themselves.

In India, although we have been experiencing various problems due to contaminants, very little work has been carried out to document the impacts quantitatively. Even information on 'background concentrations' for many of the problem chemicals are not available. It has been the practice among conservationists to relate ecological parameters for any imbalance in the ecosystem and the role of environmental contaminants is rarely assessed. SACON has launched an all India coordinated project to monitor environmental contami-nants affecting the Indian avifauna. I make this appeal to all those concerned to be watchful for any causality of birds and send the samples as per the methodology detailed below along with the information sheet to us at SACON. The help rendered by you will be acknowledged.

On locating a dead bird, bring it to your laboratory, cut it open from the ventral side, take out approximately 10 to 15 gram of sample from each organ, namely liver, kidney, flight muscle and stomach content, tarsus and wing bone, and transfer them separately to well cleaned, good quality polyethylene vials. Add formaldehyde (10%) sufficient enough to submerge the samples. Do not drain out formaldehyde once it is added. Break the scalp of the bird carefully from the dorsal side and scoop out the entire brain and preserve it as other samples. Label clearly all the vials with details such as name of the tissue and weight. It may be noted that brain is the most important tissue, which will give some clues if any chemical is responsible for the casualty. Further take out eight to ten feathers (primary and secondary), clean them thoroughly with tape water and detergent, air-dry them completely at the room temperature and pack in clean polyethylene bags. If your lab is equipped with a good analytical balance, please do weigh the tissue samples before adding formaldehyde. Make sure that formaldehyde does not spill or leak during transit. Along with the samples, also send about 20 ml of formaldehyde used for preservation in a separate vial for analytical purpose.

If it is inconvenient to you to dissect out the bird, you are welcome to send the bird as it is in an ice pack to SACON by any fast mode. Analyses of environmental contaminants are always very tricky and time consuming. Hence, please make sure that the samples do not get any external contamination during the process of dissection and preservation. For example, even traces of detergents from improperly cleaned vials may mislead the chemical analysis. While there are more effective methods for preservation and shipment, a method that will suit the field conditions has been chosen without compromising the quality of the analysis.

Make sure the samples carefully packed are sent to SACON at the earliest from the date of collection. If there is any delay, store them in a refrigerator in your laboratory till you dispatch. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require any assistance. The samples you send may give vital clues to save a species.