The origin of cities can be traced back to the river valley civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus Valley and China. Initially these settlements were largely dependent upon agriculture; however, with the growth in population the city size increased and economic activity transformed to trading . The process of urbanization gained impetus with the Industrial Revolution 200 years ago and accelerated in the 1990s with globalization and consequent relaxation in market economy. (Guest Editorial)

Effluents of thermal power plants contain trace elements and heavy metals, needs remediation before discharging to the environment. Heavy metals tend to bioaccumulate in a biological organism, such as fish and thus enter the human food chain. Present study has been carried out to assess the contamination of water sources in Yellur and surrounding villages closer to a thermal power plant in Udupi district, Karnataka state.

The impact of protection on the ecology and ecosystem services of a fragmented sacred grove of Karnataka in agricultural landscape was studied. Comparative assessment of two time scale data revealed positive influence of protection on vegetation in term of species richness, diversity, endemism and basal area. An increment in above ground biomass indicates groves potential for carbon sequestration. Species level study on carbon storage finds the contribution of young individuals in recent time period.

Sacred groves are communally-protected forest fragments with significant religious connotations. These community lands attain significance due to biodiversity conservation and provide ecological services in