Climate change and pest outbreaks are increasingly threatening conifer-dominated forests in Northern Europe, highlighting the need for greater species diversity to improve resilience. This study assessed early establishment success of six tree species: European aspen ( Populus tremula ), hybrid aspen ( P. tremula × P. tremuloides ), silver birch ( Betula pendula ), Norway spruce ( Picea abies ), Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris ), and hybrid poplar ( P. trichocarpa × P. maximowiczii ), across seven sites in southern Sweden. Sites were categorized as either forest land (continuous forest cover >100 years) or forested arable land (former arable land afforested with Norway spruce for 40–70 years). Over three years, we monitored survival, height, and diameter growth. All experimental sites were fenced to exclude browsing. Wood ash was applied to a subset of hybrid poplars to assess its effect on establishment in acidic soils. Our results showed that hybrid aspen, birch, and European aspen had high survival and growth on forest land. On forested arable land, untreated Norway spruce, Scots pine, and hybrid poplar showed low survival, likely due to competition from dense vegetation. However, ash-treated poplar improved survival to approximately 80% and showed strong growth on forested arable sites. Principal Component Analysis indicated overall higher establishment success on forest land for most species, whereas hybrid poplar performed similarly on forest and forested arable land when wood ash was applied. These findings underscore the importance of matching species to site conditions during early establishment and provide empirical evidence to inform species selection for forest regeneration under similar site conditions in southern Sweden. • Site type strongly influenced establishment success of broadleaved trees. • Hybrid aspen and silver birch had the highest survival and early growth on forest land. • Norway spruce and Scots pine performed poorly on forested arable land. • European aspen performed similarly at both site types, demonstrating flexibility. • Results highlight species-site matching for reforestation in southern Sweden.

Climate change and food policy interventions: Implications for the yield response of arable crops in Nigeria

Whilst mineral fertilisers are a reliable source of crop nutrients in conventional arable farming, their production is associated with significant environmental and economic challenges, including greenhouse gas emissions, price volatility, and nutrient leaching. Organo-mineral fertilisers (OMFs) have been proposed as a sustainable alternative, combining mineral nutrients with organic residues. This study investigated the potential of OMFs to supplement mineral fertiliser applications in arable farming across three field trials in England from 2022 to 2023. The trials examined the impact of an OMF derived from composted food waste added to potassium chloride and ammonium sulfate (8–3-3 + 19% SO 3 ) on soil nutrient dynamics, grain yield, and crop quality in spring barley ( Hordeum vulgare ) and oats ( Avena sativa ). The results indicated that OMF application increased soil sulphur levels at two sites, suggesting its potential as a sulphur source for cereal crops. However, grain nutrient concentrations showed minimal response to OMF treatments compared to mineral fertilisers, with only minor differences observed in phosphorus, sulphur, and zinc levels. Yield responses varied by site, with OMF application resulting in slight reductions in barley grain and nitrogen yields compared to mineral fertiliser, particularly at higher nitrogen application rates. The oat trial showed no significant fertiliser effects, likely due to high inherent soil fertility and potential nutrient leaching. These findings highlight that while OMFs can contribute to nutrient cycling and sustainable fertiliser management, their effectiveness depends on formulation, nutrient release patterns, and site-specific factors such as soil fertility and weather conditions. The quality and composition of organic feedstocks within OMFs are critical to ensuring optimal synchronisation of nutrient availability with crop requirements, supporting their role in integrated nutrient management programs. • OMF increased soil sulphur at two sites compared with mineral fertiliser. • Grain nutrient concentrations were largely unchanged by OMF across sites. • OMF reduced spring barley yield slightly, especially at higher nitrogen rates. • High soil fertility limited fertiliser responses in the oat trial. • OMF performance depended strongly on nutrient release and site conditions.

Cultivated meat for sustainable food security and environmental resilience

The growing global population and rising food demand have intensified arable land scarcity, posing serious challenges to agricultural sustainability. Marginal lands, a vast underutilized reserve of potential cropland totaling approximately 2.7 billion hectares globally, are ecologically fragile and less productive, yet hold great potential for expanding both food and energy production. This study reviews the global distribution and key characteristics of marginal land, with a focus on current sustainable utilization models. Key challenges such as soil degradation, contamination, and economic constraints are discussed. These issues can be mitigated by adopting innovative approaches, including the conversion of agricultural waste, the application of molecular breeding techniques, the deployment of smart agriculture empowered by AI-driven cultivation practices, and the use of advanced land engineering. Achieving this objective requires collaborative efforts between governments, stakeholders, and farmers. This study provides a theoretical framework and technical support for the sustainable development and use of marginal land.

Early life antioxidants predict first-migration survival in the White Storks (Ciconia ciconia).

Early life exposure to pesticides, in particular through pesticides drift in residents nearby agricultural crops, is suspected to increase testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) risk. We conducted a hospital-based case-control study of 472 TGCT cases and 683 matched controls aged 18-45 years in France and estimated adult TGCT risk associated with agricultural surfaces around residence as a surrogate for environmental exposure to agricultural pesticides at time of birth. Surface of arable lands, orchards and vineyards in 500 m buffer around the participants' residential address at birth was assessed using geographic information system (GIS) methods and software semi-automatic processing of historical aerial images. Odds ratios (OR) for TGCT (overall and by histological subtype) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using conditional logistic regression. No increased risk of TGCT was observed for presence of arable lands (OR = 1.14, CI = 0.86-1.52), vineyards (OR = 0.88, CI = 0.56-1.36) and agricultural surfaces overall (OR = 1.13, CI = 0.84-1.51) in 500 m buffer around residence at birth. Presence of orchards (prevalence: 8.7%) was associated with a modest increase in TGCT risk (OR = 1.51, 95% CI = 0.99-2.32), slightly stronger for seminoma (OR = 1.78, 1.07-2.97) and in participants conceived or in their first trimester after conception during spring-summer (OR = 1.70, 1.03-2.82). In conclusion, the study found no overall association between adult TGCT risk and agricultural crops around residence at birth, except for the presence of orchards, with a possible increase in seminoma risks, as well as TGCT risk in participants for whom the first trimester after conception fell into spring-summer.

Non-agricultural feedstocks for next-generation biomanufacturing with yeasts.

In-depth exploration into the multifaceted regulatory mechanisms of carotenoid metabolism in microalgae.

ABSTRACT The climate crisis intensifies existing security risks and vulnerabilities that can contribute to violent radicalisation and extremism in Kenya’s peripheral regions. Depletion of already-strained resources due to the climate crisis, including freshwater, arable land, and forests, has intensified existing governance deficits and local conflicts rooted in clan and ethnic rivalries. These pressures heighten intercommunal tensions and create conditions that violent extremist networks exploit for recruitment and mobilisation by amplifying grievance-based narratives. Drawing on findings from a preliminary review conducted in six peripheral counties in Kenya, this article examines the indirect linkages between climate stress and violent extremist recruitment. The review identifies five interconnected factors through which climate risks shape vulnerability: declining livelihoods, exploitation of community grievances, climate-induced migration, escalating resource conflicts, and the pursuit of legitimacy by violent extremist networks. Further, the findings highlight that development and peacebuilding initiatives in these climate-induced marginalised areas can strengthen community resilience to disasters and reduce susceptibility to violent extremism. The findings contribute to the broader fields of peacebuilding and development in areas where the climate crisis creates milieus for violent extremist networks to thrive.

A large-scale, longitudinal study on the epidemiology of Nosema (=Vairimorpha) ceranae and black queen cell virus (BQCV) in Apis mellifera colonies across the Italian agroecosystems.

Salinity, projected to impact over 50% of arable land by 2050, threatens tomato-a crop of major agronomic and nutritional value. While salt stress effects on tomato shoot and fruit traits are well studied, the genetic basis of root development under salinity remains underexplored. Roots are the primary sensors of salt stress, making them central to plant adaptation. To uncover the genetic regulators of root system architecture (RSA) under salt, we analyzed a natural diversity panel consisting of 220 wild- and 25 cultivated-tomato varieties. We identified distinct RSA strategies, favouring either lateral root elongation or emergence. An F1 hybrid with superior root architecture under salt stress was used to generate an F2 population for Bulk Segregant Analysis (BSA), and a parallel GWAS was performed across the diversity panel. Integrating BSA and GWAS results yielded 22 candidate genes. RNA-seq analysis of contrasting accessions prioritised four candidates, including an l-ascorbate peroxidase involved in ROS homoeostasis. Further functional analysis revealed genotype-specific H₂O₂ dynamics, and exogenous ascorbate improved K⁺ retention under salt. Together, these results uncover a genetic link between lateral root development, ROS signalling, and ion homoeostasis under salinity, offering new targets for engineering salt-resilient tomato.

Abstract Agricultural intensification on existing arable lands has been proposed to reduce deforestation in the Congo Basin, although the effects of intensification on soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have not yet been investigated. Here, we present the first field study to quantify the trade-offs between yield and GHG emissions across different intensification options in this region. We show that intercropping with nitrogen-fixing beans not only provided additional protein-rich food but also increased maize yields by 1.4-fold while leaving N 2 O emissions and the soil CH 4 sink unchanged compared to unfertilized maize. In contrast, a moderate mineral fertilizer application of 66 kg N ha −1 yr −1 doubled yields, but reduced the soil CH 4 sink strength, and increased N 2 O emissions fivefold to about 4 kg N 2 O-N ha −1 yr − 1 . These N 2 O emissions also exceeded those of natural forests by more than a factor of three, highlighting the GHG cost of mineral fertilizer use in addition to CO 2 emissions from soil organic carbon loss following land conversion. In sum, intercropping with nitrogen-fixing beans had the lowest yield-scaled GHG emissions and can help to address protein malnutrition in regions with limited access to mineral fertilizers or particularly high N 2 O emissions.

The research was conducted in 2024 at Iloffa and Ilorin, located within the Wet Savannah Ecological Region of Nigeria. The primary objective was to address climate change and production challenges associated with national insecurity by promoting cowpea as a major arable crop. Three spatial arrangements were evaluated on farmers' fields using a randomized block design: 1:2 and 2:4 maize-to-cowpea intercropping, as well as sole cowpea cultivation. Each arrangement was replicated three times, with consultative farmers' fields serving as replications in the on-farm adaptive trial. The results demonstrated that the number of days required for intercropped cowpea to reach 50% flowering was significantly (p≤0.05) reduced by the spatial arrangement. Sowing in 1:2 and 2:4 maize-to-cowpea mixtures reduced the days to 50% flowering to 56.29 and 55.77, respectively, which is advantageous given the short duration of the rainy season. A mean branch count of 9.2 was observed when maize and cowpea were sown in a 2:4 ratio, attributed to the wider strip separation between four rows of cowpea and two rows of maize, creating conditions similar to sole cropping. Sowing in a 2:4 maize-to-cowpea ratio also increased leaf area to an average of 9.42 cm². The highest grain yield, 1078.38, was recorded from the 2:4 maize-to-cowpea spatial arrangement. The land equivalent ratio of 1.75 indicated an 80% yield advantage for mixed culture compared to sole cropping of either component. These findings support the recommendation that farmers in the Wet Savannah zone adopt the maize and cowpea intercropping system.

ABSTRACT Southeast Asia's coffee sector is a vital contributor to regional economies, sustaining rural livelihoods and accounting for a significant share of agricultural exports. This review analyses coffee communities in Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines, focusing on the impacts of climate change and compounding stressors on production systems, as well as the adaptive strategies implemented by stakeholders. Rising temperatures, irregular rainfall patterns, and increased frequency of extreme weather events intensify risks for farmers, leading to reductions in both bean yields and overall quality. These challenges are compounded by structural vulnerabilities, including limited arable land, declining soil fertility, restricted financial resources, and reliance on outdated farming technologies, which undermine market competitiveness and impede long‐term community development. Despite these formidable challenges, Southeast Asia's coffee communities exhibit notable resilience through adaptive practices such as shade‐grown systems, intercropping, and improved farm management. The novelty of this review lies in identifying significant gaps in integrating long‐term climate adaptation strategies into national agricultural policies, which are essential for fostering resilience. Strengthening policy frameworks is critical for addressing climate‐related exposure while supporting sustainable coffee communities. Key recommendations include targeted policy interventions, broader adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, and enhanced value‐chain linkages. Furthermore, embedding climate adaptation within community‐based agricultural policies and expanding access to certification programmes will improve market opportunities for farmers. Overall, these findings underscore the importance of interdisciplinary research in informing these efforts, ensuring the sustainable development of the coffee sector, and addressing the specific risks faced by these communities while enhancing their resilience strategies.

The annual global food waste production is approximately 100 × 106 tons, and its landfill treatment contributes more than 30% of the carbon emissions of the agricultural food system. The greenhouse effect intensity of methane emissions is more than 80 times that of CO2 (carbon dioxide). To address this dilemma, this paper proposes an innovative intelligent decision-making system that integrates the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, and Life Cycle Assessment, aiming to optimize the synergistic benefits of reducing pollution and carbon emissions in the food waste energy pathway. The system comprises three modules: real-time perception of multi-source data, intelligent path decision-making driven by DRL (deep reinforcement learning), and dual-objective optimization of resource and climate. It has a 15-min resolution and second-level decision response capabilities, can dynamically match waste characteristics with the optimal treatment path, and integrate a real-time feedback loop of carbon footprint. By deploying a distributed sensor network to collect waste composition, humidity, and generation data in real time, and combining image recognition technology to achieve accurate classification monitoring (accuracy ≥ 95%). The system uses an intelligent path decision engine based on DRL. In terms of resource-climate benefit optimization, it constructs a multi-objective planning model, where carbon emission minimization and energy output maximization serve as dual constraints, and outputs a Pareto optimal solution set. In the empirical study, 12 Chinese cities covering different climate zones are selected for empirical deployment for 18 months. The system demonstrates excellent regional adaptability, adjusting the optimal strategy based on the composition of waste, climate, and policy. In the high-humidity area of the Yangtze River Delta, the biogas yield increases by 18%, and the Chengdu–Chongqing region alleviates the pressure on arable land through feed technology. The system significantly improves processing efficiency in the pilot cities, increasing the proportion of anaerobic digestion technology to 78%, reducing carbon emissions by 1.2 tons of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e) per ton compared to traditional landfills, and achieving an energy density of 18.5 MJ/m3 in the generated biogas. By converting 30% of food waste into feed technology, the demand for corn-soybean feed can be reduced by 4.8 × 106 hectares of arable land, equivalent to a 9.3% reduction in import dependence. The system provides an expandable tool chain for constructing “zero waste cities” around the world, which is expected to reduce carbon emissions from the global agricultural food system.

ABSTRACTThere are high expectations that agricultural practices can mitigate climate change and improve soil health by increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. However, existing large scale SOC monitoring treats agricultural management as a black box, meaning that observed patterns and trends cannot inform on the option space of agricultural practices to improve or deteriorate SOC stocks. Here, we combine for the first time management data from large scale systematic farm surveys (n = 248,362 farms) and representative soil monitoring data (n = 8834 locations) to quantify the impact of agricultural practices on three SOC metrics across all pedoclimatic zones of Europe (EU + UK): stocks, stocks relative to pedoclimatic benchmarks, and yearly change in SOC concentration. Our findings show that in arable and tree crops, but not in grasslands, management intensity is a significant contributor to SOC loss, with impact varying by soil and climate region. However, we also observed that several practices (e.g., high share of manure, organic management, and a high proportion of leys in crop rotation) demonstrated potential for increasing SOC stocks. Under a scenario where all agricultural land in Europe would be managed as that of the 10% most optimally managed farms in terms of SOC benefit, SOC stocks would increase by 1.58 Pg C across Europe (95% CI: 1.27–1.89 Pg C). Whereas under a scenario where farms are managed as the 10% least optimally managed farms, SOC would decrease by −0.92 Pg C (−1.15 to −0.68 Pg C). However, it is important to note that these estimates reflect steady‐state SOC stocks only (i.e., they do not represent the transient build‐up or loss over time, or interactions with a changing climate). This paper thus quantifies how agricultural practices influence patterns in SOC stocks at the continental scale, identifying leverage points for site‐specific policies to improve SOC stocks.

The agroecological transition offer opportunities to reduce agriculture's environmental impacts by reducing reliance on synthetic fertilisers and pesticides. Crop diversification, in both time and space, is a key strategy including extended crop rotations, intercropping, and cover crops. Yet, relationships between reduced input use and associated environmental impacts remain insufficiently quantified. We assessed the environmental performance of six innovative low-input cropping systems that used cover crops, cultivar mixture and intercropping in term of nitrogen fertiliser and pesticide use, as well as nitrate and pesticide losses. From 2010 to 2016, cropping systems were monitored for input use and drainage water was collected with tension plate lysimeters at 1 m depth. Nitrate and up to 44 pesticide compounds were analysed annually. Nitrogen fertiliser application varied across systems, with more diversified systems applying less thanks to legumes. Pesticide use remained similar among systems but reduced by over 50% compared to conventional rates. Cover crops played a key role in reducing pollution. Nitrate leaching reduced by 42–56% in systems with cover crops. More originally, pesticide leaching decreased by 53–82% for these systems with S-metolachlor representing more than 50% of the quantity of pesticide losses. These results demonstrate that diversifying cropping systems, particularly through cover cropping, can reduce agriculture's environmental footprint greatly. When combined with reducing input use, such strategies provide a promising pathway towards more sustainable and resilient farming systems, with clear benefits for water quality and agroecosystem functioning. • Six low-input diversified arable cropping systems were tested for six years. • Nitrate and pesticide leaching were collected over the six years of monitoring. • Cover crops cut nitrate leaching by 42–56% under field conditions. • First evidence that cover crops reduce pesticide leaching by 53–82%. • S-metolachlor loss is the main driver of the pesticide leaching pattern observed.

The National Land Use Inventory (IUTI), implemented by the Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea Protection (now Ministry of Environment and Energy Security), is the main information source of the National Registry for forest Carbon Sinks. Over time, it has proven to be a valuable tool for investigating land use dynamics, even in its 1% subsample, statistically valid for many applications. This paper presents the evolution of the IUTI sampling system and analyzes land-use changes in Italy over the past 30 years, from 1990 to the 2022 update, carried out as part of the GeoSciencesIR Project. The emerging trends are consistent with those highlighted in the 1990-2008 land-use analysis and with the dynamics observed in European and Mediterranean contexts. The main trends highlighted: (i) a significant reduction in Arable land and other herbaceous crops, from 11.4 to 9.6 million ha, with a smaller contraction than in the first period. This land-use class was dominant in Italy until a few years ago; as of 2022, it has been surpassed in extent by woodland. The main cause of reduction is linked to the expansion of urbanized areas in the plains and the progressive recolonization of abandoned farmland by forest in hilly and mountainous areas. (ii) A significant reduction in Grasslands, pastures, and uncultivated land, from 2.1 to 1.7 million ha, mainly due to natural recolonization by woodland. This dynamic could lead to the progressive reduction in semi-natural areas in the future, with all the ensuing environmental and landscape implications. (iii) A considerable expansion in woodland, particularly in hilly and mountainous areas, from 9.1 to 9.9 million ha, becoming the dominant land use class. This expansion, with a lower rate in the second period (2008-2022), is mainly due to the natural evolution of “other wooded lands” and the recolonization of abandoned farmland and disused pastures, largely driven by the ongoing depopulation of mountainous areas. (iv) The progressive expansion of urbanized areas, from 1.6 to 2.3 million ha, especially in the lowland belt, mainly driven by urban sprawl, which still shows steady growth in Italy. Despite the many benefits brought by forest expansion, this spontaneous recolonization is contributing to the loss of cultural landscapes linked to agro-pastoral practices, as well as to the progressive reduction of open spaces and to the homogenization of the land. All these issues raise important questions in the definition of land-use planning strategies. In this regard, IUTI has proven to be a reliable information source for the analysis of land use dynamics, providing a solid reference for surveys at different scales.

China faces the perennial challenge of ensuring food security due to its vast population and limited arable land. Against this backdrop, curbing uncontrolled non-grain use of cultivated land has become a critical policy concern. Although existing studies have examined the spatiotemporal patterns of non-grain conversion, the intrinsic temporal-spatial linkages and interactive driving mechanisms remain poorly understood. To address this gap, this study conducts a county-level analysis in Henan Province from 2012 to 2022, integrating spatiotemporal variance analysis, spatial autocorrelation modeling, and geographical detector techniques. The findings reveal that: (1) the non-grain conversion rate followed a U-shaped trend, declining initially before rising again, with marked regional disparities and pronounced clustering in the southwest and central regions; (2) temporal factors outweighed spatial heterogeneity in driving changes, with socioeconomic variables-particularly population density-emerging as the dominant influence; and (3) the interaction between population density and GDP exhibited the strongest explanatory power, underscoring the compounding effects of socioeconomic drivers. Based on these insights, the study proposes tailored policy measures to mitigate excessive non-grain expansion and safeguard sustainable grain production. It also contributes a novel spatiotemporal-mechanism analytical framework applicable to similar regional contexts.