Ecological Damage Research Articles

Driving mechanisms for the adaptation and degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons by native microbiota from seas prone to oil spills

Offshore waters have a high incidence of oil pollution, which poses an elevated risk of ecological damage. The microbial community composition and metabolic mechanisms influenced by petroleum hydrocarbons vary across different marine regions. However, research on metabolic strategies for in-situ petroleum degradation and pollution adaptation remains in its nascent stages. This study combines metagenomic techniques with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. The data show that the genera Pseudoalteromonas, Hellea, Lentisphaera, and Polaribacter exhibit significant oil-degradation capacity, and that the exertion of their degradation capacity is correlated with nutrient and oil pollution stimuli. Furthermore, tmoA, badA, phdF, nahAc, and fadA were found to be the key genes involved in the degradation of benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and their intermediates. Key genes (INSR, SLC2A1, and ORC1) regulate microbial adaptation to oil-contaminated seawater, activating oil degradation processes. This process enhances the biological activity of microbial communities and accounts for the geographical variation in their compositional structure. Our results enrich the gene pool for oil pollution adaptation and degradation and provide an application basis for optimizing bioremediation intervention strategies.

From Copra Sequestration to Outboard Engine Trawling: Changes in the Carbon Footprint of Ontong Java Atoll, Solomon Islands

ABSTRACT The colonial economy of Ontong Java Atoll, Solomon Islands, was centred on the sale of sun-dried copra. Atoll livelihoods depended on the ‘solar income’ freely available for growing coconuts and drying copra, and for sailing the outrigger canoes used for transport and fishing. The population retained self-sufficiency through its renewable resources of taro, coconut, and fish, enabling it also to sequester significant amounts of carbon in the form of coconuts. Ontong Java livelihoods were transformed in the 1970s by a boom in selling bêche-de-mer (holothurians, sea cucumbers) to Chinese markets in Southeast Asia. The resulting influx of money allowed more food and fuel to be imported and led to a massive increase in the atoll’s carbon footprint, as quantified in this article. The people’s eagerness to adopt the new ‘energy slaves’ of fibreglass canoes, outboard engines, and petrol reduced their self-sufficiency. These changes caused physical and ecological damage to marine ecosystems and also to the woodlands that provide fuel wood. The atoll’s economy is now more energy intensive and less sustainable, both unintended side effects of its fossil-fuel-based ‘energy slavery’. The very existence of atolls is now under threat because of climate change and sea-level rise, despite their total contribution to greenhouse gas emissions being both recent and miniscule.

Deep Learning for Flash Drought Detection: A Case Study in Northeastern Brazil

Flash droughts (FDs) pose significant challenges for accurate detection due to their short duration. Conventional drought monitoring methods have difficultly capturing this rapidly intensifying phenomenon accurately. Machine learning models are increasingly useful for detecting droughts after training the models with data. Northeastern Brazil (NEB) has been a hot spot for FD events with significant ecological damage in recent years. This research introduces a novel 2D convolutional neural network (CNN) designed to identify spatial FDs in historical simulations based on multiple environmental factors and thresholds as inputs. Our model, trained with hydro-climatic data, provides a probabilistic drought detection map across northeastern Brazil (NEB) in 2012 as its output. Additionally, we examine future changes in FDs using the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) driven by outputs from Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) under the SSP5-8.5 scenario of 2024–2050. Our results demonstrate that the proposed spatial FD-detecting model based on 2D CNN architecture and the methodology for robust learning show promise for regional comprehensive FD monitoring. Finally, considerable spatial variability of FDs across NEB was observed during 2012 and 2024–2050, which was particularly evident in the São Francisco River Basin. This research significantly contributes to advancing our understanding of flash droughts, offering critical insights for informed water resource management and bolstering resilience against the impacts of flash droughts.

Revisiting the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis in the context of renewable and non-renewable energy in China

This research paper attempts to determine the effect of fossil fuel, renewable energy, and economic growth on carbon dioxide emissions and revisits China's Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. The time series analysis will be performed for the years 1990 to 2020. To begin, Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) and Phillips Perron (PP) tests will be performed to verify the series' stationarity. Second, the cointegration test will be utilized to determine the validity of a cointegration vector before performing the Fully Modified Least Square approach to conduct long- and short-term estimation. The empirical analysis illustrates that renewable energy negatively and significantly affects short- and long-run carbon dioxide emissions. However, fossil fuel consumption only positively and significantly affects carbon dioxide emissions in the short run. The empirical evidence supports the Environment Kuznets Curve's hypothesis in China. Fossil fuel consumption has a considerably higher effect on carbon dioxide emissions than renewable energy. To avoid ecological damage in China, authorities must pay more consideration to encouraging the use of energy from renewable sources. This demonstrates that China's overall environmental performance first deteriorates before gradually improving with economic growth.

Poprawa zdolności sorpcyjnej i zastosowania biosorbentu poprzez immobilizację

The water contamination by toxic metal ions is a worldwide environmental problem. High concentrations are hazardous for all living organisms, causing many disorders and diseases and ecological damages to the surroundings. Biosorption is an innovative technology that employs inactive and dead biomass (bacteria, fungi, algae, biowaste) for the recovery of metals from aqueous solutions. Sulphate-reducing bacteria utilization is one of the options how to prepare applicable sorbent which removes metal ions from water. This material is created as a consequence of bacteria metabolism in anaerobic environment. The use of freely suspended biomass is often impractical and has some disadvantages. In contrast to this, application of immobilized biomass shows more benefits including increased mechanical strength, resistance to chemical environment, easy separation of cells and effluents, high biomass performance and repeated use in many adsorption/desorption cycles. Cell entrapment is the most widely used method for immobilization. In this technique, the cells are enclosed in a polymeric matrix which is porous enough to allow diffusion of substrate to the cells. The aim of this work was to examine and compare the sorption ability of biogenic iron sulphides created by sulphate-reducing bacteria in “free” and “entrapped” form. Precipitates were synthesized in reagent bottles with bacteria culture and growth media Postgate C, at 30 °C during 60 days, subsequently dried and analysed. Prepared samples were immobilized using sodium alginate. Sorption of cadmium from model solutions was realized in 100 ml Erlenmeyer flasks, with sorbent dose 1 g/l, during 24 hours. During experiments, the samples showed a satisfying stability and maximum adsorption capacity achieved 38 mg/g. The results refer to good sorption properties of immobilized samples and their potential for further practical use.

Application of 3D fluorescence spectroscopy and a convolutional neural network for oil emulsion species identification

Increased pollution from oil emulsions may cause serious ecological damage. The development of a fast and effective emulsified oil species identification method plays a crucial role in dealing with oil spills on the sea surface. Because of this, this paper proposes an emulsified oil species category identification method based on 3D fluorescence spectroscopy and CNN. First, the 3D fluorescence spectra of emulsified oil were measured by an FLS1000 steady-state fluorescence spectrometer, and their fluorescence characteristics were analyzed in depth. Second, the 3D fluorescence spectral data of emulsified oil was extended using a conditional variational autoencoder (CVAE), and the spectral features were extracted using a pre-trained ResNet50. Finally, the spectral features extracted by ResNet50 were used as inputs to the hunter-prey optimized support vector machine (HPO-SVM), and the results show that the recognition accuracy of this method is 97 %, which is better than other classification models.

Simplified fish larval supply in coastal areas after a dam burst in Brazil

Coastal and estuarine systems play an important role in the maintenance of marine biodiversity, providing nursery, feeding, developmental and reproductive areas for terrestrial and aquatic species. The Fundão dam collapse is considered one of the biggest environmental disasters in Brazil, causing great social, economic and ecological damage in the affected areas. In our study, we used beta diversity and its components as a tool to monitor the spatio-temporal variation of fish larvae in four marine areas adjacent to the Doce River. The results show that the four areas undergo different spatio-temporal dynamics, with the composition of fish larvae in the Doce being simplified in the last years after the dam burst, compared to the other adjacent marine areas. In addition, turbidity is an important factor that has caused the homogenization of the larval composition of the Doce, demonstrating that mud resuspension events can cause a decrease in diversity and also suggesting the toxicity of the mud composition. The change from negative to positive additive and colonizing components in recent years suggests a slight recovery of diversity in the Doce compared to other marine areas. Finally, we have shown that some species may be tolerant to the impact, but with probable behavioral, energetic and physiological costs, which justifies the constant monitoring of these areas.

The gap between ecological violence and social injustice from mining industries in post-conflict West Aceh

This study examines the role of the mining industry in promoting positive peace in post-onflict West Aceh, using qualitative content analysis of secondary data sources such as media and documentation. The findings reveal a significant gap between the current trajectory of the mining sector and aspirations for long-term peace. While the mining industry has transformative potential, its progress is marred by ecological damage and social injustices, particularly conflicts between local communities and mining companies over land tenure and environmental impacts. This study proposes a socially inclusive approach to mining development that balances economic benefits with sustainable peacebuilding. Key recommendations include stronger environmental regulations, increased community participation in all phases of mining projects, and robust conflict resolution mechanisms. This study is limited by its reliance on secondary data, which may not fully capture local nuances and may be biased by media sources. Further research with primary data collection is recommended to validate and extend these findings.

Emerging Rare Earth Element Separation Technologies

Rare earth elements are essential for numerous clean energy applications, yet their mining, separation, and processing pose significant environmental challenges. Traditional separation processes often result in ecological damage, highlighting the critical need for innovative techniques that reduce environmental impacts. This article reviews recent advancements in rare earth separation technologies, with a particular focus on the role of neutral organic compounds. It explores how these compounds change selectivity across the rare earth series, offering promising strategies for designing more effective rare earth element separation systems. Furthermore, the article points out research areas requiring additional investigation to improve the sustainability of these critical processes.

Ecological disturbance alters the adaptive benefits of social ties.

Extreme weather events radically alter ecosystems. When ecological damage persists, selective pressures on individuals can change, leading to phenotypic adjustments. For group-living animals, social relationships may be a mechanism enabling adaptation to ecosystem disturbance. Yet whether such events alter selection on sociality and whether group-living animals can, as a result, adaptively change their social relationships remain untested. We leveraged 10 years of data collected on rhesus macaques before and after a category 4 hurricane caused persistent deforestation, exacerbating monkeys' exposure to intense heat. In response, macaques demonstrated persistently increased tolerance and decreased aggression toward other monkeys, facilitating access to scarce shade critical for thermoregulation. Social tolerance predicted individual survival after the hurricane, but not before it, revealing a shift in the adaptive function of sociality.

Exploration on the Legal Application of Punitive Damage System for Tort of Ecological Environment Damage–Taking Article 1232 of the Civil Code as an Entry Point

The rule of law for the ecological environment is in rapid development, and article 1232 of the Civil Code establishes the system of punitive damages applicable to the ecological environment, which is a significant development of China’s environmental tort liability system. However, the basis for the construction of the system of punitive damages and the ambiguity of the legal provisions themselves bring uncertainty in the application of the law. From the legislative purpose, the background of the legal system for a deep understanding of the function and characteristics of the punitive damages system, and then clarify the basis of the right to claim the qualification of the subject of the application. Through the existing legal provisions and empirical statistical data, the contradictions of the ecological environment infringement compensation system are solved, and the gap in the calculation standard of punitive damages is made up. Finally, from the liability system as a whole, to promote the ecological environment damage tort liability into the overall liability system to consider, in order to realize the punitive damages system responsibility for comprehensive, rationalization of the system to provide the basis.

Extraterritorial application of China’s Marine Environmental Protection Law: Towards effective marine environmental protection enforcement

In 2023, China’s Marine Environmental Protection Law was secondly revised, in which the extraterritorial provisions in marine environmental protection were evolved and highlighted. Through enforcing the extraterritorial provisions, it is possible for China to pay attention and control marine pollution or ecological damage that occurs beyond the territory and safeguard the national marine environment. However, China has not carried out any enforcement practices based on the extraterritorial provisions of the Marine Environmental Protection Law. As a responsible participant in marine environment governance and driven by the need to address marine environmental threats posed by foreign countries, China has a sufficient rationale for introducing extraterritorial enforcement in marine environment protection from a broader perspective. However, given that extraterritorial enforcement in the marine environmental protection field is not adopted universally, China’s future extraterritorial enforcement activities will face risks of excessive use, and a series of dilemmas may inevitably arise during the enforcement practices. Analyzing the potential dilemmas of China’s extraterritorial enforcement in marine environment protection, corresponding suggestions are provided to avert excessive extraterritorial enforcement and promote the effectiveness of extraterritorial enforcement activities to protect essential national marine environmental interests.

Review of Methods for Obtaining Rare Earth Elements from Recycling and Their Impact on the Environment and Human Health

Rare earth elements (REEs) are at the forefront of discussions, given their crucial role in cutting-edge and eco-friendly innovations that propel the industrial revolution towards a green economy. These elements have become indispensable to various modern technologies, such as smartphones, electronic devices, and renewable energy sources. Many different concepts and analyses have been introduced, such as the chemical similarities among REEs, health risks and ecological damages, the negative environmental impacts of current recovery processes, and strategies for advancing REE recovery towards a circular economy. Although these elements have been widely used in various applications over the last 20 years, the literature on these aspects is fragmented and spread across different research areas, shared by multiple branches and application fields. These fields include safety concerns, economic challenges, and technology. Summarizing and classifying this literature is challenging due to its fragmented nature, the variety of topics, and the different approaches used. The quest for cleaner recycling strategies necessitates a comprehensive assessment covering economic, technological, and environmental aspects. The primary goal of this review is to provide a holistic perspective on REEs, with a central focus on their economic, technological, and environmental dimensions, particularly emphasizing reuse, recycling, and occupational safety. The review begins by addressing complexities of REEs, highlighting the associated technologies, environmental concerns, and economic considerations. It further explores the aspects of reuse and recycling of REEs, shedding light on the advantages, drawbacks, hazards, and costs associated with recycling technologies for REE recovery. Additionally, the review summarizes occupational exposure and safety considerations related to REEs.

LUFFD-YOLO: A Lightweight Model for UAV Remote Sensing Forest Fire Detection Based on Attention Mechanism and Multi-Level Feature Fusion

The timely and precise detection of forest fires is critical for halting the spread of wildfires and minimizing ecological and economic damage. However, the large variation in target size and the complexity of the background in UAV remote sensing images increase the difficulty of real-time forest fire detection. To address this challenge, this study proposes a lightweight YOLO model for UAV remote sensing forest fire detection (LUFFD-YOLO) based on attention mechanism and multi-level feature fusion techniques: (1) GhostNetV2 was employed to enhance the conventional convolution in YOLOv8n for decreasing the number of parameters in the model; (2) a plug-and-play enhanced small-object forest fire detection C2f (ESDC2f) structure was proposed to enhance the detection capability for small forest fires; (3) an innovative hierarchical feature-integrated C2f (HFIC2f) structure was proposed to improve the model’s ability to extract information from complex backgrounds and the capability of feature fusion. The LUFFD-YOLO model surpasses the YOLOv8n, achieving a 5.1% enhancement in mAP and a 13% reduction in parameter count and obtaining desirable generalization on different datasets, indicating a good balance between high accuracy and model efficiency. This work would provide significant technical support for real-time forest fire detection using UAV remote-sensing images.

Solar-heating superhydrophobic sponge based on size-controllable polydopamine nanoparticles for fast crude oil recovery and photothermal deicing

In the wake of recurring oil spills causing devastating environmental and ecological damage, there is an urgent need for efficient oil spill remediation strategies. Conventional absorbents are often ineffective in harsh environments and struggle with the recovery of high-viscosity crude oil at room temperature. Although photothermal absorbents can greatly improve the fluidity of crude oil, their practical applications are still limited due to complicated preparation processes, hazardous fluorinated reagents, and secondary pollution. This study introduces a facile, one-step dip-coating method to develop a photothermal superhydrophobic melamine sponge (MS), incorporating a fluorine-free suspension of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), siloxane-containing acrylate copolymers (SAC), and polydopamine nanoparticles (PDA NPs). The resulting PDMS/SAC-PDA@MS shows an exceptional water contact angle (WCA) and significant self-cleaning abilities due to its superhydrophobicity. With superior mechanical and chemical durability, the sponge achieves remarkable oil absorption (up to 102.6 times its weight) and efficient oil/water separation. Crucially, under solar irradiation, the sponge’s surface temperature reaches 87.6 °C, effectively reducing oil viscosity and enabling rapid cleanup of oil spills and active deicing. This study presents a green, economical approach to synthesizing photothermal superhydrophobic adsorbents with potential applications in environmental cleanup and active deicing.

Conceptual Model for Integrated Meso-Scale Fire Risk Assessment in the Coastal Catchments in Croatia

Various factors influence wildfire probability, including land use/land cover (LULC), fuel types, and their moisture content, meteorological conditions, and terrain characteristics. The Adriatic Sea coastal area in Croatia has a long record of devastating wildfires that have caused severe ecological and economic damages as well as the loss of human lives. Assessing the conditions favorable for wildfires and the possible damages are crucial in fire risk management. Adriatic settlements and ecosystems are highly vulnerable, especially during summer, when the pressure from tourist migration is the highest. However, available fire risk models designed to fit the macro-scale level of assessment cannot provide information detailed enough to meet the decision-making conditions at the local level. This paper describes a model designed to assess wildfire risks at the meso-scale, focusing on environmental and anthropogenic descriptors derived from moderate- to high-resolution remote sensing data (Sentinel-2), Copernicus Land Monitoring Service datasets, and other open sources. Risk indices were integrated using the multi-criteria decision analysis method, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), in a GIS environment. The model was tested in three coastal catchments, each having recently experienced severe fire events. The approach successfully identified zones at risk and the level of risk, depending on the various environmental and anthropogenic conditions.

The Potential of Recycling and Reusing Waste Materials in Underground Construction: A Review of Sustainable Practices and Challenges

Underground infrastructure projects pose significant environmental risks due to resource consumption, ground stability issues, and potential ecological damage. This review explores sustainable practices for mitigating these impacts throughout the lifecycle of underground construction projects, focusing on recycling and reusing excavated tunnel materials. This review systematically analyzed a wide array of sustainable practices, including on-site reuse of excavated tunnel material as backfill, grouting, soil conditioning, and concrete production. Off-site reuses explored are road bases, refilling works, value-added materials, like aggregates and construction products, vegetation reclamation, and landscaping. Opportunities to recover and repurpose tunnel components like temporary support structures, known as “false linings”, are also reviewed. Furthermore, the potential for utilizing industrial and construction wastes in underground works are explored, such as for thermal insulation, fire protection, grouting, and tunnel lining. Incorporating green materials and energy-efficient methods in areas like grouting, lighting, and lining are also discussed. Through comprehensive analysis of numerous case studies, this review demonstrates that with optimized planning, treatment techniques, and end-use selection informed by material characterization, sustainable practices can significantly reduce the environmental footprint of underground infrastructure. However, certain approaches require further refinement and standardization, particularly in areas like the consistent assessment of recycled material properties and the development of standardized guidelines for their use in various applications. These practices contribute to broader sustainability goals by reducing resource consumption, minimizing waste generation, and promoting the use of recycled and green materials. Achieving coordinated multi-stakeholder adoption, including collaboration between contractors, suppliers, regulatory bodies, and research institutions, is crucial for maximizing the impact of these practices and accelerating the transition towards a more sustainable underground construction industry.

A novel ratiometric formaldehyde fluorescent probe for applications in environmental, food, and biological systems

Formaldehyde (FA) is a toxic, irritating, colorless gas molecule widely used in food preservation, construction, paint, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. However, FA may enter the air, water and soil during its release, causing ecological damage and jeopardizing human health. Therefore, it is significant to seek a simple and effective assay for detecting FA in environment, food, and biological systems. Here, we designed and synthesized a novel phenothiazine-based fluorescent probe, JD-1, which exhibits ratiometric emission responses to FA at 400 nm and 505 nm. In addition, a solid sensor prepared by loading the probe JD-1 onto filter paper successfully achieved visual detection of liquid and gaseous FA. Notably, to further investigate the application scenarios of probe JD-1 in the detection of FA, we also prepared electrostatically spun fiber membranes by mixing probe JD-1 with PVDF-HFP, which were successfully used for the selective detection of FA. And the probe JD-1 possessed excellent stability in the detection of FA in real food samples, soil, live cells and zebrafish. Thus, this probe provides an attractive assay for the detection of FA in environment food, biological systems.

Environmental DNA assays for Laricobius beetles (Coleoptera: Derodontidae), biocontrol agents of the hemlock woolly adelgid in North America.

The hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelges tsugae Annand (Hemiptera: Adelgidae), is an invasive pest causing significant ecological and economic damage to certain hemlock tree (Tsuga (Endlicher) Carrière, Pinales:Pinaceae) species. In response to this invasive threat, biological control strategies have been implemented, introducing natural predators such as Laricobius nigrinus Fender (Coleoptera: Derodontidae) and, more recently, Laricobius osakensis Montgomery and Shiyake (Coleoptera: Derodontidae), as specialist predators against A. tsugae. However, the genetic and morphological similarities between L. osakensis and both L. nigrinus and the native beetle, Laricobius rubidus LeConte (Coleoptera: Derodontidae), pose challenges in their identification. Effective monitoring of released predators is integral to evaluating the success of biological control measures. Environmental DNA (eDNA) holds potential for various detection applications, including species monitoring. In this study, we developed specific primers and probes targeting the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 gene sequences, achieving high specificity despite their 95% sequence similarity. With an optimal annealing temperature of 60 °C, our tools effectively differentiated L. osakensis from the other 2 beetles and demonstrated eDNA detection sensitivity down to 2 copies/µl. This research underscores the potential of precise molecular tools for advancing biological control and biodiversity assessment against invasive threats like A. tsugae.

Stackelberg game based optimal water allocation from the perspective of energy-water nexus: A case study of Minjiang River, China

Energy and water are interdependent. Water is essential for energy production, and energy is indispensable for water processes. This paper develops a Stackelberg game based bi-level multi-objective model for optimal water allocation under uncertainties from an energy-water nexus perspective, which considers energy-related water consumption and water-related energy production. It handles the hierarchical decision-making problem between the river basin authority and the subareas, as well as the tradeoffs between social equality and ecological damage. The upper level of the model makes schemes on water allocation for multiple subareas, and the lower level decides on water allocation for different types of power generation. To generate reasonable and practical strategies for water allocation, ɛ-constraint method and KKT conditions are used. A case study of Minjiang River, China is given to demonstrate the applicability and practicality. Scenarios analysis is also conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the model and the effects of the control parameter changes. The results indicate that the river basin authority would allocate larger water resources to the subareas with higher energy demand. It is concluded that the proposed allocation method is advantageous to the subareas with higher water utilization efficiency. The proposed bi-level model demonstrates its reasonableness and superiority to the single-level model. Policy implications are finally provided to support the sustainable development of energy-water nexus.