Ecosystem Disturbance Research Articles

МОНИТОРИНГ БИОРАЗНООБРАЗИЯ ЕЛЬНИКОВ ЕВРОПЕЙСКОЙ ЧАСТИ РОССИИ ПОСЛЕ ПРИРОДНЫХ И АНТРОПОГЕННЫХ «КАТАСТРОФ»

We analyzed the main trends of the change in the species richness of plant communities after catastrophic natural (catastrophicwindthrow, fires, large bark beetle outbreaks) and anthropogenic (clear felling) disturbances. The main factor determining the increase in species richness was the intensity of ecosystem disturbance after ca- tastrophes. The greatest disturbance was caused by clear-cut logging, when all timber was removed from the felling area by tractors. Fires also could totally destroy stands and all components of the forest ecosystem. Large- scale wind damage affected only the trees of the upper layer, while all other components of the plant communities were slightly damaged. The bark beetle outbreaks cause the death only of upper layer spruce trees, while the whole forest ecosystem remains unchanged. The degree of disturbance of stands, undergrowth, herb-dwarf scrubs layer, moss cover, litter and soil during the dieback of spruce forests as a result of ‘catastrophes’ determines the degree of vegetation recovery in disturbed areas. We studied the spruce forest in the zone of coniferous-broadleaved forests of the Moscow region, affected by an outbreak of typograph bark beetle.Dynamics of understory plant species richness was fundamentally different after stand salvage logging following beetle outbreaks and in unlogged standswith preserved deadwood. Monitor- ing observations of plant communities during 10 years on permanent sample plots revealed the main feature of the plant species succession after clear felling. For the first six years succession passed through the herb and the shrub stages with a sharp increase in species and structural diversity of plant communities. Only in the forest stage the species composition characteristic of the forest was restored. In the deadwood stand the forest communities was preserved and no differences in the dynamics of species richness of the original undisturbed forest were detected. Only dominance of species in the stand and herb-shrub layer changed. If man don't clear cut dead and wind- damaged areas of spruce forests, it will result in development of mixed forests with increased resistance to pests and forest diseases. Monocultures of spruce forests may be replaced by mixed forests, increasing the diversity of forests.

Environmental degradation and recovery after termination of whaling in sub-Antarctic fjord, South Georgia

Polar ecosystems are considered very fragile, however, due to the short observation record it is hard to assess the recovery processes of the coastal and fjord environments after a major disturbance. Here, we provide a unique case study from South Georgia (sub-Antarctic), an area seriously affected by the whaling industry. The study focuses on King Edward Cove, serving as a sheltered harbor for the former whaling station at Grytviken, as well as other parts of Cumberland Bay considered to represent generally pristine areas. We studied 210Pb dated sediment cores, which were subjected to analysis of sediment geochemical composition, concentrations of anthropogenic organic markers and biomarkers, foraminiferal assemblage changes, as well as sedimentary ancient DNA. Three distinct phases have been identified. The oldest one, predating ca. 1970, recorded the whaling period, and was characterized by anoxic conditions, high organic carbon content, contamination with heavy metals, organic markers, distinct DNA signature and lack of foraminiferal microfossils. It took only a few years to establish a new ecosystem with a fully developed foraminiferal assemblage and decreased contamination characteristic for the middle phase (ca. 1970–2000). Ancient DNA suggests macro-zoobenthic recovery being delayed by a several years in comparison to benthic foraminifera. In the youngest period, around Cumberland Bay, the increase of iceberg rafted debris from rapidly retreating tidewater glaciers was noted, while the improved oxygen availability in bottom waters in King Edward Cove can be likely ascribed to frequent water mixing due to increasing traffic of large cruise vessels. The recorded pace of ecosystem recovery from major anthropogenic disturbance appears similar to that observed in the temperate fjords from the Northern Hemisphere, however, the effects of new anthropogenic threat and the ongoing climate change are already resulting in the new ecosystem disturbance.

Can beavers canopy alterations affect managed forests more than natural forests?

Beavers, as ecosystem engineers, significantly affect riparian ecosystems, mostly through foraging and dams construction. This study examines how beaver-related tree cutting altered canopy openness and affected microhabitats and forest floor vegetation in the Northern Poland’s Tuchola Forest. Woody plant characteristics, forest floor vegetation abundance, and canopy openness were assessed at three sites varying in forest naturalness, with canopy openness being measured using hemispherical photography. Results show that selective tree removal by beavers from all diameter classes significantly increased canopy openness. This alteration leads to transformative changes in forest habitat properties, notably increasing light availability, and to nutrient status changes as evidenced by shifts in Ellenberg indicator values. Consequently, these changes result in increased forest floor total vegetation cover, diversity and composition. The cascading effects of beaver tree-cutting on canopy alterations have been comprehensively modelled using structural equation models. The study also reveals distinct spatial patterns in canopy alterations, with the most pronounced effects near riverbanks. The intensified impact of beaver activities, could be linked to the naturalness of the forest, and might be especially pronounced in more altered environments, particularly where pioneer aspen trees dominate the tree stand composition. These findings underscore the role of beavers in shaping forest dynamics, particularly in managed or disturbed forests. By creating canopy gaps, beavers initiate processes that enhance habitat heterogeneity and biodiversity, suggesting that their presence may be crucial for the restoration of natural processes in disturbed ecosystems.

Different wetting states in riparian sediment ecosystems: Response to microplastics exposure

Climate change alters the wetting state of riparian sediments, impacting microbial community response and biogeochemical processes. Microplastics (MPs) invade nearly all ecosystems on earth, posing a significant environmental risk. However, little is known about the response mechanism of MP exposure in sediment ecosystems with different wetting states under alternating seasonal rain and drought conditions. In this study, sediments with three different wetting states were selected to explore the differential response of ecosystems to PLA MP exposure. We observed that PLA MP exposure directly affected biogeochemical processes in sediment ecosystems and induced significant changes in microbial communities. PLA MP exposure was found to alter the composition of key species and microbial functional groups in the ecosystem, resulting in a more complex, interconnected, but less stable microbial network. Our findings showed that PLA MP exposure enhances the contribution of stochastic processes, for example the dispersal limitation increasing from 7.41 % to 54.32 %, indicating that sediment ecosystems strive to buffer disturbances from PLA MP exposure. In addition, 87 pathogenic species were detected in our samples, with PLA MPs acting as vectors for their transmission, potentially amplifying ecosystem disturbance. Importantly, we revealed that submerged sediments may present a greater environmental risk, while alternating wet and dry sediments demonstrate greater resistance and resilience to PLA MPs pollution. Overall, this study sheds light on how sediment ecosystems respond to MP exposure, and highlights differences in sediment response mechanisms across wetting states.

Estimating canopy cover loss with Landsat dense time series: a Mortality Magnitude Index for the Ecosystem Disturbance and Recovery Tracker (eDaRT)

ABSTRACT Recent drought and insect-induced tree mortality across the western United States has increased the need among land managers and scientists for improved estimation of disturbance timing, type and magnitude, accelerating improvements in high density time series algorithms to map disturbance. We present a novel severity index for tree mortality, called Mortality Magnitude Index (MMI), which expands functionality of a Landsat-processing system, the Ecosystem Disturbance and Recovery Tracker (eDaRT) to estimate tree canopy cover loss as a pixel area proportion. The MMI model utilizes time series of anomaly metrics generated by the eDaRT disturbance detection process, which represent robust normalized statistics of spectral change related to vegetation cover and health. We describe the MMI methodology that integrates the eDaRT metrics over pre- and post-disturbance windows and fits a generalized linear model by beta-regression using training data from the Sierra Nevada, California, including tree mortality that occurred during 2010–2017. The selected model included seven predictor variables (RMSE = 13.0%) and was further validated in southern California for tree mortality events spanning the last two decades. The MMI model exhibited robust temporal and spatial transferability, which have led to subsequent applications of MMI datasets in forest health assessment, wildlife habitat analyses and wildland fire incident support.

Characterization of the Elemental Composition of Aerosols Emitted in the Dry Season of the Pantanal Wetland, Brazil

The Brazilian Pantanal region experiences intense biomass burning during the dry season, releasing large quantities of gasses and particles into the atmosphere, which have serious implications on both the climate system and public health. Understanding the dynamics of these emissions is crucial for mitigating the impact on the ecosystem, its functioning, and potential anthropogenic disturbances. This study focused on analyzing emissions in the northern Pantanal during the 2022 drought. Concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), black carbon (BC), and 25 chemical elements were measured using gravimetry, reflectance analysis, and X-Ray fluorescence, respectively, from samples collected between August and October 2022. The average concentrations of PM2.5 and BC increased approximately 4-fold and 2.5-fold, respectively, compared to averages from a decade ago. Significant increases were also observed in elements such as sulfur (S), potassium (K), iron (Fe), and silicon (Si). The maximum concentrations were comparable to values typical of the southern Amazon, a region known for high deforestation rates and land use changes. Elemental analysis revealed substantial shifts in concentrations, primarily associated with biomass burning (BB) and soil suspension. Additionally, enrichment factor (Ef) analysis showed that lead (Pb) levels, correlated with human activities, were 200 times higher than those found under clean atmospheric conditions.

The Taxonomic and Functional Diversity of Leaf-Litter Dwelling Ants in the Tropical Dry Forest of the Colombian Caribbean

There have been few advances in understanding the organization and dynamics of ants in tropical dry forests. The latter are a seriously threatened ecosystem, and ants are important indicators of diversity, disturbance, and restoration in forest ecosystems. Using diversity data and morphofunctional traits, we evaluated the spatial and temporal variation of taxonomic and functional ant groups; in addition, we explored the variation in functional traits and diversity among communities. Ants were sampled during the dry and rainy seasons using mini-Winkler bags. A total of 9 subfamilies, 57 genera, and 146 species were collected. Ant species composition and richness varied both spatially (75 to 119 species) and temporally (121 and 127 species). The fragments from N2 and N3 showed higher diversity than those from N1. The dissimilarity among all areas was moderate (50–60%), mainly attributable to species turnover processes (77%). Twenty functional groups were identified. The N3 fragments had the highest functional diversity, with lower resistance to species loss, while the N1 and N2 fragments reduced functional diversity and increased similarity among species. Our results highlight the importance of integrating a functional analysis with the taxonomic assessment of ants as an important contribution to understanding the organization and dynamics of this community of insects that inhabit the tropical dry forest.

Analyzing the Influence of Financial Technology and Environmental Taxation on Energy Transformation in BRI Nations

This research examined the management, financial technology, and environmental taxation elements impacting energy transformation in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries concerning foreign direct investment (FDI). The study aims to analyze data from 2014 to 2022, encompassing a balanced group of 148 BRI member nations—72 from minimal and lower-middle-class countries and 78 from significant and middle-income industrialized nations. Utilizing the two-step systems generalized method of moments (GMM) framework and verifying with the two-stage least squares (2SLS) approach, the study identified critical drivers and barriers to energy transformation in these countries. The findings indicate that effective management practices, advanced financial technologies, and appropriate environmental taxation policies significantly influence energy transformation and FDI inflows. Additionally, the research reviewed the impact of cruise tourism on human health and environmental ecosystems, highlighting severe environmental consequences such as habitat deterioration, marine pollution, and ecosystem disturbances. Human health issues linked to air and water pollution, including respiratory disorders and water-borne illnesses, were also identified. The socioeconomic effects on nearby communities were significant, underscoring the need for stringent regulations and sustainable practices. This comprehensive analysis provides essential insights for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and scholars, advocating for integrated policies to promote sustainable energy transformation and mitigate the adverse effects of cruise tourism.

Effects of salvage logging after forest fire on Siberian larch regeneration and ecosystem carbon stocks at the drought limit of the boreal forest in Mongolia

Post-fire salvage logging is widely applied in Mongolia's boreal forests with the intent to prevent intact forests from logging. The rationale behind this approach is the assumption that the additional disturbance caused by the removal of standing deadwood after stand-replacing fire is of no further significance for the already heavily disturbed ecosystem. However, while there is a global debate on effects of salvage logging for regeneration success, biodiversity, and soil health, little evidence has been collected from strongly drought-limited southern boreal forests of Central Asia. Comparing sites with and without salvage logging, we investigated forests of Siberian larch (Larix sibirica) ca. 20 years after stand-replacing fire and asked whether postfire salvage logging affected regeneration density, terminal shoot length and radial stem increment, ecosystem carbon stock densities, and reduced organic layer depth and compacted the soil. The biomass of the larch regeneration was significantly reduced by salvage logging, while tree growth was not affected. The ecosystem carbon stock density of burnt forest without salvage logging was 202 Mg C ha−1 and thus even in the lower range of intact larch forests from Mongolia, whereas burnt forests with salvage logging had organic carbon stock densities (104 Mg C ha−1) that were lower than those of unburned grasslands in the forest-steppe. These results show that removing deadwood from burnt forest is not insignificant, but has the potential to delay forest recovery and strongly reduces organic carbon storage. However, we did not find significant reductions in soil organic carbon stocks or soil compaction. Nonetheless, our findings raise the question of whether careful management of intact forests (especially by selective felling under a continuous-cover forestry regime) would be a more ecologically sustainable alternative than post-fire salvage logging.

Assessment of the dark diversity's ability to predict the absence of Zygoptera (Odonata) species sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance in human-altered Amazonian ecosystems.

Estimates of dark diversity, species that belong to a given species pool but are not present locally, can help to understand how environmental conditions influence species distribution. However, it remains uncertain whether dark diversity can predict the absence of indicator species in preserved environments after environmental changes. We explored the sensitivity of dark diversity (the set of species absent from a particular area), in detecting the absence of Zygoptera (Odonata) indicative of preserved forest environments in altered habitats, and the influence of sample coverage on the detected patterns. We sampled 98 streams in the Amazon region, where the dark diversity of Zygoptera was estimated based on probabilistic species co-occurrence patterns using the Beals index, encompassing 16 species in the Santarém/Belterra region and 23 species in the Paragominas region. The mean total richness of observed Zygoptera species in Paragominas, 42.7 species, and Santarém/Belterra, 25.93 species, was higher than the estimated mean dark diversity for the two study sites, which were 12.32 and 12.20 species, respectively. The dark diversity was not effective in detecting the absence of forest-indicator Zygoptera in human-altered streams and exhibited a positive relationship between Zygoptera dark diversity and species common to different environments concerning environmental integrity only in Paragominas, but not in Santarém. We found that there is a possibility that observed values of dark diversity may occasionally be subject to sampling coverage biases. In this regard, we suggest considering sampling coverage alongside field-collected biological datasets to assess whether it is related to dark diversity.

NEON-SD: A 30-m Structural Diversity Product Derived from the NEON Discrete-Return LiDAR Point Cloud

Structural diversity (SD) characterizes the volume and physical arrangement of biotic components in an ecosystem which control critical ecosystem functions and processes. LiDAR data provides detailed 3-D spatial position information of components and has been widely used to calculate SD. However, the intensive computation of SD metrics from extensive LiDAR datasets is time-consuming and challenging for researchers who lack access to high-performance computing resources. Moreover, a lack of understanding of LiDAR data and algorithms could lead to inconsistent SD metrics. Here, we developed a SD product using the Discrete-Return LiDAR Point Cloud from the NEON Aerial Observation Platform. This product provides SD metrics detailing height, density, openness, and complexity at a spatial resolution of 30 m, aligned to the Landsat grids, for 211 site-years for 45 Terrestrial NEON sites from 2013 to 2022. To accommodate various ecosystems with different understory heights, it includes three different cut-off heights (0.5 m, 2 m, and 5 m). This structural diversity product can enable various applications such as ecosystem productivity estimation and disturbance monitoring.

Towards Sustainable Rural Development: Assessment Spatio-Temporal Evolution of Rural Ecosystem Health through Integrating Ecosystem Integrity and SDGs

Rural ecosystem health (REH) serves as an effective metric for assessing the damage degree and stability state within rural systems and their components. It reflects the interaction and the balance among rural subsystems, emphasizing the harmonious development of resources, agriculture, environment, economy, and society that are fundamental to sustainable rural development. Most regional-scale ecosystem health assessments primarily focus on either the natural state of the ecosystem or external disturbances affecting it, often neglecting human ecological systems characterized by economic and social dimensions. Taking Chongqing as an example, we established an improved REH assessment framework by integrating ecological integrity from the perspective of a social-economy-natural compound ecosystem. Furthermore, we innovatively incorporated the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into the formulation of the REH indicator system to quantitatively elucidate the spatiotemporal characteristics. The results indicated that: (1) The REH in Chongqing exhibited an evolutionary pattern characterized by a subsequent rise, maintaining values between 0.363–0.872 from 2000 to 2018. This trend reflected a distinct two-stage development characteristic, with the rural socio-economic subsystem contributing the most at 33.36%, followed closely by the rural environmental subsystem at 27.84%; (2) In 2018, the REH across the 36 districts and counties in Chongqing displayed spatial differentiation patterns described as “collapse in the west, high levels in the northeast, and localized surges”. The areas ranked from smallest to largest REH were metropolitan, western, southeastern, and northeastern areas; (3) Four levels (e.g., disease, single health, compound health, and comprehensive health) and twelve sub-levels of REH were defined using a dominant factors method. Finally, we analyzed the driving factors from four aspects of urbanization development: policy regulation, urban-rural factors flow, and regional differences. We also proposed differentiated planning and policies for sustainable rural development in Chongqing.

Emergy-Based Evaluation of Xiaolangdi Reservoir’s Impact on the Ecosystem Health and Services of the Lower Yellow River

The disturbance in river ecosystems caused by reservoirs and dams has become a critical topic, attracting increasing attention. However, the extent to which reservoir and dam construction and operation impact downstream river ecosystem health and ecosystem service functions is not fully understood. This research examines the Xiaolangdi Reservoir and the Lower Yellow River (LYR) ecosystem in China as a case study. We analyzed the complex material and energy flows in the LYR ecosystem using emergy theory and developed a set of emergy-based indicators for the quantitative assessment of river ecosystem health and services under reservoir operation interference. The results indicate that the total natural capital and environmental endowments of the LYR ecosystem have remained relatively stable after the operation of the Xiaolangdi Reservoir, with an increase in renewable emergy input. The ecosystem’s vigor decreased slightly, while the biomass emergy diversity index remained stable. However, the total emergy inputs increased significantly, with external feedback inputs becoming the most important emergy source for the LYR ecosystem. The resilience of the LYR ecosystem improved, with a significant increase in emergy density and a decrease in the emergy sustainability index. These findings suggest that although the river ecosystem continues to provide supporting services to human society, the extent of these services has diminished compared to pre-perturbation levels. In this research, a methodology for analyzing the impact of key reservoir operations on the ecosystem health and services of a large river is proposed to provide support for large river sustainable development studies.

Uncovering hazards and adaptive capacity: A comprehensive risk assessment study in three conservation areas in Spain

The increase in the frequency, duration and severity of disturbances can disrupt forest composition and structure, posing threats to ecosystem services. Adaptive forest management has the potential to adjust forests to future disturbance regimes, by reducing their susceptibility to these threats and, therefore, increasing their adaptation capacity. However, few comprehensive studies have integrated the factors involved in adaptive forest management by comparing the biomass of national parks of the same region, or examined how global change might affect them in the near future. In this study, we integrate data of forest inventories, wildfires, high-resolution climate and pests information in climate model projections to assess climate-sensitive risks associated with key abiotic disturbances (such as fires, droughts and pests) in coniferous Mediterranean mountain forests, considering various forest management approaches and climate scenarios in three Spanish national parks. We employed the conceptual framework introduced by Lecina-Diaz et al. (2021a) to evaluate risks to forests and considered Exposed values (E), Hazard Magnitude (HM), Susceptibility (S) and Lack of Adaptive Capacity (LAC). We applied statistical weights using expert weights and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) as the basis for determining the global ranking score of each indicator of the risk components. We extracted information about the climatic scenarios from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6. Three forest management scenarios were generated, named “low intervention», «traditional silviculture”, and "reduction of climate vulnerability", and mapped the risks of carbon sequestration for the different scenarios. The importance of each component was estimated using the AHP. HM was most significantly affected by the Aridity Index and the Fire Risk Index, with weights of 27.7 % and 24.2 %, respectively; S was affected by fuel load (29.0 %) and the Suppression Difficulty index (21.0 %), and LAC was influenced by forest management (32.0 %) and resprouting capacity (22.0 %). The three forest management scenarios exhibited different risk values that decreased with increasing intensity of the intervention in the three protected areas. Likewise, when two climate scenarios were considered, risk increased in the protected areas (Teide National Park, 10.69 %; Sierra Nevada National Park, 10.9 %; Sierra de las Nieves National Park, 6.17 %). Patterns of spatial arrangement of risk, which included HM, S and LAC, were consistent with the risk level, with the highest risk values being concentrated in the buffer areas (natural parks), with areas with a greater presence of coniferous plantations. The risk maps allowed us to identify areas that are critical under extreme conditions and where the greatest disturbance events may occur. Our study underscores that risks of disturbances in mountain ecosystems dominated by conifers within protected areas can be mitigated by forest management. The application of forest management adaptation strategies in national parks and buffer areas has proven effective in reducing risks of disturbances and preserving certain ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration.

Disruption of natural disturbance regime decouples habitat and life stage in a keystone species

AbstractAnthropogenic disturbance of stream ecosystems, often chronic in nature, has been studied extensively. However, when disturbance is driven by more than one resource policy over many decades, feedback between habitat evolution and biological adaptation can be disrupted and ecological function affected in unforeseen ways. We analyzed over 100 years of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) length frequency trends associated with fisheries management and changes in available spawning substrate (habitat) linked to flow regulation in a highly altered California river. Over time, salmon lengths generally decreased, fluctuating with exploitation (ocean harvest) and hatchery production rates. Female size reduction, coupled with a degrading and coarsening channel, and perching peripheral habitat related to past mining activity, indicates available spawning substrate may be too large to support the current salmon population. Assuming a salmon can move material ~10% of her body length, length frequency data and current substrate size distribution suggest that increasing salmon sizes to historic distributions could increase available spawning habitat by as much as 13%. Alternatively, decreasing spawning substrate size could support a greater portion of the current population. To test the latter hypothesis and inform future management actions, we monitored two spawning riffles where large and small gravel was placed on top of a cobble. We observed an immediate spawning activity increase that was more pronounced where smaller gravel was deposited. Following a decade of habitat decline, the two sites were both replenished with medium gravel. Elevated spawning use occurred immediately at both sites, commensurate with this intermediate size, further supporting our hypotheses. Sediment coarsening and habitat disconnect below dams, combined with reduced salmon size, indicate the natural spawning process may be decoupled from available habitat below dams in the foreseeable future without continuous intervention. Actively managing salmon population demographics through modified hatchery and size‐selective harvest practices and developing a coarse sediment budget with size‐appropriate material for regulated anadromous rivers could produce immediate benefits for ecosystem services, including salmon populations. However, these management actions will require continued maintenance and informed socio‐ecological goals to remain successful.

Improving fire severity prediction in south-eastern Australia using vegetation-specific information

Abstract. Wildfire is a critical ecological disturbance in terrestrial ecosystems. Australia, in particular, has experienced increasingly large and severe wildfires over the past 2 decades, while globally fire risk is expected to increase significantly due to projected increases in extreme weather and drought conditions. Therefore, understanding and predicting fire severity is critical for evaluating current and future impacts of wildfires on ecosystems. Here, we first introduce a vegetation-type-specific fire severity classification applied to satellite imagery, which is further used to predict fire severity during the fire season (November to March) using antecedent drought conditions, fire weather (i.e. wind speed, air temperature, and atmospheric humidity), and topography. Compared to fire severity maps from the fire extent and severity mapping (FESM) dataset, we find that fire severity prediction results using the vegetation-type-specific thresholds show good performance in extreme- and high-severity classification, with accuracies of 0.64 and 0.76, respectively. Based on a “leave-one-out” cross-validation experiment, we demonstrate high accuracy for both the fire severity classification and the regression using a suite of performance metrics: the determination coefficient (R2), mean absolute error (MAE), and root-mean-square error (RMSE), which are 0.89, 0.05, and 0.07, respectively. Our results also show that the fire severity prediction results using the vegetation-type-specific thresholds could better capture the spatial patterns of fire severity and have the potential to be applicable for seasonal fire severity forecasts due to the availability of seasonal forecasts of the predictor variables.

Effects of fire and fire-induced changes in soil properties on post-burn soil respiration

Abstract Background Boreal forests cover vast areas of land in the northern hemisphere and store large amounts of carbon (C) both aboveground and belowground. Wildfires, which are a primary ecosystem disturbance of boreal forests, affect soil C via combustion and transformation of organic matter during the fire itself and via changes in plant growth and microbial activity post-fire. Wildfire regimes in many areas of the boreal forests of North America are shifting towards more frequent and severe fires driven by changing climate. As wildfire regimes shift and the effects of fire on belowground microbial community composition are becoming clearer, there is a need to link fire-induced changes in soil properties to changes in microbial functions, such as respiration, in order to better predict the impact of future fires on C cycling. Results We used laboratory burns to simulate boreal crown fires on both organic-rich and sandy soil cores collected from Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta, Canada, to measure the effects of burning on soil properties including pH, total C, and total nitrogen (N). We used 70-day soil incubations and two-pool exponential decay models to characterize the impacts of burning and its resulting changes in soil properties on soil respiration. Laboratory burns successfully captured a range of soil temperatures that were realistic for natural wildfire events. We found that burning increased pH and caused small decreases in C:N in organic soil. Overall, respiration per gram total (post-burn) C in burned soil cores was 16% lower than in corresponding unburned control cores, indicating that soil C lost during a burn may be partially offset by burn-induced decreases in respiration rates. Simultaneously, burning altered how remaining C cycled, causing an increase in the proportion of C represented in the modeled slow-cycling vs. fast-cycling C pool as well as an increase in fast-cycling C decomposition rates. Conclusions Together, our findings imply that C storage in boreal forests following wildfires will be driven by the combination of C losses during the fire itself as well as fire-induced changes to the soil C pool that modulate post-fire respiration rates. Moving forward, we will pair these results with soil microbial community data to understand how fire-induced changes in microbial community composition may influence respiration.

Occurrences Status of Biota in Gochang-gun, South Korea

The Gochang-gun biotope map was used as a benchmarking model when preparing a county unit in the future, and was prepared for the purpose of constructing detailed spatial data for eco-friendly urban management and efficient management and value improvement of cultural assets. The purpose of this study is to provide data so that it is used as basic data for the distribution status of animals and plants and the systematic management of endangered wild animals. As a result of the survey of animals and plants in Gochang-gun, a total of 255 species of 88 families and 184 genera appeared. A total of eight families and 14 species of mammals appeared. A total of 32 families and 52 species of birds appeared. A total of nine and 26 species of fish appeared, and five species endemic to Korea appeared. Six and seven species of amphibians and reptiles appeared, respectively, and one species of exotic specices appeared. A total of 26 species of benthic large-scale vertebrates appeared, and three species endemic to Korea appeared. As for endangered wild creatures, two species of plants, six species of birds and three species of mammals appeared. It is judged that the data on animals and plants based on the urban ecological status map of Gochang-gun can be used as basic data for environmental policy decisions such as the management of ecosystem disturbances in Gochang-gun, the protection of endangered wild creatures, and the protection and restoration of plant and plant habitats.

Biosorption Ability of Pharmaceutically Active Compounds by Anabaena sp. and Chroococcidiopsis thermalis.

Drug overuse harms the biosphere, leading to disturbances in ecosystems' functioning. Consequently, more and more actions are being taken to minimise the harmful impact of xenopharmaceuticals on the environment. One of the innovative solutions is using biosorbents-natural materials such as cells or biopolymers-to remove environmental pollutants; however, this focuses mainly on the removal of metal ions and colourants. Therefore, this study investigated the biosorption ability of selected pharmaceuticals-paracetamol, diclofenac, and ibuprofen-by the biomass of the cyanobacteria Anabaena sp. and Chroococcidiopsis thermalis, using the LC-MS/MS technique. The viability of the cyanobacteria was assessed by determining photosynthetic pigments in cells using a UV-VIS spectrophotometer. The results indicate that both tested species can be effective biosorbents for paracetamol and diclofenac. At the same time, the tested compounds did not have a toxic effect on the tested cyanobacterial species and, in some cases, stimulated their cell growth. Furthermore, the Anabaena sp. can effectively biotransform DCF into its dimer.

Productivity of Certain Varieties of Apples and Importance of Their Gene Formation

Due to the diversity of its natural and historical conditions, Azerbaijan is one of the centers of the initial formation of many plants, having a great genetic richness of the plant world. A large number of valuable varieties and forms of food and agricultural plants have been created through folk selection and scientific selection, with the history of agriculture covering several millennia. However, massive and anthropogenic disturbances of all these natural and cultural heritage ecosystems, which are the irreplaceable wealth of the people, created a large number of valuable varieties and forms of ecological and agricultural plants. However, all this natural and cultural heritage, which is the irreplaceable wealth of the people, is threatened with destruction as a result of mass and anthropogenic disturbances of ecosystems, ecological and agricultural changes, and the wide application of modern breeding achievements. In addition to all this, the study, protection, and effective use of the gene pool of the apple plant in the country is one of the main factors. In this regard, based on our long-term research, with the efficient use of the gene pool of the apple plant in Azerbaijan, new “spur”-type selection varieties (Nigar, Ziya, Zirva, Marfa, Sulh, Gobustan, Zumrud, Kyzyld Taj, Khazar, Eldar, Ulvi, Nübar, Vatan, Makhmari, Nuran, Sarvan, Chiraggala, Davamli, Emil, Elvin, Paizliq Guba, Zizliq Guba, Shabran, Sadaf and Sevinj) were created by us. In the article, the parental pairs of those cultivars are reflected in the ripening period, ripening, fruiting periods, tree parameters (height, diameter of the umbel, circumference of the stem), productivity indicators, leaf surface, infection rates of scab disease, average mass of fruits and tasting prices. At the same time, the article contains the introduction, research conditions, methodology, material, results, discussion, recommendations, and used literature sources.