Global Environmental Research Research Articles

Unequal Knowledge: Justice, Colonialism, and Expertise in Global Environmental Research

Unequal Knowledge: Justice, Colonialism, and Expertise in Global Environmental Research

Insights into the Roles of Melatonin in Alleviating Heavy Metal Toxicity in Crop Plants

Alleviating heavy metal pollution in farmland soil, and heavy metal toxicity in plants is the focus of global agricultural environmental research. Melatonin is a kind of indoleamine compound that wide exists in organisms; it is currently known as an endogenous free radical scavenger with the strongest antioxidant effect. As a new plant growth regulator and signaling molecule, melatonin plays an important role in plant resistance to biotic or abiotic stress. Recent studies indicate that melatonin can effectively alleviate heavy metal toxicity in crop plants, which provides a new strategy to minimize heavy metal pollution in crop plants. This study summarizes the research progress on the role of melatonin in alleviating heavy metal toxicity in crop plants and the related physiological and ecological mechanisms such as reducing the concentration of heavy metals in the rhizosphere, fixing and regionally isolating of heavy metals, maintaining the mineral element balance, enhancing the antioxidant defense system and interacting with hormonal signaling. Furthermore, future prospects for the mechanism of melatonin in regulating heavy metal toxicity, the pathway regulating synthesis and catabolism, and the interaction mechanism of melatonin signaling and other phytohormones are presented in this paper, with the goal of providing a theoretical basis for controlling heavy metal ion accumulation in crop plants grown in contaminated soil.

Comprehensive Study of Evolution of Global Environmental Quality Research Using Informetric Co-Word Network

Global environmental quality is a rapidly developing and complicated subject in need of a new method for evolutionary analyses. This paper proposes an informetric dynamic co-word network to study the evolution of global environmental quality research (GEQR), making a significant contribution to the available literature. First, it was observed that GEQR has been vigorously developing and hotspots have emerged through a self-organized adjustment process, which other methods lacked. Second, small-world and scale-free effects, which are mechanisms of an evolving knowledge system (KS), were identified in GEQR’s KS. Third, the dynamic co-word network yielded topological patterns and robust clustering in GEQR. An assessment strategy map/table of GEQR has been accordingly proposed as a mined innovative function of co-word networks, which provides new holistic understanding of global environmental quality. Thus, our studies on GEQR evolution using this informetric dynamic co-word network method may help researchers or managers learn GEQR development mechanisms, allowing for further topical selection and policy management of GEQR. Beyond GEQR, the informetric dynamic co-word network method may also provide a new universal method for evolutionary analysis of many other environmental problems.

Newsprint Metropolis: City Papers and the Making of Modern AmericansBuilding Natures: Modern American Poetry, Landscape Architecture, and City PlanningThe Sociable City: An American Intellectual Tradition

Book Review| March 01 2021 Newsprint Metropolis: City Papers and the Making of Modern AmericansBuilding Natures: Modern American Poetry, Landscape Architecture, and City PlanningThe Sociable City: An American Intellectual Tradition Newsprint Metropolis: City Papers and the Making of Modern Americans. By Guarneri, Julia. Chicago, IL: Univ. of Chicago Press. 2017. 330 pp. Cloth, $45.00; paper, $30.00; e-book available.Building Natures: Modern American Poetry, Landscape Architecture, and City Planning. By Daniel, Julia E.Charlottesville: Univ. of Virginia Press. 2017. ix, 200 pp. Cloth, $55.00; paper, $27.50; e-book, $55.00.The Sociable City: An American Intellectual Tradition. By Rowan, Jamin Creed. Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press. 2017. 195 pp. Cloth, $47.50; e-book available. Barbara Eckstein Barbara Eckstein Barbara Eckstein has pursued matters urban and environmental in the books Sustaining New Orleans (2006) and Story and Sustainability (coedited with James Throgmorton, 2003) and in other publications and actions. She recently retired from the English department at the University of Iowa where she taught courses in environmental humanities; built, with students, faculty and public partners, peoplesweathermap.org; and was a member of the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google American Literature (2021) 93 (1): 148–150. https://doi.org/10.1215/00029831-8878566 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter Email Permissions Search Site Citation Barbara Eckstein; Newsprint Metropolis: City Papers and the Making of Modern AmericansBuilding Natures: Modern American Poetry, Landscape Architecture, and City PlanningThe Sociable City: An American Intellectual Tradition. American Literature 1 March 2021; 93 (1): 148–150. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/00029831-8878566 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter Books & JournalsAll JournalsAmerican Literature Search Advanced Search The result of meticulous historical scholarship, Newsprint Metropolis provides a cleanly written account of the role played by major US metropolitan newspapers in the making of cities and their inhabitants from 1880 to 1930. For her case studies Julia Guarneri chooses Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, and Milwaukee. The interest of Guarneri’s book, uninterrupted by any urban theorizing, lies in the explication of how this making occurred and in the numerous illustrations enhancing that explication. Both the decades and the cities at the center of the argument prove well chosen. Although the book’s introduction, which provides a less than fulsome account of the diversity of Americans, their news, and newspaper options, raises some questions about how they might fare in its pages, the chapters do tell a story increasingly attuned to exactly which readers are being made as Americans by major metropolitan newspapers,... Copyright © 2021 by Duke University Press2021 Issue Section: Book Reviews You do not currently have access to this content.

Reanalysis datasets outperform other gridded climate products in vegetation change analysis in peripheral conservation areas of Central Asia

Global environmental research requires long-term climate data. Yet, meteorological infrastructure is missing in the vast majority of the world’s protected areas. Therefore, gridded products are frequently used as the only available climate data source in peripheral regions. However, associated evaluations are commonly biased towards well observed areas and consequently, station-based datasets. As evaluations on vegetation monitoring abilities are lacking for regions with poor data availability, we analyzed the potential of several state-of-the-art climate datasets (CHIRPS, CRU, ERA5-Land, GPCC-Monitoring-Product, IMERG-GPM, MERRA-2, MODIS-MOD10A1) for assessing NDVI anomalies (MODIS-MOD13Q1) in two particularly suitable remote conservation areas. We calculated anomalies of 156 climate variables and seasonal periods during 2001–2018, correlated these with vegetation anomalies while taking the multiple comparison problem into consideration, and computed their spatial performance to derive suitable parameters. Our results showed that four datasets (MERRA-2, ERA5-Land, MOD10A1, CRU) were suitable for vegetation analysis in both regions, by showing significant correlations controlled at a false discovery rate < 5% and in more than half of the analyzed areas. Cross-validated variable selection and importance assessment based on the Boruta algorithm indicated high importance of the reanalysis datasets ERA5-Land and MERRA-2 in both areas but higher differences and variability between the regions with all other products. CHIRPS, GPCC and the bias-corrected version of MERRA-2 were unsuitable and not important in both regions. We provide evidence that reanalysis datasets are most suitable for spatiotemporally consistent environmental analysis whereas gauge- or satellite-based products and their combinations are highly variable and may not be applicable in peripheral areas.

Comparative analysis of hospital environments in Australia and China using the space syntax approach

PurposeSpatial arrangement of hospital environments has been proven to have impacts on hospital users such as wayfinding, privacy and operational efficiency. Many studies examined the spatial quality of hospitals, but there is a lack of comparative research between Chinese and Australian hospitals. Hospitals in both countries have salient features that are worth to learn and can inform hospital stakeholders internationally on design decisions. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and compare the spatial quality of hospitals from both countries using space syntax approach and field observation.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses space syntax analysis and observation to provide qualitative and quantitative data. Illustrative case studies from both countries are selected for comparison. The main benchmarks involved in measuring the spatial qualities, such as step depth and visual connectivity, are analysed using Depthmap X before comparing with the results from observation.FindingsFor Chinese hospitals to be more human-centred, public space design and facility management need additional attention. Australian hospitals could learn from Hospital D on how to design highly centralised nursing stations that cope with a high patient flow. Global policy and decision-makers should consider the potential inconsistency between initial design intention and practical use.Originality/valuePractical implications were made based on the results for bettering hospital environments. It is hoped that the methodology presented in this research is of significance to the enhancement of global healthcare environment research.

Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) in surface sediments of the Jiaozhou Bay, north China

Pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) have attracted increasing attention due to their large consumption volumes, high bioactivity and potential ecotoxicity. In this study, a total of 150 commonly used drugs were investigated in sediments of Jiaozhou Bay (JZB). Twenty-five target compounds were detected, of which ten were discovered for the first time in marine sediments. The range of total PhAC content was 3.62–21.4 ng/g dry weight. Ketoprofen (2.49 ng/g), oxytetracycline (1.00 ng/g) and roxithromycin (0.97 ng/g) were the preponderant PhACs. PhACs gradually decreased from east to west, and the distribution of PhACs in the sediment was controlled by the source channel, seawater dynamic process and sediment composition. The diatom, organic matter, and clay proportions in the sediments and the nutrients in the overlying water were the most important environmental factors affecting the distribution of PhACs. PhAC pollution in the sediments of the JZB exhibited an increasing trend. Coprostanol could be used as a chemical indicator of the PhAC concentration in JZB sediments. PhACs were mainly derived from direct pollution due to human fecal excretion in the eastern region. Ofloxacin, tetracycline and oxytetracycline were found to pose high or medium risks to aquatic organisms. It is necessary and urgent to improve the treatment technology of drug residues in sewage treatment plants to decrease the pollution of PhAC residues. With the continuous aging of the global population, the use of PhACs will increase rapidly, which may cause more unpredictable threats to the marine ecosystem. Therefore, the monitoring of PhACs in the marine environment needs to be strengthened, and studies on PhAC occurrence and effects must be considered a priority in global environmental research.

The concept of social risk: A geographical approach

Abstract Social risk is an interdisciplinary concept used with various meanings in the social and in the natural sciences. The article presents some of the social insights into this concept, particularly in connection with the global environmental research project and with geography. The special dimension of social risks, as well as some current methodological aspects regarding models and the main indicators used in the multidimensional assessment of social risks are analysed at local, regional and national levels. Of special interest is the link between social risks and a series of key-concepts, such as: hazard, impact, social vulnerability, resilience, adaptive capacity.

Filtering the NPP-VIIRS Nighttime Light Data for Improved Detection of Settlements in Africa

Observing and understanding changes in Africa is a hotspot in global ecological environmental research since the early 1970s. As possible causes of environmental degradation, frequent droughts and human activities attracted wide attention. Remote sensing of nighttime light provides an effective way to map human activities and assess their intensity. To identify settlements more effectively, this study focused on nighttime light in the northern Equatorial Africa and Sahel settlements to propose a new method, namely, the patches filtering method (PFM) to identify nighttime lights related to settlements from the National Polar-orbiting Partnership Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (NPP-VIIRS) monthly nighttime light data by separating signal components induced by biomass burning, thereby generating a new annual image in 2016. The results show that PFM is useful for improving the quality of NPP-VIIRS monthly nighttime light data. Settlement lights were effectively separated from biomass burning lights, in addition to capturing the seasonality of biomass burning. We show that the new 2016 nighttime light image can very effectively identify even small settlements, notwithstanding their fragmentation and unstable power supply. We compared the image with earlier NPP-VIIRS annual nighttime light data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI) for 2016 and the Sentinel-2 prototype Land Cover 20 m 2016 map of Africa released by the European Space Agency (ESA-S2-AFRICA-LC20). We found that the new annual nighttime light data performed best among the three datasets in capturing settlements, with a high recognition rate of 61.8%, and absolute superiority for settlements of 2.5 square kilometers or less. This shows that the method separates biomass burning signals very effectively, while retaining the relatively stable, although dim, lights of small settlements. The new 2016 annual image demonstrates good performance in identifying human settlements in sparsely populated areas toward a better understanding of human activities.

Research Note: Reflections on Methods from an Interdisciplinary Research Project in Global Environmental Law

AbstractThis research note reflects on the methods (as distinct from methodology) used in a five-year interdisciplinary and multi-site research project in global environmental law, and their links to questions of research ethics. We highlight the iterative processes that proved necessary to compare five case studies on local communities engaged in varied discussions on fair and equitable benefit sharing in different regions of the world and their implications for international environmental law. The note recommends explicit reflection on research methods and ethics to acknowledge and address power relationships in global environmental law research.

Automatic data matching for geospatial models: a new paradigm for geospatial data and models sharing

ABSTRACTWith the development of global climate and environmental research, geospatial models are becoming more comprehensive and complex and, therefore require more and more input data. In order to improve the efficiency and to save time, labour and money during the preparation of input data, after a discussion of other related studies, this paper describes a new framework that matches existing open web data with geospatial models. The basic idea and general framework are introduced first; four key issues are then studied in detail. The advantages of the new framework are that it can automatically judge whether the open data is the consistent with the input data of the geospatial model according to data similarity values based on unified description factors; if they are not fully consistent, the differences can be intelligently handled using corresponding web processing services and finally, fully matched data can be obtained for use in the geospatial model. Thus, this framework may lead to the development of a new paradigm that links and promotes geospatial data and models sharing. This will not only lead to the greater application of geospatial models, but also greatly amplify the value and usability of open data.

Difference in the factors of effect on reproductive rate of feral raccoon (Procyon lotor) between high- (2008-2010) and low- (2015-2017) density terms in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Difference in the factors of effect on reproductive rate of feral raccoon (Procyon lotor) between high- (2008-2010) and low- (2015-2017) density terms in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

Reflections on Methods from an Interdisciplinary Research Project in Global Environmental Law

This research note reflects on the methods (as distinct from methodology) of a 5-year interdisciplinary and multi-site research project in global environmental law and their links to questions of research ethics. We highlight the iterative processes that proved necessary to compare five case studies on local communities engaged in varied discussions on fair and equitable benefit-sharing in different regions of the world and their implications for international environmental law. The note advocates for an explicit reflection on research methods and ethics to acknowledge and address power relationships in global environmental law research.

Association between BMI and semen quality: an observational study of 3966 sperm donors.

What is the relationship between abnormal BMI and semen quality? Underweight was significantly associated with lower sperm concentration, total sperm number and total motile sperm count, while overweight was significantly associated with lower semen volume, total sperm number and total motile sperm count. Abnormal BMI has been associated with lower semen quality, but the results remain somewhat controversial. In addition, most previous studies have focused on the influence of obesity or overweight on semen quality, and evidence on the association between underweight and semen quality is rare. This research was an observational study investigating 3966 sperm donors from a large sperm bank in Wuhan city, China. These donors passed the screening for sperm donation and underwent 29 949 semen examinations between 1 January 2013 and 9 April 2018. BMI was categorized into four groups: underweight (<18.5 kg/m2), normal weight (18.5-24.9 kg/m2), overweight (25-29.9 kg/m2) and obese (≥30 kg/m2). Semen volume, sperm concentration, total sperm number, total motility, progressive motility and total motile sperm count were determined by trained clinical technicians. Linear mixed models were used to conduct dose-response analyses between BMI and semen quality parameters. Underweight was significantly associated with a 3.0% (95% CI: 0.1%, 5.8%), 6.7% (1.9%, 11.3%) and 7.4% (2.2%, 12.4%) reduction in sperm concentration, total sperm number and total motile sperm count, respectively. Overweight was significantly associated with a 4.2% (1.6%, 6.8%), 3.9% (0.9%, 6.9%) and 3.6% (0.2%, 6.9%) reduction in semen volume, total sperm number and total motile sperm count, respectively. Non-linear models including continuous BMI as a natural cubic spline function yielded similar results. Our study subjects were sperm donors who are typically young and healthy, and therefore not representative of the general male population. Caution should be paid in generalizing our results to other populations. Furthermore, we did not measure the donors' weight repeatedly along with each semen donation; instead, we only measured it once during the screening, which may cause bias due to the variations of weight across time. Our study provides evidence that underweight and overweight are associated with lower semen quality, and highlights the importance of maintaining a normal weight for men. This work was supported by the Health and Family Planning Commission of Hubei Province (Grant number WJ2015MA027), the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, and Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research at the University of Iowa. The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest. N/A.

The Global Environmental Politics and Political Economy of Seafood Systems

This article situates seafood in the larger intersection between global environmental governance and the food system. Drawing inspiration from the food regimes approach, we trace the historical unfolding of the seafood system and its management between the 1930s and the 2010s. In doing so, we bridge global environmental politics research that has studied either the politics of fisheries management or seafood sustainability governance, and we bring seafood and the fisheries crisis into food regimes scholarship. Our findings reveal that the seafood system has remained firmly dependent on the historical institutions of national seafood production systems and, particularly, on the state-based regulatory regimes that they promulgated in support of national economic and geopolitical interests. As such, seafood systems contribute to a broader, historicized understanding of the hybrid global environmental governance of food systems in which nonstate actors depend heavily upon, and in fact call for the strengthening of, state-based institutions. Our findings reveal that the contemporary private ordering of seafood governance solidifies the centrality of state-based institutions in the struggle for “sustainable” seafood and enables the continued expansionary, volume-driven extractivist logics that produced the fisheries crisis in the first place.

Toward sustainable environmental quality: Identifying priority research questions for Latin America.

ABSTRACTThe Global Horizon Scanning Project (GHSP) is an innovative initiative that aims to identify important global environmental quality research needs. Here we report 20 key research questions from Latin America (LA). Members of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) LA and other scientists from LA were asked to submit research questions that would represent priority needs to address in the region. One hundred questions were received, then partitioned among categories, examined, and some rearranged during a workshop in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Twenty priority research questions were subsequently identified. These research questions included developing, improving, and harmonizing across LA countries methods for 1) identifying contaminants and degradation products in complex matrices (including biota); 2) advancing prediction of contaminant risks and effects in ecosystems, addressing lab‐to‐field extrapolation challenges, and understanding complexities of multiple stressors (including chemicals and climate change); and 3) improving management and regulatory tools toward achieving sustainable development. Whereas environmental contaminants frequently identified in these key questions were pesticides, pharmaceuticals, endocrine disruptors or modulators, plastics, and nanomaterials, commonly identified environmental challenges were related to agriculture, urban effluents, solid wastes, pulp and paper mills, and natural extraction activities. Several interesting research topics included assessing and preventing pollution impacts on conservation protected areas, integrating environment and health assessments, and developing strategies for identification, substitution, and design of less hazardous chemicals (e.g., green chemistry). Finally, a recurrent research need included developing an understanding of differential sensitivity of regional species and ecosystems to environmental contaminants and other stressors. Addressing these critical questions will support development of long‐term strategic research efforts to advance more sustainable environmental quality and protect public health and the environment in LA. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018;14:344–357. © 2018 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC)

Genesis, goals and achievements of Long-Term Ecological Research at the global scale: A critical review of ILTER and future directions

Since its founding in 1993 the International Long-term Ecological Research Network (ILTER) has gone through pronounced development phases. The current network comprises 44 active member LTER networks representing 700 LTER Sites and ~80 LTSER Platforms across all continents, active in the fields of ecosystem, critical zone and socio-ecological research. The critical challenges and most important achievements of the initial phase have now become state-of-the-art in networking for excellent science. At the same time increasing integration, accelerating technology, networking of resources and a strong pull for more socially relevant scientific information have been modifying the mission and goals of ILTER. This article provides a critical review of ILTER's mission, goals, development and impacts. Major characteristics, tools, services, partnerships and selected examples of relative strengths relevant for advancing ILTER are presented. We elaborate on the tradeoffs between the needs of the scientific community and stakeholder expectations. The embedding of ILTER in an increasingly collaborative landscape of global environmental observation and ecological research networks and infrastructures is also reflected by developments of pioneering regional and national LTER networks such as SAEON in South Africa, CERN/CEOBEX in China, TERN in Australia or eLTER RI in Europe. The primary role of ILTER is currently seen as a mechanism to investigate ecosystem structure, function, and services in response to a wide range of environmental forcings using long-term, place-based research. We suggest four main fields of activities and advancements for the next decade through development/delivery of a: (1) Global multi-disciplinary community of researchers and research institutes; (2) Strategic global framework and strong partnerships in ecosystem observation and research; (3) Global Research Infrastructure (GRI); and (4) a scientific knowledge factory for societally relevant information on sustainable use of natural resources.

Gymnocoronis spilanthoides

Gymnocoronis spilanthoides

Characteristics and trends on global environmental monitoring research: a bibliometric analysis based on Science Citation Index Expanded.

A bibliometric analysis based on the Science Citation Index Expanded from Web of Science was carried out to provide insights into research activities and trends of the environmental monitoring from 1993 to 2012. Study emphases covered publication outputs, language, categories, journals, countries/territories, institutions, words, and hot issues. The results indicated that the annual output of environmental monitoring publications increased steadily. The environmental sciences and analytical chemistry were the two most common categories. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment published the most articles. The USA and the UK ranked in the top two in terms of all five indicators. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency took the leading position of the institutions in terms of publication output. The synthesized analysis by words in title, author keywords, and KeyWords Plus provided important clues for hot issues. Researchers paid more attention on water environment monitoring than other environmental factors. The contaminants including organic contaminants, heavy metal, and radiation were most common research focuses, and the organic contaminants and heavy metal of the degree of concern were gradually rising. Sensor and biosensor played an important role in the field of environmental monitoring devices. In addition to conventional device detection method, the remote sensing, GIS, and wireless sensor networks were the mainstream environmental monitoring methods. The international organization, social awareness, and the countries' positive and effective political and policies promoted the published articles.

Visualising the global environmental: new research directions

This special issue on the visual cultures of global environmental issues proposes innovative research directions by introducing new methodological frameworks and profoundly rethinking the crucial role of the visual in environmental research. The five papers gathered here were written by researchers coming from various disciplinary and cultural backgrounds, thus helping bridge the divides between different disciplinary traditions. Each essay examines the notion of the ‘global environment’, and of ‘global environmental images’ in particular, from a different theoretical perspective. From these emerge shared concerns about underlying aesthetics and politics, and reflections on the tensions that arise when visualising the environment, especially when objects and theories are at a global scale. In this introduction, I reflect upon two aspects across the five papers exploring tensions between the ‘local’ and the ‘global’, as well as the politics of images within global environmental research. Considered as an ensemble, this special issue calls for sustained interdisciplinary inquiry into global environmental images, paying close attention to the nature of this new type of global knowledge, the imaginaries mobilised, as well as the politics, power struggles, asymmetries and marginalisation processes which are inevitably involved when talking about the global environment.