Global Occurrence Research Articles

Microplastics: Global occurrence, impact, characteristics and sorting

Stressors like microplastics (MPs) cause proliferating environmental pollution globally. Since plastics are continuously introduced into water bodies through numerous paths, novel solutions are required to segregate as well as decline their quantity in various environmental sectors. Numerous techniques have been used and proposed in the last 10 years to screen and enumerate MPs, define the particle’s properties, for instance form, color, or size, and recognize the polymer material. This critical review aims to provide an overview of advanced procedures in MP investigation, provides illustrations of probable routes forward and lingering challenges, and categorizes present approaches as per their underlying research question. Methods presently employed for MP sampling, extraction, identification, characterization, and quantification were evaluated. Studies proposing use of precursors for removal of MPs from water via the sol–gel process were reviewed. Research on microfluidics systems finds application in environmental and industrial fields and has gained momentum in concentrating, sorting, classifying, focusing, and desegregating MPs. This review briefly discusses active and passive label-free microfluidic methods that are efficient in executing the desired particle separation and are gaining momentum in the ecological analysis of MPs. Although some sets of preliminary data of MPs at selected regions across the globe have been studied and obtained, the degree of MP contamination in most important rivers, nearshore inland areas, and air is yet to be understood completely. Along the Charleston Harbor Estuary, the MP concentration in intertidal sediment was found to be 0 to 652 MPs/m2. In Asia, at the South Korean region, western Pacific Ocean, a high plastic concentration of 15–9,400 particles/m3 was reported. In India, the MP concentration was identified as 288 pieces/m3 in the Netravati River. In Turkey, ingestion of MPs was reported to be found in 458 out of 1,337 fish samples, indicating the polluted situation of the Mediterranean Sea. Despite the rapid development in MP analysis, no standardized technique for sampling along with separation has been approved. Therefore, for attaining a more inclusive picture of MPs’ fate and abundance, this study highlights the importance of a standardized procedure for MP research that can be used globally and adequately enables comparisons around the world.

Ensemble modeling to predict the impact of future climate change on the global distribution of Olea europaea subsp. cuspidata

Climate change is one of the significant factors influencing global species redistribution. As a result, a better understanding of the species' possible range change in future climate conditions is needed. Therefore, this study compiles global geographic occurrence data of a wild olive sub-species, Olea europaea subsp. cuspidate, and projected potential distribution models in current and future climate scenarios. This study using ensemble modeling predicted that the species will undergo a significant decrease in habitat suitability under future climatic conditions with a contraction ranging from ca. 41 and 42% under RCP4.5 2050 and to about 56 and 61% under RCP8.5 2070 for committee averaging and weighted mean, respectively. More specifically, there will be a decrease in habitat suitability in regions of the southeastern part of the United States in North America; coastal regions in South America; coastal regions in the majority of eastern Africa; coastal parts of Spain, France, Italy, and Greece in Europe; coastal parts of Yemen and Saudi Arabia; the southeastern parts of Pakistan and the southern part of China in Asia; and southwestern and eastern parts of Australia when compared to current habitat suitability. The results of this ensemble modeling could be extremely valuable in identifying cultivation hotspots for the effective restoration and protection of this olive lineage under future climatic conditions.

Microplastics in urban runoff: Global occurrence and fate

Public concerns on microplastic (MP) pollution and its prevalence in urban runoff have grown exponentially. Huge amounts of MPs are transported from urban environments via surface runoff to different environment compartments, including rivers, lakes, reservoirs, estuaries, and oceans. The global concentrations of MPs in urban runoff range from 0 to 8580 particles/L. Understanding the sources, abundance, composition and characteristics of MPs in urban runoff on a global scale is a critical challenge because of the existence of multiple sources and spatiotemporal heterogeneity. Additionally, dynamic processes in the mobilization, aging, fragmentation, transport, and retention of MPs in urban runoff have been largely overlooked. Furthermore, the MP flux through urban runoff into rivers, lakes and even oceans is largely unknown, which is very important for better understanding the fate and transport of MPs in urban environments. Here, we provide a critical review of the global occurrence, transport, retention process, and sinks of MPs in urban runoff. Relevant policies, regulations and measures are put forward. Future global investigations and mitigation efforts will require us to address this issue cautiously, cooperating globally, nationally and regionally, and acting locally.

Spatiotemporal Statistics for Analyzing Climatic Conditions Influencing Lymantria dispar Outbreaks

The spongy moth (Lymantria dispar) is a forest pest that damages a variety of trees in North America and Eurasia. A spongy moth outbreak occurred in part of South Korea in 2020 and caused severe damage to domestic forests and human society. Since the occurrence of spongy moths is influenced by climatic factors, this study examines the causes of spongy moth outbreaks by analyzing the temporal and spatial differences in climatic factors, influencing spongy moth occurrence using specimens collected during field surveys. Climatic factors were identified using global occurrence coordinates to compare the weather characteristics of spongy moth occurrence in domestic regions, using the kernel density function. Spatial and temporal comparisons were performed for monthly weather factors obtained from field surveys in 2020 and 2021 in areas with high and low spongy moth larvae densities. Spongy moth outbreaks may result from particular combinations of variable seasonality in temperature and precipitation, including high temperatures during cold periods and low precipitation during developmental periods.

Facile synthesis of CoFe2O4@MIL–53(Al) nanocomposite for fast dye removal: Adsorption models, optimization and recyclability

The global occurrence of textile dyes pollution has recently emerged, posing a serious threat to ecological systems. To abate dye contamination, we here developed a novel magnetic porous CoFe2O4@MIL–53(Al) nanocomposite by incorporating magnetic CoFe2O4 nanoparticles with MIL–53(Al) metal–organic framework. This nanocomposite possessed a surface area of 197.144 m2 g−1 and a pore volume of 0.413 cm3 g−1. The effect of contact time (5–120 min), concentration (5–50 mg L−1), dosage (0.1–1.0 g L−1), and pH (2–10) on Congo red adsorption was clarified. CoFe2O4@MIL–53(Al) could remove 95.85% of Cong red dye from water with an accelerated kinetic rate of 0.6544 min−1 within 10 min. The kinetic and isotherm models showed the predominance of Bangham and Temkin. According to Langmuir, the maximum uptake capacities of CoFe2O4@MIL–53(Al), CoFe2O4, and MIL–53(Al) adsorbents were 43.768, 17.982, and 15.295 mg g−1, respectively. CoFe2O4@MIL–53(Al) was selected to optimize Cong red treatment using Box–Behnken experimental design. The outcomes showed that CoFe2O4@MIL–53(Al) achieved the highest experimental uptake capacity of 35.919 mg g−1 at concentration (29.966 mg L−1), time (14.926 min), and dosage (0.486 g L−1). CoFe2O4@MIL–53(Al) could treat dye mixture (methylene blue, methyl orange, Congo red, malachite green, and crystal violet) with an outstanding removal efficiency of 81.24% for 30 min, and could be reused up to five cycles. Therefore, novel recyclable and stable CoFe2O4@MIL–53(Al) is recommended to integrate well with real dye treatments systems.

Aflatoxin tests in herbal products and its quantification: Latest updates.

Aflatoxin is naturally occurring mycotoxins produced by fungi. The existence of aflatoxin in herbal medicines is a well-known issue. The detection of aflatoxin with good sensitivity and also that is reliable in complex matrices like herbs usually necessitates difficult processes and powerful detection instrument in preparation of sample. This study investigated the global occurrence of aflatoxin contamination herbal products. This article pivots on key breakthroughs in preparation of sample and its importance in analytical technology. Studies from published studies were screened to determine the general level of aflatoxin contamination. The countries involved were Malaysia, Indonesia, Kenya, Brazil, Nigeria, Thailand, South Africa, and Morocco. This review also includes recent studies on the development and application of screening assays such as lateral flow immunoassays, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, aptamer-based lateral flow assays, and cytometric bead arrays, as well as traditional chromatographic techniques for aflatoxin qualification or quantitation. The current study looks at aflatoxin contamination of key herbal drug raw material, which are frequently used in the production of numerous herbal pharmaceuticals. Contamination of aflatoxin might occur in herbal products if the ingredients such as medicinal herbs and plants that are used in manufacturing of herbal products are not dried thoroughly or stored inappropriately after preparation.

Removal of harmful algae in natural water by semiconductor photocatalysis- A critical review.

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) have turned out to be a global occurrence owing to the detrimental phenomenon like eutrophication and global climate change caused by human activities. This newly emergent threat imposes a severe hazardous to public health, ecosystems and fishery-based economies. Rapid and exponential growth of certain delirious and toxic algal species shall be held causative to the formation of HABs. The potential disadvantages they pose, make it necessary the identification of efficient treatment methodologies. Photocatalysis has been identified as the most promising solution amongst all the identified and investigated methods, for the environmental and economic benefits beheld. Different treatment methodologies were evaluated and light has been thrown on the advantages beheld by photocatalysis over the other methods. Focus has been given to the different photocatalysts that have been so far put to use towards photocatalytic disinfection of HABs and algal toxins. This present study provides useful information on the application of the traditional and photocatalysis process for removal of HABs in water bodies. Moreover, the results revealed that photocatalysis method could cause potent inhibitory effect on growth of algae species and disrupted algal cells membranes to some extent. Finally, the conventional treatment techniques have been recognized to be insufficient for removal of HABs. However, the photocatalyst technology have been utilized mostly for the mineralization and neutralization of the algal pollutants without any harmful secondary pollutants.

A reversal in global occurrences of flash drought around 2000 identified by rapid changes in the standardized evaporative stress ratio

Flash drought is characterized by a rapid rate of onset and intensification within a few weeks. It usually accompanies exhausted soil moisture and high-temperature stress and exerts detrimental impacts on the growth of crops and the ecosystem. However, the global occurrence characteristics of flash drought in the recent four decades remain unclear. This study analyzes the spatiotemporal variability of flash drought identified by rapid decreases in the standardized evaporative stress ratio (SESR) from 1981 to 2020 and investigates their meteorological drivers. Results show that the flash drought mainly occurred in middle and low latitude areas. The coverage of flash drought showed a statistically significant decrease during 1981–2020. With the year of 2000 as a turning point, the coverage of flash drought trend reversed from a significant decline to a significant rise. Flash drought has no noticeable seasonal change. With the increase of the intensity of flash drought, the proportion of flash drought gradually decreased. Slight flash drought (FD_1; 50.9 %) is seven times of extreme flash drought (FD_4). The analysis of the evolution of hydro-meteorological variables concurrent with the global flash drought shows that flash drought was more triggered by abnormally low precipitation, soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and high temperature. In addition, the anomaly gradually increases with the increase of intensity. Water deficit is an important factor affecting the occurrence of flash drought, and only 10.9 % of flash drought events occurred in both positive soil moisture and precipitation anomalies. The results reference future research on flash drought on various spatial scales under a changing climate.

Climatic and edaphic‐based predictors of normalized difference vegetation index in tropical dry landscapes: A pantropical analysis

AbstractAimSpatial patterns in resource supply drive variability in vegetation structure and function, yet quantification of this variability for tropical dry forests (TDFs) remains rudimentary. Several climate‐driven indices have been developed to classify and delineate TDFs globally, but there has not been a climo‐edaphic synthesis of these indices to assess and delineate the extent of TDFs. A statistical climo‐edaphic synthesis of these indices is therefore required.LocationPantropical.Time periodModern.Major taxa studiedVascular plants.MethodsWe assembled most known prior descriptions of TDFs into a single data layer and assessed statistically how the TDF biome, which we call tropical dry landscapes (TDLs) composed of forest and non‐forest vegetation, varied with respect to the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) sensed by MODIS (250 m pixel resolution). We examined how the NDVI varied with respect to mean annual temperature (MAT) and rainfall (MAR), precipitation regime, evapotranspiration and the physical, chemical and biological properties of TDL soils.ResultsOverall, the NDVI varied widely across TDLs, and we were able to identify five principal NDVI categories. A regression tree model captured 90% of NDVI variation across TDLs, with 14 climate and soil metrics as predictors. The model was then pruned to use only the three strongest metrics. These included the Lang aridity index, total evapotranspiration (ET) and MAT, which aligned with identified NDVI thresholds and accounted for 70% of the variation in NDVI. We found that across a global TDL distribution, ET was the strongest positive predictor and MAT the strongest negative predictor of the NDVI.Main conclusionsThe remote sensing‐based approach described here provides a comprehensive and quantitative biogeographical characterization of global TDL occurrence and the climatic and edaphic drivers of these landscapes.

Geomorphic and sedimentary signatures of catastrophic glacier detachments: A first assessment from Flat Creek, Alaska

Large-volume detachments of low-angle mountain glaciers involve the sudden mobilization of large amounts of glacier ice and lithic material in long-runout mass flows. Scientific investigations of these events have only recently brought to light their global occurrence and the similarities in the conditions under which they occur. While this recent research suggests that glacier detachments may become more frequent in a warming climate, a long-term record is largely lacking. Knowledge of the geomorphic signatures of glacier detachments could help establish such a record. Here, we present the first geomorphic and sedimentary assessment of a glacier detachment deposit. We investigate the landscape impacts of the Flat Creek glacier detachments in Alaska's St. Elias mountains through a combination of remote sensing analyses, field observations, Electrical Resistivity Tomography, and grain size and grain orientation analyses. From these data, we outline a land-system model that may help identify past glacier detachments elsewhere. Some of the most distinguishing features we documented were large bodies of buried ice-conglomerates, a rapid response of the remnant glacier ice, clusters of small-scale thermokarst ponds, countless molards, parallel striations etched into the hillslope and individual clasts, and a very long runout distance. We assess these features in terms of their longevity in the landscape and compare them to what has been described at glacier detachment sites elsewhere. Finally, we discuss to what extent glacier detachment deposits can be distinguished from deposits left by rock(−ice) avalanches, debris flows, and surging glaciers, and show that a differentiation is possible if detailed field investigations are undertaken.

Analysis of the performance of the efficient di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate-degrading bacterium Rhodococcus pyridinovorans DNHP-S2 and associated catabolic pathways

The widespread use of plastic has led to the global occurrence of phthalate esters (PAEs) pollution. PAEs can be effectively removed from polluted environments by microbe-mediated degradation. Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) has the highest residual concentration in agricultural soil-contaminated areas compared to other PAEs in most of China. The Rhodococcus pyridinovorans DNHP-S2 microbial isolate identified was found to efficiently degrade DEHP. Within a 72 h period, the bacteria were able to degrade 52.47% and 99.75% of 500 mg L−1 DEHP at 10 °C and 35 °C, respectively. Dimethyl phthalate (DMP) was first identified as an intermediate metabolite of DEHP, which is different from the previously reported DEHP catabolic pathway. Genomic sequencing of DNHP-S2 identified benzoate 1,2-dioxygenase and catechol 2,3/1,2-dioxygenase as potential mediators of DEHP degradation, consistent with the existence of two downstream metabolic pathways governing DEHP degradation. Three targets DEHP metabolism-related enzymes were found to be DEHP-inducible at the mRNA level, and DNHP-S2 was able to mediate the complete degradation of DEHP at lower temperatures, as confirmed via RT-qPCR. DNHP-S2 was also found to readily break down other PAEs including DMP, di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP), and n-butyl benzyl phthalate (BBP). Together, these results thus highlight DNHP-S2 as a bacterial strain with great promise as a tool for the remediation of PAE pollution. In addition to providing new germplasm and genetic resources for use in the context of PAE degradation, these results also offer new insight into the potential mechanisms whereby PAEs undergo catabolic degradation, making them well-suited for use in PAE-contaminated environments.

Diversity dynamics of microfossils from the Cretaceous to the Neogene show mixed responses to events.

Microfossils have a ubiquitous and well‐studied fossil record with temporally and spatially fluctuating diversity, but how this arises and how major events affect speciation and extinction is uncertain. We present one of the first applications of PyRate to a micropalaeontological global occurrence dataset, reconstructing diversification rates within a Bayesian framework from the Mesozoic to the Neogene in four microfossil groups: planktic foraminiferans, calcareous nannofossils, radiolarians and diatoms. Calcareous and siliceous groups demonstrate opposed but inconsistent responses in diversification. Radiolarian origination increases from c. 104 Ma, maintaining high rates into the Cenozoic. Calcareous microfossil diversification rates significantly declines across the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary, while rates in siliceous microfossil groups remain stable until the Paleocene–Eocene transition. Diversification rates in the Cenozoic are largely stable in calcareous groups, whereas the Palaeogene is a turbulent time for diatoms. Diversification fluctuations are driven by climate change and fluctuations in sea surface temperatures, leading to different responses in the groups generating calcareous or siliceous microfossils. Extinctions are apparently induced by changes in anoxia, acidification and stratification; speciation tends to be associated with upwelling, productivity and ocean circulation. These results invite further micropalaeontological quantitative analysis and study of the effects of major transitions in the fossil record. Despite extensive occurrence data, regional diversification events were not recovered; neither were some global events. These unexpected results show the need to consider multiple spatiotemporal levels of diversity and diversification analyses and imply that occurrence datasets of different clades may be more appropriate for testing some hypotheses than others.

Effect of a new offshore gas platform on harbor porpoises in the Dogger Bank

AbstractOffshore Oil and Gas (O&G) exploration and production has been cycling from cradle to grave for over 100 years, spanning many generations of marine fauna. Despite global occurrence of offshore infrastructure, implications of their presence for apex predators, including cetaceans, is understudied. We analyzed data from autonomous underwater passive‐echolocation‐click detectors (C‐PODs) deployed at an offshore O&G production platform and at control locations to investigate acoustic activity of harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) from 2015 to 2020, before, during, and after platform construction. Despite a statistically significant decrease in porpoise detections following platform construction and initial drilling operations (2015–2016), detections returned to baseline levels within five months. We detected no long‐term effects of platform presence on porpoise‐detection rates. While additional study is required to further understand activity of porpoise at O&G platforms during continued operation through to decommissioning, our findings, nonetheless, have important implications for Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), which do not currently consider effects of platform presence on marine mammals in any context other than short‐term noise mitigation. While we know porpoise forage at ageing platforms, this is the first study to demonstrate porpoise also utilize space around new platforms, which must be accommodated in long‐term EIA processes.

Spatio-temporal pattern of cross-continental invasion: Evidence of climatic niche shift and predicted range expansion provide management insights for smooth cordgrass

Introduction and spread of the halophyte Spartina alterniflora is one of the largest continental-scale biological invasion events in Asia and the Americas. Rapid globalization and broad environmental tolerance of the species increase the chance of novel invasions. Thus, we aimed to identify susceptible regions to inform prevention and control activities.A comprehensive global occurrence dataset and corresponding bioclimatic variables were used to characterize the species' climatic niche and predict current and future potential distributions. Conservatism of climatic niche between native and non-native ranges was tested, and climatic niche dynamics were analysed at spatial and temporal scales. The ensemble of eight species distribution models and eight climate change models was used to map the potential distribution of S. alterniflora under current and future climate conditions. We investigated the susceptibility of threatened ecosystems like mangroves and protected areas to S. alterniflora invasion to better inform management decisions.Our study revealed wide climatic tolerance and significant niche expansion of the species from humid regions of its native range to dry and arid environments of its non-native range with a very short lag period. With a marginal increase in temperature and precipitation in the future, range expansion was predicted towards higher latitude and more inland areas. The mangroves area, salt marshes, and protected areas that are at risk of ongoing and future invasions were identified. Given the invasion potential of S. alterniflora, the areas identified as climatically susceptible for the species’ establishment, both in current and future climates, should be prioritized for management actions.

Role of Environmental Toxicants on Neurodegenerative Disorders.

Neurodegeneration leads to the loss of structural and functioning components of neurons over time. Various studies have related neurodegeneration to a number of degenerative disorders. Neurological repercussions of neurodegeneration can have severe impacts on the physical and mental health of patients. In the recent past, various neurodegenerative ailments such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s illnesses have received global consideration owing to their global occurrence. Environmental attributes have been regarded as the main contributors to neural dysfunction-related disorders. The majority of neurological diseases are mainly related to prenatal and postnatal exposure to industrially produced environmental toxins. Some neurotoxic metals, like lead (Pb), aluminium (Al), Mercury (Hg), manganese (Mn), cadmium (Cd), and arsenic (As), and also pesticides and metal-based nanoparticles, have been implicated in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. The contaminants are known for their ability to produce senile or amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), which are the key features of these neurological dysfunctions. Besides, solvent exposure is also a significant contributor to neurological diseases. This study recapitulates the role of environmental neurotoxins on neurodegeneration with special emphasis on major neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

Precise radial velocities of giant stars

Context. Radial velocity surveys of evolved stars allow us to probe a higher stellar mass range, on average, compared to main-sequence samples. Hence, differences between the planet populations around the two target classes can be caused by either the differing stellar mass or stellar evolution. To properly disentangle the effects of both variables, it is important to characterize the planet population around giant stars as accurately as possible. Aims. Our goal is to investigate the giant planet occurrence rate around evolved stars and determine its dependence on stellar mass, metallicity, and orbital period. Methods. We combine data from three different radial velocity surveys targeting giant stars: the Lick giant star survey, the radial velocity program EXoPlanets aRound Evolved StarS (EXPRESS), and the Pan-Pacific Planet Search (PPPS), yielding a sample of 482 stars and 37 planets. We homogeneously rederived the stellar parameters of all targets and accounted for varying observational coverage, precision and stellar noise properties by computing a detection probability map for each star via injection and retrieval of synthetic planetary signals. We then computed giant planet occurrence rates as a function of period, stellar mass, and metallicity, corrected for incompleteness. Results. Our findings agree with previous studies that found a positive planet-metallicity correlation for evolved stars and identified a peak in the giant planet occurrence rate as a function of stellar mass, but our results place it at a slightly smaller mass of (1.68 ± 0.59) M⊙. The period dependence of the giant planet occurrence rate seems to follow a broken power-law or log-normal distribution peaking at (718 ± 226) days or (797 ± 455) days, respectively, which roughly corresponds to 1.6 AU for a 1 M⊙ star and 2.0 AU for a 2 M⊙ star. This peak could be a remnant from halted migration around intermediate-mass stars, caused by stellar evolution, or an artifact from contamination by false positives. The completeness-corrected global occurrence rate of giant planetary systems around evolved stars is 10.7%−1.6%+2.2% for the entire sample, while the evolutionary subsets of RGB and HB stars exhibit 14.2%−2.7%+4.1% and 6.6%−1.3%+2.1%, respectively. However, both subsets have different stellar mass distributions and we demonstrate that the stellar mass dependence of the occurrence rate suffices to explain the apparent change of occurrence with the evolutionary stage.

PH-responsive magnetic artificial melanin with tunable aggregation-induced stronger magnetism for rapid remediation of plastic fragments

The global occurrence of plastic fragment pollutants in water resources has raised concerns about food safety, drinking water security, and long-term ecological impacts worldwide. The different chemical nature, the persistence, and the smaller size make micro-plastics accumulators for toxins that pose a potential threat to human health. Generally, the smaller the size of the plastic fragments is, the more difficult it is to remove them from the aquatic environment. Methods to remove plastics from water or other media are highly needed. Here, we develop core-shell superparamagnetic melanin nanoparticles, which can put magnetism on nano-/micro-plastics within 30 s and then rapidly remove them from water by applying an external magnetic field. The shell material (artificial nano-melanin) provides simultaneously attractive electrostatic, hydrophobic interaction, and van der Waals' forces to attract nano-/micro-plastics, which plays a key role in the rapid remediation of the plastic fragments. With this principle applied to a simple method, the average removal efficiency achieves 89.3%. We show a method for high-throughput remediation of various micro-plastics with simple materials and processes, which have the potential for rapid, green, and large-scale remediation in the future.

Optimization of biochar systems in the water-food-energy-carbon nexus for sustainable circular agriculture

The increasing pressures of global warming, population growth and epidemic occurrence are causing challenges in meeting the growing requirements for water, energy and food. In particular, the contradiction between the supply and demand for water, food, and energy is exacerbated by inefficient resource utilization and carbon emission increase. Incorporation of the interlinked aspects of water, energy, food and carbon emissions from agricultural systems into one water-food-energy-carbon nexus facilitates integrated resource management. Biochar application to farmland is a potential strategy for carbon management and agricultural productivity improvement. The integration of biochar systems and the water-food-energy-carbon nexus is an efficient and coordinated alternative method for sustainable agricultural management and a crucial strategy for addressing water, energy and food security issues. Accordingly, this paper proposes an approach for the synergistic regulation of water, land, energy, and carbon emissions in a circular agricultural system by balancing water supply and demand, land allocation, electricity consumption, and economic upgrading principles. A two-stage circular agriculture framework is constructed, with biochar and electricity generated from agricultural residues at the first stage and employed at the second stage. Economic-environmental-energy harmonization is considered in the methodology, and the agrotechnical potential of biochar is quantified via crop yield increase and greenhouse gas emission reduction functions. This approach can assist decision makers in providing the best policy options given certain agricultural resources to achieve the maximum economic performance of the system while minimizing environmental side effects. In this paper, the model framework is applied to the Sanjiang Plain in northeastern China to verify the feasibility of the approach. The results indicate that the external electricity demand is reduced by 87.8% due to the generation of biofuels. Cropland greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by 34.09%–67.06% via the application of biochar. This study proposes an optimization method with important implications for the improvement of regional cropland management techniques and development of sustainable circular agriculture. This methodology can be extended to other agriculture-centered regions with limited resources and environmental problems.

Climate warming changes synchrony of plants and pollinators.

Climate warming changes the phenology of many species. When interacting organisms respond differently, climate change may disrupt their interactions and affect the stability of ecosystems. Here, we used global biodiversity facility occurrence records to examine phenology trends in plants and their associated insect pollinators in Germany since the 1980s. We found strong phenological advances in plants but differences in the extent of shifts among pollinator groups. The temporal trends in plant and insect phenologies were generally associated with interannual temperature variation and thus probably driven by climate change. When examining the synchrony of species-level plant-pollinator interactions, their temporal trends differed among pollinator groups. Overall, plant-pollinator interactions become more synchronized, mainly because the phenology of plants, which historically lagged behind that of the pollinators, responded more strongly to climate change. However, if the observed trends continue, many interactions may become more asynchronous again in the future. Our study suggests that climate change affects the phenologies of both plants and insects and that it also influences the synchrony of plant-pollinator interactions.

Time for noma to enter the global health stage

Noma is a unique public health challenge, which for far too long has been as invisible as the highly vulnerable population group of children affected. In the absence of reliable epidemiological data, the WHO noma estimations from 1998 remain the most widely cited by government planners, concerned non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and academia. This lends high relevance to Anaïs Leonie Galli and colleagues'1 systematic review of epidemiological data since 1998, and global occurrence of noma from 1950 to 2019.