Ellobiid snail loss in seawall-fronted mangroves.

Epilithic biofilms as bioindicators of water contamination by pesticides in Protected Areas from Atlantic Forest.

Natural habitats enhance pollination services in apple and sweet cherry orchards: Evidence from Southern Mediterranean agroecosystems

Grasslands are vital for providing wildlife habitats, essential ecosystem services, and food to humanity. Elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration (eCO2), as a key driver of climate change, has substantial effects on grasslands. Nonetheless, a holistic quantification on the response of the nitrogen cycle to eCO2 in global grasslands is lacking. Here, we show that solely eCO2 could increase the net primary productivity (NPP) in grasslands by 10% (95% confidence interval, 8-12%), yet simultaneously decrease leaf nitrogen content by 8% (95% confidence interval, 5-10%). When considering the effects of eCO2 on both NPP and leaf nitrogen content, we estimate a projected increase of 2.1 million tonnes per year (Tg yr-1) in nitrogen harvest by global grasslands under the eCO2 SSP2-4.5 scenario in 2050. The increase in nitrogen use efficiency by 29% (95% confidence interval, 18-40%) and biological nitrogen fixation by 66% (95% confidence interval, 18-138%) would lead to declines in nitrogen surplus (-28.3 Tg yr-1). These changes in the grassland nitrogen budget due to eCO2 would generate benefits to 158 billion US dollars by avoiding human and ecosystem health damages. Priority should be accorded to sustainable nitrogen management strategies to leverage the advantages of CO2 fertilization for ensuring food security and mitigating nitrogen pollution.

When coastal habitats fail: Transitioning from adaptation to vulnerability under habitat degradation.

ABSTRACT Palomena prasina (L.) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), the green shield bug (GSB), is an important hazelnut pest in Southern Europe. Currently, its control focuses on insecticide spraying during the crop season. We hypothesized that, as for other pentatomid species, adjacent habitats strongly influence the population build‐up in spring and, therefore, lead to edge effects within crop fields during the production season. This could allow for precision‐targeted pest management strategies. This study examined the spatio‐temporal dynamics of the GSB in spring and summer over 2 years. We investigated the plant preferences of GSBs in spring and the existence of edge effects on their distribution and on fruit damage in hazelnut orchards in summer. We also examined the relative contribution of adjacent habitats to GSB abundance in crops. Our results show that, following their emergence from overwintering in spring, GSB adults, and later on their offspring, are primarily found on wild host plants in natural habitats, particularly on Crataegus monogyna Jacquin and Cornus sanguinea L. In early summer, the older nymphs of the second generation colonize the hazelnut orchards, with populations and damage proportion displaying edge effects. We were unable to identify an adjacent habitat variable that significantly explains the abundance of GSB in the orchards, although both forest habitats and hazelnut orchards have an effect on GSB abundance. Based on these findings, we propose various IPM strategies for controlling P. prasina .

Wildlife crime poses a severe threat to biodiversity conservation, ecological integrity, and sustainable development, particularly in biodiverse developing countries. In Uganda, protected areas such as Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) continue to experience persistent wildlife crimes, including poaching, illegal fishing, habitat encroachment, and wildlife trafficking, despite the presence of robust legal and institutional frameworks. Prosecution of wildlife offenders is widely recognised as a central deterrence mechanism and a key pillar of environmental justice and conservation governance. Yet the persistence of these crimes raises critical concerns about the effectiveness of existing prosecution processes. This study assessed the effectiveness of wildlife crime prosecution in QENP, with particular attention to legal, institutional, and operational determinants of enforcement outcomes. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, combining structured questionnaires administered to wildlife officers, community members, and law enforcement personnel with key informant interviews involving prosecutors, magistrates, park wardens, and conservation officials. These data were complemented by a systematic review of wildlife legislation, prosecution records, and policy documents. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, while qualitative data were examined thematically. The findings indicate that prosecution effectiveness is undermined by weak investigations, poor evidence management, limited technical and financial capacity, corruption, and judicial delays, resulting in low conviction rates and weak deterrence. Nonetheless, opportunities exist through strengthened legal frameworks, inter-agency coordination, community-based intelligence, judicial reforms, and support from conservation partners. The study underscores the need to enhance investigative capacity, professionalise prosecutorial practices, and institutionalise coordinated enforcement mechanisms to improve wildlife crime prosecution and conservation outcomes in QENP

Afrotropical inland waters remain poorly studied for rotifer diversity. Here, we provide new distribution data from Botswana and connect these local patterns to continental-scale biogeography using an Africa–Europe occurrence dataset. In Botswana, we analyzed rotifer species richness, functional traits, and environmental drivers using 37 samples from 15 water bodies spanning natural and anthropogenic habitats. We recorded 107 rotifer taxa: 92 identified to species or subspecies level and 14 to genus. Seventy taxa (~65%) are new records for Botswana, and one species, Donneria sudzukii, is reported for the first time in Africa. Physicochemical gradients explained community structure, with the first two constrained RDA axes accounting for 40.7% and 23.7% of variation. Axis 1 captured a mineralization gradient linked to total dissolved solids and temperature, whereas Axis 2 reflected oxygen concentration and pH. Traits tracked these gradients: warmer, more mineralized waters were associated with specific trophi types, compact body shapes, and intermediate body sizes, whereas less mineralized, better oxygenated sites were related to smaller taxa and alternative feeding morphologies. To place these trait–environment relationships in a broader geographic context, we then analyzed an Africa–Europe dataset (67,170 records) to quantify latitudinal patterns in thermal classes and morphological traits (geometric body shape and trophi type). Diversity showed clear latitudinal structuring: warm-water genera clustered at low latitudes, only Kellicottia and Didymodactylos had mean distributions above 50° N, and bdelloid families were associated with higher latitudes. Morphological traits also varied with latitude, with trilateral truncated pyramid body shapes and malleoramate trophi occurring closest to the equator. Overall, by combining new species-level data from Botswana with continent-scale occurrence patterns, we link local community assembly to macroecological structure in rotifer functional and biogeographical organization.

Abstract Growing plants on buildings provides a range of ecosystem services. In addition to offering wildlife habitat, green walls insulate buildings and reduce their thermal load in summer. But how does plant choice/design affect building cooling? While some research indicates the importance of foliage width (foliar density), limited information is available on what density optimises cooling. This research aims to determine how plant canopy width impacts wall cooling. Cooling was estimated by comparing wall panel temperatures behind plant foliage against control panels exposed to direct solar irradiance; the plant canopy width varying by the addition of extra plants, i.e. altering Wall Leaf Area Index (WLAI). The value of wall cooling per unit leaf area for six contrasting taxa was estimated, and factors affecting these attributes were identified. The potential to cool a wall increased with additional canopy layers, but was not proportional to the greater leaf area. Greatest cooling was recorded with Heuchera micrantha cv. Palace Purple, with 21 °C of cooling provided by a single canopy layer when control wall temperatures were 45 °C. Adding two more canopy layers increased the cooling differential to 24 °C under these conditions. Shading accounted for much of the cooling, but variations in cooling capacities for taxa with similar leaf areas suggest variable evapotranspiration was also influencing cooling. This study concludes that for those taxa that cool primarily via shading additional canopy layers are beneficial, but for those that cool via evapotranspiration, then a single layer suffices.

Climate change is intensifying hydrological extremes, reshaping water availability across ecosystems and threatening both agriculture and natural plant communities. While flooding tolerance has been extensively studied in crops and model species such as Arabidopsis thaliana and rice, wild plants naturally adapted to water-rich habitats remain underexplored. This review summarizes anatomical, physiological, and molecular strategies of flooding adaptation in wild Brassicaceae, with a focus on the ecologically diverse tribe Cardamineae. We further highlight other water-associated lineages, including Arabis, Cakile, Cochlearia and Subularia, as well as the related family Limnanthaceae inhabiting seasonal wetlands. Importantly, flooding in natural habitats rarely represents a single stress factor. Besides limited gas diffusion leading to hypoxia and carbon limitation, additional constraints such as salinity, mechanical disturbance, or low temperature may occur. The taxa reviewed here exhibit convergent morphological traits, including schizogenic aerenchyma, adventitious roots, heterophylly, and growth modulation under submergence. Although whole-genome duplication is frequent among water-associated Brassicaceae, it does not universally predict flooding tolerance and is best viewed as a context-dependent modifier of adaptive potential. This review highlights that flooding adaptation in Brassicaceae has evolved through multiple evolutionary routes and underscores wild relatives as a valuable, yet underutilized, resource for improving flooding resilience in crops.

Objectives This study was conducted to investigate the physiological adaptations and metabolic responses of three halophytes: Pulicaria undulata , Tamarix nilotica , and Lycium shawii —during their flowering stage under abiotic stress conditions in Sabkhat Al-Awshaziyah. The study aimed to assess the physical and chemical characteristics of the rhizosphere soils associated with these species. Material and Methods Rhizosphere soil samples were collected from around each species and analyzed for their physical properties, including soil texture and hydraulic conductivity, as well as chemical properties such as cation exchange capacity (CEC) and organic matter (OM) content. To understand plant responses to salinity stress, several physiological and biochemical parameters were measured, including leaf area, total carbohydrate content, photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll and carotene), and antioxidant enzyme activities (peroxidase and polyphenol oxidase). Results The rhizosphere soils were predominantly sandy. Soils associated with L. shawii and P. undulata showed a medium-coarse texture, while those of T. nilotica were fine sandy. Hydraulic conductivity values were relatively high, ranging from 23.33 to 27 cm h -1 . Overall, soil fertility was low, as reflected by CEC and OM values. The highest CEC was recorded in T. nilotica soil, reaching 12.3 Meq/100 g in the subsurface and 11.27 Meq/100 g at the surface, whereas L. shawii exhibited the lowest values at both depths. Organic matter content followed a similar trend, with T. nilotica showing the highest percentages (0.83% at the surface and 0.74% in the subsurface). In contrast, P. undulata and L. shawii displayed comparable but lower OM values. Regarding physiological traits, T. nilotica had the smallest leaf area (0.66 cm 2 /plant) but accumulated the highest carbohydrate content (31.5%). L. shawii recorded the lowest carbohydrate level (16.8%). Pigment analysis revealed that P. undulata contained the highest levels of chlorophyll and carotene. In terms of antioxidant activity, peroxidase activity was highest in L. shawii (477.33 u/g fresh weight/h), while P. undulata showed the greatest polyphenol oxidase activity (38.94 u/g fresh weight/h). Conclusion The results demonstrate that the studied halophytes employ different adaptive strategies to cope with saline stress. T. nilotica appears to benefit from relatively better soil conditions and higher carbohydrate accumulation, P. undulata maintains stronger photosynthetic pigment levels, and L. shawii exhibits enhanced antioxidant enzyme activity. Collectively, these findings highlight the ecological significance and practical value of these species as potential candidates for the conservation and rehabilitation of saline areas.

Nest-site preferences and habitat ecology of Owls in the Shangla District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

The population of Wallago attu (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) has declined worldwide including in the rivers of India and has been declared ‘Vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The restoration and conservation of fishes is heavily dependent on their population status in their natural habitats. Therefore, otolith shape was used to study the stock structure of W. attu from rivers Ganga, Gomti and Yamuna in Northern India, river Hooghly in Eastern and Pampa in Southern part of India. Shape indices of the asteriscus otoliths and elliptical Fourier analysis of the contour shapes was investigated using univariate and multivariate statistical techniques. The otolith descriptors (otolith length, breadth, area and perimeter) and four shape indices (length-breath ratio, form factor, circularity and ellipticity) of the otoliths were different (ANOVA, p<0.05) between the fish of five sampled rivers. Principal component analysis of normalized elliptical Fourier descriptors (NEFDs) of the contour shape accounted for 89.55% of the total variance. Discriminant function analysis on the basis of NEFDs resulted in 100% classification rate with no intermixing between the fish of different rivers and depicted the presence of different stocks of W. attu in a scatter plot of DF-I against DF-II. These variations in the otolith shape in the current study might be due to the restricted movement of fish because of geographical isolation and different environmental conditions in different rivers due to changes in habitat, or both. The current study would be helpful in developing effective strategies for stock management of this species.

Planform evolution and terrestrial habitat health of two representative mid-channel bars (Baishazhou bar and Tianxingzhou bar) in the urban reach of the Middle Yangtze River in Wuhan City have not been understood under the combined influences of natural forcing and human activities. Using dry-season Landsat imagery (1989–2020), hydrological records from the Hankou gauging station (1990–2019), and field surveys, we quantified bar-morphology changes and examined the mechanisms underlying their differentiated scouring. We also developed an indicator system to evaluate terrestrial habitat health on mid-channel bars. Indicator weights were determined using a combined weighting approach integrating the Analytic Hierarchy Process and the entropy weight method. Since the Three Gorges Dam began operation, the runoff in the Wuhan reach has decreased only slightly (6.72%), whereas sediment load decreased sharply (69.88%), causing net scouring of both bars. Baishazhou bar, in a straight anabranching reach, lost 43.83% of its area (1989–2020), with erosion concentrated at the head and main channel margin and caving. Tianxingzhou bar, in a mildly curved reach, had moderate shrinkage (26.33%, 1992–2022) as revetments curbed head/right margin retreat. Both bars were “very healthy” in natural attributes, with the Baishazhou bar showing longer water–land ecotone exposure (217 d) and higher vegetation cover (92%). Socially, Baishazhou bar was “sub-healthy” due to unprotected shrinkage, and Tianxingzhou bar was “unhealthy” due to area loss and low permeability of hard works. Overall, both bars were “healthy”. These findings provide a basis for ecological conservation and habitat restoration of bar wetlands.

Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC. (Fabaceae), commonly known as velvet bean, is an annual tropical legume widely distributed in India, Africa, and the Americas. It has a long history of use in traditional medicine for managing various health conditions. It is renowned for its anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, aphrodisiac, and anti-Parkinson effects. The entire plant is considered health-promoting, particularly the seeds. They have been used for their neuroprotective, fertility-enhancing, and antioxidant effects. This review aims to compile all available information regarding the chemical composition of all parts of this medicinal plant. For this purpose, the complete databases of Google Scholar, Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science available to date were utilized. All studies reported the presence of a diverse range of secondary metabolites, including phenolic compounds, such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, and tannins, as well as saponins and alkaloids. Most studies concentrated on the chemical characterization of the seeds, whereas the leaves, roots, and pods have received comparatively limited scientific attention. The seeds of M. pruriens are renowned for their high concentration of L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA), a metabolic precursor of dopamine. A large proportion of these studies originated from countries where M. pruriens naturally occurs. Few studies have been conducted on the chemical composition of velvet bean outside these regions. Despite the existing information on the chemical composition of M. pruriens. (seeds, leaves, and roots), further research beyond its natural habitat is required to gain a broader understanding of its chemical profile and pharmacological effects.

ABSTRACT The dromedary is a desert animal that is most active during daylight and rests at night. In its natural habitat, it spends most of the day grazing, whereas in an intensive livestock farming system, food availability is programmed by humans. Temporal feeding exerts a strong influence on the circadian rhythms of numerous species. These aspects have become challenging in camel husbandry, which has recently faced important changes, moving from extensive management with free grazing in the desert to urban and peri-urban intensive farms with various feeding schedules. The objective of the present study was to examine the impact of altering feeding schedules on the locomotor activity (LA), rumination rhythms and the sleep-wake cycle of dromedaries. The study involved four female camels that were housed under semi-natural environmental conditions mimicking an intensive livestock farming system. The study was conducted over three periods of 3 weeks each, with a fixed, non-counterbalanced feeding sequence, during which food was distributed either at 10 a.m. (stages 1 and 3) or at 10 p.m. (stage 2). Behaviour was recorded continuously, and polysomnography (PSG) was performed during the final 48 h of each stage. Shifting food access from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. induced an increase in the amount of nocturnal activity from 0.6 h (stage 1) and 0.8 h (stage 3) to 4.1 h (stage 2). Conversely, the daytime activity level decreased when food was available during the night. While diurnal rumination remained unchanged, shifting food access reduced the nocturnal duration of rumination from 4.3 h and 4.7 h (stages 1 and 3, respectively) to 2.8 h (Stage 2). Nocturnal feeding was associated with anticipatory bouts of locomotor activity (FAA), which continued for 3 d after switching back to diurnal feeding. Polysomnographic results revealed that nocturnal feeding decreased TST (Total sleep time) during the night, from 27.82% (Stage 1) and 27.04% (Stage 3) to 21.39% (Stage 2). Conversely, a sleep rebound was characterized by a daytime increase in TST from 1.7% and 1.3% to 7.6% when feeding was at 10 p.m. In conclusion, the findings indicate that in camels, nocturnal feeding was associated with marked changes in the temporal organization of LA, rumination, and sleep-wake cycle. While the overall daily amounts of these behaviours were largely maintained, their redistribution across the 24-h cycle suggests that feeding time can modulate circadian outputs. These results highlight the importance of taking into account the natural temporal organization of the species, when designing feeding schedules in camel husbandry, while acknowledging that further studies are needed to assess the long-term physiological and welfare implications.

Forest fires are a major concern due to their significant impact on the environment, economy, and wildlife habitats. Efficient early detection systems can significantly mitigate their devastating effects. This paper provides a comprehensive review of forest fire detection (FFD) techniques and traces their evolution from basic lookout-based methods to sophisticated remote sensing technologies, including recent Internet of Things (IoT)- and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-based sensor network systems. Historical methods, characterized primarily by human surveillance and basic electronic sensors, laid the foundation for modern techniques. Recently, there has been a noticeable shift toward ground-based sensors, automated camera systems, aerial surveillance using drones and aircraft, and satellite imaging. Moreover, the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and the IoT introduces a new era of advanced detection capabilities. These detection systems are being actively deployed in wildfire-prone regions, where early alerts have proven critical in minimizing damage and aiding rapid response. All FFD techniques follow a common path of data collection, pre-processing, data compression, transmission, and post-processing. Providing sufficient power to complete these tasks is also an important area of research. Recent research focuses on image compression techniques, data transmission, the application of ML and AI at edge nodes and servers, and the minimization of energy consumption, among other emerging directions. However, to build a sustainable FFD model, proper sensor deployment is essential. Sensors can be either fixed at specific geographic locations or attached to UAVs. In some cases, a combination of fixed and UAV-mounted sensors may be used. Careful planning of sensor deployment is essential for the success of the model. Moreover, ensuring adequate energy supply for both ground-based and UAV-based sensors is important. Replacing sensor batteries or recharging UAVs in remote areas is highly challenging, particularly in the absence of an operator. Hence, future FFD systems must prioritize not only detection accuracy but also long-term energy autonomy and strategic sensor placement. Integrating renewable energy sources, optimizing data processing, and ensuring minimal human intervention will be key to developing truly sustainable and scalable solutions. This review aims to guide researchers and developers in designing next-generation FFD systems aligned with practical field demands and environmental resilience.

Decoupled responses of above- and belowground community stability to utility-scale solar energy in the alpine ecosystem on Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

Acute and chronic extreme cold weather events influence hypothalamic and testicular gene networks in a free-living Arctic breeding songbird, the Lapland longspur.

Impact of habitat modifications on flea (Siphonaptera) infestation dynamics of non-volant small mammals across wildlife-human interfaces in Tanzania