Hasil untuk "Environmental Science"

B. Minasny, A. McBratney, Florence Carré

Digital soil mapping (DSM),as one of the sub -disciplines of soil science, was first introduced in McBratny et al. in 2003. It has since then witnessed many developments and has had a lot of scientific contributions at the global level. DSM aims to create and populate spatial soil information collected through field and laboratory observations that are coupled through quantitative relationships with environmental data. The output involves raster maps of predictions and uncertainties. The enhanced availability of spatial data, such as digital elevation models and satellite images; the increasing computation power to process data; the development of data-mining tools and GIS; and increasing global demand for spatial data including uncertainty assessments are some of the factors that have led to the success of field.This paper reviews the development of digital soil mapping through time, the covariates, some modeling examples,and the DSM studies so far carried out in Iran.

C. Tomasetti, B. Vogelstein

Zhanqing Li, Jianping Guo, A. Ding et al.

F. Geels

M. Kent, P. Coker

W Evan Rivers, J. Stribling, M. Barbour et al.

S. Running, R. Nemani, F. Heinsch et al.

C. S. Holling

I. Wilson

武彦 福島

K. Thayer, J. Heindel, J. Bucher et al.

Background: There has been increasing interest in the concept that exposures to environmental chemicals may be contributing factors to the epidemics of diabetes and obesity. On 11–13 January 2011, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Division of the National Toxicology Program (NTP) organized a workshop to evaluate the current state of the science on these topics of increasing public health concern. Objective: The main objective of the workshop was to develop recommendations for a research agenda after completing a critical analysis of the literature for humans and experimental animals exposed to certain environmental chemicals. The environmental exposures considered at the workshop were arsenic, persistent organic pollutants, maternal smoking/nicotine, organotins, phthalates, bisphenol A, and pesticides. High-throughput screening data from Toxicology in the 21st Century (Tox21) were also considered as a way to evaluate potential cellular pathways and generate -hypotheses for testing which and how certain chemicals might perturb biological processes related to diabetes and obesity. Conclusions: Overall, the review of the existing literature identified linkages between several of the environmental exposures and type 2 diabetes. There was also support for the “developmental obesogen” hypothesis, which suggests that chemical exposures may increase the risk of obesity by altering the differentiation of adipocytes or the development of neural circuits that regulate feeding behavior. The effects may be most apparent when the developmental exposure is combined with consumption of a high-calorie, high-carbohydrate, or high-fat diet later in life. Research on environmental chemical exposures and type 1 diabetes was very limited. This lack of research was considered a critical data gap. In this workshop review, we outline the major themes that emerged from the workshop and discuss activities that NIEHS/NTP is undertaking to address research recommendations. This review also serves as an introduction to an upcoming series of articles that review the literature regarding specific exposures and outcomes in more detail.

S. Cooke, L. Sack, C. Franklin et al.

The definition of ‘conservation physiology’ is refined to be more inclusive, with an emphasis on characterizing diversity, understanding and predicting responses to environmental change and stressors, and generating solutions. The integrative discipline is focused on mechanisms and uses physiological tools, concepts, and knowledge to advance conservation and resource management.

Alexandros Amprazis, Penelope Papadopoulou

Societal Impact Statement Lack of plant awareness represents a significant phenomenon characterized by the underestimation of plants, with clear implications for sustainability. This study explores the potential of key competencies in education for sustainable development as an effective framework for mitigating this phenomenon. Through conceptual analysis, these competencies emerge as a valuable tool for enhancing plant awareness. This has significant implications for both the educational community and the general public, as it offers an additional pathway for fostering plant awareness, which can ultimately lead to increased public pressure and stronger mobilization by policymakers on critical issues such as biodiversity conservation and climate change. Summary The phenomenon of “plant blindness” or “lack of plant awareness” has received much attention from researchers over the last years. Recognizing education as both a contributing factor to and a potential solution for this issue, this study explores key competencies in education for sustainable development as a framework to enhance plant awareness. A conceptual analysis was conducted to identify thematic relationships between this framework and plant awareness. The analysis suggests that enhancing systems thinking and integrated problem‐solving competencies can help learners better recognize and understand the importance of plants for both human welfare and planet Earth. Through the development of critical thinking, normative, and self‐awareness competencies, learners are encouraged to question existing personal and societal perspectives on plants, thereby reshaping their perception of flora. Moreover, the application of anticipatory, strategic, and collaboration competencies allows learners to explore the intrinsic values of the plant world more deeply, fostering respect and empathy, which can lead to a broader shift in attitudes toward flora. Through the integration of these elements into plant education, botany classes can become more engaging and relevant to real‐world issues. This approach can help bridge the gap between traditional science education and the development of pro‐conservation behaviors, while also enriching the evaluation methods used to assess plant awareness. Additionally, key competencies in education for sustainable development within plant education can promote not only a less utilitarian perspective of plants as organisms but also a more holistic approach to science education, reducing its emphasis on instrumentalization.

Zhineng Liu, Xiaolan Lao, Dongjing Zhou et al.

Pesticides are essential for crop protection and agricultural yield enhancement. However, their entry into water bodies, particularly drinking water sources, poses threats to human health and aquatic ecosystems. The seasonal variation, and potential risks of pesticides in drinking water sources in Guangdong, China were investigated. The total pesticide concentrations were significantly elevated during the dry season compared to the wet season (p < 0.01; |r| = 0.77; 95 % CI for difference in medians: [92.6, 315] ng/L). Neonicotinoid pesticides predominated in more than half of the samples. Across both seasons, river water sources displayed significantly higher total pesticide concentrations than reservoir sources (dry season: p < 0.05, |r| =0.60, 95 % CI [106,359] ng/L; wet season: p < 0.01, |r| =0.66, 95 % CI [70.3, 412] ng/L). Health risk assessments indicated that pesticides in drinking water sources pose non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks associated with long-term direct consumption, particularly for children aged 3–4 years. Ecological risk assessments revealed high potential risks to aquatic organisms (summed risk quotient > 1), particularly from neonicotinoid pesticides. These findings highlight the necessity of seasonally adaptive controls for pesticides and water quality to reduce risks to public health and ecosystems.

Weiwei Wang, Elena Blanc-Betes, Madhu Khanna et al.

Abstract Energy crops will be critical for scaling up production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel in the United States and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Here we examine the economic incentives for the extent and type of land conversion needed to scale up fuel production from a mix of cellulosic feedstocks and quantify its greenhouse gas intensity. We show that even with the availability of marginal non-cropland, there will be incentives for converting cropland to produce energy crops as the price of sustainable aviation fuel increases. But contrary to expectations, we find that scaling up fuel production by converting more cropland and more non-cropland from existing uses to energy crops lowers its net greenhouse gas intensity, due to high soil carbon sequestration rate of energy crops, even after considering land use change emissions.The potential savings in emissions are larger than the foregone soil carbon accumulation benefits from keeping that land in current uses.

Elias Bojago, Gemechu Tadila, Mamush Masha

Abstract Understanding spatiotemporal changes in land use, land cover (LULC), and vegetation dynamics is crucial for sustainable environmental management and planning. This study investigated LULC and vegetation changes in the Gambela region of Ethiopia using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite data from 2004 to 2024. This study relied on MOD13A3 (NDVI, 1 km, monthly) to track vegetation changes from to 2004–2024, as well as Landsat image classification was used to LULC estimation. The IGBP was refined using a random forest with NDVI thresholding to identify shifts. The accuracy was 87% through Sentinel-2 and ground truth, and NDVI deviations were associated (0.80) with yields. Geospatial and statistical techniques were employed to detect and quantify transitions between land cover classes and fluctuations in greenness in the study area. Six LULC classes, namely forest, agricultural land, grassland, irrigated land, built‑up area, and water bodies, were mapped and analyzed. Between 2004 and 2024, forest cover declined by 2 693.9 km2 (from 74.2% to 65.3%), agricultural land expanded by 4 618.4 km2 (from 5.3% to 20.6%), and grasslands contracted by 2 397.8 km2 (from 19.5% to 11.5%). Irrigated areas more than tripled (0.4% to 1.2%), and built‑up extent grew nearly five‑fold (0.2% to 0.9%), whereas water bodies remained largely stable during this period. NDVI analysis revealed a 12% reduction in high-greenness areas, typically corresponding to NDVI values ≥ 0.6 (often 0.6–0.8), and a mean NDVI drop from 0.62 to 0.59 in non-forest zones, indicating declining vegetation health in converted landscapes. The study found significant LULC changes driven by agricultural expansion, settlement growth, and climate variability, with declining natural vegetation and increasing cultivated and built-up areas in the western and central regions. MODIS data are valuable for environmental monitoring, offering insights into land management and climate adaptation.

Xianglong Xing, Qing Qi, Shouzheng Tong et al.

Vegetation restoration is one of the most effective means to reestablish wetlands. However, little is known about how plant communities expand and compete after wetland restoration because of the dearth of data from long-term monitoring. In this study, we monitored a restored Carex tussock wetland over a 15-year period, assessed the extent of Carex tussock expansion, analyzed the effects of interspecific competition and environmental factors on Carex tussock growth, and explored the driving mechanisms of the expansion of Carex tussock community. Our results demonstrate that the Carex tussock community continued its outward dispersal after restoration, with a total expansion area of 770 m2. The ecological characteristics and species diversity in the restoration area were higher than those in the expansion area. Additionally, both the density and biodiversity of Carex tussock in the restoration area decreased with the age of the restoration. Experiments indicated that competition and water level significantly influenced the growth of Carex tussock and Carex exhibited weaker competitiveness in a mixed constructure model. The structural equation model revealed that topography was the primary driver of Carex tussock expansion. The priority effect of Carex dispersal mitigated the impact of competition on expansion. This study offers new insights for future wetland restoration practices, particularly concerning Carex tussock ecosystems.

F. P. Giest, F. P. Giest, M. Jenrich et al.

<p>Climate warming in the Arctic results in thawing permafrost and associated processes like thermokarst, especially in ice-rich permafrost regions. Since permafrost soils are one of the largest organic carbon reservoirs of the world, their thawing leads to the release of greenhouse gases due to increasing microbial activity with rising soil temperature, further exacerbating climate warming. To enhance the predictions of potential future impacts of permafrost thaw, a detailed assessment of changes in soil characteristics in response to thermokarst processes in permafrost landscapes is needed, which we investigated in this study in an Arctic coastal lowland. We analysed six sediment cores from the Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska, each representing a different landscape feature along a gradient from upland to thermokarst lake and drained basin to thermokarst lagoon in various development stages. For the analysis, a multiproxy approach was used, including sedimentological (grain size, bulk density, ice content), biogeochemical (total organic carbon (TOC), TOC density (<span class="inline-formula">TOC_vol</span>), total nitrogen (TN), stable carbon isotopes (<span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i>¹³C</span>), TOC<span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M3" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mo>/</mo></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="8pt" height="14pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="e653eaf840568ee76bb20ba3bf368ae0"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="bg-22-2871-2025-ie00001.svg" width="8pt" height="14pt" src="bg-22-2871-2025-ie00001.png"/></svg:svg></span></span>TN ratio, mercury (Hg)), and lipid biomarker (<span class="inline-formula"><i>n</i></span>-alkanes, <span class="inline-formula"><i>n</i></span>-alkanols, and their ratios) parameters. We found that a semi-drained state of thermokarst lakes features the lowest OC content, and TOC and TN are generally higher in unfrozen deposits, hinting at a more intact state of organic matter. Indicated by the average chain length (ACL), <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i>¹³C</span>, <span class="inline-formula"><i>P</i>_aq</span>, and <span class="inline-formula"><i>P</i>_wax</span>, we found a stronger influence of aquatic organic matter (OM) in the OM composition in the soils covered by water compared to those not covered by water. Moreover, the results of the <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i>¹³C</span>, TOC<span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M10" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mo>/</mo></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="8pt" height="14pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="3af55808dad7e355d8e0b0b2a0272ce7"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="bg-22-2871-2025-ie00002.svg" width="8pt" height="14pt" src="bg-22-2871-2025-ie00002.png"/></svg:svg></span></span>TN ratio, and CPI indicate that the saline deposits contain stronger degraded OM than the deposits not influenced by saltwater. Additionally, we found positive correlations between the TOC and <span class="inline-formula">TOC_vol</span> and the Hg content in the deposits. The results indicate that thermokarst-influenced deposits tend to accumulate Hg during thawed periods and thus contain more Hg than the upland permafrost deposits that have not been impacted by lake formation. Our findings offer valuable insights into the dynamics of carbon storage and vulnerability to decomposition in coastal permafrost landscapes, reflecting the interplay of environmental factors, landform characteristics, and climate change impacts on Arctic permafrost environments.</p>

Zehao Lin

Global climate warming and air pollution pose severe threats to economic development and public safety, presenting significant challenges to sustainable development worldwide. Corporations, as key players in resource utilization and emissions, have drawn increasing attention from policymakers, researchers, and the public regarding their environmental strategies and practices. This study employs a two-way fixed effects panel model to examine the impact of environmental information disclosure on corporate environmental performance, its regional heterogeneity, and the underlying mechanisms. The results demonstrate that environmental information disclosure significantly improves corporate environmental performance, with the effect being more pronounced in areas of high population density and limited green space. These findings provide empirical evidence supporting the role of environmental information disclosure as a critical tool for improving corporate environmental practices. The study highlights the importance of targeted, region-specific policies to maximize the effectiveness of disclosure, offering valuable insights for promoting sustainable development through enhanced corporate transparency.

Weimin Yuan, Lixin Dai, Hua Feng et al.

The Einstein Probe (EP) is an interdisciplinary mission of time-domain and X-ray astronomy. Equipped with a wide-field lobster-eye X-ray focusing imager, EP will discover cosmic X-ray transients and monitor the X-ray variability of known sources in 0.5-4 keV, at a combination of detecting sensitivity and cadence that is not accessible to the previous and current wide-field monitoring missions. EP can perform quick characterisation of transients or outbursts with a Wolter-I X-ray telescope onboard. In this paper, the science objectives of the Einstein Probe mission are presented. EP is expected to enlarge the sample of previously known or predicted but rare types of transients with a wide range of timescales. Among them, fast extragalactic transients will be surveyed systematically in soft X-rays, which include γ-ray bursts and their variants, supernova shock breakouts, and the predicted X-ray transients associated with binary neutron star mergers. EP will detect X-ray tidal disruption events and outbursts from active galactic nuclei, possibly at an early phase of the flares for some. EP will monitor the variability and outbursts of X-rays from white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes in our and neighbouring galaxies at flux levels fainter than those detectable by the current instruments, and is expected to discover new objects. A large sample of stellar X-ray flares will also be detected and characterised. In the era of multi-messenger astronomy, EP has the potential of detecting the possible X-ray counterparts of gravitational wave events, neutrino sources, and ultra-high energy γ-ray and cosmic ray sources. EP is expected to help advance the studies of extreme objects/phenomena and their underlying physical processes revealed in the dynamic X-ray universe, as well as studies in other areas of X-ray astronomy.