Hasil untuk "Environmental protection"

Robson Silva e Silva, Fábio Olmos, Edison Barbieri

Abstract Seabirds across all the seas and oceans of the planet interact with human activities and, as a result, approximately 30% of all species are in decline and threatened with extinction. The knowledge of the composition of seabird communities in both breeding and non-breeding ranges is necessary to guide appropriate conservation measures according to its status. Fisheries, oil and natural gas exploration, offshore wind farms, among other activities, require regulation and legal frameworks to protect seabirds and other organisms in this environment. The state of São Paulo already hosts numerous such activities within its territorial waters and has its own environmental protection legislation (including a list of threatened fauna species), requiring impacts on threatened species are evaluated. The present study compiles all available information on seabirds in São Paulo and update its species list based on data obtained from literature reviews, museum specimens, band recovery records, and citizen-science platforms. São Paulo has a total of 68 recorded seabird species, including the recently recognized Oceanites chilensis and the sole Brazilian records of Pterodroma externa and Pachyptila turtur. Most (50 species) are migratory, with 14 species from the Northern Hemisphere and 36 from the Southern Hemisphere. Only 18 species are resident in Brazil, of which six breed along the São Paulo coast. Among the recorded species, 24 (35%) are listed as threatened with extinction by the IUCN, MMA and/or SMA lists. Notably, three (50%) of the six resident breeding species in São Paulo are threatened. Most of the new records came from beached birds, particularly through the Beach Monitoring Program (PMP). Unfortunately, this program forwards few of the collected specimens, including rare and unprecedented records for São Paulo’s avifauna, to scientific collections. Based on the available studies on São Paulo’s seabirds, even basic data on breeding biology, home range, and diet of even the commonest coastal, and resident species is virtually nonexistent. Similarly, knowledge regarding trends in population and occupancy of breeding sites is scarce, with only outdated data available from studies carried between 1997 and 2005. Further studies and monitoring programs on the breeding areas of these resident species are necessary to fill these knowledge gaps and provide updated scientific information to support effective conservation measures.

Laban Kayitete, Elie Sinayitutse, Matthew Dennis

The Hooded Vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus) plays a vital role in environmental cleaning and disease control. However, its population is rapidly declining across its range, especially in East Africa. Despite conservation efforts invested in its protection, its spatial distribution in East Africa remains understudied. Utilising ensemble Species Distribution Models, this study leverages the response of N. monachus to bioclimatic factors, elevation, and land cover to predict the species' current distribution across Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, and assess potential climate change impacts. Findings reveal that only 11.813 % of the study area represents suitable habitat for N. monachus, with 35.954 % of this falling within protected areas. The Hooded Vulture exhibited strong dependence on climatic conditions, with variables of large influence to its distribution being isothermality, annual mean temperature, precipitation seasonality, elevation, and annual precipitation, while the urban land exhibited moderate influence. Climate change projections indicate regional habitat stability, but varying spatial and climatic pathway-based trajectories, with habitat expansions under sustainable development pathways (SSP126) and mixed outcomes under fossil-fuelled scenarios (SSP585), particularly affecting Kenya with consistent declines, while Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda showed expansions. The proportion of suitable habitat within protected areas remained stable across scenarios, though substantial national disparities persist. This research underscores the role of modelling in informed conservation and urgency in transboundary conservation strategies extending beyond currently protected areas and provides critical insights for adaptive conservation planning to safeguard the Hooded Vulture's future in East Africa.

Yupeng LI, Yaning CHEN, Fei WANG et al.

Tajikistan, a mountainous country and a vital water tower for Central Asia, is becoming increasingly vulnerable to snow drought under climate change, threatening its snow- and glacier-fed streamflow. Yet, the impacts of snow drought on the regional hydrology remain insufficiently understood. In this study, we integrated multisource data, including the Fifth Generation European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Atmospheric Reanalysis for Land Applications (ERA5-Land) data and hydrological station data, to systematically assess the snow drought patterns and their impacts on streamflow during 1950–2023. We identified snow drought events based on precipitation and snow fraction anomalies relative to climatological means and classified them into warm snow drought, dry snow drought, and warm&dry snow drought. The results revealed that snow drought was a recurrent phenomenon, occurring in 51.70% of the years during the study period, with warm&dry snow drought accounting for 21.90% of the total events. Both the frequency and severity exhibited pronounced spatial variability, largely governed by the elevation and snowfall fraction. Specifically, the frequency of warm snow drought was negatively correlated with the snowfall fraction, decreasing on average by 0.20 per unit increase in snowfall fraction, whereas the frequency of dry snow drought was positively correlated, increasing by 0.07 per unit increase. The streamflow analysis results demonstrated that snow drought typically reduced the warm-season discharge by 5.00%–18.00% in certain rivers, thereby exacerbating the water stress during the dry season. The results of this study advance our understanding by explicitly linking the types of snow drought to hydrological responses in Central Asia’s high mountains, providing a scientific basis for climate adaptation and sustainable water resource management in Tajikistan.

Beata Kaliska, Andrzej Kotecki, Bernard Gałka et al.

Abstract Soybean (Glycine max) is an important source of plant-based protein and oil, but its cultivation is highly sensitive to climate conditions. In Poland, interest in soybean is growing due to climate change and increasing demand for protein-rich crops. However, cultivation of photophilic crops is still limited. This study presents results from field trials conducted in Northern Poland from 2017 to 2019, involving 13 registered soybean cultivars tested at 10 locations. The aim of the study was to evaluate seed yield, protein and fat content and protein yield under varying environmental conditions. Weather variability, particularly temperature and rainfall, had a greater influence on results than the cultivar tested. Advanced statistical analyses showed that, of all 13 tested cultivars, Moravians (mid-late) had the most favorable WAAS and GSI values in terms of protein yield. According to WTOP3 score, the Kofu (late) cultivar had the highest adaptability for seeds yield and protein yield. Protein yield is the most important indicator of the profitablility of soybean cultivation in countries with a deficit of feed plant protein. The study supports targeted cultivar selection to improve soybean production under changing climate conditions in countries located at higher latitudes, such as Poland.

Wenfu Tang, Christine Wiedinmyer, Louisa K. Emmons et al.

Abstract Structure fires in the wildland–urban interface (WUI) are becoming more frequent and destructive, yet their emissions of air pollutants remain poorly quantified and are not included in national inventories. Here we present a conterminous-scale inventory of WUI-related structure fire emissions in the United States from 2000 to 2020. A small number of highly destructive events dominate structure fire emissions—the 20 most destructive fires account for 68% of total carbon monoxide emissions. Structure fire emissions are more spatially concentrated than vegetation fire emissions, and in several states emissions of specific hazardous air pollutants such as hydrochloric acid exceed those from all anthropogenic sources combined. We show that structure burning in wildfires is strongly influenced by fire-conducive weather, and destructive structure fires are more likely to occur in forested and urbanized landscapes. These results reveal structure fires as a major source of toxic air pollution, with important implications for air quality, public health, and fire management.

Weihua Wang, Junqiao Xing, Xiqi Zhang et al.

Existence of cilia in the last eukaryotic common ancestor raises a fundamental question in biology: how the transcriptional regulation of ciliogenesis has evolved? One conceptual answer to this question is by an ancient transcription factor regulating ciliary gene expression in both uni- and multicellular organisms, but examples of such transcription factors in eukaryotes are lacking. Previously, we showed that an ancient transcription factor X chromosome-associated protein 5 (Xap5) is required for flagellar assembly in Chlamydomonas. Here, we show that Xap5 and Xap5-like (Xap5l) are two conserved pairs of antagonistic transcription regulators that control ciliary transcriptional programs during spermatogenesis. Male mice lacking either Xap5 or Xap5l display infertility, as a result of meiotic prophase arrest and sperm flagella malformation, respectively. Mechanistically, Xap5 positively regulates the ciliary gene expression by activating the key regulators including Foxj1 and Rfx families during the early stage of spermatogenesis. In contrast, Xap5l negatively regulates the expression of ciliary genes via repressing these ciliary transcription factors during the spermiogenesis stage. Our results provide new insights into the mechanisms by which temporal and spatial transcription regulators are coordinated to control ciliary transcriptional programs during spermatogenesis.

Pilar Ortíz Sandoval, Margarita Aguilera‐Gómez, Anna Kostka et al.

Abstract Anthropogenic activities, such as industrial processes, urban development, intensive agriculture and waste disposal, have significantly contributed to the continuous introduction and accumulation of a wide array of xenobiotic compounds into natural ecosystems. Among them, emerging contaminants (ECs) such as pharmaceuticals, endocrine‐disrupting chemicals (EDCs), and per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are of increasing concern due to their persistence, bioactivity and limited regulation. ECs enter ecosystems through diverse pathways including wastewater discharge, agricultural runoff and atmospheric deposition. Once released, many of these xenobiotics can bioaccumulate in organisms and enter the food chain, posing serious risks to food safety and public health. Traditional physico‐chemical remediation methods are often insufficient or environmentally taxing, prompting a shift toward bio‐based alternatives like bioremediation. These approaches, which rely on the activity of microbial communities to degrade pollutants, offer more sustainable solutions but require further interdisciplinary research to optimise their use. The One Health framework provides an effective model for addressing the complex risks posed by xenobiotics. This research programme aims to harmonise methodologies for cumulative dietary risk assessment across Europe and explore microbial strategies for xenobiotic degradation. By integrating microbiomics, toxicology, environmental science and food safety, this approach supports the development of safer food systems and more effective pollution management in line with the ‘farm to fork’ and One Health principles.

M. Marín-Martín, E. Tejedor, G. Benito et al.

<p>The Mediterranean basin, a recognized climate change hotspot, faces increasing hydroclimatic pressures, particularly from severe drought and precipitation events. To assess contemporary changes and potentially manage future impacts, it is crucial to understand the long-term context of this variability beyond the relatively short instrumental record. This study utilizes tree-ring records to reconstruct past hydroclimate in the Iberian Range of eastern Spain, a water-sensitive Mediterranean environment. We present a well-replicated tree-ring width chronology from <i>Pinus sylvestris</i> and <i>Pinus nigra</i> trees that calibrates and verifies significantly against cumulative instrumental precipitation over a 320 d period ending in June (<span class="inline-formula"><i>r</i></span> <span class="inline-formula">=</span> 0.749; <span class="inline-formula"><i>p</i></span> <span class="inline-formula">&lt;</span> 0.01). The resulting 520-year reconstruction reveals substantial multi-centennial variability in precipitation and reveals an increase in the frequency and intensity of hydroclimatic extremes (both wet and dry) during the late 20th and early 21st centuries compared to the longer-term baseline. The reconstruction has a spatial representativeness centred over eastern and central Iberia and covaries with independent historical drought indices derived from rogation ceremony records during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The documented intensification of hydroclimatic extremes is consistent with climate change projections and provides a baseline for evaluating ecosystem resilience and water resource vulnerability.</p>

Wang Yunming, Chen Wenzhe, Hu Zuhui et al.

While global climate risk is increasing substantially with greenhouse gas emission, energy transition is a key approach to alleviate this concern. This paper constructs the difference in difference model (DID) and the difference-in-differences based propensity score matching model (PSM-DID) to estimate the effects of China’s Environmental Protection Tax Law on energy transition and its transmission path. The empirical results show that (1) China’s Environmental Protection Tax Law can promote energy transition through electrification, and this conclusion is still valid after a series of robustness tests. (2) China’s Environmental Protection Tax Law can facilitate energy transition by improving both the quantity and the quality of industrial structure upgrading. The findings of this paper not only enrich the literature on the energy transition and environmental tax designs in developing countries but also provide an empirical reference for the government to promote energy transition orderly by implementing environmental tax.

Mira Park, Yun-Su Kuk, Oh Hoon Kwon et al.

Reusing or recycling waste into new useful materials is essential for environmental protection. Herein, we used discarded polystyrene (PS) and fly-ash (FA) particles and a fabricated fly-ash incorporated polystyrene fiber (FA/PS fiber) composite. The electrospinning process produced continuous PS fibers with a good distribution of FA particles. The prepared nanofibers were characterized by state-of-the-art techniques. The performances of the composite nanofibers were tested for fire-retardant applications. We observed that the incorporation of FA particles into the PS fibers led to an improvement in the performance of the composite as compared to the pristine PS fibers. This study showed an important strategy in using waste materials to produce functional nanofibers through an economical procedure. We believe that the strategy presented in this paper can be extended to other waste materials for obtaining nanofiber membranes for various environmental applications.