Toxicity and subcellular distribution of cadmium in wheat as affected by dissolved organic acids

We aim to investigate the effects of humic acid (HA) and citric acid (CA) on the toxicity and subcellular distribution of Cd in wheat. Results show that the toxicity and uptake of Cd decreased with increasing HA. The EC₅₀ values of Cd increased from 3.36 μmol/L to 4.96 and 7.33 μmol/L at 50 and 250 mg/L HA, respectively, but decreased to 1.39 μmol/L in the presence of CA based on free ion activity model (FIAM). HA decreased the relative subcellular distribution of Cd in the heat-denatured proteins (decreased from 54% to 33%) but increased Cd in the heat-stable proteins in root (from 25% to 50%) at 7.61 μmol/L {Cd²⁺} (free Cd activity), which resulted in decreasing Cd toxicity. However, CA increased Cd toxicity due to the increased internalization of Cd although the relative subcellular distributions of Cd exhibited a decrease in the heat-denatured proteins and increase in the granule fraction compared to the control at high-level Cd. The FIAM could not predict the toxicity of Cd in the presence of organic acids. Alternatively, the internal Cd accumulation and subcellular Cd concentration were better to describe the toxicity of Cd to wheat.     

Effects of productivity on biodiversity in forest ecosystems across the United States and China

In the global campaign against biodiversity loss in forest ecosystems, land managers need to know the status of forest biodiversity, but practical guidelines for conserving biodiversity in forest management are lacking. A major obstacle is the incomplete understanding of the relationship between site primary productivity and plant diversity, due to insufficient ecosystem‐wide data, especially for taxonomically and structurally diverse forest ecosystems. We investigated the effects of site productivity (the site's inherent capacity to grow timber) on tree species richness across 19 types of forest ecosystems in North America and China through 3 ground‐sourced forest inventory data sets (U.S. Forest Inventory and Analysis, Cooperative Alaska Forest Inventory, and Chinese Forest Management Planning Inventory). All forest types conformed to a consistent and highly significant (P < 0.001) hump‐shaped unimodal relationship, of which the generalized coefficients of determination averaged 20.5% over all the forest types. That is, tree species richness first increased as productivity increased at a progressively slower rate, and, after reaching a maximum, richness started to decline. Our consistent findings suggest that forests of high productivity would sustain few species because they consist mostly of flat homogeneous areas lacking an environmental gradient along which a diversity of species with different habitats can coexist. The consistency of the productivity–biodiversity relationship among the 3 data sets we examined makes it possible to quantify the expected tree species richness that a forest stand is capable of sustaining, and a comparison between the actual species richness and the sustainable values can be useful in prioritizing conservation efforts.     

The data not collected on community forestry

Conservation and development practitioners increasingly promote community forestry as a way to conserve ecosystem services, consolidate resource rights, and reduce poverty. However, outcomes of community forestry have been mixed; many initiatives failed to achieve intended objectives. There is a rich literature on institutional arrangements of community forestry, but there has been little effort to examine the role of socioeconomic, market, and biophysical factors in shaping both land‐cover change dynamics and individual and collective livelihood outcomes. We systematically reviewed the peer‐reviewed literature on community forestry to examine and quantify existing knowledge gaps in the community‐forestry literature relative to these factors. In examining 697 cases of community forest management (CFM), extracted from 267 peer‐reviewed publications, we found 3 key trends that limit understanding of community forestry. First, we found substantial data gaps linking population dynamics, market forces, and biophysical characteristics to both environmental and livelihood outcomes. Second, most studies focused on environmental outcomes, and the majority of studies that assessed socioeconomic outcomes relied on qualitative data, making comparisons across cases difficult. Finally, there was a heavy bias toward studies on South Asian forests, indicating that the literature on community forestry may not be representative of decentralization policies and CFM globally.     

Inhibition and dispersion of polyepoxysuccinate as a scale inhibitor

The inhibition and dispersion of polyepoxysuccinate (PESA, self-manufactured) to inorganic scale was evaluated by scale static beaker test to CaC0₃ and Ca₃(P0₄)2, stability test to zinc salt, and dispersion test to ferric oxide. The experimental results demonstrated that PESA functioned excellent scale inhibition to CaC0₃ and Ca₃(P0₄)₂, good stability to zinc salt and special dispersion to ferric oxide. Under the water with hardness 500-1200 mg/L, alkalinity 1000 mg/L, and dosage of PESA 31.2 mg/L, PESA scale inhibition ratio reached more than 85.0%. At dosage of PESA 20.8 mg/L inhibition ratio on calcium phosphate reached 38.9%, at optimum dosage of PESA 9.1 mg/L, the stability ratio was up to 96.1%; while at dosage of PESA 3.6 mg/L, transmittance ratio reached 64.4%. Therefore, PESA can be considered a soluble, high effective and versatile inhibitor.     

Revealing the impact of water conservancy projects and urbanization on hydrological cycle based on the distribution of hydrogen and oxygen isotopes in water

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In recent years, the development and utilization of water resources have imposed great impacts on hydrological characteristics and ecological...     

Urban carbon emission intensity under emission trading system in a developing economy: evidence from 273 Chinese cities

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The international community has generally recognized the key role of developing countries’ cities in reducing carbon emissions, an elemental way...     

A review on fabricating functional materials by heavy metal–containing sludges

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - With the development of industry, sustainable use of natural resources has become a worldwide hot topic. Heavy metal–containing sludge (HMS) is...     

Habitat changes in the most important stopover sites for the endangered red-crowned crane in China: a large-scale study

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis) is an endangered bird species that has been listed as one of the Class I National Key Protected Wild Animals...     

The permeability of dredged material-bentonite backfills

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Extensive attention has been paid to the treatment and disposal of dredged material, and there is a need to clarify the feasibility of recycling...     

Research progress on the association between environmental pollutants and the resistance mechanism of PARP inhibitors in ovarian cancer

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The occurrence and progression of ovarian cancer are closely related to genetics and environmental pollutants. Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)...