Contemporary forest loss in Myanmar: Effect of democratic transition and subsequent timber bans on landscape structure and composition

This study addresses the effect of political transition and subsequent timber bans on forest loss in Myanmar, in the context of identified drivers. Cook’s Distance (CD) was applied to remotely sensed time-series forest loss dataset to measure the effect of the events. Forest loss derived fragmentation metrics were linked to drivers at a landscape scale. Results show that at the national level, the political transition in 2011 had maximum effect (CD 0.935) on forest loss while the timber bans decreased forest loss by 612.04 km² and 213.15 km² in 2015 and 2017 (CD 0.146 and 0.035), respectively. The effect of the events varied for different States/Regions. The dominant drivers of change shifted from plantations in 2011 to infrastructure development in 2015. This study demonstrates the effects of policy on forest loss at various scales and can inform decision-makers for forest conservation, planning and development of mitigation measures.     

A review on efficient electromagnetic interference shielding materials by recycling waste—a trio of land to lab to land concept

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The materials used in electrical and electronic applications have great importance and broader applications, but they have severe electromagnetic...     

Arsenate and arsenite-induced inhibition and recovery in two diazotrophic cyanobacteria Nostoc muscorum and Anabaena sp.: study on time-dependent toxicity regulation

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Exposure time, metal bio-accumulation, and upregulation of ascorbate-glutathione (AsA-GSH) cycle are the key factor that provide tolerance against...     

The relative importance of COVID-19 pandemic impacts on biodiversity conservation globally

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on almost all aspects of human society and endeavor; the natural world and its conservation have not been spared. Through a process of expert consultation, we identified and categorized, into 19 themes and 70 subthemes, the ways in which biodiversity and its conservation have been or could be affected by the pandemic globally. Nearly 60% of the effects have been broadly negative. Subsequently, we created a compendium of all themes and subthemes, each with explanatory text, and in August 2020 a diverse group of experienced conservationists with expertise from across sectors and geographies assessed each subtheme for its likely impact on biodiversity conservation globally. The 9 subthemes ranked highest all have a negative impact. These were, in rank order, governments sidelining the environment during their economic recovery, reduced wildlife-based tourism income, increased habitat destruction, reduced government funding, increased plastic and other solid waste pollution, weakening of nature-friendly regulations and their enforcement, increased illegal harvest of wild animals, reduced philanthropy, and threats to survival of conservation organizations. In combination, these impacts present a worrying future of increased threats to biodiversity conservation but reduced capacity to counter them. The highest ranking positive impact, at 10, was the beneficial impact of wildlife-trade restrictions. More optimistically, among impacts ranked 11-20, 6 were positive and 4 were negative. We hope our assessment will draw attention to the impacts of the pandemic and, thus, improve the conservation community's ability to respond to such threats in the future.     

Analysis of barriers in e-waste management in developing economy: an integrated multiple-criteria decision-making approach

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - An increasing amount of electronic waste (e-waste) is not a new concern. It has been causing trouble globally. This waste comprises valuable metals...     

Diverse trait-mediated interactions in a multi-predator, multi-prey community

Trait-mediated interactions (TMII) can alter the outcome or magnitude of species interactions. We examined how the interaction between a guild of ground and rove beetles and their fly egg prey was altered by a larger predator, the ground beetle Pterostichus melanarius, and an additional prey, aphids. In field and laboratory experiments, we manipulated the presence or absence of P. melanarius and aphids and recorded the impact of these manipulations on beetle activity and fly egg predation. Individually, aphids, by serving as preferred prey, and P. melanarius, by reducing focal beetle activity, weakened egg predation. However, egg predation was restored when both aphids and P. melanarius were present together, because aphids triggered greater foraging activity, and thus increased incidental predation of fly eggs, by P. melanarius. Thus, TMII among subsets of the community that were disruptive to predation on fly eggs could not be summed to predict the dominant, positive TMII within a more diverse community. Future TMII studies should include more realistic representations of species diversity, and should not ignore the influence of prey on predator behavior.     

Pyrene remediation by Trametes maxima: an insight into secretome response and degradation pathway

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The rapid pace of economic development has resulted in the release of several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) into the environment. Microbial...     

Multi-drug resistance,integron and transposon-mediated gene transfer in heterotrophic bacteria from Penaeus vannamei and its culture environment

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Multi-drug resistance (MDR) in bacteria is regarded as an emerging pollutant in different food production avenues including aquaculture. One hundred...     

Hydro-chemical characterization of groundwater and evaluation of health risk assessment for fluoride contamination areas in the eastern blocks of Purulia district,India

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Purulia is a hard rock terrain where water scarcity as well as water quality degradation has been a major threat for the past few decades. The prolong...     

Management of hailstorms under a changing climate in agriculture: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Climate change is impacting agriculture through a rise in greenhouse gases, higher temperatures and extreme precipitation patterns, with adverse consequences such...