Root rot disease is a significant constraint to sweet cherry production in the highlands of southwest China, causing substantial yield losses. While the disease is prevalent, the complex interplay of climate, topography, soil, and management practices on its development remains poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, a field survey encompassing 95 field sites was conducted to assess disease incidence (DI) and canopy damage index (CDI). Our results showed that the average DI and CDI were 27.04 and 20.52%, respectively. DI and CDI were influenced by management practices: they both increased with the number of planting years and were lower with Cerasus szechuanica rootstock and composted animal manures compared with Da-qingye rootstock and uncomposted animal manures. Climatic and topographic factors also played an important role in observing higher DI at higher altitudes and shady slopes (P < 0.05). Moreover, both DI and CDI demonstrated positive correlations with the aridity index and sunshine duration and negative correlations with mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation (P < 0.05). Soil properties, including moisture content, bulk density, pH, and sand content, were positively associated with DI and CDI, while clay content and available potassium exhibited negative correlation. The present study emphasizes the combined impact of multiple factors on root rot disease in sweet cherry, with management practices and soil properties having a more decisive effect than climate and topography. These findings provide crucial insights for developing effective disease management strategies.

In many soil processes, including solute and gas dynamics, the architecture of intra-aggregate pores is a crucial component. Soil management practices and wetting-drying (W-D) cycles, the latter having a significant impact on pore aggregation, are two key factors that shape pore structure. This study examines the effects of W-D cycles on the architecture of intra-aggregate pores under three different soil management systems: no-tillage (NT), minimum tillage (MT), and conventional tillage (CT). The soil samples were subjected to 0 and 12 W-D cycles, and the resulting pore structures were scanned using X-ray micro-computed tomography, generating reconstructed 3D volumetric data. The data analyses were conducted in terms of multifractal spectra, normalized Shannon entropy, lacunarity, porosity, anisotropy, connectivity, and tortuosity. The multifractal parameters of capacity, correlation, and information dimensions showed mean values of approximately 2.77, 2.75, and 2.75 when considering the different management practices and W-D cycles; 3D lacunarity decreased mainly for the smallest boxes between 0 and 12 W-D cycles for CT and NT, with the opposite behavior for MT. The normalized 3D Shannon entropy showed differences of less than 2% before and after the W-D cycles for MT and NT, with differences of 5% for CT. The imaged porosity showed reductions of approximately 50% after 12 W-D cycles for CT and NT. Generally, the largest pores (>0.1 mm3) contributed the most to porosity for all management practices before and after W-D cycles. Anisotropy increased by 9% and 2% for MT and CT after the cycles and decreased by 23% for NT. Pore connectivity showed a downward trend after 12 W-D cycles for CT and NT. Regarding the pore shape, the greatest contribution to porosity and number of pores was due to triaxial-shaped pores for both 0 and 12 W-D cycles for all management practices. The results demonstrate that, within the resolution limits of the microtomography analysis, pore architecture remained resilient to changes, despite some observable trends in specific parameters.

To reduce the potential threat of soil loss due to ephemeral gullies, it is crucial to adopt Best Management Practices (BMPs) that prevent damage to landscapes by reducing sediments load. The current research evaluated the impact of five BMPs, including cover crops, grassed waterways, no-till, conservation tillage, and riparian buffer strips for reduction of sediment load from sheet/rill, and ephemeral gully erosion in an agricultural watershed in Southern Ontario, Canada. The study aimed to automatically calibrate AnnAGNPS using genetic algorithm and the most sensitive parameters of the model identified using a combination of Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) and One-At-a-Time (OAT) approach. It also utilized the calibrated model to simulate the effectiveness of BMPs in reducing the average seasonal and annual sediment loads from both sources of erosion (sheet/rill, and ephemeral gully) to determine the most effective practices. Riparian buffer strips were consistently successful in decreasing average seasonal sediment load of sheet/rill erosion, with an average reduction efficiency of 72 % in Spring, 64 % in Summer, 65 % in Fall, and 76 % in Winter. In terms of reducing average seasonal sediment load from ephemeral gully erosion, grassed waterways proved to be the most effective BMPs. They showed efficiency of 90 % in Spring; 83 % in Summer; 79 % in Fall; and 75 % in Winter. Considering the average annual sediment load, riparian buffer strips were consistently successful in decreasing average annual sediment load of sheet/rill erosion, with 69% reduction efficiency. Similarly, grassed waterways were the most effective BMPs for reducing average annual sediment load of ephemeral gully erosion, with an efficiency of 81 %. Additionally, grassed waterways were found to be the most efficient BMPs for reducing average annual total sediment load with reduction efficiency of 71 %. These results demonstrate the importance of implementing effective BMPs to address ephemeral gully erosion in watersheds where ephemeral gullies are the main source of erosion.

The detrimental effects of plastic and microplastic accumulation on ecosystems are widely recognized and indisputable. The emergence of biodegradable plastics (BPs) offers a practical solution to plastic pollution. Problematically, however, not all BPs can be fully degraded in the environment. On the contrary, the scientific community has demonstrated that BPs are more likely than conventional plastics (CPs) to degrade into micro/ nanoplastics and release additives, which can have similar or even worse effects than microplastics. However, there is very limited information available on the environmental toxicity assessment of BMPs. The absence of a toxicity evaluation system and the uncertainty regarding combined toxicity with other pollutants also impede the environmental toxicity assessment of BMPs. Currently, research is focused on thoroughly exploring the toxic effects of biodegradable microplastics (BMPs). This paper reviews the pollution status of BMPs in the environment, the degradation behavior of BPs and the influencing factors. This paper comprehensively summarizes the ecotoxicological effects of BPs on ecosystems, considering animals, plants, and microorganisms in various environments such as water bodies, soil, and sediment. The focus is on distinguishing between BMPs and conventional microplastics (CMPs). In addition, the combined toxic effects of BMPs and other pollutants are also being investigated. The findings suggest that BMPs may have different or more severe impacts on ecosystems. The rougher and more intricate surface of BMPs increases the likelihood of causing mechanical damage to organisms and breaking down into smaller plastic particles, releasing additives that lead to a series of cascading

This study aims to investigate the economic effects of stormwater best management practices (BMPs) on housing sale prices in Washington, D.C., BMPs play a significant role in mitigating multiple threats, such as water pollution, soil erosion, and property damage. While studies on the economic value of BMPs were limited, literature addresses that housing sale prices can be affected by nearby stormwater BMPs. This study addresses the following research questions: Do stormwater BMPs positively impact housing sale prices? How do proximity and number of structural BMPs affect the housing sale prices? We used the hedonic pricing method by applying multiple linear regression models to determine whether a set of independent variables significantly improved the models. Our primary findings indicate that BMPs have positive, negative, or no effects on housing sale prices. The proximity of BMPs inside of parks increased housing sale prices in all buffers. In contrast, the proximity of BMPs outside of parks and impervious roads decreased housing sale prices in all buffers. Percent tree canopy coverage negatively linked to a 50 m buffer and had no relationship with other buffers on housing sale prices. This study implies that BMPs impact housing prices and can be improved by landscape architects, policymakers, and stakeholders.

The disturbance that ground-based extraction operations can imply on the forests ecosystem is an issue which demands more attention. Skidding and forwarding are the two most common ground-based extraction systems. While skidding implies to partially or fully dragging the logs on the ground, in forwarding, timber is transported on a deck thus avoiding direct contact with the soil. Generally, skidding is considered to be more impactful than forwarding in relation to the amount of disturbance on forest soil and residual stand. However, the framework depicted in current literature is not so strict. While skidding actually implies a higher level of damage to residual stand, the situation concerning disturbance to forest soil is much more complex. The dissimilarities in the results from various studies on this topic have shown the level of complexity. The lack of research investigating the consequences of the two extraction systems on the overall forest ecosystem is evident. Only a few studies were focused for example on the implications on biodiversity. However, the beneficial effects of best management practices, such as the application of snatch blocks during winching or positioning brush mats on the skid trails/ strip roads to reduce soil compaction, have been clearly demonstrated.