Prairie Pothole wetlands have large temporal changes in water status. The wetlands are often flooded, with water above the soil surface during the early growing season, while becoming dry during the later growing season or for years under strong drought. We used the eddy covariance technique to assess the potential for ecosystem carbon sequestration as a natural climate solution in a large Prairie Pothole wetland in southern Alberta (Frank Lake wetland complex) that was dominated by the emergent macrophyte, Schoenoplectus acutus L. (bulrush). We made ecosystem-scale measurements of CO2 and CH4 exchange over two growing seasons during a time-period with environmental conditions that were warmer and drier than the climate normal. In particular, the study was conducted while the wetland had been experiencing a decade-long drought based on the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index. To provide perspective on the longer-term temporal variability of ecosystem carbon exchange processes, we also used LandSat NDVI measurements of vegetation greenness, calibrated with eddy covariance measurements of ecosystem CO2 exchange during 2022-23, to estimate carbon sequestration capacity during 1984-2023, a period that included several wet-dry cycles. Our measured growing season-integrated net CO2 uptake values were 47 and 70 g C m-2 season-1 in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Including the measured low methane emissions (converted to CO2 equivalents based on a Sustained Global Warming Potential) only changed the net sink to 40 and 67 g C m-2 season-1 in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Despite drought conditions over the last decade, measured ecosystem carbon sequestration values were close to average values during 1984-2023, based on NDVI measurements and model carbon flux calculations. Our results demonstrated net carbon sequestration as a natural climate solution in a Prairie Pothole wetland, even during a time-period that was not expected to be favourable for carbon sequestration because of the drought conditions.
River riparian basins play a crucial role in mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through carbon sequestration and nitrogen sinks. However, increased ecological stresses led to the release of CO2, CH4 and N2O. This study aimed to investigate how extreme temperatures, water levels, moisture content, land use changes and soil composition influence GHG emissions in the riparian corridor and to recommend mitigation techniques. It was carried out at the Yangtze River Riparian zone, China, using soil column testing. It used soil column testing. The results showed that extreme temperatures caused the highest emissions of CO2 (29-45%), CH4 (24-43%) and N2O (27-33%). This was due to increased soil temperatures and accelerated organic carbon/nitrogen decomposition. Conversely, control and wet-dry cycles absorbed CO2 (1-3%), CH4 (3-10%) and N2O (1-21%) by improving soil aeration, increased oxygen availability, soil structure, stable water table and low temperature change. Grasses in riparian areas also improved carbon sinks. Highest water levels had lowest gas concentrations and emissions due to low oxygen level. Adaptive wet-dry cycles, grass cover and better water table management can restore riparian areas, maintain soil moisture, balance soil carbon/nitrogen levels and mitigate climate change by improving soil quality. Dissolved organic matter fluorescence (DOMFluor) components are essential for soil carbon dynamics, aquatic biome safety, nutrient cycling and ecological balance in riparian zones. The study recommends implementing restoration practices, managing soil moisture, afforestation, regulating temperature and monitoring water tables to mitigate GHG emissions and address climate change. Future policies should focus on promoting resilient land use and ecosystems.
Currently, there is a growing concern for human health with the rise of environmental pollution. Water contamination and health problems had been understood. Sanitation-related health issues have been overcome in the greater part of the world. Progressive industrialization has caused a number of new pollutants in water and in the atmosphere. It is a growing concern for the human health, especially upon the reproductive health. Current researchers provide a strong association between the rising concentrations of ambient pollutants and the adverse health impact. Furthermore, the pollutants have the adverse effects upon reproductive health as well. Major concern is for the health of a pregnant woman and her baby. Maternal-fetal inflammatory response due to the pollutants affects the pregnancy outcome adversely. Preterm labor, fetal growth restriction, intrauterine fetal death, and stillbirths have been observed. Varieties of pathological processes including inflammation, endocrine dysfunction, epigenetic changes, oxidative and nitrosative stress, and placental dysfunction have been explained as the biological plausibility. Prospective studies (systematic review and meta-analysis) have established that exposure to particulate matters (PM) and the nanoparticles (NP) leads to excessive oxidative changes to cause DNA mutations, lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation. Progressive industrialization and emergence of heavy metals, micro- (MP) and nanoparticles (NP) in the atmosphere and in water are the cause for concern. However, most of the information is based on studies from industrialized countries. India needs its own country-based study to have the exact idea and to develop the mechanistic pathways for the control.
The development of soil structure, characterized by fractal geometry, improves plant-rooting development and improves water retention, drainage, and air permeability. However, due to this function to increase fertility, excessive intensive cultivation contributes to environmental load. The amount of nitrogen in rivers in agricultural watersheds is significantly related to the surplus nitrogen in the watershed, and since the nitrogen load increases with the increase in the crop field proportion, it is important to manage the surplus nitrogen in crop field. On the other hand, since wetlands have reduced the surplus nitrogen in the watershed through the purification of nitrate nitrogen in river water, it is possible to reduce the environmental load by optimizing land use. Replacing a part of chemical fertilizer application with organic fertilizer application increased soil organic carbon and contribute to the prevention of global warming without reducing crop yield. In Japanese grasslands, the annual application of 3.5tC ha-1 of compost offset greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, the continuous use of compost mitigated soil acidification and suppressed N2O emissions. I investigated the impact of greenhouse gas emissions associated with agricultural development on permafrost and peat soils, which are the world's soil carbon reservoirs. In eastern Siberia, disturbance of taiga forests caused permafrost melting and increased CH4 emissions. Drainage of peatland reduced CH4 emissions, but increased CO2 and N2O emissions due to peat decomposition, which was exacerbated by the application of chemical fertilizers. It was essential to keep the groundwater level at -20 cm to -40 cm to suppress greenhouse gas emissions. Environmental load means that soil health is being damaged. It is necessary to develop agricultural techniques to maintain and restore soil health. In particular, organic matter management can restore soil structure by increasing soil organic matter, and also reduce the amount of chemical fertilizer used, which has the effect of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, excessive continuous use of organic fertilizer can increase nitrogen loads. It has been pointed out that the relationship between cover crops and tillage is also important for organic matter management. Regional research is increasingly essential.
Climate change and its impact on agricultural production due to the occurrence of extreme weather events appear to be more imminent and severe than ever, presenting a global challenge that necessitates collective efforts to mitigate its effects.There have been many practical and modelling studies so far to estimate the extent of climate change and possible damages on agricultural production, suggesting that water availability may decrease by 50% and agricultural productivity between 10 and 30% in the coming years ahead. Though there have been many studies to estimate the possible level of damage by the climate change on the production of many agricultural crops, no study has been conducted on the greenhouse tomato production. Therefore, this study was conducted to discover the effects of extreme high temperatures during the 2022-2023 growing season on the high-tech Turkish tomato greenhouse industry through a survey. The results showed that all greenhouses lost yield, ranging from 6 to 53%, with an average of 12.5%. Survey data revealed that irrigation and fog system water consumption increased by 29.32% and 31.42%, respectively, while fertilizer and electricity consumption rose by 23.66% and 19%. Some 76.5% of the growers declared difficulty in climate control, 11.7% reported tomato cluster losses with no information on yield loss, 9% experienced yield losses despite no cluster losses, and 61.7% observed a decline in tomato quality, leading to reduced sales prices. Considering these findings, it is recommended that greenhouses must adopt advanced climate control technologies, expand fog system capacities, and integrate renewable energy sources to enhance resilience against climate-induced challenges. Additionally, improving water-use efficiency, optimizing cooling strategies, using new and climate-resistant varieties and adjusting cropping seasons could help mitigate yield losses due to extreme temperatures. The study results offer extremely valuable insights into greenhouse production for researchers, technology developers, and policymakers for the mitigation of climate change effects and the development of more sustainable production systems.
The economic benefits of rice-wheat (RW) and rice-oilseed rape (RO) rotation in China are low. By contrast, the rice-edible mushroom Stropharia rugosoannulata (RE) rotation yields significantly higher economic benefits than RW and RO rotations. Furthermore, RE rotation can avoid air pollution caused by rice straw burning and has been widely adopted in China. Nevertheless, it remains unclear how the rotation affects CH4 and N2O emissions and global warming potential. Herein, three rice-based rotations, including RW, RO and RE rotations, were conducted in central China. The RE rotation resulted in the lowest CH4 emission from the winter crop season as well as the lowest annual N2O emission from the rice seasons among the three rotations. Moreover, compared with the RW and RO rotations, the RE rotation significantly increased the soil organic carbon content by 30.2 % and 31.2 %, and the rice yield by 16.0 % and 17.0 %, respectively. Hence, the RE rotation significantly reduced the net global warming potential by 2008.4 % and 696.5 % compared with the RW and RO rotations, respectively. Furthermore, the RE rotation improved soil fertility compared with the other two rotations. Although the RE rotation required the highest agricultural input among the three rotations, it contributed to the highest net ecosystem economic profits owing to its highest agricultural income and lowest environmental damage cost. Thus, RE rotation is an effective rice-based rotation that can use rice straws to reduce the net global warming potential and increase economic benefits and soil fertility. Therefore, RE rotation may serve as an alternative strategy for achieving sustainable agricultural production in winter fallow areas of the rice-upland region in Yangtze River Basin, China.
Beyond flood protection to prevent severe damage, the restored floodplain grassland in Austria provides ecosystem services in terms of carbon balance. Net ecosystem exchange (NEE), gross primary productivity (GPP), and ecosystem respiration (Reco) were quantified by the eddy covariance (EC) method before, during and after a severe flooding event. Our results show that the carbon balance is heavily influenced by water level in the study site. The diurnal variations influenced by various degree from the flood are analysed, showing the average daily GPP of the floodplain grassland in Marchegg dropping from 1.048 g C m-2 day-1 before the flood, down to 0.470 g C m-2 day-1 during the flood. The study demonstrates that the restored floodplain grassland in Marchegg functions as a robust CO2 sink with a cumulative NEE of 38.8 g carbon per m2 over the three-month study period, despite temporary disruptions caused by flooding events. The findings emphasise the considerable potential of floodplain grassland restoration for carbon storage and climate change mitigation, with the new data from the EC station offering valuable insights for future restoration projects. Finally, this supports the adoption of the new EU Nature Restoration Law and the need for restoring wetlands, floodplains and rivers to secure water availability and biodiversity in these unique ecosystems. NBS and more specifically as Soil and Water Bioengineering (SWBE) are methods with ecological advantages and a huge potential for sustainable recreation of nearnatural ecosystems. It is of crucial importance to prove these beneficial effects, and to quantify them transparently in terms of quality assurance and use of resources in a sustainable and eco-friendly way.
Root-knot nematodes (RKN; Meloidogyne spp.) are among the most damaging plant-parasitic nematodes. They parasitize almost every species of higher plant and induce the formation of galls along the plant roots, which are detrimental to plant growth. North Carolina's leading field crops are sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.), soybean (Glycine max L. Merr), cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.), which are all hosts to several root-knot nematode species. This pathogen represents a major threat to farmers, obligating them to seek alternative crops that are non-host to root-knot nematodes that will help decrease soil populations and provide economic revenue. We tested seven sesame cultivars for their host status and potential resistance to four Meloidogyne species (M. arenaria, M. incognita, M. enterolobii, and M. hapla). We inoculated sesame seedlings with 1,000 nematode eggs of each species. Sixty days after inoculation, we harvested the plants to evaluate a visual gall severity rating, measure final egg counts, and calculate the reproductive factor (RF). All sesame cultivars had a significantly lower RF than the tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) cv. Rutgers control for all species of RKN except M. arenaria. The RF values for sesame cultivars inoculated with M. incognita and M. hapla were not significantly different from one another; however, there were significant differences in RF among sesame cultivars inoculated with M. enterolobii, suggesting that genetic variability of the host may play an important role in host status and conferring resistance.
Research in geocryology is currently principally concerned with the effects of climate change on permafrost terrain. The motivations for most of the research are (1) quantification of the anticipated net emissions of CO2 and CH4 from warming and thaw of near-surface permafrost and (2) mitigation of effects on infrastructure of such warming and thaw. Some of the effects, such as increases in ground temperature or active-layer thickness, have been observed for several decades. Landforms that are sensitive to creep deformation are moving more quickly as a result, and Rock Glacier Velocity is now part of the Essential Climate Variable Permafrost of the Global Climate Observing System. Other effects, for example, the occurrence of physical disturbances associated with thawing permafrost, particularly the development of thaw slumps, have noticeably increased since 2010. Still, others, such as erosion of sedimentary permafrost coasts, have accelerated. Geochemical effects in groundwater from trace elements, including contaminants, and those that issue from the release of sediment particles during mass wasting have become evident since 2020. Net release of CO2 and CH4 from thawing permafrost is anticipated within two decades and, worldwide, may reach emissions that are equivalent to a large industrial economy. The most immediate local concerns are for waste disposal pits that were constructed on the premise that permafrost would be an effective and permanent containment medium. This assumption is no longer valid at many contaminated sites. The role of ground ice in conditioning responses to changes in the thermal or hydrological regimes of permafrost has re-emphasized the importance of regional conditions, particularly landscape history, when applying research results to practical problems.
Climate change and land degradation (LD) are some of the most critical challenges for humanity. Land degradation (LD) is the focus of the United Nations (UN) Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 15: Life on Land). Land degradation is composed of inherent and anthropogenic LD, which are both impacted by inherent soil quality (SQ) and climate. Conventional LD analysis does not take into account inherent SQ because it is not the result of land use/land cover change (LULC), which can be tracked using remote sensing platforms. Furthermore, traditional LD analysis does not link anthropogenic LD to climate change through greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study uses one of the indicators for LD for SDG 15 (15.3.1: Proportion of land that is degraded over the total land area) to demonstrate how to account for inherent SQ in anthropogenic LD with corresponding GHG emissions over time using the state of Arizona (AZ) as a case study. The inherent SQ of AZ is skewed towards low-SQ soils (Entisols: 29.3%, Aridisols: 49.4%), which, when combined with climate, define the inherent LD status. Currently, 8.6% of land in AZ has experienced anthropogenic LD primarily because of developments (urbanization) (42.8%) and agriculture (32.2%). All six soil orders have experienced varying degrees of anthropogenic LD. All land developments in AZ can be linked to damages from LD, with 4862.6 km2 developed, resulting in midpoint losses of 8.7 x 1010 kg of total soil carbon (TSC) and a midpoint social cost of carbon dioxide emissions (SC-CO2) of $14.7B (where B = billion = 109, USD). Arizona was not land degradation neutral (LDN) based on an increase (+9.6%) in the anthropogenic LD overall and an increase in developments (+29.5%) between 2001 and 2021. Considering ongoing climate change impacts in AZ, this increase in urbanization represents reverse climate change adaptation (RCCA) because of the increased population. The state of AZ has 82.0% of the total state area for nature-based solutions (NBS). However, this area is dominated by soils with inherently low SQ (e.g., Entisols, Aridisols, etc.), which complicates efforts for climate change adaptation.