An environmental disaster caused by the rupture of a mining tailings dam has impacted a large area of the Rio Doce watershed in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, resulting in unprecedented damage at spatial and temporal scales. The Atlantic Forest is one of the world's most important biodiversity hotspots. A long history of land use conversion has resulted in a highly fragmented landscape. Despite numerous restoration initiatives, these efforts have often biased criteria and use limited species assemblages. We conducted a comprehensive synthesis of the plant community in riparian forests along the Rio Doce watershed. Our work detailed vegetation composition (tree and sapling strata) and examined its relationship with edaphic and landscape factors, aiming to inform restoration projects with scientifically robust knowledge. A total of 4906 individuals from the tree strata and 4565 individuals from the sapling strata were recorded, representing a total of 1192 species from 75 families. Only 0.8% of the tree species and 0.5% of the sapling species occurred in all sampled sectors, with over 84% of the species occurring in a single watershed sector for both strata. We observed a high species heterogeneity modulated by turnover (92.3% in the tree, and 92.7% in the sapling strata) among sites. Overall, our research revealed a gradient of soil fertility influencing species composition across different strata. Additionally, we discovered that preserved landscapes had a positive impact on species diversity within both strata. The species exclusivity in the sampled sites and the high turnover rate imply the need to consider multiple reference ecosystems when restoring the watershed to reduce the risk of biotic homogenization. Finally, the reference ecosystems defined here serve as a basis for the selection of locally particular species in the implementation of restoration projects that aim to improve biodiversity, ecosystem services, and water security.

The marc content of sugar beet denotes the insoluble cell wall compounds that have always been used as animal feed. In the foreseeable future, they will be used to generate power for sugar factories to reach a carbon-free sugar manufacturing process. To monitor the marc content of beet delivered to sugar factories in Germany, 1042 sugar beet samples were taken during the campaigns in 2018/19, 2019/20, and 2020/21. The average marc content was 3.87% in 2018, 3.89% in 2019, and 4.01% in 2020. The marc content was slightly lower on light and heavy soils than the prevailing loam soils, probably because of irrigation. With higher water availability during the season, the marc content was lower. The harvest date and the length of the storage period did not influence the marc content. Cultivars differed greatly in marc content, but no clear relationship existed to their sugar content. As the marc content of sugar beet affects the susceptibility to damage during harvest and loading, the infestation with pathogens during storage and thus storages losses, and influences the first processing steps as well, the marc content should be monitored to ensure that it does not continue to decrease any further.

This study addresses the pressing issue of high arsenic (As) contaminations, which poses a severe threat to various life forms in our ecosystem. Despite this prevailing concern, all organisms have developed some techniques to mitigate the toxic effects of As. Certain plants, such as bryophytes, the earliest land plants, exhibit remarkable tolerance to wide range of harsh environmental conditions, due to their inherent competence. In this study, bryophytes collected from West Bengal, India, across varying contamination levels were investigated for their As tolerance capabilities. Assessment of As accumulation potential and antioxidant defense efficiency, including SOD, CAT, APX, GPX etc. revealed Marchantia polymorpha as the most tolerant species. It exhibited highest As accumulation, antioxidative proficiency, and minimal damage. Transcriptomic analysis of M. polymorpha exposed to 40 mu M As(III) for 24 and 48 h identified several early responsive differentially expressing genes (DEGs) associated with As tolerance. These includes GSTs, GRXs, Hsp20s, SULTR1;2, ABCC2 etc., indicating a mechanism involving vacuolar sequestration. Interestingly, one As(III) efflux-transporter ACR3, an extrusion pump, known to combat As toxicity was found to be differentially expressed compared to control. The SEM-EDX analysis, further elucidated the operation of As extrusion mechanism, which contributes added As resilience in M. polymorpha. Yeast complementation assay using Delta acr3 yeast cells, showed increased tolerance towards As(III), compared to the mutant cells, indicating As tolerant phenotype. Overall, these findings significantly enhance our understanding of As tolerance mechanisms in bryophytes. This can pave the way for the development of genetically engineered plants with heightened As tolerance and the creation of improved plant varieties.

This study analyzed the diversity of physical properties and mechanical properties of white jabon (Neolamarckia cadamba (Roxb.) Bosser) from various locations and ecological conditions in West Java and Banten Indonesia. White jabon wood samples were taken from 8 locations in West Java and the Banten region. Tree ages ranged from 5 to 6 years. This wood was then tested to compare physical characteristics (density or specific gravity) and mechanical characteristics (modulus of rupture (MOR) and modulus of elasticity (MOE)). The results showed that wood density ranged from 0.29 to 0.43 g.cm-3, MOR ranged from 361 to 641 kg.cm-2, and MOE ranged from 31,117 to 58,910 kg.cm-2. The highest density average (0.43 +/- 0.004 g.cm-3) was produced from Cianjur, and the lowest density average (0.29 +/- 0.010 g.cm-3) was from Tanjungsari Sumedang. Environmental factors (precipitation and altitude) affect the density of wood. Separately, rainfall has a low effect and a negative relationship to jabon wood density, while altitude has a high influence and a negative relationship to jabon wood density. Andosol soil types tend to produce low density wood.