The worldwide contamination of waters and food by herbicides is a major health issue, yet the toxic effects of herbicides to non-target organisms and ecosystems have been poorly summarized. Here we review the effects of herbicides belonging to the groups of chloroacetanilides, imidazolinones, sulfonylureas, and pyrimidinylcarboxylic, on small invertebrates, high vertebrates, plants, and the surrounding ecosystems. We describe toxicity in terms of behavioural changes, molecular biosynthesis, endocrine disruption, immunological responses, enzymatic alteration, and reproductive disorders. Strategies to decrease toxic effects are also presented. We observe widespread toxicity threats in amphibians and major aquatic species. Each herbicide group displays a different toxicity risk. For instance, chloroacetanilides display higher risks to soil, aquatic, algal, cyanobacteria, and terrestrial species, whereas alachlor, acetochlor, and metolachlor are highly carcinogenic to humans. Most imidazolinone herbicides cause phytotoxicity in non-target and succeeding crops. Sulfonyl-urea herbicides are severely toxic to soil microbes and succeeding crops. Pyrimidinylcarboxy herbicides are more toxic to soil microbes, aquatic species, and rats.

Green soybean (edamame), an early-harvested soybean, is a popular vegetable in Asia and is recognised as a healthy vegetable in the other parts of the world. In Japan, edamame yield has gradually decreased over the last 30 years, despite similar cultivation areas. Damage caused by the soybean cyst nematode (SCN), Heterodera glycines, is one of the main causes. We surveyed the distribution of SCN in different locations and found a wide distribution of SCN across Japan. Different control measures are available, such as chemical control using fumigants or a granular type of nematicide, solarisation, and rotation with non-host crops. We are developing a new type of biological control method, which comprises short-term field cultivation and soil incorporation of mung bean. This method not only decreases the SCN density in soil but also mitigates soil erosion and nitrate leaching. For future SCN control it is essential to establish an environmentally friendly management strategy.

Alpine grasslands are vital in regulating carbon balance on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) because of the large soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, while persistent disturbance from the endemic small semifossorial herbivore, plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae, hereafter pika), may break this balance. Pika affect the soil microclimate by creating a heterogeneous underlying surface, which is expected to alter soil microbial communities and eventually SOC stocks. However, our knowledge regarding the potential influence mechanism is still limited. Here, we investigated vegetation biomass, soil properties and soil microbes among 4 different surfaces (i.e., original vegetation, new pika pile, old pika pile and bare patch) of typical alpine grasslands to reveal soil microbial communities and the associated effect on SOC in response to pika bioturbation. Our results showed that pika bioturbation increased both bacterial and fungal diversity and their phyla abundance for SOC decomposition. Vegetation biomass, electrical conductivity and NH4+-N accounted for the variation in both bacterial and fungal community compositions and diversity. SOC stocks were 15-30% lower in pika piles and bare patches than in the original vegetation, which was mainly attributed to the reduced soil organic matter input from vegetation and the enhanced SOC consumption by soil microbial communities. Overall, we conclude that pika bioturbation altered the diversity and composition of soil microbial communities, which was associated with SOC loss and positive carbon feedback in alpine grasslands. Our findings provide insights into the role of small semifossorial herbivores in the carbon cycle of global grasslands.

The Kugino wind farm at Japan was seriously damaged in the severe Kumamoto earthquake, characterizing as all three pile group cracks but only one tower buckling. This study aims to reveal the failure mechanism underlying such damage pattern through the Beam on Nonlinear Winkler Foundation (BNWF) analyses, where the soilfooting interaction is considered with a new q-z model (QzSimple6). It identifies three parameters in a hyperbolic function to match any desired modulus reduction curve, whereas adjusts the unloading-reloading curves iteratively with the Ishihara-Yoshida rule to achieve site-specific soil damping curve. The QzSimple6-based BNWF analyses quantitatively reproduces centrifuge test results of a pile group foundation system, and newly reveals the soil-footing interaction does not influence pile bending moments but reduces the point mass acceleration. A parametric study is conducted on the full BNWF model with identifying pile group supported wind turbine, but with scaling soil stiffness and strength. The thrust force is attracted from the aero-elastic analysis in OpenFAST and the free-filed seismic displacement are calculated with the site response analysis in OpenSees. The simulation shows consistency with site observations that the No.2 wind turbine tower is destined to buckling at the height of around 13.9 m due to the sudden reduction of tower thickness, while No.1 and No.3 towers could remain safe potentially because soil properties under them are softer than that under the No.2 tower. In contrast, all three pile groups are found to be cracked under the Kumamoto earthquake intensity since the pile bending moment relies on the footing rigidity rather than the footing-soil interaction.

BACKGROUNDA major impact of invasive Myocastor coypus in their introduction range is the collapse of riverbanks and nearby infrastructure, such as railway lines, due to the species' burrowing activities. Because widespread implementation of preventive measures along watercourses is unfeasible, identifying susceptible areas is key to guide targeted management actions. This study used species-habitat models to: (i) identify local environmental features of the railway line/watercourse intersections (RLWIs) that make them particularly susceptible to coypu damage, and (ii) predict species occurrence probability over a wide lowland-hilly area of northern Italy (Lombardy) to identify priority areas for monitoring. RESULTSLocal-scale models identified that the RLWIs most susceptible to burrowing were those surrounded by arable land with interspersed hedgerows locally characterized by high herbaceous vegetation and clay soil. In urbanized areas and areas of intensive agriculture, coypu dens were generally located significantly closer to the railway, increasing the risk of collapse. A landscape-scale species distribution model showed that lowland areas along major rivers and lake shores, and also agricultural areas with a dense minor hydrographic network, particularly in the southeast of the study area, are more likely to be occupied by coypu. CONCLUSIONLocal-scale models showed that specific environmental characteristics increase the risk of burrowing near RLWIs. The landscape-scale model allowed us to predict which areas require thorough monitoring of RLWIs to search for such local characteristics to implement preventive management measures. The proposed model-based framework can be applied to any geographical context to predict and prevent coypu damage. (c) 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

The incident of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (CNPP) explosion has pioneered a plethora of studies unfolding various biological effects of radiation stress on several living systems. Determining radiation dose rates at which both acute and chronic biological effects occur in different biological systems will aid in the ex-situ generation of radiation-tolerant organisms. So far, the accumulation of data on different radiation doses from Chernobyl area demonstrating various biological impacts has not been documented altogether vastly. Therefore, this review aims to document the recorded doses in CNPP over the years at which different biological changes have been observed in plants, soil, aquatic organisms, birds, and animals. A total of 72 peer-reviewed papers obtained from PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Research4life were included in this review. A few factors have come under attention in this review. Firstly, plant and soil systems combinedly showed the most published studies after the catastrophe where plants showed a higher frequency of DNA methylation in their genome to resist radiation stress. Secondly, reduced species abundance, chromosomal aberrations, increased sterility, and mortality were mostly observed in the aftermath of Chernobyl catastrophe among plants, soil, aquatic organisms, birds, and small mammals. Furthermore, major scares of data after 2018 were prominently observed. Very few studies on radiation dose levels after 2018 are available. Hence, a major research area has emerged for radiation biologists to study present radiation levels and any genetic changes in the recent generation of the original victim species. This will help provide a standard dataset that can act as a reference resource for radiation biologists and future research on the impact of both acute and chronic radiation on the different biological systems. [GRAPHICS] .

The 2017 Pohang earthquake, with a moment magnitude (M) of 5.5, caused severe building damage and widespread liquefaction. In this study, we evaluate the applicability of ground response and liquefaction triggering analyses for the Pohang earthquake using deep shear wave velocity (VS) profiles. The VS profiles are obtained at Handong University and the Songdo Pine Forest by inverting the Rayleigh wave dispersion curves based on microtremor array measurements (MAM) and multi-channel analysis of surface waves (MASW). In onedimensional effective stress analyses for the two sites, we consider the uncertainty of the nonlinear soil properties for three cases and use 118 rock outcrop motions. At Handong University, the spectral accelerations of surface ground motions are larger than those of the current Korean design spectra with a return period of 500 years at the natural period of the damaged buildings. At the Songdo Pine Forest, for the Case 2, numerous ground motions result in the maximum pore water pressure ratio of 1 (i.e., liquefaction occurrence). Furthermore, we calculate the liquefaction potential index (LPI) values using the VS-based simplified method. To compute the cyclic stress ratio for depths, we utilize the peak ground accelerations estimated by ground response analyses and estimated by stress reduction factor (rd), respectively. The LPI values, based on the ground response analyses, range from 0 to 4, indicating minor or no damage, while the LPI value using the rd is zero. The results of the ground response and liquefaction triggering analyses are similar to the actual damage cases.

Exposure to xenobiotics can increase the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). When detoxification organs such as the intestines and liver cannot neutralise these xenobiotics, it can induce oxidative stress and cause damage to tissues. Therefore, cell-based bioassays that indicate intracellular ROS production are a useful screening tool to evaluate the effect of these chemicals. Although flow cytometry is commonly used to measure ROS in cells, many research laboratories in the Global South do not always have access to such specialised instrumentation. Therefore, we describe a sensitive but low-cost method that can easily be used to determine ROS production in vitro. This method employs the fluorogenic dye, 2 ' ,7 ' -dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (H2DCF-DA), which emits fluorescence after being oxidised to a fluorescent derivative. Since the H2DCF-DA bioassay indicates non-specific ROS production it can be used as a marker of overall oxidative stress. This method was validated by exposing human duodenum epithelial adenocarcinoma (HuTu-80) and rat liver epithelial hepatoma (H4IIE-luc) cells to agricultural soil samples. center dot Production of ROS can be determined in vitro in intestinal and liver cells. center dot This method is inexpensive and can be easily performed in standard laboratories. center dot The method provides a tool for the high-throughput screening of environmental samples.

Aims Quantitatively assess the foraging and burrowing effects of plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae, hereafter pikas) on vegetation biomass and soil organic carbon at plot scale. Methods Combining field surveys and aerial photographing, we investigated pikas density, vegetation biomass, soil organic carbon and total nitrogen at quadrat-scale in 82 grassland sites of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. We then upscaled these variables to plot-scale and eventually quantified pikas' foraging and burrowing effects on aboveground biomass and soil organic carbon. Results Pikas have a wide distribution, with densities ranging from 40.29 to 71.40 ha(-1). Under this density level, pikas consume approximate 21% to 40% of the total vegetation biomass, while their burrowing activity causes less than 1% vegetation biomass reduction. However, pikas burrowing transfers 1 to 5 T ha(-1)of soil to the ground surface, which contains approximate 20 to 70 kg ha(-1)of soil organic carbon and 2 to 5 kg ha(-1)of total nitrogen. Conclusions Vegetation biomass is susceptible to the foraging influence of pikas. Pikas burrowing activity has a potential impact on soil organic carbon loss and thus vegetation growth. These results are conducive to improve our understanding of the effects of pikas on regulating alpine grasslands. Unmanned aerial vehicle is a feasible and efficient tool to perform the monitoring extensiveness plots and study the role of pikas.

Plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae, hereafter pika) is considered to exert a profound impact on vegetation species diversity of alpine grasslands. Great efforts have been made at mound or quadrat scales; nevertheless, there is still controversy about the effect of pika. It is vital to monitor vegetation species composition in natural heterogeneous ecosystems at a large scale to accurately evaluate the real role of pika. In this study, we performed field survey at 55 alpine grassland sites across the Shule River Basin using combined methods of aerial photographing using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and traditional ground measurement. Based on our UAV operation system, Fragmentation Monitoring and Analysis with aerial Photography (FragMAP), aerial images were acquired. Plot-scale vegetation species were visually identified, and total pika burrow exits were automatically retrieved using the self-developed image processing software. We found that there were significant linear relationships between the vegetation species diversity indexes obtained by these two methods. Additionally, the total number of identified species by the UAV method was 71, which was higher than the Quadrat method recognition, with the quantity of 63. Our results indicate that the UAV was suitable for long-term repeated monitoring vegetation species composition of multiple alpine grasslands at plot scale. With the merits of UAV, it confirmed that pika's disturbance belonged to the medium level, with the density ranging from 30.17 to 65.53 ha(-1). Under this density level, pika had a positive effect on vegetation species diversity, particularly for the species richness of sedge and forb. These findings conclude that the UAV was an efficient and economic tool for species monitoring to reveal the role of pika in the alpine grasslands.