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Topic Review
Biopollution
Biopollution describes the biological pollution caused by the introduction of non-indigenous species into biogeographic regions where they were not present before. It is considered one of the main threats to environmental health, and it is a factor of disturbance that can be consistently viewed as a pollution agent, albeit of a different nature if compared with physical and chemical factors. Ecosystem deterioration may be induced by the development of massive alien population outbreaks following introduction events. Biopollution assessment procedures have been proposed, adopting criteria already used for xenochemical compounds. Also prevention and mitigation measures to reduce biopollution impact have been developed in a similar way as for chemical pollution.
  • 1.9K
  • 12 May 2021
Topic Review
Regional Hydro-Ecological Simulation System
Regional Hydro-Ecological Simulation System (RHESSys), a distributed physical processes-based ecohydrological model, that can simulate the regional multi-components cycle of nitrogen, carbon, and water. Many RHESSys-based studies have been implemented for sustainable watershed management. 
  • 1.9K
  • 01 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Soil and Mushrooms
Mushrooms, like other fungi, have a strong impact on soil, both positive and negative. The compost that forms from spent mushroom substrate could be applied to soil as an organic fertilizer, which could increase soil microbial activity and the content of amino acid metabolites in studied orchard. Mushroom also could be used as a bioindicator for soil pollution, such as soil polluted with heavy metals, toxic elements, organic pollutants, radioactives, or isotopes, as well as for health risk indices. The green synthesis of nanoparticles using mushrooms and the potential of bio-nanoremediation for polluted soils. The distinguished roles of mushrooms of soil improvement are considered a crucial dimension for sustainable soil management, which may include controlling soil erosion, improving soil aggregates, increasing soil organic matter content, enhancing the bioavailability of soil nutrients, and resorting to damaged and/or polluted soils. The field of bio-nanoremediation using mushrooms still requires further investigation, particularly regarding the sustainable management of soils.
  • 1.9K
  • 13 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Secrets of the Astute Red Fox
An ecosystem’s health is based on a delicate balance between human, nonhuman animal, and environmental health. Any factor that leads to an imbalance in one of the components results in disease. There are several bioindicators that allow people to evaluate the status of ecosystems. The red fox (Vulpes vulpes, Linnaeus, 1758) has the widest world distribution among mammals. It is highly adaptable, lives in rural and urban areas, and has a greatly diverse diet. Being susceptible to environmental pollution and zoonotic agents, red foxes may act as sentinels to detect environmental contaminants, and climatic changes and to prevent and control outbreaks of emerging or re-emerging zoonosis. This entry present the information that is related to the red fox as a sentinel of human, animal, and environmental health.
  • 1.9K
  • 13 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Bioindicators of Heavy Metals Pollution
       There is a wide interest in the air quality due to the constant development of many industries and technologies, as well as an extensive use of transport, ultimately leading to emissions of atmospheric pollutants. The application of ubiquitous organisms to assess air pollution has developed significantly during the last few decades. Such living organisms are successful indicators of the presence and availability of different contaminants over time. Lichens are a very popular and effective tool in bioimonitoring. They are usually applied by transplanting from unpolluted area to a contaminated one and assessing the bioaccumulation of the pollutants in the lichen tallus. On the other hand, spider webs are a quite new tool used in the biomonitoring, although they seem to be an easy, cheap method of bioindication which could work all-year–round. Thus, the comparison between these two tools (lichens and spider webs) is eligible and very important  for efficient monitoring of air quality.  We decided to compare the way of heavy metals accumulation in spider webs from Agelenidae family (Eratigena atrica and Agelena labyrinthica) and lichens Hypogymnia physodes, exposed for two months. 
  • 1.9K
  • 26 Oct 2020
Topic Review
First United Nations Report on Problems of Human-Environment
The 1969 UN Report “Problems of the Human Environment” was a seminal work that first highlighted environmental problems at a global scale. This report underpinned a series of subsequent international summits and conventions of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and the subsequent three global conventions on Biodiversity, Climate Change and Desertification. Many issues of that day have declined in importance or been superseded, and several major environmental problems (including climate change and plastic pollution) were not foreseen. Most of the report’s predictions proved to be much more conservative than proved by reality (a criticism that has also been levelled at contemporary IPCC reports).
  • 1.9K
  • 06 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Bioconversion of Starch Base Food Waste into Bioethanol
Food wastes are organic wastes or biodegradables. They are generated from various sources such as restaurants and cafeterias, industrial sectors, commercial and domestic kitchens, food processing plants, and other areas where a large number of people consume food. The global demand for fuel keeps increasing daily. The massive depletion of fossil fuels and their influence on the environment as pollution is a severe problem. Meanwhile, food waste disposal is also a complex problem in solid-waste management since one-third of every food consumed is discarded as waste. The standard waste management methods, including food waste incineration and landfilling, are considered hazardous to the environment. Food waste constituents are majorly starch-based and contain various biomolecules, including sugar, lipids, proteins, vitamins, cellulose, etc. These polysaccharides can be hydrolysed into monosaccharides such as glucose, which can then be fermented using microorganisms to produce ethanol through the fermenting of sugars derived from enzymatic hydrolysis treatment of food wastes. The human food system is rich in starch, which can be a potential resource for bioethanol production.
  • 1.9K
  • 20 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Climate Change on Himalayan Yak (Bos grunniens)
Climate change is a global issue, with a wide range of ecosystems being affected by changing climatic conditions including the Himalaya. Yak are exquisitely adapted to the high-altitude conditions of the Himalaya and are thus highly likely to be affected by climate change. 
  • 1.9K
  • 07 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Bank Stabilization Structures of Yangtze-River
Bank Stabilization Structures of Yangtze-River are ecological revetment structures that have been carried out in the Yangtze River with a focus on preventing bed-shape evolution, river-width adjustment, and lateral channel migration, which are woody planting and combined applications of planting and artificial structures. The most widely used in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are steel wire mesh gabions bank stabilization and chain-type bricks bank stabilization.
  • 1.9K
  • 21 Oct 2020
Topic Review
SDHI Fungicide Toxicity and Associated Adverse Outcome Pathways
Succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor (SDHI) fungicides are increasingly used in agriculture to combat molds and fungi, two major threats to both food supply and public health. However, the essential requirement for the succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) complex—the molecular target of SDHIs—in energy metabolism for almost all extant eukaryotes and the lack of species specificity of these fungicides raise concerns about their toxicity toward off-target organisms and, more generally, toward the environment.
  • 1.9K
  • 04 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Lantana camara: Browsable Species for Goats
Lantana camara is regarded as one of the most ecologically and economically destructive invasive alien plants. The spread of L. camara affects the environment and threatens livestock productivity due to its toxicity to animals (especial cattle and sheep) in most semi-arid areas of South Africa. Lantana camara is known to have high concentrations of nutrients that are beneficial to livestock, but most previous research has concentrated on its toxicity.
  • 1.9K
  • 28 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Nature-Based Solutions
Application of Nature-based solutions face challenges and barriers. It is a recent concept that includes social and economic factors besides the environmental factors for successful and rapid implementation. Thus, the human component—indeed, stakeholder engagement is essential to the success of such initiatives. This literature review provide a complete picture of public participation in NBS processes. The objective was to understand the perceptions, preferences, and perspectives of different actors, the participation drivers and motivations, the participation methods and frameworks, the collaborative governance, and the participation challenges and opportunities in implementation of nature-based solutions in urban areas. 
  • 1.9K
  • 20 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Effects of Extracellular Polymeric Substances on Sludge Properties
Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) represent the complex high-molecular-weight mixture of polymers excreted by microorganisms generated from cell lysis as well as adsorbed inorganic and organic matter from wastewater. EPS exhibit a three-dimensional, gel-like, highly hydrated matrix that facilitates microbial attachment, embedding, and immobilization. EPS play multiple roles in containments removal, and the main components of EPS crucially influence the properties of microbial aggregates, such as adsorption ability, stability, and formation capacity. Moreover, EPS are important to sludge bioflocculation, settleability, and dewatering properties and could be used as carbon and energy sources in wastewater treatment. 
  • 1.9K
  • 11 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Genetic Improvement of Wheat for Drought Tolerance
Wheat production and productivity are challenged by recurrent droughts associated with climate change globally. Drought and heat stress resilient cultivars can alleviate yield loss in marginal production agro-ecologies. The ability of some crop genotypes to thrive and yield in drought conditions is attributable to the inherent genetic variation and environmental adaptation, presenting opportunities to develop drought-tolerant varieties. Understanding the underlying genetic, physiological, biochemical, and environmental mechanisms and their interactions is key critical opportunity for drought tolerance improvement.
  • 1.9K
  • 30 May 2022
Topic Review
Wastewater Removal Strategies of Microplastic Pollution
Plastics have been one of the most useful materials in the world, due to their distinguishing characteristics: light weight, strength, flexibility, and good durability. In recent years, the growing consumption of plastics in industries and domestic applications has revealed a serious problem in plastic waste treatments. Pollution by microplastics has been recognized as a serious threat since it may contaminate all ecosystems, including oceans, terrestrial compartments, and the atmosphere. This micropollutant is spread in all types of environments and is serving as a “minor but efficient” vector for carrier contaminants such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals, metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The need to deeply study and update the evolution of microplastic sources, toxicology, extraction and analysis, behavior and removal strategies is imperative.
  • 1.9K
  • 11 May 2022
Topic Review
Phenoxy Carboxylic Acid Herbicides Physical and Chemical Properties
Chlorophenoxy herbicides belong to the class of aryloxyalkanoic acids that are derivatives of 1–3 carbon hydroxyalkanoic acids with aromatic substituent attached to the alcoholic oxygen.
  • 1.9K
  • 26 Jul 2023
Topic Review
Shea Butter Tree for Nutritional Value
Vitellaria paradoxa (C.F.Gaertn.) is a multi-purpose tree species distributed in a narrow band across sub-Saharan Africa. The species is integrated into cropping and agroforestry systems as a nutritional and economic resource, which provides a range of environmental services. Integration of the species into land-use systems provides an essential source of livelihoods and income for local populations. The economic potential of the shea butter tree derives from its edible products, which also serve cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications.
  • 1.9K
  • 20 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Bacteriophages in Agriculture
Bacteriophages, more commonly referred to as phages, are a class of viruses discovered for their bactericidal effects even before the discovery of penicillin and other antibiotics. An increasingly popular alternative to antibiotics is bacteriophages to control bacterial diseases. Their unique bactericidal properties make them an ideal alternative to antibiotics, as many countries begin to restrict the usage of antibiotics in agriculture. The recent evidence from within the past decade on the efficacy of phage therapy on common foodborne pathogens are analyzed, namely, Escherica coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., and Campylobacter jejuni. 
  • 1.9K
  • 21 Jul 2023
Topic Review
5G for Climate Change Control
Climate change is one of the most challenging problems that humanity has ever faced. With the rapid development in technology, a key feature of 5G networks is the increased level of connectivity between everyday objects, facilitated by faster internet speeds with smart facilities indicative of the forthcoming 5G-driven revolution in Internet of Things (IoT).
  • 1.9K
  • 11 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Trends in Emission of Marine Traffic Haifa Port
The vessel fleet calling at Israel ports mainly comprises vessels that have a lower engine tier grade (i.e., Tier 0 and 1), which is considered a heavy contributor to nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution. The entry recommends an additional cost charged (selective tariff) to reflect the external social cost linked to the single vessel air pollution combined with supportive technological infrastructure and economic incentive tools (e.g., electric subsidy) to attract or influence vessel owners to assign vessels equipped with new engine tier grades for calls at Israeli ports.
  • 1.9K
  • 17 Jan 2022
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