Summary

Environmental science emerged from the fields of natural history and medicine during the Enlightenment. Today, it provides an integrated, quantitative, and interdisciplinary approach to the study of environmental systems. Environmental studies are incorporating more of the social sciences in order to understand human relationships, perceptions and policies towards the environment. This entry collection features information about design and technology for improving environmental quality in every aspect.

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Entries
Topic Review
Landolt Indicator Values in Modern Research
The conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem sustainability is essential for human well-being. An important tool for addressing this issue is ecological indicators. 
  • 94
  • 02 Apr 2024
Topic Review
Artificial Intelligence in Phytopathology
Plant diseases annually cause 10–16% yield losses in major crops, prompting urgent innovations. Artificial intelligence (AI) shows an aptitude for automated disease detection and diagnosis utilizing image recognition techniques, with reported accuracies exceeding 95% and surpassing human visual assessment. Forecasting models integrating weather, soil, and crop data enable preemptive interventions by predicting spatial-temporal outbreak risks weeks in advance at 81–95% precision, minimizing pesticide usage. Precision agriculture powered by AI optimizes data-driven, tailored crop protection strategies boosting resilience. Real-time monitoring leveraging AI discerns pre-symptomatic anomalies from plant and environmental data for early alerts. These applications highlight AI’s proficiency in illuminating opaque disease patterns within increasingly complex agricultural data. 
  • 405
  • 28 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Plant-Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR)-Based Biostimulants for Agricultural Production Systems
The application of biostimulants has been proven to be an advantageous tool and an appropriate form of management towards the effective use of natural resources, food security, and the beneficial effects on plant growth and yield. Plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are microbes connected with plant roots that can increase plant growth by different methods such as producing plant hormones and molecules to improve plant growth or providing increased mineral nutrition. They can colonize all ecological niches of roots to all stages of crop development, and they can affect plant growth and development directly by modulating plant hormone levels and enhancing nutrient acquisition such as of potassium, phosphorus, nitrogen, and essential minerals, or indirectly via reducing the inhibitory impacts of different pathogens in the forms of biocontrol parameters. Many plant-associated species such as Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Streptomyces, Serratia, Arthrobacter, and Rhodococcus can increase plant growth by improving plant disease resistance, synthesizing growth-stimulating plant hormones, and suppressing pathogenic microorganisms. The application of biostimulants is both an environmentally friendly practice and a promising method that can enhance the sustainability of horticultural and agricultural production systems as well as promote the quantity and quality of foods. They can also reduce the global dependence on hazardous agricultural chemicals. 
  • 119
  • 27 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Air and Particulates in Underground Oil Shale Mine
Particulate matter (PM) in the context of underground mining results from various operations such as rock drilling and blasting, ore loading, hauling, crushing, dumping, and from diesel exhaust gases as well. These operations result in the formation of fine particles that can accumulate in the lungs of mineworkers. The lung deposited surface area (LDSA) concentration is a variant solution to evaluate potential health impacts. 
  • 119
  • 21 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Can Climate Change be Mitigated through Modular Construction?
Modular construction (MC) is a promising concept with the potential to revolutionize the construction industry (CI). The sustainability aspects of MC, among its other encouraging facets, have garnered escalated interest and acclaim among the research community, especially in the context of climate change (CC) mitigation efforts. 
  • 144
  • 21 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Economics in Marine Spatial Planning
There has been a rapid increase in the use of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) worldwide, partly due to the continued loss of marine biodiversity and habitat. The sustainability of marine resources is threatened in all regions of the world by major events such as climate change, marine pollution, and overfishing, as well as illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing both on the high seas and in country waters.
  • 547
  • 20 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Impact of Climate Change on Soil N2O Emission
Microbial-driven processes, including nitrification and denitrification closely related to soil nitrous oxide (N2O) production, are orchestrated by a network of enzymes and genes such as amoA genes from ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA), narG (nitrate reductase), nirS and nirK (nitrite reductase), and nosZ (N2O reductase). However, how climatic factors could influence these genes and processes and, consequently, soil N2O emissions remain unclear. 
  • 189
  • 26 Feb 2024
Topic Review
HILIC on Poly-Hydroxyl Stationary Phases in Protein-Rich-Food Supplements
Monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides are essential sources of dietary energy. In the food industry, certain monosaccharides like glucose, galactose, and fructose, and disaccharides like lactose, sucrose, and maltose, are known for their sweet taste. With the increasing prevalence of public health issues such as obesity and diabetes, it is essential to increase consumer awareness about sugar consumption and monitor the intake of processed foods.
  • 81
  • 14 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Fungi Remediate Soils Contaminated by War-like Activities
Fungi comprise the largest kingdom of higher organisms on the planet: eukaryotes with complex cell structures and abilities to make tissues and organs. Hyphae filaments have a rigid, complex cell wall and moving protoplasm (cytosol) divided into compartments by cross walls termed septa, allowing cellular components to move through these. The plasma membrane comprises a phospholipid bilayer associated with transmembrane proteins and ergosterol and some enzymes such as integral membrane proteins chitin synthase and glucan synthase. The release of enzymes into the extracellular environment, which many fungal species carry out, and the high contact area between filamentous fungi and the soil make these organisms promising for the degradation or immobilization of pollutants (explosives, metals, metalloids, radionuclides, and herbicides) in soil impacted by War-like activities.
  • 92
  • 17 Feb 2024
Topic Review
The Development of Biogas Plants
Agricultural biogas plants have a long history, beginning with early advancements in biogas technology and its application in agricultural contexts. Throughout history, several societies have used organic waste to make biogas, a renewable energy source. However, modern agricultural biogas plants as we know them today have changed greatly as a result of scientific and technological advances.
  • 223
  • 07 Feb 2024
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