The interaction of human population, food production, and biodiversity protection

Palmatine as a potent immunomodulator: Enhancing resistance to Micropterus salmoides rhabdovirus in largemouth bass through innate immune activation and viral suppression

Micropterus salmoides rhabdovirus (MSRV) poses a significant threat to aquaculture, causing substantial economic losses. In this study, we evaluated the antiviral efficacy and immunomodulatory potential of palmatine, a plant-derived monomer, against MSRV infection in largemouth bass. Our results demonstrated that palmatine significantly inhibited MSRV replication, with a reduction in viral nucleoprotein expression by 85 % at a safe concentration. Additionally, palmatine pre-treatment of EPC cells enhanced their antiviral capacity, with a maximum inhibition rate of 82 % following 24 h pre-incubation. Palmatine also effectively reduced MSRV-induced cytopathic effects, protecting cellular integrity and maintaining mitochondrial membrane potential. In vivo studies revealed that palmatine immersion at 80 mg/L was non-toxic and significantly suppressed MSRV replication in largemouth bass, increasing survival rates by 53 % over 15 d. Furthermore, palmatine pre-treatment enhanced the fish's resistance to MSRV, with a 78 % inhibition rate of viral replication and a 46 % increase in survival rate. Mechanistically, palmatine activated key immune genes, including IRF3, IRF7, and IFN, indicating its role in boosting innate immune responses. The compound also reduced horizontal transmission of MSRV in a cohabitation model, decreasing viral spread by up to 78 % over nine days. These findings highlight palmatine's potential as a small-molecule immunomodulator in aquaculture, offering a sustainable approach to disease management and enhancing fish health and welfare. Integrating palmatine into fish diets as an immunostimulant could provide a continuous, proactive defense against viral outbreaks, promoting more resilient and sustainable aquaculture practices.

The 8 billion milestone: Risk perceptions of global population growth among UK and US residents

In November 2022, the global human population reached 8 billion and is projected to reach 10 billion by 2060. Theories, models, and evidence indicate that global population growth (GPG) increases the likelihood of many adverse outcomes, such as biodiversity loss, climate change, mass migrations, wars, and resource shortages. A small body of research indicates that many individuals are concerned about the effects of GPG, and these concerns are strongly related to the willingness to engage in mitigative and preventative actions. However, scientific understanding of the factors that influence GPG risk perceptions remains limited. To help address this research gap, we conducted a study of the perceived risk of GPG among UK and US residents (N = 1029) shortly after the "8 billion milestone." Our results confirmed that GPG is perceived as a moderate-to-high risk and these perceptions have a strong positive relationship with the willingness to engage in and support risk management actions. Our participants believed that the worst effects of GPG were yet to come but would largely be geographically and socially remote. Despite their willingness to engage in risk management actions, our participants reported low self-efficacy and that governments (cf. individuals and communities) have the greatest capacity to influence GPG. Risk perceptions were strongly predicted by worldviews and were higher among our UK (cf. US) participants. We also found that the perceived benefits of GPG were low and found no evidence to suggest that risk perceptions were affected by exposure to media coverage of the 8 billion milestone.

Emotional Fertility Intention and its correlates in Ethiopia among married contraceptive user women: using linked community and health facility data from performance monitoring for action; a generalized ordered logistics regression modeling

BACKGROUND

Emotional fertility intention and couples communication are key during pregnancy and childbirth with simultaneous minimization of reproductive coercion. Intention to conceive is an integral part of the reproductive health (RH) right and can be considered as decision making on fertility, family wellbeing and the country's population demographic dividend and composition. However, in low and middle income countries including Ethiopia where males dominance is culturally constructed and socially accepted, males took the lead in every decision making process. In the aforementioned context, women are less likely for their voices to be heard, hence, this study aimed at determining the level of womens´ emotional fertility readiness and its correlates. The finding provided actionable evidence for the ministry and developmental partners working on reproductive and womens´ health so as to be used as an action point to empower women in terms of their reproductive health right to have control over their fertility.

METHODS

Linked community and facility data with nationally representation from Performance Monitoring for Action (PMA Ethiopia) 2020 Survey Ethiopia except Tigray Region were used for this study. A total of 2,069 current and/or recent contraceptive user women of child bearing age who are currently married/living together as a partner were included in this analysis. Frequency was computed to describe the study participant's characteristics. Generalized Ordered logistics regression modeling was employed to identify correlates of the hierarchical variation in women fertility intention if they became pregnant. Results were presented in the form of percentages and odds ratio with 95% Confidence Intervals. Candidate variables were selected using p-value of 0.25. Statistical significance was declared at p-value of 0.05.

RESULTS

The proportion of womens´ emotional fertility intention of feeling unhappiness was 48.73% (95%CI: 46.21%, 51.23%). On the contrary, 22.88%, 11.36% and 17.03% of them reported that they felt sort of happy, very happy and mixed feeling. An increase in age,10 and above years marriage duration, the type of decision maker for contraceptive use were found to increase the odds of women emotional fertility intention across the higher level categories by (AOR: 95% CI: 6.75 (3.11, 14.62) times higher among elder women aged 35 to 49 years, (AOR: 95% CI: 3.79 (1.72, 8.31) times higher for women with a 10 or more years of marriage duration; and 1.83 (1.03,3.24) times higher for women whose contraceptive use was decided by the health care provide alone. A higher birth order lowered the cumulative odds of womens´ emotional fertility intention symmetrically across the higher level categories by 86% (AOR: 95% CI: 0.14 (0.07, 0.29). Women who wanted to have additional child and whose nearest facility provided 5 or more methods had an increased odds of being in the higher level categories of women emotional fertility intention with disproportional association across the cumulative logit. Accordingly, women whose nearest health facility provided 5 or more methods had an 49% (AOR: 95%CI:1.49 (1.01, 2.19) increased likelihood of being in the mixed or happy category than being very/sort of unhappy category of the emotional fertility intention while the number of methods had no significant association with emotional fertility intention at higher cumulative logit: 1.34 (0.87,2.10). Those who wanted to have an additional child had a 3.16 (2.28, 4.36) higher odds to be in the mixed or happy category than being in unhappy category. Further, this tendency was even stronger at higher categories of emotional fertility intention: 4.83 (3.23, 7.23).

CONCLUSION

Nearly one in two women reported being unhappy while 17.03% felt mixed emotion calling up on intended and spaced pregnancies by ensuring women reproductive and economic empowerment to empower women to have control over their fertility. Activities and efforts that promote intended and spaced pregnancies; and diversifying access to contraceptive methods in the nearest health facilities are likely to improve women emotional fertility intention; and activities that enable women to decide their contraceptive as well. The finding that health care provider decides on women current/recent contraceptive use calls for activities to improve quality of contraceptive use counseling to enable women to decide their contraceptive use by the themselves while the access of diversified methods in the nearby health facility create an opportunity for women to obtain the method they preferred to use and make them emotionally well. These activities are hoped to enable women to plan their fertility thereby increasing their emotional well-being. These activities and interventions need to be tailored across regions and need to be age sensitive.

Identification and candidate analysis of a new brown planthopper resistance locus in an Indian landrace of rice, paedai kalibungga

The brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens Stål, BPH) is the most destructive pest of rice (Oryza sativa L.). Utilizing resistant rice cultivars that harbor resistance gene/s is an effective strategy for integrated pest management. Due to the co-evolution of BPH and rice, a single resistance gene may fail because of changes in the virulent BPH population. Thus, it is urgent to explore and map novel BPH resistance genes in rice germplasm. Previously, an indica landrace from India, Paedai kalibungga (PK), demonstrated high resistance to BPH in both in Wuhan and Fuzhou, China. To map BPH resistance genes from PK, a BC1F2:3 population derived from crosses of PK and a susceptible parent, Zhenshan 97 (ZS97), was developed and evaluated for BPH resistance. A novel BPH resistance locus, BPH39, was mapped on the short arm of rice chromosome 6 using next-generation sequencing-based bulked segregant analysis (BSA-seq). BPH39 was validated using flanking markers within the locus. Furthermore, near-isogenic lines carrying BPH39 (NIL-BPH39) were developed in the ZS97 background. NIL-BPH39 exhibited the physiological mechanisms of antibiosis and preference toward BPH. BPH39 was finally delimited to an interval of 84 Kb ranging from 1.07 to 1.15 Mb. Six candidate genes were identified in this region. Two of them (LOC_Os06g02930 and LOC_Os06g03030) encode proteins with a similar short consensus repeat (SCR) domain, which displayed many variations leading to amino acid substitutions and showed higher expression levels in NIL-BPH39. Thus, these two genes are considered reliable candidate genes for BPH39. Additionally, transcriptome sequencing, DEGs analysis, and gene RT-qPCR verification preliminary revealed that BPH39 may be involved in the jasmonic acid (JA) signaling pathway, thus mediating the molecular mechanism of BPH resistance. This work will facilitate map-based cloning and marker-assisted selection for the locus in breeding programs targeting BPH resistance.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11032-024-01485-6.

Simulation of long-term storage dynamics of headwater reservoirs across the globe using public cloud computing infrastructure

Reservoirs play an important role in relation to water security, flood risk, hydropower and natural flow regime. This study derives a novel dataset with a long-term daily water-balance (reservoir volume, inflow, outflow, evaporation and precipitation) of headwater reservoirs and storage dynamics across the globe. The data is generated using cloud computing infrastructure and a high resolution distributed hydrological model wflow_sbm. Model results are validated against earth observed surface water area and in-situ measured reservoir volume and show an overall good model performance. Simulated headwater reservoir storage indicate that 19.4-24.4 % of the reservoirs had a significant decrease in storage. This change is mainly driven by a decrease in reservoir inflow and increase in evaporation. Deployment on a kubernetes cloud environment and using reproducible workflows shows that these kind of simulations and analyses can be conducted in less than a day.

The Potential of Cold Atmospheric Pressure Plasmas for the Direct Degradation of Organic Pollutants Derived from the Food Production Industry

Specialized chemicals are used for intensifying food production, including boosting meat and crop yields. Among the applied formulations, antibiotics and pesticides pose a severe threat to the natural balance of the ecosystem, as they either contribute to the development of multidrug resistance among pathogens or exhibit ecotoxic and mutagenic actions of a persistent character. Recently, cold atmospheric pressure plasmas (CAPPs) have emerged as promising technologies for degradation of these organic pollutants. CAPP-based technologies show eco-friendliness and potency for the removal of organic pollutants of diverse chemical formulas and different modes of action. For this reason, various types of CAPP-based systems are presented in this review and assessed in terms of their constructions, types of discharges, operating parameters, and efficiencies in the degradation of antibiotics and persistent organic pollutants. Additionally, the key role of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) is highlighted. Moreover, optimization of the CAPP operating parameters seems crucial to effectively remove contaminants. Finally, the CAPP-related paths and technologies are further considered in terms of biological and environmental effects associated with the treatments, including changes in antibacterial properties and toxicity of the exposed solutions, as well as the potential of the CAPP-based strategies for limiting the spread of multidrug resistance.

Estimation of Photosynthetic Induction Is Significantly Affected by Light Environments of Local Leaves and Whole Plants in Oryza Genus

Photosynthetic induction and stomatal kinetics are acknowledged as pivotal factors in regulating both plant growth and water use efficiency under fluctuating light conditions. However, the considerable variability in methodologies and light regimes used to assess the dynamics of photosynthesis (A) and stomatal conductance (gs) during light induction across studies poses challenges for comparison across species. Moreover, the influence of stomatal morphology on both steady-state and non-steady-state gs remains poorly understood. In this study, we show the strong impact of IRGA Chamber Illumination and Whole Plant Illumination on the photosynthetic induction of two rice species. Our findings reveal that these illuminations significantly enhance photosynthetic induction by modulating both stomatal and biochemical processes. Moreover, we observed that a higher density of smaller stomata plays a critical role in enhancing the stomatal opening and photosynthetic induction to fluctuating light conditions, although it exerts minimal influence on steady-state gs and A under constant light conditions. Therefore, future studies aiming to estimate photosynthetic induction and stomatal kinetics should consider the light environments at both the leaf and whole plant levels.

Anthropogenic nest material use in a global sample of birds

As humans increasingly modify the natural world, many animals have responded by changing their behaviour. Understanding and predicting the extent of these responses is a key step in conserving these species. For example, the tendency for some species of birds to incorporate anthropogenic items-particularly plastic material-into their nests is of increasing concern, as in some cases, this behaviour has harmful effects on adults, young and eggs. Studies of this phenomenon, however, have to date been largely limited in geographic and taxonomic scope. To investigate the global correlates of anthropogenic (including plastic) nest material use, we used Bayesian phylogenetic mixed models and a data set of recorded nest materials in 6147 species of birds. We find that, after controlling for research effort and proximity to human landscape modifications, anthropogenic nest material use is correlated with synanthropic (artificial) nesting locations, breeding environment and the number of different nest materials the species has been recorded to use. We also demonstrate that body mass, range size, conservation status and brain size do not explain variation in the recorded use of anthropogenic nest materials. These results indicate that anthropogenic materials are more likely to be included in nests when they are more readily available, as well as potentially by species that are more flexible in their nest material choice.

The Importance of Philanthropy Foundation for the Future Sustainability of Agriculture and Nutrition: An Opinion Study on Practical Applications, Policies, and Strategies

Food security, food sustainability, and malnutrition represent critical global challenges. Th urgency of comprehensive action is evident in the need for research collaboration between the food industry, agriculture, public health, and nutrition. This article highlights the role of philanthropy, of a non-profit organization, in supporting research and development and filling financial gaps. The article also explores the interplay of nutrition, agriculture, and government and policy, positioning philanthropy as a catalyst for transformative change and advocating for collaborative efforts to comprehensively address global food challenges. In addition, the discussion also underscores the ethical complexities surrounding charitable food aid, especially in terms of the dignity and autonomy of its recipients. The paper concludes by proposing future directions and implications, advocating for diversified intervention portfolios and collaborative efforts involving governments, businesses, and local communities. Apart from that, the importance of answering and alleviating ethical dilemmas related to food charity assistance needs to be a concern for future studies related to philanthropy because of the significant challenges faced by the contemporary food system, which include food security, health, and nutritional sustainability.

Multi-Stimuli-Responsive, Topology-Regulated, and Lignin-Based Nano/Microcapsules from Pickering Emulsion Templates for Bidirectional Delivery of Pesticides

The increasing demand for improving pesticide utilization efficiency has prompted the development of sustainable, targeted, and stimuli-responsive delivery systems. Herein, a multi-stimuli-responsive nano/microcapsule bidirectional delivery system loaded with pyraclostrobin (Pyr) is prepared through interfacial cross-linking from a lignin-based Pickering emulsion template. During this process, methacrylated alkali lignin nanoparticles (LNPs) are utilized as stabilizers for the tunable oil-water (O/W) Pickering emulsion. Subsequently, a thiol-ene radical reaction occurs with the acid-labile cross-linkers at the oil-water interface, leading to the formation of lignin nano/microcapsules (LNCs) with various topological shapes. Through the investigation of the polymerization process and the structure of LNC, it was found that the amphiphilicity-driven diffusion and distribution of cyclohexanone impact the topology of LNC. The obtained Pyr@LNC exhibits high encapsulation efficiency, tunable size, and excellent UV shielding to Pyr. Additionally, the flexible topology of the Pyr@LNC shell enhances the retention and adhesion of the foliar surface. Furthermore, Pyr@LNC exhibits pH/laccase-responsive targeting against Botrytis disease, enabling the intelligent release of Pyr. The in vivo fungicidal activity shows that efficacy of Pyr@LNC is 53% ± 2% at 14 days postspraying, whereas the effectiveness of Pyr suspension concentrate is only 29% ± 4%, and the acute toxicity of Pyr@LNC to zebrafish is reduced by more than 9-fold compared with that of Pyr technical. Moreover, confocal laser scanning microscopy shows that the LNCs can be bidirectionally translocated in plants. Therefore, the topology-regulated bidirectional delivery system LNC has great practical potential for sustainable agriculture.

Salinity-Driven Interface Self-Assembly of a Biological Amphiphilic Emulsifier to Form Stable Janus Core-Shell Emulsion for Enhancing Agrichemical Delivery

Agrichemical losses are a severe threat to the ecological environment. Additionally, some agrichemical compounds contain abundant salt, which increases the instability of formulations, leading to a lower agrichemical utilization and soil hardening. Fortunately, the biological amphiphilic emulsifier sodium deoxycholate alleviates these problems by forming stable Janus core-shell emulsions through salinity-driven interfacial self-assembly. According to the interfacial behavior, dilational rheology, and molecular dynamics simulations, Janus-emulsion molecules are more closely arranged than traditional-emulsion molecules and generate an oil-water interfacial film that transforms into a gel film. In addition, at the same spray volume, the deposition area of the Janus emulsion increased by 37.70% compared with that of the traditional emulsion. Owing to the topology effect and deformation, the Janus emulsion adheres to rice micropapillae, achieving better flush resistance. Meanwhile, based on response of the Janus emulsion to stimulation by carbon dioxide (CO2), the emulsion lost to the soil can form a rigid shell for inhibiting the release of pesticides and metal ions from harming the soil. The pyraclostrobin release rate decreased by 50.89% at 4 h after the Janus emulsion was exposed to CO2. The Chao1 index of the Janus emulsion was increased by 12.49% as compared to coconut oil delivery in soil microbial community. The Janus emulsion ingested by harmful organisms can be effectively absorbed in the intestine to achieve better control effects. This study provides a simple and effective strategy, which turns waste into treasure, by combining metal ions in agrichemicals with natural amphiphilic molecules to prepare stable emulsions for enhancing agrichemical rainfastness and weakening environmental risk.

Dietary metabarcoding reveals the simplification of bird-pest interaction networks across a gradient of agricultural cover

Agriculture is vital for supporting human populations, but its intensification often leads to landscape homogenization and a decline in non-provisioning ecosystem services. Ecological intensification and multifunctional landscapes are suggested as nature-based alternatives to intensive agriculture, using ecological processes like natural pest regulation to maximize food production. Birds are recognized for their role in increasing crop yields by consuming invertebrate pests in several agroecosystems. However, the understanding of how bird species, their traits and agricultural land cover influence the structure of bird-pest interactions remains limited. We sampled bird-pest interactions monthly for 1 year, at four sites within a multifunctional landscape, following a gradient of increasing agricultural land cover. We analysed 2583 droppings of 55 bird species with DNA metabarcoding and detected 225 pest species in 1139 samples of 42 bird species. As expected, bird-pest interactions were highly variable across bird species. Dietary pest richness was lower in the fully agricultural site, while predation frequency remained consistent across the agricultural land cover gradient. Network analysis revealed a reduction in the complexity of bird-pest interactions as agricultural coverage increased. Bird species abundance affected the bird's contribution to the network structure more than any of the bird traits analysed (weight, phenology, invertebrate frequency in diet and foraging strata), with more common birds being more important to network structure. Overall, our results show that increasing agricultural land cover increases the homogenization of bird-pest interactions. This shows the importance of maintaining natural patches within agricultural landscapes for biodiversity conservation and enhanced biocontrol.

Net benefit of smaller human populations to environmental integrity and individual health and wellbeing

Introduction

The global human population is still growing such that our collective enterprise is driving environmental catastrophe. Despite a decline in average population growth rate, we are still experiencing the highest annual increase of global human population size in the history of our species-averaging an additional 84 million people per year since 1990. No review to date has accumulated the available evidence describing the associations between increasing population and environmental decline, nor solutions for mitigating the problems arising.

Methods

We summarize the available evidence of the relationships between human population size and growth and environmental integrity, human prosperity and wellbeing, and climate change. We used PubMed, Google Scholar, and Web of Science to identify all relevant peer-reviewed and gray-literature sources examining the consequences of human population size and growth on the biosphere. We reviewed papers describing and quantifying the risks associated with population growth, especially relating to climate change.

Results

These risks are global in scale, such as greenhouse-gas emissions, climate disruption, pollution, loss of biodiversity, and spread of disease-all potentially catastrophic for human standards of living, health, and general wellbeing. The trends increasing the risks of global population growth are country development, demographics, maternal education, access to family planning, and child and maternal health.

Conclusion

Support for nations still going through a demographic transition is required to ensure progress occurs within planetary boundaries and promotes equity and human rights. Ensuring the wellbeing for all under this aim itself will lower population growth and further promote environmental sustainability.

Assessing habitat connectivity of rare species to inform urban conservation planning

Urbanization is commonly associated with biodiversity loss and habitat fragmentation. However, urban environments often have greenspaces that can support wildlife populations, including rare species. The challenge for conservation planners working in these systems is identifying priority habitats and corridors for protection before they are lost. In a rapidly changing urban environment, this requires prompt decisions informed by accurate spatial information. Here, we combine several approaches to map habitat and assess connectivity for a diverse set of rare species in seven urban study areas across southern Michigan, USA. We incorporated multiple connectivity tools for a comprehensive appraisal of species-habitat patterns across these urban landscapes. We observed distinct differences in connectivity by taxonomic group and site. The three turtle species (Blanding's, Eastern Box, and Spotted) consistently had more habitat predicted to be suitable per site than other evaluated species. This is promising for this at-risk taxonomic group and allows conservation efforts to focus on mitigating threats such as road mortality. Grassland and prairie-associated species (American Bumble Bee, Black and Gold Bumble Bee, and Henslow's Sparrow) had the least amount of habitat on a site-by-site basis. Kalamazoo and the northern Detroit sites had the highest levels of multi-species connectivity across the entire study area based on the least cost paths. These connectivity results have direct applications in urban planning. Kalamazoo, one of the focal urban regions, has implemented a Natural Features Protection (NFP) plan to bolster natural area protections within the city. We compared our connectivity results to the NFP area and show where this plan will have an immediate positive impact and additional areas for potential consideration in future expansions of the protection network. Our results show that conservation opportunities exist within each of the assessed urban areas for maintaining rare species, a key benefit of this multi-species and multi-site approach.

Anticoagulant Rodenticide Toxicity in Terrestrial Raptors: Tools to Estimate the Impact on Populations in North America and Globally

Anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) have caused widespread contamination and poisoning of predators and scavengers. The diagnosis of toxicity proceeds from evidence of hemorrhage, and subsequent detection of residues in liver. Many factors confound the assessment of AR poisoning, particularly exposure dose, timing and frequency of exposure, and individual and taxon-specific variables. There is a need, therefore, for better AR toxicity criteria. To respond, we compiled a database of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticide (SGAR) residues in liver and postmortem evaluations of 951 terrestrial raptor carcasses from Canada and the United States, 1989 to 2021. We developed mixed-effects logistic regression models to produce specific probability curves of the toxicity of ∑SGARs at the taxonomic level of the family, and separately for three SGARs registered in North America, brodifacoum, bromadiolone, and difethialone. The ∑SGAR threshold concentrations for diagnosis of coagulopathy at 0.20 probability of risk were highest for strigid owls (15 ng g-1 ) lower and relatively similar for accipitrid hawks and eagles (8.2 ng g-1 ) and falcons (7.9 ng g-1 ), and much lower for tytonid barn owls (0.32 ng g-1 ). These values are lower than those we found previously, due to compilation and use of a larger database with a mix of species and source locations, and also to refinements in the statistical methods. Our presentation of results on the family taxonomic level should aid in the global applicability of the numbers. We also collated a subset of 440 single-compound exposure events and determined the probability of SGAR-poisoning symptoms as a function of SGAR concentration, which we then used to estimate relative SGAR toxicity and toxic equivalence factors: difethialone, 1, brodifacoum, 0.8, and bromadiolone, 0.5. Environ Toxicol Chem 2024;00:1-11. © 2024 His Majesty the King in Right of Canada and The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC Reproduced with the permission of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada.

An optimization framework for basin-scale water environmental carrying capacity

The interaction between water environment and social economy at a basin scale is complex and challenging to quantify. To address this issue, this study proposes an integrated framework that builds parametric connections among water, contaminants, administrative regions, and social activities. The framework, known as the water environmental carrying capacity (WECC) optimization framework, effectively captures the intricacy of the interaction and integrates socio-economic parameter structure relationships, a water environmental model, a WECC optimization model, and a sensitivity analysis of regulatory parameters. Applied to the Anhui-Huaihe Basin in mid-eastern China, the framework considers nine administrative regions and three economic factors: industry, agriculture, and GDP per capita (pGDP). Results show that the current water environmental carrying capacity of the watershed is insufficient to meet socio-economic development requirements. After optimization, the WECC for industry, agriculture, and pGDP in the region increased by 22.40%, 26.59%, and 15.08% respectively. Overall COD and NH4-N discharge decreased by 13.6% and 14.7% respectively, effectively reducing pollution loads in rivers and enhancing sustainable development potential. At the regional scale, optimization for industry, agriculture, and pGDP exhibited different characteristics, but all aimed to improve efficiency by reducing the K value (pollution discharge/output value ratio). Regions with industrial treatment rates (αwt) below 0.8 should prioritize increasing treatment rates, while those above 0.8 should consider industrial upgrading for enhanced efficiency. For agriculture, important sensitive parameters for farming and livestock breeding are the proportion of high standard farmland (αs) and the scale breeding ratio (αb), which should be increased to above 0.15 and 0.83 respectively for all regions to achieve agricultural optimization. For pGDP optimization, the focus is on improving living environments and reducing pollution discharge, with crucial measures including collecting and treating rural domestic sewage, where the rural toilet improvement rate (αt) in each region should be increased to 0.78 or above. The results emphasize the need for both interregional allocation and intraregional planning to achieve comprehensive basin optimization and a harmonious balance between regional development and water environment.

One-third of cropland within protected areas could be retired in China for inferior sustainability and effects

Cropland encroachment on protected areas causes natural habitat loss, which may damage ecosystem functions and biodiversity conservation, leading to trade-offs between crop production and habitat conservation. Here we investigate the sustainable utilization and effects of cropland within protected areas, on which we make trade-offs with an established framework. Analyses show that 3.08 million hectares of cropland are identified within protected areas, about two-thirds less sustainable or less beneficial. 41 % and 26 % are expected to be retired for inferior sustainability and effects under the strictest and laxest habitat protection scenario, respectively. Although these retirements would cause a loss of crop benefits of 0.3-0.7 billion US dollars, they could bring ecological benefits of 2.9-3.6 billion US dollars annually. Approximately 11 % of cropland within protected areas is identified in poor agricultural conditions, and 19 % occupies areas of high protection importance, both of which are recommended for priority retirement. This study reveals the characteristics and impacts of cropland in protected areas and provides a quantified trade-off approach for conflicts between cropland and natural habitats, with important implications for production, conservation, and their trade-offs.

The application of chitosan as a carrier for fertilizer: A review

The smart combination of agriculture and other sciences can greatly reduce the limits of fertilizer use. Chitosan is a linear amino polysaccharide with a rigid structure which has hydrophilic and crystal properties. The formation of intermolecular hydrogen bonds the presence of reactive groups and cross-linking, the formation of salts with organic and inorganic acids with complexing and chelating properties ionic conductivity, film formation are the characteristics of chitosan. With the presence of amino groups, chitosan can form a complex with other compounds and also enter the vascular system of plants and lead to the activation of metabolic-physiological pathways of plants. This polymeric compound can bond with other natural polymers and in combination with fertilizers and nutritional elements, on the one hand, it can provide the nutritional needs of the plant and on the other hand, it also helps to improve the soil texture. Chitosan nanomaterials as a Next-generation fertilizers act as plant immune system enhancers through slow, controlled, and targeted delivery of nutrients to plants. Chitosan can assist agricultural researchers and has become an ideal and effective option with its many applications in various fields.

Anthropogenic effects on global soil nitrogen pools

The amount of nitrogen stored in terrestrial soils, its "nitrogen pool", moderates biogeochemical cycling affecting primary productivity, nitrogen pollution and even carbon budgets. The soil nitrogen pools and the transformation of nitrogen forms within them are heavily influenced by environmental factors including anthropogenic activities. However, our understanding of the global distribution of soil nitrogen with respect to anthropogenic activity and human land use remains unclear. We constructed a meta-analysis from a global sampling, in which we compare soil total nitrogen pools and the driving mechanisms affecting each pool across three major classifications of human land use: natural, agricultural, and urban. Although the size of the nitrogen pool can be similar across natural, agricultural and urban soils, the ecological and human associated drivers vary. Specifically, the drivers within agricultural and urban soils as opposed to natural soils are more complex and often decoupled from climatic and soil factors. This suggests that the nitrogen pools of those soils may be co-moderated by other factors not included in our analyses, like human activities. Our analysis supports the notion that agricultural soils act as a nitrogen source while urban soils as a nitrogen sink and informs a modern understanding of the fates and distributions of anthropogenic nitrogen in natural, agricultural, and urban soils.

Does club convergence matter in health outcomes? Evidence from Indian states

BACKGROUND

Population health is vital to a nation's overall well-being and development. To achieve sustainable human development, a reduction in health inequalities and an increase in interstate convergence in health indicators is necessary. Evaluation of the convergence patterns can aid the government in monitoring the health progress across the Indian states. This study investigates the progressive changes in the convergence and divergence patterns in health status across major states of India from 1990 to 2018.

METHODS

Sigma plots (σ), kernel density plots, and log t-test methods are used to test the convergence, divergence, and club convergence patterns in the health indicators at the state level.

RESULTS

The result of the sigma convergence suggests that life expectancy at birth has converged across all states. After 2006, however, the infant mortality rate, neonatal mortality rate, and total fertility rate experienced a divergence pattern. The study's findings indicate that life expectancy at birth converges in the same direction across all states, falling into the same club (Club One). However, considerable cross-state variations and evidence of clubs' convergence and divergence are observed in the domains of infant mortality rate, neonatal death rate, and total fertility rate. As suggested by the kernel density estimates, life expectancy at birth stratifies, polarizes, and becomes unimodal over time, although with a single stable state. A bimodal distribution was found for infant, neonatal, and total fertility rates.

CONCLUSIONS

Therefore, healthcare strategies must consider each club's transition path while focusing on divergence states to reduce health variations and improve health outcomes for each group of individuals.

Trouble in paradise: When two species of conservation and cultural value clash, causing a management conundrum

Threatened species throughout the world are in decline due to various causes. In some cases, predators of conservation or cultural value are causing the decline of threatened prey, presenting a conservation conundrum for managers. We surveyed marine turtle nests on K'gari (formally known as Fraser Island), Australia, to investigate dingo predation of green and loggerhead turtle nests, where each of these species is of conservation value. Our monitoring revealed that 84% of nests were predated by dingoes. Only 16% of nests were not consumed by dingoes, and only 5.7% of nests were confirmed to have successfully hatched. Up to 94% of nests were consumed in some areas, and predation rates were similar across different dingo packs. Information on the available numbers of nests and dingoes in the area indicated that turtle nests alone are sufficient to support extant dingoes over the summer. These results indicate that marine turtle eggs represent a previously unquantified but important food source for dingoes on K'gari, and that turtle nests at this rookery site are under serious threat from dingoes. This research should highlight the importance of prioritising the protection of turtle nests from dingoes or risk losing the entire rookery forever in the near future.

Why humans kill animals and why we cannot avoid it

Killing animals has been a ubiquitous human behaviour throughout history, yet it is becoming increasingly controversial and criticised in some parts of contemporary human society. Here we review 10 primary reasons why humans kill animals, discuss the necessity (or not) of these forms of killing, and describe the global ecological context for human killing of animals. Humans historically and currently kill animals either directly or indirectly for the following reasons: (1) wild harvest or food acquisition, (2) human health and safety, (3) agriculture and aquaculture, (4) urbanisation and industrialisation, (5) invasive, overabundant or nuisance wildlife control, (6) threatened species conservation, (7) recreation, sport or entertainment, (8) mercy or compassion, (9) cultural and religious practice, and (10) research, education and testing. While the necessity of some forms of animal killing is debatable and further depends on individual values, we emphasise that several of these forms of animal killing are a necessary component of our inescapable involvement in a single, functioning, finite, global food web. We conclude that humans (and all other animals) cannot live in a way that does not require animal killing either directly or indirectly, but humans can modify some of these killing behaviours in ways that improve the welfare of animals while they are alive, or to reduce animal suffering whenever they must be killed. We encourage a constructive dialogue that (1) accepts and permits human participation in one enormous global food web dependent on animal killing and (2) focuses on animal welfare and environmental sustainability. Doing so will improve the lives of both wild and domestic animals to a greater extent than efforts to avoid, prohibit or vilify human animal-killing behaviour.

Zoonoses in a changing world

Animals are continuously exposed to pathogens but rarely get infected, because pathogens must overcome barriers to establish successful infections. Ongoing planetary changes affect factors relevant for such infections, such as pathogen pressure and pathogen exposure. The replacement of wildlife with domestic animals shrinks the original host reservoirs, whereas expanding agricultural frontiers lead to increased contact between natural and altered ecosystems, increasing pathogen exposure and reducing the area where the original hosts can live. Climate change alters species' distributions and phenology, pathogens included, resulting in exposure to pathogens that have colonized or recolonized new areas. Globalization leads to unwilling movement of and exposure to pathogens. Because people and domestic animals are overdominant planetwide, there is increased selective pressure for pathogens to infect them. Nature conservation measures can slow down but not fully prevent spillovers. Additional and enhanced surveillance methods in potential spillover hotspots should improve early detection and allow swifter responses to emerging outbreaks.

Human Expansion-Induced Biodiversity Crisis over Asia from 2000 to 2020

Asia stands out as a priority for urgent biodiversity conservation due to its large protected areas (PAs) and threatened species. Since the 21st century, both the highlands and lowlands of Asia have been experiencing the dramatic human expansion. However, the threat degree of human expansion to biodiversity is poorly understood. Here, the threat degree of human expansion to biodiversity over 2000 to 2020 in Asia at the continental (Asia), national (48 Asian countries), and hotspot (6,502 Asian terrestrial PAs established before 2000) scales is investigated by integrating multiple large-scale data. The results show that human expansion poses widespread threat to biodiversity in Asia, especially in Southeast Asia, with Malaysia, Cambodia, and Vietnam having the largest threat degrees (∼1.5 to 1.7 times of the Asian average level). Human expansion in highlands induces higher threats to biodiversity than that in lowlands in one-third Asian countries (most Southeast Asian countries). The regions with threats to biodiversity are present in ∼75% terrestrial PAs (including 4,866 PAs in 26 countries), and human expansion in PAs triggers higher threat degrees to biodiversity than that in non-PAs. Our findings provide novel insight for the Sustainable Development Goal 15 (SDG-15 Life on Land) and suggest that human expansion in Southeast Asian countries and PAs might hinder the realization of SDG-15. To reduce the threat degree, Asian developing countries should accelerate economic transformation, and the developed countries in the world should reduce the demands for commodity trade in Southeast Asian countries (i.e., trade leading to the loss of wildlife habitats) to alleviate human expansion, especially in PAs and highlands.

Soil pollution and the invasion of congener Sphagneticola in crop lands

The input of agro-pollutants, such as microplastics and nanopesticides, on farmlands is widespread and may facilitate biological invasions in agroecosystems. Here, the effects of agro-pollutants that promote invasion of congener species is studied by examining the growth performance of native Sphagneticola calendulacea and its invasive congener, S. trilobata, when grown in a native only, invasive only and mixed community. Sphagneticola calendulacea naturally occurs in croplands in southern China, while S. trilobata was introduced to this region and has since naturalized, encroaching onto farmland. In our study, each plant community was subjected to the following treatments: control, microplastics only, nanopesticides only, and both microplastics and nanopesticides. The effects of the treatments on soils of each plant community were also examined. We found that aboveground, belowground, and photosynthetic traits of S. calendulacea were significantly inhibited by the combined microplastics and nanopesticides treatment in the native and mixed communities. The relative advantage index of S. trilobata was 69.90% and 74.73% higher under the microplastics only and nanopesticides only treatments respectively compared to S. calendulacea. Soil microbial biomass, enzyme activity, gas emission rates, and chemicals in each community were reduced when treated with both microplastics and nanopesticides. Yet, soil microbial biomass of carbon and nitrogen, CO₂ emission rates and nitrous oxide rates were significantly higher (56.08%, 58.33%, 36.84% and 49.95% respectively) in the invasive species community than in the native species community under microplastics and nanopesticides. Our results suggest that the addition of agro-pollutants to soils favors the more resistant S. trilobata and suppresses the less tolerant S. calendulacea. Soil properties from the native species community are also more impacted by agro-pollutants than substrates supporting the invasive species. Future studies should explore the effects of agro-pollutants by comparing other invasive and native species and considering human activities, industry, and the soil environment.

Using a Dynamic Hydrophilization Strategy to Achieve Nanodispersion, Full Wetting, and Precise Delivery of Hydrophobic Pesticide

Various strategies have been developed to improve the applicability of hydrophobic pesticides for better effectiveness in agriculture. However, existing formulations of hydrophobic pesticides still suffer from complicated processing, abused organic solvents, indispensable surfactants, or inescapable ecotoxicity, which strictly limit their applications. Herein, a dynamic covalent bond tailored pesticide (fipronil) amphiphile is constructed to address the above issues, which accomplishes the nanodispersion, full wetting, and precise delivery without organic solvents, surfactants, and materials simultaneously. By introducing a hydrophilic ligand on the hydrophobic fipronil through an imine bond, the cleavable fipronil amphiphile (FPP) exhibits superior water solubility and can even self-assemble into micelles at higher concentrations, which can be directly applied in powder form without organic solvents. Attributed to the suitable hydrophilic/hydrophobic ratio, FPP achieves full wetting and effective deposition on superhydrophobic rice leaves without surfactants. Moreover, benefiting from the unique dynamic nature of the imine bond, FPP maintains good storage stability while sensitively releasing back to fipronil under the humidity and pH trigger, consequently implementing the precise delivery for nontarget Apis cerana and target Chilo suppressalis without materials. To our knowledge, this dynamic covalent bond tailored amphiphile strategy is the first idea that simultaneously takes the dispersibility, wettability, and responsiveness of hydrophobic pesticides into account, providing a possibility to control the entire journey of field application and even promising to be incorporated into the synthesis process, thus paving the way for modern sustainable agriculture.

Implementing IPM in crop management simultaneously improves the health of managed bees and enhances the diversity of wild pollinator communities

Impacts of insecticide use on the health of wild and managed pollinators have been difficult to accurately quantify in the field. Existing designs tend to focus on single crops, even though highly mobile bees routinely forage across crop boundaries. We created fields of pollinator-dependent watermelon surrounded by corn, regionally important crops in the Midwestern US. These fields were paired at multiple sites in 2017-2020 with the only difference being pest management regimes: a standard set of conventional management (CM) practices vs. an integrated pest management (IPM) system that uses scouting and pest thresholds to determine if/when insecticides are used. Between these two systems we compared the performance (e.g., growth, survival) of managed pollinators-honey bees (Apis mellifera), bumble bees (Bombus impatiens)-along with the abundance and diversity of wild pollinators. Compared to CM fields, IPM led to higher growth and lower mortality of managed bees, while also increasing the abundance (+ 147%) and richness (+ 128%) of wild pollinator species, and lower concentrations of neonicotinoids in the hive material of both managed bees. By replicating realistic changes to pest management, this experiment provides one of the first demonstrations whereby tangible improvements to pollinator health and crop visitation result from IPM implementation in agriculture.

Ecosystem degradation and the spread of Covid-19

The linkages between the emergence of zoonotic diseases and ecosystem degradation have been widely acknowledged by the scientific community and policy makers. In this paper we investigate the relationship between human overexploitation of natural resources, represented by the Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production Index (HANPP) and the spread of Covid-19 cases during the first pandemic wave in 730 regions of 63 countries worldwide. Using a Bayesian estimation technique, we highlight the significant role of HANPP as a driver of Covid-19 diffusion, besides confirming the well-known impact of population size and the effects of other socio-economic variables. We believe that these findings could be relevant for policy makers in their effort towards a more sustainable intensive agriculture and responsible urbanisation.

A Correlational Study of Two U.S. State Extension Professionals' Behavioral Intentions to Improve Sustainable Food Chains through Precision Farming Practices

Precision farming provides one of the most important solutions for managing agricultural production to advance global food security. Extending professionals' competencies to promote precision farming practices can increase the adoption rate, ultimately impacting food security. Many studies have addressed barriers to the adoption of precision farming technologies from the farmers' perspective. However, few are available data on the perspectives of extension professionals. Agricultural extension professionals play an important role in innovative agricultural technology adoption. Thus, this study applied four constructs from the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model to investigate behavioral intentions to promote precision farming among extension professionals from two extension systems. In total, 102 (N = 102) agricultural extension professionals were surveyed. The results indicated that performance expectancy and social influence were individually significant predictors of extension professional behavioral intentions to promote precision farming technologies. There were no significant differences between the professionals of two extension systems. Gender, age, and years of service did not affect extension professionals' intention to promote precision agriculture technologies. The data suggested the need for training programs to develop advanced competencies to promote agricultural innovation. This study contributes to the future professional development programs for extension professionals on communicating innovations to address food security and sustainability issues.

Smart Protein-Based Fluorescent Nanoparticles Prepared by a Continuous Nanoprecipitation Method for Pesticides' Precise Delivery and Tracing

It is highly desirable to develop smart and green pesticide nanoformulations for improving pesticide targeting and reducing their inherent toxicity. Herein, we demonstrate a continuous nanoprecipitation method to construct a novel type of enzyme-responsive fluorescent nanopesticides (denoted as ABM@BSA-FITC/GA NPs) based on abamectin, fluorescein isothiocyanate isomer (FITC)-modified protein, and food-grade gum arabic. The as-prepared ABM@BSA-FITC/GA NPs exhibit good water dispersibility, excellent storage stability, and enhanced wettability compared to commercial formulations. The controlled release of pesticides can be achieved through protein degradation caused by trypsin. Most importantly, the deposition, distribution, and transport of the ABM@BSA-FITC/GA NPs are precisely tracked on target plants (cabbage and cucumber) by fluorescence. Furthermore, the ABM@BSA-FITC/GA NPs show the high control efficacy against Plutella xylostella L., which is comparable with commercial emulsifiable concentrate formulation. In consideration of its eco-friendly composition and absence of organic solvent, this pesticide nanoformulation has promising potential in sustainable plant protection.

Livestock and poultry farm wastewater treatment and its valorization for generating value-added products: Recent updates and way forward

Livestock and poultry wastewater poses a potent risk factor for environmental pollution accelerating disease load and premature deaths. It is characterized by high chemical oxygen demand, biological oxygen demand, suspended solids, heavy metals, pathogens, and antibiotics, among other contaminants. These contaminants have a negative impact on the quality of soil, groundwater, and air, and is a potential hazard to human health. Depending on the specific characteristics of wastewater, such as the type and concentration of pollutants present; several physical, chemical and biological strategies have been developed for wastewater treatment. This review aims at providing comprehensive overview of the profiling of livestock wastewater from the dairy, swine and poultry sub-sectors along with the biological (annamox and genetically modified bacteria) and physico-chemical treatment methodologies, and valorisation for the generation of value-added products such as bioplastics, biofertilizers, biohydrogen and microalgal-microbial fuel cells. Additionally, future perspectives for efficient and sustainable wastewater treatment are contemplated.

Assessing the Fate of Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Carrying Usnic Acid as Chemical Cargo on the Soil Microbial Community

In the present study we evaluate the effect of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) carrying usnic acid (UA) as chemical cargo on the soil microbial community in a dystrophic red latosol (oxysol). Herein, 500 ppm UA or SPIONs-framework carrying UA were diluted in sterile ultrapure deionized water and applied by hand sprayer on the top of the soil. The experiment was conducted in a growth chamber at 25 °C, with a relative humidity of 80% and a 16 h/8 h light-dark cycle (600 lx light intensity) for 30 days. Sterile ultrapure deionized water was used as the negative control; uncapped and oleic acid (OA) capped SPIONs were also tested to assess their potential effects. Magnetic nanostructures were synthesized by a coprecipitation method and characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), zeta potential, hydrodynamic diameter, magnetic measurements, and release kinetics of chemical cargo. Uncapped and OA-capped SPIONs did not significantly affect soil microbial community. Our results showed an impairment in the soil microbial community exposed to free UA, leading to a general decrease in negative effects on soil-based parameters when bioactive was loaded into the nanoscale magnetic carrier. Besides, compared to control, the free UA caused a significant decrease in microbial biomass C (39%), on the activity of acid protease (59%), and acid phosphatase (23%) enzymes, respectively. Free UA also reduced eukaryotic 18S rRNA gene abundance, suggesting a major impact on fungi. Our findings indicate that SPIONs as bioherbicide nanocarriers can reduce the negative impacts on soil. Therefore, nanoenabled biocides may improve agricultural productivity, which is important for food security due to the need of increasing food production.

Accelerated cropland expansion into high integrity forests and protected areas globally in the 21st century

Intact forests and protected areas (PAs) are central to global biodiversity conservation and nature-based climate change mitigation. However, cropland encroachment threatens the ecological integrity and resilience of their functioning. Using satellite observations, we find that a large proportion of croplands in the remaining forests globally have been gained during 2003-2019, especially for high-integrity forests (62%) and non-forest biomes (60%) and tropical forests (47%). Cropland expansion during 2011-2019 in forests globally has even doubled (130% relative increase) than 2003-2011, with high medium-integrity (190%) and high-integrity (165%) categories and non-forest (182%) and tropical forest biomes (136%) showing higher acceleration. Unexpectedly, a quarter of croplands in PAs globally were gained during 2003-2019, again with a recent accelerated expansion (48%). These results suggest insufficient protection of these irreplaceable landscapes and a major challenge to global conservation. More effective local, national, and international coordination among sustainable development goals 15, 13, and 2 is urgently needed.

Decoupled motion planning of a mobile manipulator for precision agriculture

Thanks to recent developments in service robotics technologies, precision agriculture (PA) is becoming an increasingly prominent research field, and several studies were made to present and outline how the use of mobile robotic systems can help and improve farm production. In this paper, the integration of a custom-designed mobile base with a commercial robotic arm is presented, showing the functionality and features of the overall system for crop monitoring and sampling. To this aim, the motion planning problem is addressed, developing a tailored algorithm based on the so-called manipulability index, that treats the base and robotic arm mobility as two independent degrees of motion; also developing an open source closed-form inverse kinematics algorithm for the kinematically redundant manipulator. The presented methods and sub-system, even though strictly related to a specific mobile manipulator system, can be adapted not only to PA applications where a mobile manipulator is involved but also to the wider field of assistive robotics.

Why we need more methods for male contraception

The US Supreme Court decision against abortion has once again triggered the call for male contraception. However, in addition to existing methods, there are further reasons why pharmacological reversible easy-to-use male contraception should be available. Green activists and environmentalists have to recognize that overpopulation consume resources. Medical progress results in increasing life expectancy and must be combined with contraception. Sharing the risks of contraception among partners and "Reproductive Autonomy for All" are ethical issues. The resistance of the pharmacological industry to becoming partners in male contraception must be overcome by public financial subsidies and popular demand.

Nutritional impact of excluding red meat from the Canadian diet

The objective of the study was to examine differences in nutrient intake between consumers and non-consumers of red meat and to assess nutritional adequacy of consumers relative to Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) in Canada. Matching estimators were used to identify differences in nutrient intake between the two groups. Statistically significant differences were observed in nutrient intake between red meat consumers and non-consumers, including lower daily intake of protein, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin D, and zinc and a higher daily intake of dietary fiber, folate, and magnesium among Canadians who did not consume red meat. Further, red meat consumers and non-consumers had nutrient intakes below RDA for dietary energy, fiber, and calcium. While individuals who did not consume red meat were at increased risk of calcium, vitamin D, energy, and potassium inadequacy, those who consumed red meat were at increased risk of dietary fiber, vitamin A, and magnesium inadequacy.

Livestock exposure to future cumulated climate-related stressors in West Africa

A large range of climate change impacts is expected during the twenty-first century in vulnerable regions such as West Africa, where local populations largely rely on livestock systems as their main food production and income source. As climate change threatens livestock systems in various ways, here we assess how regional livestock could be exposed to cumulated climate-related stressors in the future. Using the world's largest multi-model climate impacts simulations database ISIMIP, we find that a large part of West Africa will experience at least 5-6 cumulated multiple climate stressors before the 2030s, including amplified severe heat stress conditions and flood risks. Consequently, about 30% of the current total regional livestock could be exposed to these cumulated stressors, with sheep and goat as the most affected species. This paper brings new quantifications that may help policy makers to prioritize decisions that could prepare local populations to face multiple climate-related impacts.

To treat or not to treat: diagnostic thresholds in subclinical helminth infections of cattle

Helminth infections of cattle place significant burdens on livestock production and farm economic efficiency. Heavy infections are relatively easy to detect and treat with anthelmintics. However, subclinical infections have major but often hidden impacts on animals, necessitating more refined diagnostics to detect them and ideally inform farmers about the likely impact of anthelmintic treatment on animal and herd performance. Here, we review recent advances in diagnosing three major cattle helminth infections - gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs), liver flukes, and lungworms - and the search for subclinical infection thresholds to guide treatment decisions. Combining refined diagnostic thresholds with farm-specific information on grazing systems and animal history enables farmers to tailor helminth treatments to specific epidemiological circumstances, thereby limiting anthelmintic resistance (AR) and boosting agricultural efficiency and food security.

Nitrogen demand and agro-environmental efficiency in Brazilian cereal production

This paper aims to analyze the main factors that explain the demand for synthetic nitrogen fertilizers in Brazil, as well as the efficiency of their use. In addition, the research sought to relate the use of fertilizers with nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. Demand was estimated using the two-stage least squares method (2SLS). Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) was calculated using an agri-environmental index. The results indicated that demand of nitrogen fertilizers is positively affected by the price of cereal, cereal production and the number of fertilizers used in the past harvest. The calculated NUE presented an average value of 53% in the 1994-2018 period, indicating inefficient use of N. Emissions from nitrogen fertilization grew 59% for the same period. The increasing and / or inadequate rates of fertilizer use have resulted in agro-environmental inefficiency, that is, a decrease in NUE and an increase in N2O emissions. Public policies that guarantee more agricultural technical assistance and rational alternative forms of nitrogen use could contribute to optimizing the synthetic doses applied in production, minimizing adverse environmental effects without generating economic losses to farmers and Brazilian agricultural production.

Design and Prototyping of an Interchangeable and Underactuated Tool for Automatic Harvesting

In the field of precision agriculture, the automation of sampling and harvesting operations plays a central role to expand the possible application scenarios. Within this context, this work presents the design and prototyping of a novel underactuated tool for the harvesting of autonomous grapevines. The device is conceived to be one of several tools that could be automatically grasped by a robotic manipulator. As a use case, the presented tool is customized for the gripper of the robotic arm mounted on the rover Agri.Q, a service robot conceived for agriculture automation, but it can be easily adapted to other robotic arm grippers. In this work, first, the requirements for such a device are defined, then the functional design is presented, and a dimensionless analysis is performed to guide the dimensioning of the device. Later, the executive design is carried out, while the results of a preliminary experimental validation test are illustrated at the end of the paper.

Variations in Avian Species and Functional Diversity in Different Habitat Types in a Vulnerable Savannah Ecosystem in Ghana

Most research on avian functional diversity in the tropics is focused on forest and agroecosystems, leaving a gap in knowledge about the effects of habitat types on functional diversity in savannah landscapes. Savanna ecosystems are fragile and are under threat of anthropogenic destruction, particularly in developing Sub-Saharan Africa and could be eliminated in the face of the ever-increasing human population exacerbated by the changing climate. This study investigated the influence of the three major habitat types (grassland, riparian forest, woodland) on bird species and functional diversity in the Mole National Park (MNP) in Ghana. We used the line transect method to survey birds along 39 transects, each 1 km in length, and collected data on environmental variables along the same transects. Data from these surveys was used to estimate species and functional diversity indicators. We found significant variations in species and functional diversity measures between the three habitat types in the MNP. These variations were significantly influenced by species abundance and environmental covariates. Diversity measures were particularly higher in the riparian forest habitats compared to the woodland and grassland, with the latter being the least diverse habitat both functionally and species wise. The results of this study suggest that the avifauna assemblages in MNP are largely influenced by the riparian forest and are important for ecosystem function and stability. We recommend management efforts to intensify the protection of such vital habitats of the Mole National Park from illegal human activities, especially the rising removal and export of rosewoods (Dalbergia nigra) around the park. Further research on the avian community composition and structure in the MNP is recommended.

Low doses of imidacloprid induce neurotoxic effects in adult marsh frogs: GFAP, NfL, and angiostatin as biomarkers

Imidacloprid is one of the most widely used insecticides in the world. The neurotoxicity of imidacloprid in adult amphibians has not been studied thoroughly. We investigated the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), neurofilament light chain (NfL) and angiostatin in the amphibian brain to identify valid biomarkers of low dose imidacloprid exposure. For the experiment, 30 individuals of the marsh frog Pelophylax ridibundus were selected. The amphibians were divided into five groups. The duration of the experiment was 7 and 21 days. The exposure concentrations were 10 and 100 µg/L. The results of the study revealed a decrease in the expression of GFAP after 7 days in the exposure groups of 10 and 100 μg/L. An increase in the level of NfL was observed in the group exposed to 10 μg/L after 21 days of the experiment. The angiostatin level was increased after 7 days at 10 µg/L and after 21 days at 100 µg/L. The data obtained indicate that low concentrations of imidacloprid can cause neurotoxic effects in the brain of P. ridibundus. Such effects can have a significant impact on amphibian populations. According to the results of the study of the expression level of GFAP, NfL and angiostatin, it can be stated that imidacloprid has a neurotoxic effect on adult marsh frogs. The studied indicators can be promising biomarkers of environmental pollution by neonicotinoids.

The fine-tuning of mycorrhizal pathway in sorghum depends on both nitrogen-phosphorus availability and the identity of the fungal partner

Sorghum is an important worldwide source of food, feed and fibres. Like most plants, it forms mutualistic symbioses with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), but the nutritional basis of mycorrhiza-responsiveness is largely unknown. Here, we investigated the transcriptional and physiological responses of sorghum to two different AMF species, Rhizophagus irregularis and Funneliformis mosseae, under 16 different conditions of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) supply. Our experiment reveals fine-scale differences between two AMF species in the nutritional interactions with sorghum plants. Physiological and gene expression patterns (ammonium transporters: AMT; phosphate transporters: PHT) indicate the existence of generalist or specialist mycorrhizal pathway. While R. irregularis switched on the mycorrhizal pathway independently of the plant nutritional status, F. mosseae influenced the mycorrhizal pathway depending on the N-to-P plant ratio and soil supply. The differences between both AMF species suggest some AMT and PHT as ideal candidates to develop markers for improving efficiency of nutrient acquisition in sorghum under P and N limitation, and for the selection of plant genotypes.

Scientists' warning on population

Humanity must commit to transformative change on all levels in order to address the climate emergency and biodiversity collapse. In particular, stabilizing and ultimately reducing the human population size is necessary to ensure the long-term wellbeing of our species and other life on Earth. We show how this transition can be accomplished in an equitable framework that promotes human rights. Specifically, we issue a global appeal for women and men to have at most one child and call for policy-makers to implement population policies that improve education for girls and young women and ensure the availability of high-quality family-planning services.

Alhagi sparsifolia: An ideal phreatophyte for combating desertification and land degradation

The upcoming launch of the post-2020 biodiversity framework entails elucidating the future priorities and strategies for conserving biodiversity on a regional and global scale. Desertification has caused significant environmental and socio-economic problems in many arid and semiarid areas of the world. Phreatophytes increase nutrient levels and water reserves in the ground below them and are essential resources for other plants and animals. Factors that can enhance or reduce the island effect of phreatophytes are worthy of research since they can contribute to the survival and growth of this group of plants. Furthermore, these plants substantially impact the whole environment and boast necessary evolutionary adaptations for sustaining islands of life in the arid landscape to prevent complete desertification. Alhagi sparsifolia is a semi-shrub legume and a typical desert phreatophyte. The main objective of this review is to disseminate research-based knowledge and improve awareness of this important plant species and provide a framework that could effectively improve regional socio-ecological environments, particularly in controlling desertification, thereby enhancing human welfare. First, we synthesized knowledge of the physiological acclimation of this species, above all in terms of water and nutrient use, the impact of salinity, and its response to different light environments and temperatures. Then, we analyzed the socio-ecological services that A. sparsifolia offers, highlighted the anthropogenic threats to its habitats, and strategies for its sustainable utilization and management. We conclude that more knowledge of how A. sparsifolia interacts with groundwater will contribute significantly to elucidating the possible effects of climate change and human activities on the sustainable use of groundwater. Protected areas must be set up, and key knowledge shared to combat desertification and improve people's welfare as a means of guaranteeing sustainable development. An integrative socio-ecological approach must be adapted to improve understanding of this valuable phreatophyte's importance and sustainable use and fulfill Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Ecotoxicological effects of conventional herbicides and a natural herbicide on freshwater fish (Danio rerio)

The contamination of aquatic environments has increased over time, affecting environmental integrity and human health. Herbicides represent a source of this contamination, and among the most commercialized are the triazines and glyphosate. In contrast, there are natural herbicides, which are less harmful to the environment. The aim of this study was to verify the ecotoxicological effects of the conventional herbicides (Atrazine and Glyphosate) and a natural herbicide on Zebrafish (Danio rerio). Fish were exposed for 72 h to different concentrations of conventional herbicides (1, 65, and 5,000 µg L^-1) and the natural herbicide (0.62, 1.25, and 2.5 µg L^-1) in aquaria (20 L). At end of the experiment, blood was collected from the fish, and slides were prepared to verify the frequency of nuclear abnormalities and micronuclei. A greater number of morphological nuclear alterations were recorded in the conventional herbicide treatments. In addition, significant differences were observed in the composition of abnormalities between treatments. Atrazine and Glyphosate can cause greater damage in D. rerio, demonstrating potential toxicity at all concentrations applied. The natural herbicide showed less mutagenic potential and was less harmful to fish. Thus, natural herbicides can be a better option for the preservation of the environment.

An overview of the interactions between food production and climate change

This paper provides an overview of how food production influences climate change and also illustrates the impact of climate change on food production. To perform such an overview, the (inter)link between different parts of the food supply chain continuum (agriculture production, livestock farming, food processing, food transport and storing, retail food, and disposal of food waste) and climate change has been investigated through a bibliometric analysis. Besides UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13, associated with climate change, other SDGs that are associated with this overview are goals #1, #2, #3, #6, #7, #12, and #15. Based on the evidence gathered, the paper provides some recommendations that may assist in efforts to reduce the climate-related impacts of food production.

Human expansion into Asian highlands in the 21st Century and its effects

Most intensive human activities occur in lowlands. However, sporadic reports indicate that human activities are expanding in some Asian highlands. Here we investigate the expansions of human activities in highlands and their effects over Asia from 2000 to 2020 by combining earth observation data and socioeconomic data. We find that ∼23% of human activity expansions occur in Asian highlands and ∼76% of these expansions in highlands comes from ecological lands, reaching 95% in Southeast Asia. The expansions of human activities in highlands intensify habitat fragmentation and result in large ecological costs in low and lower-middle income countries, and they also support Asian developments. We estimate that cultivated land net growth in the Asian highlands contributed approximately 54% in preventing the net loss of the total cultivated land. Moreover, the growth of highland artificial surfaces may provide living and working spaces for ∼40 million people. Our findings suggest that highland developments hold dual effects and provide new insight for regional sustainable developments.

Finding the Missing Property Concepts in Pesticide-Likeness

Poor bioavailability of pesticides is one of the major bottlenecks in the development of pesticides. Applications of the concept of pesticide-likeness have been widely accepted as one of the ways to break the bottleneck. At present, the evaluation of pesticide-likeness is mainly based on absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADME-T) property concepts of pesticides. However, a few significant property concepts of pesticides are ignored in the research of pesticide-likeness. Herein, we summarize the current study of ADME-T and other property concepts and analyze physicochemical properties for pesticides in the last 30 years, such as Fsp³, log P, and chiral centers. On the basis of these analyses, we propose that molecular complexity and residual property concepts of pesticides should be considered in the pesticide-likeness study. We hope that this work can help pesticide researchers and students, who are less knowledgeable in the field, to assess pesticide-likeness.