Search Results (5,122)

Stone heritage deteriorates through physical, chemical, and biological processes driven by water, climate, and microbial colonization. Multifunctional polymeric coatings combining hydrophobic and antimicrobial moieties have emerged as a promising conservation strategy, yet a substantial gap remains between laboratory innovation and real-world performance. This review critically examines advances from 2021 to 2026, covering wetting theory, antimicrobial mechanisms, and material architectures, including molecularly integrated systems, Sol–Gel hybrids, nanocomposites, and layered systems. Long-term studies on the Aurelian Walls in Rome and stone in Reims show that biocidal efficacy typically declines within one to two years despite the chemical persistence of the coatings. In parallel, hydrophobic performance often deteriorates over time due to UV exposure, particulate deposition, and surface chemical changes, leading to increased wettability and reduced protective efficiency. Substrate porosity governs durability and visual compatibility (ΔE* < 5 threshold), while treatments can reshape microbial communities, favoring stress-tolerant meristematic fungi. Regulatory pressure on fluorinated compounds drives the development of more sustainable alternatives. Emerging directions include stimuli-responsive systems, self-healing materials, slippery interfaces, and precision polymer architectures. However, future progress will depend on tailoring formulations to major lithotypes, improving compatibility with porous substrates, and validating performance through standardized accelerated aging and multi-year field trials. Bridging laboratory design with environmental exposure data and conservation practice will be essential for achieving durable and culturally acceptable protection strategies. Full article

Alpine treeline and shrubline ecotones are climatically sensitive transition zones where vegetation shifts strongly influence belowground microbial processes. Soil bacteria and fungi, as core component of the soil microbiome, play vital roles in nutrient cycling and plant–soil interactions within these fragile ecosystems. However, the structure and diversity of soil microbial communities across the treeline–shrubline transition remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated soil bacterial and fungal communities across treeline and shrubline ecotones in two mountain on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. We further examined how soil physicochemical properties shaped microbial community assembly. Our results demonstrated that the community composition of both bacteria and fungi differed significantly between the treeline and shrubline ecotones, while the Shannon index showed no significant variation. At the phylum level, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteriota, and Acidobacteriota dominated bacterial communities, while Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were the predominant fungal phyla. Both the network complexity of soil bacterial and fungal communities changed significantly across ecotones. Specifically, bacterial network complexity increased significantly toward the shrubline, whereas fungal network complexity declined. Bacterial community compositions were co-regulated by both environmental and vegetation factors, while fungal community compositions were only regulated by soil pH. Redundancy analysis revealed that soil organic carbon, pH, and moisture were the primary drivers of bacterial community (38.17%), whereas vegetation cover, soil organic carbon, and moisture explained the largest proportion of fungal community (44.79%). Our findings reveal the distribution patterns and underlying shift mechanisms of microbial communities between the treeline and shrubline ecotone. These insights are crucial for mountain biodiversity conservation and for improving predictions of forest responses to climate change. Full article

Sustainable forest management is increasingly recognized as an important climate change mitigation strategy because forests capture and store large amounts of carbon. This study presents a regional framework that integrates LiDAR data, forest cartography, and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to quantify biomass-related carbon dynamics and greenhouse gas emissions associated with forest management operations. The methodology was applied to the Autonomous Community of La Rioja (Spain) for the period 2010–2016 using public LiDAR campaigns, the Forest Map of Spain, and inventory data for reforestation and logging operations. Results show that above-ground biomass increased from 4,537,956 t in 2010 to 7,092,890 t in 2016, which corresponds to an increase of 1,200,819 t C in above-ground carbon stock. A complementary first-order estimate based on IPCC default root/shoot ratios suggests that total living biomass carbon (above- plus below-ground) increased by approximately 1,495,269 t C during the same period. In parallel, LCA results indicate that logging has substantially higher operational impacts than reforestation, particularly in terms of global warming potential. Even under a conservative scenario in which part of the carbon removed through logging is returned to the atmosphere, the regional balance remains net negative in CO₂-equivalent terms, indicating a net sink over the analyzed period. However, the approach has important limitations, including the absence of independent field validation, stand-age stratification, and explicit soil-carbon accounting. Full article

Education plays a crucial role in climate adaptation and mitigation, specifically in the current context of environmental challenges and disasters. This article analyzes initiatives to integrate content on sustainability, climate change, and disaster risk reduction into Spanish educational legislation and other specific regulations, such as civil protection. It reviews the alignment of Spanish legislation with international frameworks such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sendai Framework, as well as the incorporation of environmental and climate education into regulations related to climate change and civil protection. The article highlights the importance of teacher training and the recent implementation of a mandatory disaster education plan following a devastating rainfall and flood disaster in 2024 (known in Spanish as the DANA disaster), which aims to strengthen the resilience and preparedness of the entire educational community. It concludes that significant progress has been made in integrating this content into the curriculum. However, the challenge of consolidating a culture of climate change awareness in Spanish society remains. Full article

The synergistic effects of soil acidification and heavy metal pollution present major challenges for global agroecosystems. To systematically trace the evolution of research and identify key topics in this field, this study employed CiteSpace to visualize and analyze 691 records from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and 6747 highly relevant articles or reviews from the Web of Science (WOS) Core Collection database from 2005 to 2025. The results indicate a steady to rapid rise in global publications, with China contributing the largest share, at 2468 publications. This has produced a research cluster centered around the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); however, the centrality of its international cooperation remains limited. Studies in the CNKI database are driven by agricultural needs, focusing on national food security, rice yield stability, improvement of arable land, and heavy metal passivation and remediation, with a concentration on basic agricultural science. By contrast, research in the WOS database emphasizes fundamental mechanisms and interdisciplinary integration, addressing aluminum toxicity, microbial communities, the nitrogen cycle, and global climate change, intersecting fields such as environmental science, soil science, ecology, and microbiology. The evolution of research hotspots shows a clear trajectory: from acidity regulation and chemical speciation analysis of heavy metals (2005–2013), to heavy metal passivation, remediation, and phytoremediation (2014–2018), and then to biochar materials, microbiome analysis, and the synergistic role of carbon sequestration (2019–2025). This study argues that future research should move beyond single remediation measures and adopt integrated strategic management to jointly improve bioremediation efficiency, promote soil carbon sequestration and soil health, and enhance microbial adaptation to global climate change. Full article

Building the capacity of health and social care professionals in health and migration is essential for the East and Horn of Africa region, which, according to UNHCR, hosted 23.6 million forcibly displaced people who have fled conflicts and climate change-related floods and droughts by the end of 2024. There is a high demand to build a critical mass of expertise and experts on health and migration that can engage in policy, programme and practice development. To contribute to the building of a community of experts, an online course on health and migration was developed and five courses were implemented from 2021 to 2024 with the participation of international experts in migration and health, universities and international institutions (WHO; UNAIDS, IGAD), in collaboration with the UN International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the Makerere University, Uganda, and the Center for Health and Migration Vienna, Austria (CHM), and with funding from the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior. The courses lasted nine weeks each, offering two three-hour sessions per week, and were complimented by discussion forums and webinars on topics of special interest, e.g., climate change. Participants were working in policy development, programme coordination, research, and service delivery in health and social care in communities affected by migration, cross-border settings, refugee and IDP settlements in the East and Horn of Africa geographic region. The importance of the course for capacity building in the respective countries as well as for personal development is underlined by continuous high numbers of applications from highly qualified people and highly positive evaluations from participants, and the demonstrated impact on the practice of service provision for refugees and IDPs. Future considerations should concentrate on developing sustainable frameworks for courses, including intergovernmental collaboration and community development. Full article

The importance of heritage in global development is a well-established fact, and according to UNESCO the preservation and protection of the cultural and natural heritage of the world should be among the priorities of the global community. This is necessitated by the fact that heritage has been continuously destroyed over time by war and terrorism, modernisation, urbanisation, and climate change. World Heritage sites are global treasures of unique value, and their protection requires efforts on the international scale. Countries may raise resources for maintaining and preserving their endangered World Heritage sites, and for those inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger they may apply for international assistance from UNESCO as well. Case studies and examples show that economic affluence and state stability considerably influence the conservation of World Heritage sites. This research investigates the correlation between national economic development and the conservation status of UNESCO World Heritage sites. By analysing data from 31 countries as homes of sites inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger, this study examines the relationship between GDP per capita, the volume of international assistance, and the “In Danger” status of sites, adding control factors such as the fragile state index, encompassing threats of war and internal conflicts, and extreme climate events. To the author’s best knowledge, no such comparative assessment between development level and international assistance to sites inscribed on the list has been attempted before, so this quantitative analysis is a novel approach of the outlined problem area. The findings aim to demonstrate whether the current global heritage framework effectively supports lower-income nations or if financial disparity remains the primary driver of heritage loss in the face of global climate change and political factors. The main research question is whether the socio-economic status of a nation will remain a stronger predictor of heritage survival than the actual severity of environmental threats, maintaining a “heritage divide” between the Global North and the Global South. This research concludes with recommendations for a more equitable financial model to safeguard universal values in an age of increasing uncertainty. Full article

This study investigates the spatiotemporal dynamics of zooplankton communities in the tropical low-latitude Northwestern Pacific Ocean based on field surveys conducted in August 2021 and November 2022. Redundancy analysis identified nitrate, silicate, temperature, and salinity as the primary factors influencing community structure. The distribution of dominant zooplankton groups exhibited close correlations with key environmental gradients, showing distinct habitat preferences corresponding to different hydrographic conditions. Zooplankton abundance in August 2021 was significantly higher than that in November 2022, which is presumably attributed to eddy-induced nutrient upwelling and enhanced primary productivity. Comparisons with adjacent marine regions reveal general consistency in overall zooplankton abundance and community species composition, while the observed seasonal discrepancies are closely associated with local unique hydrographic characteristics. These results highlight the role of nutrient–temperature–salinity interactions in structuring zooplankton communities and underscore their sensitivity to environmental variability. The findings provide a scientific basis for understanding pelagic ecosystem dynamics in oligotrophic waters and for developing management strategies under changing climate and oceanographic conditions. Full article

Mediterranean-type ecosystems (METs) occur on five continents and represent some of the most climatically constrained yet biologically rich regions on Earth. In these environments, legumes and their nitrogen-fixing rhizobial symbionts—including widely distributed genera such as Rhizobium, Bradyrhizobium, and Ensifer—play a pivotal role in sustaining plant productivity, nutrient cycling, and ecosystem resilience. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the environmental regulation of legume–Rhizobium symbiosis specifically within Mediterranean-type ecosystems, focusing on how nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) availability, light conditions, and carbon allocation trade-offs shape symbiotic performance across the five Mediterranean-type regions of the world (California, central Chile, the Cape Region of South Africa, southwestern Australia, and the Mediterranean Basin). By integrating physiological, ecological, and biogeochemical perspectives, we highlight how the shared features of these regions—strong seasonal drought, chronic nutrient limitation (particularly P in southwestern Australia and the Cape Region), recurrent fires, and exceptionally high plant diversity—constrain and, at the same time, favor the ecological success of symbiotic legumes. Throughout the review, we use case studies from key legume genera such as Lupinus in Chile and southwestern Australia, Virgilia and other Cape legumes in South Africa, Acacia in Australian kwongan and woodlands, and Medicago and Cytisus in the Mediterranean Basin and California to illustrate how general principles of legume–Rhizobium ecology manifest under Mediterranean-type climatic and edaphic constraints. Beyond summarizing established mechanisms, we critically examine the limitations of current metagenomic approaches, which often provide descriptive inventories of soil microbial communities without linking microbial composition to functional outcomes. We argue that advancing the field requires integrated, hypothesis-driven research that combines multi-omic tools with plant eco-physiology, soil nutrient dynamics, and temporal replication. Finally, we outline key priorities for future research, including the integration of functional ‘omics’, the study of microbiome interactions beyond rhizobia, the development of predictive models for Mediterranean-type ecosystems under climate change, and the application of symbiotic principles to restoration and agroecological management. By bridging molecular, physiological, and ecosystem perspectives, this review provides a conceptual framework for understanding and enhancing legume–Rhizobium symbiosis across five continents in a rapidly changing world. Full article

The effects of environmental factors on zooplankton within the marginal ice zone (MIZ) of the Barents Sea remain poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, we investigated mesozooplankton communities across the central, northern, and northeastern regions in April 2016. Abundance and biomass ranged from 90 to 997 individuals m⁻³ and from 1.1 to 48.6 mg dry mass m⁻³ (0.3 to 13.6 g dry mass m⁻²), respectively. Oithona similis was the most abundant taxon, while calanoid copepods, including Calanus spp., Metridia longa, and Pseudocalanus spp., dominated total biomass. The spatial distribution of mesozooplankton communities was closely linked to the physical properties of water masses. Cluster analysis identified two distinct assemblages associated with Polar Front Water and Arctic Water. Redundancy analysis and generalized linear models identified temperature, mean salinity, mean chlorophyll a concentration, and sea ice concentration as significant predictors of abundance and biomass. The dominance of older life stages within major copepod taxa indicated a winter status for the mesozooplankton community. Regional and temporal comparisons of mesozooplankton biomass with prior May–June data from central and northwestern areas highlighted higher productivity in the northern and northeastern MIZ. This increase is potentially related to the warming trends observed in the Arctic since the 2000s. Our research provides novel insights into Arctic marine zooplankton assemblages and serves as a valuable baseline for future ecological monitoring and modeling of the Barents Sea ecosystem in the context of global climate change. Full article

Climate change is an urgent global crisis requiring collaboration across sectors, including public health. In Canada, extreme heat is a leading cause of weather-related mortality, and cities play a central role in mitigating health impacts. This study examined the governance mechanisms shaping intersectoral extreme heat response in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal, Canada. Using a comparative case study methodology, we conducted semi-structured interviews (N = 28) and reviewed local heat response documents (N = 30) between November 2023 and December 2024. Thematic analysis informed cross-case comparisons of governance mechanisms shaping collaborative efforts. Across cases, legislative mandates, formal response plans, and coordinating structures for network engagement supported effective intersectoral collaboration. However, collaboration varied in terms of network governance leadership, intersectoral scope (i.e., the type and number of sectors involved), degree of engagement, and the roles of public health authorities. Co-leadership across sectors in Montreal seems to enable greater intersectoral engagement and integration of heat strategies. Areas for improvement include community-engaged heat response planning and enhanced capacity for conducting heat response outcome evaluations. Public health authorities may inform the strategic direction of future heat strategies by supporting the application of a population health lens and facilitating intersectoral collaboration to better address the upstream determinants of heat health inequities. Full article

Introduction: Early warning systems reduce losses when risk knowledge, forecasting, communication, and response planning operate as an end-to-end chain, yet Gulf Coast warning practice often treats hazard dynamics, ecosystem change, and social vulnerability as separate domains. This study mapped operational early warning systems for climate-relevant hazards across Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida and examined whether ecosystem protective functions and social vulnerability were integrated into warning thresholds, dissemination design, and preparedness planning. Methods: I conducted a scoping review using the Web of Science Core Collection and Scopus for publications from 2020 through 18 January 2026 and targeted searches of NOAA/NWS/NHC, FEMA IPAWS, CDC/ATSDR SVI, IOOS/GCOOS, USGS, and state coastal agency portals between 15 September 2025 and 18 January 2026. Of 861 identified records, 440 duplicates were removed, 421 titles and abstracts were screened, 121 full texts were assessed, and 25 sources were included in the final charting and synthesis. Results: The review identified 11 operational systems and related platforms spanning the four early warning pillars, but routine socio-ecological integration remained limited. Louisiana showed the strongest documentation of ecosystem monitoring through CPRA and CRMS, while Florida and Texas showed more developed evacuation and dissemination interfaces. Mississippi and Alabama were represented by thinner monitoring and implementation records in the included sample. Across states, ecosystem loss and social vulnerability were used more often as planning context than as repeatable inputs to thresholds, message tailoring, or assistance triggers. Discussion: Gulf Coast practices can be strengthened through formal protocols that connect ecosystem condition and vulnerability indicators to impact-based briefings, multilingual and accessible alert workflows, and tract-sensitive preparedness actions. The findings indicate that implementation can advance by linking existing datasets to defined operational decisions and by evaluating warning performance through reach, accessibility, comprehension, and action feasibility, as well as technical accuracy. Full article

Clarifying the responses of microbial communities in distinct microhabitats like roots, the soil, and litter layers to secondary succession is critical for predicting the effects of global climate change on ecosystem functions. We investigated the microbial activities, compositions, and networks in these microhabitats of Fagus lucida forests ranging from 40 to 200 years. The results showed that soil physicochemical properties decreased with forest succession, except for NH₄⁺-N and available phosphorus, which decreased at the early stage. All vector angles of extracellular enzyme stoichiometry that were greater than 45° indicated that phosphorus was the key limiting element for microorganisms. The microbial community shifted from r- to K-strategists with forest succession, displaying the replacement of most bacterial phyla by Proteobacteria and Acidobacteriota, and an increase in the Acidobacteriota: Proteobacteria ratio, especially in the soil and litter layers. Soil properties, particularly NH₄⁺-N and pH, significantly affected the bacterial diversity and structure. Moreover, the bacterial network complexity increased with succession, particularly in the litter layer, and the topological properties of bacterial networks showed a stronger influence on microbial activities compared with those of fungal networks. The richness of keystone taxa in the litter layer was higher than in the soil layer and roots. However, the fungal community dominated by symbiotrophs showed lower sensitivity to soil nutrient changes and greater resilience to forest succession, displaying stable diversity and decreased network complexity, particularly in the roots. Ectomycorrhizal fungi (e.g., Russula) dominated the fungal guilds, and their abundance increased with forest succession, accompanied by a decrease in pathogenic fungi. Plant roots with significantly higher phosphatase activities played a stronger role than soils in structuring the litter microbial community, as reflected by similar carbon- and nitrogen-acquiring enzyme activities, microbial compositions, a greater share of taxa, and closer community distance. Our results revealed the increasingly important role of plant roots with forest succession in structuring the microbial community and nutrient cycling in the soil and litter layers. Full article

Morocco’s recent legalization of industrial and medicinal cannabis has created a rapidly expanding seed-oil sector whose sustainability has yet to be fully assessed. This study applies an environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) in accordance with ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006, complemented by a qualitative social responsibility assessment based on ISO 26000:2010, aiming to evaluate the life cycle sustainability of Moroccan cannabis seed oil. Three representative processing chains, traditional artisanal presses, producer cooperatives and regulated industrial plants are compared using a functional unit of 1 kg of cold-pressed oil packaged for local distribution. Inventory data were drawn from field measurements and interviews and were modeled in OpenLCA with background datasets from Ecoinvent 3.8 and Agribalyse v3.1. Impact assessment used the ReCiPe 2016 (H) method at the midpoint level across nine categories (climate change, fossil resource scarcity, water use, freshwater eutrophication, terrestrial acidification, land occupation, carcinogenic, non-carcinogenic human toxicity, and fine particulate matter formation). Sensitivity analyses varied seed yield, electricity mix and transport distances by ±20% to gauge uncertainty. Results show that the cooperative scenario achieves the lowest impacts across nearly all categories because of higher extraction yields (3 kg seed per kg oil), lower energy use (0.54 kWh kg⁻¹ oil) and more effective co-product recovery. In contrast, artisanal extraction requires approximately 1 kg of additional seed input per functional unit compared to optimized scenarios, significantly increasing upstream environmental burdens and causing upstream agricultural burdens to multiply. Industrial facilities perform comparably to cooperatives if powered by renewable electricity. Integrating a semi-quantitative social responsibility assessment reveals that legalization has markedly improved organizational governance, labor conditions, consumer protection and community involvement. Cooperatives display the most balanced social performance, whereas industrial plants excel in governance and quality control. A set of recommendations, including drip irrigation, cultivar improvement, co-product valorisation, renewable energy adoption, eco-designed packaging and cooperative governance, is proposed to enhance the environmental and socio-economic sustainability of Morocco’s emerging cannabis seed-oil industry. Full article

Flooding is an increasingly frequent climate hazard with the potential to mobilize environmental contaminants and elevate human health risks. In this study, we assessed heavy metals and metalloids across five sites arranged along a flood-risk gradient from low to high. Six replicate samples per site (n = 30 per contaminant) were collected in a single sampling event. Contaminants were evaluated using the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) risk assessment framework to calculate chronic daily intake (CDI), hazard quotients (HQs), and lifetime cancer risk. Arsenic, chromium, and nickel emerged as the most concerning cancer drivers, with nickel cancer risk consistently exceeding 1 × 10⁻³ (equivalent to one additional cancer case per 1000 exposed individuals) and arsenic at 4.4 × 10⁻⁴ (about 1 in 2250). Lead posed non-cancer risks (HQ = 0.912, near the threshold of concern), while cobalt demonstrated a significant decreasing gradient with increasing flood-risk (p = 0.018). Arsenic and thallium more than doubled in concentration at high-flood sites relative to low-flood sites, while cadmium, cobalt, and nickel decreased. These findings suggest flooding may mobilize arsenic, lead, and thallium, while diluting or displacing other metals such as cadmium, cobalt, and nickel. Organs of concern include the liver and kidneys for arsenic, cadmium, nickel, and cobalt, the brain and bones for lead, and the lungs and liver for chromium. Although statistical significance was limited by the small sample size, effect sizes and fold-changes indicate meaningful flood-related differences. This study highlights the importance of considering flood-risk in contaminant hazard assessments and the need for flood-adaptive risk management strategies in vulnerable communities. Full article