Displaying publications 81 - 100 of 999 in total

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  1. Wahab RA, Omar TFT, Nurulnadia MY, Rozulan NNA
    Mar Pollut Bull, 2023 Jul;192:115036.
    PMID: 37207388 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115036
    The concentration, distribution, and risk assessment of parabens were determined in the surface water of the Terengganu River, Malaysia. Target chemicals were extracted via solid-phase extraction, followed by high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. Method optimization produced a high percentage recovery for methylparaben (MeP, 84.69 %), ethylparaben (EtP, 76.60 %), and propylparaben (PrP, 76.33 %). Results showed that higher concentrations were observed for MeP (3.60 μg/L) as compared with EtP (1.21 μg/L) and PrP (1.00 μg/L). Parabens are ubiquitously present in all sampling stations, with >99 % of detection. Salinity and conductivity were the major factors influencing the level of parabens in the surface water. Overall, we found no potential risk of parabens in the Terengganu River ecosystem due to low calculated risk assessment values (risk quotient 
    Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem
  2. Khairun Waheeda AI, Teh JC, Arshad A, Wong NLWS
    Mar Pollut Bull, 2023 Jul;192:115111.
    PMID: 37295254 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115111
    This study investigated the impacts of the removal of sand bund on the macrobenthos community structure, seagrass cover, and sediment particle size in Merambong Shoal, Malaysia. The reclamation project deposited sand bund in the middle of Merambong seagrass shoal, resulting in its division into northern (NS) and southern (SS) halves. Ecosystem changes were monitored over a 31-month period using the transect lines method. Bi-monthly samples were collected for assessment. The results revealed a substantial decline in macrobenthos densities compared to previous studies. However, after the removal of the sand bund, there was a significant increase in macrobenthos density, specifically Polychaeta and Malacostraca, at NS. Seagrass cover at NS was initially lower than SS but showed an increase after the complete removal of the sand blockage. Sediment particle analysis reported a higher silt percentage at NS, indicating greater sedimentation at NS, which was partially sheltered from wave actions.
    Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem*
  3. Moharir KN, Pande CB, Gautam VK, Singh SK, Rane NL
    Environ Res, 2023 Jul 01;228:115832.
    PMID: 37054834 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.115832
    The Damoh district, which is located in the central India and characterized by limestone, shales, and sandstone compact rock. The district has been facing groundwater development challenges and problems for several decades. To facilitate groundwater management, it is crucial to monitoring and planning based on geology, slope, relief, land use, geomorphology, and the types of the basaltic aquifer in the drought-groundwater deficit area. Moreover, the majority of farmers in the area are heavily dependent on groundwater for their crops. Therefore, delineation of groundwater potential zones (GPZ) is essential, which is defined based on various thematic layers, including geology, geomorphology, slope, aspect, drainage density, lineament density, topographic wetness index (TWI), topographic ruggedness index (TRI), and land use/land cover (LULC). The processing and analysis of this information were carried out using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) methods. The validity of the results was trained and tested using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves, which showed training and testing accuracies of 0.713 and 0.701, respectively. The GPZ map was classified into five classes such as very high, high, moderate, low, and very low. The study revealed that approximately 45% of the area falls under the moderate GPZ, while only 30% of the region is classified as having a high GPZ. The area receives high rainfall but has very high surface runoff due to no proper developed soil and lack of water conservation structures. Every summer season show a declined groundwater level. In this context, results of study area are useful to maintain the groundwater under climate change and summer season. The GPZ map plays an important role in implementing artificial recharge structures (ARS), such as percolation ponds, tube wells, bore wells, cement nala bunds (CNBs), continuous contour trenching (CCTs), and others for development of ground level. This study is significant for developing sustainable groundwater management policies in semi-arid regions, that are experiencing climate change. Proper groundwater potential mapping and watershed development policies can help mitigate the effects of drought, climate change, and water scarcity, while preserving the ecosystem in the Limestone, Shales, and Sandstone compact rock region. The results of this study are essential for farmers, regional planners, policy-makers, climate change experts, and local governments, enabling them to understand the groundwater development possibilities in the study area.
    Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem
  4. Srivathsan A, Ang Y, Heraty JM, Hwang WS, Jusoh WFA, Kutty SN, et al.
    Nat Ecol Evol, 2023 Jul;7(7):1012-1021.
    PMID: 37202502 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02066-0
    Most of arthropod biodiversity is unknown to science. Consequently, it has been unclear whether insect communities around the world are dominated by the same or different taxa. This question can be answered through standardized sampling of biodiversity followed by estimation of species diversity and community composition with DNA barcodes. Here this approach is applied to flying insects sampled by 39 Malaise traps placed in five biogeographic regions, eight countries and numerous habitats (>225,000 specimens belonging to >25,000 species in 458 families). We find that 20 insect families (10 belonging to Diptera) account for >50% of local species diversity regardless of clade age, continent, climatic region and habitat type. Consistent differences in family-level dominance explain two-thirds of variation in community composition despite massive levels of species turnover, with most species (>97%) in the top 20 families encountered at a single site only. Alarmingly, the same families that dominate insect diversity are 'dark taxa' in that they suffer from extreme taxonomic neglect, with little signs of increasing activities in recent years. Taxonomic neglect tends to increase with diversity and decrease with body size. Identifying and tackling the diversity of 'dark taxa' with scalable techniques emerge as urgent priorities in biodiversity science.
    Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem
  5. Segaran TC, Azra MN, Lananan F, Wang Y
    Mar Environ Res, 2023 Jul;189:106015.
    PMID: 37291004 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106015
    Microbes, or microorganisms, have been the foundation of the biosphere for over 3 billion years and have played an essential role in shaping our planet. The available knowledge on the topic of microbes associated with climate change has the potential to reshape upcoming research trends globally. As climate change impacts the ocean or marine ecosystem, the responses of these "unseen life" will heavily influence the achievement of a sustainable evolutionary environment. The present study aims to identify microbial-related research under changing climate within the marine environment through the mapping of visualized graphs of the available literature. We used scientometric methods to retrieve documents from the Web of Science platform in the Core Collection (WOSCC) database, analyzing a total of 2767 documents based on scientometric indicators. Our findings show that this research area is growing exponentially, with the most influential keywords being "microbial diversity," "bacteria," and "ocean acidification," and the most cited being "microorganism" and "diversity." The identification of influential clusters in the field of marine science provides insight into the hot spots and frontiers of research in this area. Prominent clusters include "coral microbiome," "hypoxic zone," "novel Thermoplasmatota clade," "marine dinoflagellate bloom," and "human health." Analyzing emerging trends and transformative changes in this field can inform the creation of special issues or research topics in selected journals, thus increasing visibility and engagement among the scientific community.
    Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem
  6. Liu H, Zheng Y, Zhu B, Tong Y, Xin W, Yang H, et al.
    Sci Adv, 2023 Jun 23;9(25):eadg4011.
    PMID: 37352347 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg4011
    Marine-terrestrial transition represents an important aspect of organismal evolution that requires numerous morphological and genetic innovations and has been hypothesized to be caused by geological changes. We used talitrid crustaceans with marine-coastal-montane extant species at a global scale to investigate the marine origination and terrestrial adaptation. Using genomic data, we demonstrated that marine ancestors repeatedly colonized montane terrestrial habitats during the Oligocene to Miocene. Biological transitions were well correlated with plate collisions or volcanic island formation, and top-down cladogenesis was observed on the basis of a positive relationship between ancestral habitat elevation and divergence time for montane lineages. We detected convergent variations of convoluted gills and convergent evolution of SMC3 associated with montane transitions. Moreover, using CRISPR-Cas9 mutagenesis, we proposed that SMC3 potentially regulates the development of exites, such as talitrid gills. Our results provide a living model for understanding biological innovations and related genetic regulatory mechanisms associated with marine-terrestrial transitions.
    Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem
  7. Purnama, Farabi K, Runadi D, Kuncoro H, Harneti D, Nurlelasari, et al.
    Molecules, 2023 Jun 23;28(13).
    PMID: 37446608 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28134946
    The Aglaia genus, a member of the Meliaceae family, is generally recognized to include a number of secondary metabolite compounds with diverse structures and biological activities, including triterpenoids. Among the members of this genus, Aglaia cucullata has been reported to have unique properties and thrives exclusively in mangrove ecosystems. This plant is also known to contain various metabolites, such as flavaglines, bisamides, and diterpenoids, but there are limited reports on the isolation of triterpenoid compounds from its stem bark. Therefore, this research attempted to isolate and elucidate seven triterpenoids belonging to dammarane-type (1-7) from the stem bark of Aglaia cucullata. The isolated compounds included 20S,24S-epoxy-3α,25-dihydroxy-dammarane (1), dammaradienone (2), 20S-hydroxy-dammar-24-en-3-on (3), eichlerianic acid (4), (20S,24RS)-23,24-epoxy-24-methoxy-25,26,27-tris-nor dammar-3-one (5), 3α-acetyl-cabraleahydroxy lactone (6), and 3α-acetyl-20S,24S-epoxy-3α,25-dihydroxydammarane (7). Employing spectroscopic techniques, the chemical structures of the triterpenoids were identified using FTIR, NMR, and HRESITOF-MS. The cytotoxic activity of compounds 1-7 was tested with the PrestoBlue cell viability reagent against MCF-7 breast cancer, B16-F10 melanoma, and CV-1 normal kidney fibroblast cell lines. The results displayed that compound 5 had the highest level of bioactivity compared to the others. Furthermore, the IC50 values obtained were more than 100 μM, indicating the low potential of natural dammarane-type triterpenoids as anticancer agents. These findings provided opportunities for further studies aiming to increase their cytotoxic activities through semi-synthetic methods.
    Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem
  8. Kurniawan TA, Haider A, Ahmad HM, Mohyuddin A, Umer Aslam HM, Nadeem S, et al.
    Chemosphere, 2023 Jun;325:138367.
    PMID: 36907482 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.138367
    The generation of microplastics (MPs) has increased recently and become an emerging issue globally. Due to their long-term durability and capability of traveling between different habitats in air, water, and soil, MPs presence in freshwater ecosystem threatens the environment with respect to its quality, biotic life, and sustainability. Although many previous works have been undertaken on the MPs pollution in the marine system recently, none of the study has covered the scope of MPs pollution in the freshwater. To consolidate scattered knowledge in the literature body into one place, this work identifies the sources, fate, occurrence, transport pathways, and distribution of MPs pollution in the aquatic system with respect to their impacts on biotic life, degradation, and detection techniques. This article also discusses the environmental implications of MPs pollution in the freshwater ecosystems. Certain techniques for identifying MPs and their limitations in applications are presented. Through a literature survey of over 276 published articles (2000-2023), this study presents an overview of solutions to the MP pollution, while identifying research gaps in the body of knowledge for further work. It is conclusive from this review that the MPs exist in the freshwater due to an improper littering of plastic waste and its degradation into smaller particles. Approximately 15-51 trillion MP particles have accumulated in the oceans with their weight ranging between 93,000 and 236,000 metric ton (Mt), while about 19-23 Mt of plastic waste was released into rivers in 2016, which was projected to increase up to 53 Mt by 2030. A subsequent degradation of MPs in the aquatic environment results in the generation of NPs with size ranging from 1 to 1000 nm. It is expected that this work facilitates stakeholders to understand the multi-aspects of MPs pollution in the freshwater and recommends policy actions to implement sustainable solutions to this environmental problem.
    Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem
  9. He X, Zhang F, Cai Y, Tan ML, Chan NW
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2023 Jun;30(30):75511-75531.
    PMID: 37222898 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-27702-x
    This study aims to understand the factors and mechanisms influencing the spatio-temporal changes of fractional vegetation cover (FVC) in the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains. The MOD13Q1 product data between June and September (peak of plants growing) during the 2001-2020 period was incorporated into the pixel dichotomy model to calculate the vegetation cover changes. Then, the principal component analysis method was used to identify the primary driving factors affecting the change in vegetation cover from the natural, human, and economic perspectives. Finally, the partial correlation coefficients of FVC with temperature and precipitation were further calculated based on the pixel scale. The findings indicate that (1) FVC in the northern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains ranged from 0.37 to 0.47 during the 2001-2020 period, with an obvious inter-annual variation and an overall upward trend of about 0.4484/10 a. Although the vegetation cover had some changes over time, it was generally stable, and the area of strong variation only accounted for 0.58% of the total. (2) The five grades of vegetation cover were distributed spatially similarly, but the area-weighted gravity center for each vegetation class shifted significantly. The FVC under different land use/land cover types and elevations was obviously different, and as elevation increased, vegetation coverage presented a trend of a "∩"-shape change. (3) According to the results of principal component analysis, human activities, economic growth, and natural climate were the main driving factors that caused the changes in vegetation cover, and the cumulative contribution of the three reached 89.278%. In addition, when it came to climatic factors, precipitation had a greater driving force on the vegetation cover change, followed by temperature and sunshine hours. (4) Overall, precipitation and temperature were correlated positively with FVC, with the average correlation coefficient values of 0.089 and 0.135, respectively. Locally, the correlations vary greatly under different LULC and altitudes. This research can provide some scientific basis and reference for the vegetation evolution pattern and ecological civilization construction in the region.
    Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem*
  10. Ong MC, Yong JC, Shaari H, Joseph B, Shazili NAM, Pradit S, et al.
    Environ Geochem Health, 2023 Jun;45(6):3777-3787.
    PMID: 36574138 DOI: 10.1007/s10653-022-01456-w
    Brunei Bay is a unique ecosystem which offers a vast biodiversity. This study was carried out to define the source of metals in the surface sediment of Brunei Bay to ensure the bay's health. The secondary data were analysed using chemometrics analysis to verify the possible factors that influence metals distribution in Brunei Bay sediment. Samples were collected several times during 2013 to 2014 using Ponar grab at 16 stations within the bay. Samples were then dried, pre-treated, digested and analysed using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICPMS) in the laboratory. Overall, the mean concentration of metal, sediment pH and clay fraction were significantly changed during different sampling periods, as the changes were presumed affected by seasonal changes. The Pearson correlation has pointed that metals were dominantly derived by natural input; however, the total organic carbon was proven to be derived by anthropogenic sources. Moreover, the principal component analysis has verified that the distribution of metals in the bay's sediment was dominantly influenced by natural processes. However, the utilization and manipulation of marine resources are slightly affecting the bay's ecosystem which may deteriorate the ecosystem health soon.
    Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem
  11. Razak MR, Aris AZ, Yusoff FM, Yusof ZNB, Abidin AAZ, Kim SD, et al.
    Environ Geochem Health, 2023 Jun;45(6):3567-3583.
    PMID: 36450975 DOI: 10.1007/s10653-022-01442-2
    Bisphenol A (BPA) is a well-known endocrine-disrupting compound that causes several toxic effects on human and aquatic organisms. The restriction of BPA in several applications has increased the substituted toxic chemicals such as bisphenol F (BPF) and bisphenol S (BPS). A native tropical freshwater cladoceran, Moina micrura, was used as a bioindicator to assess the adverse effects of bisphenol analogues at molecular, organ, individual and population levels. Bisphenol analogues significantly upregulated the expressions of stress-related genes, which are the haemoglobin and glutathione S-transferase genes, but the sex determination genes such as doublesex and juvenile hormone analogue genes were not significantly different. The results show that bisphenol analogues affect the heart rate and mortality rate of M. micrura. The 48-h lethal concentration (LC50) values based on acute toxicity for BPA, BPF and BPS were 611.6 µg L-1, 632.0 µg L-1 and 819.1 µg L-1, respectively. The order of toxicity based on the LC50 and predictive non-effect concentration values were as follows: BPA > BPF > BPS. Furthermore, the incorporated method combining the responses throughout the organisation levels can comprehensively interpret the toxic effects of bisphenol analogues, thus providing further understanding of the toxicity mechanisms. Moreover, the output of this study produces a comprehensive ecotoxicity assessment, which provides insights for the legislators regarding exposure management and mitigation of bisphenol analogues in riverine ecosystems.
    Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem*
  12. Voon PJ, Lai WH, Bustaman RS, Siu LL, Razak ARA, Yusof A, et al.
    Asia Pac J Clin Oncol, 2023 Jun;19(3):296-304.
    PMID: 36305522 DOI: 10.1111/ajco.13886
    Historically, the majority of oncology clinical trials are conducted in Western Europe and North America. Globalization of drug development has resulted in sponsors shifting their focus to the Asia-Pacific region. In Malaysia, implementation of various government policies to promote clinical trials has been initiated over a decade ago and includes the establishment of Clinical Research Malaysia, which functions as a facilitator and enabler of industry-sponsored clinical trials on a nationwide basis. Although oncology clinical trials in Malaysia have seen promising growth, there are still only a limited number of early phase oncology studies being conducted. Hence, the Phase 1 Realization Project was initiated to develop Malaysia's early phase clinical trial capabilities. In addition, the adaptation of good practices from other countries contribute to the effective implementation of existing initiatives to drive progress in the development of early phase drug development set up in Malaysia. Furthermore, holistic approaches with emphasis in training and education, infrastructure capacities, strategic alliances, reinforcement of upstream activities in the value chain of drug development, enhanced patient advocacy, coupled with continued commitment from policy makers are imperative in nurturing a resilient clinical research ecosystem in Malaysia.
    Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem*
  13. Razak MR, Aris AZ, Yusoff FM, Yusof ZNB, Kim SD, Kim KW
    Mar Biotechnol (NY), 2023 Jun;25(3):473-487.
    PMID: 37310522 DOI: 10.1007/s10126-023-10220-9
    Moina micrura represents a promising model species for ecological and ecotoxicological investigations in tropical freshwater ecosystems. Illumina NovaSeq™ 6000 sequencing was employed in this study to analyze M. micrura across three distinct developmental stages: juvenile, adult, and male. Current study successfully annotated 51,547 unigenes (73.11%) derived from seven (7) different databases. A total of 554 genes were found to be significantly upregulated, while 452 genes showed significant downregulation between juvenile and male. Moreover, 1001 genes were upregulated, whereas 830 genes exhibited downregulation between the adult and male. Analysis of differentially expressed genes revealed upregulation of chitin, cuticle, myosin (MYO), mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK), fibrillin (FBN), cytochrome (CYP), glutathione s-transferase (GST), vitellogenin (VTG), acetylcholinesterase (AChE), and transforming growth factor beta (TGFB) under unfavorable environmental conditions (male), as compared to favorable environmental conditions (juveniles and adults). These alterations in gene expression significantly impact the phenological and life-history traits of M. micrura. Furthermore, the upregulation of hemoglobin (HMB), doublesex (DSX), juvenile hormone analogs (JHA), heat shock protein (HSP), and methyltransferase (METT) genes in males initiates the sex-switching effects observed in M. micrura. These findings hold substantial value for researchers interested in determining M. micrura sequences for future investigations of gene expression and comparative reproductive genome analysis within the Moina genus and cladoceran families.
    Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem
  14. Rakib MRJ, Al Nahian S, Madadi R, Haider SMB, De-la-Torre GE, Walker TR, et al.
    Environ Sci Process Impacts, 2023 May 25;25(5):929-940.
    PMID: 36939043 DOI: 10.1039/d3em00014a
    Microplastic (MP) pollution is a major global issue that poses serious threats to aquatic organisms. Although research on MP pollution has been extensive, the relationship between MPs and water quality parameters in estuarine water systems is unclear. This work studied the spatiotemporal distribution and characteristics of MPs in the Karnaphuli River estuary, Bangladesh. MP abundance was calculated by towing with a plankton net (300 μm mesh size) at three river gradients (up-, mid- and downstream) and the association between physicochemical parameters of water (temperature, pH, salinity, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, and dissolved oxygen) and MP distribution patterns was also investigated. Mean MP abundance in water was higher during the wet season (April) (4.33 ± 2.45 items per m3) compared to the dry season (September) (3.65 ± 2.54 items per m3). In descending order, the highest MP abundance was observed downstream (6.60 items per m3) > midstream (3.15 items per m3) > upstream (2.22 items per m3). pH during the wet season (April) and temperature during the dry season (September) were key physicochemical parameters that correlated with river MP abundance (r = -0.74 and 0.74 respectively). Indicating that if the Karnaphuli River water has low pH or high temperature, there is likely to be high MPs present in the water. Most MP particles were film-shaped, white in color, and 1-5 mm in size. Of the six polymers detected, polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and cellulose were predominant, comprising roughly 17-19% each. These results can be used to model MP transport in the freshwater ecosystem of the Karnaphuli River estuary in Bangladesh to help develop future mitigation strategies.
    Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem
  15. Alkhadher SAA, Suratman S, Zakaria MP
    Environ Monit Assess, 2023 May 24;195(6):720.
    PMID: 37222826 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-023-11310-w
    One of the molecular chemical markers used to identify anthropogenic inputs is linear alkylbenzenes (LABs) that cause serious impacts in the bays and coastal ecosystems. The surface sediments samples collected from the East Malaysia, including Brunei bay to estimate the LABs concentration and distribution as molecular markers of anthropogenic indicators. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used after purification, fractionation the hydrocarbons in the sediment samples to identify the sources of LABs. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson correlation coefficient were applied to analyze the difference between sampling stations' significance at p 
    Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem*
  16. Omeyer LCM, Duncan EM, Abreo NAS, Acebes JMV, AngSinco-Jimenez LA, Anuar ST, et al.
    Sci Total Environ, 2023 May 20;874:162502.
    PMID: 36868274 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162502
    Southeast (SE) Asia is a highly biodiverse region, yet it is also estimated to cumulatively contribute a third of the total global marine plastic pollution. This threat is known to have adverse impacts on marine megafauna, however, understanding of its impacts has recently been highlighted as a priority for research in the region. To address this knowledge gap, a structured literature review was conducted for species of cartilaginous fishes, marine mammals, marine reptiles, and seabirds present in SE Asia, collating cases on a global scale to allow for comparison, coupled with a regional expert elicitation to gather additional published and grey literature cases which would have been omitted during the structured literature review. Of the 380 marine megafauna species present in SE Asia, but also studied elsewhere, we found that 9.1 % and 4.5 % of all publications documenting plastic entanglement (n = 55) and ingestion (n = 291) were conducted in SE Asian countries. At the species level, published cases of entanglement from SE Asian countries were available for 10 % or less of species within each taxonomic group. Additionally, published ingestion cases were available primarily for marine mammals and were lacking entirely for seabirds in the region. The regional expert elicitation led to entanglement and ingestion cases from SE Asian countries being documented in 10 and 15 additional species respectively, highlighting the utility of a broader approach to data synthesis. While the scale of the plastic pollution in SE Asia is of particular concern for marine ecosystems, knowledge of its interactions and impacts on marine megafauna lags behind other areas of the world, even after the inclusion of a regional expert elicitation. Additional funding to help collate baseline data are critically needed to inform policy and solutions towards limiting the interactions of marine megafauna and plastic pollution in SE Asia.
    Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem
  17. Bidoglio GA, Mueller ND, Kastner T
    Sci Total Environ, 2023 May 15;873:162226.
    PMID: 36801408 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162226
    In our globalized world, local impacts of agricultural production are increasingly driven by consumption in geographically distant places. Current agricultural systems strongly rely on nitrogen (N) fertilization to increase soil fertility and crop yields. Yet, a large portion of N added to cropland is lost through leaching / runoff potentially leading to eutrophication in coastal ecosystems. By coupling data on global production and N fertilization for 152 crops with a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)-based model, we first estimated the extent of oxygen depletion occurring in 66 Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) due to agricultural production in the watersheds draining into these LMEs. We then linked this information to crop trade data to assess the displacement from consuming to producing countries, in terms of oxygen depletion impacts associated to our food systems. In this way, we characterized how impacts are distributed between traded and domestically sourced agricultural products. We found that few countries dominate global impacts and that cereal and oil crop production accounts for the bulk of oxygen depletion impacts. Globally, 15.9 % of total oxygen depletion impacts of crop production are ascribable to export-driven production. However, for exporting countries like Canada, Argentina or Malaysia this share is much higher, often up to three-quarters of their production impacts. In some importing countries, trade contributes to reduce pressure on already highly affected coastal ecosystems. This is the case for countries whose domestic crop production is associated with high oxygen depletion intensities, i.e. the impact per kcal produced, such as Japan or South Korea. Next to these positive effects trade can play in lowering overall environmental burdens, our results also highlight the importance of a holistic food system perspective when aiming to reduce the oxygen depletion impacts of crop production.
    Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem*
  18. Xie D, Zhang H, Wei H, Lin L, Wang D, Wang M
    Aquat Toxicol, 2023 May;258:106497.
    PMID: 36940520 DOI: 10.1016/j.aquatox.2023.106497
    The continuous fragmentation of plastics and release of synthetic nanoplastics from products have been aggravating nanoplastic pollution in the marine ecosystem. The carrier role of nanoplastics may increase the bioavailability and toxicity effects of toxic metals, e.g., mercury (Hg), which is of growing concern. Here, the copepod Tigriopus japonicus was exposed to polystyrene nanoplastics (PS NPs) and Hg (alone or combined) at environmental realistic concentrations for three generations (F0-F2). Then, Hg accumulation, physiological endpoints, and transcriptome were analyzed. The results showed that the copepod's reproduction was significantly inhibited under PS NPs or Hg exposure. The presence of PS NPs caused significantly higher Hg accumulation, lower survival, and lower offspring production in copepods relative to Hg exposure, suggesting an increased threat to the copepod's survivorship and health. From the molecular perspective, combined PS NPs and Hg caused a graver effect on the DNA replication, cell cycle, and reproduction pathways relative to Hg exposure, linking to lower levels of survivorship and reproduction. Taken together, this study provides an early warning of nanoplastic pollution for the marine ecosystem not only because of their adverse effect per se but also their carrier role for increasing Hg bioaccumulation and toxicity in copepods.
    Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem
  19. Johnson E, Campos-Cerqueira M, Jumail A, Yusni ASA, Salgado-Lynn M, Fornace K
    Trends Parasitol, 2023 May;39(5):386-399.
    PMID: 36842917 DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2023.01.008
    Emerging infectious diseases continue to pose a significant burden on global public health, and there is a critical need to better understand transmission dynamics arising at the interface of human activity and wildlife habitats. Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM), more typically applied to questions of biodiversity and conservation, provides an opportunity to collect and analyse audio data in relative real time and at low cost. Acoustic methods are increasingly accessible, with the expansion of cloud-based computing, low-cost hardware, and machine learning approaches. Paired with purposeful experimental design, acoustic data can complement existing surveillance methods and provide a novel toolkit to investigate the key biological parameters and ecological interactions that underpin infectious disease epidemiology.
    Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem*
  20. Alebraheem J, Abu-Hassan Y
    J Math Biol, 2023 Apr 27;86(5):84.
    PMID: 37103566 DOI: 10.1007/s00285-023-01914-8
    A characteristic of ecosystems is the existence of manifold of independencies which are highly complex. Various mathematical models have made considerable contributions in gaining a better understanding of the predator-prey interactions. The main components of any predator-prey models are, firstly, how the different population classes grow and secondly, how the prey and predator interacts. In this paper, the two populations' growth rates obey the logistic law and the carrying capacity of the predator depends on the available number of prey are considered. Our aim is to clarify the relationship between models and Holling types functional and numerical responses in order to gain insights into predator interferences and to answer an important question how competition is carried out. We consider a predator-prey model and a two-predator one-prey model to explain the idea. The novel approach is explained for the mechanism measurement of predator interference through depending on numerical response. Our approach gives good correspondence between an important real data and computer simulations.
    Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem*
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