This study examined the influences of three subsets of environmental factors (i.e. soil physicochemical properties including pH, organic matters and soil texture, landscape patterns, and parent materials) on the spatial variations and sources of soil trace metal contamination across an urban-rural environmental gradient in Guangzhou City, southern China. We collected 318 surface soil samples from forests, orchards, farmlands, and urban lawns using a random tessellation design for selecting sample sites. The geo-accumulation indices showed that 18%–88% of soil samples were contaminated: moderate to high contamination with Cd and Hg, low to moderate contamination with Cu, Pb, Zn and Ni, and low contamination with As and Cr. However, less than 13% of soil samples were considered to have exceeded the national standards causing environmental and human health concerns. The mean geo-accumulation indices increased in the order of forest, paddy field/orchard, vegetable, road/residential, and park/residential areas for As, Cd, Ni, Pb, Zn, closely following a land disturbance gradient. Spearman Correlation and Cluster Analyses showed that Pb-Cu-Zn had traffic-related origins, Cd-Hg were mainly influenced by fertilization or industrial emissions, and As-Cr-Ni had geogenic origins for agricultural soils. In contrast, the Ni, Hg and Cd contamination sources for urban soils included both anthropogenic and geogenic origins. The Stepwise Regression and Partial Redundancy Analyses showed that three subsets of environmental factors explained 43%–87% of variations of soil contamination for both agricultural and urban soils. We concluded that soil contamination was mainly controlled by soil physiochemical properties followed by landscape patterns. Soil absorption of aerial loads of trace metal pollutants dominated the soil contamination processes. Our findings implied that improving soil physiochemical properties and landscape designs can strengthen environmental buffering and carrying capacity, thus alleviating soil contamination and reducing non-point-source pollution in the study region.

Animal manure is often anaerobically digested for the purpose of producing biogas. The digested manure, namely digestate, can be applied onto farmlands to enhance crop yields as it is abundant in nutrients. However, intensive livestock farming brings about manure exceeding the carrying capacity of lands nearby. Technologies focused on nutrient recovery from digestate have been studied recently, while many problems and challenges still remain unsolved. In this article, these recovery technologies are reviewed and compared, and challenges are deliberated. Ammonia stripping and struvite formation are easily operated technologies in comparison with membrane technologies. Amongst membrane technologies, electrodialysis reversal and forward osmosis are promising due to their high resistance to membrane fouling. Further studies should be focused on the operational cost, disposal of solid and liquid residuals and marketization of the recovered products.

Semi-enclosed basins are environmentally dynamic and some of the most anthropogenically affected components of the coastal realm. They can reflect various environmental impacts, thus qualifying as natural laboratories to study these impacts. The Gulf of Khambhat (GoK) is such a system where analysis of in situ parameters indicated polluted conditions. The sources of various contaminants were deciphered. Though there are considerable inputs of pollutants, the assimilative capacity of the GoK holds good with high Dissolved Oxygen (DO) (6–9.3 mg/L) content as revealed in situ and in silico. High Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and marginal ammonia contamination prevail in the region. Simulations revealed that the rivers bring in a considerable amount of nitrate, organic material and phosphate into the Gulf. Considering the prevailing environmental condition, the current study posits to have regular water quality monitoring; and the carrying capacity of the Gulf should be assessed before the authorization of anthropogenic activities.

The coastal seagrass meadows in the Townsville region of the Great Barrier Reef are crucial seagrass foraging habitat for endangered dugong populations. Deteriorating coastal water quality and in situ light levels reduce the extent of these meadows, particularly in years with significant terrestrial runoff from the nearby Burdekin River catchment. However, uncertainty surrounds the impact of variable seagrass abundance on dugong carrying capacity. Here, I demonstrate that a power-law relationship with exponent value of −1 (R2~0.87) links mortality data with predicted changes in annual above ground seagrass biomass. This relationship indicates that the dugong carrying capacity of the region is tightly coupled to the biomass of seagrass available for metabolism. Thus, mortality rates increase precipitously following large flood events with a response lag of <12-months. The management implications of this result are discussed in terms of climate scenarios that indicate an increased future likelihood of extreme flood events.

A moratorium on further bivalve leasing was established in 1999–2000 in Prince Edward Island (Canada). Recently, a marine spatial planning process was initiated explore potential mussel culture expansion in Malpeque Bay. This study focuses on the effects of a projected expansion scenario on productivity of existing leases and available suspended food resources. The aim is to provide a robust scientific assessment using available datasets and three modelling approaches ranging in complexity: (1) a connectivity analysis among culture areas; (2) a scenario analysis of organic seston dynamics based on a simplified biogeochemical model; and (3) a scenario analysis of phytoplankton dynamics based on an ecosystem model. These complementary approaches suggest (1) new leases can affect existing culture both through direct connectivity and through bay-scale effects driven by the overall increase in mussel biomass, and (2) a net reduction of phytoplankton within the bounds of its natural variation in the area.

The nutrient uptake and release by the mussels in relation with amount of food consumption are emphasised in this research. Results of the study demonstrate that about 16% of the total mass dry weight food consumed by the mussels was released as faeces. The depositions of particulate carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in mussel faeces were found to be 26.3, 5.7, and 0.6mg/day/indv respectively. Soluble inorganic nutrients such as NH4+-N (2.5mg/day/indv), and PO43−-P (0.6mg/day/indv) were also released as mussel excretion. The nutrient absorption efficiency for the green mussel body was found to be 65.1% for carbon, 62.1% for nitrogen, and 79.2% for phosphorus. Subsequently, green mussels can remove particulate carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus at 108.1, 13.5, and 4.6mg/day/indv from aquatic systems. Finally, the results can help in estimating the carrying capacity of mussel cultivation without deteriorating the water quality in marine ecosystems.

Three optimization methods are employed to allocate Marine Environmental Carrying Capacity (MECC) in the Xiamen Bay. The hydrodynamic and pollutant fields are first simulated by the Princeton Ocean Model. Taking phosphorus as an index of the water quality, the response fields are then calculated. These response fields represent the relationship between the concentration of the sea zone and the pollution sources. Finally, MECC is optimized and distributed in the Xiamen Bay by three optimization methods. The results show classical linear optimization can only maximize the satisfaction level for one of the stake holders’, e.g., dischargers or environmental protection bureau, satisfaction level. However, the fuzzy and grey fuzzy optimizations can provide a compromise, and therefore a fairer result, by incorporating the conflicting goals of all of the different stakeholders. Compared with fuzzy optimization, the grey fuzzy optimization provides a more flexible choice for the decision-makers.

A moratorium on further bivalve leasing was established in 1999–2000 in Prince Edward Island (Canada). Recently, a marine spatial planning process was initiated explore potential mussel culture expansion in Malpeque Bay. This study focuses on the effects of a projected expansion scenario on productivity of existing leases and available suspended food resources. The aim is to provide a robust scientific assessment using available datasets and three modelling approaches ranging in complexity: (1) a connectivity analysis among culture areas; (2) a scenario analysis of organic seston dynamics based on a simplified biogeochemical model; and (3) a scenario analysis of phytoplankton dynamics based on an ecosystem model. These complementary approaches suggest (1) new leases can affect existing culture both through direct connectivity and through bay-scale effects driven by the overall increase in mussel biomass, and (2) a net reduction of phytoplankton within the bounds of its natural variation in the area.

Globally, coral reefs have drastically degraded due to local and global environmental stressors. Concurrently, coral reef tourism is rapidly growing in developing economies, which is one of many anthropogenic stressors impacting reefs. At the Malvan Marine Sanctuary, a Marine Protected Area (MPA) on the West coast of India, we investigated the impact of recreational diving on the reef from 2016 to 2019. To evaluate the diver's underwater behavior, a novel approach was used, wherein the video-log broadcasting website www.youtube.com was perused. Evidential proof substantiates heavy physical damage to corals because of recreational diving activity, which may lead to the collapse of coral habitat if it continues unabated. This resource depletion ironically elevates the economy of dependents averting consequences due to lost corals, thus making this a ‘tragedy’ for corals which are not meant to be ‘commons’. The study asserts need for proactive conservation efforts with stringent implementation and restoration initiatives in this MPA.

Assessing the carrying capacity of ecosystems is crucial to the selection of suitable and sustainable locations for aquaculture farms. In Malpeque Bay (PEI, Canada), the potential expansion of mussel farms has driven a series of numerical modelling studies. We coupled sub-models for sea lettuce, wild and cultured oysters and wild softshell clams to an existing ecosystem model to better understand nutrient dynamics and the carrying capacity of Malpeque Bay. Simulations suggested that competition for nutrients between phytoplankton and sea lettuce and filtration by cultured bivalves predominantly mitigate eutrophication effects. The addition of sea lettuce reduced mussel growth by 2% on average and up to 9% near eutrophic estuaries favouring macroalgae growth. Projected new mussel farms reduced current mussel growth by 2% also, suggesting that the carrying capacity of the bay may not be reached yet. Both current and projected aquaculture activities seemed to have limited effects on natural bivalve growth.