Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is becoming an increasingly important factor affecting the nutrient level of lakes, especially considering the long-term control measures for external N inputs in developed regions. However, few studies have investigated the effects of atmospheric N deposition and the respective ecological significance in eutrophic waters. In this study, bulk and wet deposition rates of all N species and water N concentrations in Lake Taihu were determined based on the long-term (2010–2018) high-resolution (weekly or monthly) systematic observations. The results indicated that the decline in wind speed and change in land-use type likely decreased the N deposition rate. The bulk N deposition rates decreased from 45.77 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ in 2012 to 22.06 kg N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ in 2018, which could account for decrease of 1.01 mg N L⁻¹ in the lake N concentrations via a rough estimation, and this value was close to the actual variation in N concentration in Lake Taihu. The correlation between N concentrations and atmospheric deposition fluxes was stronger than that between N concentrations and riverine N inputs or lake storage, which further indicated that change in atmospheric N deposition was the key reason for the variation in N concentrations. The direct bulk N deposition into Lake Taihu accounted for 17.5% and 51.4% of the riverine N inputs and lake N inventory, respectively. Moreover, atmospheric N deposition was concentrated in summer, which was dominated by reduced N, and it may be important for the duration of algal blooms. Therefore, external N inputs, including atmospheric N deposition, should be further controlled for an effective mitigation of eutrophication and algal blooms in Lake Taihu.

Microplastic pollution is a recognized hazard in aquatic systems, but in the past decade has emerged as a pollutant of interest in terrestrial ecosystems. This paper is the first formal meta-analysis to examine the phytotoxic effects of microplastics and their impact on soil functions in the plant-soil system. Our specific aims were to: 1) determine how the type and size of microplastics affect plant and soil health, 2) identify which agricultural plants are more sensitive to microplastics, and 3) investigate how the frequency and amount of microplastic pollution affect soil functions. Plant morphology, antioxidant production and photosynthesis capacity were impacted by the composition of polymers in microplastics, and the responses could be negative, positive or neutral depending on the polymer type. Phytotoxicity testing revealed that maize (Zea mays) was more sensitive than rice (Oryza sativa) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) within the Poaceae family, while wheat and lettuce (Lactuca sativa) were less sensitive to microplastics exposure. Microplastics-impacted soils tend to be more porous and retain more water, but this did not improve soil stability or increase soil microbial diversity, suggesting that microplastics occupied physical space but were not integrated into the soil biophysical matrix. The meta-data revealed that microplastics enhanced soil evapotranspiration, organic carbon, soil porosity, CO₂ flux, water saturation, nitrogen content and soil microbial biomass, but decreased soil N₂O flux, water stable aggregates, water use efficiency, soil bulk density and soil microbial diversity.

Urbanization alters land use, increasing the rate of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and hence atmospheric compositions. Nitrous oxide (N₂O) is a major GHG that contributes substantially to global warming. N₂O emissions are sensitive to changes in substrate availabilities, such as litter and N input, as well as micro-environmental factors caused by land-use change upon urbanization. However, the potential impacts of changing litter and N on soil N₂O emissions along urban-rural gradients is not well understood. Here, we conducted an in situ study over 19 months in Cinnamomum camphora plantations along an urban-rural gradient, to examine the effects of the urban-rural gradient, N and litter input on N₂O emissions from C. camphora plantation soils and the underlying mechanisms via N, litter and microbial communities. The results showed that urban soil N₂O emissions were 105% and 196% higher than those from suburban and rural soil, respectively, and co-occurred with a higher abundance of AOA, nirS and nirK genes. Litter removal increased cumulative N₂O emissions by 59.7%, 50.9% and 43.3% from urban, suburban and rural soils, respectively. Compared with litter kept treatment, increases in AOA and nirK abundance were observed in urban soil, and higher rural nirS abundance occurred following litter removal. Additionally, the relatively higher soil temperature and available N content in the urban soil increased N₂O emissions compared with the suburban and rural soil. Therefore, in addition to changes in microbial communities and abiotic environmental factors, litter kept in C. camphora plantations along an urban-rural gradient is also important in mitigating N₂O emissions, providing a potential strategy for the mitigation of N₂O emissions.

Time series of temperature, salinity and nutrients in the Strait of Gibraltar (SoG) were researched to analyze which factors explain the invasive success of Rugulopteryx okamurare, which has colonized wide coastal areas at the Spanish and Moroccan coasts since 2016. Temperature and salinity were higher in the SoG compared to its native habitat, implying that the alga is active during the whole seasonal cycle and grows optimally at the high salinities occurring in the SoG. Nitrate removal experiments indicate that the alga is able to linearly increase its N uptake rates following boost in nitrate concentration. Furthermore, R. okamurae N content ranged from 1.4% to 4.5% suggesting that this species has high N storage capacity potentially usable when the external N concentration decreases. These physiological characteristics would explain sharp growth of the alga in the SoG where high N concentrations are registered occasionally.

Ocean acidification and warming are two major environmental stressors; however, the generality of how warming will alter growth responses of phytoplankton to ocean acidification is less known. Here, enhancement of growth by high CO₂ (HC) in Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Thalassiosira weissflogii was most prominent at optimum temperature. The extent to which growth rates in HC cultures were raised compared to low CO₂ (LC) cultures tended to decrease with increasing or decreasing temperature, compared to the optimum. Further mechanistic studies in P. tricornutum revealed that cellular carbon and nitrogen content, superoxide dismutase activity, and respiration were generally higher in HC than those in LC at high and low temperatures, whereas PSII photochemical parameters were generally lower in HC than in LC at high and low temperatures. These results indicate that HC-grown cells needed to invest more energy and materials to maintain intracellular homeostasis and repair damage induced by the unsuitable temperatures.

The problem of algal bloom caused by eutrophication has attracted global attention. Many scholars have studied the problem associated with algae bloom, but few have carried out dynamic monitoring, instead focusing on the formation mechanism of cyanobacteria. For our study of the Taihu Lake in China, we used Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Landsat remote sensing image data from 2017 to establish a prediction model. First, we used MODIS data to retrieve the concentration of N, P, and chlorophyll a in water. Then, we applied the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model to the inversion results to construct the diffusion potential index. Finally, we used C# to compile the cellular automata (CA) model. We found that the distribution of cyanobacteria predicted by our method was consistent with the algal bloom situation of Taihu Lake in 2017. The results showed that the method effectively predicts the dynamic transfer of cyanobacteria from outbreak to diffusion in a short period of time, which can help decision-makers monitor lake health.

Despite acting as environmental stress, UV-B also plays a regulatory role in the plant’s growth and secondary metabolism. UV-B-induced changes show variations between and among the species. The present study mainly focuses on variations in carbon and nitrogen contents and their relation with the phytochemical constituents of Curcuma caesia exposed to two different doses of UV-B (ambient ± elevated UV-B for 1 h (2.4 kJ m⁻² day⁻¹) and 2 h (4.8 kJ m⁻² day⁻¹)) under natural field conditions. Results showed that increasing the dose of eUV-B leads to high tuber biomass and reduced rhizome biomass (the medicinally important part). Increased expression of compounds at the initial rhizome formation stage might be due to the increased carbon content, whereas no such trend was found at the final growth or rhizome maturation stage. After final harvesting, carbon content was reduced, with an increase of nitrogen content which might be responsible for enhanced production of major components of essential oil (D-camphor and 1,8-cineole) in 2 h of UV-B exposure followed by 1 h. The phytochemical analysis at the final stage showed induction of compounds (15 and 10 in 1 h and 2 h, respectively) after UV-B exposure which was not detected in controls. The present study suggests that the change in carbon–nitrogen played an important role in the fraction of compounds at different stages, and a lower dose of UV-B (1 h) favoured the increased production of essential oil; however, 2 h dose is important for the enhanced production of major active compounds of essential oil.

This study aims to investigate the role of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis in reducing N loss from paddy fields, using two rice lines: a mycorrhiza-defective rice line (non-mycorrhizal) and its mycorrhizal progenitor. Two rice lines were grown in the presence of an AM fungal isolate. In this study, N loss of runoff, leaching, N₂O emission, and NH₃ volatilization were measured, and in addition, N uptake of rice, soil aggregates, and plant available N concentration of soil. The results obtained suggest that N loss via runoff, leaching, NH₃ volatilization, and N₂O emission of mycorrhizal rice was 11%, 8%, 6%, and 1%, lower than that of non-mycorrhizal rice, respectively. Meanwhile, mycorrhizal rice has higher biomass and plant N uptake. Our study shows that the AM symbiosis contributes to the sustainability of rice production by reducing N loss, enhancing soil aggregation and increasing plant N uptake.

The catalytic production of bio-oil can potentially solve the impending fossil fuel depletion crisis. Two practical problems related to bio-oil are the yield and quality, which are determined by the catalyst. Until recently, little work has focused on the relationship between biomass, catalyst, yield, and quality. To cover this deficiency, this work reviews the influence of metal oxides and zeolites on the yields and qualities of bio-oil derived from woody, herbaceous, agricultural, and algae biomasses. Generally, both catalysts decreased the yield and increased the quality at the same time, and more acidic catalysts decreased the yield further. Thus, zeolites usually decreased the yield more than metal oxides. Although the quality was increased, the oxygen content and calorific value were both increased, which favored further applications. Wood biomass had a lower ash content and nitrogen content than herbaceous, agricultural, and algae biomasses, simultaneously resulting in better yield and quality. This review helps understand the current status of bio-oil investigations and can help find new research directions in the future.

The aim of this work was to investigate the kinetics of the heterotrophic growth of Chlorella vulgaris as a means of producing bio-oil for biodiesel production. Glycerol was used as the sole organic carbon substrate. Anaerobic digestate from a local plant was used to examine its effect on the kinetics and the protein and lipid content of the biomass. The effect of the initial carbon and nitrogen concentrations on the carbon uptake rate was studied independently. In the one set of five experiments, the organic carbon in the form of glycerol varied from 0.27 to 5.36 g L⁻¹, while the concentration of atomic nitrogen was held constant and equal to 45.4 mg L⁻¹. The Co/No ratio varied from 6 to 118.1. In the second set, also of five experiments, the organic carbon was held constant and equal to 3.3 g L⁻¹ and atomic nitrogen varied from 22.7 to 450 mg L⁻¹. The Co/No ratio varied from 7.3 to 145.4. In the third set of experiments, anaerobic digestate was added in increasing amounts into the culture media from 4 to 16%. It was found that the carbon uptake rate as well as the lipid and protein content depended on the Co/No ratio. Increasing ratios of Co/No led to higher carbon uptake rates, higher lipid content, and lower protein content. The initial nitrogen concentration was also found to affect the growth rate of C. vulgaris. The addition of anaerobic digestate did not affect appreciably the protein and lipid content of the biomass, while the addition of anaerobic digestate up to 16% in the culture medium increased the carbon uptake rate by about 24%.