A two-year experiment exposing Acer truncatum Bunge seedlings to elevated ozone (O3) concentrations above ambient air (AO) and drought stress (DS) was carried out using open-top chambers (OTCs) in a suburb of Beijing in north China in 2012–2013. The results suggested that AO and DS had both significantly reduced leaf mass area (LMA), stomatal conductance (Gs), light saturated photosynthetic rate (Asat) as well as above and below ground biomass at the end of the experiment. It appeared that while drought stress mitigated the expression of foliar injury, LMA, leaf photosynthetic pigments, height growth and basal diameter, due to limited carbon fixation, the O3 – induced reductions in Asat, Gs and total biomass were enhanced 23.7%. 15.5% and 8.1% respectively. These data suggest that when the whole plant was considered that drought under the conditions of this experiment did not protect the Shantung maple seedlings from the effects of O3.

We examined the spatio-temporal variation of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) deposition in eight typical forest ecosystems of Eastern China for three consecutive years. DIN deposition exhibited an increasing gradient from north to south, with N−NH4+ as the predominant contributor. DIN deposition in precipitation changed after interaction with the forest canopy, and serious ecological perturbations are expected in this region. DIN deposition presented seasonal fluctuations, which might be ascribed to agricultural activity, fossil-fuel combustion and environmental factors (i.e., wind direction, soil temperature). Notably, N fertilizer use (FN), energy consumption (E), and precipitation (P) jointly explained 84.3% of the spatial variation in DIN deposition, of which FN (27.2%) was the most important, followed by E (24.8%), and finally P (9.3%). The findings demonstrate that DIN deposition is regulated by precipitation mainly via anthropogenic N emissions, and this analysis provides decision-makers a novel view for N pollution abatement.

Use of nanotechnology products is increasing; with silver (Ag) nanoparticles particularly widely used. A key uncertainty surrounding the risk assessment of AgNPs is whether their effects are driven through the same mechanism of action that underlies the toxic effects of Ag ions. We present the first full transcriptome study of the effects of Ag ions and NPs in an ecotoxicological model soil invertebrate, the earthworm Eisenia fetida. Gene expression analyses indicated similar mechanisms for both silver forms with toxicity being exerted through pathways related to ribosome function, sugar and protein metabolism, molecular stress, disruption of energy production and histones. The main difference seen between Ag ions and NPs was associated with potential toxicokinetic effects related to cellular internalisation and communication, with pathways related to endocytosis and cilia being significantly enriched. These results point to a common final toxicodynamic response, but initial internalisation driven by different exposure routes and toxicokinetic mechanisms.

Pacific lampreys (Entosphenus tridentatus) have resided in the Columbia River Basin for millennia and have great ecological and cultural importance. The role of habitat contamination in the recent decline of the species has rarely been studied and was the main objective of this effort. A wide range of contaminants (115 analytes) was measured in sediments and tissues at 27 sites across a large geographic area of diverse land use. This is the largest dataset of contaminants in habitats and tissues of Pacific lamprey in North America and the first study to compare contaminant bioburden during the larval life stage and the anadromous, adult portion of the life cycle. Bioaccumulation of pesticides, flame retardants, and mercury was observed at many sites. Based on available data, contaminants are accumulating in larval Pacific lamprey at levels that are likely detrimental to organism health and may be contributing to the decline of the species.

Rapid monitoring and discriminating different anthropogenic pollution is a key scientific issue. To detect the applicability and sensitivity of magnetic measurements for evaluating different industrial pollution in urban environment, characteristics of topsoil from three typical fast developing industrial cities (Jinchang, Baiyin and Jiayuguan in Gansu province, northwestern China) were studied by magnetic and geochemical analyses. The results showed that magnetic susceptibility was enhanced near industrial areas, and PSD-MD magnetite dominated the magnetic properties. Magnetic concentration parameters (χlf, SIRM, and χARM) showed different correlations with heavy metals and PLI in the three cities, indicating significantly different magnetic response to different pollution sources. Principal component analysis showed that ferrimagnetic minerals coexist with heavy metals of Fe, As, Cu, Pb, and Zn in Baiyin and Fe, V, Cu, Mn, Pb, and Cr in Jiayuguan. Fuzzy cluster analysis and regression analysis further indicated that the sensitivity of magnetic monitoring to fuel dust is higher than that to mineral dust near non-ferrous metal smelters, and fossil fuel consumption is an important factor for increasing magnetite content. In all the three cities, the sensitivity of magnetic monitoring to pollutants from steel plants is much higher than that from non-ferrous metal plants. Therefore, magnetic proxies provide a rapid means for detecting heavy metal contamination caused by multi-anthropogenic pollution sources in a large scale area, however, the sensitivity was controlled by pollution sources.

One of the fundamentals in the ecotoxicological studies is the need of data comparison, which can be easily reached with the help of a standardized biological model. In this context, any biological model has been still proposed for the biomonitoring and risk evaluation of freshwaters until now. The aim of this review is to illustrate the ecotoxicological studies carried out with the zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha in order to suggest this bivalve species as possible reference organism for inland waters. In detail, we showed its application in biomonitoring, as well as for the evaluation of adverse effects induced by several pollutants, using both in vitro and in vivo experiments. We discussed the advantages by the use of D. polymorpha for ecotoxicological studies, but also the possible limitations due to its invasive nature.

Microplastics (MP) are ubiquitous contaminants able to cause adverse effects on organisms. Three hypotheses were tested here: early Pomatoschistus microps juveniles can ingest MP; the presence of MP may reduce fish predatory performance and efficiency; developmental conditions may influence the prey selection capability of fish. Predatory bioassays were carried out with juveniles from two estuaries with differences in environmental conditions: Minho (M-est) and Lima (L-est) Rivers (NW Iberian coast). Polyethylene MP spheres (3 types) alone and in combination with Artemia nauplii were offered as prey. All the MP types were ingested, suggesting confusion with food. Under simultaneous exposure to MP and Artemia, L-est fish showed a significant reduction of the predatory performance (65%) and efficiency (up to 50%), while M-est fish did not, suggesting that developmental conditions may influence the prey selection capability of fish. The MP-induced reduction of food intake may decrease individual and population fitness.

We assessed the eutrophication effects on leaf litter decomposition and primary production, and on periphytic algae, fungi and invertebrates. According to the subsidy-stress model, we expected that when algae and decomposers were nutrient limited, their activity and diversity would increase at moderate levels of nutrient enrichment, but decrease at high levels of nutrients, because eutrophication would lead to the presence of other stressors and overwhelm the subsidy effect. Chestnut leaves (Castanea sativa Mill) were enclosed in mesh bags and immersed in five streams of the Ave River basin (northwest Portugal) to assess leaf decomposition and colonization by invertebrates and fungi. In parallel, polyethylene slides were attached to the mesh bags to allow colonization by algae and to assess primary production. Communities of periphytic algae and decomposers discriminated the streams according to the trophic state. Primary production decomposition and biodiversity were lower in streams at both ends of the trophic gradient.

Natural soil montmorillonite and kaolinite nanoparticles (NPs) were tested as efficient sorbents for organic contaminant (OC) removal through mimicking their natural environmental dispersive states. Sorption of both mineral NPs decreased with increasing pH with ionizable pentachlorophenol (PCP), but increased with pH with non-ionizable phenanthrene (PHE), within the pH range of 4–10. In contrast, sorption decreased consistently for both PCP and PHE, as a function of increasing ion concentration (0.001–0.1 mol L−1). Sorption differences were likely caused by the electrolytic conditions dependent upon surface chemistry of OCs and mineral NPs. The results confirmed that the highly dispersive soil mineral NPs would prevail over both engineered NPs and their regular μm-sized colloids for OC removal, due to their ecological advantages and higher sorption properties. This finding provided a realistic assessment of the environmental function of soil natural minerals in water once they are released from soil into OC polluted aqueous systems.