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An in-depth understanding of carbon dynamics and ecosystem productivity is essential for conservation and management of different ecosystems. Ecosystem dynamics and carbon budget are assessed by estimating net ecosystem production (NEP) across different global ecosystems. An ecological productivity assessment of forest and floating meadow ecosystems in Keibul Lamjao National Park (KLNP), Manipur, North East India, was conducted using the multi-criteria decision-making process namely, gray relational analysis (GRA). The analysis was performed on 24 selected criterions classified either as "higher-the-better" or "lower-the-better" based on their degree of influence on the carbon budget. Floating meadows exhibited a higher production of aboveground and belowground biomass and a higher total mortality and decay. Furthermore, the study found that floating meadows exhibited a higher soil organic carbon (SOC) and net soil organic matter (SOM) than the forest ecosystem. The forest ecosystem showed higher total respiration (R T ), heterotrophic respiration (R H ), and autotrophic respiration (R A ) than floating meadows. Floating meadows exhibited a higher net primary productivity (NPP) of 616.49 ± 33.87 gCm -2  year -1 than the forest ecosystem, which has a NPP of 566.64 ± 65.26 gCm -2  year -1 . Similarly, floating meadows have higher NEP (495.25 ± 36.46 gCm -2  year -1 ) than forest ecosystems (418.39 ± 65.76 gCm -2  year -1 ). These characteristics have a significant influence on the carbon budget in floating meadows as compared to forest ecosystems, as shown by larger values of gray relational coefficient (GRC) in GRA. The floating meadows ecosystem (0.82) obtained 54.72% gain in gray relational grades (GRG) value with the forest ecosystem (0.53). This study might help in improving KLNP and other adjutant areas for conservation and management policies from the vital information given on the importance of wetlands in carbon dynamics and ecosystem productivity., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethical approval: The authors confirm that all studies described in this manuscript were carried out in an ethical and responsible manner, adhering fully to all pertinent codes of experimentation and legislation. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Cerambycid species of the Spondylidinae subfamily are distributed worldwide and are known for being prolific invaders that infest conifers. In New Zealand, Arhopalus ferus (Mulsant), the burnt pine longhorn beetle, is well-established and requires monitoring at high-risk sites such as ports, airports, and sawmills as part of the requirements to meet pine log export standards set by the New Zealand Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI). Currently, its surveillance relies on traps baited with host volatiles (i.e., ethanol and α-pinene). We used volatile collections from adult beetles, electroantennograms, and field trapping bioassays to identify the pheromones emitted by the burnt pine longhorn beetle A. ferus and their effects on its behaviour. We show that A. ferus males emit mainly (E)-fuscumol and geranylacetone, as well as the minor components, α-terpinene and p-mentha-1,3,8-triene, and that all four compounds elicit a dose-dependent response in antennae of both sexes. Traps baited with the binary combination of geranylacetone plus fuscumol captured significantly more female A. ferus than did unbaited traps in two of three field experiments. α-Terpinene did not affect A. ferus trap catches and effects of p-mentha-1,3,8-triene on trap catch were not determined. Our findings provide further evidence of the use of fuscumol and geranylacetone as aggregation-sex pheromones by longhorn beetles in the Spondylidinae subfamily, and suggest that their deployment in survey traps may improve the efficacy of A. ferus monitoring in New Zealand and elsewhere., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. His Majesty the King in Right of Canada as represented by the Minister of Natural Resources.)

Ganoderma lucidum, known as the "mushroom of immortality," is a white rot fungus renowned for its medicinal properties, attributed to its bioactive compounds. Although species with similar morphological traits to G. lucidum are found across the globe, precise identification is made possible through DNA barcoding and molecular phylogenetic analysis. Global cultivation and wild harvesting of G. lucidum are both done in response to the growing market needs. Artificial cultivation is typically performed on sawdust, but other woody substrates and the wood log method are also employed. This cultivation leverages the fungus's ecological role in converting industrial and agricultural solid wastes into biomass, thereby producing functional food and potential pharmaceutical sources. The review consolidates research on various aspects of, including cultivation methods (sawdust, agricultural waste, wood logs, and submerged fermentation), and the current global market conditions., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Wetlands are important ecosystems, and few of them, owing to unique characteristics, have been designated the status of Ramsar sites under the convention of wetlands. Despite the status, few of these wetlands are under threat owing to their social importance. Renuka wetland is one such important Ramsar site in India, which is culturally an embodiment of the Goddess Renuka ji. An international fair is held every year at the lake which attracts thousands of pilgrims and tourists. This event is one of the major contributors to anthropogenic risk; other pressures are siltation, pollution, land use activities, and invasive species. Under such a scenario, it becomes important to assess the health of wetlands to take timely decisions about their management. This study evaluates the health of Renuka wetland, using the Pressure State and Response (PSR) model. Relevant data related to the wetland and its catchment from a wide spectrum of sources, namely, field, laboratory, and remote sensing were combined to assess the health of the wetland. Ten indicators were identified, and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to assign weights to the indicators. The wetland health index of Renuka wetland is 0.35, indicating that the lake is in poor condition exhibiting degraded functioning, high external pressure, low vigor, poor resilience, and stability. The study also revealed that the water quality deteriorates post-fair. Thus, the wetland needs attention in terms of management so that the health of the lake improves and is sustained in the future. The study contributes to Sustainable Development Goal 6.6 which focuses on protecting and restoring water-related ecosystems and aims at healthier ecosystems., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Calamus brandisii Becc. is an endangered rattan species indigenous to the Western Ghats of India and used in the furniture and handicraft industries. However, its dioecious nature and longer flowering time pose challenges for conservation efforts. Developing markers for early gender detection in seedlings is crucial for maintaining viable populations for in-situ and ex-situ conservation. Currently, no sex chromosomes or gender-specific genes have been reported in the species. We report the first comprehensive comparative genomics study between the male and female genomes of C. brandisii to identify polymorphisms and potential genes for gender determination. Reference-based assembly was conducted and the male and female genomes were predicted to contain 43,810 and 50,493 protein-coding genes respectively. The haploid genome size was ∼691 Mb and ∼884 Mb for male and female genomes respectively. Comparative analysis revealed significant genetic variation between the two genomes including 619,776 SNPs, 73,659 InDels, 212,123 Structural variants (SVs) and 305 copy number variations (CNVs). A total of 5 male-specific and 11 female-specific genes linked to the sex determining region was predicted. The genomic variants identified between the two genomes could be used in development of markers for early gender identification in C. brandisii for restoration programs. The gender-specific genes identified in this study also provide new insights into the mechanisms of sex determination and differentiation in rattans., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Land degradation is accelerating in the Himalayan ecosystem, resulting in the loss of soil nutrients due to severe erosion. Soil erosion presents a significant environmental challenge, resulting in both on-site and off-site consequences, such as reduced soil productivity and siltation in reservoirs. Soil erodibility (K factor), an inherent soil property, determines the susceptibility of soils to erosion. Sampling across hilly and mountainous terrain pose challenges due to its complex landscape. Despite these challenges, it is essential to study K factor variations in different land use/land cover types to comprehend the threat of erosion. Digital soil mapping offers an opportunity to overcome this limitation by providing spatial predictions of soil properties. The objective of our study is to map the spatial distribution of soil erodibility using the Random Forest (RF) model, a machine learning method based on sampled in situ soil data and environmental covariates. We collected 556 surface soil samples from the mountainous catchment (Tehri dam catchment) using the stratified random sampling approach. The model performed satisfactorily in both training (r 2  = 0.91; RMSE = 0.00185) and testing (r 2  = 0.45; RMSE = 0.00318) phases. Subsequently, we generated a digital map with a resolution of 12.5 m to depict the distribution of the K factor. Our analysis revealed that key environmental variables influencing the prediction of the K factor included geology, mean NDVI, and climatic factors. The average K factor value was estimated at 0.0304 and ranging from 0.0251 to 0.0400 t ha h ha -1  MJ -1  mm -1 . A higher K factor was observed in the barren land (0.0344) primarily located in the higher and trans-Himalayan region of seasonally snow-covered areas. These areas typically feature young soils with weak soil formation and unstable soil aggregates. Subsequently cropland/cultivated soils (0.0307) exhibited higher K factor values due to the breakdown of soil aggregates by ploughing activities and exposing carbon to decomposition. The average K factor value of evergreen (0.0294) and deciduous (0.0295) forests were the lowest compared to other land use/land cover types indicating the role of forests in resisting soil erosion. By assessing and predicting soil erodibility, land planners and farmers can implement erosion control measures to protect soil health, prevent sedimentation in water bodies, and sustain agricultural productivity in the Himalayas., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

The study characterized the temporal and spatial variability in greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes (CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O) between December 2020 and November 2021 and their regulating drivers in the subtropical wetland of the Indian Himalayan foothill. Five distinct habitats (M1-sloppy surface at swamp forest, M2-plain surface at swamp forest, M3-swamp surface with small grasses, M4-marshy land with dense macrophytes, and M5-marshy land with sparse macrophytes) were studied. We conducted in situ measurements of GHG fluxes, microclimate (AT, ST, and SMC (v/v) ), and soil properties (pH, EC, N, P, K, and SOC) in triplicates in all the habitat types. Across the habitats, CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O fluxes ranged from 125 to 536 mg m -2  h -1 , 0.32 to 28.4 mg m -2  h -1 , and 0.16 to 3.14 mg m -2  h -1 , respectively. The habitats (M3 and M5) exhibited higher GHG fluxes than the others. The CH 4 flux followed the summer > autumn > spring > winter hierarchy. However, CO 2 and N 2 O fluxes followed the summer > spring > autumn > winter. CO 2 fluxes were primarily governed by ST and SOC. However, CH 4 and N 2 O fluxes were mainly regulated by ST and SMC (v/v) across the habitats. In the case of N 2 O fluxes, soil P and EC also played a crucial role across the habitats. AT was a universal driver controlling all GHG fluxes across the habitats. The results emphasize that long-term GHG flux monitoring in sub-tropical Himalayan Wetlands has become imperative to accurately predict the near-future GHG fluxes and their changing nature with the ongoing climate change., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

This study investigates the diversity and composition of soil bacterial communities in the rhizosphere of Attapadi and Nelliyampathy, prominent hill stations in Palakkad district, Kerala, India. The persistent flooding and landslides in 2018 and 2019 significantly impacted agricultural productivity in these regions. Utilizing high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing (Illumina MiSeq), we conducted a comprehensive analysis of soil samples. Correlative assessments between soil parameters and microbial relative abundance at the phylum level revealed noteworthy positive associations. Notably, nitrogen (N) exhibited a positive relation with Crenarchaeota, Chloroflexi, Actinobacteriota, and Acidobacteriota; pH correlated with Firmicutes; organic carbon (OC) with WPS-2; and phosphorous with Proteobacteria. A total of 31,402 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified, with the highest feature counts observed in undisturbed soils from Attapadi (AUD) and Nelliyampathy (NUD) (13,007 and 12,915, respectively). Disturbed soils in Nelliyampathy (ND) and Attapadi (AD) displayed a substantial decline in microbial diversity and composition, harbouring 1409 and 4071 OTUs, respectively. Alpha and beta diversity indices further underscored the more severe impairment of ND soils compared to AD soils. Interestingly, a majority of ND samples were landslide-affected (four out of five), while flood-affected soils accounted for four out of six AD samples. This indicates that landslides exert a more pronounced impact on microbial diversity and composition than floods. The observed decline in microbial count, composition, and diversity, even after 2 years of the disaster, raises concerns about potential threats to agricultural output. The findings emphasize the need for corrective measures, including the incorporation of microbial inoculum, to restore soil fertility in post-disaster landscapes., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Spatial distribution and edaphic influences on soil organic carbon (SOC) are key determinants of carbon sequestration potential, and analysis of aggregate-protected SOC gives an in-depth understanding of the stability of carbon stored in soils. The present study evaluated the edaphic effects on the SOC in four different forest types-tropical evergreen forest, tropical moist deciduous forest, tropical dry deciduous forest and shola forest-in the southern high hills agro-ecological zone of Western Ghats, India. SOC stocks at depths of up to 1 m varied significantly across forest types, with the highest levels observed in the shola forest type (441.08 Mg C/ha) and the lowest in the dry deciduous forest (138.17 Mg C/ha). Around 70% of SOC was found in upper layers (0-30 cm) in all the studied forest types. Evaluation by a fixed-effect model showed that forest type, soil depth and aggregate size significantly affected SOC storage in these systems. An assessment of the relative importance and effect of 14 edaphic factors on SOC content in different forest types using the random forest model showed that the algorithm could explain 93.68%, 41.72%, 45.53% and 75.2% variability of SOC concentration across shola, dry deciduous, moist deciduous and evergreen systems, respectively. Across all forest types, except for dry deciduous forests, soil texture was found to be the primary factor influencing SOC, surpassing all other edaphic parameters. Ionic interactions by way of metal oxides like Ca 2+ , Al 3+ , Fe 3+ , Mg and H + influenced the SOC in tropical forest systems. The insights into SOC dynamics and the edaphic factors regulating them offer valuable guidance for forest management in tropical regions, particularly regarding climate change mitigation., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

New Zealand relies on imported fossil fuels for about 38% of its primary energy. The country's energy demand is expected to grow due to population and economic growth, which will put more pressure on the energy system. Besides, resource scarcity, energy price volatility, and environmental challenges have made energy security a major concern for New Zealand and other countries. Given the lack of significant research on the effects of energy security factors in New Zealand, this study aims to shed light on the primary determinants of energy security using the dynamic autoregressive distributed lag method based on time series data from 1978 to 2021. The study found that a long-run link exists between energy security and energy intensity (energy efficiency), renewable energy use, fossil fuel consumption, and global oil prices. Real GDP, renewable energy consumption, and energy security were found to improve energy security, while fossil fuel consumption and world oil prices had a negative impact. The study also revealed a one-way causality from real GDP, fossil fuel consumption, and renewable energy use to energy security. In contrast, the relationship between energy intensity and energy security is bidirectional. Simulation results showed that global crude oil prices have a lower impact on energy security compared to other variables and are most responsive to a 5% shock in fossil fuel consumption, followed by economic growth., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Recent studies suggest that arthropod diversity in German forests is declining. Currently, different national programs are being developed to monitor arthropod trends and to unravel the effects of forest management on biodiversity in forests. To establish effective long-term monitoring programs, a set of drivers of arthropod diversity and composition as well as suitable species groups have to be identified. To aid in answering these questions, we investigated arthropod data collected in four Hessian forest reserves (FR) in the 1990s. To fully utilize this data set, we combined it with results from a retrospective structural sampling design applied at the original trap locations in central European beech (Fagus sylvatica) forests. As expected, the importance of the different forest structural, vegetation, and site attributes differed largely between the investigated arthropod groups: beetles, spiders, Aculeata, and true bugs. Measures related to light availability and temperature such as canopy cover or potential radiation were important to all groups affecting either richness, composition, or both. Spiders and true bugs were affected by the broadest range of explanatory variables, which makes them a good choice for monitoring general trends. For targeted monitoring focused on forestry-related effects on biodiversity, rove and ground beetles seem more suitable. Both groups were driven by a narrower, more management-related set of variables. Most importantly, our study approach shows that it is possible to utilize older biodiversity survey data. Although, in our case, there are strong restrictions due to the long time between species and structural attribute sampling., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

This study aimed to explore Cellulose synthase gene superfamily of teak, and its evolutionary relationship with homologous genes of other woody species. The incidence of evolutionary events like gene duplication and gene loss, influence of the selection pressure, and consequent adaptive functional divergence of the duplicated TgCes gene were assessed alongside it's role in wood coloration. This study identified 39 full-length non-redundant proteins belonging to CesA and Csl gene families. TgCesA and TgCsl proteins with Cellulose synthase domain repeats indicated tandem gene duplication and probable genetic variability, enabling local adaptation. Further, multi-domain protein (MYB-like DNA-binding domain and CesA domain) with maximum introns was also identified indicating gene fusion and formation of complex protein with novel functions. Phylogenetic analysis grouped the genes into seven subfamilies (CesA, CslA, CslC, CslD, CslE, CslG, and CslM) with each undergoing gene duplication and loss along their evolutionary history. Post-species gene duplications and probable neofunctionalization were identified in TgCesA and TgCsl gene families. Each subfamily was found to be under strong purifying selection with a few or no sites under positive selection. Functional divergence analysis further revealed site-specific selective constraints in CesA and Csl genes of the teak Cellulose synthase gene family. Furthermore, protein-protein interaction network analysis identified co-expression of Cellulose synthase gene with flavonoid 3',5'-hydroxylase (F3'5'H, CYP75A), involved in the biosynthesis of xylem anthocyanin compounds, probably responsible for wood coloration. This study thus offers a foundation for future research in wood formation and wood property traits specific to teak and its provenances., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-024-03927-6., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (© King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology 2024. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)

Potholes are microhabitats in riverine ecosystems that substantially contribute to the unique regional faunal diversity and community composition. Investigations on the ecological status of potholes in riverine habitats are very scanty. The present work is of utmost importance, particularly as a pioneering study to evaluate the health status of riverine potholes using aquatic insects as potential biological indicators. Samples of water and aquatic insects were collected and analyzed during the pre-monsoon season from February 2022 to May 2022 in the potholes at Athirappilly and the Ezhattumugham regions of the Chalakudy river basin. The present study identified 208 individuals represented by 15 families in the potholes at Athirappilly, whereas 94 individuals belong to 10 families at Ezhattumugham. The computation of water quality parameters and benthic metrics revealed a significant variation between the stations. Spearman correlation analysis revealed that the water temperature, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen concentration, and biochemical oxygen demand were influencing the distribution of aquatic insects in the potholes. Families such as Perlidae, Ephemeridae, Baetidae, Stenopsychidae, and Hydropsychidae (sensitive families) reported from the well-oxygenated potholes at Athirappilly, where the water temperature and biochemical oxygen demand were minimum. The significantly high percentage composition of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera taxa and a low family biotic index value indicate good health condition of the potholes at Athirappilly. In contrast, the low percentage composition of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera taxa and high family biotic index values, with the abundance of tolerant families (Micronectidae, Caenidae, and Chironomidae), reflect the impact of organic pollution at Ezhattumugham., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Purpose of Review: This review explores the opportunities and challenges associated with using unconventional and underutilized wood sources, such as fast-growing species, logging residues, fire-damaged wood, and post-consumer wood, to manufacture wood-based composite panels (WBCPs), particularly particleboard, medium-density fiberboard (MDF), and oriented strand board. This paper also discusses recent advancements in lightweight and multifunctional panels, with new features such as fire resistance, electrical conductivity, electromagnetic shielding, and antibacterial laminates., Recent Findings: Climate change, wildfires, and competition from the energy sector threaten current sources of fiber supply for WBCP manufacturing in some regions. Logging residues are abundant but underutilized in some areas, and the abundance of fire-damaged wood is expected to increase in the coming years due to climate change. These raw materials' effects on panel properties and technological limitations are discussed. Recycled wood is increasingly used for non-structural panels, but challenges remain when it comes to recycling panels, particularly post-consumer MDF. Conventional and emerging materials used in lightweight and multifunctional panels are also presented. Natural substances like cellulose, nanocellulose, chitosan, lignin, protein, and phytic acid are promising alternatives to conventional fire retardants. Innovative products such as MDF that contains carbon-based conductive fibers and antimicrobial laminates that use green-synthesized metal compounds are also reported., Summary: This review shows that the WBCP industry can improve its sustainability by optimizing and diversifying wood sources, better managing and recycling post-consumer panels, and using more environmentally friendly materials. The hazardous chemicals in adhesives, fire retardants, and coatings are the main obstacles to recycling panels and creating a more circular economy within the WBCP industry., Competing Interests: Competing InterestsThe authors declare no competing interests., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Purpose of Review: Conventional formaldehyde-based adhesives for wood-based composite panels are subject to significant concerns due to their formaldehyde emissions. Over the past decade, the wood adhesive industry has undergone a considerable transformation that is characterized by a major push in bio-adhesive development. Various bio-based materials have been explored to create alternatives to conventional formaldehyde-based adhesives. Moreover, growing interest in circularity has led to increasingly exploiting industrial coproducts and by-products to find innovative solutions., Recent Findings: Industrial production generates many coproducts that can serve as renewable resources to produce eco-friendly materials. These coproducts offer alternative supply sources for material production without encroaching on food production. Many bio-based compounds or coproducts, such as saccharides, proteins, tannins, and lignocellulosic biomass, can also be used to develop bio-based adhesives. As part of ongoing efforts to reduce formaldehyde emissions, new hardeners and crosslinkers are being developed to replace formaldehyde and bio-scavengers. Other alternatives, such as binderless panels, are also emerging., Summary: This review focuses on sources of bio-based material derived from by-products of various industries, which have many advantages and disadvantages when incorporated into adhesives. Modification methods to enhance their properties and performance in wood-based panels are also discussed. Additionally, alternatives for developing low-emission or formaldehyde-free adhesives are addressed, including hardeners, bio-scavengers, and binderless options. Finally, the environmental impact of bio-based adhesives compared to that of synthetic alternatives is detailed., Competing Interests: Conflict of InterestThe authors declare no competing interests., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

With the rapid growth of the fruit industry worldwide, it is important to assess adulteration to ensure the authenticity and the safety of fruit products. The DNA barcoding approach offers a quick and accurate way of identifying and authenticating species. In this study, we developed reference DNA barcodes ( rbc L, ITS2, and trn H- psb A) for 70 cultivated and wild tropical fruit species, representing 43 genera and 26 families. In terms of species recoverability, rbc L has a greater recoverability (100%) than ITS2 (95.7%) and trn H- psb A (88.6%). We evaluated the performance of these barcodes in species discrimination using similarity BLAST, phylogenetic tree, and barcoding gap analyses. The efficiency of rbc L, ITS2, and trn H- psb A in discriminating species was 80%, 100%, and 93.6%, respectively. We employed a multigene-tiered approach for species identification, with the rbc L region used for primary differentiation and ITS2 or trn H- psb A used for secondary differentiation. The two-locus barcodes rbc L + ITS2 and rbc L +  trn H- psb A demonstrated robustness, achieving species discrimination rates of 100% and 94.3% respectively. Beyond the conventional species identification method based on plant morphology, the developed reference barcodes will aid the fruit agroindustry and trade, by making fruit-based product authentication possible., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-023-03848-w., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestsThe authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)

Climate change profoundly impacts ecosystems' function and composition, changing living organisms' habitats. The Indian Himalayan ecosystem (IHE) is particularly susceptible and vulnerable to the effects of climate change. However, our understanding of how climate change affects the habitats of range-restricted and vulnerable avifauna in the IHE still needs to be improved. Hence, we employed ensemble species distribution modelling to examine the potential habitat shift of the cheer pheasant (Catreus wallichii) under climate change scenarios (representative concentration pathways, RCPs) i.e. RCP 4.5, RCP 6.0 and RCP 8.5) by 2050 and 2070. The study revealed a noticeable expansion of climatically suitable habitats, indicating a shift towards higher altitudes that would become more favourable and suitable under future climates. The model predicted an area of very highly suitable habitat (1247.4 km 2 ), followed by highly suitable (2747.9 km 2 ), moderately suitable (4002.3 km 2 ), low suitable (4952.2 km 2 ) and rarely suitable (4236 km 2 ) in the current scenario. The projection of larger areas was falling into the "no change", followed by the "high suitable" and "low suitable" classes, for both the years 2050 and 2070 across all the RCPs. Furthermore, the projections indicated a consistent trend of increasing suitability for the cheer pheasant at higher elevations and a decline at lower elevations across RCPs for 2050 and 2070. Moreover, the mean diurnal temperature range was identified as the crucial driving factor, followed by isothermally and precipitation, influencing the species' shift towards suitable habitats at higher altitudes. The study can aid policymakers in developing effective conservation strategies to protect Himalayan range-restricted bird species in the face of climate change., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Individuals across various animal species communicate their presence to conspecifics. Especially phytophagous and parasitoid insects with their brood developing on limited resources rely on chemical cues, such as host-marking pheromones, to reduce intraspecific competition. Bark beetles are phytophagous insects with some species being economically and ecologically relevant forest pests. Several of them use the volatile compound verbenone to inhibit attraction and reduce intraspecific competition. However, in the Eurasian spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus (L.), temporal emission patterns did so far not quite support the putative function of verbenone as an indicator of densely colonised host trees. More importantly, it is currently unclear how well verbenone emission is actually related to colonisation density and thus intraspecific competition. Here, we inoculated Norway spruce logs with I. typographus at two defined colonisation densities in the greenhouse and measured the emission of verbenone and its precursors α-pinene and verbenol over time. Verbenone emission was 3-7 times greater from colonised logs compared to decaying logs without beetles during the major part of larval development. Furthermore, our data supports the quantitative hypothesis, that the termination of attack on a tree is mediated by a cessation of the release of verbenol and continuous emission of verbenone. The latter is most likely a passively produced host-marking cue reflecting the actual density of conspecifics since per-beetle emission was unaffected by colonisation density. These findings shed new light on the regulation of bark beetle mass aggregations, which are currently causing previously unseen economic damages in temperate forests., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Populus deltoides is one of the most favored cash crops in northern India. Thus, accurate identification of pathogens affecting P. deltoides is a critical step in finding or developing effective control measures. In June 2020, symptoms of a leaf blight disease were observed on P. deltoides trees planted at Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India. Calonectria-like fungal isolates were consistently isolated from the infected leaf samples. Morphological features coupled with phylogenetic analysis of combined partial actin (act), calmodulin (cmdA), histone (his3), translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef1) and β-tubulin (tub2) gene regions of two fungal isolates confirmed a novel species, which is described and illustrated here as Calonectria populi sp. nov. Symptoms similar to those observed in natural conditions were caused by both the isolates on P. deltoides clone AM109 in detached leaf assays and glasshouse inoculation experiments. Finally, Koch's postulates were established by re-isolation and re-identification of the pathogen from the inoculated leaves. This work is the first to confirm a new leaf blight disease of P. deltoides caused by C. populi sp. nov. in India and worldwide., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Chaetomium globosum Kunze, an internationally recognized biocontrol fungus. It mycoparasitizes various plant pathogens and produce antifungal metabolites to suppress the growth of pathogenic fungi. Lack of detailed genome level diversity studies has delimited the development and utilization of potential C. globosum strains. The present study was taken to reveal the distribution, identification, and characterization of expressed sequence tag-simple sequence repeats (EST-SSRs) in C. globosum . RNA-Seq experiment was performed for C. globosum potential isolate Cg2 (AY429049) using Illumina HiSeq 2500. Reference-guided de novo assembly yielded 45,582 transcripts containing 27,957 unigenes. We generated a new set of 8485 EST-SSR markers distributed in 5908 unigene sequences with one SSR locus distribution density per 6.1 kb. Six distinct classes of SSR repeat motifs were identified. The most abundant were mononucleotide repeats (51.67%), followed by tri-nucleotides (36.61%). Out of 5034 EST-SSR primers, 50 primer pairs were selected and validated for the polymorphic study of 15 C. globosum isolates. Twenty-two SSR markers showed average genetic polymorphism among C. globosum isolates . The number of alleles (Na) per marker ranges from 2 to 4, with a total of 74 alleles detected for 22 markers with a mean polymorphism information content (PIC) value of 0.4. UPGMA hierarchical clustering analysis generated three main clusters of C. globosum isolates and exhibited a lower similarity index range from 0.59 to 0.85. Thus, the newly developed EST-SSR markers could replace traditional methods for determining diversity. The study will also enhance the genomic research in C. globosum to explore its biocontrol potential against phytopathogens., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-023-03794-7., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare that they have no conflict of interest in the publication., (© King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)

The Hindon River is the main tributary of river Yamuna and it is a significant source of surface water, which flows through the major cities of western Uttar Pradesh, India. The indiscriminate development of industries and urbanization along river basin coupled with rapid population growths contribute various amounts of pollutant in the river. Therefore, the present study was conducted to assess the spatial-temporal variability of river water quality (seventeen physicochemical parameters and eight heavy metals) during pre- and post-monsoon seasons for 5 years data at 19 sampling sites along the river stretch. Indices associated with water quality and heavy metals were computed to scale the accurate state of risk associated to its use for drinking and irrigation. During the pre- and post-monsoon seasons, only four sites were found having safe water quality index (WQI) values. The mean heavy metal concentrations are found in order of Zn > Fe > Pb > Cu > Cr > Cd > Ni > Mn. Considering the spatial and temporal distribution, the study benchmarked the water quality of Hindon River for priority attention., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The use of renewable energy as a fuel source and expansion of forest areas are the best ways for reducing CO 2 emissions. This study aims to examine the effects of forest plantation area, renewable energies, real gross domestic product (GDP), and technological innovation on CO 2 emissions in 9 regions of New Zealand between 2006 and 2019. For this purpose, it employs a pooled mean group methodology. Investigating the regional impacts of various variables, especially the forest area, on CO 2 emissions is the main contribution of this study. The results suggest that planted forest areas can reduce CO 2 emissions in the long run, but its impact in the short run is not significant. Non-renewable energy consumption is the major contributor to CO 2 emissions in both the short and long run. While technological innovation and renewable energy consumption appear effective in reducing carbon emissions in the short term, they still contribute to increased CO 2 emissions in the long term. At the regional level, we found that the forest plantation areas in Manawatu-Whanganui and Gisborne are important regions for reducing CO 2 emissions. By taking account of these results, New Zealand should take swift action to properly manage and increase the current level of forest areas and if applicable expand them. It also needs to improve the current level of use of renewable energy to achieve its abatement goals., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The importance of gut sucrase in maintaining osmotic equilibrium and utilizing phloem contents as a carbon source has been widely investigated and proven in sap-sucking insects. In the present study, silencing of Aphis gossypii sucrase1 (Agsuc1) was carried out by double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), which would be lethal to it due to disruption of osmotic balance. The dsRNA corresponding to Agsuc1 was synthesized by two methods, i.e., in vitro synthesis using T7/SP6 RNA polymerase and in vivo synthesis by bacterial expression, i.e., Escherichia coli strain HT115 transformed with the L4440 vector system. Oral delivery of double-stranded Agsuc1 synthesized in vitro (dsAgsuc1) and in vivo (HT115Agsuc1) induced around 50% mortality in nymphs of A. gossypii. Moreover, the number of offspring produced by the survived aphids decreased by 39-43%. Parthenogenetic reproduction of the aphids is the critical factor for their fast population build-up, leading to yield losses of economic significance. Thus, the present study demonstrated that the silencing of the Agsuc1 gene reduced the aphid population by killing it and inhibited the population buildup by reducing the number of offspring produced by the survived aphids, likely to result in a significant reduction in crop damage. The production of dsRNA by bacterial expression is a cost-effective method. It has the potential to be used as a biopesticide. The sucrase gene is an excellent putative target gene for RNAi against A. gossypii. It could be used to develop a transgenic plant that produces dsAgsuc1 to keep A. gossypii populations below the economic threshold level., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The intensity and frequency of diverse hydro-meteorological disasters viz., extreme droughts, severe floods, and cyclones have increasing trends due to unsustainable management of land and water resources, coupled with increasing industrialization, urbanization and climate change. This study focuses on the forecasting of drought using selected Artificial Neural Network (ANN)-based models to enable decision-makers to improve regional water management plans and disaster mitigation/reduction plans. Four ANN models were developed in this study, viz., one conventional ANN model and three hybrid ANN models: (a) Wavelet based-ANN (WANN), (b) Bootstrap based-ANN (BANN), and (c) Wavelet-Bootstrap based-ANN (WBANN). The Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), the best drought index identified for the study area, was used as a variable for drought forecasting. Three drought indices, such as SPEI-3, SPEI-6 and SPEI-12 respectively representing "short-term", "intermediate-term", and "long-term" drought conditions, were forecasted for 1-month to 3-month lead times for six weather stations over the study area. Both statistical and graphical indicators were considered to assess the performance of the developed models. For the hybrid wavelet model, the performance was evaluated for different vanishing moments of Daubechies wavelets and decomposition levels. The best-performing bootstrap-based model was further used for analysing the uncertainty associated with different drought forecasts. Among the models developed for drought forecasting for 1 to 3 months, the performances of the WANN and WBANN models are superior to the simple ANN and BANN models for the SPEI-3, SPEI-6, and SPEI-12 up to the 3-month lead time. The performance of the WANN and WBANN models is the best for SPEI-12 (MAE = 0.091-0.347, NSE = 0.873-0.982) followed by SPEI-6 (MAE = 0.258-0.593; NSE = 0.487-0.848) and SPEI-3 (MAE = 0.332-0.787, NSE = 0.196-0.825) for all the stations up to 3-month lead time. This finding is supported by the WBANN analyze uncertainties as narrower band width for SPEI-12 (0.240-0.898) as compared to SPEI-6 (0.402-1.62) and SPEI-3 (0.474-2.304). Therefore, the WBANN model is recommended for the early warning of drought events as it facilitates the uncertainty analysis of drought forecasting results., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Lilium mackliniae Sealy is a species endemic to the Indo-Myanmar Biodiversity Hotspot with confined occurrence in the Shirui hills of Manipur (India). A rapid fragmentation of the species resulted in enlisting the remaining population as endangered. Tribal communities have managed this population in national parks for in situ conservation because of its sacred value. Maximum entropy-based modeling was performed with 19 bioclimatic and six geospatial variables on 65 true presence data to assess the threat on its only habitat. The accuracy of modeling was confirmed by an AUC value of 0.989. Among the variables used for habitat modeling, elevation range was a key predictor of the species distribution, followed by land use class and annual temperature range. Additionally, the model projected a similar habitat for the species in the same district. This study, therefore, provides essential information for the conservation and management of the species., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Melampsora medusae f. sp. deltoidae is causing serious foliar rust disease on Populus deltoides clones in India. In the present study, a novel fungal hyperparasite on M. medusae has been reported. The hyperparasitic fungus was isolated from the uredeniospores of the rust fungi and identified as Cladosporium oxysporum by morphological characterization and DNA barcode technique based on the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region of nrDNA and beta-tubulin (TUB) gene region. Hyperparasitism was further confirmed through leaf assay and cavity slide methods. Leaf assay method showed no adverse effect of C. oxysporum on poplar leaves. However, the mean germination percentage of urediniospores was significantly decreased ( p  < 0.05) in the cavity slide method when a conidial suspension (1.5 × 10 7 conidia per ml) of C. oxysporum was applied in different deposition sequences. Scanning and light microscopic observations were made to explore the mode of action of the hyperparasitism. The antagonistic fungus vividly showed three different types of antagonism mechanisms, including enzymatic, direct, and contact parasitism. Alternatively, by screening 25 high-yielding clones of P. deltoides , five clones (FRI-FS-83, FRI-FS-92, FRI-FS-140, FRI-AM-111, and D-121) were enlisted under highly resistant category. Present study revealed an antagonistic relationship between C. oxysporum and M. medusae , which could be an effective method of biocontrol in field plantations of poplar. Combining this biocontrol approach with the use of resistant host germplasm could be an environment friendly strategy for preventing foliar rust and increasing poplar productivity in northern India., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-023-03623-x., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestOn behalf of all authors, the corresponding author affirms that the manuscript has been neither published elsewhere nor submitted simultaneously for publication elsewhere. The article has been read by each author and that there is no conflict of interest., (© King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology 2023, Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)

This study aimed to assess antibacterial activity of Knema retusa wood extract (KRe) against antibiotic resistant staphylococci which are causative agents of bovine mastitis. From 75 cases of intramammary infections in dairy cows, 66 staphylococcal isolates were collected, including 11 Staphylococcus aureus isolates (17%) and 55 coagulase-negative staphylococci (83%). Sixty isolates (91%) formed strong biofilms. KRe had minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBC) against the isolates ranging 32-256 ug/mL and 64-512 ug/mL, respectively. Two-hour KRe exposures at 4×MIC, viabilities of S. aureus and S. haemolyticus decreased by 3 log 10 compared to the control. Scanning EM (SEM) showed that KRe disrupted the bacterial cells of both species. KRe at 1/16×MIC significantly inhibited biofilm formation (P < 0.05) in both S. aureus and S. haemolyticus. At 1/2×MIC, S. aureus and S. haemolyticus biofilm inhibition ranged from 75 to 99%. Cells within established biofilms were disrupted 66-83% by KRe at 32×MIC. Moreover, 1/2×MIC KRe reduced bacterial adhesion to glass surfaces observed by SEM. According to GC-MS analysis, the major compound in KRe was endo-2-hydroxy-9,9-(ethylenedioxy)-1-carbethoxy bicyclo [3.3.1] nonane (E2N). Molecular docking analysis of E2N has a high affinity for staphylococcal accessory regulator A (SarA), binding free-energy - 6.40kcal/mol. The results suggested that KRe may have medicinal benefits by inhibiting the growth, biofilm, and adhesion of antibiotic resistant staphylococci isolated from bovine mastitis., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Extreme difficulties in species identification of illegally sourced wood with conventional tools have accelerated illicit logging activities, leading to the destruction of natural resources in India. In this regard, the study primarily focused on developing a DNA barcode database for 41 commercial timber tree species which are highly vulnerable to adulteration in south India. The developed DNA barcode database was validated using an integrated approach involving wood anatomical features of traded wood samples collected from south India. Traded wood samples were primarily identified using wood anatomical features using IAWA list of microscopic features for hardwood identification. Consortium of Barcode of Life (CBOL) recommended barcode gene regions ( rbcL, matK & psbA-trnH ) were employed for developing DNA barcode database. Secondly, we employed artificial intelligence (AI) analytical platform, Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis (WEKA) for analyzing DNA barcode sequence database which could append precision, speed, and accuracy for the entire identification process. Among the four classification algorithms implemented in the machine learning algorithm (WEKA), best performance was shown by SMO, which could clearly allocate individual samples to their respective sequence database of biological reference materials (BRM) with 100 % accuracy, indicating its efficiency in authenticating the traded timber species. Major advantage of AI is the ability to analyze huge data sets with more precision and also provides a large platform for rapid authentication of species, which subsequently reduces human labor and time., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-023-03604-0., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interestThe authors declare no conflict of interests. All authors read and approved the manuscript., (© King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology 2023, Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)

Bamboo is an important genetic resource in India, supporting rural livelihood and industries. Unfortunately, most Indian bamboo taxa are devoid of basic genomic or marker information required to comprehend the genetic processes for further conservation and management. In this study, we perform genome survey sequencing for development of de novo genomic SSRs in Dendrocalamus longispathus, a socioeconomically important bamboo species of northeast India. Using Illumina platform, 69.49 million raw reads were generated and assembled into 1,145,321 contig with GC content 43% and N50 1228 bp. In total, 46,984 microsatellite repeats were mined-out wherein di-nucleotide repeats were most abundant (54.71%) followed by mono- (31.91%) and tri-repeats (9.85%). Overall, AT-rich repeats were predominant in the genome, but GC-rich motifs were more frequent in tri-repeats. Afterwards, 21,596 SSR loci were successfully tagged with the primer pairs, and a subset of 50 were validated through polymerase chain reaction amplification. Of these, 36 SSR loci were successfully amplified, and 16 demonstrated polymorphism. Using 13 polymorphic SSRs, a moderate level of gene diversity (He = 0.480; Ar = 3.52) was recorded in the analysed populations of D. longispathus. Despite the high gene flow (Nm = 4.928) and low genetic differentiation (F ST  = 0.119), severe inbreeding (F IS  = 0.407) was detected. Further, genetic clustering and STRUCTURE analysis revealed that the entire genetic variability is captured under two major gene pools. Conclusively, we present a comprehensive set of novel SSR markers in D. longispathus as well as other taxa of tropical woody bamboos., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Members of Aquilaria Lam. (Thymelaeaceae) are evergreen trees that are widely distributed in the Indomalesia region. Aquilaria is highly prized for its unique scented resin, agarwood, which is often the subject of unlawful trade activities. Survival of the tree is heavily threatened by destructive harvesting and agarwood poaching, leading to its protection under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Unfortunately, an efficient species identification method, which is crucial to aid in the conservation efforts of Aquilaria is lacking. Here, we described our search for a suitable specific DNA barcode for Aquilaria species using eight complete plastome sequences. We identified five highly variable regions (HVR) ( mat K- rps 16, ndh F- rpl 32, psb J- pet A, trn D, and trn T- trn L) in the plastomes. These regions were further analyzed using the neighbor-joining (NJ) method to assess their ability at discriminating the eight species. Coupled with in silico primer design, two potential barcoding regions, psb J- pet A and trn T- trn L, were identified. Their strengths in species delimitation were evaluated individually and in combination, via DNA barcoding analysis. Our findings showed that the combined dataset, psb J- pet A +  trn T- trn L, effectively resolved members of the genus Aquilaria by clustering all species into their respective clades. In addition, we demonstrated that the newly proposed DNA barcode was capable at identifying the species of origin of six commercial agarwood samples that were included as unknown samples. Such achievement offers a new technical advancement, useful in the combat against illicit agarwood trades and in assisting the conservation of these valuable species in natural populations., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-023-03479-1., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare that they have no conflict of interest in the publication., (© King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology 2023, Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)

The oil palm kernel shell biochar (OPKS-B) and oil palm kernel shell activated carbon (OPKS-AC) were used as a framework to entrap urea using adsorption method. Batch adsorption studies were performed to gauge the influence of contact time on the adsorption of urea onto both OPKS-B and OPKS-AC. To evaluate the physicochemical traits of the studied materials, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS), N 2 -sorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), elemental analysis, differential thermal gravity (TG/DTG) and thermal gravity were applied. Result shows OPKS-AC has a better sorption capacity for urea compared to OPKS-B. The Langmuir isotherm model better justified the sorption isotherms of urea. For the adsorption process for both OPKS-B and OPKS-AC, the pseudo-second-order kinetic model was picked as it best fitted the experimental sorption outcome with the superior R 2 values of > 65.1% and > 74.5%, respectively. The outcome of the experiments showcased that the maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of the OPKS-AC towards urea was 239.68 mg/g. OPKS-AC has showed promising attributes to be picked as an organic framework in the production of controlled release urea fertiliser for a greener and environmentally friendly agricultural practices., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

There has been a long-lasting impact of the lockdown imposed due to COVID-19 on several fronts. One such front is climate which has seen several implications. The consequences of climate change owing to this lockdown need to be explored taking into consideration various climatic indicators. Further impact on a local and global level would help the policymakers in drafting effective rules for handling challenges of climate change. For in-depth understanding, a temporal study is being conducted in a phased manner in the New Delhi region taking NO 2 concentration and utilizing statistical methods to elaborate the quality of air during the lockdown and compared with a pre-lockdown period. In situ mean values of the NO 2 concentration were taken for four different dates, viz. 4th February, 4th March, 4th April, and 25th April 2020. These concentrations were then compared with the Sentinel (5p) data across 36 locations in New Delhi which are found to be promising. The results indicated that the air quality has been improved maximum in Eastern Delhi and the NO 2 concentrations were reduced by one-fourth than the pre-lockdown period, and thus, reduced activities due to lockdown have had a significant impact. The result also indicates the preciseness of Sentinel (5p) for NO 2 concentrations., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare no competing interests., (© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2023, Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)

Tropical rainforests in Southeast Asia are enriched by multifarious biota dominated by Dipterocarpaceae. In this family, Shorea robusta is an ecologically sensitive and economically important timber species whose genomic diversity and phylogeny remain understudied due to lack of datasets on genetic resources. Smattering availability of molecular markers impedes population genetic studies indicating a necessity to develop genomic databases and species-specific markers in S. robusta. Accordingly, the present study focused on fostering de novo low-depth genome sequencing, identification of reliable microsatellites markers, and their validation in various populations of S. robusta in Uttarakhand Himalayas. With 69.88 million raw reads assembled into 1,97,489 contigs (read mapped to 93.2%) and a genome size of 357.11 Mb (29 × coverage), Illumina paired-end sequencing technology arranged a library of sequence data of ~ 10 gigabases (Gb). From 57,702 microsatellite repeats, a total of 35,049 simple sequence repeat (SSR) primer pairs were developed. Afterward, among randomly selected 60 primer pairs, 50 showed successful amplification and 24 were found as polymorphic. Out of which, nine polymorphic loci were further used for genetic analysis in 16 genotypes each from three different geographical locations of Uttarakhand (India). Prominently, the average number of alleles per locus (Na), observed heterozygosity (Ho), expected heterozygosity (He), and the polymorphism information content (PIC) were recorded as 2.44, 0.324, 0.277 and 0.252, respectively. The accessibility of sequence information and novel SSR markers potentially enriches the current knowledge of the genomic background for S. robusta and to be utilized in various genetic studies in species under tribe Shoreae., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Long-term and high-intensity application of inorganic fertilizer leads to a strong variation of soil characteristics. The changes in soil chemical and biological properties can significantly affect the yield of Eucalyptus plantation. However, the mechanism of soil chemical properties affecting wood volume mediated by biological factors is not clear. The purpose of this study was to identify which soil properties were affected by different fertilization intensities and to disentangle the dominant factors affecting Eucalyptus volume. After clear felling evergreen broad-leaved forest, a Eucalyptus plantation was established that was coppiced every 5 years and fertilized every year. Within this plantation, areas with different treatments were established. These treatments were a 5-year growth period (low); two times 5-year growth period (medium); and three times 5-year growth period (high). In each treatment area and in a nearby evergreen broad-leaved forest (EBLF Control), five sample plots per treatment were set up. Various biological and chemistry analyses (18 in total) were related to determining the most important path and index for optimizing Eucalyptus plantation. The analysis of variance of enzyme activity and microbial biomass showed that the soil biological characteristics decreased over 10 years of plantation, and the enzyme activity was close to the state of EBLF control in medium, while the microbial biomass failed to return to its original state during continuous planting. Redundancy analysis results show that there was a strong correlation in chemical indicators and biological characteristics. Partial least square structural equation model showed that total phosphorus, nitrate nitrogen, urease, catalase, and microbial biomass nitrogen and phosphorus were the most influential soil biochemical factors, and the indirect effect of chemical properties on volume was achieved by microorganisms through enzyme activity. Continuous planting and large-scale application of inorganic fertilizer would lead to a decrease in plantation yield and fertilizer utilization efficiency and would affect the microbial biomass and enzyme activity by destroying the stability of soil chemical properties., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Despite being a historically significant and biologically diverse protected area in Bangladesh, Bhawal National Park (BNP) has been the victim of anthropogenic activities that have challenged its sustainability. This study aims to determine the extent of landscape change and forest area depletion within BNP territory from 2005 to 2020, as land use change is the most visible indicator of human footprint liable to biodiversity loss and land degradation. Landsat satellite images from four sensors are used in this research (MSS, TM, OLI, and TIRS). The complex spatial composition of Bhawal National Park was characterized using a supervised classification technique using ArcMap version 10.8. The findings show a steady decline in the dense and degraded forest classifications, but an increase in the other classed classes. Waterbody, settlement, and chala/baid are found to increase by approximately 105, 369, and 650% respectively from 2005 till 2020, while, the area of dense and degraded forest decreased by about 47 and 51%. Within 16 years, nearly 1000 ha of dense forest cover has been depleted. Comparing the latest classified image of BNP with the relevant map, Bhabanipur, B.K. Bari, and Boupara beat are identified to be the most degraded areas. The conclusion can be drawn from this study that owing to most suppressing factors, namely settlement and chala/baid, a forest cover of nearly 2284 ha has been depleted from this national park which is almost 49% of the total possessed forest cover in 2005., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

The present work focuses on total concentrations of trace elements such as chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), arsenic (As), selenium (Se), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) and their operationally defined speciation in surface sediments from three Ethiopian Rift Valley Lakes (Hawassa, Koka, and Ziway). Total concentrations were determined using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). A six-step sequential extraction was also applied to evaluate the mobilization potential of these elements. Compared with the consensus-based sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) developed for freshwater ecosystems, the total Zn concentration in sediments from Lakes Hawassa and Ziway, as well as Cr, Ni, and Zn in sediments from Lake Koka, was higher than the probable effect concentration (PEC), suggesting that these elements could have a negative effect on benthic organisms. The sequential extraction results showed that Cd, Mn, and Se were to a certain extent associated with the reversible fractions (F1-F3) in sediments, and thereby more mobile than the other investigated trace elements. Predictions of mobility of trace elements using the distribution coefficients (K d ) values were also in agreement with the sequential extraction results. Furthermore, multivariate statistical analyses showed that redox-sensitive fractions (F4 and F6) and the residual fraction (F7) were the dominant factors controlling most trace element mobility. Finally, applying the Risk Assessment Code (RAC) classification system, results showed that Mn in Lake Koka could pose a high risk, while Cd and Mn in Lake Hawassa as well as Cd, Mn, and Se in Lake Ziway sediments could pose medium risk to benthic organisms., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Traditional agroforestry systems, one of the time tested and dominant land use from tropical to sub-tropical regions, were recognized for their contributions to food production, biodiversity conservation, and atmospheric carbon sequestration. Their management often varies from region to region. However, these systems frequently mimic economically managed land uses due to increased pressure on the monetary requirement of their managers. The present study aims to evaluate (i) tree density, (ii) tree diversity indices, and (iii) identify the biomass carbon important tree species managed by different communities of the Indian Eastern Himalayan region. We found that the Mizo community harbored the highest number of tree species (35) in the traditional agroforestry system with the highest tree diversity index (3.47). Total biomass carbon of tropical agroforestry systems managed by different communities ranged between 4.72 Mg ha -1 (Meitei) and 29.26 Mg ha -1 (Bengali). Similarly, in the sub-tropical traditional agroforestry system, the highest and the lowest biomass carbon was observed in Mizo- (10.93 Mg ha -1 ) and Angami- (6.05 Mg ha -1 ) managed systems. Of the 31 biomass carbon, important species found across the traditional agroforestry systems, Artocarpus heterophyllus, had the highest occurrence (50%), followed by Parkia timoriana (37.5) and Amoora rohituka, Delonix regia, Mangifera indica, and Toona ciliata (25% for each species). Farmers' preference to cash return of a species, trees density, and basal area were the determinant factors in the carbon stock potential of these systems. The present study suggests that the farmers' preferred and dominant species in their agroecosystems have a limited scope of enhanced biomass carbon storage. Therefore, improvement of traditional agroforestry systems through selective incorporation of biomass carbon important tree species is recommended to enhance the carbon sink capacity of these systems., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

As China's economy continues to grow, more and more attention is being paid to environmental pollution issues, including haze pollution, which is the most prominent of the air problems. In order to alleviate the haze pollution problem while ensuring the normal operation of the economy, the government has adopted an environmental regulation policy along with the introduction of foreign direct investment. This study uses a fixed effects model and two-stage least squares to examine the correlation of foreign direct investment and environmental regulation to the haze pollution level by using the Chinese provincial panel data from 2008 to 2019. We found a positive interaction between the foreign direct investment and environmental regulation, where a high-quality investment promotes the haze reduction, and the environmental regulation can enhance this effect. The results approve the possibilities that China can bring the merit investment and reduce its air pollution simultaneously, but how to balance the interaction between environmental regulation and the investment needs to draw attention., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Microclimate is a crucial driver of saproxylic beetle assemblages, with more species often found in sunny forests than in shady ones. Whether this pattern is caused by a higher detectability due to increased beetle activity under sunny conditions or a greater diversity of beetles emerging from sun-exposed deadwood remains unclear. This study examined whether sun exposure leads to higher microclimatic heterogeneity in deadwood and whether this drives beetle diversity in deadwood logs and at forest stand scale. Saproxylic beetles were sampled at the stand scale using flight-interception traps and at object scale using stem-emergence traps on deadwood logs at the same site. The variability in wood surface temperature was measured on single logs and between logs as a proxy for microclimatic heterogeneity in deadwood. Abundance in sunny forests was higher at the stand scale, and in shady forests at the object scale. The estimated number of species was higher in sunny forests at both scales and correlated positively with temperature variability on single logs and between logs at the stand scale and, albeit weakly, with temperature variability on single logs at the object scale. Gamma-diversity, and thus beta-diversity, across logs at the object scale was higher in sunny forests. These findings indicate that sun exposure promotes saproxylic beetle diversity due to higher microclimatic heterogeneity within and between deadwood logs. Our study therefore corroborates previous research demonstrating the importance of canopy cover and microclimate for forest biodiversity., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Wetlands are emitters of greenhouse gases. However, many of the wetlands remain understudied (like temperate, boreal, and high-altitude wetlands), which constrains the global budgets. Himalayan foothill is one such data-deficient area. The present study reported (for the first time) the greenhouse gas fluxes (CO 2 , CH 4 , N 2 O, and H 2 O vapor) from the soils of the Nakraunda wetland of Uttarakhand in India during the post-monsoon season (October 2020 to January 2021). The sampling points covered six different types of soil within the wetlands. CO 2 , CH 4 , N 2 O, and H 2 O vapor emissions ranged from 82.89 to 1052.13 mg m -2  h -1 , 0.56 to 2.25 mg m -2  h -1 , 0.18 to 0.40 mg m -2  h -1 , and 557.96 to 29,397.18 mg m -2  h -1 , respectively, during the study period. Except for CO 2 , the other three greenhouse gas effluxes did not show any spatial variability. Soils close to "swamp proper" emitted substantially higher CO 2 than the vegetated soils. Soil temperature exhibited exponential relationships with all the greenhouse gas fluxes, except for H 2 O vapor. The Q 10 values for CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O varied from 3.42 to 4.90, 1.66 to 2.20, and 1.20 to 1.30, respectively. Soil moisture showed positive relationships with all the greenhouse gas fluxes, except for N 2 O. The fluxes observed from Nakraunda were in parity with global observations. However, this study showed that wetlands experiencing lower temperature regime are also capable of emitting a substantial amount of greenhouse gases and thus, requires more study. Considering the seasonality of greenhouse gas fluxes should improve global wetland emission budgets., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Understanding the response of medicinal plants to elevated CO 2 concentrations is crucial to evaluate the climate change impacts on medicinal plant's productivity together with the accumulation of biochemical constituents counting nutrients wealth. The present study investigated the effect of elevated CO 2 concentrations (ambient-~400±4, 600±12, and 800±16 μmol CO 2 mol -1 ) on the biochemical constituents (viz. chlorophyll, carotenoids, ascorbic acid, protein, total sugars, and carbon partitioning) and accumulation of mineral nutrients (viz. potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium) in different plant parts (viz. leaf, stem, and root) of Asparagus racemosus Willd., an endangered medicinal plant species. The results confirmed that the elevated CO 2 concentration significantly (p ≤ 0.05) enhanced the leaves biochemical constituents, viz. chlorophyll, protein, total sugars, and carbon content while conversely diminishes the ascorbic acid content in leaf. The accumulation of nutrients especially potassium and magnesium were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) improved while it is reverse in case of phosphorus under the elevated CO 2 concentration. Moreover, elevated CO 2 notably altered protein, sugars, carbon, and nutrients partitioning in leaf, stem, and root tissues. This study will be helpful in anticipating the effect of rising atmospheric CO 2 concentration on medicinal and threatened plants and require further intensive studies to comprehend the effects of elevated CO 2 concentration., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Forests are key components of European multifunctional landscapes and supply numerous forest ecosystem services (FES) fundamental to human well-being. The sustainable provision of FES has the potential to provide responses to major societal challenges, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, or rural development. To identify suitable strategies for the future sustenance of FES, we performed a solution scanning exercise with a group of transdisciplinary forest and FES experts from different European regions. We identified and prioritized fifteen major challenges hindering the balanced provision of multiple FES and identified a series of potential solutions to tackle each of them. The most prominent challenges referred to the increased frequency and impacts of extreme weather events and the normative mindset regarding forest management. The respective solutions pointed to the promotion of forest resilience via climate-smart forestry and mainstreaming FES-oriented management through a threefold strategy focusing on education, awareness raising, and networking. In a subsequent survey, most solutions were assessed as highly effective, transferable, monitorable, and with potential for being economically efficient. The implementation of the solutions could have synergistic effects when applying the notion of leverage points. Seven emerging pathways towards the sustainable supply of FES have been identified. These pathways build on each other and are organized based on their potential for transformation: (1) shifting forest management paradigms towards pluralistic ecosystem valuation; (2) using integrated landscape approaches; (3) increasing forest resilience; (4) coordinating actions between forest-related actors; (5) increasing participation in forest planning and management; (6) continuous, open, and transparent knowledge integration; and (7) using incentive-based instruments to support regulating and cultural FES. These pathways can contribute to the implementation of the new EU Forestry Strategy to support the balanced supply of multiple FES., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11625-022-01111-4., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

The present study has been carried out to evaluate the effects of piperazine and EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) in the garden snail, Cornu aspersum. EDTA and piperazine-like chemicals are widely used in various pharmaceutical, household, and industrial applications. The snails after collection were kept in different earthen pots and treated with these chemicals at different concentrations. A higher concentration of these chemicals led to a change in foot color from light to dark brown and loss in average weight with time. It has been found that a 10-fold increase in piperazine and EDTA concentration reduces weight by approximately 12.7- and 11.6-fold, respectively. Further, the study provides an insight into the altered antimicrobial activity of crude extract when treated with ligands. Additionally, the variations in the electrolytes in the mucus sample have been observed with the mean standard deviation (± SD) of 6.4 and 2.4 for Na + and K + ions, respectively., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Adulteration of expensive raw drugs with inferior taxa has become a routine practice, conceding the quality and safety of derived herbal products. In this regard, the study addresses the development of an integrated approach encompassing DNA barcode and HPTLC fingerprinting to authenticate chiefly traded ayurvedic raw drugs in south India [viz. Saraca asoca (Roxb.) Willd., Terminalia arjuna (Roxb. ex DC.) Wight and Arn., Sida alnifolia L. and Desmodium gangeticum (L.) DC.] from its adulterants. Consortium of Barcode of Life (CBOL) recommended DNA barcode gene regions viz. nuclear ribosomal-Internal Transcribed Spacer (nrDNA-ITS), maturase K ( mat K), ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase large subunit ( rbc L) and psb A- trn H spacer regions along with HPTLC profiling were experimented and a reference database was created. Further, an integrated analytical approach employing genetic distance-based Maximum Likelihood phylogenetic tree and Artificial Intelligence (AI)based Machine Learning Algorithms (MLA)-Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis (WEKA) and Barcoding with Logic (BLOG) were employed to prove efficacy of DNA barcode tool. Even though, among the four barcodes, psb A- trn H ( S. alnifolia and its adulterants, T. arjuna and its adulterants) or ITS region ( S. asoca and its adulterants, D. gangeticum and its adulterants) showed highest inter specific divergences in the selected Biological Reference Materials (BRMs), rbc L or mat K barcode regions alone were successful for authentication of traded samples. The automated species identification techniques, WEKA and BLOG, experimented for the first time in India for raw drug validation, could achieve rapid and precise identification. A national certification agency for raw drug authentication employing an integrated approach involving a DNA barcoding tool along with standard organoleptic and analytical methods can strengthen and ensure safety and quality of herbal medicines in India., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-021-03001-5., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestsThe authors declare no conflict of interests., (© King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology 2021.)

Soil carbon dioxide emission is a major component of ecosystem respiration, responsible for organic carbon losses from the ecosystem. In Pinus roxburghii Sarg. plantations, higher CO 2 emission coincided with maximum soil moisture and soil temperature during the rainy season (4.23 µmol CO 2 m -2  s -1 ) followed by summer season (1.69 µmol CO 2 m -2  s -1 ) and winter season (1.35 µmol CO 2 m -2  s -1 ). The soil CO 2 emission rates recorded during the rainy season differed significantly from other seasons (p < 0.05). Multiple linear regression revealed that rainfall was the main dominant factor affecting the soil CO 2 emission. A significant positive correlation with minimum air temperature and average air temperature during the lag period, i.e., preceding 15 days of data, was recorded. A significant positive correlation was also observed between annual soil CO 2 emission rates with soil temperature, soil moisture, air temperature, and rainfall (p < 0.05). Vapor pressure and relative humidity at 14.19 h also emerged as additional scientific variables affecting soil CO 2 emission with significant positive correlations. Annual soil CO 2 emission rates and soil properties were not significantly correlated but were positively correlated with organic carbon, exchangeable potassium and negatively correlated with available nitrogen and phosphorous (p > 0.05). Higher annual average carbon stock, 95.05 t ha -1 in P. roxburghii plantations than the yearly soil CO 2 emission, 33.23 t ha -1 indicates that plantations sequester more carbon than the emissions., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Deforestation and forest degradation are among the leading global concerns, as they could reduce the carbon sink and sequestration potential of the forest. The impoundment of Kenyir River, Hulu Terengganu, Malaysia, in 1985 due to the development of hydropower station has created a large area of water bodies following clearance of forested land. This study assessed the loss of forest carbon due to these activities within the period of 37 years, between 1972 and 2019. The study area consisted of Kenyir Lake catchment area, which consisted mainly of forests and the great Kenyir Lake. Remote sensing datasets have been used in this analysis. Satellite images from Landsat 1-5 MSS and Landsat 8 OLI/TRIS that were acquired between the years 1972 and 2019 were used to classify land uses in the entire landscape of Kenyir Lake catchment. Support vector machine (SVM) was adapted to generate the land-use classification map in the study area. The results show that the total study area includes 278,179 ha and forest covers dominated the area for before and after the impoundment of Kenyir Lake. The assessed loss of carbon between the years 1972 and 2019 was around 8.6 million Mg C with an annual rate of 0.36%. The main single cause attributing to the forest loss was due to clearing of forest for hydro-electric dam construction. However, the remaining forests surrounding the study area are still able to sequester carbon at a considerable rate and thus balance the carbon dynamics within the landscapes. The results highlight that carbon sequestration scenario in Kenyir Lake catchment area shows the potential of the carbon sink in the study area are acceptable with only 17% reduction of sequestration ability. The landscape of the study area is considered as highly vegetated area despite changes due to dam construction., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Habitat quality has direct effects on the evolutionary fitness of breeding organisms, which is why it is believed that animals tend to have an evolved preference for the best possible habitats. However, some animals may mistakenly choose to reproduce in habitats that decrease their fitness, resulting in 'ecological traps'. In this study, we tested whether great tits (Parus major) attracted to areas affected by outbreaks of the great web-spinning sawfly (Acantholyda posticalis) had fitness detriments characteristic of ecological traps. Sawfly larvae consume pine needles, which decreases resource availability for birds co-habiting the forest. Using artificial nesting sites, we found that great tits inhabiting areas of sawfly outbreaks had similar clutch sizes as tits breeding in healthy forest patches; however, the fledgling number was significantly lower, and fledgling condition was worse in the damaged forests. While moth larvae are the most important food for bird nestlings, the forest patches damaged by sawflies had lower larval biomass. Although most ecological traps occur in environments altered by humans, this study shows that pest insects can lower habitat quality, forming ecological traps. Our results indicate that attracting cavity-nesting birds should be done with caution because it may negatively impact birds' nutritional status and reproductive fitness., (© 2021. The Author(s).)