Article
Environmental Sciences
Kelechi B. Chukwu, Ovokeroye A. Abafe, Daniel G. Amoako, Sabiha Y. Essack, Akebe L. K. Abia
Summary: Most anthropogenically affected environments contain mixtures of pollutants from different sources. The impact of these pollutants is usually the combined effect of the individual polluting constituents. However, how these stressors contribute to the development of antimicrobial resistance in environmental microorganisms is poorly understood.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Katharina Halbach, Monika Moeder, Steffi Schrader, Liana Liebmann, Ralf B. Schaefer, Anke Schneeweiss, Verena C. Schreiner, Philipp Vormeier, Oliver Weisner, Matthias Liess, Thorsten Reemtsma
Summary: The study reveals that small streams are significantly exposed to agricultural pesticides, with most pesticides concentrations exceeding regulatory acceptable levels. The detection frequency of pesticides is related to sales quantity and half-lives in water. The results suggest that current authorization and risk mitigation methods are insufficient to protect small streams from pesticide contamination.
Article
Surgery
Frank R. Buchanan, Emily Leede, Lawrence H. Brown, Pedro G. Teixeira, Jayson D. Aydelotte, Tatiana C. Cardenas, Thomas B. Coopwood, Marc D. Trust, Sadia Ali, Carlos V. R. Brown
Summary: The study aimed to identify risk factors and risk scoring models for post-traumatic pulmonary embolisms, but found that existing models do not adequately differentiate patients with and without PE.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SURGERY
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Civil
Barret M. Wessel, Carl H. Bolster, Kevin W. King, Vinayak S. Shedekar
Summary: This study evaluated the application of the curve number method in tile-drained fields. The results showed that the curve number method often performed poorly and sometimes failed to produce accurate results. In contrast, the complacent-violent method produced the most accurate predictions in these settings.
JOURNAL OF HYDROLOGY
(2022)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Arturo A. Keller, Kendra Garner, Nalini Rao, Eladio Knipping, Jeffrey Thomas
Summary: Global changes, such as climate and land use changes, have significant impacts on water resources. In order to plan for these changes, it is necessary to make projections and evaluate different hydrologic and water quality models. Among the models evaluated, MIKE-SHE, HEC-HMS, MODHMS, SWAT, and WARMF stand out in terms of functionality, availability, applicability, and support.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Joseph L. Domagalski, Eric Morway, Nancy L. Alvarez, Juliet Hutchins, Michael R. Rosen, Robert Coats
Summary: A study of Lake Tahoe found that the lake's water quality is declining due to algae and fine sediment, leading to a decrease in water clarity. To maintain water clarity, wastewater is exported out of the basin. Over the past 25 years, nitrate loads have decreased, while ammonium loads initially decreased and then continued to increase after 2005, and organic phosphate loads showed significant increases between 2000 and 2005.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Water Resources
Fazrul Razman Sulaiman, Che Mohamad Fakhrul Hafiz Che Mohd Shamshudin, Muhammad Haziq Abd Rahim, Noorzamzarina Sulaiman
Summary: This study examines metal pollution in two recreational rivers in Jengka, Pahang, Malaysia. The concentrations of iron, manganese, and lead were measured to determine sources, evaluate toxicity loads, and estimate potential health risks. The findings highlight the need for comprehensive water quality monitoring and exposure assessment.
APPLIED WATER SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Victor Ventura de Souza, Tatiana da Silva Souza, Jose Marcello Salabert de Campos, Luiza Araujo de Oliveira, Yves Moreira Ribeiro, Daniela Chemin de Melo Hoyos, Rogeria Maura Panzini Xavier, Ives Charlie-Silva, Samyra Maria dos Santos Nassif Lacerda
Summary: This study investigates the impacts of atrazine, a commonly found herbicide in surface waters, on three bioindicators. Results show that atrazine can induce genetic toxicity, morphological changes, and behavioral alterations in Allium cepa, Daphnia magna, and zebrafish. These findings suggest that even at low concentrations and short-to-medium-term exposure, atrazine poses risks to biodiversity.
PESTICIDE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Diana Yaritza Dorado-Guerra, Gerald Corzo-Perez, Javier Paredes-Arquiola, Miguel Angel Perez-Martin
Summary: Aquifer-stream interactions have a significant impact on water quality in Mediterranean areas. Machine learning models, such as random forest and XGBoost, combined with feature selection methods, can effectively simulate nitrate concentration in Mediterranean streams. These models can identify the main drivers of nitrate pollution and provide a holistic approach for analyzing the ecological, hydrological, and environmental variables that influence water quality. The models achieved high accuracy in predicting nitrate concentration in surface water and allowed the observation of different relationships between drivers. This research provides a valuable tool for identifying and addressing pollution risks in specific areas.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Erin A. Hull, Rebekah R. Stiling, Marco Barajas, Rebecca B. Neumann, Julian D. Olden, James E. Gawel
Summary: Lake sediments in urban lakes of the Puget Sound lowlands store high levels of metal contaminants, especially arsenic. Shallow lakes have higher concentrations of arsenic compared to deeper lakes due to factors such as sediment oxygen demand and mixing. Periphyton and snails have higher levels of arsenic compared to other primary producers and zooplankton. Littoral sediment plays a significant role in arsenic trophic transfer, and there is a consistent relationship between percent inorganic arsenic and trophic level in lakes with different depths and mixing regimes.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Mahshid S. Z. Farzanehsa, Guido Carvajal, John Mieog, Stuart J. Khan
Summary: Continuous online monitoring is important for ensuring reliable water quality outcomes and effective removal of microbial substances during advanced wastewater treatment processes. However, most microbial indicators cannot be continuously monitored online. This study used a combined ozonation-biological media filtration process to reduce microbial indicator concentration and developed models for predicting microbial indicator concentration changes. Machine learning algorithms were applied to identify physico-chemical predictors and their associations with microbial indicator reduction. Support vector machines (SVM) with a Gaussian kernel classifier showed superior performance in microbial removal prediction. The study provides an efficient method to predict the effectiveness of the O-3/BMF process in removing microbial indicators based on commonly measured physico-chemical parameters.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE-WATER RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Philipp Vormeier, Liana Liebmann, Oliver Weisner, Matthias Liess
Summary: Vegetated buffer strips (VBS) are effective in reducing pesticide inputs in streams. The width of the VBS is the main factor in reducing pesticide concentrations, while dry ditches in agricultural fields increase pesticide inputs. VBS retains slightly mobile substances better than mobile substances. Calculations show that a VBS width of 18 m is sufficient to protect 95% of streams, but the presence of dry ditches increases the required width to 32 m. Currently, 26% of water stretches do not comply with the mandated 5 m VBS width.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Tiffani Hui, Marc L. L. Descoteaux, Jiayuan Miao, Yu-Shan Lin
Summary: Cyclic peptides have potential as therapeutics, but designing them from scratch is challenging. Most cyclic peptides adopt multiple conformations in water, making it difficult to rationalize their design. Previous research showed that machine learning models trained on molecular dynamics simulations can predict structural ensembles of cyclic pentapeptides. Now, researchers have improved these models to successfully predict the structural ensembles of cyclic hexapeptides by incorporating complex nonlinear interaction patterns using convolutional neural networks and graph neural networks.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL THEORY AND COMPUTATION
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Boglarka Keller, Csaba Centeri, Judit Alexandra Szabo, Zoltan Szalai, Gergely Jakab
Summary: This study compared the performance of different soil loss models under rainfall simulation conditions, finding that USLE-based models have higher accuracy in calculating soil erodibility values, with USLE-M performing the best.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Daniel A. Okaali, Carolien Kroeze, Gertjan Medema, Peter Burek, Heather Murphy, Innocent K. Tumwebaze, Joan B. Rose, Matthew E. Verbyla, Sowed Sewagudde, Nynke Hofstra
Summary: This study investigates the impact of fecal pathogens on surface water sanitation, considering factors such as future population growth, urbanization, and climate change, providing a model for simulating rotavirus river inputs and concentrations in Uganda. The results indicate that urban sanitation conditions are a key factor influencing rotavirus concentrations.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jakob Wolfram, Sascha Bub, Lara L. Petschick, Anna Schemmer, Sebastian Stehle, Ralf Schulz
Summary: A complete ban on pesticide use in sensitive areas, such as nature conservation areas, is currently being discussed in the EU. A study in Germany found that surface waters in protected areas are contaminated by pesticides, posing ecological risks. Therefore, it is crucial to improve the protection of these valuable water resources.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Nils Kaczmarek, Imane Mahjoubi, Mokhtar Benlasri, Maren Nothof, Ralf B. Schaefer, Oliver Froer, Elisabeth Berger
Summary: River ecosystems are threatened by climate change and increased water abstractions, which also put human well-being at risk. This study investigated the relationship between human well-being and river water quality using the arid Draa River basin as a case study. The findings suggest a complex relationship between human satisfaction and river water quality.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Stephen E. Osakpolor, Alessandro Manfrin, Shawn J. Leroux, Ralf B. Schaefer
Summary: The quantity and quality of subsidies between ecosystems can differ and affect ecosystem connections. While we have models to predict the effects of subsidy quantity changes, there is a lack of models for predicting the effects of subsidy quality changes on recipient ecosystem functioning. We developed a novel model to predict the effects of subsidy quality on recipient ecosystem biomass distribution, recycling, production, and efficiency, and found that subsidy quality can significantly impact the functioning of the recipient ecosystem.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Sebastian Pietz, Sara Kolbenschlag, Nina Roeder, Alexis P. Roodt, Zacharias Steinmetz, Alessandro Manfrin, Klaus Schwenk, Ralf Schulz, Ralf B. Schaefer, Jochen P. Zubrod, Mirco Bundschuh
Summary: Anthropogenic stressors can affect the emergence of aquatic insects, which serve as high-quality subsidy to terrestrial consumers. The physiological consequences of altered subsidy quality for spiders are largely unknown.
ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Tomas Duque, Rufat Nuriyev, Joerg Roembke, Ralf B. Schaefer, Martin H. Entling
Summary: The chemical sensitivity of six earthworm species to imidacloprid and copper was assessed to improve the risk assessment of pesticides on soil macroorganisms. The hazardous concentrations affecting 5% of species were determined, with some pesticide concentrations in European agroecosystems exceeding the values, indicating toxic risks. Additionally, soil pH and earthworm traits were found to have significant relationships with chemical sensitivity.
ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ralf B. Schaefer, Michelle Jackson, Noel Juvigny-Khenafou, Stephen E. Osakpolor, Leo Posthuma, Anke Schneeweiss, Juerg Spaak, Rolf Vinebrooke
Summary: Ecosystems are greatly impacted by multiple human-induced stressors, including various chemicals and their mixtures. Existing studies have mostly focused on nonchemical stressors, neglecting other stressors. However, both areas of research face similar challenges and require similar approaches to predict the combined effects of chemicals and nonchemical stressors, highlighting the need for integrated frameworks.
ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Matthijs Vos, Daniel Hering, Mark O. Gessner, Florian Leese, Ralf B. Schaefer, Ralph Tollrian, Jens Boenigk, Peter Haase, Rainer Meckenstock, Daria Baikova, Helena Bayat, Arne Beermann, Daniela Beisser, Bank Beszteri, Sebastian Birk, Lisa Boden, Verena Brauer, Mario Brauns, Dominik Buchner, Andrea Burfeid-Castellanos, Gwendoline David, Aman Deep, Annemie Doliwa, Micah Dunthorn, Julian Enss, Camilo Escobar-Sierra, Christian K. Feld, Nicola Fohrer, Daniel Grabner, Una Hadziomerovic, Sonja C. Jaehnig, Maik Jochmann, Shaista Khaliq, Jens Kiesel, Annabel Kuppels, Kathrin P. Lampert, T. T. Yen Le, Armin W. Lorenz, Graciela Medina Madariaga, Benjamin Meyer, Jelena H. Pantel, Iris Madge Pimentel, Ntambwe Serge Mayombo, Hong Hanh Nguyen, Kristin Peters, Svenja M. Pfeifer, Sebastian Prati, Alexander J. Probst, Dominik Reiner, Peter Rolauffs, Alexandra Schlenker, Torsten C. Schmidt, Manan Shah, Guido Sieber, Tom Lennard Stach, Ann-Kathrin Tielke, Anna-Maria Vermiert, Martina Weiss, Markus Weitere, Bernd Sures
Summary: Our ability to predict the trajectory of ecosystem degradation and recovery is limited, especially when multiple stressors are involved. The Asymmetric Response Concept (ARC) introduces three key mechanisms that govern population, community, and ecosystem responses. Stress tolerance determines the response to increasing stressor intensity, while dispersal and biotic interactions mainly influence the response to stressor release. Understanding these mechanisms helps in predicting ecosystem restoration measures that can restore resilient communities.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Katharina Ohler, Verena C. Schreiner, Dominik Martin-Creuzburg, Ralf B. Schaefer
Summary: Aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems are connected through the transfer of organic and inorganic matter. Aquatic insects provide higher quality food for terrestrial predators compared to terrestrial insects due to the presence of physiologically relevant long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). However, previous studies on the effects of dietary PUFA on terrestrial predators have been limited to controlled laboratory conditions, hindering the evaluation of the ecological relevance under field conditions. In this study, we conducted outdoor experiments to assess PUFA transfer and its consequences for terrestrial riparian predators. We found that the PUFA profiles of different food sources influenced the body condition of spiders, but not their immune response or growth rate.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Samantha L. Rumschlag, Michael B. Mahon, Devin K. Jones, William Battaglin, Jonny Behrens, Emily S. Bernhardt, Paul Bradley, Ethan Brown, Frederik De Laender, Ryan Hill, Stefan Kunz, Sylvia Lee, Emma Rosi, Ralf Schaefer, Travis S. Schmidt, Marie Simonin, Kelly Smalling, Kristofor Voss, Jason R. Rohr
Summary: Based on the analysis of 6131 stream sites across different land uses in the United States over a period of 27 years, it was found that macroinvertebrate density declined by 11% and richness increased by 12.2%. Insect density and richness showed even greater declines of 23.3% and 6.8%, respectively. Furthermore, there was an increasing difference in richness and composition between urban and agricultural streams compared to forested and grassland streams. Urban and agricultural streams lost disturbance-sensitive taxa and gained disturbance-tolerant taxa. These findings indicate that current stream protection and restoration efforts are insufficient to mitigate the impacts of human activities.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Anke Schneeweiss, Verena C. Schreiner, Matthias Liess, Nina Roeder, Klaus Schwenk, Ralf B. Schaefer
Summary: Exposure to pesticides may affect non-target organisms by causing adaptations, including increased tolerance, which can be propagated to non-exposed populations. This study focused on the pesticide tolerance of the freshwater crustacean Gammarus spp. sampled from different site types (agriculture, edge, and refuge) in German streams. The results showed lower imidacloprid tolerance in gammarids from agricultural sites, potentially due to higher environmental stress, as indicated by lower lipid content. There were no differences in pesticide tolerance between edge and refuge populations, and high gene flow hindered population differentiation between streams.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES EUROPE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
A. Pistocchi, C. Dorati, F. Galimberti, A. Udias, S. Bopp, R. D'Andrimont, R. Catarino, R. B. Schaefer
Summary: Pesticides can have a significant impact on aquatic ecosystems, but data on their use and monitoring are limited. This study uses available data to assess the distribution of concentrations and toxicity of 148 pesticide active substances (AS) throughout the European Union (EU). The study finds that while individual AS have relatively low toxicity, the cumulative toxicity of a mixture of AS can pose a risk in a significant portion of the EU's stream network.
FRONTIERS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Marie Brasseur, Florian Leese, Ralf B. Schafer, Verena C. Schreiner, Christoph Mayer
Summary: Pesticides are major stressors for freshwater species, disrupting their ecosystems and functions. The specific effects of the widely-used insecticide chlorantraniliprole on aquatic non-target taxa are poorly understood.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Gemma Burgazzi, Alex Laini, Pierluigi Viaroli, Stefano Fenoglio, Verena C. Schreiner, Ralf B. Schaefer, Alberto Doretto
Summary: This study fills the gap in understanding the drivers of biomass in macroinvertebrate communities by assessing the relationship between environmental variables at different scales and macroinvertebrate biomass in different mountain regions. The results show that basin-scale variables have the greatest impact on biomass variability, with mean cumulated daily precipitation being the main driver. These findings offer insights into the vulnerability of ecosystems to climate change.
JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Peter Haase, Diana E. Bowler, Nathan J. Baker, Nuria Bonada, Sami Domisch, Jaime R. Garcia Marquez, Jani Heino, Daniel Hering, Sonja C. Jahnig, Astrid Schmidt-Kloiber, Rachel Stubbington, Florian Altermatt, Mario Alvarez-Cabria, Giuseppe Amatulli, David G. Angeler, Gait Archambaud-Suard, Inaki Arrate Jorrin, Thomas Aspin, Iker Azpiroz, Inaki Banares, Jose Barquin Ortiz, Christian L. Bodin, Luca Bonacina, Roberta Bottarin, Miguel Canedo-Arguelles, Zoltan Csabai, Thibault Datry, Elvira de Eyto, Alain Dohet, Gerald Dorflinger, Emma Drohan, Knut A. Eikland, Judy England, Tor E. Eriksen, Vesela Evtimova, Maria J. Feio, Martial Ferreol, Mathieu Floury, Maxence Forcellini, Marie Anne Eurie Forio, Riccardo Fornaroli, Nikolai Friberg, Jean-Francois Fruget, Galia Georgieva, Peter Goethals, Manuel A. S. Graca, Wolfram Graf, Andy House, Kaisa-Leena Huttunen, Thomas C. Jensen, Richard K. Johnson, J. Iwan Jones, Jens Kiesel, Lenka Kuglerova, Aitor Larranaga, Patrick Leitner, Lionel L'Hoste, Marie-Helene Lizee, Armin W. Lorenz, Anthony Maire, Jesus Alberto Manzanos Arnaiz, Brendan G. McKie, Andres Millan, Don Monteith, Timo Muotka, John F. Murphy, Davis Ozolins, Riku Paavola, Petr Paril, Francisco J. Penas, Francesca Pilotto, Marek Polasek, Jes Jessen Rasmussen, Manu Rubio, David G. Sanchez-Fernandez, Leonard Sandin, Ralf B. Schafer, Alberto Scotti, Longzhu Q. Shen, Agnija Skuja, Stefan Stoll, Michal Straka, Henn Timm, Violeta G. Tyufekchieva, Iakovos Tziortzis, Yordan Uzunov, Gea H. van der Lee, Rudy Vannevel, Emilia Varadinova, Gabor Varbiro, Gaute Velle, Piet F. M. Verdonschot, Ralf C. M. Verdonschot, Yanka Vidinova, Peter Wiberg-Larsen, Ellen A. R. Welti
Summary: Due to historical anthropogenic pressures, freshwater ecosystems are highly vulnerable to biodiversity loss. Mitigation efforts, such as wastewater treatment and hydromorphological restoration, aim to improve environmental quality and restore freshwater biodiversity. This study analyzed 1,816 time series of freshwater invertebrate communities across 22 European countries from 1968 to 2020. The findings reveal overall increases in taxonomic and functional diversity and abundance, but these increases have plateaued since the 2010s. Communities downstream of dams, urban areas, and croplands show lower chances of recovery. Faster rates of warming are associated with lesser gains in biodiversity. Additional mitigation measures are needed to revive the recovery of freshwater biodiversity in response to emerging pollutants, climate change, and invasive species.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Romana K. Salis, Verena C. Schreiner, Andrey Rozenberg, Katharina Ohler, Patrick Baudy-Groh, Ralf B. Schaefer, Florian Leese
Summary: Fungicides do not have a significant impact on fungal and bacterial community composition, but they do have clear negative effects on their functions, such as leaf decomposition.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES EUROPE
(2023)