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emmarrogers

Microscopic fungi enhance soil carbon storage in new landscapes created by shrinking Ar... - 1 views

phys.org/...fungi-soil-carbon-storage.html

biology environmental botany questions HSR-2025 HSR science potential research idea

shared by emmarrogers on 02 Jul 24 - No Cached
Sean Nash liked it
  • Sean Nash on 03 Jul 24
     
    Fungi as a soil conditioner is an interesting topic. This is something Eli Jenkins was looking into last year, although his attempts at growing the plants he wanted (he got started very late) kept him from really testing the product he wanted to test. I have also seen other commercial soil treatments meant to break down clay soils and keep water from pooling at the top of the soil.
Sean Nash

Study suggests 'biodegradable' teabags don't readily deteriorate in the environment and... - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...240528115039.htm

biodegradable teabags manufacturing ecology environment polylactic acid plastic cellulose soil potential research idea engineering biology chemistry environmental science HSR-2025 HSR

shared by Sean Nash on 01 Jun 24 - No Cached
  • The research looked at commonly available teabags made using three different compositions of polylactic acid (PLA), which is derived from sources such as corn starch or sugar cane.
  • The teabags were buried in soil for seven months, and a range of techniques were then used to assess whether -- and to what extent -- they had deteriorated.
  • The study also examined the impacts of the discs cut from the teabags on a species of earthworm, Eisenia fetida, which has a critical role in soil nutrient turnover as it consumes organic matter.
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • Researchers found that being exposed to three different concentrations of teabag discs -- equivalent to the mass of half, one and two teabags -- resulted in up to 15% greater mortality, while some concentrations of PLA had a detrimental effect on earthworm reproduction.
  • It used analytical techniques such as size exclusion chromatography, nuclear magnetic resonance, and scanning electron microscopy allowing scientists to examine not just how the teabags had changed visibly but also structurally.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 01 Jun 24
       
      This sort of work could be done by visual analysis alone with a rubric of sorts, but once data is derived, reaching out to a local lab might provide access to some of these tools for a tighter analysis and an even more convincing project,
  • we've shown that when it is not properly disposed of, for example after seven months in the soil, its molecular structure remains intact
  • But it is with immense frustration that I see alternative and substitute materials entering the market without clear guidance on how their benefits might be realised. Even if consumers understand how to dispose of these products only around half of households in the UK currently have access to the necessary waste streams for the type of composting required.
  • It is essential we learn from the mistakes we made with plastic materials by testing and labelling these novel materials in relation to the prevailing waste management infrastructure.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 01 Jun 24
       
      Again, when you find a call for more research (aka: "learning" in this case) it is a good sign that you have found an area ripe for more work to be done.
  • "In this study PLA-based teabags did not fully deteriorate, and it seems that composting worms may be harmed by them. The lack of clear labelling can lead to consumers disposing of teabags in their compost, where any limit to complete degradation of the material raises the potential for plastics to enter the soil when compost is added to the garden, with potential impacts on garden wildlife and uptake by food plants."
emmarrogers

Glyphosate runoff and its occurrence in rainwater and subsurface soil in the nearby are... - 0 views

www.sciencedirect.com/...S0045653519305260

crayfish HSR-2025 glyphosate environmental

shared by emmarrogers on 11 Apr 25 - No Cached
  • Glyphosate and AMPA in rainwater exceeded limits for safe human consumption.
  • 88.1% of the applied glyphosate was retained in the surface soil layer
Sean Nash

Bee body mass, pathogens and local climate influence heat tolerance - 1 views

phys.org/...body-mass-pathogens-local.html

climatechange climate bees heat pathogens size mass HSR HSR-2025 science environmental questions biology potential research idea

shared by Sean Nash on 07 May 24 - No Cached
Sean Nash liked it
  • "But few studies have examined biotic impacts, such as pathogen infection, on thermal tolerance in natural populations in combination with abiotic factors," she explained.
  • examined bee physical traits—such as sex differences in body mass—to understand how these traits interact with environmental conditions, pathogens and other factors
  • They found that variation in heat tolerance was influenced by size, sex and infection status of the bees. "Small-bodied, ectothermic—or cold-blooded—insects are considered to be highly vulnerable to changing climate because their ability to maintain proper body temperature depends on external conditions,"
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • researchers hypothesized that the bees' heat tolerance would increase with body size; that male heat tolerance would increase with ambient temperatures above ground whereas female heat tolerance would increase with sandier soils; and that parasite infection would reduce heat tolerance
  • To test these hypotheses, the researchers collected squash bees from 14 sites across Pennsylvania that varied in mean temperature, precipitation and soil texture. They measured individuals' critical thermal maximum—the temperature above which an organism cannot function—as a proxy for heat tolerance
  • Although both sexes showed a positive correlation between heat tolerance and size, male squash bees had a greater change in their critical thermal maximum per unit body mass than females, suggesting that there may be another biological trait influencing the impact of body mass on heat tolerance that differs between the sexes
  • Sean Nash on 07 May 24
     
    There is a strong feasibility element to this sort of work. Being invertebrates, there would be no problem collecting large numbers of bees from the environment for testing. Now... how that is typically done in other research studies... is something to dig into. The challenge here would be the observation/measurement of parasites (like the trypanosomes mentioned here). It might be worth digging into microdissection methods and techniques that others have reported on when working with pollinators and other small insects. It might not be impossible, even in our lab, but it would definitely be a (good) challenge and perhaps something we could find an expert to help us with.
Kylie John

Drought-induced injury is associated with hormonal alteration in Kentucky bluegrass - PMC - 0 views

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...PMC6768267

HSR-2025 HSR botany hormones lawngrass

shared by Kylie John on 20 Sep 24 - No Cached
  • Mature KBG (cv. ‘Wildhorse’) plugs (10 cm diameter, 5 cm deep)
  • The grass was transplanted into pots (15 cm diameter, 15 cm deep, with 8 holes on the bottom) filled with either top soil and sand mixture (2:1, v/v). A piece of plastic screen was placed in the bottom of the pot to prevent soil from leaching.
  • at optimum conditions (mean±SD) at 22 ± 0.8/16 ± 0.6°C (day/night), 70%±8% relative humidity, PAR at 400 ± 9 µmol m−2 s−1 and 12-h photoperiod. Nitrogen was applied at 2 g m−2 (from 28–8-18 complete fertilizer with micronutrients) at transplanting and then 1 g m−2 biweekly on all treatments until the end of the trial.
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  • trimmed at 7 cm and irrigated two times a week to field capacity.
  • Six weeks after transplanting
  • For drought stress treatment, the amount of irrigation water was determined based on evapotranspiration (ET) loss by weighing the pots every other day and the irrigation was provided to compensate 30% to 50% ET loss. ET was determined by weighing the pots.
  • VWC was reduced from 34.6% to 27.9% between day 0 and day 7, from 27.9% to 23.4% between day 7 and day 14, from 23.4%% to 14.5% between day 14 to day 21, and from 14.5% to 5.1% between day 21 and day 28.
  • Leaf chlorophyll was extracted with acetone and measured using a spectrophotometer
  • Leaf photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance were measured using a portable photosynthetic system
  • turf quality started to decline at day 7 due to drought stress.
  • Drought stress reduced turf quality rating by 14.8% relative to the control at the end of drought stress (28 d).
  • The electrolyte leakage increased gradually from day 7 through day 21 due to drought stress.
  • Drought stress increased electrolyte leakage by 35.6% at day 14, 95.7% at day 21, and 105.4% at day 28 when compared to the control.
  • chlorophyll began to decline after day 7 due to drought stress
  • educed chlorophyll content by 39.0% relative to the control.
  • photosynthetic rate due to drought stress was observed as early as day 7
  • Stomatal conductance decline was first observed at day 4 of drought stress
  • day 28 when drought stress reduced stomatal conductance by 84.4%
  • The ZR level declined gradually from day 14 through day 28 due to drought stress. Drought stress reduced ZR by 28.5% at day 14, 35.1% at day 21, and 59.1% at day 28 relative to the control.
  • 1 week after ZR did. At the end of drought stress (day 28), drought stress reduced iPA by 50.4% relative to the control.
  • Drought stress reduced leaf IAA by 14.3% and 26.7% at day 21 and day 28, respectively, when compared to the control.
  • The ABA started to accumulate after day 4 of drought stress and the difference between drought stress and the control was observed as early as 7 d of drought stress
  • The ABA content gradually increased from day 7 through day 28. Drought stress increased leaf ABA by 23.6% at day 7, 30.7% at day 14, 87.6% at day 21, and 108.5% at day 28 relative to the control.
  • drought stress did not impact leaf GA4 content
  • We found that ABA/CK increased sharply from day 14 through day 28 due to increase in ABA and decline in CK (ZR + iPA) during the same period. At the end of trial (day 28), drought stress induced an increase in leaf ABA/CK ratio by 3.4-fold relative to the control.
emmarrogers

Environmentally relevant atrazine exposures cause DNA damage in cells of the lateral an... - 0 views

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...PMC6854318

shared by emmarrogers on 16 Sep 24 - No Cached
  • 80 ppb atrazine
  • 10 days
    • emmarrogers
      emmarrogers on 16 Sep 24
       
      This is the longest time I have seen so far. most studies are between 24-96 hours
  • banned in the European Union
    • emmarrogers
      emmarrogers on 16 Sep 24
       
      I wonder why it is banned in the EU, but not the US
    • emmarrogers
      emmarrogers on 16 Sep 24
       
      increased risk of prostate cancer and decreased sperm count in men, and a higher risk of breast cancer in women. reason why its banned
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • evapotranspiration
    • emmarrogers
      emmarrogers on 16 Sep 24
       
      Loss of water from the soil both by evaporation from the soil surface and by transpiration from the leaves of the plants growing on it.
  • ATR is the most commonly detected herbicide in the U.S. Midwestern region
  • This is a cause for concern as ATR can leach into aquatic ecosystems and affect aquatic organisms.
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