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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The current global population has exceeded 7 billion, and more than half of the world’s population lives in urban cities. The increase in population rate along with urbanization pose substantial threats to the natural ecosystem, hydrogeological conditions, and environmental quality. Thus, it is crucial to determine the impact of urbanization on the fate and behavior of environmental contaminants using promising predictive models on the environment.

There has been an alarming increase in the intensity of land use and land cover change around the world in recent decades. Numerous geological and environmental problems arise from such rapid change. This Special Issue calls for studies using a combination of field investigation, remote sensing, GIS, and predictive tools to quantify the impact of urbanization on the hydrogeological environments and understand the fate of emerging contaminants and their link to environmental sustainability.

Analysis of time-series groundwater level and water quality data provides detailed knowledge of the changes in environmental processes and could be useful in predicting the future course of actions. Analysis of groundwater recharge potential and flow dynamics can provide insight regarding the role of urbanization and what should be done to minimize damage. The changes in chemical reaction mechanisms within the groundwater environment and subsequent impact on overall quality of the water would provide key understanding for planning and managing urbanization.

Topics for this Special Issue include but are not limited to:

How urbanization affects spatiotemporal changes in groundwater level and water quality?
What are the factors and processes associated with changes in water quality parameters?
How is urbanization linked to changes in groundwater geochemical processes?
Quantification of the role of urbanization in terms of groundwater sustainability
Can we predict future changes in groundwater environmental in the context of urbanization?

This Special Issue is open to all types of research related to urbanization and its link to groundwater quantity in addition to how emerging contaminants influence this quality, from local to regional scales, using a combination of remote sensing application, GIS, and field data analysis.

Dr. Bibhash Nath
Dr. Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

urbanization
groundwater
water quality
change detection
public health

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 1853 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Iron Plaque on Accumulation and Translocation of Cadmium by Rice Seedlings

by Abu Bakkar Siddique, Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman, Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, Muhammad Tahir Shehzad, Bibhash Nath and Ravi Naidu

Sustainability 2021, 13(18), 10307; https://doi.org/10.3390/su131810307 - 15 Sep 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2168

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of soil type and rice cultivars on variations in the iron plaque formation and cadmium (Cd) accumulation by different portions of rice seedlings under the influence of Fe amendment. The experiments were performed in pots under glasshouse conditions using two typical paddy soils. Rice seedlings were exposed to three concentrations of Cd (0, 1 and 3 mg kg⁻¹ soil) and Fe (0, 1.0 and 2.0 g kg⁻¹ soil). The results revealed that shoot biomass decreased by 12.2–23.2% in Quest and 12.8–30.8% in Langi in the Cd1.0 and Cd3.0 treatments, while shoot biomass increased by 11.2–19.5% in Quest and 26–43.3% in Langi in Fe1.0 and Fe2.0 as compared to the Fe control. The Cd concentration in the roots and shoots of rice seedlings were in the order of Langi cultivar > Quest cultivar, but the Fe concentration in rice tissues showed the reverse order. Fe plaque formations were promoted by Fe application, which was 7.8 and 10.4 times higher at 1 and 2 g kg⁻¹ Fe applications compared to the control Fe treatment. The Quest cultivar exhibited 13% higher iron plaque formation capacity compared to the Langi cultivar in both soil types. These results indicate that enhanced iron plaque formation on the root surface was crucial to reduce the Cd concentration in rice plants, which could be an effective strategy to regulate grain Cd accumulation in rice plants. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Urbanization on Declining Groundwater Level and Water Quality: Understanding Environmental Sustainability of Emerging Contaminants)

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Review

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16 pages, 980 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

Growth, Nutrient Accumulation, and Drought Tolerance in Crop Plants with Silicon Application: A Review

by Rafea Sultana Rea, Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman, Bibhash Nath and Ken Mix

Sustainability 2022, 14(8), 4525; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14084525 - 11 Apr 2022

Cited by 29 | Viewed by 3821

Abstract

Plants take up silicon (Si) from the soil which impacts their growth and nutrient accumulation. It increases plant resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses such as drought, salinity, and heavy metal, diseases, and pest infestation. However, until recently, research of Si application on the crop is limited. This article reviews the recent progress of research on Si application on crop growth and yield, nutrient availability in soil and accumulation, and drought tolerance of crop plants. The review’s findings show that Si improves crop development and output under stressful environmental conditions. Silicon increases the availability and accumulation of both macronutrients (nitrogen, potassium, calcium, and sulphur) and micronutrients (iron and manganese). It improves drought resistance by increasing plant water usage efficiency and reducing water loss during transportation. Silicon application is a crucial aspect of crop productivity because of all of these favorable attributes. The gaps in current understandings are identified. Based on the outcome of the present research, future scopes of research on this field are proposed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impact of Urbanization on Declining Groundwater Level and Water Quality: Understanding Environmental Sustainability of Emerging Contaminants)

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