Search Results (90)

Tropical forests continue to experience high levels of habitat loss and degradation, with wildfires becoming a frequent component of human-modified landscapes. Here we investigate the response of palm species to the conversion of old-growth forests to successional mosaics, including forest patches burned during wildfires. Palms (≥50 cm height) were recorded once in 2023–2024, across four habitat classes: terra firme old-growth stands, regenerating forest stands associated with slash-and-burn agriculture, old-growth stands burned once and twice, and active cassava fields, in the Tapajós-Arapiuns Extractive Reserve, in the eastern Brazilian Amazon. The flammability of palm leaf litter and forest litter were also examined to assess the potential connections between palm proliferation and wildfires. A total of 10 palm species were recorded in this social forest (including slash-and-burn agriculture and resulting successional mosaics), with positive, negative, and neutral responses to land use. Species richness did not differ among forest habitats, but absolute palm abundance was greatest in disturbed habitats. Only Attalea spectabilis Mart. (curuá) exhibited increased relative abundance across disturbed habitats, including active cassava field. Attalea spectabilis accounted for almost 43% of all stems in the old-growth forest, 89% in regenerating forests, 90% in burned forests, and 79% in crop fields. Disturbed habitats supported a five-to-ten-fold increment in curuá leaves as a measure of habitat flammability. Although curuá litter exhibited lower flame temperature and height, its lower carbon and higher volatile content is expected to be more sensitive to fire ignition and promote the spread of wildfires. The conversion of old-growth forests into social forests promotes the establishment of palm-dominated forests, increasing the potential for a forest transition further fueled by wildfires, with effects on forest resilience and social reproduction still to be understood. Full article

The practice in agriculture of spreading polyethylene (PE) film over the soil surface as mulch is a common, global practice that aids in conserving water, increasing crop yields, suppressing weed growth, and decreasing growing time. However, these films are typically only used for a single growing season, and thus, their use and non-biodegradability come with some serious environmental consequences due to their persistence in the soil and potential for microplastic pollution, particularly when retrieval and disposal options are poor. On the microscale, particles < 5 mm from degraded films have been observed to disrupt soil structure, impede water and nutrient cycling, and affect soil organisms and plant health. On the macroscale, there are obvious and serious environmental consequences associated with the burning of plastic film and its leakage from poorly managed landfills. To maintain the crop productivity afforded by mulching with PE film while avoiding the environmental downsides, the development and use of biodegradable polymer technologies is being explored. Here, the efficacy of a newly developed, water-dispersible, sprayable, and biodegradable polyester–urethane–urea (PEUU)-based polymer was compared with two commercial PE mulches, non-degradable polyethylene (NPE) and OPE (ox-degradable polyethylene), in a greenhouse tomato growth trial. Water savings and the effects on plant growth and soil characteristics were studied. It was found that PEUU provided similar water savings to the commercial PE-based mulches, up to 30–35%, while showing no deleterious effects on plant growth. The results should be taken as preliminary indications that the sprayable, biodegradable PEUU shows promise as a replacement for PE mulch, with further studies under outside field conditions warranted to assess its cost effectiveness in improving crop yields and, importantly, its longer-term impacts on soil and terrestrial fauna. Full article

The emissions of particulates from burning agricultural fields threaten the environment and human health, contributing to air pollution and increasing the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. An analysis of total suspended particulate (TSP), PM2.5, and PM10 emissions from crop residue burning is presented in this study. A primary goal is to improve emission estimation accuracy by integrating satellite imagery from modes of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometers (MODIS) and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometers (VIIRS) with traditional data. Particulate emissions were estimated using Tier 1 and Tier 2 methodologies outlined in the EEA/EMEP Emission Inventory Guidebook based on thermal anomaly data from satellite observations. According to the findings, burning wheat, maize, barley, and rice residue accounts for most emissions, with significant variations identified in India, China, and the United States. The variations highlight the need for a location-specific approach to emission management. Particulate emissions cause adverse environmental and health impacts, which can be minimized by targeting mitigation strategies at key emission hotspots. The research provides important insights to inform policymakers and support developing strategies to reduce fine particulate agricultural emissions. Full article

High-resolution Sentinel-2 imagery combined with a deep learning (DL) segmentation model offers a promising approach for accurate mapping of small and fragmented agricultural burn areas. Initially, the model was trained using ICNF burn area data from Portugal to capture large fire and burn area delineation, thereby achieving moderate accuracy. Subsequent fine-tuning using annotated data from Punjab improved the model’s ability to detect small burn patches, demonstrating higher accuracy than the baseline Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) Index method. On-ground validation using buffer zone analysis and crop field images confirmed the effectiveness of DL approach. Challenges such as cloud interference, temporal gaps in satellite data, and limited reference data for training persist, but this study underscores the methodogical advancements and potential of DL models applied for small burn area detection in agricultural settings. The model achieved overall accuracy of 98.7%, a macro-F1 score of 97.6%, IoU 0.54, and a Dice coefficient of 0.64, demonstrating its capability for detailed burn area delineation. The model can capture burn area smaller than 250 m², but the model at present is less efficient at representing the full extent of the fires. Overall, outcomes demonstrate the model’s applicability to generalize to a new domain despite regional differences among research areas. Full article

Accurately determining the distribution and quantity of maize straw types is of great significance for evaluating the effectiveness of conservation tillage, precisely estimating straw resources, and predicting the risk of straw burning. The widespread adoption of conservation tillage technology has greatly increased the diversity and complexity of maize straw coverage in fields after harvest. To improve the precision and effectiveness of remote sensing recognition for maize straw types, a novel method was proposed. This method utilized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) multispectral imagery, integrated the Stacking Enhanced Straw Index (SESI) introduced in this study, and combined height, shape, and spectral characteristics to improve recognition accuracy. Using the original five-band multispectral imagery, a new nine-band image of the study area was constructed by integrating the calculated SESI, Canopy Height Model (CHM), Product Near-Infrared Straw Index (PNISI), and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) through band combination. An object-oriented classification method, utilizing a “two-step segmentation with multiple algorithms” strategy, was employed to integrate height, shape, and spectral features, enabling rapid and accurate mapping of maize straw types. The results showed that height information obtained from the CHM and spectral information derived from SESI were essential for accurately classifying maize straw types. Compared to traditional methods that relied solely on spectral information for recognition of maize straw types, the proposed approach achieved a significant improvement in overall classification accuracy, increasing it by 8.95% to reach 95.46%, with a kappa coefficient of 0.94. The remote sensing recognition methods and findings for maize straw types presented in this study can offer valuable information and technical support to agricultural departments, environmental protection agencies, and related enterprises. Full article

Carbon dioxide flux emissions (CFE) from agricultural areas exhibit spatial and temporal variability, and the best time of collar fixation to the soil prior to the collection of CO₂ flux, or even its existence as a factor, is unclear. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the fixation time of collars that support the soil-gas flux chamber based on the influence of CFE on different pasture management practices: control (traditional pasture management practice) (CON), chisel (CHI), fertilized (FER), burned (BUR), integrated crop-livestock (iCL), and plowing and harrowing (PH). A field study was conducted on the clayey soil of Udults. The evaluations were performed monthly by fixing the PVC collars 30 d and 30 min prior to each CFE measurement. Although a linear trend in CFE was observed within each pasture management practice between the two collar-fixation times, collar fixation performed 30 min prior led to an overestimation of CFE by approximately 32.7% compared with 30 d of collar fixation. Thus, CFE were higher (p ≤ 0.10) in the MC, when compared to the FC, when the CON, BUR, and iCL managements were evaluated. Overall, fixing the collar 30 d prior to field data collection can improve the quality of the data, making the results more representative of actual field conditions. Full article

A lack of strategies for the utilization of harvest residues (HRs) has led to serious environmental problems due to an accumulation of these residues or their burning in the field. In this study, wheat and corn HRs were used as feedstock for the production of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) by treatment with 2–8% sodium hydroxide, 10% hydrogen peroxide and further hydrolysis with 1–2 M hydrochloric acid. The changes in the FT-IR spectra and PXRD diffractograms after chemical treatment confirmed the removal of most of the lignin, hemicellulose and amorphous fraction of cellulose. A higher degree of crystallinity was observed for MCC obtained from corn HRs, which was attributed to a more efficient removal of lignin and hemicellulose by a higher sodium hydroxide concentration, which facilitates the dissolution of amorphous cellulose during acid hydrolysis. MCC obtained from HRs exhibited lower bulk density and poorer flow properties but similar or better tableting properties compared to commercial MCC (Ceolus^TM PH101). The lower ejection and detachment stress suggests that MCC isolated from HRs requires less lubricant compared to commercial MCC. This study showed that MCC isolated from wheat and corn HRs exhibits comparable tableting behaviour like commercial sample, further supporting this type of agricultural waste utilization. Full article

Rice straw is an agricultural waste, the disposal of which through open burning is an emerging challenge for ecology. Green manufacturing using straw returning provides a more avant-garde technique that is not only an effective management measure to improve soil fertility in agricultural ecosystems but also nurtures environmental stewardship by reducing waste and the carbon footprint. However, fresh straw that is returned to the field cannot be quickly decomposed, and screening microorganisms with the capacity to degrade straw and understanding their mechanism of action is an efficient approach to solve such problems. This study aimed to reveal the potential mechanism of influence exerted by exogenous degradative bacteria (ZJW-6) on the degradation of straw, growth of plants, and soil bacterial community during the process of returning rice straw to the soil. The inoculation with ZJW-6 enhanced the driving force of cellulose degradation. The acceleration of the rate of decomposition of straw releases nutrients that are easily absorbed by rice (Oryza sativa L.), providing favorable conditions for its growth and promoting its growth and development; prolongs the photosynthetic functioning period of leaves; and lays the material foundation for high yields of rice. ZJW-6 not only directly participates in cellulose degradation as degrading bacteria but also induces positive interactions between bacteria and fungi and enriches the microbial taxa that were related to straw degradation, enhancing the rate of rice straw degradation. Taken together, ZJW-6 has important biological potential and should be further studied, which will provide new insights and strategies for the appropriate treatment of rice straw. In the future, this degrading bacteria may provide a better opportunity to manage straw in an ecofriendly manner. Full article

In Southern Mediterranean regions, the issue of summer fires related to agriculture practices is a periodic recurrence. It implies a significant increase in carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and other combustion-related gaseous and particles compounds emitted into the atmosphere with potential impacts on air quality and global climate. In this work, we performed an analysis of summer fire events that occurred on August 2021. Measurements were carried out at the permanent World Meteorological Organization (WMO)/Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) station of Lamezia Terme (Code: LMT) in Calabria, Southern Italy. The observatory is equipped with greenhouse gases and black carbon analyzers, an atmospheric particulate impactor system, and a meteo-station for atmospheric parameters to characterize atmospheric mechanisms and transport for land and sea breezes occurrences. High mole fractions of carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) coming from quadrants of inland areas were correlated with fire counts detected via the MODIS satellite (GFED-Global Fire Emissions Database) at 1 km of spatial resolution. In comparison with the typical summer values, higher CO and CO₂ were observed in August 2021. Furthermore, the growth in CO concentration values in the tropospheric column was also highlighted by the analyses of the L2 products of the Copernicus SP5 satellite. Wind fields were reconstructed via a Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) output, the latter suggesting a possible contribution from open fire events observed at the inland region near the observatory. So far, there have been no documented estimates of the effect of prescribed burning on carbon emissions in this region. This study suggested that data collected at the LMT station can be useful in recognizing and consequently quantifying emission sources related to open fires. Full article

Straw, the primary agricultural waste, constitutes approximately 20% of the total biomass in the EU. Only a small fraction of the material is applied in various products, e.g., animal bedding, mulch, building, and composite materials, while a significantly larger portion is often burned in the field. This practice, while prohibited for several reasons, including the increased risk of fire and the release of carbon dioxide contributing to global warming, is still prevalent. Given the increasingly evident effects of climate change, EU legislation aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible. One of the strategies includes applying the cascade principle in the circular economy. This principle aims to use the entire raw material, in this case, cereal crops, such that the products with the highest added value, like cellulose fibers from cereal straw, are extracted first. The vast potential for utilizing lignocellulosic agro-waste sustainably arises from its status as the most abundant organic compound on Earth. Its significant presence, renewability, and biodegradability make it a desirable source for producing materials in numerous industries. This study examines the potential of wheat fibers, isolated from the straw of two distinct cultivars (Srpanjka represents an old variety, and Kraljica represents the new variety) primarily for application in technical textiles. The following testing methods were applied: determination of wheat fibers and residues yield, fibers tensile properties, length, moisture content/regain, density, morphology, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The yield of isolated fibers relies on the wheat variety and the climatic conditions affecting plant growth, resulting in fiber yields from 10.91% to 15.34%. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis indicates reduced peak intensity, which is related to hemicellulose and lignin content, suggesting their improved deposition following the process of chemical maceration. Wheat fiber quality was found to be comparable to cotton fibers regarding its density. However, they showed a significant difference in higher moisture regain (9.72–11.40%). The vast majority of the scientific papers related to wheat fibers did not indicate the length of the individual fibers obtained by chemical maceration nor their strength. Therefore, this paper indicated that both varieties demonstrated sufficient fiber tenacity (greater than 10 cN/tex) and fiber length (2–3 cm), stressing the spinning potential of these fibers into yarns and extending their use to the apparel industry. Moreover, our research underscores the feasibility of adhering to the zero-waste principle. A high percentage of solid waste remaining after fiber extraction (25.3–39.5%) was successfully used for biofuel production, thus closing the loop in the circular economy. Full article

The urbanization and industrialization of human society boost the socioeconomic growth but yet inevitably result in unprecedented damages to environment and organisms. One of the threats is the air pollution produced from anthropogenic activities. Moreover, the pollution concentrates longer in certain meteorological phenomena and exacerbates the impact on nature species and human health. This paper presents an association mining approach to identify the influential factors which result in a high volume of air pollution concentration, in particular, the particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm (PM_2.5). Since the literature showed that the identified factors are location and spatial-scale dependent, we chose a basin geography, Puli township, Taiwan, and inferred the association relationships with two different-scaled monitoring stations. The government-built supersite at Puli estimates the PM_2.5 concentration for the entire township of the area around 150 km², while the participatory microsites monitor air quality in a smaller region of a hundred thousand square meters. Our research was conducted with relevant data during 2017–2019. The mining result has unique findings as compared to the literature. The relative humidity, precipitation, wind speed and direction, which were identified as major factors in many previous studies, have less impact on air quality of our studied field than temperature and atmospheric pressure. The remarkable distinction is mainly attributed to the special weather patterns of basin geography. We investigated the impact of all national festivals and identified the most significant ones. The probability of observing PM_2.5 concentrations greater than 35 μg/m³ in the activity hours of New Year’s Eve is 50% which is significantly greater than 11.74%, the probability of observing the same concentration range over all days in the investigated years, while the Tomb Sweeping Day (TSD) has a varying impact on air quality depending on the order of the TSD date within the long holiday. The increase of PM_2.5 concentration is remarkably more significant if the TSD is the last day in the long holiday than if it is the middle day. This finding can be taken into consideration when the government agent makes schedules for national festivals. Finally, it was learned in our study that different landmarks and land uses have various significant impacts on micro-scale air quality. The microsites monitor high PM_2.5 concentrations at particular landmarks with a greater confidence than the mean confidence over all microsites. These pollution-associated landmarks with the confidence ranked from highest to lowest are night markets, crossroads, paper mills, temples, and highway exits. It is worth noting that the PM_2.5 increase contributed by temples is negligible, which may be attributed to the citizen action for promoting reduction in joss paper and incense stick burning. The land uses have diverse impacts on air quality. Anthropogenic activities contribute higher PM_2.5 concentrations in business districts and residential areas. The PM_2.5 concentration monitored at high lands and agricultural lands is lower than the overall background due to fewer mass gathering and combustion activities in these land uses. Full article

This study aimed to identify the characteristics of atmospheric pollutants emitted by agricultural activities and to evaluate factors that may cause harm to human health. For the research, atmospheric pollutants were measured over the course of a year in representative rice farming and field crop farming areas in South Korea. The results confirmed that the characteristics of atmospheric pollutants in agricultural areas are influenced by the nature of agricultural activities. Specifically, when comparing rice paddies and field crop areas, during summer, the correlation between oxidative potential and levoglucosan—a marker for biomass burning—weakens due to less burning activity in the rice-growing season, leading to lower oxidative potential despite different PM_2.5 across areas. The study also finds that methyl sulfonic acid, indicating marine influence, plays a big role in keeping oxidative potential low in summer. This suggests that the main causes of PM_2.5-related health risks in the area are from biomass burning and external sources, with burning being a significant factor in increasing oxidative potential. Based on these results, it is hoped that measures can be taken in the future to reduce atmospheric pollutants in agricultural areas. Full article

On a global scale, millions of tons of diverse agricultural residues are generated annually. Most of these wastes are burned or dumped in landfills, which causes environmental pollution. Addressing environmental issues arising from agricultural waste materials, in addition to mitigating heating and cooling expenses in the construction sector, is an interesting challenge for researchers. The utilization of agricultural wastes in different parts of construction is producing positive findings day by day, and investigating research in this field is a curiosity for researchers. This short study reviewed the most recent achievements in using agricultural wastes as a substitute or additive material for construction. Using these wastes as aggregate, ash (as a supplementary for cement), or fibers for foam concrete, insulation materials, etc. has been reviewed. This review has focused on very recent published papers. Several studies have demonstrated the effective influences of agro-waste materials in construction, like retaining the compressive strength (155 MPa) of concrete at standard levels and reducing heat losses in buildings (69% energy savings for brick insulated using wheat straw), as well as sound insulation. The use of agro-waste materials for insulation positively improved thermal conductivity, costs, and energy savings. However, some wastes did not provide a high added value, which shows that more investigations still need be performed to fill this gap in the research. Considering the global scale of agricultural waste generation and the potential benefits to both the environment and construction industry, continued research in this area is essential. Full article

Open-field crop residue burning (OCRB) is a widespread agricultural practice with significant impacts on regional environments and public health. The effective management of OCRB remains a challenging task that requires timely access to various forms of monitored and forecasted information. Addressing this worldwide need, an open-source platform named AgriFireInfo v1.0, which is specifically tailored to monitoring and regulating regional OCRB activities, was developed. This technical note thoroughly illustrates the platform’s architecture, major modules, and visualization processes. Through AgriFireInfo v1.0, government agencies can access timely information about the spatial distribution of fire spots and emissions as well as meteorological conditions and air quality status. AgriFireInfo v1.0 also introduces an innovative Prevention Alarming Index, designed to identify regions prone to OCRB and promote comprehensive crop residue utilization. Furthermore, it offers the burning window and crop residue yields for controlled OCRB activities and can be used to analyze shifts in farmers’ burning behaviors and intensities. Future enhancements will focus on supplying holistic information on the burning windows and burning amounts of crop residues to further facilitate refined controlled burning activities and optimize decision-making processes. The flexibility and scalability of this platform can potentially allow users to easily customize and apply it to other regions or countries. Full article

The accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to fossil fuel burning and deforestation has caused global warming and an increase in extreme weather events. To complement the shift towards clean energy, it is crucial to adopt methods for carbon dioxide removal, known as negative emission technologies. Enhanced weathering is one such approach that involves accelerating the natural process of rock weathering by spreading finely ground rocks over large areas, such as agricultural land or coastal areas. This exploratory review paper provides an overview of the fundamental mechanisms behind enhanced weathering, and outlines the techniques for its implementation. The environmental benefits of enhanced weathering are highlighted, including carbon dioxide removal, and improvement of soil fertility. Furthermore, potential impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity are examined, along with the effects on water, soil and air quality. The paper also considers the risks and challenges associated with large-scale implementation and long-term stability of enhanced weathering. Additionally, the integration of enhanced weathering with Sustainable Development Goals is explored, along with the potential co-benefits and trade-offs with other sustainability objectives. To conclude, this exploratory review paper summarizes the key findings and proposes avenues for further research in this field of enhanced weathering. Full article