The lack of guidance in the nontarget terrestrial plant (NTTP) OECD test guidelines on assessing plant visual injury (PVI) and deriving statistically meaningful endpoints contradicts the European Union's requirement to use PVI assessments for risk assessment of NTTPs.

Under current conditions, the PVI data can rather be seen as supportive data instead of using the data for the precise determination of a regulatory endpoint.

Further research is required to assess the biological meaning of PVI data and how this is connected to the regulatory requirements and protection goals.

In the future, a more appropriate scoring methodology for evaluating PVI should be established, encompassing (1) a logically consistent scoring scale, (2) reproducible scores, (3) objective scoring, and (4) scores with distinct biological meaning that align with regulatory requirements.

Models for measuring bioavailability of common metals in freshwater on a chronic basis are now available.

Multiple linear regression models for bioavailability assessment of metals in freshwater have become available.

Tools to measure rate of loss of metals from the water column have been developed and are available for risk assessment and metal classification.

Models to assess metal bioavailability in sediments are available for copper and nickel and are emerging for other metals.

The USEPA is urged to promote the application of models for regional deposition in assessing impacts of inhalation exposure to metal and metalloid particulate matter.

The local and systemic impacts of inhaled metals and metalloids are determined by patterns of regional deposition in the respiratory tract.

The rapid deterioration of watersheds is impacting the ecosystem and the well-being of people.

Water supply issues prompt collaboration on a watershed protection program.

Raising financial resources could compensate farmers.

Watershed management accelerates meeting biodiversity targets.

A discussion group composed of subject matter experts was convened to gather perspectives on chemical alternatives assessment in response to government regulations.

Four regulatory frameworks were discussed, and lesson learned were developed about the use of chemical alternatives assessment in regulatory policy.

Five recommendations for regulatory alternatives assessment were developed: establish clear decision rules, enforce or incentivize adoption alternatives, ensure adequate funding, engage stakeholders throughout the process, and create a third-party, standard-setting organization.

A more formal policy analysis is needed to better understand the impact of regulatory alternatives assessment, particularly newer frameworks, as they're enacted over time.

This national study on Ferulago species reveals a substantial decline in medicinal plant habitats triggered by climate change.

For Ferulago angulata and Ferulago carduchorum, slope percentage emerges as the pivotal variable, while solar radiation takes precedence for Ferulago phialocarpa.

MaxEnt modeling demonstrated robust performance, with all area under the curve values exceeding 0.85, ensuring reliable predictions.

Projections suggest negative area changes for F. angulata and F. carduchorum, emphasizing potential habitat loss, while for F. phialocarpa a habitat increase is anticipated, providing valuable insights for adaptive management strategies amid global climate change.

A freely available, harmonized, pan-European crop development database (CropLife Europe Crop Development Database [C2D2]) has been developed by CropLife Europe for use in regulatory chemical exposure assessments by collating and harmonizing efficacy trials data generated for regulatory submissions when registering plant protection products.

C2D2 comprises a wide range of crops (combinable, root, vegetable, top fruit, soft fruit), spans two decades (2000–2020), and covers 30 countries facilitating comparison with current regulatory scenarios, which suggests that amendment of the existing representation of crop development may be required.

Evaluation of C2D2 against an independent data set from Germany for equivalent time periods and crop growth stages showed good agreement, promoting its use in exposure science innovation to allow for more accurate and realistic risk assessment leading to enhanced crop and environmental protection.

C2D2 holds significant opportunities for future development of crop models to improve estimates and timing of chemical exposure, not only for use in chemical fate and transport models but also for nontarget organism, for example, pollinators, effect, and risk assessment.

Long-term vinasse treatment in sugarcane fields has altered soil properties significantly. The mean pH in the control soil was 5.6; in vinasse soil, it was 6.3, because the mean soil organic carbon was 1.6% and 2%, respectively.

Long-term vinasse application is likely to have caused a faster initial dissipation of atrazine and ametryn in the sugarcane field studied because a significant reduction in such herbicides was registered during the first seven days after application.

Our results suggest that changes in soil pH could alter the dissipation processes of atrazine and ametryn, especially related to the degradation process.

The multicriteria analysis proved to be a flexible and easy-to-implement methodology, which can help managers when considering the trade-offs between several factors.

The implementation of water conservation actions in areas that have been classified as High and Very High priority can benefit the entire regional ecosystem by controlling erosion and regulating the flow of water.

Among the 10 criteria chosen for the analysis, erodibility, proximity to springs, slope, and proximity to rivers stand out, which together represent 65.78% of the total weight attributed to the factors; this demonstrates the importance of focusing on the minimization of the impacts of these factors.

We present an integrated model to investigate structural, functional, and process changes caused by land use and land cover changes in the regions where natural and pristine ecosystems have close and complex interactions with built-up ecosystems.

We evaluated the structural changes related to land use change and its role in ecosystem functioning through changes in ecosystem services by selecting ecosystem services that reflect land use, land cover, vegetation, and ecological network change and soil conditions.

We propose that the role of land use in changing ecosystem services represents another difference between this study and similar studies.

We forecast the quantity of ecosystem services for future years as a basis for planning.

The carbon emissions trading scheme (CETS) led not only to the significant reduction by approximately 9.8% in carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, but also effectively mitigated sulfur dioxide emissions by approximately 9.7% and particulate matter (PM)_2.5 emissions by approximately 11.7%.

This policy highlights the synergistic impact of reducing carbon emissions and air pollution.

The effective emission reduction measures of CETS are focused on reducing energy intensity and upgrading industrial structure; the proper implementation of these measures can achieve significant synergistic emission reduction.

Based on the heterogeneous analysis of the pilot scheme, the synergistic effects of the CETS are particularly significant in the eastern regions, large cities, and the final industrial stages.

A literature search was performed with the aim of identifying aquatic macrophyte growth periods relevant to the Central zone (CZ) and the Northern zone (NZ) of the European Union.

Following a data mining exercise using peer-reviewed journals, 25 publications were reviewed and considered relevant to the aims of this report, from which 43 collated growth periods were extracted.

The extracted data were concluded to support a growth period for aquatic macrophytes in CZ and NZ EU beginning in April and ending in September.

This has implications for the authorization of plant protection products with herbicidal modes of action, which act on macrophytes when they are actively growing.

The study's main contribution lies in the hindcasting of past land use and land cover scenarios, using a tool primarily used for forecasting future scenarios.

The algorithm's performance is significantly influenced by the heterogeneity of the area of interest studied.

We estimate that Aristida spp. fields have lost more than 60% of their original cover in the past 50 years.

The study emphasizes the significant relationship between environmental conditions and human health, advocating thorough research into how different environmental factors affect people's health.

A critical insight from the research is the effect of natural conditions on health, where extreme cold and heat paired with high humidity levels significantly impair the body's thermoregulation, leading to hypothermia or overheating.

Environmental improvements and human health protections are integral to ensuring a sustainable and prosperous future and should be a focal point of national policy and public health objectives.

The proposed Eco-indicator Sensitivity Distribution (EcoSD) demonstrated that cadmium significantly affected soil's eco-indicators of nitrogen cycling.

Soil processes were the most sensitive eco-indicators of cadmium toxicity in soil.

The EcoSD approach should be adopted to better understand the soil ecological pathways of chemical effects on ecosystem function and service delivery.

Copper cathode production was analyzed from life cycle assessment (LCA) and energy perspectives.

Sulfuric acid use in the smelting and extraction stages was the main contributor.

Most environmental impacts applied to water ecotoxicity and human toxicity.

The indirect CO₂ emission from electricity consumption intensified global warming.

If we can't stand the heat, let's stop climate change — Richard Wenning

Science in agriculture is helping achieve global sustainability in the 21st century — Fridom Nikolas Lalus, Alberto Loin, Antonius Umbu Ana Rato, and Hardianto Hitimala

Decisions, values, and balance: There's no green free lunch — Glenn Suter

Humans set fires, control fires, and change ecosystems — Glenn Suter

Water and the plight of Sin City in the desert — Glenn Suter

Animals are people, too — Richard Wenning