Microbial successional pattern along a glacier retreat gradient from Byers Peninsula, Maritime Antarctica.

The retreat of glaciers in Antarctica has increased in the last decades due to global climate change, influencing vegetation expansion, and soil physico-chemical and biological attributes. However, little is known about soil microbiology diversity in these periglacial landscapes. This study characterized and compared bacterial and fungal diversity using metabarcoding of soil samples from the Byers Peninsula, Maritime Antarctica.

Potential of plant species adapted to semi-arid conditions for phytoremediation of contaminated soils.

Physical and chemical remediation techniques used in contaminated areas are expensive and damaging to the soil structure. Biological alternatives, such as phytoremediation, are economical and applicable to large areas. The main limitation of phytoremediation is identifying plants that are both capable of stabilizing and/or absorbing metals from soil and adapted to edaphoclimatic conditions of the contaminated areas.

Predictive modeling of contents of potentially toxic elements using morphometric data, proximal sensing, and chemical and physical properties of soils under mining influence.

Several anthropic activities, especially mining, have contributed to the exacerbation of contents of potentially toxic elements in soils around the world. Mines can release a large amount of direct sources of contaminants into the environment, and even after the mines are no longer being exploited, the environmental liabilities generated may continue to provide contamination risks. Potentially toxic elements (PTEs), when present in the environment, can enter the food chain, promoting serious risks to human health and the ecosystem.