Travertine deposition rather than tourism activity is the primary contributor to the microplastic risks in alpine karst lakes.

Microplastics (MPs) are emerging as anthropogenic vectors to form plastisphere, facilitating microbiome colonization and pathogenic dissemination, thus contributing to environmental and health crises across various ecosystems. However, a knowledge gap persists regarding MPs risks and their driving factors in certain unique and vulnerable ecosystems, such as Karst travertine lakes, some of which are renowned World Natural Heritage Sites under ever-increasing tourism pressure. We hypothesized that tourism activities serve as the most important factor of MPs pollution, whereas intrinsic features, including travertine deposition can exacerbate potential environmental risks.

Contrasting Responses and Phytoremediation Potential of Two Poplar Species to Combined Strontium and Diesel Oil Stress.

The soil pollution caused by diesel oil and heavy metals has become an increasingly serious environmental issue, with negative global-scale impacts. The remediation of contaminated soil requires special attention, in which phytoremediation has emerged as an ecofriendly solution. However, the response of plants to the combined stress of diesel oil and heavy metals remains largely unknown.

Traditional knowledge of edible plants used as flavoring for fish-grilling in Southeast Guizhou, China.

Background: The local Dong people in Qiandongnan Prefecture, Guizhou Province, China, with rich biocultural diversity, have developed the traditional rice-duckweed-fish-duck agroecosystem (RDFDA) to support biodiversity conservation and to meet food and cultural needs. However, there is still not much research on traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) in this area. In particular, there is a lack of traditional knowledge of edible plants used by the Dong people as flavoring to grill fish (Cyprinus carpio) collected from RDFDA, which is extremely valuable in their traditional culture.