Effects of geographical, soil and climatic factors on the two marker secondary metabolites contents in the roots of L.

The growth and quality of medicinal plants depend heavily on environmental variables. The quality of , an important medicinal plant, is determined by the two main secondary metabolites of the root, purpurin and mollugin. However, their relationship with environmental factors has not been studied.

Spatiotemporal patterns of urban forest carbon sequestration capacity: Implications for urban CO emission mitigation during China's rapid urbanization.

Urban forests provide ecological functions and human well-being. However, spatiotemporal changes in urban forest carbon sequestration (CS) under rapid urbanization remain poorly understood. We established a model to predict the annual CS dynamics in urban forests based on plot-measured CS and Landsat images.

Energy financing, energy projects retrofit and energy poverty: a scenario-analysis approach for energy project cost estimation and energy price determination.

The research aims to determine the nexus of energy projects retrofit and poverty under two scenarios: energy project cost estimation and energy price determination. Households in rural areas of northern China are now required to switch from coal to cleaner heating options, including natural gas and electricity, as part of a government-led clean heating initiative. This initiative significantly increased the heating expense for participating homes, even when substantial subsidies were applied.

Changes in marker secondary metabolites revealed the medicinal parts, harvest time, and possible synthetic sites of Rubia cordifolia L.

Rubia cordifolia L. is a significant medicinal plant. To investigate the changes of marker metabolites of R.

Big-sized trees and higher species diversity improve water holding capacities of forests in northeast China.

High water-holding forests are essential for adapting to drought climates under global warming, and a central issue is which type of forests could conserve more water in the ecosystem. This paper explores how forest structure, plant diversity, and soil physics impact forest water-holding capacities. We investigated 720 sampling plots by measuring water-holding capacities from 1440 soil and litter samples, 8400 leaves, and 1680 branches and surveying 18,054 trees in total (28 species).

Assessing outdoor air quality vertically in an urban street canyon and its response to microclimatic factors.

The vertical distribution of air pollutants in urban street canyons is closely related to residents' health. However, the vertical air quality in urban street canyons has rarely been assessed using field observations obtained throughout the year. Therefore, this study investigated the seasonal and annual concentrations of particulate matter (PM and PM), CO, NO, SO, O, air quality index, and their responses to microclimatic factors at three height levels (1.

Responses of Growth, Oxidative Injury and Chloroplast Ultrastructure in Leaves of and to Elevated O Concentrations.

The effects of increasing atmospheric ozone (O3) concentrations on cool-season plant species have been well studied, but little is known about the physiological responses of cool-season turfgrass species such as Lolium perenne and Festuca arundinacea exposed to short-term acute pollution with elevated O3 concentrations (80 ppb and 160 ppb, 9 h d−1) for 14 days, which are widely planted in urban areas of Northern China. The current study aimed to investigate and compare O3 sensitivity and differential changes in growth, oxidative injury, antioxidative enzyme activities, and chloroplast ultrastructure between the two turf-type plant species. The results showed that O3 decreased significantly biomass regardless of plant species.

Responses of spring leaf phenological and functional traits of two urban tree species to air warming and/or elevated ozone.

Climate warming and surface ozone (O) pollution are important global environmental issues today. However, the combined impacts of air warming and O on phenology and its functional traits of urban trees are still poorly understood. Here, an experiment was performed to explore the variations of the spring phenological and functional traits in leaves of Populus alba 'Berolinensis' and Forsythia suspensa under ambient air (15.

Big data-based urban greenness in Chinese megalopolises and possible contribution to air quality control.

Urban greenness is essential for people's daily lives, while its contribution to air quality control is unclear. In this study, Streetview big data of urban greenness and air quality data (Air Quality Index, PM, PM, SO, NO, O, CO) from 206 monitoring stations from 27 provincial capital cities in China were analyzed. The national averages for the sky, ground and middle-level (shrub and short trees) view greenness were 5.

Decrease in the residents' accessibility of summer cooling services due to green space loss in Chinese cities.

Urban green spaces (UGSs) reduce the surrounding temperature and create cooling areas as a buffer between people and high temperatures, thus helping residents adapt to the warming climate. However, the accessibility of UGS cooling services to the residents of cities remains largely unknown, which hinders decision-making regarding the formulation of climate adaptation and urban greening schemes. In the present study, we estimated the number of residents who accessed UGSs for cooling by analyzing the annual changes in such cooling areas during summer across 315 Chinese cities from 2003 to 2015.

[Research progress on air pollutant distribution in urban street canyons].

Urban street canyon is one of the most important characteristics and spatial forms of cities. It is one of the most frequently used public spaces in cities, with the most serious automobile exhaust pollution and the largest population density. The unreasonable space configuration and internal composition might decrease self-purification of urban ventilation but increase local air pollutant concentration.

The Impact of Human Pressure and Climate Change on the Habitat Availability and Protection of (Orchidaceae) in Northeast China.

Human pressure on the environment and climate change are two important factors contributing to species decline and overall loss of biodiversity. Orchids may be particularly vulnerable to human-induced losses of habitat and the pervasive impact of global climate change. In this study, we simulated the extent of the suitable habitat of three species of the terrestrial orchid genus in northeast China and assessed the impact of human pressure and climate change on the future distribution of these species.

Experimental warming alleviates the adverse effects from tropospheric ozone on two urban tree species.

Atmospheric warming and increasing tropospheric ozone (O) concentrations often co-occur in many cities of the world including China, adversely affecting the health status of urban trees. However, little information is known about the combined and interactive effects from increased air temperature (IT) and elevated O (EO) exposures on urban tree species. Here, Ginkgo biloba and Populus alba 'Berolinensis' seedlings were subjected to IT (+2 °C of ambient air temperature) and/or EO (+2-fold ambient air O concentrations) for one growing season by using open-top chambers.

Response of total phenols, flavonoids, minerals, and amino acids of four edible fern species to four shading treatments.

Total phenols, flavonoids, minerals and amino acids content were investigated in leaves of four fern species grown under four shading treatments with different sunlight transmittance in 35% full sunlight (FS), 13% FS, 8% FS and 4% FS. The leaves of four fern species contain high levels of total phenols and flavonoids, abundant minerals and amino acids, and these all were strongly affected by transmittance. Total phenols and flavonoids content were significantly positively correlated with transmittance, while minerals and total amino acids content were significantly negatively correlated with transmittance, a finding that supports research into how higher light intensity can stimulate the synthesis of phenols and flavonoids, and proper shading can stimulate the accumulation of minerals and amino acids.

Tropospheric ozone and cadmium do not have interactive effects on growth, photosynthesis and mineral nutrients of Catalpa ovata seedlings in the urban areas of Northeast China.

Heavy metal contamination and tropospheric ozone (O) pollution often co-occur in heavy industrial urban areas, adversely affecting urban plant health. Little is known about the characteristics of growth, physiological metabolism, bioaccumulation of cadmium (Cd) and mineral nutrients in urban trees under the combination of soil Cd contamination and elevated O exposure. In this study, one-year-old street tree Catalpa ovata G.

Long-term dynamics of urban thermal comfort in China's four major capital cities across different climate zones.

China has experienced intensive urbanization over the past decades. However, it is still unclear about the influence of urbanization on urban thermal comfort and how the effect varies with climate condition. Based on long-term daily meteorological data from 1990 to 2015 in four Chinese cities undergoing rapid urbanization, our study tried to detect the long-term dynamics of summer urban thermal comfort across different climate zones and analyze their relationships with urbanization.

Ethylenediurea (EDU) pretreatment alleviated the adverse effects of elevated O on Populus alba "Berolinensis" in an urban area.

Ethylenediurea (EDU) has been used as a chemical protectant against ozone (O). However, its protective effect and physiological mechanisms are still uncertain. The present study aimed to investigate the changes of foliar visible injury, physiological characteristics and emission rates of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in one-year-old Populus alba "Berolinensis" saplings pretreated with EDU and exposed to elevated O (EO, 120 μg/m).

Changes in spatio-temporal patterns of urban forest and its above-ground carbon storage: Implication for urban CO emissions mitigation under China's rapid urban expansion and greening.

Background: Understanding spatio-temporal dynamics of UF and its above-ground carbon storage (CS) is important for mitigating urban CO emissions under China's rapid urban expansion and greening.

Methods: In our study, vegetation index (VI) data obtained from TM image and CS derived from field-based surveys were amalgamated to develop a regression model to predict spatio-temporal patterns of CS. VI correction model was established by normalizing previous imagery (1984, 1995, and 2005) to 2014 image data.

Soil high Cd exacerbates the adverse impact of elevated O on Populus alba 'Berolinensis' L.

Pollution with both heavy metal and ground-level ozone (O) has been steadily increasing, especially in the cities with heavy industry. Little information is known about their combined impacts on urban tree. This study was aimed at characterizing the interactive effects of soil cadmium (Cd) addition and O fumigation on visible injury and growth, photosynthesis, oxidative stress, antioxidant enzyme activities, abscisic acid (ABA) content and bioaccumulation of Cd in one-year-old Populus alba 'Berolinensis' saplings by using open top chambers in Shenyang city with developed heavy industry, Northeast China.

Efficiency of nitrogen and phosphorus removal by six macrophytes from eutrophic water.

Increased nitrogen and phosphorus pollution causes eutrophication in water bodies. Using aquatic plants to remove nutrients from water is an attractive phytoremediation. It is a cost-effective, environment-friendly, and efficient way that reduces water body eutrophication by the plant.

Evaluation of hyperaccumulation potentials to cadmium (Cd) in six ornamental species (compositae).

Phytoremediation is considered as a promising soil remediation technique. In the present study, the growth responses, cadmium (Cd) accumulation and uptake capability of six popular compositae species, namely, Taraxacum mongolicum Hand.-Mazz.

Association of urban forest landscape characteristics with biomass and soil carbon stocks in Harbin City, Northeastern China.

Background: Urban forests help in mitigating carbon emissions; however, their associations with landscape patterns are unclear. Understanding the associations would help us to evaluate urban forest ecological services and favor urban forest management via landscape regulations. We used Harbin, capital city of the northernmost province in China, as an example and hypothesized that the urban forests had different landscape metrics among different forest types, administrative districts, and urban-rural gradients, and these differences were closely associated with forest carbon sequestration in the biomass and soils.