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Despite the substantial impacts of nonindigenous plant pests and weeds, relatively little is known about the pathways by which these organisms arrive in the U.S. One source of such information is the Port Information Network (PIN) database, maintained by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) since 1984. The PIN database is comprised of records of pests intercepted by APHIS personnel during inspections of travelers' baggage, cargo, conveyances and related items arriving at U.S. ports of entry and border crossings. Each record typically includes the taxonomic identify of the pest, its country of origin, and information related to the commodity and interception site. We summarized more than 725,000 pest interceptions recorded in PIN from 1984 to 2000 to examine origins, interception sites and modes of transport for nonindigenous insects, mites, mollusks, nematodes, plant pathogens and weeds. Roughly 62% of intercepted pests were associated with baggage, 30% were associated with cargo and 7% were associated with plant propagative material. Pest interceptions occurred most commonly at airports (73%), U.S.-Mexico land border crossings (13%) and marine ports (9%). Insects dominated the database, comprising 73 to 84% of the records annually, with the orders Homoptera, Lepidoptera and Diptera collectively accounting for over 75% of the insect records. Plant pathogens, weeds and mollusks accounted for 13, 7 and 1.5% of all pest records, respectively, while mites and nematodes comprised less than 1% of the records. Pests were intercepted from at least 259 different locations. Common origins included Mexico, Central and South American countries, the Caribbean and Asia. Within specific commodity pathways, richness of the pest taxa generally increased linearly with the number of interceptions. Application of PIN data for statistically robust predictions is limited by nonrandom sampling protocols, but the data provide a valuable historical record of the array of nonindigenous organisms transported to the U.S. through international trade and travel.

High concentrations of Na+ and NH4+ in landfill leachate lead to deterioration of bentonite barrier and pose a threat to the environment. This study focused on the pollution interception and permeability characteristics of the bentonite barrier exposed to NaCl and NH4Cl solutions. Based on previous findings, salt solution concentrations were established at 74.80, 37.40, 18.70, and 9.4 mmol/L. The bentonite contents in the mixture were set at 0, 5, 10, and 15%. The results indicate that the samples exhibit better interception of NH4+ compared to Na+. This difference arises from the cation exchange sequence, the size of the hydration radius, and the hydrogen bonding of the two cations. Additionally, the difference in hydration enthalpy between the two cations leads to variations in the swelling of bentonite, resulting in a higher hydraulic conductivity coefficient in NH4Cl solution. This study shows that although bentonite barriers have better interception for NH4+, they exhibit greater hydraulic conductivity in NH4Cl solution, increasing the risk of leachate carrying other contaminants.

The rise in urbanization has led to an increase in dust pollution which is hazardous to the health of living beings. The role of roadside plant species in intercepting particulate matter and improving air quality is well reported. Hence, this study was carried out to determine the ability of various plant species to intercept atmospheric dust and withstand the abiotic stress triggered by dust deposition. In the present investigation, three sites (viz., control, commercial, and industrial) differing in anthropogenic activities and vegetation were selected. Sixteen plant species entailing both trees and shrubs that are commonly occurring at all three sites were selected to estimate their dust interception capacity (DIC). The impact of dust pollution on foliage biochemistry and their tolerance in winter and summer seasons were analyzed. Based on biochemical, biological, and socio-economic parameters, air pollution tolerance index (APTI) and anticipated performance index (API) were evaluated. Both dust load and DIC were found to be two times higher in winter than in the summer season. Terminalia arjuna, Ficus benghalensis, and Plumeria alba were the best dust accumulators, while Prosopis juliflora accumulated least. The highest DIC was observed at the industrial site, for Terminalia arjuna (0.025 mg/cm 2 /d) in winter and Plumeria alba (0.023 mg/cm 2 /d) in the summer season. Photosynthetic pigments showed a negative correlation with dust load, while pH, ascorbic acid, electrolytic leakage (E.L.), and proline content showed a positive correlation. In the present study, APTI and API values were highest for Ficus religiosa, Ficus benghalensis, Alstonia scholaris, Dalbergia sissoo, and Terminalia arjuna. Such plant species with wide canopy, large and rough leaf surface area with perforated veins are found to be more suitable and, hence, recommended for the development of greenery to improve air quality in urban areas like Delhi.

Understory trees occupy a spatially heterogeneous light environment owing to light interception by patchily distributed canopy leaves. We examined the spatial distribution of canopy leaves and the spatial structure of the understory tree community (height < 5 m) and their relationships in a beech forest in Nagano, Japan. We measured the canopy leaf area index (LAI) at 10 m intervals (n = 81) in a permanent research plot (1 ha). We established a circular subplot centered on each LAI measurement point, and determined the species composition and the aboveground net primary production of wood (ANPPW) of the understory tree community by using tree size data from an open database in the Monitoring Sites 1000 project. There was a significant negative correlation between canopy LAI and the ANPPW of understory trees and a significant positive correlation between the ANPPW of understory and understory tree density. The dominant species of understory trees differed between subplots with high and low LAI values. Our results suggest that niche differentiation allows trees in the understory community to make use of various light conditions, thereby enhancing the primary productivity of the entire community.

Mixing of complementary tree species may increase stand productivity, mitigate the effects of drought and other risks, and pave the way to forest production systems which may be more resource-use efficient and stable in the face of climate change. However, systematic empirical studies on mixing effects are still missing for many commercially important and widespread species combinations. Here we studied the growth of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) in mixed versus pure stands on 32 triplets located along a productivity gradient through Europe, reaching from Sweden to Bulgaria and from Spain to the Ukraine. Stand inventory and taking increment cores on the mainly 60-80 year-old trees and 0.02-1.55 ha sized, fully stocked plots provided insight how species mixing modifies the structure, dynamics and productivity compared with neighbouring pure stands. In mixture standing volume (+12 %), stand density (+20 %), basal area growth (+12 %), and stand volume growth (+8 %) were higher than the weighted mean of the neighbouring pure stands. Scots pine and European beech contributed rather equally to the overyielding and overdensity. In mixed stands mean diameter (+20 %) and height (+6 %) of Scots pine was ahead, while both diameter and height growth of European beech were behind (-8 %). The overyielding and overdensity were independent of the site index, the stand growth and yield, and climatic variables despite the wide variation in precipitation (520-1175 mm year(-1)), mean annual temperature (6-10.5 A degrees C), and the drought index by de Martonne (28-61 mm A degrees C-1) on the sites. Therefore, this species combination is potentially useful for increasing productivity across a wide range of site and climatic conditions. Given the significant overyielding of stand basal area growth but the absence of any relationship with site index and climatic variables, we hypothesize that the overyielding and overdensity results from several different types of interactions (light-, water-, and nutrient-related) that are all important in different circumstances. We discuss the relevance of the results for ecological theory and for the ongoing silvicultural transition from pure to mixed stands and their adaptation to climate change.

Rockfall poses a formidable threat to the ongoing fast-paced construction of large-scale projects in uninhabited areas in high mountain valleys. In this study, an optimization method for arranging passive nets on high and steep slopes was presented to mitigate the threat from rockfalls. This method diverges from the conventional method of subjectively arranging passive nets along the perimeter of protected regions (due to its emphasis on cost considerations), in which the quantitative appraisal of rockfall movement characteristics and interception rates is frequently omitted, consequently failing to comprehensively ensure transportation routes and temporary construction sites. The methodology encompasses the acquisition of terrain data by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), identification of rockfall sources based on UAV point clouds, quantitative assessment of rockfall hazards using a 3D probabilistic model, and optimization of the layout of passive nets based on the assessment results. The aim of the optimization of passive nets is to quantitatively assess the cost–effect relationship of passive nets, accounting for construction feasibility, interception potential, and likelihood of successful rockfall interception. We applied this method to the Feishuiyan slope in southwest China as an example, and the results demonstrated an enhanced interception rate of 99% and cost reduction by a factor of three relative to the original scheme. This innovative approach could enhance rockfall mitigation in high and steep areas, providing a viable strategy for future prevention efforts in these areas.

As a cultural medium that facilitates the renewal and adaptive reuse of historic neighborhoods, nightscape design is undergoing an evolution from basic illumination to the conveyance of rich cultural narratives. The advent of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the domain of cultural heritage design has precipitated a paradigm shift, wherein instantaneous engineering has emerged as a pivotal conduit between human intent and AI outcomes. This development has culminated in the enhancement of intelligent visual representations of historic buildings. Generative AI techniques present novel opportunities for conventional lighting design in the context of historic interception. The primary challenge lies in generating nocturnal images that exhibit both aesthetic and cultural depth. This paper explores the potential of generative AI to enhance the efficiency of nightscape design, with a focus on achieving a balance between heritage preservation, contemporary visual language, and cultural significance. The present study proposes a \"cultural cue classification system\" for transforming daytime imagery into nighttime scenes, based on immediate strategies for cultural heritage. A series of iterative artificial intelligence experiments were conducted using tools such as ChatGPT and Stable Diffusion to evaluate the cultural authenticity, ambience, and detail fidelity of the results, based on the cases of —Nantou Ancient Town and Gankeng Hakka Town in Shenzhen. The findings indicate that culturally embedded cues have a substantial impact on the realism, architectural accuracy, and narrative power of AI-generated images. This accelerated strategy establishes a novel methodological framework for culturally-rich, AI-assisted nighttime narratives.

Mining activity introduces severe changes in landscapes and, subsequently, in land uses. One of the most singular changes is the existence of pit lakes, which occur in active and, more frequently, abandoned mines. Pit lakes are produced by water table interception when open-pit mines deepen. Their characteristics are highly variable, depending on the type of mine, the environment or the climate. In León province there is a long tradition of coal mining that dates back to the nineteenth century, and hundreds of open pits from the 1970s to 2018 have been opened, producing permanent landscape changes. This work analyses the main parameters, including morphological measurements, depth and pH values obtained from aerial photos and field work, of 76 coal pit lakes more than 30 m in length. The vast majority of these pit lakes were unknown until now and were not included in inventories or maps. The data obtained provide baseline knowledge that will allow, in the future, potential uses (storage of water for various uses, recreational use, wildlife habitat, and geological heritage sites) for these pit lakes and establish their importance as a new geoecological environment.

Ultrafine grinding is an important pretreatment to achieve the physical modification of dietary fiber. In this study, ultrafine grinding treatments were performed for different times to give pea insoluble dietary fiber (PIDF) samples with varied particle sizes (D50). The correlations and quantitative relationships between the microstructures of multi-scales PIDF and its in vitro glucose adsorption and diffusion behaviors were comprehensively evaluated. The results indicated that the specific surface area (SSA), pore volume (PV) and oxygen-to-carbon surface ratio (O/C) of PIDF were significantly increased by ultrafine grinding at the cellular scale, while D50 and cellulose crystallinity (CrI) were significantly decreased. These changes significantly improved the glucose adsorption capacity (GAC) of PIDF. The order of importance of microstructural changes on GAC was O/C > PV > SSA > CrI > D50. GAC showed positive exponential relationships with SSA, PV, and O/C and showed a negative linear relationship with CrI. The ability to retard glucose diffusion increased significantly with decreased fiber particle size because of improved adsorption and interception of glucose and the dense physical barrier effect of PIDF. The quantitative equation of maximum glucose dialysis retardation index was GDRImax = −1.65 ln(D50) + 16.82 ln(GAC) − 68.22 (R2 = 0.99). The results could provide theoretical support for quantitative and targeted intervention of dietary fiber structure for blood glucose control.

City leaders are setting ambitious plans to achieve critical urban sustainability goals such as reducing urban heat, mitigating flooding during storms, and conserving biodiversity, and increasingly rely on urban forests as a key nature‐based solution to such challenges. Current paradigms of urban forest management typically prioritize goals like increasing tree canopy cover that are often viewed as proxies for increased ecosystem service provision, in a general sense. However, urban foresters, the professionals with responsibility to manage urban forests, are increasingly faced with the complex challenge of managing for new goals related to ecosystem services, biodiversity, or people–nature relationships, as cities increasingly set goals centered on such outcomes, without robust guidelines to follow. We ask: How can urban foresters align their street tree management actions with specific urban sustainability goals? We conducted a structured expert elicitation of urban forest professionals in three cities: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, United States; and Washington, DC, United States. A socio‐ecological lens was used to examine urban foresters as agents of change in urban ecosystems. Participants assessed the impacts of 40 direct management actions on five goals: (1) canopy cover increase and tree risk reduction, (2) urban heat reduction, (3) people–nature relationships, (4) wildlife habitat, and (5) stormwater interception and infiltration. While certain actions (e.g., in the mature tree maintenance phase) were selected as needed to advance every goal, experts identified numerous actions which aligned with one or several goals, but not all. Preplanting actions, specifically site selection and species selection, presented the greatest opportunities to advance specific goals, suggesting that aligning this phase with city sustainability goals is critical. Participants were highly confident in being able to advance all goals through street tree management, but were more confident in being able to advance the goals of increasing canopy cover while reducing tree risk and of mitigating urban heat, possibly because these goals more closely align with traditional canopy cover goal setting. This research underscores the necessity of considering site‐level ecosystem management actions to advance strategic sustainability goals, while also revealing the complexity of the role and responsibilities of professionals who manage urban ecosystems.