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Fulltext Historical and projected response of Southeast Asian lakes surface water temperature to warming climate

Virdis SGP, Kongwarakom S, Juneng L, Padedda BM, Shrestha S

Environ Res, 2024 Apr 15;247:118412.
PMID: 38316380 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118412

The temperature of surface and epilimnetic waters, closely related to regional air temperatures, responds quickly and directly to climatic changes. As a result, lake surface temperature (LSWT) can be considered an effective indicator of climate change. In this study, we reconstructed and investigated historical and future LSWT across different scenarios for over 80 major lakes in mainland Southeast Asia (SEA), an ecologically diverse region vulnerable to climate impacts. Five different predicting models, incorporating statistical, machine and deep learning approaches, were trained and validated using ERA5 and CHIRPS climatic feature datasets as predictors and 8-day MODIS-derived LSWT from 2000 to 2020 as reference dataset. Best performing model was then applied to predict both historical (1986-2020) and future (2020-2100) LSWT for SEA lakes, utilizing downscaled climatic CORDEX-SEA feature data and multiple Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP). The analysis uncovered historical and future thermal dynamics and long-term trends for both daytime and nighttime LSWT. Among 5 models, XGboost results the most performant (NSE 0.85, RMSE 1.14 °C, MAE 0.69 °C, MBE -0.08 °C) and it has been used for historical reconstruction and future LSWT prediction. The historical analysis revealed a warming trend in SEA lakes, with daytime LSWT increasing at a rate of +0.18 °C/decade and nighttime LSWT at +0.13 °C/decade over the past three decades. These trends appeared of smaller magnitude compared to global estimates of LSWT change rates and less pronounced than concurrent air temperature and LSWT increases in neighbouring regions. Projections under various RCP scenarios indicated continued LSWT warming. Daytime LSWT is projected to increase at varying rates per decade: +0.03 °C under RCP2.6, +0.14 °C under RCP4.5, and +0.29 °C under RCP8.5. Similarly, nighttime LSWT projections under these scenarios are: +0.03 °C, +0.10 °C, and +0.16 °C per decade, respectively. The most optimistic scenario predicted marginal increases of +0.38 °C on average, while the most pessimistic scenario indicated an average LSWT increase of +2.29 °C by end of the century. This study highlights the relevance of LSWT as a climate change indicator in major SEA's freshwater ecosystems. The integration of satellite-derived LSWT, historical and projected climate data into data-driven modelling has enabled new and a more nuanced understanding of LSWT dynamics in relation to climate throughout the entire SEA region.

Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem*
Fulltext Tropical forests post-logging are a persistent net carbon source to the atmosphere

Mills MB, Malhi Y, Ewers RM, Kho LK, Teh YA, Both S, et al.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2023 Jan 17;120(3):e2214462120.
PMID: 36623189 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2214462120

Logged and structurally degraded tropical forests are fast becoming one of the most prevalent land-use types throughout the tropics and are routinely assumed to be a net carbon sink because they experience rapid rates of tree regrowth. Yet this assumption is based on forest biomass inventories that record carbon stock recovery but fail to account for the simultaneous losses of carbon from soil and necromass. Here, we used forest plots and an eddy covariance tower to quantify and partition net ecosystem CO2 exchange in Malaysian Borneo, a region that is a hot spot for deforestation and forest degradation. Our data represent the complete carbon budget for tropical forests measured throughout a logging event and subsequent recovery and found that they constitute a substantial and persistent net carbon source. Consistent with existing literature, our study showed a significantly greater woody biomass gain across moderately and heavily logged forests compared with unlogged forests, but this was counteracted by much larger carbon losses from soil organic matter and deadwood in logged forests. We estimate an average carbon source of 1.75 ± 0.94 Mg C ha-1 yr-1 within moderately logged plots and 5.23 ± 1.23 Mg C ha-1 yr-1 in unsustainably logged and severely degraded plots, with emissions continuing at these rates for at least one-decade post-logging. Our data directly contradict the default assumption that recovering logged and degraded tropical forests are net carbon sinks, implying the amount of carbon being sequestered across the world's tropical forests may be considerably lower than currently estimated.

Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem*
Draft genome of novel cyanobacteria Sphaerothrix Gracilis isolated from coastal microplastics reveal insights to chemical ecology, bloom and plastic-utilization potential

Curren E, Kuwahara VS, Yoshida T, Leong SCY

Funct Integr Genomics, 2024 Mar 02;24(2):46.
PMID: 38429576 DOI: 10.1007/s10142-024-01328-9

Cyanobacteria are oxygenic photosynthetic organisms which are found across many ecosystems, including freshwater and marine habitats. They are also found on natural and artificial surfaces. In this study, we cultured and characterise a novel cyanobacterium from the surfaces of foam microplastics of tropical coastal waters. We study the chemical ecology of this cyanobacterium, Sphaerothrix gracilis gen. et sp. nov., together with its potential to form harmful cyanobacterial blooms and bioremediation applications to combat plastic pollution. The genome of S. gracilis spanned 6.7 Mbp, with identification of antibiotic resistance, nitrogen-fixation, plastic-degrading and genes involved in harmful metabolite production. The transport of potentially harmful S. gracilis in coastal environments could have severe implications on human health and food security, especially in times of a cyanobacterial bloom.

Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem*
THREE-DECADE changes of reef cover in Pulau Layang-Layang, Malaysia using multitemporal Landsat images

Han DHT, James D, Waheed Z, Phua MH

Mar Environ Res, 2024 May;197:106454.
PMID: 38552455 DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2024.106454

Over the years, coral reefs in the South China Sea have degraded and faced severe threats from rapid development, coral bleaching, and Crown-of-Thorns Starfish (COTS) outbreak. There is limited knowledge relating to the effects of anthropogenic disturbances and natural events on the coral reefs of Pulau Layang-Layang. This study aims to assess reef cover changes by utilizing Landsat satellite images spanning from 1989 to 2022. Using the object-based image analysis method, this study classified the reef cover into three categories: coral, rock and rubble, and sand. The supervised classification had an overall accuracy of 86.41-87.38 % and Tau's coefficients of 0.80-0.81. The results showed island development and construction of artificial bird sanctuary have led to an increase in coral cover. Furthermore, it was illustrated that the impact of COTS outbreaks in 2010 and 2020 differed significantly, with the latter showing no signs of recovery. Our study underscores the importance of timely intervention to mitigate the spread of COTS. This study provides insights into the resilience and vulnerability of these ecosystems in the face of various stressors.

Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem*
Fulltext Green education divide: a comparative case study analysis of countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations

Teow HH, Ahmed PK, Nair MS, Vaithilingam S

Lancet Planet Health, 2024 Apr;8 Suppl 1:S20.
PMID: 38632916 DOI: 10.1016/S2542-5196(24)00085-8

BACKGROUND: Green education is an essential precursor to promoting long-term sustainable practices and fostering environmentally conscious behaviours, especially among the younger generations. Such education equips individuals with the knowledge, awareness, and experiences necessary for green behavioural shifts, empowering them to engage actively in sustainable practices in the long run, which is essential for ensuring environmental sustainability. However, green education practices and policies vary among the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) owing to different levels of socioeconomic development, national priorities, and capacities of each member state. We aimed to analyse and compare the disparities in green education among pace-setter, maturing, and emerging ASEAN countries.
METHODS: We used a case-study approach-a desktop analysis based on journal articles, country reports, newspaper articles, and other sources from the past 10 years-to analyse and compare the green education disparities among pace-setter, maturing, and emerging ASEAN countries.
FINDINGS: As a pace-setter ASEAN country, Singapore has made impressive progress in promoting green education through the effective implementation of pragmatic policies and impactful green education initiatives. Furthermore, the country has established extensive formal and informal green education programmes that closely align with the Singapore Green Plan 2030. By contrast, maturing ASEAN countries are making incremental progress in incorporating green education into their formal education systems. However, challenges faced by these countries include a shortage of well-trained teachers, the lack of specific green education subjects in school syllabuses, and financial constraints. Despite these challenges, innovative approaches-such as partnerships with non-governmental organisations (eg, the World Wide Fund for Nature)-have emerged as promising strategies to promote green education within these maturing nations. Emerging ASEAN countries face the biggest challenges in promoting green education. Competing national priorities, political instability, limited funding and resources, inadequate infrastructure, and a lack of qualified educators pose challenging barriers to advancing green education within emerging ASEAN nations.
INTERPRETATION: This study provides insights into the best practices and challenges surrounding green education within pace-setter, maturing, and emerging ASEAN countries. To address the disparities in green education among these countries, there is a need to adopt a holistic ecosystem framework characterised by the so-called 8i enablers, namely infrastructure (eg, well-equipped laboratories and learning spaces), infostructure (eg, advanced teaching technologies), intellectual capital (eg, well-trained educators), integrity systems (eg, efficient green education governance systems), incentives (eg, public and private funding for green education initiatives), institutions (ie, strong institutional leaders), interaction (ie, cooperation and collaboration among relevant stakeholders), and internationalisation (eg, leveraging regional and international partnerships to access expertise and resources).
FUNDING: None.

Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem*
Human intervention caused massive destruction of the second largest mangrove forest, Chakaria Sundarbans, Bangladesh

Hasan M, Hassan L, Abdullah Al M, Kamal AHM, Idris MH, Hoque MZ, et al.

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2024 Apr;31(17):25329-25341.
PMID: 38468013 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-024-32792-2

Mangroves provide essential ecosystem services including coastal protection by acting as coastal greenbelts; however, human-driven anthropogenic activities altered their existence and ecosystem functions worldwide. In this study, the successive degradation of the second largest mangrove forest, Chakaria Sundarbans situated at the northern Bay of Bengal part of Bangladesh was assessed using remote sensing approaches. A total of five multi-temporal Landsat satellite imageries were collected and used to observe the land use land cover (LULC) changes over the time periods for the years 1972, 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020. Further, the supervised classification technique with the help of support vector machine (SVM) algorithm in ArcGIS 10.8 was used to process images. Our results revealed a drastic change of Chakaria Sundarbans mangrove forest, that the images of 1972 were comprised of mudflat, waterbody, and mangroves, while the images of 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020 were classified as waterbody, mangrove, saltpan, and shrimp farm. Most importantly, mangrove forest was the largest covering area a total of 64.2% in 1972, but gradually decreased to 12.7%, 6.4%, 1.9%, and 4.6% for the years 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020, respectively. Interestingly, the rate of mangrove forest area degradation was similar to the net increase of saltpan and shrimp farms. The kappa coefficients of classified images were 0.83, 0.87, 0.80, 0.87, and 0.91 with the overall accuracy of 88.9%, 90%, 85%, 90%, and 93.3% for the years 1972, 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020, respectively. By analyzing normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), soil adjusted vegetation index (SAVI), and transformed difference vegetation index (TDVI), our results validated that green vegetated area was decreased alarmingly with time in this study area. This destruction was mainly related to active human-driven anthropogenic activities, particularly creating embankments for fish farms or salt productions, and cutting for collection of wood as well. Together all, our results provide clear evidence of active anthropogenic stress on coastal ecosystem health by altering mangrove forest to saltpan and shrimp farm saying goodbye to the second largest mangrove forest in one of the coastal areas of the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh.

Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem*
Trade-induced displacement of impacts of global crop production on oxygen depletion in marine ecosystems

Bidoglio GA, Mueller ND, Kastner T

Sci Total Environ, 2023 May 15;873:162226.
PMID: 36801408 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162226

In our globalized world, local impacts of agricultural production are increasingly driven by consumption in geographically distant places. Current agricultural systems strongly rely on nitrogen (N) fertilization to increase soil fertility and crop yields. Yet, a large portion of N added to cropland is lost through leaching / runoff potentially leading to eutrophication in coastal ecosystems. By coupling data on global production and N fertilization for 152 crops with a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)-based model, we first estimated the extent of oxygen depletion occurring in 66 Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) due to agricultural production in the watersheds draining into these LMEs. We then linked this information to crop trade data to assess the displacement from consuming to producing countries, in terms of oxygen depletion impacts associated to our food systems. In this way, we characterized how impacts are distributed between traded and domestically sourced agricultural products. We found that few countries dominate global impacts and that cereal and oil crop production accounts for the bulk of oxygen depletion impacts. Globally, 15.9 % of total oxygen depletion impacts of crop production are ascribable to export-driven production. However, for exporting countries like Canada, Argentina or Malaysia this share is much higher, often up to three-quarters of their production impacts. In some importing countries, trade contributes to reduce pressure on already highly affected coastal ecosystems. This is the case for countries whose domestic crop production is associated with high oxygen depletion intensities, i.e. the impact per kcal produced, such as Japan or South Korea. Next to these positive effects trade can play in lowering overall environmental burdens, our results also highlight the importance of a holistic food system perspective when aiming to reduce the oxygen depletion impacts of crop production.

Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem*
Review on flower-visiting behaviour of orthopterans and setting priorities for further studies

Rácz IA, Szanyi S, Nagy A

Biol Futur, 2023 Dec;74(4):393-400.
PMID: 38349457 DOI: 10.1007/s42977-024-00203-9

The importance of pollination and pollinators is easy to underestimate and impossible to overstate, since its importance goes far beyond the crop production and even the maintenance of plant populations. Most terrestrial ecosystems ultimately depend on the plant-pollinator interactions formed by million years coevolution. This is essential for both the daily functioning of the ecosystems and the long-term development of biodiversity. At the same time, the loss of biodiversity caused by climate change and human activities will soon lead to an ecological crisis, a catastrophe, which could endanger our life: For example, through the decline and loss of various ecosystem services. Such may be the pollination crisis, resulted from a significant loss of pollinating insects' diversity and abundance. The discovery of a pollinator Orthoptera species has encouraged researchers in the densely populated region of Indo-Malaysia to explore the potential role of orthopterans as pollinators. Although the flower visitation of some species has been already known, the role of orthopterans in pollination is scarcely revealed. Here, we collected and reviewed the available data in order to point out some factors of their importance and set priorities that may serve as a basis for further investigations regarding ecological, evolutionary and practical points of view.

Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem*
Fulltext Tiger sharks support the characterization of the world's largest seagrass ecosystem

Gallagher AJ, Brownscombe JW, Alsudairy NA, Casagrande AB, Fu C, Harding L, et al.

Nat Commun, 2022 Nov 01;13(1):6328.
PMID: 36319621 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33926-1

Seagrass conservation is critical for mitigating climate change due to the large stocks of carbon they sequester in the seafloor. However, effective conservation and its potential to provide nature-based solutions to climate change is hindered by major uncertainties regarding seagrass extent and distribution. Here, we describe the characterization of the world's largest seagrass ecosystem, located in The Bahamas. We integrate existing spatial estimates with an updated empirical remote sensing product and perform extensive ground-truthing of seafloor with 2,542 diver surveys across remote sensing tiles. We also leverage seafloor assessments and movement data obtained from instrument-equipped tiger sharks, which have strong fidelity to seagrass ecosystems, to augment and further validate predictions. We report a consensus area of at least 66,000 km2 and up to 92,000 km2 of seagrass habitat across The Bahamas Banks. Sediment core analysis of stored organic carbon further confirmed the global relevance of the blue carbon stock in this ecosystem. Data from tiger sharks proved important in supporting mapping and ground-truthing remote sensing estimates. This work provides evidence of major knowledge gaps in the ocean ecosystem, the benefits in partnering with marine animals to address these gaps, and underscores support for rapid protection of oceanic carbon sinks.

Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem*
Fulltext Global distribution of soil fauna functional groups and their estimated litter consumption across biomes

Heděnec P, Jiménez JJ, Moradi J, Domene X, Hackenberger D, Barot S, et al.

Sci Rep, 2022 Oct 17;12(1):17362.
PMID: 36253487 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-21563-z

Soil invertebrates (i.e., soil fauna) are important drivers of many key processes in soils including soil aggregate formation, water retention, and soil organic matter transformation. Many soil fauna groups directly or indirectly participate in litter consumption. However, the quantity of litter consumed by major faunal groups across biomes remains unknown. To estimate this quantity, we reviewed > 1000 observations from 70 studies that determined the biomass of soil fauna across various biomes and 200 observations from 44 studies on litter consumption by soil fauna. To compare litter consumption with annual litterfall, we analyzed 692 observations from 24 litterfall studies and 183 observations from 28 litter stock studies. The biomass of faunal groups was highest in temperate grasslands and then decreased in the following order: boreal forest > temperate forest > tropical grassland > tundra > tropical forest > Mediterranean ecosystems > desert and semidesert. Tropical grasslands, desert biomes, and Mediterranean ecosystems were dominated by termites. Temperate grasslands were dominated by omnivores, while temperate forests were dominated by earthworms. On average, estimated litter consumption (relative to total litter input) ranged from a low of 14.9% in deserts to a high of 100.4% in temperate grassland. Litter consumption by soil fauna was greater in grasslands than in forests. This is the first study to estimate the effect of different soil fauna groups on litter consumption and related processes at global scale.

Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem*
Dynamics of the forest communities at Pasoh and Barro Colorado: comparing two 50-ha plots

Condit R, Ashton PS, Manokaran N, LaFrankie JV, Hubbell SP, Foster RB

Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 1999 Nov 29;354(1391):1739-48.
PMID: 11605618

Dynamics of the Pasoh forest in Peninsular Malaysia were assessed by drawing a comparison with a forest in Panama, Central America, whose dynamics have been thoroughly described. Census plots of 50 ha were established at both sites using standard methods. Tree mortality at Pasoh over an eight-year interval was 1.46% yr(-1) for all stems > or = 10 mm diameter at breast height (dbh), and 1.48% yr(-1) for stems > or = 100 mm dbh. Comparable figures at the Barro Colorado Island site in Panama (BCI) were 2.55% and 2.03%. Growth and recruitment rates were likewise considerably higher at BCI than at Pasoh. For example, in all trees 500-700 mm in dbh, mean BCI growth over the period 1985-1995 was 6 mm yr(-1), whereas mean Pasoh growth was about 3.5 mm yr(-1). Examining growth and mortality rates for individual species showed that the difference between the forests can be attributed to a few light-demanding pioneer species at BCI, which have very high growth and mortality; Pasoh is essentially lacking this guild. The bulk of the species in the two forests are shade-tolerant and have very similar mortality, growth and recruitment. The Pasoh forest is more stable than BCI's in another way as well: few of its tree populations changed much over the eight-year census interval. In contrast, at BCI, over 10% of the species had populations increasing or decreasing at a rate of >0.05 yr(-1) compared to just 2% of the species at Pasoh). The faster species turnover at BCI can probably be attributed to severe droughts that have plagued the forest periodically over the past 30 years; Pasoh has not suffered such extreme events recently. The dearth of pioneer species at Pasoh is associated with low-nutrient soil and slow litter breakdown, but the exact mechanisms behind this association remain poorly understood.

Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem
Fulltext Impacts of asymmetric biotic interactions and environmental factors on the presence-absence of multispecies

Ojonubah, James Omaiye, Mohd Hafiz Mohd

Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2020;28(1):245-261.
MyJurnal

Interactions between multispecies are usual incidence in their habitats. Such interactions among the species are thought to be asymmetric in nature, which combine with environmental factors can determine the distributions and abundances of the species. Most often, each species responds differentially to biotic interactions and environmental factors. Therefore, predicting the presence-absence of species is a major challenge in ecology. In this paper, we used mathematical modelling to study the combined effects of biotic interactions (i.e. asymmetric competition) and environmental factors on the presence-absence of the species across a geographical region. To gain better insight on this problem, we performed invasion and numerical simulation analyses of the model of multispecies competitive dynamics. Different threshold values of competition coefficients were observed, which result in different phenomena; such as coexistence of species and priority effects. Consequently, we propose that asymmetric biotic interactions, combined with environmental factors can allow coexistence of relatively weak and strong species at the same location x.

Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem
Fulltext Diversity Pattern of Bats at Two Contrasting Habitat Types along Kerian River, Perak, Malaysia

Shafie NJ, Sah SA, Latip NS, Azman NM, Khairuddin NL

Trop Life Sci Res, 2011 Dec;22(2):13-22.
PMID: 24575214 MyJurnal

We present an assessment of the diversity of Malaysian bats at two contrasting habitat types (secondary forest and oil palm plantation) along the Kerian River surveyed between February 2009 and February 2010. Three hundred and twenty nine individual bats from 13 species representing 4 families were recorded using 10 mist nets. The most commonly caught bat in the secondary forest was Cynopterus brachyotis (n=75), followed by Macroglossus minimus (n=10). Meanwhile, in the oil palm plantation, the most commonly caught bat was Cynopterus brachyotis (n=109), followed by Cynopterus horsfieldi (n=76). The netting efforts were equal for both habitat types. The total sampling nights for each habitat type was 5460. The oil palm plantation had a greater bat abundance that was significantly different from that of the secondary forest, with 209 and 120 individuals, respectively (Mann-Whitney U-test = 31.5, p<0.05). Our results suggest that there is no significant difference in species richness between the two sites. However, the invasion by disturbance-associated species of the secondary forest is indicative of negative effects on the forest and animal diversity in this area. Forest managers should consider multiple measures of forest fragmentation sensitivity before making any forest management decisions.

Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem
Understanding the fragmentation of microplastics into nano-plastics and removal of nano/microplastics from wastewater using membrane, air flotation and nano-ferrofluid processes

Pramanik BK, Pramanik SK, Monira S

Chemosphere, 2021 Nov;282:131053.
PMID: 34098311 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.131053

Nano/microplastics (NPs/MPs), a tiny particle of plastic pollution, are known as one of the most important environmental threats to marine ecosystems. Wastewater treatment plants can act as entrance routes for NPs/MPs to the aquatic environment as they breakdown of larger fragments of the plastic component during the treatment process; therefore, it is necessary to remove NPs/MPs during the wastewater treatment process. In this study, understanding the effect of water shear force on the fragmentation of larger size MPs into smaller MPs and NPs and their removal by air flotation and nano-ferrofluid (i.e., magnetite and cobalt ferrite particle as a coagulant) and membrane processes were investigated as a proof-of-concept study. It is found that a two-blade mechanical impeller could fragment MPs from 75, 150 and 300 μm into mean size NPs/MPs of 0.74, 1.14 and 1.88 μm, respectively. Results showed that the maximum removal efficiency of polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride and polyester was 85, 82 and 69%, respectively, in the air flotation process. Increasing the dose of behentrimonium chloride surfactant from 2 to 10 mg/L improved the efficiency of the air flotation process for NPs/MPs removal. It is also found that the removal efficiency of NPs/MPs by the air flotation system depends on solution pH, size, and types of NPs/MPs. This study also found a less significant removal efficiency of NPs/MPs by both types of ferrofluid used in this study with an average removal of 43% for magnetite and 55% for cobalt ferrite. All three plastics tested had similar removal efficiency by the nano-ferrofluid particles, meaning that this removal technique does not rely on the plastic component type. Among all the process tested, both ultrafiltration and microfiltration membrane processes were highly effective, removing more than 90% of NPs/MPs fragment particles. Overall, this study has confirmed the effectiveness of using air flotation and the membrane process to remove NPs/MPs from wastewater.

Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem
Marine microplastics in the ASEAN region: A review of the current state of knowledge

Curren E, Kuwahara VS, Yoshida T, Leong SCY

Environ Pollut, 2021 Nov 01;288:117776.
PMID: 34280748 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117776

Microplastic pollution is a prevalent and serious problem in marine environments. These particles have a detrimental impact on marine ecosystems. They are harmful to marine organisms and are known to be a habitat for toxic microorganisms. Marine microplastics have been identified in beach sand, the seafloor and also in marine biota. Although research investigating the presence of microplastics in various marine environments have increased across the years, studies in Southeast Asia are still relatively limited. In this paper, 36 studies on marine microplastic pollution in Southeast Asia were reviewed and discussed, focusing on microplastics in beach and benthic sediments, seawater and marine organisms. These studies have shown that the presence of fishing harbours, aquaculture farms, and tourism result in an increased abundance of microplastics. The illegal and improper disposal of waste from village settlements and factories also contribute to the high abundance of microplastics observed. Hence, it is crucial to identify the hotspots of microplastic pollution, for assessment and mitigation purposes. Future studies should aim to standardize protocols and quantification, to allow for better quantification and assessment of the levels of microplastic contamination for monitoring purposes.

Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem
Recent Technologies, Security Countermeasure and Ongoing Challenges of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT): A Survey

Tan SF, Samsudin A

Sensors (Basel), 2021 Oct 06;21(19).
PMID: 34640967 DOI: 10.3390/s21196647

The inherent complexities of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) architecture make its security and privacy issues becoming critically challenging. Numerous surveys have been published to review IoT security issues and challenges. The studies gave a general overview of IIoT security threats or a detailed analysis that explicitly focuses on specific technologies. However, recent studies fail to analyze the gap between security requirements of these technologies and their deployed countermeasure in the industry recently. Whether recent industry countermeasure is still adequate to address the security challenges of IIoT environment are questionable. This article presents a comprehensive survey of IIoT security and provides insight into today's industry countermeasure, current research proposals and ongoing challenges. We classify IIoT technologies into the four-layer security architecture, examine the deployed countermeasure based on CIA+ security requirements, report the deficiencies of today's countermeasure, and highlight the remaining open issues and challenges. As no single solution can fix the entire IIoT ecosystem, IIoT security architecture with a higher abstraction level using the bottom-up approach is needed. Moving towards a data-centric approach that assures data protection whenever and wherever it goes could potentially solve the challenges of industry deployment.

Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem
Fulltext The COVID-19 pandemic face mask waste: A blooming threat to the marine environment

Dharmaraj S, Ashokkumar V, Hariharan S, Manibharathi A, Show PL, Chong CT, et al.

Chemosphere, 2021 Jun;272:129601.
PMID: 33497928 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.129601

Recently, the COVID-19 disease spread has emerged as a worldwide pandemic and cause severe threats to humanity. The World Health Organisation (WHO) releases guidelines to help the countries to reduce the spread of this virus to the public, like wearing masks, hand hygiene, social distancing, shutting down all types of public transports, etc. These conditions led to a worldwide economic fall drastically, and on the other hand, indirect environmental benefits like global air quality improvement and decreased water pollution are also pictured. Currently, use of face masks is part of a comprehensive package of the prevention and control measures that can limit the spread of COVID-19 since there is no clinically proven drugs or vaccine available for COVID-19. Mostly, face masks are made of petroleum-based non-renewable polymers that are non-biodegradable, hazardous to the environment and create health issues. This study demonstrates the extensive use of the face mask and how it affects human health and the marine ecosystem. It has become a great challenge for the government sectors to impose strict regulations for the proper disposal of the masks as medical waste by the public. Neglecting the seriousness of this issue may lead to the release of large tonnes of micro-plastics to the landfill as well as to the marine environment where mostly end-up and thereby affecting their fauna and flora population vastly. Besides, this study highlights the COVID-19 spread, its evolutionary importance, taxonomy, genomic structure, transmission to humans, prevention, and treatment.

Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem
Microbial engineering strategies for synthetic microplastics clean up: A review on recent approaches

Kumar V, Sharma N, Duhan L, Pasrija R, Thomas J, Umesh M, et al.

Environ Toxicol Pharmacol, 2023 Mar;98:104045.
PMID: 36572198 DOI: 10.1016/j.etap.2022.104045

Microplastics are the small fragments of the plastic molecules which find their applications in various routine products such as beauty products. Later, it was realized that it has several toxic effects on marine and terrestrial organisms. This review is an approach in understanding the microplastics, their origin, dispersal in the aquatic system, their biodegradation and factors affecting biodegradation. In addition, the paper discusses the major engineering approaches applied in microbial biotechnology. Specifically, it reviews microbial genetic engineering, such as PET-ase engineering, MHET-ase engineering, and immobilization approaches. Moreover, the major challenges associated with the plastic removal are presented by evaluating the recent reports available.

Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem
Fulltext Bibliometric Analysis of Accidental Oil Spills in Ice-Infested Waters

Kabyl A, Yang M, Shah D, Ahmad A

Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2022 Nov 17;19(22).
PMID: 36429909 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192215190

Oil spills are environmental pollution events that occur due to natural disasters or human activities, resulting in a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon release in the environment, especially into the marine ecosystem. Once oil spills happen, they cause detrimental consequences to the environment, living organisms, and humans. Although there are increasing oil and gas activities in the Arctic region, which is abundant with undiscovered oil and gas resources, the harsh environmental conditions of the region, such as the ice coverage, cold temperatures, long periods of darkness, and its remoteness, pose significant challenges to managing the risk of accidental oil spills in ice-infested waters. In this paper, a bibliometric analysis has been applied to study the global work on oil spill research in ice-infested waters. The paper aims to present an overview of the available oil spill response methods in ice-infested waters, identify the current trends of the research on oil spills in ice-infested waters, and determine the challenges with the future research directions based on the bibliometric analysis. The analysis includes a total number of 77 articles that have been published in this research field which were available in the Scopus database, involving 193 authors from 17 countries dating from 1960 to September 2022. During the bibliometric analysis, the top five most productive authors and countries as well as the most cited publications on oil spills in ice-infested waters have been identified; the authors' cooperation network and the cooperation network between the countries in oil spills research in ice-infested waters have been created; a co-citation analysis and a terms analysis have been performed to identify the popular terms and topics. For future directions, it is recommended for researchers (1) to study real oil spills as much as possible to obtain a good overview through replication under different situations; (2) to develop a new technique for the careful examination and management of the potential risks; (3) to study oil separation from the recovered oil-ice mixture.

Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem
Microplastics in freshwater ecosystems: a recent review of occurrence, analysis, potential impacts, and research needs

Sarijan S, Azman S, Said MIM, Jamal MH

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2021 Jan;28(2):1341-1356.
PMID: 33079353 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-11171-7

The utilization of plastics has now become a threat to the environment as it generates microplastic particles (<5 mm in size). The increasing studies on the occurrence of microplastics in different environmental compartments have raised concern about the potential effects on ecosystems and living organisms. Of these, numerous studies are focused on marine environments. The occurrence of microplastics is recently extended to the freshwater environments, including river systems, streams, lakes, pond, creek, and estuarine rivers. This paper overviews the current knowledge and research findings on the occurrence of microplastics in water, sediment, and fish in freshwater environments. The review also covers the adopted methodology and impacts of microplastics to the ecosystem. Future perspectives are discussed as well in this review.

Matched MeSH terms: Ecosystem

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