• Energy Research
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As the wind farm sector grows and becomes an established renewable energy source, it introduces new materials, technologies and processes that expose workers to increased and unique occupational risks. In this paper, we performed a generic review of scientific and industry literature on online scientific databases and search engines to identify the extent to which occupational health hazards and risks specific to wind farms have been considered. Our review revealed noise, electromagnetic fields, shadow flicker, epoxy and styrene and physical stress have been the focus of limited research, mainly including self-reported data from offshore wind farm employees. Factors such as vibration, welding fumes and other possibly harmful substances, weather conditions and biological hazards have not been addressed by studies, although their presence and combinations could be of concern. Therefore, there is a need for further research on unique and combined risks and hazards faced by workers across all lifecycle stages of wind energy production. This would improve knowledge and provide the opportunity to manage health hazards in current and newly constructed installations and inform future regulatory and other preventative measures.

AbstractCrustose coralline algae (CCA) are a group of calcifying red macroalgae crucial to tropical coral reefs because they form crusts that cement together the reef framework1. Previous research into the responses of CCA to ocean warming (OW) and ocean acidification (OA) have found reductions in calcification rates and survival2,3, with magnitude of effect being species-specific. Responses of CCA to OW and OA could be linked to evolutionary divergence time and/or their underlying molecular biology, the role of either being unknown in CCA. Here we showSporolithon durum, a species from an earlier diverged lineage that exhibits low sensitivity to climate stressors, had little change in metabolic performance and did not significantly alter the expression of any genes when exposed to temperature and pH perturbations. In contrast,Porolithon onkodes, a species from a recently diverged lineage, reduced photosynthetic rates and had over 400 significantly differentially expressed genes in response to experimental treatments, with differential regulation of genes relating to physiological processes. We suggest earlier diverged CCA may be resistant to OW and OA conditions predicted for 2100, whereas taxa from more recently diverged lineages with demonstrated high sensitivity to climate stressors may have limited ability for acclimatisation.

Plants under salt stress require additional energy supply to fuel salt tolerance mechanisms and growth. Bandehagh and Taylor (2020) establish that plants must strike a balance between energy supply and demand to maintain growth and development during salt stress. This review (1) summaries how salt stress affects different physiological and biochemical process altering the abundance of different metabolites that are feeding into regular and alternative respiratory pathways and shunts; (monomeric complex I, dimeric complex III and I + III2 supercomplex) found to be higher in halophyte mitochondria in comparison with glycophyte, implying efficient electron transfer from complex I to complex III in halophyte mitochondria. Further, the stability of ATP synthase (complex V) also found to be higher in halophyte suggesting halophyte mitochondria better equipped to supply additional ATP required to support salt stress response.Synthesis of organic compatible solutes is an important component for plant salt stress tolerance. In this regard, proline plays an important role in protecting plants from under salinity conditions and showed that salt tolerance is associated with changes in lipid metabolic processes. They also discovered the important role of phosphatidylserine (PS) in mediating enzyme activity, and exogenous application of PS alleviated the effects of NaCl tissue toxicity. The results showed that the superior K + retention ability in both mature and elongation zone of rice root is the key trait conferring its differential salinity stress tolerance. They suggested that besides the superior ability to activate root H + -ATPase pump operation, this key trait is also related to the reduced sensitivity of K + efflux channels to reactive oxygen species and the lower upregulation in OsGORK and higher upregulation of OsAKT1.A key trait long recognized to improve salinity tolerance in many plants is the maintenance of a low Na + /K + ratio. Transient expression experiment showed that JcHDZ07 is a nuclear-localized protein.In improving Na + exclusion ability to maintain root ion homeostasis to ensure a relatively 9 low shoot Na + concentration under saline conditions; 2) maintaining a high shoot sugar content under saline conditions which is enabled by protecting photosystems structures, enhancing photosynthetic performance and sucrose synthetase activity, and inhibiting sucrose degradation. Further, authors suggested that targeting the key genes related to the regulatory mechanisms could provide opportunities to breed more salt tolerant sweet sorghum.Overall, we hope this special issue of benefit to plant breeders and land managers by delivering novel information and insights on the salinity stress response, signalling and adaptive mechanisms operating in plants.

Natural ecosystems are threatened by climate change, fragmentation, and non-native species. Dispersal-limitation potentially compounds impacts of these factors on plant diversity, especially in isolated vegetation patches. Changes in climate can impact the phenology of native species in distinct ways from non-natives, potentially resulting in cascading impacts on native communities. Few empirical studies have examined the combined effects of climate change and dispersal limitation on community diversity or phenology. Using a five-year dispersal-restriction experiment in an invaded semi-arid annual plant system in Western Australia, we investigated the interactive effects of dispersal-restriction and inter-annual rainfall variation on community composition, species dominance and seed production timing. We found inter-annual rainfall variation to be the principal driver of community dynamics. Drought years had long-term, stable effects on community composition, with evidence of shifts from native toward non-native dominance. Surprisingly, community composition remained largely unchanged under dispersal restriction. A subtle dispersal rescue effect was evident for a dominant native annual forb and a dominant annual non-native grass but only in average rainfall years. The timing of seed production was primarily driven by annual rainfall with native and non-native grasses having opposite responses. There was no evidence that inter-annual variation in seeding timing affected community diversity over time. Our study demonstrates that dispersal is not a major factor in driving community diversity in this invaded, semi-arid system. Results do suggest, however, that increases in drought frequency likely benefit non-native species over natives in the long term. Climate Change Ecology, 2 ISSN:2666-9005

AbstractSoil micronutrients are capital for the delivery of ecosystem functioning and food provision worldwide. Yet, despite their importance, the global biogeography and ecological drivers of soil micronutrients remain virtually unknown, limiting our capacity to anticipate abrupt unexpected changes in soil micronutrients in the face of climate change. Here, we analyzed >1300 topsoil samples to examine the global distribution of six metallic micronutrients (Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, Co and Ni) across all continents, climates and vegetation types. We found that warmer arid and tropical ecosystems, present in the least developed countries, sustain the lowest contents of multiple soil micronutrients. We further provide evidence that temperature increases may potentially result in abrupt and simultaneous reductions in the content of multiple soil micronutrients when a temperature threshold of 12–14°C is crossed, which may be occurring on 3% of the planet over the next century. Altogether, our findings provide fundamental understanding of the global distribution of soil micronutrients, with direct implications for the maintenance of ecosystem functioning, rangeland management and food production in the warmest and poorest regions of the planet.