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Drought-tolerant species play a crucial role in maintaining ecosystem services in arid and semi-arid regions wherein subject to rapid climate change. However, how future climate change affect the distribution of drought-tolerant plants with different growth forms (e.g., herb and woody) remains largely unknown. Here, we used the MaxEnt model to simulate the potential species distribution under current conditions, and predicted the future species distribution of 82 common drought-tolerant plants in China under two time periods (2041-2060 and 2081-2100) and three climate change scenarios (SSP126, SSP245 and SSP585) in the future. We found that the western and northern regions of China are hotspots for drought-tolerant plant distribution. Compared with other predictors, aridity index (AI) explained the largest portion of variation (45%) in the distribution patterns of drought-tolerant plant plants. Climate change would change the distribution of drought-tolerant plants, with more than 50% of the species showing a trend of shrinking ranges in China. For both herb and woody plants, the highest turnover values were observed under SSP585 for the period 2081-2100, reaching 37.67% and 29.08%, respectively. Our results highlighted that herb and woody plants respond differently to climate change stresses, with herb plants projected to greatly expand their ranges in the future. These insights are vital for evaluating the impacts of climate change on biodiversity and informing the development of effective adaptation strategies.

The development of advanced optical probes for point-of-care testing holds great importance in the field of diagnostic technologies. This study focused on the synthesis of a probe featuring both fluorescent and photothermal responses with single excitation wavelength, which was achieved through the combination of oxidized camellia oleifera shell powder (OC) and Prussian blue nanoparticles (PBNPs). Notably, OC derived from the direct processing of raw material showed fluorescent and phosphorescent emissions simultaneously, and the positions of the two peaks overlapped with the absorbance range of PBNPs, making the fluorescent and phosphorescent emissions of OC effectively quenched by PBNPs. Meanwhile, the photothermal property of PBNPs was activated by the phosphorescent emission of OC through photoinduced energy transfer. As a proof of concept, OC@PBNPs was applied in the dual-channel immunoassay, in which illegal addictive aminopyrine (AP) was chosen as the detection target. Furthermore, a portable device was developed to capture the fluorescent and photothermal signals of OC@PBNPs, rendering the detection method based on OC@PBNPs suitable for point-of-care testing (POCT).

Pine wood nematodes (PWN, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) cause widespread mortality in pine forests via pine wilt disease (PWD). The rapid death of diseased trees, which destroys biodiversity and significantly affects forest carbon storage, leading to negative environmental and economic consequences, as forests are crucial to the global carbon cycle. The interactions among PWN, hosts, and vector insects are closely linked to climate change. Climate warming has exacerbated changes in the geographic distribution of host tree species and vector insects, thereby increasing the rate and extent of PWD transmission. These interactions increase the risk of pine infection and can have far-reaching consequences for the health and stability of entire forest ecosystems. However, the global effects of climate change on these interactions are poorly understood. To fill this research gap and predict the potential impacts of climate change on the distribution of PWNs and vector insects in pine forests, we used the biomod2 integrated model to forecast their potential geographic distributions by 2050, 2070, and 2090 under three greenhouse gas emission scenarios (SSP126, SSP245, and SSP585). We analysed vector dominance and risk zones and found that potentially suitable areas for PWNs could migrate to higher latitudes in the future. The dominant vector insects, Monochamus alternatus, Monochamus carolinensis, and Monochamus saltuarius, exhibited a high ecological niche similarity to PWNs and their populations should be controlled. Additionally, high-risk areas for abiotic factors (environmental similarity) and biotic factors (hosts and vectors) will greatly expand in North America and Europe. Areas already infested by PWN will become high-risk zones for the conversion of carbon sinks to carbon sources. The modeled changes in the spatial and temporal patterns of PWN, hosts, and vector insects in this study provide a reference for developing management and conservation strategies for ensuring PWN control and improving future forest health.

Soil fumigation is commonly employed for pest control in potato production, although it can unintentionally harm non-target organisms in the soil. The presence of cover crops can significantly influence the abundance and composition of microorganisms. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the combined impact of soil fumigation and cover crops on soil health in potato fields. To address this knowledge gap, a field study was conducted at the Hermiston Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Oregon State University with a randomized split-plot design consisting of four fumigation treatments (no fumigation control, Telone, metam sodium, and co-applied Telone and metam sodium) as the main plots and five cover crop treatments [no cover crop, wheat (Triticum aestivum), mustard (Brassica nigra), radish (Raphanus sativus), and a mixture of winter pea (Pisum sativum) and faba bean (Vicia faba)] as the subplots. Compared to the control, microbial biomass carbon (MBC) in non-fumigated soils of pea+faba bean, wheat, and radish increased by 41 %, 37 %, and 31 %, respectively. In soils treated with metam sodium, pea+faba bean, wheat, radish, and mustard increased MBC by 30 %, 34 %, 41 %, and 40 % compared to the control. The results demonstrated the potential of cover crops to enhance MBC after fumigation. Both Fumigation and cover crop did not impact the total yield of potatoes, although fumigation increased the yield of tubers within 171-283 g size category compared to the control. However, the current data is not sufficient for making a conclusive remark. Further field studies should be conducted to understand the role of fumigation and cover crops on potato soil health and potato production.