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Access to reliable and affordable energy is vital for sustainable development. In the off-grid areas of developing countries, decentralized energy solutions have received increasing attention due to their contributions to reducing poverty. However, most of the rural population in many developing countries still has little or no access to modern energy technologies. This paper assesses the factors that determine the successes and failures of decentralized energy solutions based on local harmonized case studies from heterogeneous contexts from Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and South America. The case studies were analyzed through the coupled lenses of energy transition and the Water–Energy–Food Security (WEF) Nexus. The findings indicate that access to modern decentralized energy solutions has not resulted in complete energy transitions due to various tradeoffs with the other domains of the WEF Nexus. On the other hand, the case studies point at the potential for improvements in food security, incomes, health, the empowerment of women, and resource conservation when synergies between decentralized energy solutions and other components of the WEF Nexus are present.

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.

Climate change is causing soil salinization, resulting in crop losses throughout the world. The ability of plants to tolerate salt stress is determined by multiple biochemical and molecular pathways. Here we discuss physiological, biochemical, and cellular modulations in plants in response to salt stress. Knowledge of these modulations can assist in assessing salt tolerance potential and the mechanisms underlying salinity tolerance in plants. Salinity-induced cellular damage is highly correlated with generation of reactive oxygen species, ionic imbalance, osmotic damage, and reduced relative water content. Accelerated antioxidant activities and osmotic adjustment by the formation of organic and inorganic osmolytes are significant and effective salinity tolerance mechanisms for crop plants. In addition, polyamines improve salt tolerance by regulating various physiological mechanisms, including rhizogenesis, somatic embryogenesis, maintenance of cell pH, and ionic homeostasis. This research project focuses on three strategies to augment salinity tolerance capacity in agricultural crops: salinity-induced alterations in signaling pathways; signaling of phytohormones, ion channels, and biosensors; and expression of ion transporter genes in crop plants (especially in comparison to halophytes).

Genetic diversity is a prerequisite for evolutionary change in all kinds of organisms. It is generally acknowledged that populations lacking genetic variation are unable to evolve in response to new environmental conditions (e.g., climate change) and thus may face an increased risk of extinction. Although the importance of incorporating genetic diversity into the design of conservation measures is now well understood, less attention has been paid to the distinction between neutral (NGV) and adaptive (AGV) genetic variation. In this review, we first focus on the utility of NGV by examining the ways to quantify it, reviewing applications of NGV to infer ecological and evolutionary processes, and by exploring its utility in designing conservation measures for plant populations and species. Against this background, we then summarize the ways to identify and estimate AGV and discuss its potential use in plant conservation. After comparing NGV and AGV and considering their pros and cons in a conservation context, we conclude that there is an urgent need for a better understanding of AGV and its role in climate change adaptation. To date, however, there are only a few AGV studies on non-model plant species aimed at deciphering the genetic and genomic basis of complex trait variation. Therefore, conservation researchers and practitioners should keep utilizing NGV to develop relevant strategies for rare and endangered plant species until more estimates of AGV are available.

The aim of this study is to find potential utilization practice of rice straw in India from an environmental perspective. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted for four most realistic utilization practices of straw including: (1) incorporation into the field as fertilizer (2) animal fodder (3) electricity (4) biogas. The results show that processing of 1 ton straw to electricity and biogas resulted in net reduction of 1471 and 1023kg CO2 eq., 15.0 and 3.4kg SO2 eq. and 6.7 and 7.1kg C2H6 eq. emissions in global warming, acidification and photochemical oxidation creation potential respectively. Electricity production from straw replaces the coal based electricity and resulted in benefits in most of the environmental impacts whereas use as an animal fodder resulted in eutrophication benefits. The burning of straw is a harmful practice of managing straw in India which can be avoided by utilizing straw for bioenergy.

AbstractThe response of forest ecosystems to increased atmospheric CO2 is constrained by nutrient availability. It is thus crucial to account for nutrient limitation when studying the forest response to climate change. The objectives of this study were to describe the nutritional status of the main European tree species, to identify growth‐limiting nutrients and to assess changes in tree nutrition during the past two decades. We analysed the foliar nutrition data collected during 1992–2009 on the intensive forest monitoring plots of the ICP Forests programme. Of the 22 significant temporal trends that were observed in foliar nutrient concentrations, 20 were decreasing and two were increasing. Some of these trends were alarming, among which the foliar P concentration in F. sylvatica, Q. Petraea and P. sylvestris that significantly deteriorated during 1992–2009. In Q. Petraea and P. sylvestris, the decrease in foliar P concentration was more pronounced on plots with low foliar P status, meaning that trees with latent P deficiency could become deficient in the near future. Increased tree productivity, possibly resulting from high N deposition and from the global increase in atmospheric CO2, has led to higher nutrient demand by trees. As the soil nutrient supply was not always sufficient to meet the demands of faster growing trees, this could partly explain the deterioration of tree mineral nutrition. The results suggest that when evaluating forest carbon storage capacity and when planning to reduce CO2 emissions by increasing use of wood biomass for bioenergy, it is crucial that nutrient limitations for forest growth are considered.