The global pattern of epiphytic liverwort disparity: insights from Frullania.

The geographical and ecological patterns of morphological disparity are crucial to understand how species are assembled within communities in the context of the evolutionary history, morphological evolution and ecological interactions. However, with limited exceptions, rather few studies have been conducted on the global pattern of disparity, particularly in early land plants. Here we explored the spatial accumulation of disparity in a morphologically variable and species rich liverwort genus Frullania in order to test the hypothesis of latitude disparity gradient. We compiled a morphological data set consisting of eight continuous traits for 244 currently accepted species, and scored the species distribution into 19 floristic regions worldwide. By reconstructing the morphospace of all defined regions and comparisons, we identified a general Gondwana-Laurasia pattern of disparity in Frullania. This likely results from an increase of ecological opportunities and / or relaxed constraints towards low latitudes. The lowest disparity occurred in arid tropical regions, largely due to a high extinction rate as a consequence of paleoaridification. There was weak correlation between species diversity and disparity at different spatial scales. Furthermore, long-distance dispersal may have partially shaped the present-day distribution of Frullania disparity, given its frequency and the great contribution of widely distributed species to local morphospace. This study not only highlighted the crucial roles of paleoenvironmental changes, ecological opportunities, and efficient dispersal on the global pattern of plant disparity, but also implied its dependence on the ecological and physiological function of traits.

Efficient removal of phosphorus and nitrogen from aquatic environment using sepiolite-MgO nanocomposites: preparation, characterization, removal performance, and mechanism.

Excessive phosphorus will lead to eutrophication in aquatic environment; the efficient removal of phosphorus is crucial for wastewater engineering and surface water management. This study aimed to fabricate a nanorod-like sepiolite-supported MgO (S-MgO) nanocomposite with high specific surface area for efficient phosphate removal using a facile microwave-assisted method and calcining processes. The impact of solution pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time, initial phosphate concentrations, Ca2+ addition, and N/P ratio on the phosphate removal was extensively examined by the batch experiments. The findings demonstrated that the S-MgO nanocomposite exhibited effective removal performance for low-level phosphate (0 ~ 2.0 mM) within the pH range of 3.0 ~ 10.0. Additionally, the nanocomposite can synchronously remove phosphate and ammonium in high-level nutrient conditions (> 2.0 mM), with the maximum removal capacities of 188.49 mg P/g and 89.78 mg N/g. Quantitative and qualitative analyses confirmed the successful harvesting of struvite in effluent with high-phosphate concentrations, with the mechanisms involved attributed to a synergistic combination of sorption and struvite crystallization. Due to its proficient phosphate removal efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and substantial removal capacity, the developed S-MgO nanocomposite exhibits promising potential for application in phosphorus removal from aquatic environments.

Bioremediation of petroleum-contaminated soil by a combined system of biostimulation-bioaugmentation with yeast.

This paper presents a study of the effect of a combined biostimulation-bioaugmentation treatment applied to a clay-loam soil contaminated with 16,300 mg/kg of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), which comprised 51% saturated hydrocarbons and 31% aromatic hydrocarbons. The bioaugmentation was performed with yeast Candida tropicalis SK21 isolated from petroleum-contaminated soil. The strain was able to grow in a pH range of 3-9 in liquid culture, and the optimum pH was found to be 6 for both growth and biosurfactant production. At pH 6, 96% and 42% of TPH were degraded by the strain at the initial diesel oil concentrations of 0.5% and 5% (v/v), respectively. The remediation via inoculating the yeast removed 83% of TPH in 180 days while the experiment with the indigenous microorganisms alone removed 61%. Microbial enumeration showed that the yeast SK21 could grow good in the soil. It was also found that dehydrogenase and polyphenoloxidase activities in soil were remarkably enhanced by the inoculation of the yeast.