Populus species are well documented for being potentially suitable for phytoremediation purposes regarding their accumulation characteristics. However, published results are contradictory. Based on the data gathered during an extensive literature search, we aimed to assess and revise the metal accumulation potential in the root, stem, and leaf of Populus species growing in contaminated soils, with meta-analysis. We evaluated the influences of pollution level, soil pH, and exposure time on the metal uptake patterns. We found accumulations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn to be significant in each plant part, while that was only moderate for Ni, and limited for Mn. By calculating the soil pollution index (PI), we observed significantly intensive, PI-independent accumulation for Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn. A decrease in soil pH significantly increased the uptake of Mn and significantly decreased the accumulation of Pb in the stem. Metal uptake was significantly influenced by exposure time as well; Cd concentration was significantly decreased in the stem, while concentrations of Cr in the stem and leaf, and Mn in the stem were significantly increased with time. These aforementioned findings support a well-founded metal-and-growth condition-specific application of poplars in phytoremediation processes, also triggering further in-depth assessments to enhance the efficiency of relevant poplar-based technologies.

Monitoring air pollution and environmental health are crucial to ensure viable cities. We assessed the usefulness of the Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI) as a composite index of environmental health. Fine and coarse dust amount and elemental concentrations of Celtis occidentalis and Tilia × europaea leaves were measured in June and September at three sampling sites (urban, industrial, and rural) in Debrecen city (Hungary) to assess the usefulness of APTI. The correlation between APTI values and dust amount and elemental concentrations was also studied. Fine dust, total chlorophyll, and elemental concentrations were the most sensitive indicators of pollution. Based on the high chlorophyll and low elemental concentration of tree leaves, the rural site was the least disturbed by anthropogenic activities, as expected. We demonstrated that fine and coarse dust amount and elemental concentrations of urban tree leaves are especially useful for urban air quality monitoring. Correlations between APTI and other measured parameters were also found. Both C. occidentalis and T. europaea were sensitive to air pollution based on their APTI values. Thus, the APTI of tree leaves is an especially useful proxy measure of air pollution, as well as environmental health.

A transformation is needed in agricultural production to satisfy the growing population-based increased food demands and overcome food safety challenges while supporting human health and the preservation of natural resources. Improving sustainable agricultural practices is essential for developing a long-term and resilient economy. This systematic review with meta-analyses aims to overview sustainable agriculture’s progress, trends, and future opportunities, focusing primarily on integrating novel technologies into recently prevailing agricultural operations. As a basis, an extensive literature search was conducted, identifying nearly 45,000 records related closely to various dimensions of sustainable agriculture. Out of these, based on a thorough selection process, 291 were included in further evaluations. The temporal distribution and content analyses indicated an improvement in the number of papers and the spectrum of addressed agricultural aspects. The analysis of the publications revealed that most traditional farming practices focus on mass food production and cannot deal with further interrelated sustainability challenges. On the other hand, sustainable agricultural practices consider sustainability’s environmental, economic, and social aspects, thereby preserving environmental health and supporting economic viability and social well-being. The integrative assessment in this study suggests that adopting novel, innovative practices can achieve the most significant progress toward agricultural sustainability. At the same time, a broad range of limitations and challenges are listed, which widely hinder the penetration of sustainability initiatives. To eliminate these barriers, consistent policy regulations are required, targeting specific agricultural problems, alongside a complex, education-based support system, further boosting initiatives related to the green transition in agriculture.

Survival of organisms in polluted habitats is a key factor regarding their long-term population persistence. To avoid harmful physiological effects of pollutants’ accumulation in organisms, decontamination and excretion could be effective mechanisms. Among invertebrates, ground beetles are reliable indicators of environmental pollution. Published results, however, are inconsistent, as some studies showed effective decontamination and excretion of pollutants, while others demonstrated severe toxic symptoms due to extreme accumulation. Using ground beetles as model organisms, we tested our pollution intensity-dependent disposal hypothesis for five pollutants (Cd, Cu, Mn, Pb, and Zn) among four soil pollution intensity levels (low, moderate, high, and extreme) by categorical meta-analysis on published data. According to our hypothesis, decontamination and excretion of pollutants in ground beetles are effective in lowly or moderately polluted habitats, while disposal is ineffective in highly or extremely polluted ones, contributing to intense accumulation of pollutants in ground beetles. In accordance with the hypothesis, we found that in an extremely polluted habitat, accumulation of Cd and Pb in ground beetles was significantly higher than in lowly polluted ones. These findings may suggest the entomoremediation potential of ground beetles in an extremely polluted environment.

Along an urbanization gradient, we explored the soil metal pollution in Vienna, Austria. We analyzed the physical and chemical parameters of topsoil from urban, suburban, and rural areas. The following elements were quantified using ICP-OES technique: Al, B, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, S, Sr, and Zn. For heavy metals, PI (pollution index) values were used to assess the level of pollution. We found that the concentration of Cu, Pb, Sr, and Zn was higher in the urban and suburban area than in the rural area. The PI values indicated a moderate level of pollution by Cd (1 ≤ PI ≤ 2) along the urbanization gradient. We found a low level of pollution for Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn (PI ≤ 1) in studied areas. Our findings demonstrated the presence of anthropogenic contamination, and it is likely that traffic emission may be the major source of metal pollution in Vienna. Our findings also demonstrated that the elemental analysis of soil and the values of PI are adequate indicators of the level of pollution based on soil sample analysis in urban ecosystems.