Non-communicable diseases (NCD) constitute one of the highest burdens of disease globally and are associated with inflammatory responses in target organs. There is increasing evidence of significant human exposure to micro- and nanoplastics (MnPs). This review of environmental MnP exposure and health impacts indicates that MnP particles, directly and indirectly through their leachates, may exacerbate inflammation. Meanwhile, persistent inflammation associated with NCDs in gastrointestinal and respiratory systems potentially increases MnP uptake, thus influencing MnP access to distal organs. Consequently, a future increase in MnP exposure potentially augments the risk and severity of NCDs. There is a critical need for an integrated one-health approach to human health and environmental research for assessing the drivers of human MnP exposure and their bidirectional links with NCDs. Assessing these risks requires interdisciplinary efforts to identify and link drivers of environmental MnP exposure and organismal uptake to studies of impacted disease mechanisms and health outcomes.

Human activities and climate change threaten coldwater organisms in freshwater ecosystems by causing rivers and streams to warm, increasing the intensity and frequency of warm temperature events, and reducing thermal heterogeneity. Cold‐water refuges are discrete patches of relatively cool water that are used by coldwater organisms for thermal relief and short‐term survival. Globally, cohesive management approaches are needed that consider interlinked physical, biological, and social factors of cold‐water refuges. We review current understanding of cold‐water refuges, identify gaps between science and management, and evaluate policies aimed at protecting thermally sensitive species. Existing policies include designating cold‐water habitats, restricting fishing during warm periods, and implementing threshold temperature standards or guidelines. However, these policies are rare and uncoordinated across spatial scales and often do not consider input from Indigenous peoples. We propose that cold‐water refuges be managed as distinct operational landscape units, which provide a social and ecological context that is relevant at the watershed scale. These operational landscape units provide the foundation for an integrated framework that links science and management by (1) mapping and characterizing cold‐water refuges to prioritize management and conservation actions, (2) leveraging existing and new policies, (3) improving coordination across jurisdictions, and (4) implementing adaptive management practices across scales. Our findings show that while there are many opportunities for scientific advancement, the current state of the sciences is sufficient to inform policy and management. Our proposed framework provides a path forward for managing and protecting cold‐water refuges using existing and new policies to protect coldwater organisms in the face of global change.

Restoration of degraded freshwater ecosystems has gained considerable attention in the USA over the past decades. However, most projects focus almost entirely on the restoration of physical habitat or specific water quality parameters, while ignoring critical ecological processes related to food web re-establishment. In this study, we investigate the impact of riparian habitat in different stages of restoration on food availability for fish in four streams in Pennsylvania, USA. The riparian buffer habitats ranged from open meadow to mature forest and included new to long-term restoration sites. We quantified abundance and community composition of aquatic macroinvertebrates and riparian arthropods with aerial and ground-dwelling life history strategies. We found that riparian habitat and water temperature exert a strong influence over potential food resources for fish, with the open meadow habitat having highest abundance of terrestrial and aquatic insects, lowest taxa richness, and possible multivoltine aquatic insect life-history. Our results provide insight into the importance of riparian buffer habitat and water temperature on the composition of food availability for fish species of concern such as brook trout. The significant differences emphasize the need to include food web dynamics into riparian habitat restoration design to guide future rehabilitation projects focusing on fish conservation.

Climate change and human activities have dramatically affected all ecosystems inhabited by Atlantic salmon, causing drastic population declines. Change in river temperature dynamics (e.g. daily variability, frequency, and duration of summer maximum, warmer thermal regimes) is of special concern as it impacts growth rates, reproductive success, prey abundance and phenology, timing of migration, and ultimately survival. The Atlantic Salmon Research Joint Venture held a workshop to address the effects of climate change on freshwater habitats of Atlantic salmon and identify research gaps and priorities. Here we summarize the state of the science for three key themes identified by workshop participants: (1) Effects of climate change on in-river habitat conditions, (2) Physiological and behavioral responses of salmon to temperature, and (3) Population-level responses of salmon to climate change. The group highlighted the crucial importance of understanding and monitoring the links between river temperature dynamics and physiological requirements of Atlantic salmon across different life stages and habitat conditions, with a focus on freshwater life stages. Climate change will undoubtedly continue to affect instream habitats across all seasons and render challenging conditions for all freshwater Atlantic salmon life stages. Hence, we call for urgent interdisciplinary collaborations and partnerships among scientists and managers to address the pressing research gaps that require large-scale data integration across life cycle stages and ecosystems. More collaboration between scientists, managers, and interest groups is needed to ensure that fundamental science directly addresses the knowledge-action gap to enhance evidence-based decision-making and conservation. Climate change and anthropogenic activities are affecting Atlantic salmon habitat characteristics, leading to physiological and behavioral changes that determine both the individual and population level potential for adaptability. Although climate change affects all aspects of the Atlantic salmon life cycle and habitats across the watersheds-ocean continuum, this workshop focused on changes in thermal and hydrological river regimes.