Phthalic acid esters (PAEs) are a class of lipophilic chemicals widely used as plasticizers and additives to improve various products’ mechanical extensibility and flexibility. At present, synthesized PAEs, which are considered to cause potential hazards to ecosystem functioning and public health, have been easily detected in the atmosphere, water, soil, and sediments; PAEs are also frequently discovered in plant and microorganism sources, suggesting the possibility that they might be biosynthesized in nature. In this review, we summarize that PAEs have not only been identified in the organic solvent extracts, root exudates, and essential oils of a large number of different plant species, but also isolated and purified from various algae, bacteria, and fungi. Dominant PAEs identified from natural sources generally include di-n-butyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate, dimethyl phthalate, di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, diisobutyl phthalate, diisooctyl phthalate, etc. Further studies reveal that PAEs can be biosynthesized by at least several algae. PAEs are reported to possess allelopathic, antimicrobial, insecticidal, and other biological activities, which might enhance the competitiveness of plants, algae, and microorganisms to better accommodate biotic and abiotic stress. These findings suggest that PAEs should not be treated solely as a “human-made pollutant” simply because they have been extensively synthesized and utilized; on the other hand, synthesized PAEs entering the ecosystem might disrupt the metabolic process of certain plant, algal, and microbial communities. Therefore, further studies are required to elucidate the relevant mechanisms and ecological consequences.

The arid and semiarid region in central Asia is sensitive and vulnerable to climate variations. However, the sparse and highly unevenly distributed meteorological stations in the region provide limited data for understanding of the region’s climate variations. In this study, the near-surface air temperature change in central Asia from 1979 to 2011 was examined using observations from 81 meteorological stations, three local observation validated reanalysis datasets of relatively high spatial resolutions, and the Climate Research Unit (CRU) dataset. Major results suggested that the three reanalysis datasets match well with most of the local climate records, especially in the low-lying plain areas. The consensus of the multiple datasets showed significant regional surface air temperature increases of 0.36°–0.42°C decade−1 in the past 33 years. No significant contributions from declining irrigation and urbanization to temperature change were found. The rate is larger in recent years than in the early years in the study period. Additionally, unlike in many regions in the world, the temperature in winter showed no increase in central Asia in the last three decades, a noticeable departure from the global trend in the twentieth century. The largest increase in surface temperature was occurring in the spring season. Analyses further showed a warming center in the middle of the central Asian states and weakened temperature variability along the northwest–southeast temperature gradient from the northern Kazakhstan to southern Xinjiang. The reanalysis datasets also showed significant negative correlations between temperature increase rate and elevation in this complex terrain region.

Greenhouse gas (GHG)‐induced climate change is among the most pressing sustainability challenges facing humanity today, posing serious risks for ecosystem health. Methane (CH ₄ ) and nitrous oxide (N ₂ O) are the two most important GHGs after carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ), but their regional and global budgets are not well known. In this study, we applied a process‐based coupled biogeochemical model to concurrently estimate the magnitude and spatial and temporal patterns of CH ₄ and N ₂ O fluxes as driven by multiple environmental changes, including climate variability, rising atmospheric CO ₂ , increasing nitrogen deposition, tropospheric ozone pollution, land use change, and nitrogen fertilizer use. The estimated CH ₄ and N ₂ O emissions from global land ecosystems during 1981–2010 were 144.39 ± 12.90 Tg C/yr (mean ± 2 SE; 1 Tg = 1012 g) and 12.52 ± 0.74 Tg N/yr, respectively. Our simulations indicated a significant ( P < 0.01) annually increasing trend for CH ₄ (0.43 ± 0.06 Tg C/yr) and N ₂ O (0.14 ± 0.02 Tg N/yr) in the study period. CH ₄ and N ₂ O emissions increased significantly in most climatic zones and continents, especially in the tropical regions and Asia. The most rapid increase in CH ₄ emission was found in natural wetlands and rice fields due to increased rice cultivation area and climate warming. N ₂ O emission increased substantially in all the biome types and the largest increase occurred in upland crops due to increasing air temperature and nitrogen fertilizer use. Clearly, the three major GHGs (CH ₄ , N ₂ O, and CO ₂ ) should be simultaneously considered when evaluating if a policy is effective to mitigate climate change.