The construction of hydropower projects discharges effluents to aquatic bodies. The effluents consist of different chemicals including heavy metals. The current study assessed the effects of effluents discharged from an under-construction hydropower project on the bioaccumulation of heavy metals in the tissues of critically endangered Tor putitora (Hamilton, 1822) in the river Panjkora. The subsequent toxic impacts of higher bioaccumulation of heavy metals on different biochemical, hematological, and serum biochemical profiles were also studied. Different biochemical changes were observed in the tissues of T. putitora including stress biomarkers such as reactive oxygen species, lipid peroxidation, total protein contents, antioxidant enzymes (peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, catalase, reduced glutathione, glutathione reductase, and glutathione-s-transferase), acetylcholinesterase, and whole-body cortisol. The hematotoxic effects were also observed as the count of red blood cells, hematocrit, and hemoglobin decreased whereas the count of white blood cells increased. Serum biochemical analysis revealed that cholesterol, urea, total bilirubin, and glucose concentration increased, whereas total proteins and albumin decreased with an increase in the concentration of heavy metals across the sampling sites. The fish from the river was found to be under severe stress as compared to the fish from the reference site. To mitigate the current scenario, stocking fish in an appropriate amount is suggested. The fish diversity and water quality should be assessed at regular intervals to avoid further deterioration and diversity loss. The safety and conservation of wild fisheries should be ensured by implementing strict environmental protection and fishing laws.

Regional carbon emissions related to forest cover change (FCC) and wood harvest (WH) are critical for the accurate estimates of global carbon balance over an extended time period. Using remote sensing and inventory data, this study provides a comprehensive record of FCC, WH, and their integrated carbon emissions between 1908 and 2015 in the dry temperate regions of Pakistan. Results demonstrate a significant decline in forest area (21,034 ha) at an annual rate of 0.56% from 1973 to 2015. The total WH was 24.84 million m³ (0.23 million m³ yr⁻¹) between 1908 and 2015. Deforestation was responsible for a net loss of 1.39 million Mg C (0.018 million Mg C yr⁻¹), while WH-related carbon emissions accounted for 11.29 million Mg C (0.52 million Mg C yr⁻¹). The present results indicate that under the existing FCC and WH harvest scenario, the forests are acting as a net source of 0.29 million Mg C yr⁻¹. Agriculture expansion and the heavy dependency of local communities on the forest’s resources, exclusion of conservation and local communities from forest management, insufficient monitoring, and weak law-enforcement were the striking drivers of FCC, WH, and their related emissions. These findings suggest that to maintain forest carbon and meet the communities’ requirements, counter approaches such as agriculture incentives, agroforestry, trophy hunting, alternative energy sources, and inclusion of conservation and secure community-based management are needed.

A new freshwater goby, Rhinogobius houheensis, is described based on 40 specimens in a freshwater stream from the Houhe National Nature Reserve, Hubei Province, China. The new species can be distinguished from all its congeneric species by the following combination of characters: thee first dorsal fin rays VI, the second dorsal fin rays I/9-I/10; anal fin rays I/7-I/8; pectoral-fin rays 16-17; longitudinal scale series 37-40; transverse scales 12-14; predorsal scale series 0; and vertebrae counts 12+18=30. The first three spinous rays in the first dorsal fin are colored with two dark-blue stripes and one black spot in alive.

Moss-dominated biological soil crusts are associated with carbon and nitrogen cycling in dryland and alpine sandy ecosystems, but functional differentiation among closely related moss species and their mixed assemblages remains unclear. We used shotgun metagenomic sequencing to compare below-crust soil associated with Didymodon constrictus (Mitt.) K. Saito (D. constrictus) crusts (mossC), ferrugineus (Schimp. ex Besch.) M.O. Hill (D. ferrugineus) crusts (mossF), and visually co-dominated mixed crusts (mossM) in the Gonghe Basin on the northeastern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Fifteen spatially separated quadrats per category were pooled into three composite biological replicates (effective n = 3). KEGG, CAZy, and targeted carbon- and nitrogen-cycling annotations showed category-associated differences in relative gene representation. MossC had greater mean representation of glycoside hydrolases and several complex-carbon-processing functions, mossF had greater representation of nitrogen-assimilation and acetate-related functions, and mossM had greater representation of selected carbon-degradation, nitrogen-mineralization, and dissimilatory-nitrate-reduction functions. The full RDA model explained 58.4% of functional variation (adjusted R² = 0.334; exact permutation p = 0.028340), with single-variable associations retained for total carbon and soil water content. Genus-level taxonomic dissimilarity correlated with KEGG, CAZy, carbon-cycling, and nitrogen-cycling dissimilarities after FDR correction. MossM showed both positive and negative descriptive deviations from the approximate unweighted midpoint of mossC and mossF, but no inferential test was applied to these deviations. The small number of composite replicates, visually estimated moss proportions, edaphic confounding, and absence of activity measurements limit causal and confirmatory interpretation.