Roads have major impacts on wildlife, and the most direct negative effect is through deadly collisions with vehicles, i.e., roadkill. Amphibians are the most frequently road-killed animal group. Due to the significant differences between urban and rural environments, the potential urban-rural differences in factors driving amphibian roadkill risks should be incorporated into the planning of mitigation measures. Drawing on a citizen-collected roadkill dataset from Taiwan island, we present a MaxEnt based modelling analysis to examine potential urban-rural differences in landscape features and environmental factors associated with amphibian road mortality. By incorporating with the Global Human Settlement Layer Settlement Model—an ancillary human settlement dataset divided by built-up area and population density—amphibian roadkill data were divided into urban and rural data sets, and then used to create separate models for urban and rural areas. Model diagnostics suggested good performance (all AUCs > 0.8) of both urban and rural models. Multiple variable importance evaluations revealed significant differences between urban and rural areas. The importance of environmental variables was evaluated based on percent contribution, permutation importance and the Jackknife test. According to the overall results, road density was found to be important in explaining the amphibian roadkill in rural areas, whilst precipitation of warmest quarter was found to best explain the amphibian roadkill in the urban context. The method and outputs illustrated in this study can be useful tools to better understand amphibian road mortality in urban and rural environments and to inform mitigation assessment and conservation planning.

With the development of the economy and society, more attention is being paid to energy costs and the potential environmental pollution caused by vegetable cultivation. The aim of this study was to investigate the impacts of zero discharge of nutrient solutions on cucumber growth, leaf photosynthesis, and the yield and quality of cucumber under greenhouse conditions. The results show that zero discharge treatment did not change plant height, stem diameter, internode length, leaf area, net photosynthetic rate (P_n), stomatal conductance (G_s), intercellular CO₂ concentration (C_i), transpiration rate (T_r), and leaf relative chlorophyll content on the most measurement days. Only P_n and relative chlorophyll content were significantly reduced after 16 days of treatment but soon recovered over time. Cucumber plants can adapt to treatment circumstances over the course of days. Leaf mineral element contents showed significant differences on some treatment days compared to the control, and trace elements of Fe, Mn, Cu, and Mo can be appropriately supplied during the treatment days. The cucumber yield and fruit quality in the zero discharge treatment did not change during the whole experimental period. This study confirmed that the irrigation method of a nutrient solution with zero discharge can be applied in cucumber cultivation practices. The strict management of irrigation strategy, plant growth, and greenhouse climate are very important for zero discharge cultivation. The cultivation method with zero discharge of nutrient solution can reduce the energy costs of disinfection, save water and fertilizers, and reduce the environmental pollution in cucumber cultivation.

Intensive farming in urban suburbs often causes habitat loss, soil erosion, wastewater discharge, and agricultural productivity decline, threatening long-term benefits for the local community. We developed a nature-based solution for sustainable land restoration by establishing “Green Treasure Island” (GTI). The aim of this study is to evaluate the ecological restoration effectiveness of GTI and explore its feasibility and replicability for future applications. The core eco-functional zone of GTI—a 7 hm² forested wetland—embedded a closed-loop framework that integrates land consolidation, ecological restoration, and sustainable land utilization. The forested wetland efficiently removed 65% and 74% of dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural runoff, raised flood control capacity by 22%, and attracted 48 bird species. Additionally, this biophilic recreational space attracted over 3400 visitors in 2022, created green jobs, and promoted local green agricultural product sales. Through adaptive management and nature education activities, GTI evolved into a landmark that represents local natural–social characteristics and serves as a publicly accessible natural park for both rural and urban residents. This study demonstrates the feasibility of creating GTI for improving ecosystem services, providing a practical, low-cost template that governments and local managers can replicate in metropolitan rural areas worldwide to meet both ecological and development goals.

Flue gas desulfurization gypsum (FGDG) is an effective soil amendment. However, some heavy metals present in FGDG may enter soil or groundwater due to surface rainfall, causing environmental risks. This study used a washing plant to investigate the improvement of saline-alkaline soil via treatment with different mass ratios of FGDG and analyzed the effects of FGDG treatment on the soil physicochemical properties, the distribution characteristics of heavy metals at different soil depths, and the changes in the heavy metal contents of the leachate to explore the migration characteristics of heavy metals and their influence on the groundwater environment. The results showed that an appropriate amount of FGDG could effectively improve the properties of saline-alkaline soil. For example, the soil bulk density decreased significantly, the porosity increased, and the infiltration rate increased by up to 3.42-fold with the addition of FGDG. The contents of exchangeable sodium (EX-Na+) in the soil layers analyzed (0-10 cm, 10-20 cm, and 20-30 cm) decreased by 26.4-40.4%, 16.4-34.4%, and 18.9-40.3%, respectively. After treatment with 6% FGDG, the alkalinity of the soil layers decreased by 67.7%, 61.6%, and 58.2%, respectively, and the pH was close to 7.30. The mass fraction of As in the soil first increased and then decreased with increasing amounts of FGDG, decreasing to the minimum under the treatment with 6% FGDG. The mass fraction of Hg in the soil was positively correlated with the amount of FGDG, while the mass fractions of other heavy metals in the soil layers decreased with increasing amounts of FGDG. The mass fraction of Hg in the leachate was also positively correlated with the amount of F GDG, and the increase in the mass fraction ranged from 0.6 to 30.2% under different treatments. The mass fractions of other heavy metals in the leachate reached the minimum value with the maximum amount of FGDG. The heavy metal contents in the soil conformed to the category 2 limits of the Environmental Quality Standard for Soils (GB 15618-1995), and the heavy metal contents in the leachate were far lower than the category 3 limits of the Standard for Groundwater Quality (GB14848-2017), indicating that the use of FGDG to treat soil does not pollute groundwater. The results expand the understanding of the safety of FGDG (in terms of the contained heavy metals) for improving saline-alkali soil and provide a reference for further environmental risk assessments when recycling FGDG.

Within the context of limited land resources in densely populated urban areas, the opening and sharing of affiliated green spaces have become an innovative way to expand urban green spaces. The research objects of this study were university and industrial park-affiliated green spaces in Shanghai. This study identified the total area and distribution of these green spaces using the extraction and analysis of remote sensing image data, current image data for affiliated green spaces, and census data. Based on these data, this study simulated and analyzes the changes and spatial differentiation in the accessibility and equity of green spaces in different districts, such as the central city, the Pudong New Area, and the suburbs. This study examined three scenarios: open and shared university-affiliated green spaces, industrial park-affiliated green spaces, and the two combined. The results show that the overall area of affiliated green spaces (excluding residential areas) is large, with small individual patch areas, a wide distribution, and high frag-mentation. University- and industrial park-affiliated green spaces account for nearly one-third of the total area and have great potential for open sharing. In the simulation of open sharing, the accessibility of green spaces generally improved, and there were different effects depending on the location and time. University-affiliated green spaces mainly improved the central urban area, focusing on short-distance walking accessibility. Industrial park-affiliated green spaces mainly improved the suburbs, focusing on long-distance walking accessibility. Overall, the opening and sharing of university-affiliated green spaces only improve the evenness of green spaces in the central urban area, while industrial park-affiliated green spaces improve the evenness throughout Shanghai. The combined effect of both types significantly enhances the evenness of park green spaces throughout Shanghai. Therefore, the opening and sharing of university- and industrial park-affiliated green spaces should be an important means to increase the amount of green spaces in high-density areas. These conclusions provide scientific data that support future policies in Shanghai.