Poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (P3HB) is a promising alternative to persistent conventional plastics, capable of biodegrading within months. However, its microbial-driven degradation raises concerns about nutrient immobilization and impacts on plant growth. The biodegradation process occurs in multiple stages, during which shifts in the microbial community can alter soil properties and influence utilization of both intrinsic and polymer-derived organic matter. This study employs a novel approach to investigate how nutrient dynamics during the late stage of P3HB biodegradation affect lettuce (Lactuca sativa var. capitata cv. Brilliant) growth. Soil-to-sand mixtures (100_0, 80_20, 60_40, 40_60, 20_80, and 0_100 ratios) were spiked with P3HB, allowed to biodegrade for eight weeks, and then planted with sprouted lettuce seeds, which were cultivated for another eight weeks. P3HB addition inhibited plant growth and root development in all soil-sand mixtures. However, increasing the sand proportion enhanced plants' nitrogen content by 13-45 % compared to 100 % soil + P3HB. Depending on the sand-to-soil ratio, P3HB stimulated most enzymes involved in carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus acquisition. Basal and substrate-induced respirations were 9-209 % higher under P3HB addition compared to P3HB-free soil, likely due to an increase in the stabilized soil organic matter fraction. Residual P3HB analysis revealed that diluting soil with 20 % sand accelerated biodegradation, despite a decrease in bacterial abundance. In the 80_20 variant, the microbial community shifted toward higher fungal abundance, 19 % more than in 100_0 soil. While microbial proliferation was observed, it effect was outweighed by negative impacts on dry aboveground and root biomass. The highest P3HB biodegradation rate occurred in the 80_20 variant, underscoring soil texture as a critical factor in P3HB biodegradation. While microbial communities can degrade bioplastics, this process may compromise plant nutrient availability and hinder plant growth.

• Klíčová slova
• Bioplastics, Nutrient acquisition, Plant growth reduction, Soil microbes, Soil texture,
• MeSH
• biodegradace MeSH
• dusík metabolismus   MeSH
• hydroxybutyráty * metabolismus   MeSH
• látky znečišťující půdu * metabolismus   MeSH
• polyestery * metabolismus   MeSH
• polyhydroxybutyráty MeSH
• půda * chemie   MeSH
• půdní mikrobiologie * MeSH
• salát (hlávkový) * růst a vývoj   metabolismus   MeSH
• živiny metabolismus   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• dusík MeSH
• hydroxybutyráty * MeSH
• látky znečišťující půdu * MeSH
• poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate MeSH Prohlížeč
• polyestery * MeSH
• polyhydroxybutyráty MeSH
• půda * MeSH

Sustainable land management in Mediterranean vineyards faces several challenges, including land degradation, drought, and climate change impacts, often exacerbated by extreme weather events. We hypothesised that biochar enhances the soil sponge function, i.e. a combination of infiltration and retention of rainwater, thus promoting vegetation growth, and that this can be considered an indirect mechanism to reduce runoff and soil erosion. To address these hypotheses, we conducted a random-block design box lysimeter experiment from September 2019 to October 2020 under natural rainfall conditions at a slope gradient of 14.4. A Regosol soil type with sandy loam texture collected from the Bairrada's Denomination of Origin region (Central Portugal) was used. Soil treatments consisted of untreated soil as the control and woody biochar-amended soil with the maximum sustainable concentration of 4 % (w/w), both sown with a biodiverse pasture seed mixture. Biochar reduced runoff and soil erosion (fine earth fragment) by 50 % and 58 %. There was an improvement in soil physical and hydrological properties, i.e. bulk density decreased by 13.1 %, enhancing soil sponge function involving increasing water infiltration and soil water content by 50 % and 59 %. Soil water repellency only in the biochar-amended treatment remained within wettable conditions. The vegetation cover and aboveground biomass increased by 263 % and 198 %, respectively, due to an increase in soil pH to neutral conditions, improvement of essential nutrients (NPK) and the reduction of toxicity in biochar amendments. This study offers a practical strategy for sustainable soil management against traditional approaches, especially the observed biochar-vegetation synergy during hydrological seasonality (dry to wet conditions) in Mediterranean vineyards.

• Klíčová slova
• Atmospheric river (AR), Biochar, Nutrient cycling, Soil erosion, Soil hydrophobicity, Soil sponge function,
• MeSH
• dřevěné a živočišné uhlí * MeSH
• eroze půdy * MeSH
• farmy MeSH
• půda * chemie   MeSH
• voda MeSH
• zemědělství MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Portugalsko MeSH
• Názvy látek
• biochar MeSH Prohlížeč
• dřevěné a živočišné uhlí * MeSH
• půda * MeSH
• voda MeSH

Turf translocation, which is undertaken to mitigate the destruction of valuable habitats, can challenge the soil biota. We investigated translocated protected Molinion meadows in the context of the surrounding environments. Soil and soil microorganisms were examined in meadows translocated four years earlier to a habitat garden in recycled land. Neighbouring habitats, comprised of woodland, cropland and fallow, represented the receptor area, while meadows that remained near the donor area were treated as reference areas. The soil moisture, compaction, reactivity and nutrient availability were examined. The microbial properties studied included taxon-specific markers for a quantitative PCR and Fatty Acid Analysis, N transformation (nitrification potential and ammonia oxygenase gene quantification), as well as the composition and diversity of bacteria, archaea, fungi and protists through soil DNA metabarcoding. The translocated soils were more compacted and had smaller water retention, which impacted the soil communities. A switch from N immobilisation to ammonification and a high diversity of fungi, including a greater richness of saprotrophic and symbiotrophic species occurred, with a higher relative abundance of Ascomycota. Amendments in Stramenopila, Chlorophyta and Alveolata communities were present. A low ratio of ammonia oxidising archaea and bacteria (AOA:AOB; 0.4 translocated vs. 4.9 reference) indicated a degradation of the wet meadow status, which created a suitable environment for copiotrophs. The initial increase in biodiversity pointed out habitat deterioration leading to the loss of specific, protected communities. The use of 'omics' was a sensitive indicator of changes that occurred at the level of the microbiome structure rather than the biomass.

• Klíčová slova
• Direct vegetation transfer, Grassland, Meadow conservation, Nitrification, Soil microbial communities,
• MeSH
• Archaea MeSH
• Bacteria MeSH
• biodiverzita MeSH
• ekosystém * MeSH
• houby MeSH
• mikrobiota * MeSH
• půda * chemie   MeSH
• půdní mikrobiologie * MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• půda * MeSH

Plants in extreme environments face pronounced seasonal variations in abiotic conditions, influencing their growth and carbon gain. However, our understanding of how plants in cold-arid mountains sustain carbon assimilation during short growing seasons remains limited. Here, we investigate seasonal dynamics and interspecific variability in photochemical performance of 310 individuals, comprising 10 different dicotyledon plant species across 3100-5300 m in the NW Himalayas, spanning semi-deserts to subnival zones. From early June to late September, we measured Fv/Fm and ΦPSII, assessing ΦPSII relationships with leaf traits (N, P, C, C:N ratio, LMA, and LDMC) and environmental factors (temperature, soil moisture content, etc.). Our findings revealed that high-Himalayan plants maintained relatively stable photosynthetic performance (Fv/Fm = 0.7-0.85), indicating optimal function even under potential stress. Contrary to our hypothesis that ΦPSII peaks mid-season in alpine and subnival zones and early season in steppes and semi-deserts, it declined by 33% across species and habitats throughout the season. This decline was closely associated with nutrient depletion, leaf senescence, and energy-water limitations. Species exhibited distinct strategies, with some prioritising structural resilience over photosynthesis, while others optimised photochemical performance despite environmental constraints. Alpine and subnival plant performance was constrained more by soil moisture deficits and high temperatures than cold temperatures, while deep-rooted steppe and semi-desert plants were primarily constrained by high temperatures and evaporative forcing rather than soil moisture deficit. These results provide new insights into how Himalayan plants adapt to extreme environmental conditions, highlighting the crucial interplay between moisture and temperature in shaping their performance within cold-arid mountains.

• Klíčová slova
• Fv/Fm, Himalayas, alpine and subnival ecosystems, chlorophyll fluorescence, cold‐arid mountains, leaf traits, photochemical performance of PSII, seasonal dynamics,
• MeSH
• ekosystém MeSH
• fotosyntéza * fyziologie   MeSH
• listy rostlin fyziologie   MeSH
• nízká teplota MeSH
• půda chemie   MeSH
• roční období MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Himálaj MeSH
• Názvy látek
• půda MeSH

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of vehicular traffic emissions on the contamination of wine production by heavy metals. For this purpose, selected heavy elements (As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) were determined in the samples of vineyard soils, grapes, final wines, and samples from the various phases of the winemaking process of two South Moravian (Czech Republic) vineyards with different intensity of traffic. After the visualisation of the data, the interpretation of the results and risk assessment calculations were performed. The results obtained indicate that contamination of grapes with aerosol is the most important and soil contamination is of minor relevance. The application of fungicides was the primary source of copper and zinc in soils and grapes. During the winemaking process, there is a significant decrease in the content of heavy elements originating from emissions from vehicular traffic. However, winemaking technology was found to be the most important source of heavy elements in the final wine. The health risk assessment indicates a low risk of consumption of both grapes and wine from both the examined and the reference wineries.

• Klíčová slova
• Comparative analysis, Environmental pollution, Grapes, Heavy metals, Traffic emissions, Vineyard soil, Wine quality,
• MeSH
• farmy MeSH
• hodnocení rizik MeSH
• látky znečišťující půdu * analýza   MeSH
• monitorování životního prostředí MeSH
• půda chemie   MeSH
• těžké kovy * analýza   MeSH
• víno * analýza   MeSH
• Vitis * chemie   MeSH
• výfukové emise vozidel * analýza   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• srovnávací studie MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH
• Názvy látek
• látky znečišťující půdu * MeSH
• půda MeSH
• těžké kovy * MeSH
• výfukové emise vozidel * MeSH

Grasslands, which account for over 40 % of the Earth's terrestrial area, play a vital role in mitigating global change and biodiversity loss. These ecosystems serve as critical carbon sinks, regulating the global carbon cycle and supporting diverse flora and fauna. However, their ability to sustain these functions is threatened by land use change and climate disruption. Current challenges revolve around understanding how key management practices such as grazing, mowing, burning, and fertilization, interact with environmental factors to influence grassland soil carbon stocks. This study presents a meta-analysis of the effects of these management practices and environmental factors, such as soil type, depth, texture, temperature, precipitation, and their synergistic interplay. It evaluates how management intensity, duration, and frequency interact with these environmental variables to influence soil carbon storage, providing valuable insights into optimizing grassland management for enhanced soil carbon stock and broader ecosystem stability. The findings reveal that grazing, particularly at high intensity, tends to reduce soil carbon stocks (-0.412, p < 0.001), with the most pronounced effects observed in shallow soils and temperate climates. Mowing also negatively affected carbon stock (-0.416, p = 0.013), especially when carried out frequently and over long durations. On the other hand, burning had mixed results with an overall positive effect (0.340, p = 0.078). Short-term burns promoted carbon accumulation, while frequent burning led to carbon loss. Fertilization, especially with nitrogen and phosphorus, proved beneficial for increasing soil carbon stocks (0.712, p < 0.001), particularly in nutrient-poor soils and semi-arid climates. This study introduces a systems-based approach to grassland management, providing a framework for optimizing carbon-focused strategies. By integrating the role of management practices, particularly their frequency, intensity, and duration, along with soil characteristics and climate, these findings provide actionable insights for policymakers, land managers, and researchers. They guide the development of sustainable management strategies that not only enhance soil carbon stocks but also support ecosystem health and resilience.

• Klíčová slova
• Environmental factors, Fertilization effects, Fire management, Grassland management, Grazing intensity, Mowing frequency, Soil carbon stocks,
• MeSH
• ekosystém MeSH
• klimatické změny MeSH
• pastviny * MeSH
• průmyslová hnojiva MeSH
• půda * chemie   MeSH
• uhlík * MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• průmyslová hnojiva MeSH
• půda * MeSH
• uhlík * MeSH

Tropical forest canopies are the biosphere's most concentrated atmospheric interface for carbon, water and energy1,2. However, in most Earth System Models, the diverse and heterogeneous tropical forest biome is represented as a largely uniform ecosystem with either a singular or a small number of fixed canopy ecophysiological properties3. This situation arises, in part, from a lack of understanding about how and why the functional properties of tropical forest canopies vary geographically4. Here, by combining field-collected data from more than 1,800 vegetation plots and tree traits with satellite remote-sensing, terrain, climate and soil data, we predict variation across 13 morphological, structural and chemical functional traits of trees, and use this to compute and map the functional diversity of tropical forests. Our findings reveal that the tropical Americas, Africa and Asia tend to occupy different portions of the total functional trait space available across tropical forests. Tropical American forests are predicted to have 40% greater functional richness than tropical African and Asian forests. Meanwhile, African forests have the highest functional divergence-32% and 7% higher than that of tropical American and Asian forests, respectively. An uncertainty analysis highlights priority regions for further data collection, which would refine and improve these maps. Our predictions represent a ground-based and remotely enabled global analysis of how and why the functional traits of tropical forest canopies vary across space.

• MeSH
• biodiverzita MeSH
• lesy * MeSH
• listy rostlin fyziologie   chemie   anatomie a histologie   MeSH
• nejistota MeSH
• půda chemie   MeSH
• stromy * fyziologie   anatomie a histologie   chemie   klasifikace   MeSH
• tropické klima MeSH
• Země (planeta) * MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Afrika MeSH
• Asie MeSH
• Názvy látek
• půda MeSH

Plant species-rich systems tend to be more productive than depauperate ones. In agroecosystems, increasing crop plant diversity by including legumes often increases soil nitrogen (N) and improves soil fertility; however, such generality in outcomes of non-leguminous crop mixture is unknown. Here, through a meta-analysis of 174 individual cases, we explored the current global research trend of intercropping of exclusively non-leguminous crops (ICnl) and quantified its effect on agroecosystem productivity key metrics, for example crop plant health, soil chemistry, and microbial community under diverse experimental conditions. ICnl increased plant biomass and disease suppression and provided a notable yield advantage over monocultures. In addition to phosphorus and potassium, ICnl also increased plant-available soil N, which, along with increased soil microbial abundance, was positively associated with increased soil organic matter. These positive effects were more pronounced in experiments with long duration (> 1 yr), field soil conditions, and soil pH > 7. ICnl improves several crop productivity metrics, which could augment sustainable crop production, particularly when practiced for a long duration and in alkaline soils.

• Klíčová slova
• intercropping, legumes, plant interspecific interaction, soil chemistry, soil microbial community, sustainable agriculture,
• MeSH
• biomasa MeSH
• dusík MeSH
• fosfor MeSH
• pěstování plodin * metody   MeSH
• půda * chemie   MeSH
• půdní mikrobiologie MeSH
• zemědělské plodiny * růst a vývoj   MeSH
• zemědělství * metody   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• metaanalýza MeSH
• Názvy látek
• dusík MeSH
• fosfor MeSH
• půda * MeSH

The Eastern Sudetes Mountains (Northern Moravia, Czech Republic) were among the most polluted regions of Europe due to toxic metal depositions and acid rain, until the desulfurization of emissions from coal power stations and reduction of heavy industry which took place in the 1990s. This study provides a comparison of data on the levels of calcium, lead, cadmium, and aluminum in soil, meadow pipit (Anthus pratensis) nestlings, and their available diet in 1994-1999 and in 2017-2019. The soil pH and exchangeable amount of calcium and lead increased slightly. The concentration of calcium in potential prey (invertebrates) increased slightly, and lead and cadmium levels decreased. The amount of calcium and lead in nestling bodies decreased in 2017-2019, while cadmium and aluminum levels remained unchanged after accounting for nestling age. The age of nestlings had an effect on aluminum only, when its content decreased with age. The principal component analysis revealed close association between calcium and lead. The consequences of recent leaching of basic cations, mainly calcium, and increasing bioavailability of lead in soils for future reproduction of the meadow pipit are discussed.

• Klíčová slova
• Aluminum, Cadmium, Calcium, Invertebrates, Lead, Passerines, Recovery, Soil chemistry, Upland,
• MeSH
• hliník MeSH
• kadmium MeSH
• látky znečišťující půdu * analýza   MeSH
• monitorování životního prostředí MeSH
• olovo MeSH
• půda chemie   MeSH
• vápník MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH
• Názvy látek
• hliník MeSH
• kadmium MeSH
• látky znečišťující půdu * MeSH
• olovo MeSH
• půda MeSH
• vápník MeSH

Miscanthus × giganteus, a high-yielding perennial grass, has recently shown promise for phytomanagement of petroleum hydrocarbons (PHC) contaminated sites, however the mechanisms of plant-soil interactions are not clear. This study followed the second growing season of miscanthus cultivation on soil spiked with representatives of the most common PHC pollutants: diesel (dominantly aliphatic hydrocarbons), pyrene + phenanthrene (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; PAH) and their mixture. Miscanthus demonstrated tolerance to PHC-contaminated soils, although high diesel concentrations significantly reduced biomass, limiting the overall benefits of cultivation. This was evident in reduced carbon sequestration, plant-induced soil respiration and root exudate content in diesel-treated soils. Despite comparable PHC levels in planted and unplanted soils after two seasons, several indicators of ongoing rhizodegradation were observed. These included increased root exudates production, a higher fungal-to-bacterial ratio and, at lower diesel levels, increased abundance of actinobacteria, i.e. shifts towards biodegraders capable of biodegradation of more recalcitrant components of petroleum. A comprehensive analysis revealed significant PHC impacts on soil microbial communities. While biomass and respiration increased, bacterial diversity decreased with increasing diesel concentrations. The microbial community shifted towards potentially PHC-degrading microorganisms, such as fungi and specific bacterial genera (e.g., AlkB gene abundance increased 100-fold). PAH contamination primarily affected the abundance of the pahGP marker, but its overall impact was limited due to low residual PAH levels in the second season. These findings show changing role of M. × giganteus in PHC bioremediation from the support of biodegradation in the first year to stabilization and enrichment of soil in the second.

• Klíčová slova
• Carbon sequestration, Miscanthus, Petroleum hydrocarbons, Rhizodegradation, Root exudates, Soil microbial communities,
• MeSH
• benzin * MeSH
• biodegradace MeSH
• kořeny rostlin metabolismus   MeSH
• látky znečišťující půdu * metabolismus   MeSH
• lipnicovité * metabolismus   MeSH
• polycyklické aromatické uhlovodíky * metabolismus   MeSH
• půda chemie   MeSH
• půdní mikrobiologie MeSH
• roční období MeSH
• ropa metabolismus   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• benzin * MeSH
• látky znečišťující půdu * MeSH
• polycyklické aromatické uhlovodíky * MeSH
• půda MeSH
• ropa MeSH