Wildfire in Australia during 2019-2020, Its Impact on Health, Biodiversity and Environment with Some Proposals for Risk Management: A Review

Wildfire is closely associated with human society and having its effect on earth as well as on its environment for more than 350 million years. It is a very common phenomenon from the ancient period, has hazardous effects on both environment and human life. This study mainly focuses on the review of wildfire of Australia during 2019-2020 regarding its distribution, status of fatality influences on different environmental factors, consequences and some proposals for its mitigation. In this review paper, a modified edition of the principled review methodology was followed in compiling the most reliable data to support the bushfire in Australia belonging to its causes of occurrences and impacts. The bushfire was started in mid-June in 2019, and it is still now burning in hundreds of places of different parts of Australia, and the forest of New South Wales, Northern Territory, Western Australia, Queensland and Victoria were being burnt deadly. The accumulating data exposed the year 2019 as the driest and warmest year with lowest rainfall that might be the potential causes of bushfires in Australia. Moreover, maximum forest land of Australia is covered by naturally grown Eucalyptus trees which are generally flammable and supply oil type fuel during bushfires. Bushfire deteriorates the quality of soil, water and air of the locality up to many hundreds or thousands of kilometers away in increasing the emission of toxic substances and carbon rate. Around more than 3 billion native vertebrates, 143 million mammals, 2.46 billion reptiles, 181 million birds, 51 million frogs were burnt out by bushfires of 2020 in Australia. More than US$110 billion financial loss has been determined due to this fire of Australia. In some cases, it is also helpful for forest land. Sometimes it helps to continue the forest ecosystem by burning unwanted plants, animals and microscopic compounds. To reduce the hazard needs proper land regulation, combination of social governance, sufficient funding, permanent vigilance of all sides are the partial solutions. However, the research helps to find out an overall idea to explore the devastating nature of bushfires, the actual causes of occurrences and recommendations for mitigation of bushfires in Australia as well as assisting researchers those willing for further scientific study. It was also mentioned some effective prologues to reduce the hazardous effects and find some ways to overcome such destructive disaster.

Characteristics of plankton Hg bioaccumulations based on a global data set and the implications for aquatic systems with aggravating nutrient imbalance

The bioaccumulation of mercury(Hg)in aquatic ecosystem poses a potential health risk to human being and aquatic organism.Bioaccumulations by plankton represent a crucial process of Hg transfer from water to aquatic food chain.However,the current understanding of major factors affecting Hg accumulation by plankton is inadequate.In this study,a data set of 89 aquatic ecosystems worldwide,including inland water,nearshore water and open sea,was established.Key factors influencing plankton Hg bioaccumulation(i.e.,plankton species,cell sizes and biomasses)were discussed.The results indicated that total Hg(THg)and methylmercury(MeHg)concentrations in plankton in inland waters were significantly higher than those in nearshore waters and open seas.Bioaccumulation factors for the logarithm of THg and MeHg of phytoplankton were 2.4–6.0 and 2.6–6.7 L/kg,respectively,in all aquatic ecosystems.They could be further biomagnified by a factor of 2.1–15.1 and 5.3–28.2 from phytoplankton to zooplankton.Higher MeHg concentrations were observed with the increases of cell size for both phyto-and zooplankton.A contrasting trend was observed between the plankton biomasses and BAF_(MeHg),with a positive relationship for zooplankton and a negative relationship for phytoplankton.Plankton physiologic traits impose constraints on the rates of nutrients and contaminants obtaining process from water.Nowadays,many aquatic ecosystems are facing rapid shifts in nutrient compositions.We suggested that these potential influences on the growth and composition of plankton should be incorporated in future aquatic Hg modeling and ecological risk assessments.

Role of mushrooms in soil mycoremediation:a review

Bioremediation is an innovative and promising technology available for the removal and recovery of heavy metals from contaminated media. Bioremediation uses organisms to absorb heavy metals at low cost and with no secondary pollution. Bioremediation by macrofungi that degrade pollutants or wastes is referred to as mycoremediation. Macrofungi, like mushrooms, can produce enzymes and have the ability to degrade and accumulate a wide range of toxic metals. In this paper, the research status and advances in the field of mycoremediation using different mushroom species are reviewed. Generally mushrooms use three effective strategies to recover contaminated or polluted soils: biodegradation, bioconversion, and biosorption. Mushrooms can degrade and recycle wastes and pollutants to their mineral constituents and convert wastes, sludge, and pollutants into useful forms. In addition, they can uptake heavy metals from substrates via biosorption, which is a very effective method to reclaim polluted lands. Different wild and cultivated mushroom species are used in mycoremediation, which can degrade large quantities of organic and inorganic pollutants and produce vendible products. Mycoremediation is still in its infancy, but it has notable remediation potential for pollutants or metals in soil. Mushroom species that can biodegrade, bioconvert, or absorb pollutants and metals effectively should be given the highest preference. Further research is needed to verify that this method is an easy, cost effective,and eco-friendly tool.