Water pollution from agricultural, industrial, and urban activities threatens aquatic ecosystems and the essential services they provide. Excess nitrogen has been identified as a key driver of water quality degradation, impacting biodiversity, food security, and human health. One approach to mitigating nitrogen pollution is water quality offsetting, compensating for pollution impacts by implementing nitrogen reduction measures elsewhere to achieve no net decline in water quality. Selecting and implementing suitable nitrogen offset types remains challenging. This study presents a framework for identifying, selecting, and implementing effective nitrogen offset strategies in tropical and subtropical regions globally, using the Great Barrier Reef Catchment Area (GBRCA) as an example. This framework is based on the premise that effective nitrogen offset design requires integrating evidence on nitrogen mitigation performance, appropriate criteria for selecting offset types, and adaptive management to address uncertainty in environmental outcomes. Accordingly, the framework comprises three interrelated components: (1) assessment of water quality improvement methods for nitrogen reduction in the GBRCA and other tropical and subtropical regions based on performance (i.e., efficacy, effectiveness, and efficiency); (2) selection of suitable offset types based on their performance, co-benefits, and spatial and technical feasibility; and (3) integration of adaptive management strategies, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools, and monitoring systems to strengthen the effectiveness of nitrogen offsetting. This is the first global assessment of nitrogen offset performance in tropical and subtropical regions, offering insights to improve water quality management through offsetting. This framework is adaptable to other regions and pollutants, guiding effective offset implementation to enhance watershed resilience.

Public perceptions of river corridors often diverge from scientific understanding, particularly regarding the ecological and geomorphological role of large wood (LW). This study examines how different societal and professional groups perceive large wood in Brazilian rivers using a structured photo-questionnaire. A total of 437 respondents evaluated images of river scenes with and without large wood across four perceptual dimensions (naturalness, aesthetics, hazard, and need for improvement). Large wood was frequently associated with flow obstruction, flood hazard, and the need for channel intervention, while relatively few respondents explicitly recognized its ecological functions. Comparisons between conditions showed statistically significant but modest effects, indicating that evaluations were strongly influenced by landscape context and image characteristics rather than by wood presence alone. Disciplinary background also affected responses, with participants from environmental and natural resource sciences showing greater acceptance of large wood. Overall, the results provide empirical evidence on how large wood is socially interpreted in river corridors and may inform discussions related to river management and restoration.

Global efforts to mitigate anthropogenic pressures on biodiversity and ecosystems will often be realised through management at landscape-scales (i.e., in the range of 100s-1000 s km2). In consequence, we need to measure biodiversity responses at landscape-scales to ensure mitigations are effectively protecting and restoring ecosystems. Yet many countries currently lack monitoring programmes that can generate indicators of biodiversity at these scales. Localised monitoring (e.g., 1 km2) is often amalgamated into national-scale indicators, however, this leaves a substantial gap in the middle of this spatial gradient, limiting availability of information at decision-relevant scales. Here, using the United Kingdom as a case study, we explored the suitability of seven sources of biodiversity data which could be used to construct landscape-scale indicators. We surveyed 70, mostly UK-based, monitoring experts for their opinions on structured and unstructured in-person surveys, camera traps, eDNA, drones, passive acoustic recorders, and satellite remote sensing. We assessed data source utility to construct indicators reflecting Essential Biodiversity Variables, i.e., as holistic measures of taxa or ecosystems rather than assessments of individual management interventions. All seven data sources were deemed suitable, and experts expected developments in technology and infrastructure to greatly increase this potential over the next decade. However, there are technical, analytical, logistical and financial barriers to establishing monitoring networks that could yield the requisite data for landscape-scale indicators. Resolving these issues requires substantial research, policy commitment and investment, but landscape-scale indicators will be essential for the UK to undertake adaptive management and monitor nature recovery.

Climate change poses escalating risks across South Asia, where diverse ecological conditions, socio-economic structures, and governance capacities shape uneven adaptation outcomes. This study provides a comparative assessment of climate adaptation policies in eight South Asian countries, focusing on how governance arrangements, financing mechanisms, and regional cooperation influence policy effectiveness. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines policy document analysis, secondary data, and comparative case evidence, the study applies a structured evaluation framework to assess policy coherence, institutional capacity, financing arrangements, and implementation dynamics. The findings indicate substantial variation in adaptation governance across the region. Countries such as India and Bangladesh exhibit relatively mature institutional frameworks for disaster risk reduction and adaptation, while Nepal and Bhutan place stronger emphasis on ecosystem-based and community-oriented approaches. At the same time, all countries face persistent challenges related to financing constraints, coordination gaps, and uneven implementation capacity, with these challenges particularly acute in politically and fiscally constrained contexts such as Pakistan and Afghanistan. Across the region, climate finance remains unevenly mobilised, vertical and horizontal coordination mechanisms are inconsistently institutionalised, and regional cooperation under SAARC remains limited in scope and enforceability. By systematically linking policy design, institutional capacity, and regional coordination, this study contributes a comparative analytical perspective on adaptation governance in South Asia. The findings underscore the need to strengthen institutional coherence, mobilise sustainable financing, integrate scientific and indigenous knowledge, and enhance transboundary cooperation to support more effective and equitable climate adaptation outcomes.

Human-elephant conflict (HEC) represents one of the most persistent socio-ecological challenges in tropical landscapes, where expanding agriculture and fragmented habitats intensify encounters between wildlife and people. This study integrates Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), and Design-Based Research (DBR) to co-design early warning systems (EWS) for conflict mitigation in Odisha, India. Using digitized PRA tools, communities mapped seasonal and spatial patterns of elephant movement, crop damage, and risk hotspots, combining local knowledge with geospatial analysis. Iterative feedback and community validation sessions ensured contextual accuracy and stakeholder ownership. The resulting framework identifies priority locations and temporal windows for deploying AI-enabled camera-based EWS, linking ecological data with social acceptability. Findings highlight how participatory technology design can strengthen adaptive conservation governance by embedding community knowledge into decision-making innovation. The approach has broad implications for locally led, socially grounded conservation strategies across diverse human-wildlife conflict landscapes.

Agricultural carbon projects are increasingly promoted as instruments to address climate change while supporting sustainable agriculture. These projects combine sustainable land management (SLM) practices with a carbon credit component, creating complex governance structures involving diverse actors with unequal power. Understanding the governance challenges that may impede their effective implementation is therefore essential. Despite growing evidence on the potential of digital tools in agriculture, their role in agricultural carbon projects remains underexplored. This study employs a qualitative case study of two pioneering carbon projects in Kenya, alongside a participatory and visual mapping tool (Process Net-Map), to engage with stakeholders. It combines concepts of principal-agent and bargaining power theory to analyse the governance challenges of agricultural carbon projects, and the potential role of digital tools in addressing them. The findings reveal layered principal-agent relationships in the carbon credit component, characterized by strict monitoring and external accountability, exacerbating information asymmetries and shifting performance risks to actors with limited bargaining power. While women play a pivotal role in implementation and monitoring, intra-household power relations constrain their control over assets and benefits, thereby reinforcing gender inequities. Digital tools currently support data collection and reporting, with potential to reduce transaction costs and improve accountability, but their use remains largely confined to the SLM component. Expanding digital tools beyond monitoring to support participation, transparency, and feedback could strengthen smallholder bargaining power. The current study contributes to literature by highlighting how the carbon credit component reshapes and intensifies existing SLM governance challenges and offers insights for project developers and policymakers seeking to promote more equitable and effective agricultural carbon initiatives.

Comprehensive assessment and screening of prioritized antibiotics are needed to control the increasing antibiotic contamination in drinking water sources. This study investigated 40 antibiotics in the Liuxi River drinking water source in Guangzhou, and conducted the screening and prioritization of antibiotics using a ToxPi-based framework that separately incorporates intrinsic toxicity-related properties and exposure-based ecological and human health risks. The total concentration of the 40 antibiotics was much higher in the dry season than in the wet season. Among all the antibiotics, oxytetracycline and minocycline had the highest concentrations in the dry season, while sulfamethoxazole had the highest level in the wet season. Of all antibiotics, only minocycline and oxytetracycline had high and medium ecological risks in the dry season, respectively. Health risks of all the antibiotics were within an acceptable range. Based on the ToxPi-based prioritization, the ten antibiotics with the highest ToxPi scores (e.g., oxytetracycline and minocycline) were identified as priority compounds for control to reduce potential ecological and human health risks. This study provides a solid reference for the screening and control of antibiotics in drinking water sources.

Understanding environmental drivers of plankton community assembly is critical for predicting ecosystem responses to environmental change in reservoir systems. This study employed environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding to examine how temperature, dissolved oxygen, and spatial gradients structure plankton communities in Singal Reservoir, South Korea, across seasonal and spatial scales from 2021-2022. Water samples were collected from inflow, middle, and outflow zones during spring and autumn, with multi-depth sampling at the central site. The V9 region of 18S rRNA was amplified and sequenced to characterize eukaryotic plankton communities. PERMANOVA analysis revealed that environmental factors explained 39.72% of phytoplankton and 38.62% of zooplankton community variation, with total nitrogen showing the strongest statistical relationship (p = 0.03 for phytoplankton), while temperature and dissolved oxygen patterns revealed important ecological gradients. Phytoplankton communities (130 genera, 5 phyla) showed pronounced seasonal patterns, with autumn exhibiting significantly higher species richness (103 genera) than spring (48 genera) (PERMANOVA: F = 9.52, p = 0.001). Zooplankton communities (43 genera, 2 phyla) displayed similar seasonal trends (F = 7.06, p = 0.001). Spatial analysis demonstrated that sampling location explained 16.7% of zooplankton variance compared to only 1.2% for depth effects, contrasting with expectations about depth effects in shallow reservoirs. Temperature-dissolved oxygen interactions created distinct environmental niches: diatoms preferred high temperature-high oxygen conditions, while dinoflagellates were most common in high temperature-low oxygen environments. Spearman correlations showed environmental preferences, with taxa like Eudiaptomus showing preference for low nutrient conditions (rs = -0.860, p < 0.001 for electrical conductivity). These findings show that environmental selection, especially temperature and dissolved oxygen gradients, are the primary drivers of plankton community structure in reservoir ecosystems, with help predict community responses to climate change and guiding management decisions.

As populations increase, water quality is increasingly affected by failing septic systems that introduce harmful fecal bacteria (e.g., E. coli) into watersheds. Septic system owners play a vital role in reducing the impact of such bacteria. Therefore, our study aimed to examine factors that influence septic system owners' decisions to improve septic system maintenance and protect watershed health in the Attoyac Bayou, located in East Texas. Using the theory of planned behavior, we addressed three research questions: (1) What are the characteristics of septic systems within the Attoyac Bayou watershed?; (2) How have septic system owners in the Attoyac Bayou watershed maintained their systems?; and (3) How do attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control predict septic system maintenance behaviors? We sent a questionnaire to septic system owners in the Attoyac Bayou watershed that included questions about septic system characteristics, maintenance histories, and owners' perceived norms, controls, attitudes, and intentions about septic systems. We found most septic systems in Attoyac Bayou are older conventional models with many owners lacking service contracts and reporting various times since the last pump out or inspection. While septic system owners generally demonstrate positive attitudes and confidence toward maintenance, our results revealed that attitude accounts for the greatest variance in maintenance behavior, with social norms and perceived behavioral control being less influential. Therefore, we recommend targeted messaging and interventions to reinforce positive attitudes, enhance perceived behavioral control, and promote consistent maintenance behaviors.

Invasive alien species are major driver of socio-ecological changes, and pose threats to protected areas (PAs) and native biodiversity globally. To reduce their impacts, management effort should be timely, and guided through stakeholder engagement. This study investigated the level of community awareness, and documented perceptions and stakeholder participation in management of invasive alien plant species (IAPS) in ten of Nepal's twenty PAs (five from each Tarai-Siwalik and Mountain regions). It draws on focus group discussions (n = 60) and key informant interviews (n = 47). We found that people had substantial local knowledge of IAPS and had been substantially impacted by them without having knowledge of their exotic nature. Reported impacts included native species loss, increased weeding time, crop loss, reduced forage availability, and reduced forest regeneration. Lantana camara, Mikania micrantha, Ageratina adenophora and Ageratum houstonianum were the most problematic IAPS causing both ecological and socio-economic impacts. Management efforts were sporadic, inadequate and rarely guided by formal plans or programs. Regional analysis showed that the PAs located in the Tarai-Siwalik regions (southern lowland) experienced greater invasion impacts but received marginally more management than the mountain PAs. While efforts have been made to control IAPS both by local communities and PA authorities at few locations in the Tarai-Siwalik region, the lack of such efforts despite growing problems in the mountain PAs with unique biodiversity is a matter of great conservation concern. Overall, limited participation among stakeholders, along with very low resource mobilization are the key barriers to effective management of IAPS in Nepal's PAs.