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Chemical pollutants include the harmful effects of various substances on soils, water bodies, and biodiversity. Amphibians are one of the most endangered groups of vertebrates and are impacted by chemical pollutants in various ways due to their complex life cycles. Since trace pollutant concentrations vary across environments, different frog ecomorphs (classified by their microhabitat use) may have different exposures. We aimed to determine the association between frog ecomorphs and the occurrence of histopathological hepatic lesions (HHLs) as an indicator of contaminant exposure. We focused on small forest streams near a large urban region in Brazil, heavily polluted in the 1980s. We examined 104 frog specimens from various families. All specimens exhibited HHLs, with melanomacrophages being the most common (n = 99). Arboreal frogs exhibited more vascular congestion, while terrestrial frogs showed structural hepatic damage. Higher cobalt levels were linked to increased liver necrosis in arboreal frogs and structural issues in both arboreal and terrestrial frogs. Cadmium was associated with hepatitis in terrestrial frogs. Although metal levels had no significant effects on rheophilic frogs, the prevalence of hepatitis and necrosis indicated complex exposure pathways. Iron and aluminum were linked to fewer lesions in rheophilic frogs, suggesting resilience. The high prevalence of HHLs signals an ongoing issue, with variations among ecomorphs suggesting differential exposure to pollutants and posing a complex challenge for community conservation., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The growth of the human population causes significant harm to ecosystems, directly affecting the biological diversity of coastal areas by replacing natural habitats with artificial structures such as breakwaters, ports, and marinas. The hard substrate from those marine facilities lacks the topographic complexity of natural habitats. Because of that, artificial habitats usually do not support a diverse community to the same extent as rocky shores in the surroundings. To address this issue and bring a strategic solution to the improper disposal of shell waste from aquaculture farms, we evaluated how increasing the environmental heterogeneity of walls by incorporating mussel and oyster shells on artificial concrete affected the diversity of sessile organisms from the subtidal zone. Adding shells to concrete positively affected ascidians' richness. Substrates with added shells supported more species than flat substrates in total. They promoted species that did not occur on flat substrates that simulated the traditional walls of marinas and harbors. However, it did not affect the number of bryozoans and the average species richness. Consequently, incorporating shells resulted in communities with completely distinct structures from those on flat substrates. Adding shells affected the community structure, reducing the dominance by the exotic bryozoan Schizoporella errata, and promoting the occurrence of other groups, such as ascidians. Using shell residues from aquaculture on marina walls adds substrate for colonization. Still, it is also likely to provide refuges for fragile and vulnerable organisms, like crevices and pits in natural habitats. Because of that, the increment in diversity was mostly group-specific and restricted to ascidians. This research reinforces the importance of creating complex artificial coastal structures, inspired by the blue economy, for a more heterogeneous coverage of sessile communities and reduced presence and dominance of exotic species. Thus, the strategy tested here, besides the effects on the sessile community, also supports efforts to reduce inappropriate waste disposal in the environment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Plants emit a broad number of Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds (BVOCs) that can impact urban ozone (O 3 ) production. Conversely, the O 3 is a phytotoxic pollutant that causes unknown alterations in BVOC emissions from native plants. In this sense, here, we characterized the constitutive and O 3 -induced BVOCs for two (2dO 3 ) and four (4dO 3 ) days of exposure (O 3 dose 80 ppb) and evaluated the O 3 response by histochemical techniques to detect programmed cell death (PCD) and hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) in three Brazilian native species. Croton floribundus Spreng, Astronium graveolens Jacq, and Piptadenia gonoacantha (Mart.) JF Macbr, from different groups of ecological succession (acquisitive and conservative), different carbon-saving defense strategies, and specific BVOC emissions. The three species emitted a very diverse BVOC composition: monoterpenes (MON), sesquiterpenes (SEQ), green leaf volatiles (GLV), and other compounds (OTC). C. floribundus is more acquisitive than A. graveolens . Their most representative BVOCs were methyl salicylate-MeSA (OTC), (Z) 3-hexenal, and (E)-2-hexenal (GLV), γ-elemene and (-)-β-bourbonene (SEQ) β-phellandrene and D-limonene (MON), while in A. graveolens were nonanal and decanal (OTC), and α-pinene (MON). Piptadenia gonoachanta is more conservative, and the BVOC blend was limited to MeSA (OTC), (E)-2-hexenal (GLV), and β-Phellandrene (MON). The O 3 affected BVOCs and histochemical traits of the three species in different ways. Croton floribundus was the most O 3 tolerant species and considered as an SEQ emitter. It efficiently reacted to O 3 stress after 2dO 3, verified by a high alteration of BVOC emission, the emergence of the compounds such as α-Ionone and trans-ß-Ionone, and the absence of H 2 O 2 detection. On the contrary, A. graveolens , a MON-emitter, was affected by 2dO 3 and 4dO 3 , showing increasing emissions of α-pinene and β-myrcene, (MON), γ-muurolene and β-cadinene (SEQ) and H 2 O 2 accumulation. Piptadenia gonoachanta was the most sensitive and did not respond to BVOCs emission, but PCD and H 2 O 2 were highly evidenced. Our results indicate that the BVOC blend emission, combined with histochemical observations, is a powerful tool to confirm the species' tolerance to O 3 . Furthermore, our findings suggest that BVOC emission is a trade-off associated with different resource strategies of species indicated by the changes in the quality and quantity of BVOC emission for each species., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Moura, Bolsoni, de Paula, Dias and Souza.)

The genus Absidia is widely used in the biotransformation of different classes of natural products. This study evaluates the ability of the Absidia coerulea 3A9 marine derived strain isolated from the ascidian Distaplia stilyfera to perform biotransformations by conducting assays with (-)-cubebin, as substrate. The experiment was optimized using the experimental design proposed by Plackett-Burman for seven factors and eight experiments, to establish the biotransformation conditions that would allow maximum production of biotransformed dibenzylbutyrolactone (-)-hinokinin. An analytical method based on Reverse-Phase-High Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC) was developed to quantify the fungal biotransformation product. The factor that influenced the (-)-hinokinin peak area the most positively was the percentage of seawater (%seawater) given that its %relative standard deviation (%RSD) showed a 32.92% deviation from the real value., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

South Atlantic studies referring to non-native taxa are mostly restricted to Argentinean, Brazilian, and South African coasts. In this study we examined the literature to provide a list of sessile marine invertebrates along the Angolan coast, to infer its introduction status according to their biogeographical distribution and natural history. We reported 29 non-native and 7 cryptogenic species, a small number when compared to other South Atlantic regions of similar extension. Half of the non-native species were reported for Luanda. The majority of the introduced species had a northern hemisphere origin, a consequence of the main introduction route being from the North Atlantic/Mediterranean Sea during the Portuguese colonization. This is the first comprehensive assessment of this kind for the Angolan coast and the diversity of introduced species is certainly underestimated. Regular and rigorous assessments and monitoring of introduced marine species will help to understand the vectors, routes and time of introductions., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)