Plants are important in urban environments for removing pathogens and improving water quality. Seagrass meadows are the most widespread coastal ecosystem on the planet. Although these plants are known to be associated with natural biocide production, they have not been evaluated for their ability to remove microbiological contamination. Using amplicon sequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene, w...

Global climate change poses challenges to areas such as low-lying coastal zones, where sea level rise (SLR) and storm-surge overwash events can have long-term effects on vegetation and on soil and groundwater salinities, posing risks of habitat loss critical to OPEN ACCESS J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2015, 3 1150 native species. An early warning system is urgently needed to predict and prepare for the co...

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were measured in surface sediments from 121 locations within the Southern California Bight. Site selection was based on a probabilistic approach to determine the spatial extent and magnitude of PBDE concentrations with known confidence intervals. Coastal embayments (including estuaries, marinas, ports, and bays) and the continental shelf out to the lower s...

Endemic plants inhabiting coastal sand dunes show augmented extinction risks due to the dynamic nature of dunes and strong human pressure on coastal areas. To investigate the survival strategies and threats to long-term survival of such species, we combined genetic, morphological and biogeographical approaches, using the example of Hieracium eriophorum (Asteraceae) and its putative cryptic sist...

Pakistan has a variety of herbs and medicinal plant resources, due to its varied ecological conditions. Large number of physicians of south Asia (locally called Hakeems and Tib-e-Unani or Ayurvedic medicines) use herbs, plant parts and extracts for treating human diseases. Source of medicinal plants are hilly areas, deserts and coastal zones of the country. Major supply of medicinal herbs is wi...

Salinity causes oxidative stress in plants by enhancing production of reactive oxygen species, so that an efficient antioxidant system, of which ascorbic acid (AsA) is a key component, is an essential requirement of tolerance. However, antioxidant responses of plants to salinity vary considerably among species. Limonium stocksii is a sub-tropical halophyte found in the coastal marshes from Guja...

Bulk modulus of elasticity (ɛ), depicting the flexibility of plant tissues, is recognized as an important component in maintaining internal water balance. Elevated ɛ and comparatively low osmotic potential (Ψπ) may work in concert to effectively maintain vital cellular water content. This concept, termed the 'cell water conservation hypothesis', may foster tolerance for lower soil-water potenti...

Baseline information on flora is critical for planning salt marsh restoration in New Haven, Connecticut’s West River Memorial Park. This information will be important for evaluating existing site conditions and success or failure of the restoration. This chapter presents results of a plant inventory and addresses the ecological considerations necessary to return salt marsh plants to the site. A...

Cliffs worldwide are known to be reservoirs of relict biodiversity. Despite the presence of harsh abiotic conditions, large endemic floras live in such environments. Primula palinuri Petagna is a rare endemic plant species, surviving on cliff sites along a few kilometres of the Tyrrhenian coast in southern Italy. This species is declared at risk of extinction due to human impact on the coastal ...

miankaleh biosphere reserve it has a set of marine and land ecosystems an area about 67349 ha and is located in the north of iran and southeast farthermost of caspian sea. the diversity of the natural characteristics of caspian region is the cause of diversity in the habitats, and has resulted in nesting of most plant species in the germinative range. regarding the importance of coastal ecosyst...