Arsenic, a common metalloid contaminant in soil, can enter the terrestrial food chain through plant uptake. While soil arsenic contamination can lead to long-term exposure that affects multiple generations, the multigenerational impacts on terrestrial plantherbivore systems remain poorly understood. This study examined the effects of soil arsenate (As(V)) transferred to pepper plants on Myzus persicae over three generations (F0-F2). We measured adult body length (AL), development time (DT), and offspring body length (OL) of M. persicae after rearing them on peppers cultivated in soil treated with four concentrations (0, 2, 4, and 6 mg kg-1) of As(V). In the F0 generation, the As(V) treatment significantly affected AL and DT (p<0.05), but no significant effect on OL was detected (p= 0.83). In the F1 and F2 generations, however, significant differences between treatments were observed in OL (p<0.05), along with AL and DT. Notably, in the F0 generation, As(V)- exposed individuals exhibited consistently stimulated growth and development, while responses became inconsistent in the F1 and F2 generations across various treatment conditions. These findings suggest that the effects of As(V) on M. persicae through multigenerational exposure are more complex than those observed within a single generation. This study highlights the importance of multigenerational approaches to accurately assess the ecological impacts of soil As(V) contamination on terrestrial ecosystems.

Springtails (class Collembola) play a crucial role in soil ecosystems. They are commonly used as standard species in soil toxicity assessments. According to the ISO 11267 guidelines established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Allonychiurus kimi uses adult survival and juvenile production as toxicity assessment endpoint. Conventional toxicity assessment methods require manually counting adults and larvae under a microscope after experiments, which is time-consuming and laborintensive. To overcome these limitations, this study developed a model using YOLOv8 to detect and count both adults and juveniles of A. kimi. An AI model was trained using a training dataset and evaluated using a validation dataset. Both training and validation datasets used for AI model were created by picturing plate images that included adults and larvae. Statistical comparison of validation dataset showed no significant difference between manual and automatic counts. Additionally, the model achieved high accuracies (Precision=1.0, Recall=0.95 for adults; Precision=0.95, Recall=0.83 for juveniles). This indicates that the model can successfully detect objects. Additionally, the system can automatically measure body areas of individuals, enabling more detailed assessments related to growth and development. Therefore, this study establishes that AI-based counting methods in toxicity assessments with offer high levels of accuracy and efficiency can effectively replace traditional manual counting methods. This method significantly enhances the efficiency of large-scale toxicity evaluations while reducing researcher workload.

Ecosystems provide various ecosystem services based on biodiversity. However, biodiversity is facing crises due to anthropogenic factors such as pollution, land use change, and climate change. Threats to biodiversity can significantly impact the provision and stability of ecosystem services, extending beyond simple species decline. To address threats to biodiversity, it is crucial to evaluate how anthropogenic factors affect not only biodiversity but also ecosystem services. This study aims to investigate the energy flux in a post-mining area based on the biodiversity of soil ecosystems and assess its suitability as an evaluation metric. It was observed that as the concentration of the primary pollutant, arsenic, increased, both the biomass of soil organisms and energy flux decreased. Furthermore, soil ecosystem multifunctionality may be negatively affected by pollution. These findings contribute to understanding the impact of pollution on soil ecosystem biodiversity and energy flux in post-mining areas and provide important information for more effective conservation and management of ecosystem services.

The ecosystem provides a diverse array of environmental conditions for organisms, and only those that are capable of successfully adapting to these conditions within their habitats can endure, thrive, and proliferate. Further, the environmental conditions within these habitats can significantly affect the bioavailability of chemicals that are introduced therein, thus resulting in varied adverse impacts on the organisms. The present study aims to evaluate the sensitivity of Yuukianura szeptyckii - a species adapted to riparian - to heavy metals following ISO guideline 11276, with the objective of assessing its potential as an indicator species for ecotoxicological evaluations in riparian habitats. The findings revealed that cadmium and copper both had significant toxic effects depending on their concentrations. For cadmium, the LC50 was 280 mg kg-1, EC50 was 66 mg kg-1, and NOEC and LOEC were 25 and 50 mg kg-1, respectively. For copper, the LC50 was 911 mg kg-1, EC50 was 151 mg kg-1, and LOEC was 50 mg kg-1. Comparative analysis with previous results for the international standard species Folsomia candida and the domestic standard species Allonychiurus kimi indicated that Y. szeptyckii exhibited even greater sensitivity to toxicity values. The adverse effects on survival and reproduction were closely associated with the influx concentration of heavy metals in their bodies. Altogether, the results suggest that Y. szeptyckii is a sensitive species for ecotoxicological assessments in riparian habitats, thus making it suitable as an indicator species, particularly in riparian ecosystems that are characterized by relatively high humidity conditions.

Many changes in the scale and structure of the Korean rice cropping system have been made over the past few decades. Still, insufficient research has been conducted on the sustainability of this system. This study analyzed changes in the Korean rice cropping system’s sustainability from a system ecology perspective using an emergy approach. For this purpose, an emergy table was created for the Korean rice cropping system in 2011, 2016, and 202, and an emergy-based indicator analysis was performed. The emergy analysis showed that the total emergy input to the rice cropping system decreased from 10,744E+18 sej year-1 to 8,342E+18 sej year-1 due to decreases in paddy field areas from 2011 to 2021, and the proportion of renewable resources decreased by 1.4%. The emergy input per area (ha) was found to have decreased from 13.13E+15 sej ha-1 year-1 in 2011 to 11.89E+15 sej ha-1 year-1 in 2021, and the leading cause was a decrease in nitrogen fertilizer usage and working hours. The amount of emergy used to grow 1 g of rice stayed the same between 2016 and 2021 (specific emergy: 13.3E+09 sej g-1), but the sustainability of the rice cropping system (emergy sustainability index, ESI) continued to decrease (2011: 0.107, 2016: 0.088, and 2021: 0.086). This study provides quantitative information on the emergy input structure and characteristics of Korean rice cropping systems. The results of this study can be used as a valuable reference in establishing measures to improve the ecological sustainability of the Korean rice cropping system.

Glyphosate, a worldwide most used herbicides, can have complex implications for terrestrial ecosystems, extending beyond its intended target, weed control. This study investigated the cascading effects of glyphosate application on both plant and collembolan communities. Our findings reveal that glyphosate application can reduce the richness of plant communities, and these effects can be pronounced in areas with low initial plant diversity. Furthermore, our results confirm that the fluctuations in plant community composition induced by glyphosate application can also impact the richness of collembolan communities. This research highlights the importance of considering both plant and invertebrate communities when assessing the impacts of herbicide use in agroecosystems.

The effects of temperature and salinity on egg development and settlement of the ascidian Herdmania momus were investigated. Adult specimens were collected from the Dodu Yacht facility in Jeju Island, Korea (33°30′30.54″N, 126°27′55.46″E) in August 2018. Egg development and larval settlement were observed and recorded at 8 h intervals using a stereomicroscope, under nine temperature (10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, and 34°C), and four salinity regimens (28, 30, 32, and 34 psu). The highest hatching rate (82.8±7%) was observed at 32 psu and 25°C and the lowest hatching rate (1.0±2%) was at 34 psu and 13°C. The developmental rate (0.222±0.0994) was highest at 28 psu and 28°C, and lowest (0.016±0.008) at 30 psu and 13°C. The highest settlement success rate (77.1±5%) was at 32 psu and 25°C and the lowest (0.1±1.0%) was at 30 psu, and 13°C. The rate of settlement (0.080±0.000) was highest at 28 psu and 28°C, and lowest (0.013±0.000) at 30 psu and 13°C. Both hatching and settlement success rates increased as temperature increased and tended to decrease beyond an optimal temperature range. Herdmania momus preferred 30-34 psu salinity and 22-25°C temperature. This study provides baseline information about the life history of H. momus, and important data to control the damage caused by the increase in number and distribution of this invasive ascidian.