DDT soil pollution is still a major problem in many parts of the world. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have developed a new method to manage ecological risks from the toxin by binding it with biochar. When they mixed biochar into contaminated soil at a former tree nursery, DDT uptake by earthworms in the soil was halved. This method may enable the growing of certain crops on land that is currently considered unusable due to the environmental risks.

Developing rice with tolerance to higher nighttime temperatures has become a focus for rice breeders because studies are showing nights are getting warmer in rice-growing regions. Vibha Srivastava, professor of plant biotechnology in the crop, soil and environmental sciences department for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, explores the topic of breeding rice and the potential for gene editing to tolerate night heat in the December issue of Current Opinion in Plant Biology with an article titled “Beat the heat: Breeding, genomics, and gene editing for high nighttime temperature tolerance in rice.”

Urban infrastructure, such as stormwater management ponds (SWMPs), have the potential to be rehabilitated and provide critical freshwater habitat in urbanized watersheds if designed adequately. We tracked different native fish species using passive integrated transponder technology to assess the level of connectivity between a rehabilitated SWMP and a river. We found a high degree of connectivity between the two habitats, even during challenging environmental conditions such as high water temperatures and abundant submerged vegetation.