In terms of investigating the authentic plant biomonitoring and phytoextraction potentials, the samples of soils and shoots of the sun spurge (SS) and common nettle (CN), were collected near several polluted water bodies in the close vicinity of the copper mining/metallurgical complex in Bor (Serbia) and characterized with regard to the content of heavy metal(oid)s As, Cd, Pb, Cu, and Zn. The methods applied in this work such as inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson’s correlation study, hierarchical cluster analysis, and the calculation of bioaccumulation rates (expressed through the so called mobility ratios, MRs), provided very informative data on the potentials of both investigated pioneer species. The most important findings were 1) In most cases, SS was more effective in metal extraction/translocation/bioaccumulation than CN, and especially with regard to Cu; in this particular case, extremely high concentrations were recorded and also, some significant MRs were calculated, which may be a signal of its promising potential for Cu-phytoremediation, practically, Cu-phytoextraction; however, generally, the values of most calculated MRs were very low ( less then 1, for both plants); 2) The shoots of both plants reflected soundly the current status of metal presence in the studied environment and they can be recommended for seasonal screenings of a general level of metal pollution in the areas of interest; however, specifically, they cannot reflect quite correctly the level of soil pollution; 3) Soil Cu, and As were detected in alarming concentrations.Acid mine drainage (AMD) is recognized as a challenge encountered by mining industries globally. Cyclic mineralization method, namely Fe2+ oxidation/mineralization-residual Fe3+ reduction-resultant Fe2+ oxidation/mineralization, could precipitate Fe and SO42- present in AMD into iron hydroxysulfate minerals and greatly improve the efficiency of subsequent lime neutralization, but the current Fe0-mediated reduction approach increased the mineralization cycles. This study constructed a bacteria-driven biomineralization system based on the reactions of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans-mediated Fe2+ oxidation and Acidiphilium multivorum-controlled Fe3+ reduction, and utilized water-dropping aeration and biofilm technology to satisfy the requirement of practical application. The resultant biofilms showed stable activity for Fe conversion the efficiency of Fe2+-oxidation, Fe-precipitation, and Fe3+-reduction maintained at 98%, 32%, and 87%, respectively. Dissolved oxygen for Fe-oxidizing bacteria growth was continuously replenished by water-dropping aeration (4.2-7.2 mg/L), and the added organic carbon was mainly metabolized by Fe-reducing bacteria. About 89% Fe and 60% SO42- were precipitated into jarosite mineral after five biomineralization cycles. Fe was removed via forming secondary mineral precipitates, while SO42- was coprecipitated into mineral within the initial three biomineralization cycles, and then mainly precipitated with Ca2+ afterwards. Fe concentration in AMD was proven to directly correlate with subsequent lime neutralization efficiency. Biomineralization for five cycles drastically reduced the amount of required lime and neutralized sludge by 75% and 77%, respectively. The results in this study provided theoretical guidance for practical AMD treatment based on biomineralization technology.The corrosion mechanisms of nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) vary with different geochemical constituents, which affect the reductive dechlorination process of trichloroethylene (TCE). In this study, the effect of nZVI anaerobic corrosion on the reductive dechlorination of TCE with different groundwater geochemical constituents (Ca2+-SO42-, Ca2+-HCO3-, Na+-NO3-) was investigated. Microscopic characterization by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) combined with pH, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) and dissolved Fe2+ in solutions to illustrate the corrosion mechanism of nZVI. In the four systems including ultrapure water (UPW), the reduction of TCE conformed to pseudo-first-order kinetics, the generation of Cl- accorded with zero-order kinetics, and multi-step reaction kinetics was used to fit the generation and degradation of chlorinated byproducts (Dichloroethylene, DCEs). Compared with UPW system, the dissolution corrosion of Ca2+-HCO3- and Ca2+-SO42- promoted the reductive dechlorination of TCE (kobs, TCE = 0.658 ± 0.010 & 0.245 ± 0.028 d-1 and kobs, Cl- = 41.682 ± 1.016 & 20.623 ± 1.923 μM⋅d-1 for Ca2+-HCO3- & Ca2+-SO42-, respectively) and the degradation of DCEs (0.444 ± 0.036 & 0.244 ± 0.040 μM⋅d-1 for Ca2+-HCO3- & Ca2+-SO42-, respectively); redox-active NO3- competed for electrons and passivated the surface of nZVI, which limited the reductive dechlorination of TCE (kobs, TCE = 0.111 ± 0.025 d-1 & kobs, Cl- = 14.943 ± 0.664 μM⋅d-1) and the degradation of DCEs (0.078 ± 0.018 μM⋅d-1), and the passivation layer promoted the adsorption of TCE. This study from the perspective of nZVI corrosion provides a theoretical basis for the long-term application of nZVI technology in the remediation of TCE-contaminated sites with different groundwater geochemical types.Hominin habitats are frequently described as ‘mosaic’ based on interpretations of fossil assemblages comprising taxa with divergent functional adaptations (e.g., both grazers and browsers). This interpretation rests on an assumption that mammal functional diversity is positively associated with habitat heterogeneity. check details We test this assumption using modern mammal data for 141 sites in Africa. Species average body mass and locomotor and dietary information was compiled for all species >500 g. The functional diversity of each species assemblage was measured using five metrics locomotor richness, trophic richness, functional richness, functional divergence, and functional evenness. We used a high-resolution woody cover estimate for sub-Saharan Africa to compute the coefficient of variation of percentage of woody cover for each site. We used a published land cover classification to compute the number of habitat patches and the number of distinct habitat types at each site. Multiple regressions were conducted at 9 different spatial resolutions (pixel size ranging from 100 m to 30 km) to explore the relationship between functional diversity and habitat heterogeneity metrics.