Abstract: Let us first express our respectful thanks to the founder of Journal Dr. R. C. Dalela, who has entrusted us the responsibility to look after the Processing and Editing of research papers submitted to the Journal of Environmental Biology. We have humbly accepted the responsibility and are committed to follow his footsteps to further enhance the scientific quality and popularity of the Journal of Environmental Biology. Journal's launching: In 1975, there were only a few research Journals available in India to the researchers of Biological Sciences. To cater to the needs of Environmental Biologists, Dr. Dalela mooted the idea of introducing research Journal in 1975 & after a pan India consultation launched the title “Journal of Environmental Biology ” after due registration with the Government of India. The International Editorial Board of Journal was constituted, the Editorial Policy and Guidelines for authors were prepared and the first issue was released on 7th October 1978 in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India. Since then, the Journal is being published uninterruptedly in-spite of varied problems and difficulties faced time to time. In the beginning most of the research papers received were from Indian researchers but with passage of time overseas research papers started pouring. Gradually, Journal became a favored choice of the International Scientific Community. From 1978 to 1997, the periodicity of Journal was quarterly and currently, it is bimonthly i.e. six issues in a year. The Journal is sponsored by Dalela Educational Foundation (DEF) - a charitable educational trust. The Journal neither receives any financial grant from Government nor from Non-government organizations. The Journal is independent and financially depends largely upon subscriptions and the publication fees. . Growth and Progress: In 1997, the Registered Office and the secretariat of the Journal was shifted from Muzaffarnagar to Lucknow, the capital city of Uttar Pradesh. The worldwide acceptance of our Journal grew exponentially because of its scientific merit, print quality and its double-blind peer review system. Peer-review system and editing of research papers became more intense and recommendations of reviewers became the sole criterion for publication of research papers. The Marketing & Distribution of the Journal was given to Triveni Enterprises - an educational setup, to make this important task efficient. As the Journal's credibility grew over a period of time, new policies were promulgated to meet the increasing needs of International Scientific community. These are as follows: 1) Website: In 2001, Journal developed its website (www.jeb.co.in), where in all relevant information of the Journal and the published papers were uploaded. Open Access of research papers was made available. 2) R & D Division: In 2008, Journal established its own Research & Development (R & D) division under the guidance of a consultant and scientists to scrutinize all submitted manuscripts for unethical practices and recommend ways to improve quality and scientific merit. Looking to its relevance, the reviewer selection and monitoring of the review process were also handed over to this division. Our reviewers, Editorial Board members and R & D experts voluntarily and generously contribute their expertise to upscale the Journal. We highly value their role. The contributions of the reviewers are appropriately acknowledged by publishing their names in the Reviewer's Panel of the Journal. 3) Digital Object Identifier: Journal took the membership of Crossref in 2016, so as to allot the DOI number to each paper published in the Journal of Environmental Biology. 4) JEB International Awards: In 2018, the Journal introduced “JEB - International Award (IA)” for the best paper published in a calendar year to recognize and appreciate the outstanding research paper published in the Journal. In 2019, the Journal introduced, “Young Researcher Award (YRA)” – another International Award for innovative research paper published by a young research scholar. The papers are evaluated by an International Scientific Committee and the awardees are given “Certificate of Excellence” and cash prizes of USD 500 to IA and USD 200 to YRA, respectively. Scientific Leadership: In September 2020, the National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM), Hyderabad organized an online training program and the JEB editor was invited as an expert in a panel discussion on "Science of Writing Good Research Papers". Dr. Sumati Gaumat, Editor-JEB based on her vast experience highlighted many short comings normally committed by the young research scholars while writing research papers and what should they do to avoid rejection. COPE Membership: In December - 2020, we have applied for the registration of Journal for the membership of “Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)” to follow the highest standards of ethics for scholarly publication. Year 2020, has been the most challenging and disruptive year for the entire world due to Covid-19 global pandemic. The pandemic and various regulations of the Government to curtail the pandemic have affected the normal working of secretariat. The secretariat is slowly resuming the regular functioning. Our priority now is to enhance efficiency of Editorial office and to clear the backlog of accumulated research papers. Further, we are keen to work with more enthusiasm to attract high level, innovative and impactful researches for publication in the Journal. Future Strategies: We are pleased to share that our current research credibility & acceptance has made the Journal one of the most acceptable International Research Journal for publication of scientific research related to Environmental Sciences and Toxicology. We wish to concentrate on the following in 2021: 1. To seek more active participation of Editors of JEB. 2. To attract more authentic and transparent research for publication. 3. To follow the best publication practices and ethics laid down by COPE for scholarly publication. 4. To accord priority to innovative research. 5. To adopt stricter review and editing systems of papers. We acknowledge the efforts of all the contributors, readers, researchers, scientists and subscribers of the Journal - Libraries, organizations and laboratories for their continued cooperation and support. We also thank the members of the Editorial Board, for rendering their expertise voluntarily to the Journal and also the reviewers for their robust and critical review of papers. The services of Information System Consultant are sincerely acknowledged for supervising the designing and for managing Journal's website. The reputation and popularity of Journal is due to hard and sincere working of the secretariat staff. At last but not the least, we express our highest gratitude to the Managing Editor of the Journal for her constant support and encouragement.

Abstract: Food webs are central entities mediating processes and external pressures in marine ecosystems. They are essential to understand and predict ecosystem dynamics and provision of ecosystem services. Paradoxically, utilization of food web knowledge in marine environmental conservation and resource management is limited. To better understand the use of knowledge and barriers to incorporation in management, we assess its application related to the management of eutrophication, chemical contamination, fish stocks, and non-indigenous species. We focus on the Baltic, a severely impacted, but also intensely studied and actively managed semi-enclosed sea. Our assessment shows food web processes playing a central role in all four areas, but application varies strongly, from formalized integration in management decisions, to support in selecting indicators and setting threshold values, to informal knowledge explaining ecosystem dynamics and management performance. Barriers for integration are complexity of involved ecological processes and that management frameworks are not designed to handle such information. We provide a categorization of the multi-faceted uses of food web knowledge and benefits of future incorporation in management, especially moving towards ecosystem-based approaches as guiding principle in present marine policies and directives. We close with perspectives on research needs to support this move considering global and regional change.

Abstract: In response to global climate change, managed retreat has emerged as a controversial adaptation strategy. The purposeful movement of people and communities away from hazardous places raises numerous social and environmental justice concerns that will become even more pressing as retreat occurs more frequently and at larger scales. This special issue contributes to an emerging body of literature on managed retreat by providing a range of perspectives and approaches to considering justice in managed retreat. The assembled papers represent diverse voices (including perspectives from individuals whose communities are currently relocating or considering relocation), disciplines (including oral histories, legal analyses, and cultural heritage considerations), and lenses through which to consider the justice implications of managed retreat. They describe completed, in-progress, and foiled relocations. They suggest opportunities for improvement through improved evaluations and broader collaborations. While each presents a unique lens, key themes emerge around the need for transparent and equitable policies, self-determination of communities, holistic metrics for assessing individual and community well-being, the importance of culture both as something to be protected and an asset to be leveraged, and the need to address historical and systemic injustices that contribute to vulnerability and exposure to risk.

Abstract: Forest area has dramatically increased since the beginning or middle of the 19th century in European countries. At least half of the forests present today have grown on formerly cultivated lands, pastures or heathlands. However, net forest expansion largely masks a slow but irretrievable erosion of ancient forests. Meanwhile, forest resource harvesting (biomass, litter) has fundamentally changed during the last two centuries, moving from intensive biomass removal to increased growing stocks in different European countries. This article reviews the current knowledge on the long‐term legacies of past land use and forest management practices and their effects on the functions, diversity and composition of understory vegetation of current forest ecosystems. First, we define the concepts of forest continuity and ancient forest. Then, based on the French case, we present the advances in historical sources, which make it possible to better reconstruct the change in land use and forest management practices over the last two hundred years. We review how understory plant communities and their traits respond to forest continuity and to different types of former agricultural uses, both at local and landscape scales. We then address three important issues for conservation and management: the conservation value of ancient forests, the impact of forest management on the ecological integrity of ancient forests, and the under‐explored legacies of former forest management practices on soil and understory vegetation. Lastly, we propose five main fronts for future research efforts: (a) explore all types of cartographic, written sources and environmental markers; (b) develop modelling approaches to understand how past land use shapes plant communities; (c) better define the conservation value of ancient forests in conservation and management policies; (d) investigate how drivers of global change interact with forest management and land use legacies and (e) explore land use legacies in mountain and Mediterranean socio‐ecological systems.

Abstract: (a) To disentangle the global patterns of native and alien plant diversity on coastal sand dune ecosystems across habitats and floristic kingdoms; (b) to determine the main drivers of variation in species richness in native and alien species in these endangered ecosystems; and (c) to test for an interaction between spatial scale and native–alien richness patterns, as predicted by the invasion paradox. Location Global. Methods We collated a dataset of 14,841 vegetation plots in coastal sand dune ecosystems from around the world. Generalized Linear Models (GLMs) and Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMMs) were used to assess the patterns and main ecological determinants underlying native and alien species richness. Variation partitioning revealed the relative importance of environmental and anthropogenic variables. Results GLMs revealed strong differences among both habitats and floristic kingdoms in the number of native and alien species. Specifically, native species richness increased along the sea–inland gradient and was higher in the Cape and Paleotropical kingdoms. In contrast, alien species richness was relatively similar across habitats and kingdoms, though some differences were detected. There were strong differences between the drivers of native and alien richness; anthropogenic factors such as gross domestic product were positively associated with alien richness whereas native richness was more strongly related to environmental factors. Furthermore, we found a weak support for an invasion paradox effect. Conclusions Our results revealed the complexity of causal processes underpinning coastal sand dune plant biodiversity and highlight the importance of considering native and alien species separately. Recognizing these differences while researching variation in biodiversity patterns and processes at multiple spatial scales will lead to a better mechanistic understanding of the causes of invasion worldwide, and in coastal ecosystems in particular, allowing the development of more focused control and management measures.

Abstract: Increased demand for grass-fed beef raises many producers’ and consumers’ concerns regarding product quality, economic viability, and environmental impacts that have gone unanswered. Therefore, using a holistic approach, we investigated the performance, carcass quality, financial outcomes, and environmental impacts of four typical grass-fed and conventional beef systems raised in a Mediterranean climate in the western United States. The treatments included: 1) steers stocked on pasture and feedyard finished for 128 days (CON); 2) steers grass-fed for 20 months (GF20); 3) steers grass-fed for 20 months with a 45-day grain finish (GR45); and 4) steers grass-fed for 25 months (GF25). The data were analyzed using a mixed model procedure in R. Data from these beef production systems, a weaning-to-harvest life cycle assessment (LCA) using the SPARKS-LCA model framework, to determine global warming potential (GWP), consumable water usage, energy, smog, and land use footprints. Final body weight varied significantly between treatments (P & lt; 0.001) with CON finishing at 632 kg, followed by GF25 at 570 kg, GR45 at 551 kg, and GF20 478 kg. Dressing percentage differed significantly between all treatments (P & lt; 0.001) with CON at 61.8%, followed by GR45 at 57.5%, GF25 at 53.4%, and GF20 at 50.3%. Breakeven costs with harvesting and marketing for the CON, GF20, GR45, and GF25 were $6.01, $8.98, $8.02, and $8.33 per kg hot carcass weight (HCW), respectively. The GWP for the CON, GF20, GR45, and GF25 were 4.79, 6.74, 6.65 and 8.31 CO2e/kg HCW, respectively. Water consumptive use for CON, GF20, GR45, and GF25 were 933, 465, 678 and 1245 L /kg HCW, respectively. Energy use for CON, GF20, GR45, and GF25 were 18.69, 7.65, 13.84 and 8.85 MJ /kg HCW, respectively. The results from this study indicate that differences in grass-fed beef management can have profound impacts on food security and sustainability.

Abstract: The global population is continuing to grow at a rapid rate leading to increased need for meat and milk products. The pig industry will need to adapt and expand to meet this demand. Improving the productivity of the pig industry is therefore vital in ensuring sustainable growth in the future. The use of dietary additives is a means to improve this animal productivity, however, the most appropriate time to provide dietary additives to ensure maximum benefit with the lowest cost is an area that warrants further exploration. The early-life period is a vital time of physiological, transcriptional, and microbial changes that have a stark impact on lifetime productivity. This early lifetime point provides an opportunity to aid development and impart lifetime alterations and improve animal productivity and health. These changes can be applied by dietary and management interventions to the pig itself or to the dam. The dam is a key influence on the development of the progeny as the primary site of microbial inoculation and is therefore, an interesting target for dietary intervention. With increased legislative and environmental constraints through the ban on antibiotics and the phasing out of zinc-oxide in the EU, there is a need to identify viable natural alternatives to increase productivity particularly in the post weaning period. A wealth of chemodiversity exists in nature in plants and animals developing protective molecules to survive in varying complex biosystems. Our research has established the potential of feeding naturally sustainable bioactives to improve animal performance and health. This talk will explore the strategy of feeding these natural bioactives to the dam to improve lifetime performance of the progeny.