Agaricus bisporus is a rich source of biologically active compounds with functional properties that have a positive effect on human health. White and brown A. bisporus mushrooms were grown both organically and conventionally. This study aimed to analyze chemical composition of the mushrooms, their electrochemical properties, and the composition of volatile compounds. The relationships between cultivation practices and the basic chemical composition, electrochemical properties, and aroma compounds of A. bisporus were examined. The results reveal that ecologically grown mushrooms accumulated higher amounts of ascorbic acid while conventionally grown mushrooms accumulated more crude protein and zinc. More substantial amounts of dry matter, crude protein, and crude ash were found in the brown mushrooms. The white mushrooms had a higher content of ascorbic acid, crude fat, and dietary fiber. Ten volatile compounds were tentatively identified in analyzed mushrooms, including five aldehydes, two esters, two alcohols, and one terpene. Conventionally grown mushrooms had a higher pH value, but eco mushrooms had significantly lower redox potential. White mushrooms had lower p-values than brown mushrooms. Eco mushrooms could not be distinguished by their qualitative characteristics. The chemical composition of white and brown mushrooms was somewhat different, and only the electrochemical properties of mushrooms differed significantly.

Twenty-six water bodies and 10 ponds were selected for this research. Anthropogenic loads were assessed according to pollution sources in individual water catchment basins. It was determined that 50% of the tested water bodies had Ntotal values that did not correspond to the good and very good ecological status classes, and 20% of the tested water bodies had Ptotal values that did not correspond to the good and very good ecological status classes. The lake basins and ponds received the largest amounts of pollution from agricultural sources with total nitrogen at 1554.13 t/year and phosphorus at 1.94 t/year, and from meadows and pastures with total nitrogen at 9.50 t/year and phosphorus at 0.20 t/year. The highest annual load of total nitrogen for lake basins on average per year was from agricultural pollution from arable land (98.85%), and the highest total phosphorus load was also from agricultural pollution from arable land (60%).

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Landscape naturalness is an important indicator for supporting sustainable development-driven policies and suggesting associated decisions in land management. This study used CORINE Land Cover data to estimate the changes in land cover naturalness in Lithuania since 1995. All the land cover types were ranked according to naturalness level, ranging from purely anthropogenic to natural landscapes. Spatial patterns of the increase or decline in landscape naturalness were investigated at the level of municipalities. Then, publicly available geographic data were mobilised to explain the reasons behind the trends observed. A minor increase in land cover naturalness in the whole area of Lithuania was observed; however, this increase was statistically insignificant. Nevertheless, statistically significant clusters with both increasing and decreasing levels of land cover naturalness were identified when moving to the level of municipalities. The trends in the development of landscape naturalness were associated with the specificity of agricultural and forestry activities in the municipalities. The suitability of lands for agriculture due to soil, terrain, current land use specifics, and related drivers, such as the availability of land reclamation installations and the intensity of land use, were the main drivers for the declining level of land cover naturalness, usually concentrated in northern and central Lithuania. The land cover naturalness did increase in less suitable areas for agriculture, i.e., in the more forested southeastern municipalities. The study emphasised the need for a systematic and spatially explicit monitoring of the land cover patterns and their changes as well as elaborated proposals for land management policies over the next decade, which were mostly in the line with current European Union and national strategies.

Many countries of the world, including Lithuania, are making an effort to reduce surface water pollution. State monitoring data show that almost 80% of the lakes in Lithuania have an increased amount of sludge. One of the reasons for this increase in sludge is an excessive amount of biogenic material in the water. It is known that even after the source of pollution is removed, the condition of the lake water does not improve; rather, the condition of the lake water worsens due to the secondary pollution of sludge in the water. A study was conducted to determine the impact of secondary sludge pollution on water. For this study, 5 sludge samples were taken from different lakes in Lithuania. Fresh water was poured on the sludge samples, the concentrations of Nt, NO2-N, NO3-N, NH4-N, PO4-P, Pt, the pH and the changes in the electric conductivity (C) were measured in the water within 28 h. Research has shown that the thickness of the sludge layer influences the total amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic matter present in the sludge. As the thickness of the sludge layer increases in a lake, the total concentrations of nitrogen, total phosphorus and organic matter increase. Studies have also shown that the concentrations of all biogenic substances in water increase, with the exception of total phosphorus. This finding shows that organic phosphorus is "locked" in sludge, and no secondary pollution occurs from this source. Moreover, the electrical conductivity values of the water influence the release of biogenic substances from sludge in the water.

The larger and deeper lakes and ponds are, the better the conditions for spontaneous water purification, slower hydrobiological processes and slower accumulation of sediment. The goal of this research was to assess the ecological status of selected Lithuanian lentic water bodies and the impact of morphometric indicators on water quality. Multiple studies were conducted on 29 lakes and 10 ponds located throughout Lithuania in 2014–2018. The study proved that higher maxima and average depths of lakes correlate with lower Ptotal, Ntotal yield and macrophyte taxonomic composition values, indicating higher ecological status class. Higher chlorophyll a EQR, ichthyofauna taxonomic composition indicator for Lithuanian fish index LFI and Lithuanian lakes’ macroinvertebrate index indicates a higher ecological class. Larger lake areas contain smaller amounts of Ptotal and Ntotal, indicating better ecological status class; higher ichthyophane taxonomic composition in LFI, zoobenthos taxonomic composition indicator for Lithuanian lakes’ macroinvertebrates index (LLMI) and taxonomic composition of macrophytes MRI indicate better ecological status class. Larger lake areas contain lower chlorophyll a EQR values. Rapid water exchange improves the condition of the lake in addition to nitrogen, phosphorus and chlorophyll a EQR values. The faster the water exchange in the lake is, the lower the Ptotal and Ntotal values; faster water exchange in the lake also means higher chlorophyll a EQR values. However, slower water exchange indicates better ecological status of the macrophytic taxonomic composition of the MRI, the ichthyofauna taxonomic composition and the Lithuanian lakes’ macroinvertebrates index indicator of zoobenthos.

This paper discusses the potential of visible and near-infrared hyperspectral imaging to describe properties of conventionally and organically grown carrots. 140 samples of four Lithuanian carrot cultivars were scanned using a VNIR400H hyperspectral camera, capable of covering the spectral range of 400-1000 nm with a sampling interval of 0.6 nm. Half of the samples were grown under organic farming conditions and the remainder under conventional conditions. Chemical and electro-chemical properties, i.e. nitrate content, acidity, reduction potential and electrical conductivity, were determined for the carrot root samples using conventional methods of chemical investigations. The ability to separate organically and conventionally grown samples on the basis of spectral data was examined by applying estimations of Jeffries-Matusita distances and linear discriminant analysis. Opportunities to predict the chemical and electro-chemical properties of samples applying the partial least squares regression and the spectral data as predictors were also investigated. The overall classification accuracy of samples of organically and conventionally grown carrot cultivars when applying linear discriminant analysis was in the range of 94.4-100% and the Jeffries-Matusita distances were in the range of 1.98-2.00. There was good prediction potential using the partial least squares regression for electrical conductivity (R 2 = 0.88) and reduction potential (R 2 = 0.81), better than moderate for nitrate content (R 2 = 0.77) and moderate for acidity (R 2 = 0.68) using hyperspectral reflectance data of carrot captured under laboratory conditions. Both the separation ability and prediction potential were higher if taking into account the cultivar.

Lithuanian surface water bodies are negatively affected by diffuse pollution from agricultural activity and point source pollution, which results in an urgent problem -pollution with biogenic materials. A major part of point source pollution reaches surface water bodies together with domestic wastewater from Lithuanian towns and cities. The article analyses the impact of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) on water quality of the River Mažoji Sruoja, Plungė district. Essential differences at 100 m distance above the wastewater discharger and 500 m below the wastewater discharger according to total phosphorus, total nitrogen and ammonia nitrogen were established in the water of the River Mažoji Sruoja. Plungė City wastewater has an impact on the water quality of the River Mažoji Sruoja. A statistically significant positive correlation (p < 0.05) was identified between treated wastewater and concentration indices of the tested river water quality below the discharger of Environmental Research, Engineering and Management 2017/73/3 the wastewater treatment plant. Water quality of the River Mažoji Sruoja changed in different seasons of the year. A change in nitrogen compound content mostly reflected seasonal changes in the River Mažoji Sruoja. Major concentration of the materials was established during the cold period and minor during the warm period. Maximum BOD 7 values were determined in summer and minimum in winter. The total phosphorus seasonal fluctuation was insignificant.