Handledarutbildning för skolsköterskor på nätet

University of Skövde is the only institute of higher education in Sweden providing School Nurse Study Programme. The programme comprises 40 credit points (60 ECTS points) and is given as a distance programme with IT support at the Swedish Net University. This training programme was given the first time during the autumn term 2003 and had 40 participating students from all over Sweden. When the Swedish Net University had a happening at Stockholm University 2003 a project Tutor on the Net: Ophthalmologic Nursing was presented. Based on this project we have developed and put together our project Tutor on the Net: School Nurses . The aim of the project was: to train school nurses in supervision to offer tutors/supervisors a common ground for working with students towards the mutual goal as well as to acquaint them with new pedagogic methods applicable to distance courses with IT support to start and deepen the communication and the dialogue between tutors/supervisors, between tutor/supervisor and student as well as between tutor/supervisor and teacher to create and deepen the network between tutors/supervisors Tutors/Supervisors for school nurse students gathered at University of Skövde during four days of training. The theme during these days was information about School Nurse Study Programme, assessment of student s vocational training practice, loyalty in supervision, introduction to First Class, building network and methods in counselling. A joint seminar with the students took place, too. The evaluation showed that the tutors/supervisors found building network both positive and a proper forum for exchanging thoughts. To contact teachers and students through First Class was found exciting. Unfortunately, due to lack of time, the website did not get the space that was calculated from the beginning. According to this evaluation tutors/supervisors look forward in supervising school nurse students as well as in having the opportunity for exchanging knowledge

Indikatoren für die Vitalität von Lumbricus terrestris Populationen – Eine Anwendung von Partial Least Squares Pfadmodellen (PLS-PM) zur Analyse komplexer Zusammenhänge

Information on biodiversity and related population parameters are of key importance for assessing ecosystem services or impacts of management decisions in agriculture. However information on this parameters is often not directly measurable. Indicators are a convenient way to gain information on these variables. Here we present Partial Least Squares Path Modeling (PLS-PM) to develop and evaluate complex indicators for biodiversity and related parameters. As an example we use data on Lumbricus terrestris from 76 plots on Bavarian mixed farms to create complex indicators for population viability, management intensity and site potential and model their causal relations

Betriebliche Bewirtschaftungsindikatoren für Biodiversität im Ökologischen Landbau und in extensiven Anbausystemen in Europa

Farming practices are the key to maintaining and restoring farmland biodiversity. Selected farm management indicators, regarded as scientifically sound, practicable and attractive to stakeholders, were tested against species indicators in various farm types in 12 case studies across Europe. A set of eight farm management indicators is recommended, reflecting the pressure on biodiversity by farm management via energy and nutrient input, mechanical operations, pesticide use and livestock

Indikatoren zur Erfassung genetischer Vielfalt in biologischen und nicht-biologischen Landwirtschaftssystemen

Genetic variability is the fundament of life. Large genetic variability within species is the basis for adaptation to changing environmental conditions. Farmers and breeders have developed a multitude of crop cultivars and animal breeds to stabilize and increase quality and productivity. This study evaluated genetic diversity within different organic and non-organic farming systems using crop-cultivar and livestock-breed information as simple indicators. Data was collected using on-farm surveys in 15 case study regions in Europe and beyond. Selected indicators revealed strong differences of cultivar diversity between different countries and farming systems across Europe. No or only small differences were detectable between organic and non-organic farming systems. Landraces, as on-farm genetic resources, were under-represented in European case study regions

Strikingly high effects of geographic location on fauna and flora of European agricultural grasslands

International audienceWild bees, spiders, earthworms and plants contribute considerably to biodiversity in grasslands and fulfil vital ecological functions. They also provide valuable services to agriculture, such as pollination, pest control and maintenance of soil quality. We investigated the responses of wild bees, spiders, earthworms and plants to geographic location, agricultural management and surrounding landscape variables using a dataset of grassland fields within 88 farms in six European regions. Regions and taxonomic groups were selected to have contrasting properties, in order to capture the multiple facets of European grasslands. Geographic location alone had a dominant effect on the fauna and flora communities. Depending on the taxonomic group, various agricultural management and surrounding landscape variables alone had an additional significant effect on observed species richness, rarefied species richness and/or abundance, but it was always small. Bee species richness and abundance decreased with increasing number of mechanical operations (e.g. cutting). Observed spider species richness and abundance were unrelated to measured aspects of agricultural management or to surrounding landscape variables, whereas rarefied species richness showed significant relations to nitrogen input, habitat diversity and amount of grassland habitats in the surroundings. Earthworm abundance increased with increasing nitrogen input but earthworm species richness did not. Observed plant species richness decreased with increasing nitrogen input and increased when there were woody habitats in the surroundings. Rarefied plant species richness decreased with mechanical operations. Investigating multiple regions, taxonomic groups and aspects of fauna and flora communities allowed identifying the main factors structuring communities, which is necessary for designing appropriate conservation measures and ensuring continued supply of services

BIOBIO – Indikatoren für Biodiversität in ökologischen und ex-tensiven Anbausystemen

Organic and low-input farming systems provide habitats for wildlife on farmland. The EU FP7 project BIOBIO has identified a core set of 23 indicators relating to the diversity of habitats, of species, of crops and of livestock. Management indicators capturing the pressure on biodiversity are also proposed. The indicators were identified in an iterative process between scientists and stake-holders to make sure that they are not only scientifically sound but also practicable and attractive. They were tested in 12 case study regions on four major farm types. Allocating 0.25 % of the CAP budget to a farm scale biodiversity monitoring would allow to measure and analyse the indicators on 50,000 farms across Europe

Artenvielfalt auf biologischen und nicht-biologischen Landwirtschaftsbetrieben in zehn europäischen Regionen

One of the aims of organic farming is the protection of biodiversity. In the EU FP7 project BioBio, we studied the effect of organic farming on species numbers at farm level on 169 randomly selected organic and non-organic farms with mostly low to medium intensity in ten European regions. Using a preferential sampling scheme based on habitat mapping, numbers of plants, earthworms, spiders and bees were assessed at farm level. A global analysis across the ten regions shows that organic farms have significantly higher numbers of plant and bee species than non-organic farms. The effect of organic farming on earthworm and spider species numbers are also positive but insignificant. The effects in absolute terms are small and much smaller than the variation between individual farms. Currently ongoing analyses aim at identifying the important driving factors for farmland biodiversity

How much would it cost to monitor farmland biodiversity in Europe?

International audienceTo evaluate progress on political biodiversity objectives, biodiversity monitoring provides information on whether intended results are being achieved. Despite scientific proof that monitoring and evaluation increase the (cost) efficiency of policy measures, cost estimates for monitoring schemes are seldom available, hampering their inclusion in policy programme budgets. Empirical data collected from 12 case studies across Europe were used in a power analysis to estimate the number of farms that would need to be sampled per major farm type to detect changes in species richness over time for four taxa (vascular plants, earthworms, spiders and bees). A sampling design was developed to allocate spatially, across Europe, the farms that should be sampled. Cost estimates are provided for nine monitoring scenarios with differing robustness for detecting temporal changes in species numbers. These cost estimates are compared with the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget (2014-2020) to determine the budgetallocation required for the proposed farmland biodiversity monitoring. Results show that the bee indicator requires the highest number of farms to be sampled and the vascular plant indicator the lowest. The costs for the nine farmland biodiversity monitoring scenarios corresponded to 001%-074% of the total CAP budget and to 004%-248% of the CAP budget specifically allocated to environmental targets.Synthesis and applications. The results of the cost scenarios demonstrate that, based on the taxa and methods used in this study, a Europe-wide farmland biodiversity monitoring scheme would require a modest share of the Common Agricultural Policy budget. The monitoring scenarios are flexible and can be adapted or complemented with alternate data collection options (e.g. at national scale or voluntary efforts), data mobilization, data integration or modelling efforts. Editor's Choic

Gains to species diversity in organically farmed fields are not propagated at the farm level

Organic farming is promoted to reduce environmental impacts of agriculture, but surprisingly little is known about its effects at the farm level, the primary unit of decision making. Here we report the effects of organic farming on species diversity at the field, farm and regional levels by sampling plants, earthworms, spiders and bees in 1470 fields of 205 randomly selected organic and nonorganic farms in twelve European and African regions. Species richness is, on average, 10.5% higher in organic than nonorganic production fields, with highest gains in intensive arable fields (around +45%). Gains to species richness are partly caused by higher organism abundance and are common in plants and bees but intermittent in earthworms and spiders. Average gains are marginal +4.6% at the farm and +3.1% at the regional level, even in intensive arable regions. Additional, targeted measures are therefore needed to fulfil the commitment of organic farming to benefit farmland biodiversity

Farmland biodiversity and agricultural management on 237 farms in 13 European and two African regions

Farmland is a major land cover type in Europe and Africa and provides habitat for numerous species. The severe decline in farmland biodiversity of the last decades has been attributed to changes in farming practices, and organic and low-input farming are assumed to mitigate detrimental effects of agricultural intensification on biodiversity. Since the farm enterprise is the primary unit of agricultural decision making, management-related effects at the field scale need to be assessed at the farm level. Therefore, in this study, data were collected on habitat characteristics, vascular plant, earthworm, spider, and bee communities and on the corresponding agricultural management in 237 farms in 13 European and two African regions. In 15 environmental and agricultural homogeneous regions, 6–20 farms with the same farm type (e.g., arable crops, grassland, or specific permanent crops) were selected. If available, an equal number of organic and non-organic farms were randomly selected. Alternatively, farms were sampled along a gradient of management intensity. For all selected farms, the entire farmed area was mapped, which resulted in total in the mapping of 11 338 units attributed to 194 standardized habitat types, provided together with additional descriptors. On each farm, one site per available habitat type was randomly selected for species diversity investigations. Species were sampled on 2115 sites and identified to the species level by expert taxonomists. Species lists and abundance estimates are provided for each site and sampling date (one date for plants and earthworms, three dates for spiders and bees). In addition, farmers provided information about their management practices in face-to-face interviews following a standardized questionnaire. Farm management indicators for each farm are available (e.g., nitrogen input, pesticide applications, or energy input). Analyses revealed a positive effect of unproductive areas and a negative effect of intensive management on biodiversity. Communities of the four taxonomic groups strongly differed in their response to habitat characteristics, agricultural management, and regional circumstances. The data has potential for further insights into interactions of farmland biodiversity and agricultural management at site, farm, and regional scale