Stichtse Vecht en de vervolgbaarheid van overheden voor dodelijke ongelukken

Het arrest van de Hoge Raad in de zaak van de gemeente Stichtse Vecht lijkt te leiden tot een willekeurig onderscheid in vervolgbaarheid van openbare lichamen in de zin van artikel 7 Grondwet en feitelijk leidinggevers voor dodelijke ongelukken. De Hoge Raad vat die vervolgbaarheid ruim op in de zin dat een gemeente kan worden vervolgd voor een nalatigheid om een besluit te nemen wanneer derden dat besluit kunnen uitvoeren. Dat het nemen van het besluit onder een exclusieve bestuurstaak valt, is daarbij niet bepalend. De zaak van de gemeente Stichtse Vecht laat zien dat de verschillende nalatigheden moeilijk van elkaar te scheiden zijn en dat het daarom wenselijk is dat de overheid kan worden vervolgd voor de combinatie van nalatigheden die tot een dodelijk ongeval hebben geleid. De beperking van de mogelijkheid om een gemeente voor alle relevante nalatigheden te kunnen vervolgen, staat bovendien op gespannen voet met artikel 2 EVRM

Discordant detection of avian influenza virus subtypes in time and space between poultry and wild birds; towards improvement of surveillance programs

Avian influenza viruses from wild birds can cause outbreaks in poultry, and occasionally infect humans upon exposure to infected poultry. Identification and characterization of viral reservoirs and transmission routes is important to develop strategies that prevent infection of poultry, and subsequently virus transmission between poultry holdings and to humans. Based on spatial, temporal and phylogenetic analyses of data generated as part of intense and large-scale influenza surveillance programs in wild birds and poultry in the Netherlands from 2006 to 2011, we demonstrate that LPAIV subtype distribution differed between wild birds and poultry, suggestive of host-range restrictions. LPAIV isolated from Dutch poultry were genetically most closely related to LPAIV isolated from wild birds in the Netherlands or occasionally elsewhere in Western Europe. However, a relatively long time interval was observed between the isolations of related viruses from wild birds and poultry. Spatial analyses provided evidence for mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) being more abundant near primary infected poultry farms. Detailed year-round investigation of virus prevalence and wild bird species distribution and behavior near poultry farms should be used to improve risk assessment in relation to avian influenza virus introduction and retarget avian influenza surveillance programs

Benefits of protected areas for nonbreeding waterbirds adjusting their distributions under climate warming

Climate warming is driving changes in species distributions and community composition. Many species have a so-called climatic debt, that is, shifts in range lag behind shifts in temperature isoclines. Inside protected areas (PAs), community changes in response to climate warming can be facilitated by greater colonization rates by warm-dwelling species, but also mitigated by lowering extirpation rates of cold-dwelling species. An evaluation of the relative importance of colonization-extirpation processes is important to inform conservation strategies that aim for both climate debt reduction and species conservation. We assessed the colonization-extirpation dynamics involved in community changes in response to climate inside and outside PAs. To do so, we used 25 years of occurrence data of nonbreeding waterbirds in the western Palearctic (97 species, 7071 sites, 39 countries, 1993-2017). We used a community temperature index (CTI) framework based on species thermal affinities to investigate species turnover induced by temperature increase. We determined whether thermal community adjustment was associated with colonization by warm-dwelling species or extirpation of cold-dwelling species by modeling change in standard deviation of the CTI (CTISD). Using linear mixed-effects models, we investigated whether communities in PAs had lower climatic debt and different patterns of community change than communities outside PAs. For CTI and CTISD combined, communities inside PAs had more species, higher colonization, lower extirpation, and lower climatic debt (16%) than communities outside PAs. Thus, our results suggest that PAs facilitate 2 independent processes that shape community dynamics and maintain biodiversity. The community adjustment was, however, not sufficiently fast to keep pace with the large temperature increases in the central and northeastern western Palearctic. Our results underline the potential of combining CTI and CTISD metrics to improve understanding of the colonization-extirpation patterns driven by climate warming.Peer reviewe

Positive impacts of important bird and biodiversity areas on wintering waterbirds under changing temperatures throughout Europe and North Africa

Migratory waterbirds require an effectively conserved cohesive network of wetland areas throughout their range and life-cycle. Under rapid climate change, protected area (PA) networks need to be able to accommodate climate-driven range shifts in wildlife if they are to continue to be effective in the future. Thus, we investigated geographical variation in the relationship between local temperature anomaly and the abundance of 61 waterbird species during the wintering season across Europe and North Africa during 1990-2015. We also compared the spatio-temporal effects on abundance of sites designated as PAs, Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs), both, or neither designation (Unlisted). Waterbird abundance was positively correlated with temperature anomaly, with this pattern being strongest towards north and east Europe. Waterbird abundance was higher inside IBAs, whether they were legally protected or not. Trends in waterbird abundance were also consistently more positive inside both protected and unprotected IBAs across the whole study region, and were positive in Unlisted wetlands in southwestern Europe and North Africa. These results suggest that IBAs are important sites for wintering waterbirds, but also that populations are shifting to unprotected wetlands (some of which are IBAs). Such IBAs may therefore represent robust candidate sites to expand the network of legally protected wetlands under climate change in north-eastern Europe. These results underscore the need for monitoring to understand how the effectiveness of site networks is changing under climate change.Peer reviewe

Benefits of protected areas for nonbreeding waterbirds adjusting their distributions under climate warming

Climate warming is driving changes in species distributions and community composition. Many species have a so-called climatic debt, that is, shifts in range lag behind shifts in temperature isoclines. Inside protected areas (PAs), community changes in response to climate warming can be facilitated by greater colonization rates by warm-dwelling species, but also mitigated by lowering extirpation rates of cold-dwelling species. An evaluation of the relative importance of colonization-extirpation processes is important to inform conservation strategies that aim for both climate debt reduction and species conservation. We assessed the colonization-extirpation dynamics involved in community changes in response to climate inside and outside PAs. To do so, we used 25 years of occurrence data of nonbreeding waterbirds in the western Palearctic (97 species, 7071 sites, 39 countries, 1993-2017). We used a community temperature index (CTI) framework based on species thermal affinities to investigate species turnover induced by temperature increase. We determined whether thermal community adjustment was associated with colonization by warm-dwelling species or extirpation of cold-dwelling species by modeling change in standard deviation of the CTI (CTISD). Using linear mixed-effects models, we investigated whether communities in PAs had lower climatic debt and different patterns of community change than communities outside PAs. For CTI and CTISD combined, communities inside PAs had more species, higher colonization, lower extirpation, and lower climatic debt (16%) than communities outside PAs. Thus, our results suggest that PAs facilitate 2 independent processes that shape community dynamics and maintain biodiversity. The community adjustment was, however, not sufficiently fast to keep pace with the large temperature increases in the central and northeastern western Palearctic. Our results underline the potential of combining CTI and CTISD metrics to improve understanding of the colonization-extirpation patterns driven by climate warming

Flora en fauna op militaire heideterreinen

Resultaten van een inventarisatie van natuurwaarden op militaire oefenterreinen (o.a. Oldebroek en Harskamp op de Veluwe, en terreinen in Drenthe), en de effecten van kenmerkende beheersmaatregelen en activiteiten op deze terreinen (branden, vergraving, berijding, betreding). Door continuïteit in het beheer en door het veroorzaken van dynamiek in de terreinen als gevolg van het gebruik, heeft Defensie bijgedragen aan het behoud van het heidelandschap en de daarvoor karakteristieke soorte

Stichtse Vecht en de vervolgbaarheid van overheden voor dodelijke ongelukken

Het arrest van de Hoge Raad in de zaak van de gemeente Stichtse Vecht lijkt te leiden tot een willekeurig onderscheid in vervolgbaarheid van openbare lichamen in de zin van artikel 7 Grondwet en feitelijk leidinggevers voor dodelijke ongelukken. De Hoge Raad vat die vervolgbaarheid ruim op in de zin dat een gemeente kan worden vervolgd voor een nalatigheid om een besluit te nemen wanneer derden dat besluit kunnen uitvoeren. Dat het nemen van het besluit onder een exclusieve bestuurstaak valt, is daarbij niet bepalend. De zaak van de gemeente Stichtse Vecht laat zien dat de verschillende nalatigheden moeilijk van elkaar te scheiden zijn en dat het daarom wenselijk is dat de overheid kan worden vervolgd voor de combinatie van nalatigheden die tot een dodelijk ongeval hebben geleid. De beperking van de mogelijkheid om een gemeente voor alle relevante nalatigheden te kunnen vervolgen, staat bovendien op gespannen voet met artikel 2 EVRM