Analyse méthodologique des dommages attribués aux vautours fauves dans les troupeaux pyrénéens

Le vautour fauve est un oiseau charognard qui vit en colonies dans plusieurs vallées des Pyrénées-Atlantiques et des Hautes-Pyrénées. Depuis une dizaine d'années, des témoignages ont relaté l'attaque de vautours fauves sur du bétail vivant. Le Parc National des Pyrénées a donc décidé de la rédaction de constats à la suite des plaintes déposées par les éleveurs. Dans ce travail, une analyse des constats réalisés de 2001 à 2007 est présentée. Elle a pour but de préciser le rôle des vautours fauves dans ces dommages, mais aussi d'évaluer la qualité des constats effectués. La qualité des constats s'est améliorée au cours du temps ; elle reste cependant insuffisante car il est impossible de conclure pour un grand nombre de cas. C'est pourquoi, après avoir présenté la démarche qui a été adoptée, des modifications du constat sont proposées ainsi qu'un guide méthodologique pour aider à sa rédaction. La poursuite des enquêtes permettra d'étudier l'évolution comportementale du vautour fauve

Soil microbial biodiversity promotes crop productivity and agro-ecosystem functioning in experimental microcosms

Soil biota contribute substantially to multiple ecosystem functions that are key for geochemical cycles and plant performance. However, soil biodiversity is currently threatened by land-use intensification, and a mechanistic understanding of how soil biodiversity loss interacts with the myriad of intensification elements (e.g., the application of chemical fertilizers) is still unresolved. Here we experimentally simplified soil biological communities in microcosms to test whether changes in the soil microbiome influenced soil multifunctionality including crop productivity (leek, Allium porrum). Additionally, half of microcosms were fertilized to further explore how different levels of soil biodiversity interact with nutrient additions. Our experimental manipulation achieved a significant reduction of soil alpha-diversity (45.9 % reduction in bacterial richness, 82.9 % reduction in eukaryote richness) and resulted in the complete removal of key taxa (i.e., arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi). Soil community simplification led to an overall decrease in ecosystem multifunctionality; particularly, plant productivity and soil nutrient retention capacity were reduced with reduced levels of soil biodiversity. Ecosystem multifunctionality was positively correlated with soil biodiversity (R = 0.79). Mineral fertilizer application had little effect on multifunctionality compared to soil biodiversity reduction, but it reduced leek nitrogen uptake from decomposing litter by 38.8 %. This suggests that natural processes and organic nitrogen acquisition are impaired by fertilization. Random forest analyses revealed a few members of protists (i.e., Paraflabellula), Actinobacteria (i.e., Micolunatus), and Firmicutes (i.e., Bacillus) as indicators of ecosystem multifunctionality. Our results suggest that preserving the diversity of soil bacterial and eukaryotic communities within agroecosystems is crucial to ensure the provisioning of multiple ecosystem functions, particularly those directly related to essential ecosystem services such as food provision

Interaction effects of pH and land cover on soil microbial diversity are climate-dependent

Factors regulating the diversity and composition of soil microbial communities include soil properties, land cover and climate. How these factors interact at large scale remains poorly investigated. Here, we used an extensive dataset including 715 locations from 24 European countries to investigate the interactive effects of climatic region, land cover and pH on soil bacteria and fungi. We found that differences in microbial diversity and community composition between land cover types depended on the climatic region. In Atlantic, Boreal and Continental regions, microbial richness was higher in croplands and grasslands than woodlands while richness in Mediterranean areas did not vary significantly among land cover types. These differences were further related to soil pH, as a driver of bacterial and fungal richness in most climatic regions, but the interaction of pH with land cover depended on the region. Microbial community composition differed the most between croplands and woodlands in all regions, mainly due to differences in pH. In the Mediterranean region, bacterial communities in woodlands and grasslands were the most similar, whereas in other regions, grassland and cropland-associated bacteria showed more similarity. Overall, we showed that key factors interact in shaping soil microbial communities in a climate-dependent way at large scale

Patterns in soil microbial diversity across Europe.

Factors driving microbial community composition and diversity are well established but the relationship with microbial functioning is poorly understood, especially at large scales. We analysed microbial biodiversity metrics and distribution of potential functional groups along a gradient of increasing land-use perturbation, detecting over 79,000 bacterial and 25,000 fungal OTUs in 715 sites across 24 European countries. We found the lowest bacterial and fungal diversity in less-disturbed environments (woodlands) compared to grasslands and highly-disturbed environments (croplands). Highly-disturbed environments contain significantly more bacterial chemoheterotrophs, harbour a higher proportion of fungal plant pathogens and saprotrophs, and have less beneficial fungal plant symbionts compared to woodlands and extensively-managed grasslands. Spatial patterns of microbial communities and predicted functions are best explained when interactions among the major determinants (vegetation cover, climate, soil properties) are considered. We propose guidelines for environmental policy actions and argue that taxonomical and functional diversity should be considered simultaneously for monitoring purposes

EU Soil Observatory 2021

The scope of this document is to provide a synthesis of the achievements of the EU Soil Observatory (EUSO) during its first year of existence. The EUSO aims to become the principal provider of reference data and knowledge at EU-level for all matters relating to soil. The EUSO will be a dynamic and inclusive platform that supports EU soil-related policymaking by providing its stakeholder base with the knowledge and data flows needed to safeguard and restore soils. Since its launch on December 4th 2020, most efforts have focused on defining and developing concepts associated with the main tasks of the Observatory (monitoring, dashboard, support to R&I, citizen engagement). Efforts have also been made to consolidate and enhance the capacity and functionality of the European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC), which is at the heart of the Observatory. Major developments for 2021 included the establishment of an interservice Steering Committee (chaired by the Director of JRC Sustainable Resources Directorate), the support to the EU Mission “A Soil Deal for Europe", the development of the knowledge base on soil through research at the JRC, and the organisation of the 1st EUSO Stakeholder Forum. The EUSO Stakeholder Forum was attended by over 1 000 participants over a three-day period in October 2021. In this sense, it succeeded in bringing a EUSO community together and in establishing a two-way dialogue with its user base. A summary of the event is presented in this report. EUSO activities will intensify in 2022.JRC.D.3 - Land Resource

EUSO Annual Bulletin

This report presents the activities of the EU Soil Observatory (EUSO) that took place during 2022. Through its five main objectives, the EUSO contributes to improving the monitoring of soils, to creating and sharing knowledge and data about EU soils, in particular producing tailored outputs in support of policy development and to the wider public. These activities feed into the overarching knowledge management objective under which the EUSO provided extensive policy support to a range of policy areas, notably the upcoming Soil Health Law and the Horizon Europe’s Soil Mission. A key element of the EU Soil Observatory are the six EUSO Working Groups (WG) that aim to discuss policy or technical advances on a particular topic. Their activities in 2022 were diverse and ranged from providing policy support (Soil Monitoring, Soil Pollution WGs), technical progress on integration of soil data (Soil Data WG) or advancing scientific knowledge about soils (Soil Erosion WG). This report also highlights the developments to be expected in 2023. In particular, the EUSO will produce reports on soil pollution, soil organic carbon trends, pesticides in soils, land degradation and a soil fertility index and work on the state of soil health in the EU. A key development will be the publication of the EUSO soil health dashboard. The EUSO will support dedicated Soil Mission research projects and will continue to provide support for the upcoming Soil Health Law proposal. The EUSO is also planning a 2023 EU Soil Week.JRC.D.3 - Land Resources and Supply Chain Assessment

CD27 distinguishes two phases in bone marrow infiltration of splenic marginal zone lymphoma

Aims: To investigate CD27 expression in splenic marginal zone lymphoma (SMZL), an indolent low-grade B-cell lymphoma with constant involvement of the bone marrow, especially with an intrasinusoidal pattern. It is not clear if the neoplastic clone is composed of virgin or somatically mutated B cells. CD27 is reported to be a hallmark of memory B cells. Methods and results: We evaluated 64 bone marrow biopsy specimens (BMBs) from 36 patients with SMZL for the expression of CD27. For comparison, splenectomy specimens of patients with traumatic splenic rupture or with SMZL were used. All BMBs showed lymphomatous infiltration. When located in the marrow sinusoids, neoplastic cells were CD27- in all cases and therefore corresponded to naive B cells. In nodular/interstitial infiltration, the cells were CD27+ and therefore corresponded to memory B cells. No difference in immunohistochemical expression of B and T antibodies was found between intrasinusoidal and interstitial/nodular infiltration. CD27 was constantly expressed in the splenic marginal zone of normal spleen, surgically removed for trauma, and in seven out of 10 spleens with SMZL. Conclusion: We propose the existence of two different phases of neoplastic progression with, first, expansion of a virgin B clone in the bone marrow and, following exposure to antigen, a re-colonization of the bone marrow

EUSO annual bulletin 2023

Healthy soils are essential for achieving climate neutrality and providing healthy food. The publication of the EU Soil Strategy for 2030 and the proposed Soil Monitoring Law marked a major milestone for soil protection in the EU. It also highlighted the importance of the EU Soil Observatory (EUSO) as the principal provider of soil-related data and knowledge at EU-level. The present report highlights the main activities of the EUSO in 2023. Through its activities in 2023, the EUSO provided policy support to a wide range of policy areas, including the proposed Soil Monitoring Law. The EUSO also launched the EU Soil Health Dashboard, a comprehensive and easy understandable monitor of the state of soil health in the EU. Furthermore, in 2023, the EUSO contributed to sharing data and knowledge about EU soils, supported soil research and innovation, and supported citizen engagements regarding soil matters. The activities of the Working Groups in 2023, a key element of the EUSO, included providing policy support, advancing scientific knowledge, and stimulating the integration of data. The present report also summarizes the EUSO’s activities planned in 2024. The EUSO will continue to provide policy support, e.g. on soil health assessment and soil monitoring. The EUSO Soil Health Dashboard will be updated with new available data and functionalities. In addition, the EUSO will continue to collaborate with Mission Soil research and innovation projects and continue to raise soil awareness among citizens.JRC.D.3 - Land Resources and Supply Chain Assessment

Soil health is associated with higher primary productivity across Europe

12 páginas.- 4 figuras.- 77 referencias.- The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02511-8Soil health is expected to be of key importance for plant growth and ecosystem functioning. However, whether soil health is linked to primary productivity across environmental gradients and land-use types remains poorly understood. To address this gap, we conducted a pan-European field study including 588 sites from 27 countries to investigate the link between soil health and primary productivity across three major land-use types: woodlands, grasslands and croplands. We found that mean soil health (a composite index based on soil properties, biodiversity and plant disease control) in woodlands was 31.4% higher than in grasslands and 76.1% higher than in croplands. Soil health was positively linked to cropland and grassland productivity at the continental scale, whereas climate best explained woodland productivity. Among microbial diversity indicators, we observed a positive association between the richness of Acidobacteria, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria and primary productivity. Among microbial functional groups, we found that primary productivity in croplands and grasslands was positively related to nitrogen-fixing bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi and negatively related to plant pathogens. Together, our results point to the importance of soil biodiversity and soil health for maintaining primary productivity across contrasting land-use types.M.G.A.v.d.H. and F.R. acknowledge funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation through grant no. 310030-188799 and from the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 862695 EJP SOIL-MINOTAUR. We also acknowledge J. Muñoz-Liesa for support with figure production. N.E. acknowledges funding by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG (German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, FZT118; and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, Ei 862/29-1; Ei 862/31-1). M.D.-B. acknowledges support from TED2021-130908B-C41/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/NextGenerationEU/PRTR and from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for the I + D + i project PID2020-115813RA-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. The LUCAS survey is coordinated by Unit E4 of the Statistical Office of the European Union (EUROSTAT). The LUCAS soil sample collection is supported by the Directorate‐General Environment, Directorate‐General Agriculture and Rural Development and Directorate‐General Climate Action of the European Commission. M.L. works under the framework of the Collaborative Doctoral Partnership agreement no. 35594 between the European Commission Joint Research Centre and University of Zürich.Peer reviewe