Forest Focus Monitoring Database System - Technical Report 2005 Level II Data

Forest Focus (Regulation (EC) No 2152/2003) is a Community scheme for harmonized, broad-based, comprehensive and long-term monitoring of European forest ecosystems. Under this scheme the monitoring of air pollution effects on forests is carried out by participating countries on the basis of the systematic network of observation points (Level I) and of the network of observation plots for intensive and continuous monitoring (Level II). According to Article 15(1) of the Forest Focus Regulation Member States shall annually, through the designated authorities and agencies, forward to the Commission geo-referenced data gathered under the scheme, together with a report on them by means of computer telecommunications and/or electronic technology. For managing the data JRC has implemented a Forest Focus Monitoring Database System. This Technical Report presents the results obtained from all processing stages (data reception, validation checks ¿ compliance, conformity, uniformity) for submitted data referring to the monitoring year 2005. This report presents the results at the end of the processing phase after data have been re-submitted in 2007. It presents in addition a brief comment on the data status for each NFC, for the reporting year, with respect to the parameter assessed and including analyses of spatial variability of data and temporal trends of parameters.JRC.DDG.H.7-Land management and natural hazard

Forest Focus Monitoring Database System - Technical Report 2001 Level II Data

Forest Focus (Regulation (EC) No 2152/2003 ) is a Community scheme for harmonised, broad-based, comprehensive and long-term monitoring of European forest ecosystems. It concentrates in particular on protecting forests against air pollution and fire. To supplement the monitoring system, Forest Focus stipulates the development of new instruments relating to soil monitoring, carbon sequestration, biodiversity, climate change and protective functions of forests. Under this scheme the monitoring of air pollution effects on forests is carried out by participating countries on the basis of the systematic network of observation points (Level I) and of the network of observation plots for intensive and continuous monitoring (Level II). The monitoring activity continues from the network and plots established and implemented under Council Regulation (EEC) No 3528/86 .and Regulations (EEC) No 1696/87 and (EC) No 1091/94 . The monitoring programme of air pollution effects is linked to International Cooperative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forest (ICP Forests). ICP Forests reports to the working Group on Effects of the Convention of the Long-Range Trans-boundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN-ECE). Forest Focus Article 15(1) stipulates that the Member States shall annually, through the designated authorities and agencies, forward to the Commission geo-referenced data gathered under the scheme, together with a report on them by means of computer telecommunications and/or electronic technology. For managing the data DG JRC has implemented a Forest Focus Monitoring Database System. The system was developed and realized under contract by a Consortium, coordinated by I-MAGE Consult with Nouvelles Solutions Informatiques s.a. (NSI) as consortium partner and the Bundesforschungsanstalt für Forst- und Holzwirtschaft (BFH) as sub-contractor. The designated authorities and agencies submitted annually to DG Joint Research Centre of the European Commission their observations made on the network of observation plots for intensive and continuous monitoring (Level II). Data are submitted via a Web-Module specifically designed for the task as part of the Forest Focus Monitoring Database System.JRC.DDG.H.7-Land management and natural hazard

Forest Focus Monitoring Database System - Executive Summary Report 2005 Level II Data

Forest Focus (Regulation (EC) No 2152/2003) is a Community scheme for harmonized, broad-based, comprehensive and long-term monitoring of European forest ecosystems. Under this scheme the monitoring of air pollution effects on forests is carried out by participating countries on the basis of the systematic network of observation points (Level I) and of the network of observation plots for intensive and continuous monitoring (Level II). According to Article 15(1) of the Forest Focus Regulation Member States shall annually, through the designated authorities and agencies, forward to the Commission geo-referenced data gathered under the scheme, together with a report on them by means of computer telecommunications and/or electronic technology. For managing the data JRC has implemented a Forest Focus Monitoring Database System. This Executive Report presents the results obtained from all processing stages (data reception, validation checks ¿ compliance, conformity, uniformity) for submitted data referring to the monitoring year 2005. This report presents the results at the end of the processing phase after data have been re-submitted in 2006 and 2007. It presents in addition a brief comment on the data status for each NFC, for the reporting year, with respect to the parameter assessed and including analyses of spatial variability of data and temporal trends of parameters.JRC.H.7-Land management and natural hazard

Forest Focus Monitoring Database System - Executive Summary Report 2003 Level II Data

This Executive Report presents the results obtained from all processing stages (data reception, validation checks ¿ compliance, conformity, uniformity) for submitted data referring to the monitoring year 2003. This report presents the results at the end of the processing phase after data have been re-submitted in 2007. It presents in addition a brief comment on the data status for each NFC, for the reporting year, with respect to the parameter assessed and including analyses of spatial variability of data and temporal trends of parameters.JRC.H.7-Land management and natural hazard

Forest Focus Monitoring Database System - Technical Report 2003 Level II Data

Forest Focus (Regulation (EC) No 2152/2003) is a Community scheme for harmonized, broad-based, comprehensive and long-term monitoring of European forest ecosystems. Under this scheme the monitoring of air pollution effects on forests is carried out by participating countries on the basis of the systematic network of observation points (Level I) and of the network of observation plots for intensive and continuous monitoring (Level II). According to Article 15(1) of the Forest Focus Regulation Member States shall annually, through the designated authorities and agencies, forward to the Commission geo-referenced data gathered under the scheme, together with a report on them by means of computer telecommunications and/or electronic technology. For managing the data JRC has implemented a Forest Focus Monitoring Database System. This Technical Report presents the results obtained from all processing stages (data reception, validation checks ¿ compliance, conformity, uniformity) for submitted data referring to the monitoring year 2003. This report presents the results at the end of the processing phase after data have been re-submitted in 2007. It presents in addition a brief comment on the data status for each NFC, for the reporting year, with respect to the parameter assessed and including analyses of spatial variability of data and temporal trends of parameters.JRC.H.7-Land management and natural hazard

Use of National Forest Inventories to Downscale European Forest Diversity Spatial Information in Five Test Areas, Covering Different Geo-Physical and Geo-Botanical Conditions

The project ¿Use of National Forest Inventories to downscale European forest diversity spatial information in five test areas, covering different geo-physical and geo-botanical conditions¿, referred also as ¿forest downscaling¿ (JRC contract 382340 F1SC) covers one of the seven topics that have been studied in the frame of the Regulation (EC) 2152/2003 on the monitoring of forest and environmental interactions, the so-called "Forest Focus" Regulation. This study was conducted by a European consortium coordinated by the Italian Academy of Forest Sciences (Italy) and included partners from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, the Institute of Forest Ecosystem Research of the Czech Republic, the German Federal Research Centre for Forestry and Forest Products, and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research. The overall supervision of the project and the processing of forest spatial pattern were done by the Joint Research Centre. This study addressed the link between field based forest biological diversity data and landscape-level forest pattern information. The former were made available from National Forest Inventories (NFIs) at plot level in five different countries; their harmonisation was implemented for the first time and benefited from outcomes of the COST Action-E43 on core biodiversity variables. For the latter, landscape level forest spatial pattern maps were automatically derived from available remote sensing based forest cover maps. The relation-ships between selected pattern and biodiversity variables available from the two different data sources were studied. Seven case studies for a total area of about 100,000 km2 were selected in five European ecological regions: one site in Germany (Atlantic zone), one in Sweden (Boreal zone), two in Czech Republic (Continental zone), one in Switzerland (Alpine zone) and two in Italy (Mediterranean zone).JRC.DDG.H.7-Land management and natural hazard

Changes in skeletal collagen crosslinks and matrix hydration in high and low turnover chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) increases fracture risk. The results of this work point to changes in bone collagen and bone hydration as playing a role in bone fragility associated with CKD. INTRODUCTION: Clinical data have documented a clear increase in fracture risk associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Preclinical studies have shown reductions in bone mechanical properties although the tissue-level mechanisms for these differences remain unclear. The goal of this study was to assess collagen cross-links and matrix hydration, two variables known to affect mechanical properties, in animals with either high- or low-turnover CKD. METHODS: At 35 weeks of age (>75 % reduction in kidney function), the femoral diaphysis of male Cy/+ rats with high or low bone turnover rates, along with normal littermate (NL) controls, were assessed for collagen cross-links (pyridinoline (Pyd), deoxypyridinoline (Dpd), and pentosidine (PE)) using a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) assay as well as pore and bound water per volume (pw and bw) using a 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique. Material-level biomechanical properties were calculated based on previously published whole bone mechanical tests. RESULTS: Cortical bone from animals with high-turnover disease had lower Pyd and Dpd cross-link levels (-21 % each), lower bw (-10 %), higher PE (+71 %), and higher pw (+46 %) compared to NL. Animals with low turnover had higher Dpd, PE (+71 %), and bw (+7 %) along with lower pw (-60 %) compared to NL. Both high- and low-turnover animals had reduced material-level bone toughness compared to NL animals as determined by three-point bending. CONCLUSIONS: These data document an increase in skeletal PE with advanced CKD that is independent of bone turnover rate and inversely related to decline in kidney function. Although hydration changes occur in both high- and low-turnover disease, the data suggest that nonenzymatic collagen cross-links may be a key factor in compromised mechanical properties of CKD.This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grants AR58005 (SM), DL100093 (CN), AR063157 (JSN), and the Indiana Clinical Translational Science Institute grant TR000162 (CN). The cross-link analysis is the result of work supported with resources and the use of facilities at the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System. All authors were involved in the design, conduct and analyses of the study. The authors would like to thank Drew Brown, Shannon Roy, and Kali O’Neill for technical assistance. We would also like to acknowledge the late Dr. Vincent H. Gattone II (1951-2013), who was instrumental in developing this animal model

Raloxifene improves skeletal properties in an animal model of cystic chronic kidney disease

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have an increased risk of fracture. Raloxifene is a mild antiresorptive agent that reduces fracture risk in the general population. Here we assessed the impact of raloxifene on the skeletal properties of animals with progressive CKD. Male Cy/+ rats that develop autosomal dominant cystic kidney disease were treated with either vehicle or raloxifene for five weeks. They were assessed for changes in mineral metabolism and skeletal parameters (microCT, histology, whole-bone mechanics, and material properties). Their normal littermates served as controls. Animals with CKD had significantly higher parathyroid hormone levels compared with normal controls, as well as inferior structural and mechanical skeletal properties. Raloxifene treatment resulted in lower bone remodeling rates and higher cancellous bone volume in the rats with CKD. Although it had little effect on cortical bone geometry, it resulted in higher energy to fracture and modulus of toughness values than vehicle-treated rats with CKD, achieving levels equivalent to normal controls. Animals treated with raloxifene had superior tissue-level mechanical properties as assessed by nanoindentation, and higher collagen D-periodic spacing as assessed by atomic force microscopy. Thus, raloxifene can positively impact whole-bone mechanical properties in CKD through its impact on skeletal material properties