Ecological Indicator Values for Europe (EIVE) 1.0

Aims: To develop a consistent ecological indicator value system for Europe for five of the main plant niche dimensions: soil moisture (M), soil nitrogen (N), soil reaction (R), light (L) and temperature (T). Study area: Europe (and closely adjacent regions). Methods: We identified 31 indicator value systems for vascular plants in Europe that contained assessments on at least one of the five aforementioned niche dimensions. We rescaled the indicator values of each dimension to a continuous scale, in which 0 represents the minimum and 10 the maximum value present in Europe. Taxon names were harmonised to the Euro+Med Plantbase. For each of the five dimensions, we calculated European values for niche position and niche width by combining the values from the individual EIV systems. Using T values as an example, we externally validated our European indicator values against the median of bioclimatic conditions for global occurrence data of the taxa. Results: In total, we derived European indicator values of niche position and niche width for 14,835 taxa (14,714 for M, 13,748 for N, 14,254 for R, 14,054 for L, 14,496 for T). Relating the obtained values for temperature niche position to the bioclimatic data of species yielded a higher correlation than any of the original EIV systems (r = 0.859). The database: The newly developed Ecological Indicator Values for Europe (EIVE) 1.0, together with all source systems, is available in a flexible, harmonised open access database. Conclusions: EIVE is the most comprehensive ecological indicator value system for European vascular plants to date. The uniform interval scales for niche position and niche width provide new possibilities for ecological and macroecological analyses of vegetation patterns. The developed workflow and documentation will facilitate the future release of updated and expanded versions of EIVE, which may for example include the addition of further taxonomic groups, additional niche dimensions, external validation or regionalisation

MRP3 is a sex determining gene in the diatom Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata

A broad diversity of sex-determining systems has evolved in eukaryotes. However, information on the mechanisms of sex determination for unicellular microalgae is limited, including for diatoms, key-players of ocean food webs. Here we report the identification of a mating type (MT) determining gene for the diatom Pseudo-nitzschia multistriata. By comparing the expression profile of the two MTs, we find five MT-biased genes, of which one, MRP3, is expressed exclusively in MT+ strains in a monoallelic manner. A short tandem repeat of specific length in the region upstream of MRP3 is consistently present in MT+ and absent in MT- strains. MRP3 overexpression in an MT- strain induces sex reversal: the transgenic MT- can mate with another MT- strain and displays altered regulation of the other MT-biased genes, indicating that they lie downstream. Our data show that a relatively simple genetic program is involved in defining the MT in P. multistriata

Modelling pesticide leaching under climate change : parameter vs. climate input uncertainty

Assessing climate change impacts on pesticide leaching requires careful consideration of different sources of uncertainty. We investigated the uncertainty related to climate scenario input and its importance relative to parameter uncertainty of the pesticide leaching model. The pesticide fate model MACRO was calibrated against a comprehensive one-year field data set for a well-structured clay soil in southwestern Sweden. We obtained an ensemble of 56 acceptable parameter sets that represented the parameter uncertainty. Nine different climate model projections of the regional climate model RCA3 were available as driven by different combinations of global climate models (GCM), greenhouse gas emission scenarios and initial states of the GCM. The future time series of weather data used to drive the MACRO model were generated by scaling a reference climate data set (1970-1999) for an important agricultural production area in south-western Sweden based on monthly change factors for 2070-2099. 30 yr simulations were performed for different combinations of pesticide properties and application seasons. Our analysis showed that both the magnitude and the direction of predicted change in pesticide leaching from present to future depended strongly on the particular climate scenario. The effect of parameter uncertainty was of major importance for simulating absolute pesticide losses, whereas the climate uncertainty was relatively more important for predictions of changes of pesticide losses from present to future. The climate uncertainty should be accounted for by applying an ensemble of different climate scenarios. The aggregated ensemble prediction based on both acceptable parameterizations and different climate scenarios has the potential to provide robust probabilistic estimates of future pesticide losses

The FOOTPRINT software tools: pesticide risk assessment and management in the EU at different spatial scales.

Original paper can be found at: http://www.ask-eu.com/default.asp?Menue=149&AnbieterID=586 [Full text of this paper is not available in the UHRA]In the EU-project FOOTPRINT three pesticide risk assessment and management tools were developed, for use at different spatial scales. The three FOOTPRINT tools share the same underlying science, based on the consistent identification of environmental characteristics driving the fate of agriculturally applied pesticides and their interpretation to parameterise state of the art modelling applications thus providing an integrated solution to pesticide risk assessment and management in the EU

The FOOTPRINT Software Tools : Pesticide Risk Assessment and Management in the EU at different spatial scales

FOOTPRINT was a research project in the 6th Framework Programme which developed a suite of three pesticide risk prediction and management tools, for use by three different end-user communities: - farmers and extension advisors at the farm scale; - water managers at the catchment scale; and - policy makers/registration authorities at the national/EU scale. The tools were based on state-of-the-art knowledge of processes, factors and landscape attributes influencing pesticide fate in the environment and integrate innovative components that allow users to: - identify the dominant contamination pathways and sources of pesticide contamination in the landscape; - estimate pesticide concentrations in local groundwater resources and surface water abstraction sources; - make scientifically-based assessments of how the implementation of mitigation strategies will reduce pesticide contamination of adjacent water resources. The three tools share the same overall philosophy and underlying science and therefore provide a coherent and integrated solution to pesticide risk assessment and risk reduction at the various scales. The tools developed within FOOTPRINT allow stakeholders to make consistent and robust assessments of risk of contamination to water bodies relevant to management, mitigation and regulation (i.e. field/farm, catchment and national/EU). In particular, they allow pesticide users to assess whether their pesticide practices ensure the protection of local water bodies, and provide site-specific mitigation recommendations. The FOOTPRINT tools are expected to make a direct contribution to the revision of the Council Directive 91/414/EEC, the implementation of the Water Framework Directive and the future Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides.Peer reviewe