A European assessment of the provision of ecosystem services - Towards an atlas of ecosystem services

Until recently, biodiversity policies were essentially driven by conservation of rare and endangered habitats and species. Although substantial efforts have been undertaken to protect nature, the 2010 target of stopping the loss of biodiversity has not been met. New policies at global and European level have therefore complemented conservation based biodiversity targets using the argument of ecosystem services. Ecosystem services are the benefits people receive from nature. So far, data for mapping such services are strongly biased towards provisioning services such as food and timber production while spatial information of so called regulating and cultural ecosystem services is, largely lacking. This report summarizes the key data needed for mapping ecosystem services at a European scale and presented a first set of maps showing the capacity of ecosystems to provide services.JRC.DDG.H.5-Rural, water and ecosystem resource

Linking land cover data and crop yields for mapping and assessment of pollination services in Europe

Pollination is a key ecosystem service as many crops but in particular, fruits and vegetables are partially dependent on pollinating insects to produce food for human consumption. Here we assessed how pollination services are delivered at European scale. We used this assessment to estimate the relative contribution of wild pollinators to crop production. We developed an index of relative pollination potential, which is defined as the relative potential or relative capacity of ecosystems to support crop pollination. The model for relative pollination potential is based on the assumption that different habitats, but in particular forest edges, grasslands rich in flowers and riparian areas, offer suitable sites for wild pollinator insects. Using data of the foraging range of wild bees, we linked relative pollination potential to regional statistics of crop production. At aggregated EU level, the absence of insect pollination would result in a reduction of between 25% and 32% of the total production of crops which are partially dependent on insect pollination, depending on the data source used for the assessment. This production deficit decreases to 2.5% if only the relative pollination potential of a single guild of pollinators is considered. A strength of our approach is the spatially-explicit link between land cover based relative pollination potential and crop yield which enables a general assessment of the benefits that are derived from pollination services in Europe while providing insight where pollination gaps in the landscape occur.JRC.H.8 - Sustainability Assessmen

Implementation of a EU wide indicator for the rural-agrarian landscape In support of COM(2006)508 “Development of agri-environmental indicators for monitoring the integration of environmental concerns into the Common Agricultural Policy”

The report explains the conceptual and methodological development of the agrienvironmental indicator on landscape state and diversity, calculated in support of COM(2006)508 “Development of agri-environmental indicators for monitoring the integration of environmental concerns into the common agricultural policy”. The indicator is based on three components: the degree of naturalness of the rural-agrarian landscape, intended as the influence exerted by society on the agrarian landscape with its agricultural activities and modifications of the original natural state introduced by farming practices; the physical structure, intended as land cover and its spatial organisation as a product of land management (organisation of different land cover types, plot size, fragmentation, diversity etc.); the societal awareness of the rural-agrarian landscape, as the society perceives, values and assesses landscape quality; the society plans, manages, and uses the landscape for productive or non productive purposes.JRC.H.1-Water Resource

Assessing the capacity of landscapes in providing public goods based on the social demand

The goal of this paper is to define, assess and geographically delimitate the public goods related to amenity and recreation provided by the agriculture and agro-forestry land covers in the context of the Alentejo landscape in Southern Portugal. Assessing and mapping the recreational public goods rural landscapes are able to provide can be dealt with at different spatial scales, e.g. from the European to the local scales. However, these assessments often rely on different data and methodological approaches. At broader spatial scales, a common procedure is to use proxy indicators, derived from European datasets such as Euro Stat, being those indicators often integrated into composite indexes deriving recreation through the demand and consumption approaches (e.g. number of beds in touristic areas) , while at the local and regional scales landscape preference surveys are operational thus, a straightforward manner to directly gather data on the most preferred landscape components for recreation, this way focussing on the supply approach. The problem is not only to gauge whether or not those assessments deliver comparable results but as well to critically analyse how these top down and bottom up approaches can be reconciled in order to comprehensively tackle recreation public goods in such a way this can inform policy making at different scales of governance. It is acknowledged that integrated multiscale assessments are inherently more complicated and often more expensive than assessments at single scales but efforts have been made in order to derive a simple and operational frameworks for comprehensively tackle a multiscale assessments. The work developed throughout this paper addresses this issue by identifying, assessing and mapping the areas likely to fulfil different types of recreational needs at the regional scale in Alentejo and further explores ways forward to upscale the results to the European scale

Analysis of Spatial and Temporal Variations of High Nature Value Farmland and Links with Changes in Bird Populations: A Study on France

The 'High Nature Value farming' idea connects the preservation of biodiversity with the need to safeguard the continuation of farming in certain areas and the maintenance of specific farming systems associated with a long-term management approach. The need for measures to prevent the loss of High Nature Value farmland is widely acknowledged. Conservation of biodiversity on agricultural land is an explicit objective of the pan-European Biodiversity and Landscape Strategy, the Bern Convention and, at EU level, the Habitats and Birds Directives and the Rural Development Policy (Community Strategic Guidelines for Rural Development Programming Period 2007-2013). Conserving High Nature Value farmland is a key aspect in achieving future biodiversity targets. In their 2003 ¿Kyiv¿ declaration, the European Environment Ministers have set the goal to identify HNV farmland in Europe and take adequate conservation measures. The COM(2010) 4 final ¿Options for an EU vision and target for biodiversity beyond 2010¿ recognises the need of preserving and enhancing farming and forestry with a high nature value in the context of the CAP. Furthermore, in 2006 the frame of agri-environmental indicators for monitoring the integration of environmental concerns into the common agricultural policy has been formally identified and published in the COM (2006) 508. The High Nature Value farmland indicator is part of the framework, as well as indicators on Population trends in farmland birds. JRC/IES is one of the EC services that are developing such indicators. The aim of this study is to improve the methodology to define HNV farmland areas and investigate more thoroughly the link between bird species and farmland habitat. The French case study is presented in high detail; relevant statistical data were available regarding agriculture practices both at present and past time periods, which provided the information for the development of a national HNV indicator. Data from the French Breeding Bird Census have been used to seek for links between bird species and bird indices, and spatial and temporal distribution of HNV farmland.JRC.DDG.H.5-Rural, water and ecosystem resource

Assessment of capacity for ecosystem services in agricultural areas, focusing on areas with natural constraints (ANC)

The aim of the ecosystem service assessment of ‘Areas with natural constraints’ (ANC, Articles of Council Regulation (EU) 1305/2013) at European level is to gain insight into the current status of ecosystem services (ES) supply, to develop a classification system based on ES supply, and to evaluate the performance of the scheme. The report shows the actual status of nine ecosystem capacities in less favoured agricultural areas compared to agricultural areas out of the scheme. The comparison covers three aspects of ecosystem capacities: (1) the quantitative level, (2) the relationships (trade-offs and synergies) among capacities and (3) the level of multi-functionality. Furthermore some examples are presented for comparison and classification of administrative units regarding to the ecosystem capacities of their less favoured areas. The methodology can be applied for the areas with natural constraints when their delineation will be ready. It can contribute to the evaluation of the performance of the ANC scheme as well as to its better targeting.JRC.H.4-Monitoring Agricultural Resource

A common variant associated with dyslexia reduces expression of the KIAA0319 gene

This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust (MYD, SP, TSS, JCK, RWM, PC, SB, and APM), the Intramural Research Programs of the National Human Genome Research Institute (MYD and EDG) and National Cancer Institute (MPO), and the NIH/Ox-Cam Graduate Partnership Program (MYD).Numerous genetic association studies have implicated the KIAA0319 gene on human chromosome 6p22 in dyslexia susceptibility. The causative variant(s) remains unknown but may modulate gene expression, given that (1) a dyslexia-associated haplotype has been implicated in the reduced expression of KIAA0319, and (2) the strongest association has been found for the region spanning exon 1 of KIAA0319. Here, we test the hypothesis that variant(s) responsible for reduced KIAA0319 expression resides on the risk haplotype close to the gene's transcription start site. We identified seven single-nucleotide polymorphisms on the risk haplotype immediately upstream of KIAA0319 and determined that three of these are strongly associated with multiple reading-related traits. Using luciferase-expressing constructs containing the KIAA0319 upstream region, we characterized the minimal promoter and additional putative transcriptional regulator regions. This revealed that the minor allele of rs9461045, which shows the strongest association with dyslexia in our sample (max p-value = 0.0001), confers reduced luciferase expression in both neuronal and non-neuronal cell lines. Additionally, we found that the presence of this rs9461045 dyslexia-associated allele creates a nuclear protein-binding site, likely for the transcriptional silencer OCT-1. Knocking down OCT-1 expression in the neuronal cell line SHSY5Y using an siRNA restores KIAA0319 expression from the risk haplotype to nearly that seen from the non-risk haplotype. Our study thus pinpoints a common variant as altering the function of a dyslexia candidate gene and provides an illustrative example of the strategic approach needed to dissect the molecular basis of complex genetic traits.PostprintPeer reviewe

Validation of analytical methods for the WFD “watch list” pilot exercise

Validation of an analytical method is a necessary step in controlling the quality of quantitative analysis. Method validation is an established process which is the provision of documentary evidence that a system fulfills its pre-defined specification or the process of providing that an analytical method is acceptable for its intended purpose. The objectives of the present study were: • to validate a SPE-LC-MS/MS method for the determination of carbamazepine (CBZ), 10,11-dihydro-10,11-dihydroxy-carbamazepine (CBZ-DiOH), sulfamethoxazole (SMZ) and pentafluoropropionic acid (PFPrA) in surface water samples; • to validate a SPE-GC-MS method for the determination of tris (1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCPP) content in surface water samples. Method validations were performed according to the ISO 17025 requirement and the BT/TF151 WI CSS 99026 document. The calibration curves, working ranges, recoveries, detection and quantification limits, trueness as well as repeatability were determined. The budget uncertainty was also estimated following a top-down approach based on in-house validation data.JRC.H.1-Water Resource

Addressing the social landscape dimensions: the need for reconciling cross scale assessments.

The rural development policy community is calling for new transdisciplinary approaches to convey public preferences into meaningful measures for assessing landscape capacity to provide public goods. Some of the public goods which rural landscapes provide relate to landscape appreciation which reflects people’s preferences for particular features in a given landscape or certain geographic unit. Assessing landscape appreciation can be dealt with at different spatial scales, e.g from the European to the local, however these assessments often rely on different data and methodological approaches (Paracchini et al 2012). At broader spatial scales, a common procedure is to use proxy indicators (mostly environmental indicators), derived from European datasets such as Eurostat or Corine, being those indicators often integrated into composite indexes driving appreciation indirectly, while at the local and regional scales landscape preference surveys are operational thus a straightforward common method used to directly gather data on landscape appreciation (mostly landscape indicators) (Pinto Correia and Carvalho Ribeiro 2012). The problem is not only to gauge whether or not those assessments deliver comparable results but as well to critically analyse how these top down and bottom up approaches can be reconciled in order to comprehensively tackle landscape appreciation in such a way this can inform policy making at different scales of governance. Another issue is that while there is an array of environmental indicators derived at multiple scales of analysis, on the contrary landscape indicators – including the social dimension - are scarce. Differences between environmental indicators and landscape indicators therefore lie in the fact that the latter cannot necessarily be generalized and applied to any context. In fact, the characteristics of different landscapes and the values related to appreciation by people are likely to be different.The work developed throughout this paper addresses this issue as it builds on both conceptual and empirical basis of landscape research in order to comprehensively derive a cross scale set of social landscape indicators for conveying the appreciation people derives from rural agrarian landscapes across the diverse European settings. The work comprises a literature review and subsequent meta-analysis of studies on landscape related subjects that were further assessed and validated. The ways in which to integrate land cover datasets on the data analysis was also explored. Although in different ways, land cover was considered as one promising avenue for devising indicators that bridge agri-environmental and social spheres. An attempt at framing and mapping the results was made by addressing scale issues in order to meaningfully incorporate these results at different levels of governance

Mapping the Recreational Value of Non-Urban Ecosystems across Europe: Combining Meta-Analysis and GIS

We map recreational visits and the economic value per visit spatially explicit across Europe’s non-urban ecosystems using GIS, meta-analysis and geostatistical modelling techniques. Therefore, we develop a meta-analytic visitor arrival function and a meta-analytic value transfer function by regression analysis. Primary data on the dependent variables are collected from visitor monitoring and valuation studies. We analyse more than 225 studies including visitor counts and value estimates to more than 550 separate case study areas. Focusing on continuous spatial biophysical and socio-economic predictor variables, we identify underlying spatial drivers of recreational ecosystem service values. By combining our models with spatial explanatory variable layers we predict annual recreational visits and the value per visit on a one km² resolution across Europe. The resulting maps illustrate spatial variations of recreational visitor numbers and the value per visit. In total we predict about 11 billion annual visits to Europe’s non-urban ecosystems amounting an economic value of € 57 billion. Comparing our estimates with mean/unit value transfers reveals that the spatial variations of visitor numbers are substantially more important for determining the recreational value per ha than variations in the value per visit