Handbook for Surveillance and Monitoring of European Habitats. First Edition

The primary objective of this Handbook is to describe the methodology appropriate for coordinating information on habitats in order to obtain statistically robust estimates of their extent and associated changes in biodiversity. Such detailed rules are necessary if surveillance; i.e., recording information at a point in time; is to be repeated subsequently as monitoring, otherwise real changes cannot be separated reliably from background noise. The BioHab procedure will also map all Pan-European classifications, such as EUNIS, where possible, as a basis for their surveillance and monitoring throughout Europe. The basis of the General Habitat Categories is the classification of plant Life Forms produced by the Danish botanist Raunkiaer early in the 20th century. These Life Forms e.g. annuals or trees, transcend species. They are based on the scientific hypothesis that habitat structure is related to the environment. The BioHab General Habitat Categories cover the pan-European region (except Turkey) with 130 GHC¿s derived from 16 Life Forms (LF¿s). They have been field tested in all the environmental zones in Europe. Variation within a General Habitat Category is then expressed by environmental and global qualifiers, which are combinations of soil humidity, nutrient status, acidity and other habitat characteristics. Important additional information is given by adding codes from predefined lists of site and management qualifiers

Lymphovascular and perineural invasion as selection criteria for adjuvant therapy in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: a multi-institution analysis

AbstractObjectivesCriteria for the selection of patients for adjuvant chemotherapy in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (IHCC) are lacking. Some authors advocate treating patients with lymph node (LN) involvement; however, nodal assessment is often inadequate or not performed. This study aimed to identify surrogate criteria based on characteristics of the primary tumour.MethodsA total of 58 patients who underwent resection for IHCC between January 2000 and January 2010 at any of three institutions were identified. Primary outcome was overall survival (OS).ResultsMedian OS was 23.0months. Median tumour size was 6.5cm and the median number of lesions was one. Overall, 16% of patients had positive margins, 38% had perineural invasion (PNI), 40% had lymphovascular invasion (LVI) and 22% had LN involvement. A median of two LNs were removed and a median of zero were positive. Lymph nodes were not sampled in 34% of patients. Lymphovascular and perineural invasion were associated with reduced OS [9.6months vs. 32.7months (P= 0.020) and 10.7months vs. 32.7months (P= 0.008), respectively]. Lymph node involvement indicated a trend towards reduced OS (10.7months vs. 30.0months; P= 0.063). The presence of either LVI or PNI in node-negative patients was associated with a reduction in OS similar to that in node-positive patients (12.1months vs. 10.7months; P= 0.541). After accounting for adverse tumour factors, only LVI and PNI remained associated with decreased OS on multivariate analysis (hazard ratio4.07, 95% confidence interval 1.60–10.40; P= 0.003).ConclusionsLymphovascular and perineural invasion are separately associated with a reduction in OS similar to that in patients with LN-positive disease. As nodal dissection is often not performed and the number of nodes retrieved is frequently inadequate, these tumour-specific factors should be considered as criteria for selection for adjuvant chemotherapy

Farmland features in the European Union : a description and pilot inventory of their distribution

National and regional datasets on landscape features can be used to analyse the stock and change of farmland features. However, these landscape datasets are not categorised according to farmland features, farmed features or unfarmed features. The available national level datasets are used to obtain information on the extent and distribution of farmland features within the major Member States of the European Union. Data on farmland features is extracted from nationally-focused projects and datasets. These projects have been carried out for governments to analyse stock and change in the country for policy purposes, and have been carried out in Great Britain, Sweden and Spain. Extra datasets exist that also plot stock and change in a country, and have been carried out in the Netherlands and in Austria, but these studies do not have a national policy objective. The lack of universal definitions of landscape features means that comparisons between national datasets in not always reliable. There is particularly sparse data on the lengths of linear features and point features, as these surveys established set rules on what should be recorded, and what should not. This has caused differences in data available from different projects. In addition, the presence of solitary trees and small patches of natural grasslands are not collected in all of these surveys. Alterra developed a typology suitable for use with the available data. This typology proposes eight main classes of farmed and unfarmed features. Among these classes, two (class 5 and 6) fulfil the definition of a ‘farmland feature on EU farmland’, as defined for this study, as follows: - Linear or point features on, or adjacent to, farmland, that are managed directly e.g. hedges on farmland or terrace walls in managed vineyards. - Linear or point features on, or adjacent to, farmland, that are indirectly influenced by agriculture but are not managed actively e.g. field corners and small woodlands surrounded by agricultural land. During the analysis of the datasets we have harmonised and refined this typology as far as possible given the different structures, designs and underlying methodologies of the various datasets. However, examining the entire landscape matrix is essential to obtain a clear perception of the relative proportion of farmland features across the entire land surface. As national datasets do not discern between farmland and forest, it is important in this project to make such a distinction. This distinction sets the baseline between (currently) farmed land and land out of farming, such as land abandoned in the past and now under forest

Farmland features in the European Union : a description and pilot inventory of their distribution

National and regional datasets on landscape features can be used to analyse the stock and change of farmland features. However, these landscape datasets are not categorised according to farmland features, farmed features or unfarmed features. The available national level datasets are used to obtain information on the extent and distribution of farmland features within the major Member States of the European Union. Data on farmland features is extracted from nationally-focused projects and datasets. These projects have been carried out for governments to analyse stock and change in the country for policy purposes, and have been carried out in Great Britain, Sweden and Spain. Extra datasets exist that also plot stock and change in a country, and have been carried out in the Netherlands and in Austria, but these studies do not have a national policy objective. The lack of universal definitions of landscape features means that comparisons between national datasets in not always reliable. There is particularly sparse data on the lengths of linear features and point features, as these surveys established set rules on what should be recorded, and what should not. This has caused differences in data available from different projects. In addition, the presence of solitary trees and small patches of natural grasslands are not collected in all of these surveys. Alterra developed a typology suitable for use with the available data. This typology proposes eight main classes of farmed and unfarmed features. Among these classes, two (class 5 and 6) fulfil the definition of a ‘farmland feature on EU farmland’, as defined for this study, as follows: - Linear or point features on, or adjacent to, farmland, that are managed directly e.g. hedges on farmland or terrace walls in managed vineyards. - Linear or point features on, or adjacent to, farmland, that are indirectly influenced by agriculture but are not managed actively e.g. field corners and small woodlands surrounded by agricultural land. During the analysis of the datasets we have harmonised and refined this typology as far as possible given the different structures, designs and underlying methodologies of the various datasets. However, examining the entire landscape matrix is essential to obtain a clear perception of the relative proportion of farmland features across the entire land surface. As national datasets do not discern between farmland and forest, it is important in this project to make such a distinction. This distinction sets the baseline between (currently) farmed land and land out of farming, such as land abandoned in the past and now under forest

Changes in the vegetation composition of hay meadows between 1993 and 2009 in the Picos de Europa and implications for nature conservation

The Picos de Europa are a range of predominantly Carboniferous Limestone and Sandstone mountains mainly in the Cantabrian region of northern Spain. The highest peaks are precipitous and reach 2600 m. There are complex gradients between Lusitanian, Alpine and Mediterranean environmental zones, as well as variable soil types. In combination with the long history of traditional agricultural management, a wide range of diverse habitats and species is present. The herb-rich hay meadows have long been recognised as having a high nature conservation value but, as elsewhere in European mountains, such grasslands are threatened by changing agricultural practices. Accordingly, in 1993, 92 quadrats were recorded using a restricted list of indicator species from stratified random samples. The authors repeated the sample in 2009. Changed land use had only occurred in approximately 3% of meadows, however, farmyard manure was no longer used, probably because of shortage of labour. Statistical analysis of the vegetation data showed a range of significant changes consistent with the increased use of slurry, as well as re-seeding of some fields. The grass swards had not only become denser, with fewer species present, but there was also a loss of sensitive indicators especially of calcareous conditions and open vegetation. By contrast, competitors had increased and the vegetation had become simpler, with the balance of vegetation types shifting to more nutrient rich conditions. These changes have mainly occurred in the more fertile meadows used for silage. The core of about 35% of herb-rich meadows, mainly cut for hay, has remained relatively stable but the results show that they are at risk if the current trend continues. If management practices that form the core of traditional agriculture are not maintained, one of the most important resources of herb-rich meadows in Europe will be lost