Spatial Modelling of Within-Field Weed Populations - a Review

Concerns around herbicide resistance, human risk, and the environmental impacts of current weed control strategies have led to an increasing demand for alternative weed management methods. Many new weed management strategies are under development; however, the poor availability of accurate weed maps, and a lack of confidence in the outcomes of alternative weed management strategies, has hindered their adoption. Developments in field sampling and processing, combined with spatial modelling, can support the implementation and assessment of new and more integrated weed management strategies. Our review focuses on the biological and mathematical aspects of assembling within-field weed models. We describe both static and spatio-temporal models of within-field weed distributions (including both cellular automata (CA) and non-CA models), discussing issues surrounding the spatial processes of weed dispersal and competition and the environmental and anthropogenic processes that affect weed spatial and spatio-temporal distributions. We also examine issues surrounding model uncertainty. By reviewing the current state-of-the-art in both static and temporally dynamic weed spatial modelling we highlight some of the strengths and weaknesses of current techniques, together with current and emerging areas of interest for the application of spatial models, including targeted weed treatments, economic analysis, herbicide resistance and integrated weed management, the dispersal of biocontrol agents, and invasive weed species

An Integrated Weed Management framework: A pan-European perspective

Initiatives to reduce the reliance of agriculture on pesticides, including the European Union (EU) Directive 2009/ 128/EC on the sustainable use of pesticides (SUD), have yet to lead to widespread implementation of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) principles. Developments in weed management have strongly focused on increasing the efficiency of herbicides or substituting herbicides with other single tactics such as mechanical control. To in- crease sustainability of agricultural systems in practice, a paradigm shift in weed management is needed: from a single tactic and single growing season approach towards holistic integrated weed management (IWM) consid- ering more than a single cropping season and focusing on management of weed communities, rather than on control of single species. To support this transition, an IWM framework for implementing a system level approach is presented. The framework consists of five pillars: diverse cropping systems, cultivar choice and establishment, field and soil management, direct control and the cross-cutting pillar monitoring and evaluation. IWM is an integral part of integrated pest management (IPM) and adopting IWM will serve as a driver for the development of sustainable agricultural systems of the futur

An Integrated Weed Management framework: A pan-European perspective

Initiatives to reduce the reliance of agriculture on pesticides, including the European Union (EU) Directive 2009/128/EC on the sustainable use of pesticides (SUD), have yet to lead to widespread implementation of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) principles. Developments in weed management have strongly focused on increasing the efficiency of herbicides or substituting herbicides with other single tactics such as mechanical control. To increase sustainability of agricultural systems in practice, a paradigm shift in weed management is needed: from a single tactic and single growing season approach towards holistic integrated weed management (IWM) considering more than a single cropping season and focusing on management of weed communities, rather than on control of single species. To support this transition, an IWM framework for implementing a system level approach is presented. The framework consists of five pillars: diverse cropping systems, cultivar choice and establishment, field and soil management, direct control and the cross-cutting pillar monitoring and evaluation. IWM is an integral part of integrated pest management (IPM) and adopting IWM will serve as a driver for the development of sustainable agricultural systems of the future

Public support for unequal treatment of unvaccinated citizens: Evidence from Denmark

While billions have been vaccinated against COVID-19, unvaccinated citizens remain a challenge to public health given their higher likelihood of passing on the virus. One way for governments to reduce this concern is to enact more restrictive rules and regulations for the unvaccinated citizens in order to incentivize them to become vaccinated and/or reduce their spread of the virus. However, such rule differentiation conflicts with liberal principles of equal treatment, thereby raising a trade-off between material (public health) and principled concerns. To gain legitimacy in trading off these difficult concerns, governments are likely to look to preferences in the general population. We therefore analyze to what extent unequal treatment of the unvaccinated in terms of differentiation of various rules and regulations finds support among the general public. In a pre-registered survey experiment, we investigate public support for various COVID-19 regulations (e.g., test fees, isolation pay, and hospital prioritization). In the experiment, we randomly assign respondents to evaluate regulations that either (i) apply to adults in general or (ii) only to those adults who deliberately have chosen not to be vaccinated. This design provides a valid means to assess support for unequal treatment of the unvaccinated by minimizing various concerns relating to survey responding. Furthermore, we examine how these preferences vary by individual vaccination status, trust in institutions, as well as over-time changes in severity of the pandemic. We find significantly (both statistically and substantively) higher support for restrictive policies when targeted exclusively toward the unvaccinated, which we interpret as support for unequal treatment of this group. We also uncover strong polarization in these preferences between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, but a much more limited role for trust and severity of the pandemic

From practice to science and back – knowledge and information chains in PRODIVA

To organize and manage the dissemination process has become a general task within international projects. Within the project PRODIVA (Crop diversification and weed management) we organized these chains as returning cascades between practice (advisors and farmers) and scientists in the Baltic area. A network of farmers was created in each participating region. We collected and used practical knowledge about dominating weed species in Organic spring cereal production. This data can be compared with monitored weeds in the regions. Together with the monitored weeds management data was collected on-farm. Relating this data to the results of experimentally investigated crop diversification tools, being subsidiary crops in the rotation, crop mixtures and variety mixtures show existing overlaps and gaps. Success stories of farms implementing crop diversification links the results in a way most suitable for direct dissemination from farm-to-farm

From practice to science and back – knowledge and information chains in PRODIVA

To organize and manage the dissemination process has become a general task within international projects. Within the project PRODIVA (Crop diversification and weed management) we organized these chains as returning cascades between practice (advisors and farmers) and scientists in the Baltic area. A network of farmers was created in each participating region. We collected and used practical knowledge about dominating weed species in Organic spring cereal production. This data can be compared with monitored weeds in the regions. Together with the monitored weeds management data was collected on-farm. Relating this data to the results of experimentally investigated crop diversification tools, being subsidiary crops in the rotation, crop mixtures and variety mixtures show existing overlaps and gaps. Success stories of farms implementing crop diversification links the results in a way most suitable for direct dissemination from farm-to-farm

Reviewing research priorities in weed ecology, evolution and management: A horizon scan

Weedy plants pose a major threat to food security, biodiversity, ecosystem services and consequently to human health and wellbeing. However, many currently used weed management approaches are increasingly unsustainable. To address this knowledge and practice gap, in June 2014, 35 weed and invasion ecologists, weed scientists, evolutionary biologists and social scientists convened a workshop to explore current and future perspectives and approaches in weed ecology and management. A horizon scanning exercise ranked a list of 124 pre-submitted questions to identify a priority list of 30 questions. These questions are discussed under seven themed headings that represent areas for renewed and emerging focus for the disciplines of weed research and practice. The themed areas considered the need for transdisciplinarity, increased adoption of integrated weed management and agroecological approaches, better understanding of weed evolution, climate change, weed invasiveness and finally, disciplinary challenges for weed science. Almost all the challenges identified rested on the need for continued efforts to diversify and integrate agroecological, socio-economic and technological approaches in weed management. These challenges are not newly conceived, though their continued prominence as research priorities highlights an ongoing intransigence that must be addressed through a more system-oriented and transdisciplinary research agenda that seeks an embedded integration of public and private research approaches. This horizon scanning exercise thus set out the building blocks needed for future weed management research and practice; however, the challenge ahead is to identify effective ways in which sufficient research and implementation efforts can be directed towards these needs

Imidazole propionate is increased in diabetes and associated with dietary patterns and altered microbial ecology

Microbiota-host-diet interactions contribute to the development of metabolic diseases. Imidazole propionate is a novel microbially produced metabolite from histidine, which impairs glucose metabolism. Here, we show that subjects with prediabetes and diabetes in the MetaCardis cohort from three European countries have elevated serum imidazole propionate levels. Furthermore, imidazole propionate levels were increased in subjects with low bacterial gene richness and Bacteroides 2 enterotype, which have previously been associated with obesity. The Bacteroides 2 enterotype was also associated with increased abundance of the genes involved in imidazole propionate biosynthesis from dietary histidine. Since patients and controls did not differ in their histidine dietary intake, the elevated levels of imidazole propionate in type 2 diabetes likely reflects altered microbial metabolism of histidine, rather than histidine intake per se. Thus the microbiota may contribute to type 2 diabetes by generating imidazole propionate that can modulate host inflammation and metabolism

The state and consumer confidence in eco-labeling: Organic labeling in Denmark, Sweden, The United Kingdom and The United States

Trustworthy eco-labels provide consumers with valuable information on environmentally friendly products and thus promote green consumerism. But what makes an eco-label trustworthy and what can government do to increase consumer confidence? The scant existing literature indicates that low governmental involvement increases confidence. This suggests that government should just provide the basic legal framework for eco-labeling and leave the rest to non-governmental organizations. However, the empirical underpinning of this conclusion is insufficient. This paper analyses consumer confidence in different organic food labeling regimes with varying degrees of governmental involvement. Using unique and detailed survey data from the US, United Kingdom, Denmark, and Sweden, the analysis shows that confidence is highest in countries with substantial state involvement. This suggests that governments can increase green consumerism through active and substantial involvement in eco-labeling