Effects of agricultural intensity and landscape complexity on plant species richness

During the last decades, raised inputs, changed cultivation measures and changes in the farm layout have been implemented in order to raise crop yields. The result has been an intensification of farming with negative consequences for farmland biodiversity. In this study, the impact of different levels of agricultural intensity on plant species richness in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production has been examined. The presence of vascular plant species in 160 fields was examined at 32 farms in Uppsala County in the plain districts of south central Sweden. The sampling was performed between the 19th of June and the 13th of July 2007, during the flowering period of the winter wheat. The relationship between species richness and eight different variables measuring aspects of intensity was examined: yield, crop cover, nitrogen application, herbicide use, soil cultivation, proportion arable land, field size and perimeter-area ratio. Crop management intensity was quantified using farmers' questionnaires. Landscape data was collected by using the block database from Uppsala County Administrative Board and analysed with GIS. Further, the variation in species richness within the farms and between the farms was examined using additive partitioning. Increased proportion crop cover decreased species richness of plants in arable fields significantly. This was found on both organic and conventional farming systems. Crop cover reflects intensive agricultural practices with high levels of inputs in combination with the appropriate timing of the cultivation measures, which results in a dense and competitive crop stand. Species richness was generally higher on organic than conventional farms. Variables measuring landscape structure seemed to be of minor importance for weed species diversity in arable fields. Approximately 70 % of the total diversity within the region could be attributed to differences between farms. Local field diversity, between field diversity and between farm diversity all decreased with crop cover. Hence, agricultural intensification influenced the biodiversity negatively both at the local scale and on the between farms scale in the region.Jordbrukets intensitet har under de senaste decennierna ökat genom effektiviserad teknikanvändning och ökade insatser av pesticider och växtnäring. Detta har inte bara lett till ökade skördar utan även till negativa konsekvenser för den biologiska mångfalden i jordbrukslandskapet. I denna studie inventerades förekomsten av kärlväxter i 160 höstvetefält (Triticum aestivum L.) på 32 gårdar i Uppsala-Enköpingsregionen under sommaren år 2007. Förhållandet mellan artrikedom och åtta olika intensitetsvariabler undersöktes genom linjär regression: skörd, grödans täckningsgrad, kvävetillförsel, herbicidanvändning, jordbearbetning, andel odlad mark, fältstorlek och omkrets-area-kvot. Vidare studerades variationen av artsammansättning inom och mellan gårdarna genom beräkning av betadiversitet. Ökad täckningsgrad hos grödan medförde signifikant lägre artrikedom bland kärlväxter i fälten, både i ekologiska och konventionella odlingssystem. Hög täckningsgrad hos grödan är ett resultat av intensiv odling med höga insatser av kväve, jordbearbetning och herbicidanvändning, i kombination med rätt tidpunkt för åtgärderna, vilket resulterar i en tät och konkurrenskraftig gröda. Artrikedomen på ekologiska gårdar var generellt högre än på konventionella. Landskapets struktur visade inga tendenser till att påverka antalet arter. Cirka 70 % av den totala artrikedomen inom i studieområdet kunde förklaras av skillnader mellan gårdar. Artrikedomen på enskilda fält, mellan fält och mellan gårdar minskade alla med ökande täckningsgrad hos grödan. Följaktligen påverkar jordbrukets intensifiering den biologiska mångfalden av kärlväxter negativt både på den lokala skalan och mellan-gårdskalan i regionen

Insect pollination of oilseed rape

Ecological intensification of agriculture is suggested as a way to reach higher crop yields without increasing inputs that may degrade the environment. Increased insect pollination in crops, such as oilseed rape, Brassica napus, has been suggested to increase yields, but is rarely integrated in crop management. To determine the value of enhanced crop pollination as a means of ecological intensification, reliable estimates of how yield is affected by insect pollination are needed. Further, little is known about interactions between insect pollination and other crop management factors such as cultivar, nitrogen fertilization, pest control, and irrigation. Finally, it needs to be assessed how increasing crop pollination by adding honey bees to crops impact the wild fauna of flower-visiting insects. I addressed these issues in two sets of experiments. First, I performed a landscape-scale experiment with replicated whole fields of winter oilseed rape. I manipulated the pollinator community by adding honey bee hives or controlled the surroundings for absence of honey bees. I chose fields such that they were embedded in either intensive-ly cropped landscapes or heterogeneous landscapes with more semi-natural pastures, expecting greater diversity of wild pollinators in the latter. In two cultivar types, I examined how honey bee addition affected crop yield and the wild pollinator community. Second, I performed two field plot experiments, in winter and in spring oilseed rape, to assess how insect pollination and the crop management factors cultivar, nitrogen fertili-sation, pest control, and irrigation interactively shaped crop yield. Insect pollination increased winter oilseed rape yield, but only in open-pollinated cultivars. Cultivars of open-pollinated type gave higher yields than cultivars of hybrid type. Thus, phasing out open-pollinated cultivars from the market emerges a missed opportunity for increased yields. I show that the crop’s access to water, nitrogen, and herbivory affect pollinator behaviour and potentially crop pollination. Interestingly, insect pollination tended to increase yields when no nitrogen was applied, indicating higher nutrient use efficiency in plants with access to insect pollination. Adding managed honey bee hives had nega-tive effects on the densities of wild flying- and flower-visiting insects, with potential negative effects on crop pollination and biodiversity conservation. Overall, my thesis demonstrates the importance of including both agronomic and environmental perspectives when developing crop production systems that are productive and sustainable

Legacy of landscape crop diversity enhances carabid beetle species richness and promotes granivores

It is well understood that agricultural expansion and associated loss of semi-natural habitat in the landscape are major drivers for the marked decline in biodiversity. While conserving remaining semi-natural habitat patches is essential to reverse ongoing biodiversity declines, increasing focus has also been put on diversifying cropland itself by increasing landscape crop diversity as a measure of compositional heterogeneity, and reducing field sizes as a measure of configurational heterogeneity. Both these cropland diversification approaches have shown promise to enhance biodiversity in the year of sampling, but it is unknown whether legacies of crop diversity in the landscape promote biodiversity by building up arthropod communities over time. We selected 14 faba bean fields in landscapes dominated by cropland. The fields were chosen along three gradients: landscape crop di-versity of the year of sampling (2017), landscape crop diversity of the previous year (2016) and mean field size in landscapes. Using pitfall traps, we show that the carabid beetle species richness is higher in landscapes with higher crop diversity in the previous year. Especially, granivorous carabid beetles benefitted from legacies of crop diversity. Rove beetles were more abundant and genus rich in landscapes with larger field sizes, while spiders were not responding to any of the landscape variables. A diversity of crops in the landscape and their associated weed communities could provide more diverse food resources and shelter habitats, which build populations of carabid beetle species over time. There is a need to explore the effects of agri-environmental schemes across multiple years to better understand legacy effects, and to structure sustainable agricultural landscapes

Pan-Genomic Analysis of Clostridium botulinum Group II (Non-Proteolytic C. botulinum) Associated with Foodborne Botulism and Isolated from the Environment

The neurotoxin formed by Clostridium botulinum Group II is a major cause of foodborne botulism, a deadly intoxication. This study aims to understand the genetic diversity and spread of C. botulinum Group II strains and their neurotoxin genes. A comparative genomic study has been conducted with 208 highly diverse C. botulinum Group II strains (180 newly sequenced strains isolated from 16 countries over 80 years, 28 sequences from Genbank). Strains possessed a single type B, E, or F neurotoxin gene or were closely related strains with no neurotoxin gene. Botulinum neurotoxin subtype variants (including novel variants) with a unique amino acid sequence were identified. Core genome single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis identified two major lineages—one with type E strains, and the second dominated by subtype B4 strains with subtype F6 strains. This study revealed novel details of population structure/diversity and established relationships between whole-genome lineage, botulinum neurotoxin subtype variant, association with foodborne botulism, epidemiology, and geographical source. Additionally, the genome sequences represent a valuable resource for the research community (e.g., understanding evolution of C. botulinum and its neurotoxin genes, dissecting key aspects of C. botulinum Group II biology). This may contribute to improved risk assessments and the prevention of foodborne botulism

Mantle dynamics of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP): Constraints from platinum group, gold and lithophile elements in flood basalts of Morocco

Mantle melting dynamics of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP) are constrained from new platinum group element (PGE), rare earth element (REE), and high field strength element (HFSE) data and geochemical modelling of flood basalts in Morocco. The PGE are enriched similarly to flood basalts of other large igneous provinces. The magmas did not experience sulphide saturation during fractionation and were therefore fertile. The CAMP province is thus prospective for PGE and Gold mineralisation. The Pt/Pd ratio of the Moroccan lavas indicates that they originated by partial melting of the asthenospheric mantle, not the subcontinental lithospheric mantle. Mantle melting modelling of PGE, REE and HFSE suggests: (1) that the mantle source for all the lavas was dominated by primitive mantle and invariably included a small proportion of recycled continental crust (<8%); (2) the mantle potential temperature was moderately elevated (c. 1430 °C) relative to ambient mantle; (3) intra-lava unit compositional variations are likely a combined result of variable amounts of crust in the mantle source (heterogeneous source) and fractional crystallisation; (4) mantle melting initially took place at depths between c. 110 km and c. 55 km and became shallower with time (c. 110 km to c. 32 km depth); and (5) the melting region appears to have changed from triangular to columnar with time. These results are best explained by melting of asthenospheric mantle that was mixed with continental sediments during the assembly of Pangaea, then heated and further mixed by convection while insulated under the Pangaea supercontinent, and subsequently melted in multiple continental rift systems associated with the breakup of Pangaea. Most likely the CAMP volcanism was triggered by the arrival of a mantle plume, although plume material apparently was not contributing directly (chemically) to the magmas in Morocco, nor to many other areas of CAMP

PWWP2A binds distinct chromatin moieties and interacts with an MTA1-specific core NuRD complex.

Chromatin structure and function is regulated by reader proteins recognizing histone modifications and/or histone variants. We recently identified that PWWP2A tightly binds to H2A.Z-containing nucleosomes and is involved in mitotic progression and cranial-facial development. Here, using in vitro assays, we show that distinct domains of PWWP2A mediate binding to free linker DNA as well as H3K36me3 nucleosomes. In vivo, PWWP2A strongly recognizes H2A.Z-containing regulatory regions and weakly binds H3K36me3-containing gene bodies. Further, PWWP2A binds to an MTA1-specific subcomplex of the NuRD complex (M1HR), which consists solely of MTA1, HDAC1, and RBBP4/7, and excludes CHD, GATAD2 and MBD proteins. Depletion of PWWP2A leads to an increase of acetylation levels on H3K27 as well as H2A.Z, presumably by impaired chromatin recruitment of M1HR. Thus, this study identifies PWWP2A as a complex chromatin-binding protein that serves to direct the deacetylase complex M1HR to H2A.Z-containing chromatin, thereby promoting changes in histone acetylation levels

Historical Perspectives and Guidelines for Botulinum Neurotoxin Subtype Nomenclature

Botulinum neurotoxins are diverse proteins. They are currently represented by at least seven serotypes and more than 40 subtypes. New clostridial strains that produce novel neurotoxin variants are being identified with increasing frequency, which presents challenges when organizing the nomenclature surrounding these neurotoxins. Worldwide, researchers are faced with the possibility that toxins having identical sequences may be given different designations or novel toxins having unique sequences may be given the same designations on publication. In order to minimize these problems, an ad hoc committee consisting of over 20 researchers in the field of botulinum neurotoxin research was convened to discuss the clarification of the issues involved in botulinum neurotoxin nomenclature. This publication presents a historical overview of the issues and provides guidelines for botulinum neurotoxin subtype nomenclature in the future.Peer reviewe

Social partners going digital: using digital tools and adapting social dialogue processes

Aquesta publicació s'elabora a partir de les contribucions de cadascú dels membres nacionals que integren la Network of Eufound Correspondent. Pel cas d'Espanya la contribució ha estat realitzada per l'Alejandro GodinoDigital transformation is changing the world of work. This report looks at how social partners - the actors involved in the regulation of employment relationships - are increasingly adopting technological solutions to improve the services that they provide to their members and facilitate collective bargaining processes. Technological tools offer social partners the opportunity to enhance consultation, engage with their members through digitised processes, improve services and increase networking activities, as well as addressing the issue of membership decline. The findings of this report show that the extent to which the social partners use digital technologies varies greatly across the EU Member States, Norway and the United Kingdom. Provisions in collective agreements on several aspects of digitalisation have been identified in about half of the countries. Through these provisions, social partners encourage their members to boost training on digital skills, ensure fair and safe working conditions and take account of data protection and employee monitoring practices. The European social partners' autonomous framework agreement on digitalisation has provided inspiration to national-level organisations, and follow-up actions in this regard have the potential to greatly benefit their members

Social partners going digital: using digital tools and adapting social dialogue processes

La xarxa de corresponsals d'Eurofound ha contribuït a aquest informe i en concret l'Alejandro Godino com així s'expressa a l'Annex 3: Network of Eurofound CorrespondentsDigital transformation is changing the world of work. This report looks at how social partners - the actors involved in the regulation of employment relationships - are increasingly adopting technological solutions to improve the services that they provide to their members and facilitate collective bargaining processes. Technological tools offer social partners the opportunity to enhance consultation, engage with their members through digitised processes, improve services and increase networking activities, as well as addressing the issue of membership decline. The findings of this report show that the extent to which the social partners use digital technologies varies greatly across the EU Member States, Norway and the United Kingdom. Provisions in collective agreements on several aspects of digitalisation have been identified in about half of the countries. Through these provisions, social partners encourage their members to boost training on digital skills, ensure fair and safe working conditions and take account of data protection and employee monitoring practices. The European social partners' autonomous framework agreement on digitalisation has provided inspiration to national-level organisations, and follow-up actions in this regard have the potential to greatly benefit their members