An assessment of soil erosion prevention by vegetation in Mediterranean Europe: Current trends of ecosystem service provision

The concept of ecosystem services has received increased attention in recent years, and is seen as a useful construct for the development of policy relevant indicators and communication for science, policy and practice. Soil erosion is one of the main environmental problems for European Mediterranean agro-forestry systems, making soil erosion prevention a key ecosystem service to monitor and assess. Here, we present a spatially and temporally explicit assessment of the provision of soil erosion prevention by vegetation in Mediterranean Europe between 2001 and 2013, including maps of vulnerable areas. We follow a recently described conceptual framework for the mapping and assessment of regulating ecosystem services to calculate eight process-based indicators, and an ecosystem service provision profile. Results show a relative increase in the effectiveness of provision of soil erosion prevention in Mediterranean Europe between 2001 and 2013. This increase is particularly noticeable between 2009 and 2013, but it does not represent a general trend across the whole Mediterranean region. Two regional examples describe contrasting trends and illustrate the need for regional assessments and policy targets. Our results demonstrate the strength of having a coherent and complementary set of indicators for regulating services to inform policy and land management decisions.     

Saving camels from straws: how propagule pressure-based prevention policies can reduce the risk of biological invasion

Nonnative species that harm or have the potential to cause harm to the environment, economy, or human health are known as invasive species. Propagule pressure may be the most important factor in establishment success of nonnative species of various taxa in a variety of ecosystems worldwide, and strong evidence is emerging that propagule pressure determines both the scale of invasion extent and impact. In a limited way, the US government is applying a “propagule pressure approach” in a variety of prevention policy contexts aimed at minimizing the impact of harmful organisms. However, there are also readily apparent opportunities for enacting propagule pressure-based measures to fill current gaps in invasive species prevention and control at national, state, and local levels. An explicit focus on propagule pressure-based policies could substantially increase the effectiveness of US efforts to prevent the introduction of invasive species through by intentional and unintentional introductions. The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the US government. “As the last straw breaks the laden camel’s back...” -Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son     

Plans of mice and men: from bench science to science policy

The transition from bench science to science policy is not always a smooth one, and my journey stretched as far as the unemployment line to the hallowed halls of the U.S. Capitol. While earning my doctorate in microbiology, I found myself more interested in my political activities than my experiments. Thus, my science policy career aspirations were born from merging my love of science with my interest in policy and politics. After receiving my doctorate, I accepted the Henry Luce Scholarship, which allowed me to live in South Korea for 1 year and delve into the field of science policy research. This introduction into science policy occurred at the South Korean think tank called the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI). During that year, I used textbooks, colleagues, and hands-on research projects as my educational introduction into the social science of science and technology decision-making. However, upon returning to the United States during one of the worst job markets in nearly 80 years, securing a position in science policy proved to be very difficult, and I was unemployed for five months. Ultimately, it took more than a year from the end of the Luce Scholarship to obtain my next science policy position with the American Society for Microbiology Congressional Fellowship. This fellowship gave me the opportunity to work as the science and public health advisor to U.S. Senator Harry Reid. While there were significant challenges during my transition from the laboratory to science policy, those challenges made me tougher, more appreciative, and more prepared to move from working at the bench to working in the field of science policy.     

美国与欧盟的转基因食品安全性政策演变比对

随着转基因食品的研究与发展,人们对待转基因食品的态度表现为主要以美国和欧盟为主的两种代表性政策.美国采取遵循可靠科学原则,坚决反对预防原则,即对转基因食品采取积极支持,自愿标识的宽松政策;欧盟采取谨慎预防原则,必须标识和可追溯.从管理原则出发,结合相应采取的监管措施和相关条例,对两国从开始颁布转基因食品政策到当下态势的发展,并结合最新出台的政策进行跟踪分析,比对美国及欧盟对这些指令和条例的执行情况.     

Evaluating the impact of rural development measures on nature value indicators at different spatial levels: Application to France and The Netherlands

This paper proposes an approach for assessing the effectiveness of those agri-environmental schemes and rural development measures aimed at enhancing the natural value of farmland and, more generally, aimed at releasing the pressure on the environment due to agriculture. First, based on fine scale data, indicators derived from the High Nature Value farmland concept are tested at different scales, resolutions and situations: LAU2 for The Netherlands and LAU1 for France. The effect of rural development measures on the evolution of these indicators is then explored. Significant cause-effect relationships are found in the French cases, while only relationships of correlations are observed from the Dutch case study, obviously caused by a lack of data. Using fine scale data on rural development measures related to both 2000–2006 and 2007–2013 programming periods of the Common Agricultural Policy, a spatial econometrics methodology is applied to France, at national level on the one hand, and at a selected NUTS2 level on the other. The results indicate that agri-environmental schemes and specific rural development measures affect the changes in the indicators, and that the spatial scale of the analyses matters. In particular, results indicate that trends observed at the national scale do not necessarily apply at the regional scale (e.g. impacts of conversion to organic farming, the grassland premium, payments for water and biodiversity protection) underlining the importance of multi-scale assessments. Interestingly, delayed effects of the measures implemented in the 2000–2006 programming period, such as machinery investment aids and less-favoured area payments, are detectable. As regards the 2007–2013 rural development measures, the most significant positive effects on the farm nature value indicator are found, at the national level, for locally targeted agri-environmental schemes focused on biodiversity and water issues and, at the NUTS2 level, for supporting organic farming schemes. Given that the farm nature value indicator is built from three different indices (addressing crop diversity, grassland share, and wooded and afforested farmland) the effect of rural development measures on each of these individual indices is also explored. This enables the main structure and the magnitude of policy impacts to be captured and helps with the understanding of why certain objectives were not met. Key findings are relevant in the context of policy monitoring and evaluation, while the methodology proposed, that incorporates spatial effects, is an important contribution to the implementation of the Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework by Member States to account for national, regional or local characteristics.     

Selection of foraging habitat and nestling diet by Meadow Pipits Anthus pratensis breeding on intensively grazed moorland

Capsule Foraging sites with low vegetation height and density, but with high arthropod biomass, are selected.

Aims To test the hypothesis that on intensively grazed moorland, breeding Meadow Pipits forage for nestling food where arthropod prey are most readily available, and therefore that foraging site choice is a function of prey abundance and vegetation structure.

Methods Observations of adults provisioning nestlings were made from hides positioned close to 19 nests within grazed, 3.3-hectare experimental plots at Glen Finglas, Scotland. Vegetation height and density and arthropod abundance from mapped foraging sites were compared with control sites. Prey items fed to nestlings were quantified and compared with their relative abundance.

Results Meadow Pipits selected foraging sites with significantly lower vegetation height and density, but with significantly higher arthropod biomass. Our data suggest that within foraging sites, Meadow Pipits select particular prey types to provision nestlings, in particular, Lepidoptera larvae, adult Tipulidae and Arachnida.

Conclusions In intensively grazed upland systems, it appears that Meadow Pipits select foraging sites that optimize total food abundance and accessibility. In order to understand how anticipated changes to livestock farming in Europe will affect grassland birds, we recommend that future studies should investigate the foraging and vigilance behaviour, diet composition and breeding success of a variety of bird species provisioning nestlings under a range of livestock management scenarios.