Ecological classification of the climate of the Rhine catchment

An ordination and classification it carried out on the climate of the Rhine catchment based on data from meteorological stations. The objective of the classification is to provide an ecological interpretation of climate data. The climate of northern France, Belgium, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, the Federal Republic of Germany and northern Switzerland is divided into five classes, of which two, the Atlantic and the subcontinental are subdivided further into subclasses. The climate classes can be interpreted ecologically and are correlated with floristic and vegetation data. The Rhine valley has a distinctive and characteristic climate. Interpolation of the classification is not carried out, because of the uneven geographical spread of the sites in the dataset.     

Absence of antibodies to foot-and-mouth disease virus in free-ranging roe deer from selected areas of Germany (2001-2002)

Blood samples (n = 223) of free-ranging roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) were collected from selected hunting grounds in Germany between October 2001 and October 2002. Samples originated from Lower Saxony (n = 43) and North-Rhine Westphalia (n = 108) within a 20-km area ("cordon") cordoned off along the border of The Netherlands. This is adjacent to the area of a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak that occurred between 21 March and 22 April 2001 in The Netherlands. Negative control samples were taken from northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein, n = 72). Two different enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) were used for the detection of antibodies against foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) serotype O strain Manisa. To confirm ELISA-positive results, a virus neutralization test was performed. All samples tested negative for antibodies against FMDV. These results suggest that FMDV was not transmitted to free-ranging roe deer living in parts of Germany adjacent to the area affected by the 2001 foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in The Netherlands.     

Incidence of Menkes disease

Summary We have calculated the incidence of Menkes disease for Denmark, France, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and West Germany, based on known Menkes patients born during the time period 1976–87. Considering live-born Menkes patients, the combined incidence for these five countries is 1 Menkes patient per 298000 live-born babies. If the number of affected aborted fetuses are taken into account, the incidence is 1 Menkes per 254000 live-born babies. This incidence, which is 2–4 times lower than earlier published incidence figures, places Menkes disease as an extremely rare disease. The mutation rate for Menkes disease is estimated to be 1.96 × 10^–6, based on the number of isolated Menkes cases born during the time period 1976–87 and the total number of newborn males during this time.     

The age of the British upper coal measures with reference to their miospore content

Details are given of miospore distributions and zonation in the British Upper Coal Measures. These are compared with miospore distributions in strata of comparable age in France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and parts of Russia and the United States. Various published correlations of these strata are discussed and an amended correlation between the British and French sequences suggested. It is concluded that there is as yet little palynological evidence for the presence in Britain of Carboniferous strata of an age younger than that of the Westphalian D stage.     

Arable acronyms analysed – a review of integrated arable farming systems research in Western Europe

Arable production has come under increasing economic and environmental pressures, especially in the last decade. These have derived from over-production, decreased farm incomes and a concern with the possible environmental effects of intensive pesticide use associated with such intensive cultivation. A number of long-term research programmes on integrated farming systems and their sustainability have recently been completed or are currently under way. In the UK, these include the ‘Boxworth’ project, ‘SCARAB’, TALISMAN’, RISC, ‘LINK Integrated Farming Systems’, ‘LIFE’ and the demonstration-only programme ‘LEAF’. These projects are reviewed in terms of their objectives, designs and results to date, and are compared with some parallel programmes in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and France.     

Following spread of fire blight in Western, Central and Southern Europe by molecular differentiation of Erwinia amylovora strains with PFGE analysis

Fire blight has been detected recently in several areas of northern Spain and north-eastern Italy. To follow spread of the disease within Europe, more than 120 Erwinia amylovora strains isolated from 1957-1900 in England, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Italy and Spain were assayed using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis of genomic DNA after XbaI digestion. Pattern types Pt1 and Pt4 were found for strains from England. Pt1 was also found in central Europe and eastern France, Pt4 in western France. Pt2 appeared first in Egypt, from where strains with this pattern disseminated northwards as far as into the Balkans. Pt3 was typical for northern France and Belgium. Strains from Spain displayed the pattern types Pt3 and Pt4. In Italy, Pt2 was found in the south-eastern areas, Pt3 in the north-eastern areas, and Pt1 was found very recently in orchards adjacent to the Austrian border, together with Pt3. Despite barely controlled trade with fire blight host plants and associated plant products within Europe, the PFGE patterns of the E. amylovora isolates were ordered indicating sequential spread. On the other hand, the appearance of Pt3 in northern Italy and central Spain can be explained by the import of contaminated plants by nurseries.     

The rise of research ethics committees in Western Europe: some concomitant problems

The rise of research ethics committees in Western Europe has accelerated since 1975 when the World Medical Association recommended that protocols for experiments involving human subjects be submitted to independent committees for consideration, comment, and guidance. This article describes the numbers, types, composition, function, authority, and problems of institutional, regional, and national research ethics committees in the Netherlands, Great Britain, West Germany, France, Switzerland, and Sweden. Among the problems are lack of authority to require ethical review, underrepresentation of nonmedical members, inconsistencies in definitions of and standards for human experimentation, and nonconsideration of the rights of investigators as well as subjects. The author urges legislation to strengthen the self regulating mechanism of research ethics committees.     

First records of the benthic,bloom-forming,non-toxic dinoflagellate <Emphasis Type="Italic">Thecadinium yashimaense</Emphasis> (Dinophyceae) in Europe: with special emphasis on the invasion in the North Sea

Thecadinium yashimaense was recorded for the first time in France, Great Britain, The Netherlands, and Germany. The invasion and establishment of the species in the German Bight was documented reliably and is presented here. The geographic expansion of the species from the North Pacific to the North Atlantic Ocean is discussed. This bloom-forming, marine, sand-dwelling dinoflagellate was shown to be non-toxic. Also Thecadinium kofoidii, the type species of the genus, was analyzed for potential toxin production and turned out to be non-toxic as well.     

Styela clava Herdman (Urochordata, Ascidiacea), a successful immigrant to North West Europe: ecology, propagation and chronology of spread

Since its first occurrence at Plymouth, southern England, in 1952 the East Asiatic ascidianStyela clava has spread to many localities along the coasts of the south and west British Isles, Ireland, northern France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany. While some dispersal may occur by natural means, spreading over long distances is probably due to transfer along with oysters when relaid elsewhere. Transport while attached to the hulls of ships or driftingSargassum is also possible.Styela clava is a large, hardy and fast-growing species with a tough, leathery tunic, and has no recorded enemies or native analogues among the NW European ascidian fauna. At many sites it has established dense populations of 500–1000 specimens/m² and in some cases has nearly outcompeted some of the native ascidian species.     

Regional behaviour among late Neanderthal groups in Western Europe: A comparative assessment of late Middle Palaeolithic bifacial tool variability

Population dynamics between and within Pleistocene groups are vital to understanding wider behavioural processes like social transmission and cultural variation. The late Middle Palaeolithic (MIS 5d-3, ca. 115,000–35,000 BP [years before present]) permits a novel, data-driven assessment of these concepts through a unique record: bifacial tools made by classic Neanderthals. Previously, studies of late Middle Palaeolithic bifacial tools were hampered by a convoluted plethora of competing terms, types and regional entities. This paper presents a large-scale intercomparison of this tool type, and bridges typo-technological and spatio-temporal data from across Western Europe (Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Germany).     

Aberrant individuals ofNeomysis integer and other Mysidacea: Intersexuality and variable telson morphology

Intersexuality in the mysidNeomysis integer is described from samples collected in the Elbe (north Germany), Eems-Dollard (north Netherlands), Westerschelde (south-west Netherlands) and Gironde (southwest France) estuaries. Individuals which had an irregularly shaped or nearly symmetrically rounded telson, rather than a typically truncated one, were also recorded from the four populations studied. A culture experiment with damaged specimens revealed that all types of abnormal telson morphology found in the field can result from regeneration of damaged parts. It is concluded that both intersexuality and aberrant telson morphology are widespread phenomena among estuarineN. integer populations. Both abnormalities seem to be rare in the other common mysid species in the study area: only one intersexualGastrosaccus spinifer and oneSchistomysis kervillei with an aberrant telson were recorded.     

Comparative study of the hyperbenthos of three European estuaries

The hyperbenthic fauna of the subtidal channels of the Eems (N. Netherlands), Westerschelde (S.W. Netherlands), and Gironde (S.W. France) estuaries was sampled within a 15-day period in summer 1991. In each estuary, quantitative samples were taken at regularly spaced stations covering the entire salinity gradient from marine conditions at the mouth to nearly freshwater conditions upstream. The diversity of the samples and the distribution of the species along the main estuarine gradients were assessed. Hyperbenthic communities were identified using different multivariate statistical techniques. The species composition and the density and biomass of the dominant species of each community were compared among communities.     

On the state of the public ill health: premature mortality in the United Kingdom and Europe.

Recently published data on mortality in the European Economic Community and Scandinavia convincingly showed that mortality among men and women aged 45-64 was considerably higher in the United Kingdom than elsewhere. This applied to deaths due to circulatory and respiratory disease, cancer, and all causes. For example, in 1980 in Scotland twice as many, or more, women aged 55-64 per 100 000 died of heart disease than in Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, West Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. Reductions in mortality from all causes during 1950-80 in the United Kingdom did not match those in other countries, such as Finland and France. Whether the public in the United Kingdom knows about its relatively poor mortality state is doubtful. To secure improved funding of appropriate preventive and treatment services directed at reducing premature mortality, public awareness should be raised urgently so that politicians and political parties will respond quickly in a way that the problem demands.     

Honoring Jean-David Rochaix

We honor Jean-David Rochaix, an outstanding scholar of chloroplast biogenesis and photosynthesis, who received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award of the International Society of Photosynthesis Research at its 17th International Photosynthesis Congress held in Maastricht, The Netherlands (August 5–12, 2016). With this award he joins other major discoverers in the field of photosynthesis: Pierre Joliot (of France, 2013); Ulrich W. Heber* (of Germany, 2010) and Kenneth Sauer (of USA, 2010); Jan M. Anderson* (of Australia, 2007); and Horst T. Witt* (of Germany, 2004). See “Appendix 1” for the list of those who have received the ISPR Communication, Innovation, Calvin–Benson, and Hill awards.     

Cytotaxonomic studies in the genusJasione L. I.Jasione montana L.

Chromosome numbers of 46 samples referable to the speciesJasione montana L. were examined. The material originated from different localities in Portugal, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and the Soviet Union. All the samples were found to be diploid, having 2n=12 chromosomes. The aneuploid number, 2n=14, is shown to be limited to the var.litoralis Fries. Polyploidy has not been observed.     

Hommes et climats au Paléolithique supérieur dans le bassin de la Somme (France)

Nearly 40 years of intensive research conducted in the Somme basin has demonstrated the discontinuity in the human occupation of the area during the Upper Palaeolithic. The northern position of the Somme basin within the loessic region appears to be an explanatory factor in this discontinuity, the nature of which increasingly appears related to climate and environmental factors. Archaeological occupations have been systematically attributed to phases of warming or climate improvement. On the other hand, an absence of human occupation has been consistently observed during the coldest periods. The extreme poverty of the biomass contemporary to the loessic deposits of the Upper Pleniglacial could partly explain this discontinuity specific to the far northwest of Europe (southern England, northern Belgium, Netherlands, and northern Germany). Although only 150 or 200 km away, the southern Paris Basin, which is located on the fringes of the loessic region of northern France and Normandy, presents a more continuous human occupation, which appears to have benefitted from more favourable conditions.